Chapter 6

Given that Prince Pei's attitude of apologizing after hitting someone with his horse was extremely arrogant, Xie Qinghong decided to add him to his grudge book and dedicate an entire page to writing about his annoying deeds.

However, the ointment he gave her was indeed effective. After applying it, by the time she got home, her forehead looked much better, although it still hurt a lot when touched.

However, her mother noticed it immediately during dinner and asked what happened: "Little sister, how did you get such a bump on your forehead? Did someone bully you at the poetry gathering today?"

Xie Qingzhou couldn't sit still any longer upon hearing this: "Who is it?"

Xie Qinghong quickly replied, "No, it's because the road is narrow, someone riding a horse startled the carriage, and they accidentally crashed into it."

Xie Qingzhou asked, "Who is riding the horse?" Xie Qingya, who was standing next to him, also frowned.

"They didn't do it on purpose. They apologized and gave me some ointment. My injury is much better after applying it." Xie Qinghong thought for a long time but still felt that he couldn't be provoked. Who was he? Did he deserve to be beaten up by his brother?

What if my brother hurts him badly this time?

Xie Qingzhou then gave up, but he still kept a watchful eye on things. Recently, something had happened, and His Majesty was furious. Anyone who dared to ride a horse and drive a carriage recklessly on the street at this time must be one of those idle, dissolute young men. He had to ask Fang Hong about it.

After her mother applied another layer of medicine, Xie Qinghong finally began to eat. However, due to her injured forehead, she had a poor appetite and only ate a bowl of soup before returning to her room to rest. Sigh, she wondered if her forehead would be healed by the time spring plowing began. Spring plowing was on February 18th, and today was already the 14th. Wearing a veil in the fields would make walking difficult.

The family in the dining room had little appetite. After putting down their chopsticks, Xie Qingya said solemnly, "Qingzhou, you need to be careful about the lost Yue King Sword these days. Ayao just said it was an accident, so don't go out and cause trouble."

Xie Qingzhou also knew what was important and what was urgent. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "I know. Since A'yao has said so, I naturally won't cause trouble for anyone. But regarding the Yue King's Sword, I led my men to search several possible places today, but we still don't have any clues about it. If it really is that person, where could he be hiding it?"

“Be careful what you say. No evidence has been found yet. If you make wild guesses based on baseless rumors, then you might as well quit being the Armory Commander!” Xie Qingya said sternly.

Xie Qingzhou was unwilling to give up. He and his brothers had searched for a whole day but still couldn't find it. He was still annoyed. Even though his elder brother was as dignified as he was, he dared to retort: ​​"Of course, we can't believe all the rumors. But the clues clearly point to him. Otherwise, why would the Yue King's Sword be lost as soon as he arrived?"

Seeing that the two brothers were about to start arguing, Xie's father had to step in to mediate: "The Yue King's Sword is of great importance. It's good to have more people thinking about clues. What kind of behavior is this, arguing over this? Fuqiao, did you search the places where Prince Pei has stayed these past few days?"

"Yes, but there are no clues." Xie Qingzhou was frustrated. Either Prince Pei was hiding it well, or he really didn't steal it. But he couldn't explain this to his superiors, so Xie Qingzhou refused to consider that possibility.

The main responsibility for the theft of the Yue King's Sword lies with the Guanglu Temple, because the palace where the Yue King's Sword is kept is guarded by people sent by the Guanglu Temple. However, the Weiwei Temple is responsible for guarding the entire imperial city. Xie Qingzhou, the Armory Commander, is in charge of the armory in the Weiwei Temple. He had the good fortune to see the true appearance of the Yue King's Sword last year, so he was naturally assigned by his superiors to find it this time. But where do we even begin to look for it?

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices, fearing accountability, concealed even the smallest clues, while the Court of Imperial Guards was busy shifting blame, using Xie Qingzhou as a scapegoat.

Having spent many years in officialdom, Xie's father knew all too well that beneath the surface of calm, the court was a turbulent place. If anyone had designs on the Yue King's sword, it would naturally be the Southern King's heir, but given his upright and noble character, how could he possibly commit such a theft? On the contrary, it was not surprising that Emperor Xingde would frame the Southern King, seeing him as a thorn in his side.

Xie Qingzhou couldn't sleep a wink until the Yue King's Sword was found. He slept soundly for a while, and the next morning he got up early to go to the Yong'an Marquis's residence to find Fang Hong. His reasons were twofold: first, to find out where Pei Shizi had gone the day before, and second, to find out which纨绔子弟 (playboys) liked to ride horses through the streets.

Upon hearing that it was Xie Qingzhou, that devilish devil, who had come to their door, Fang Hong's drowsiness vanished instantly. He jumped out of bed and immediately apologized: "Brother, I was wrong. I shouldn't have taken Prince Pei riding yesterday. Who knew that horse was so wild, charging around recklessly all the way? We really did choose a back road, but who knew that Miss Xie would also be taking that road, and that's how we accidentally bumped into each other. But logically speaking, Prince Pei is mostly at fault. We were just playing along. We're brothers, so please forgive me this time."

What's this called? What a perfect timing, isn't it?

Xie Qingzhou sneered: "If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have known it was you who did it! My sister actually got a bump on her head! Prince Pei, is it? I'm going to confront him right now!"

Fang Hong was so frightened that he grabbed his arm to stop him. Xie Qingzhou, this troublemaker, was not afraid of his father and brothers, but he, this spoiled brat, was afraid that his father and brothers would break his legs.

