Chapter 6: Keeping the promise: I was careful when we met.

While suffering from the pain of being burned by fire and immersed in ice, Prince Jin dreamed of his past life.

At that time, he was too cruel and really did not go to the Jiang family to rescue them. The Tiger Guards broke into the Jiang family and found a manuscript imitating the handwriting of the old censor Jiang. They used it as evidence and wanted to put the entire Jiang family in jail.

Not knowing how Cong Ying escaped, he finally found his way to Xie's house.

That day, Xie Xuanlan was blocked outside the city by heavy rain, and it was already dusk when he returned home. His horse galloped, crushing the shadows of lights in the puddles on the long street, but stopped abruptly when he saw the person standing in front of the door.

He saw Congying and Princess Xiaocheng who was traveling with her.

Princess Xiaocheng, the emperor's cousin, loved to act as matchmaker for the nobles of Yunjing. To assure Censor Jiang that Xie would honor her promise, Prime Minister Xie and Censor Jiang had signed a marriage contract for their children in the presence of Princess Xiaocheng.

Cong Ying turned her head to look at Xie Xuanlan, her tears seemed to shatter a glass cup, with mixed emotions in her eyes, and she lowered her eyes again with just one glance.

She walked hesitantly to the side of the horse with her eyes lowered, picked up the red silk marriage certificate hidden in her sleeve, raised it high above her head, and presented it to him.

In the dim light and shadow, Xie Xuanlan saw her face, as white as jade, quickly turn red.

I don't know if it was because of the marriage certificate or because of the shame and humiliation in my heart.

She hesitated for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to speak:

"Third Young Master, when my grandfather was still alive, he once met with your family—"

"Third brother!"

Miss Xie Liu interrupted Congying, ran over, and snatched the marriage certificate from Congying's hand.

Miss Xie Liu laughed and said, "Even Princess Xuande praised you for not eating Zhou grain. If you have such a strong character, why did you come to my house to beg for mercy? And this marriage certificate, are you using it as an imperial decree to force a marriage?"

Cong Ying ignored her ridicule and just waited quietly for Xie Xuanlan's reply.

Xie Xuanlan whipped his long whip and snatched the marriage certificate from Xie Liu's hand. His face darkened: "What does this have to do with you? Go back!"

Xie Liu was unhappy and pointed at Cong Ying and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Xie Xuanlan.

He said, "If you say another word, you won't be allowed to leave the house for a month."

Now Xie Liu didn't dare to be presumptuous anymore. He snorted and left reluctantly.

Xie Xuanlan stood on his horse, his eyes coldly sweeping over the other tribesmen who were watching the excitement: "Everyone, step back."

Apart from Prime Minister Xie, only Xie Xuanlan had the final say in the Xie family. The clan members who came to watch the fun dispersed, and in the misty rain, only the fiery red clothes and the lonely white clothes were left.

Cong Ying mustered up her courage again and stated her purpose: "With the marriage certificate as proof, I would like to ask Mrs. Xie to fulfill her engagement with Mrs. Jiang and ask the Third Young Master to rescue my innocent relatives. In the future, my family will regularly praise Mrs. Xie's kindness and demonstrate her benevolence to the world."

Xie Xuanlan said, "I can go to the Tiger Guards and ask for them right now. You don't have to force me like this."

Cong Ying shook her head gently. "After today, there will be another time. Your Majesty has already considered my family to be part of the Xie family. We have no other options but to seek the Xie family's protection... I also ask the Xie family to keep their promise and honor the engagement with my family."

Xie Xuanlan asked her, "Are you inviting Mrs. Xie and Mrs. Jiang, or are you inviting me and you?"

Cong Ying was silent for a long time, until her hand holding the marriage certificate trembled slightly from exhaustion, and then she whispered, "If the Third Young Master hates me, I still have a cousin."

Xie Xuanlan looked at her. The cold mist had wet her temples and turned into dew. Her nose was red and her lips were pale. She was trying hard to suppress the trembling caused by worry, running around, cold and hunger.

He had a few harsh words on his lips, but in the end he never said them.

I feel depressed and don’t know why.

Seeing that he didn't reply for a long time, Cong Ying whispered: "If the Third Young Master is still unwilling, it would be fine to replace him with another young master from your family, as long as he can protect our family——"

"I understand." Xie Xuanlan didn't want to listen anymore, so he coldly interrupted her and lightly kicked his horse's belly as he walked towards the mansion gate.

