Chapter 38 A New Thing

When Jiang Lan returned to her residence, she was still in a slightly unhappy mood, with her brows slightly furrowed. But when she entered the house and saw the moving green shadow on the table by the window, her brows couldn't help but relax.

Qing'er and Gui'er were surprised when they saw the green-feathered parrot. There was no such kind of bird in the yard, and they didn't know where it came from.

"Miss, it won't bite anyone, will it?" Guier waved at it, trying to drive it away.

"It doesn't bite." Jiang Lan said with a seductive smile and walked towards it.

Qing'er guessed that this green-feathered parrot was raised by someone else's family. The servant who fed it must have been careless and forgot to close the cage, causing it to fly out.

Jiang Lan knew that it flew here from the Marquis' Mansion and was raised by Qi Wuhan, who named it Yuanbao. He had sent her things twice before, the first time was a note, and the second time was an orchid hairpin.

This time Yuanbao sent her another note.

"Miss, look, it has something in its mouth!" Gui'er widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Yuanbao holding a small bamboo tube in his mouth. When Yuanbao lowered his head and put the small bamboo tube in his mouth into Jiang Lan's hand, Gui'er and Qing'er both widened their eyes in surprise.

"Miss, do you recognize it?" Qing'er was the first to react and asked.

"Its name is Yuanbao, and it is raised by Marquis Jin'an." Jiang Lan introduced Yuanbao's identity with a normal expression.

Qing'er and Gui'er were surprised again. They didn't expect that this green-feathered parrot was raised by Marquis Jin'an!

Jiang Lan took out a piece of paper from the small bamboo tube, opened it and read it, went to the desk, picked up a pen and wrote a reply at the end of the paper, then rolled up the note and put it back into the bamboo tube. When she walked over to ask Yuanbao to send it back, she heard a voice of "Xiao Lan'er". She was stunned for a moment, thinking she had heard it wrong.

Then I heard another voice saying "Xiao Lan'er" coming from Yuanbao's mouth.

Gui'er was so surprised that her mouth opened wide, and Qing'er also covered her mouth in surprise. She didn't expect that this green-feathered parrot could speak human language and even knew the name of her own lady. It was really amazing!

"Don't shout!" Jiang Lan pointed at Yuanbao and ordered with a red face.

Parrots imitate others.

It must have been taught by that scoundrel!

Yuanbao was quite human-like. He didn't call Xiaolan'er and turned his head to comb his emerald green feathers, as if he had done nothing.

"Don't call me Xiaolan anymore." Jiang Lan's tone softened a bit, and she reached out to hand over the small bamboo tube. Yuanbao lowered his head, held the small bamboo tube in his mouth, flapped his wings and flew away.

Gui'er still looked surprised. It was the first time she saw a bird that could speak human language and speak it so standardly, just like a human.

Jiang Lan called her and Gui'er came back to her senses from her surprise. Jiang Lan asked her to go out and get something from Yipintang.

Yipin Pavilion is the most luxurious restaurant in the capital. The customers coming in and out are all wealthy people. A cold dish can be sold for one or two taels of silver, which is more expensive than pork. Ordinary people can't afford it at all.

Previously, on the boat back to Beijing, Qi Wuhan said that after returning to Beijing, he would ask the chef in the mansion to stew the medicinal food every day and have Ling Feng deliver it, and she would just send someone to pick it up.

Jiang Lan didn't want to trouble him, but it was not convenient for her to have someone stew her food in the mansion. After all, Zhang was still the head of the mansion, and there were spies everywhere. If they knew that she was taking medicinal food to replenish her body, they would definitely find ways to sabotage her.

However, she had originally planned to let Zhang know about this, but not now. The most important thing for her now was to take good care of her body and avoid unnecessary trouble. She would go to the pharmacy in three months. If the root cause of the disease could be completely cured, she would let Qing'er reveal the news to Zhang. Maybe Zhang would think of drugging her again, and then she would follow the clues to find the person who prepared the medicine. If Zhang did not take the bait, she would find a way to trick the other party out.

After Gui'er left, Jiang Lan asked Qing'er to go downstairs as well. She took out a jewelry box from the closet and put it on the dressing table. After opening it, she looked at the two things inside: an orchid hairpin and a gold token.