"Brother, are you out of your mind! That's the heir of the Southern Prince. If you go and beat him up, His Majesty will blame you, and even your father and brothers won't be able to protect you!" Fang Hong deeply regretted his loose tongue earlier, revealing all his secrets. He should have known that Xie's sister was upright and would have kept her promise not to report him.

Xie Qingzhou stood still and glanced at him sideways: "Who said I was going to beat someone up? You're so timid, yet you dared to take Prince Pei riding horses. Heh, what were you doing yesterday?"

Fang Hong, with a mournful face, recounted: "Yesterday, I took Prince Pei to the horse farm outside the city to pick out a spirited horse. The farm owner said it was just brought from the grasslands, and it was the most spirited horse he'd ever seen. Even after a few days of training, it was still quite spirited. Prince Pei didn't believe it and wanted to tame the wild horse. At first, the horse was fine, but once we got to the city streets, it went berserk. We deliberately chose a back road to get back to the post station and the stable as quickly as possible. And then, and then, we bumped into your sister… How badly was your sister injured? I saw Prince Pei give her some ointment."

Xie Qingzhou said expressionlessly, "Don't mention my sister, continue your explanation."

"That's all. We've already bumped into your sister's carriage, so how could we be in the mood for a parade? We sent Prince Pei back to the post station, tied the spirited horse to the stable, and had the prince rest at the post station. The rest of us didn't go out when we had a chance; we all went home."

"I'll let you off this time," Xie Qingzhou warned, "but if there's a next time, you'd better not have it easy."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be going to settle accounts, Fang Hong felt relieved and patted his chest to assure him, "There definitely won't be a next time, brother, don't worry. By the way, what brings you here today? Don't you have any work to do?"

Xie Qingzhou said, half-jokingly, "It's not time yet. I originally wanted to ask you which people like to ride horses through the streets, and then find out who hit my sister and teach them a lesson!"

Fang Hong dared not speak. After much persuasion, he finally managed to get the man out of the mansion before letting out a sigh of relief. Sigh, he still had to go to the post station to see Prince Pei later; he wondered what he could do with him today.

Little did he know that Xie Qingzhou had gone straight to the post station after leaving the Yong'an Marquis's residence. He had originally intended to find an excuse to go into the post station to take a look, but now there was a perfect opportunity: the wicked Prince Pei, prepare to die!

Xie Qinghong woke up a little late. The redness and swelling on her forehead had subsided somewhat and started to turn bluish. The pain had lessened, but she still looked quite frightening.

A-Yue was about to burst into tears when she saw this: "Miss, what should we do? It's all my fault for not protecting her in time."

Xie Qinghong hadn't thought she was in such a bad state, but after hearing her wail, she felt like she couldn't even show her face in public. She had been sick and bedridden for half a month before recovering, and then she injured her forehead on the rare opportunity to go out. Did the almanac say that it was not advisable to go out recently?

No, nothing happened when I went to Yechunlou a few days ago. I guess I was just being targeted by a villain.

She opened her grudge notebook, and there were actually only three people she hated: Qin Sanlang, Zheng Qiniang, and Fang Hong. The deeds she committed against these three people didn't even fill a single page.

Xie Qinghong solemnly turned to the second page, dipped his brush in ink and wrote the character "Pei". After finishing, he suddenly remembered that he did not know the name of the Prince of Nan, so he just wrote the three characters "Prince Pei" for now.

The first incident involved Prince Pei riding his horse and crashing into my carriage, causing me to be disfigured.

The second point is that Prince Pei's attitude in admitting his mistake was arrogant. Even when I threatened him with my brother, he still dared to challenge my brother to a fight. What a joke! How could he possibly beat my brother?

Who knew that just one day later, Xie Qinghong stormed back into the house in a rage, opened his grudge notebook, and began to write furiously:

The third thing is infuriating! He actually managed to beat my brother! This guy is just too annoying!

After writing her grievances, she closed the book, but then remembered that her brother must be upset about losing, so she quickly went to comfort him, sharing his hatred: "This time we underestimated him. He's really despicable."

Despite being defeated, Xie Qingzhou wasn't disappointed. Seeing his sister's indignation, he couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Next time, I'll definitely beat him up to avenge you."

Xie Qinghong glanced at him. You have no idea how embarrassing it is to lose a contest involving your brother. She's already made her point; how can she say anything harsh next time? She can't exactly say, "I'll get my brother to come and scold you," can she?

Xie Qingzhou's ease was understandable; the Yue King's sword had been found, unrelated to the Southern King's heir. It was said that a palace eunuch had stolen it, secretly hiding it in a corner of the palace. The Imperial Concubine had sent people to search for her lost pet, and they found it by chance. The Imperial Guards and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices breathed a sigh of relief, ordering Xie Qingzhou to discontinue the search. However, due to his previous diligence, his superiors considered promoting him.

Yesterday, he went to the palace to demand an explanation, and just then, news spread from the palace. Prince Pei then spontaneously challenged him to a sword duel. He admitted he wasn't particularly skilled in swordsmanship, but he hadn't expected Prince Pei's swordsmanship to be so formidable, leaving him no choice but to concede defeat. However, winning and losing in martial arts competitions is common, and Xie Qingzhou didn't take it to heart. Furthermore, because Prince Pei's attitude was humble, he couldn't be too unreasonable.

Xie Qinghong touched his forehead; the injury had completely healed. He could only say reluctantly, "If there is a next time, I will have my brother go and duel with him."

The brother and sister both sighed.