Cong Ying pressed the issue again anxiously, "What about my sister and the imprisoned relatives at home..."

Xie Xuanlan said, "By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, I will ask the Tiger Guards for someone, and I will also ask the imperial physician to come to your house to treat your sister's injuries."

"Thank you, Third Young Master!"

This thank you was truly heartfelt. Cong Ying seemed to feel bad, and took a few steps forward behind the horse, explaining, "If your Excellency hadn't pressed us too hard, our family wouldn't want to implicate the Third Young Master. If the situation improves in the future, or if the Third Young Master has someone he loves, it's entirely up to the Third Young Master to decide whether to divorce or not."

It’s up to you to decide whether to leave or not.

This time, Xie Xuanlan was too lazy to pay attention to her. After riding his horse into the mansion, he ordered his men to lock her outside the door.

When the King of Jin woke up from his dream, he was still in a trance. He vaguely felt the sorrowful rain in his dream coming out, and even the joints of his bones were damp.

He called out "Aying" in a trance, and someone held his hand.

It was Doctor Zhang who took his pulse.

Doctor Zhang said, "Your Highness is already weak, and overthinking will only damage your health. Just now, your pulse was beating rapidly, a sign of pain and shock. Could it be that you are having a nightmare?"

The King of Jin looked at the ceiling of the tent, feeling mixed emotions.

Yes, the past is already a dream.

At that time, he mistakenly believed that he agreed to marry Ying only to keep his promise and that he was also the one who was forced to do so. He thought that all his differences with her were due to pity, but now, watching from the sidelines in his dream, he realized that he was deceiving himself.

Although he had only seen her twice, his feelings for her spread like autumn rain at night, silent and endless.

I was already attentive to you when we met then, let alone now.

*

After three days of recuperation on the bed, Prince Jin was finally able to walk. He struggled to take a walk around the back garden and found that many pairs of eyes were secretly observing him.

The leaky Prince Jin's Mansion was like a high-rise stage, where every move could not escape the eyes of others. There were countless servants in the mansion, and they ate food from hundreds of families.

He stood for a long time in the cold autumn wind, and ordered the palace steward Du Changshi to fetch the list of servants and their indentures. Du Changshi hurriedly reported to the eldest princess, who came over worriedly.

The princess asked, "Could it be that some servant neglected you? Why bother to tell me?"

The King of Jin looked at the female officials behind her and after a moment's observation, he had an idea of ​​her ability to control people.

He said, "I want to choose a few people to be my attendants."

The eldest princess said, "Whatever you want, I will ask His Majesty for it."

Prince Jin shook his head slightly: "No need to mobilize a large army, just choose in the palace."

He spent two days reviewing the list and indentures of more than 700 maids in the palace, and compared them with the registration books of people entering and leaving the palace and the account books of withdrawals, and wrote down more than 50 names on paper.

These people may all be spies planted in the palace by others.

He sent the steward and the chief historian to pass on a message to these people: "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin wishes to select a close attendant from among you to test your character and endurance. Anyone who wishes to participate must stand in the courtyard in a single layer of clothing with a thirty-pound iron plate on their head, without food or water. Whoever stands the longest will have a chance."

When they heard that they could serve the Prince of Jin, more than fifty people were eager to try. In less than a quarter of an hour, they stood in line as instructed, all of them with a determination to succeed.

The King of Jin sat in the small attic drinking tea and reading, glancing down from time to time. At dusk, a cool breeze blew, and some people began to quietly change their feet to relax.

He said nothing and got up and left.

The next morning, the chief secretary came to report: "Seven people fainted from the cold last night. They woke up after taking medicine and are now resting in the hall."

The King of Jin asked, "Do they still want to stand?"

"Three people wanted to, and four didn't."

The King of Jin said, "Tell those who want to stand to continue standing, and those who don't want to stand to go back."

Then another whole day went by without food or water. Someone accidentally loosened his arm and was hit by the iron plate. The chief secretary ordered people to carry him away.

Some people began to grumble quietly, "What can you really tell from standing there like this? Can you run, jump, fight, or even resist? You're not trying to become a high-ranking official. It's not worth it to suffer like this for nothing."

When the King of Jin heard this, he called the Chief Secretary and said, "Go and ask them. If anyone wants to give up, they can receive ten taels of silver and return to their original position."

The Chief Secretary took the order and left. About half an hour later, he returned to report, "Your Highness, there are still twenty people who refuse to leave."

The King of Jin said, "Then continue to stand."