Before going to Sangcheng, she didn't expect to meet Qi Wuhan on the road, and she didn't have the hairpin with her, so she didn't return it to him.

After arriving in Sangcheng, he gave her the golden token bestowed by the emperor to help her enter the city. The next time they met was the night the academy was attacked. After that, he was injured again and she fell ill. Then General Cui came again. Things happened one after another and she had no time to return the token to him.

After everything was over and her eldest brother was almost recovered, she remembered that he still had a sign in her hand. When she returned it to him, he said that he had no use for the sign and asked her to keep it, saying that it might be useful in the future. He also lied to her that putting it in the house could ward off evil spirits.

"I never take back anything I give away. If you don't want it, I'll just dig a hole and bury it."

"..., bury yourself if you want."

In the end, she was unable to return the token...

After collecting her thoughts, she picked up the orchid hairpin again and looked at it. Only then did she discover a small detail: there was a word engraved on the handle of the hairpin: Orchid.

The font is long and thin, and each stroke is like a sword. It is sharp yet handsome and elegant, just like the person who carved it.

She raised her hand and gently stroked the word "Lan", her fingertips lightly caressing each stroke, and the strange feeling in her heart emerged again. The five words he whispered in her ear flashed through her mind again, "This marquis loves you", stuck to her heart like a dog-skin plaster, and she couldn't get rid of it.

"Liar..."

She warned herself again in her heart, put the hairpin back into the box, locked it, and hid it in the closet.

When Gui'er came back with a food box, Jiang Lan was leaning on the couch by the window reading a book, and Qing'er was sitting beside her doing needlework.

When Jiang Lan came over, Gui'er couldn't wait to tell her something new she heard in Yipintang.

"Miss, do you know that Miss Cui Er brought the zither player from Xueyue Pavilion back home to teach her how to play the zither? Now the news has spread everywhere."

Qing'er was also surprised when she heard the words Xueyue Pavilion.

The Xueyue Pavilion is also known as the Nanfeng Pavilion and the Wanhua Tower.

The men in the academy are all extremely handsome, with words as sweet as honey, and their ability to coax people is even better than that of the girls in Wanhua Tower. It is rumored that there was even a girl who committed suicide for a man in the academy, and after being rescued, she cut her hair and went to a nunnery to become a nun, never marrying for the rest of her life.

Jiang Lan was also a little surprised. She was not surprised that Cui Jingshu brought the man home. When they first met, he pushed her into the water and shot her with an arrow. With his willful nature, it was not surprising that he did such an extraordinary thing. What she wondered was how this matter spread. Suddenly, she remembered something.

On the day of returning to Beijing, Qi Wuhan told her on the boat that he would give her a gift when he returned.

Is this what you mean?

Qing'er asked Gui'er not to talk nonsense, but Gui'er said that what was said outside was even worse.

It is said that the two of them stayed together every day and night, but who knew what they were doing. Playing the piano was just an excuse to cover up the truth.

"Was this medicinal food sent by Commander Ling?" Jiang Lan asked, changing the subject.

Gui'er nodded, and then remembered something, "Miss, that Master Ji has also come to the capital."

When this person was mentioned, Gui'er and Qing'er both frowned. They disliked him very much. Not only did he speak rudely, but his eyes were as fierce as a vicious dog, as if he would pounce on them and bite them hard at any time.

Jiang Lan was not surprised. The other party had come to Qi Wuhan before and said that he wanted to follow him. She had never seen him again after that. She always had a question in her mind: was the man in black that night him?

She had just pondered this question when Guier told her another thing.

After returning, Gui'er met Jiang Rui's personal servant, Shunfu, on the road again.

The other person suddenly jumped out from the side of the road, just like his master, which scared Guier.

Seeing the food box in Guier's hand, Shunfu asked her with a smile what delicious food she bought. He wanted to open the lid to take a look, but Guier didn't show him, so he muttered a few unpleasant words and left.

If Jiang Lan hadn't been waiting, Gui'er would definitely have caught up with him and argued with him.

Shunfu came back and spoke to Jiang Rui in an exaggerated manner, concluding that there must be something strange in the food box. Jiang Rui asked him to continue keeping an eye on Jiang Lan and to follow Guier secretly if she went out again.