The Chief Secretary hesitated and said, "If we stand here another night, I'm afraid someone will die."

Prince Jin said calmly, "They are not afraid, so why should you be afraid?"

So they endured another night. Five of the twenty people died, and the remaining fifteen were so cold that their faces and lips were stiff and purple, their eyes were staring, and they looked like they could faint at any time.

After breakfast, the King of Jin finally summoned them and said to them, "With your personalities, it would be a waste for you to stay with me, a mere idler. I would rather recommend you to the Tiger Guards to protect the Emperor and achieve great success."

No one answered.

The King of Jin said, "Or I may give you ten pieces of gold, return your indentures, and let you each pursue your own future."

Still no one responded, and the King of Jin lowered his head and smiled.

"In that case."

Prince Jin tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the wide chair, his dark gaze sweeping over each of them. He said calmly, "Give each of you thirty lashes and throw them out of the palace."

"Your Highness Prince Jin!"

"Your Highness, what did we do wrong?"

The fifteen people looked at each other, some dissatisfied and some angry, and looked at the King of Jin sitting on the throne with confusion.

The Prince of Jin thought to himself, "As expected, Xiao Cheng was incapable of governing. Even the spies he had sent to the palace were so clueless. They weren't motivated by fame or gain, but they endured the hardships of serving as his close attendants. Such strong intentions, perhaps afraid that others wouldn't know they had other plans."

Prince Jin chuckled and said, "Go back and tell your masters that the Prince Jin's Mansion in the future will not be the same as before. Tell them to send some smart people."

As soon as these words were spoken, some people fell silent, while others continued to argue and deny. The King of Jin glanced at the Chief Secretary, who came to his senses and hurriedly called the palace guards to drag all fifteen people away.

The scene in front of him finally became clear, and King Jin picked up the teacup and took a sip.

If it were in the Xie Mansion in his previous life, all fifty suspects would have been beaten to death. After all, Ah Ying's miserable end in her previous life was also closely related to the treacherous servants in the mansion.

But now is different from the past, everything has not yet begun, and he does not want to commit too much sin of killing.

After dealing with these people, the Chief Secretary came back to report in the cold weather, wiping the sweat off his face. He saw His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin sitting in the wind, wearing a moon-white robe, and waving at him leisurely.

The Chief Secretary walked over and caught another page of the list that the old man dropped.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I will meet these people."

＊

Perhaps the commotion in Prince Jin's Mansion attracted the attention of the noble lady, and she had no time to bother with the Jiang family, so she let Congying have a few days of peace.

Cong Ying went to the library of the old censor Jiang and sorted out his manuscripts one by one. She found another copy of "Jianyuan Collection" in the interlayer of the bookshelf. Both the content and the handwriting were the same as the one that Xie Xuanlan showed her.

There was also a leaflet that someone had stuffed on the desk, which contained that harsh nursery rhyme.

If these two items were found in the library at the same time when the Tiger Guards surrounded the mansion, the Jiang family would be charged with slandering the emperor and the master. They would be in dire straits and would have no choice but to rely on the Xie family for help.

fortunately.

Cong Ying threw these shameful manuscripts into the copper brazier and set it on fire. The younger sister Ah He huddled beside the brazier, warming herself by the fire, muttering absentmindedly, "Sister, I want to eat roasted chestnuts..."

Hearing this gossamer voice, Zong Ying's heart tightened, and she quickly checked her expression: "Ah He, do you feel uncomfortable?"

The little sister groaned, covered her forehead with her hands where the scar was, and cried out in pain softly.

Her old injury occasionally caused headaches, and only the master of the Crimson Cloud Crown in the Xuandu Temple on Qinglu Mountain outside the city could provide temporary relief. There was a chestnut tree in the Xuandu Temple. Every time Ah He had a headache, she would think of the aroma of roasted chestnuts, mistakenly believing that eating roasted chestnuts would cure her illness.

It was dusk and the sound of bronze bells indicating the city gates were locked could be heard faintly.

Cong Ying let Ah He lie on her lap. After washing her hands, she massaged the acupuncture points on the side of her face and discussed with her: "Let's go find the Master of the Crimson Cloud Crown early tomorrow morning and eat roasted chestnuts, okay?"

Ah He nodded listlessly, curled up in her arms and closed his eyes.

Cong Ying stroked Ah He's temples and sighed, inevitably feeling melancholy about the days ahead.

The eldest son is cold and calculating, and the mother only protects her younger brother. If she gets married in the future, who will take care of Ah He?

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