Jiang Rao wanted to suppress her discomfort that appeared for no reason, but his words made her emotions that had been in order again become chaotic. She didn't know why, but she felt as cold as being in a snowy land, and slightly angry. She looked up at Rong Ting in surprise.

He lowered his head for a long time, his lips slightly pursed in despair, his drooping eyelashes felt heavy as if wet by dew. That pitiful look... magnified the uncomfortable feeling in Jiang Rao's heart a hundredfold, reaching a level that she could no longer bear.

She frowned, "What did she do to you?"

There was anger in the soft tone.

Rong Ting seemed to be in so much pain that he couldn't speak, and turned his face away in a disgruntled manner.

Huai Qing didn't know what the Ninth Prince was up to.

Last night he was awakened by the noise of a palace maid escaping from the mansion. He came to the study with a lantern and took a look. The Ninth Prince's clothes were still the same as they were during the day, not a single piece was missing, not even a single wrinkle was added.

When he arrived, the Ninth Prince was using a knife to carve bamboo to repair a lantern. Without even turning his head, he ordered him to take out the cushions in the study and burn them. The disgust in his tone was obvious.

It was not until the next day that he realized that the cushion might have been knelt on by the palace maid.

He was so disgusted that he probably didn't even let the maid touch the corner of his clothes.

Originally, even if something happened, the man would never be the one who suffered a loss.

It was a custom among the noble children of the Dazhao Dynasty to hire a maid or palace maid to serve you early. It was rare for the Ninth Prince to be so ignorant of human affairs at his age.

"Huaiqing, go ahead."

Rong Ting was silent for a long time. Jiang Rao was anxious and turned to ask Huai Qing.

Huai Qing glanced at Rong Ting's eyes and had no intention of stopping him. He paused for a moment and replied slowly, "The maidservant who serves as the emperor was sent in by the Empress. The imperial decree cannot be refused. She was originally placed in the west wing to fend for herself, but she was unwilling to give in. In the middle of the night, she took advantage of no one to break into the study of His Majesty the Ninth Prince. It was a pity that His Majesty the Ninth Prince was reading by lamplight at night..."

Rong Ting coughed.

Huai Qing choked and didn't say anything more.

Rong Ting said calmly, "You go guard the door," and sent Huai Qing away.

Huai Qing's words only left out the most important thing, which was like putting Jiang Rao's heart on fire.

The night was dark and windy.

A palace maid with evil intentions.

A prince who had a leg injury and was unable to move easily, and who had recently fallen ill.

Her mind uncontrollably thought of

In the folk stories of strange and bizarre things, there is a female fairy who steals the yang energy of scholars at night.

Rong Ting raised his eyes slightly and slowly swept his gaze across Jiang Rao's face.

Inch by inch, he took in her frowning brows, pursed lips, tense chin, and clear jawline.

The long fingers tapped the wheelchair twice with pleasure.

He wanted her to worry about him and no longer be indifferent.

He waited for the little girl's face to slowly turn red with anger. She was so angry that she felt like stamping her feet. She couldn't hide the joy in her heart no matter what. But she lowered her head, tightened her lips to prevent herself from smiling, and said in a low voice, "That woman didn't touch me."

Jiang Rao felt depressed.

She had never thought that there would be someone whose existence would make her feel as uncomfortable as a thorn in her eyes and a thorn in her flesh. She must get rid of her! She didn't want to continue questioning Huai Qing. She just wanted to go to Rong Ting's mansion and find an excuse to drive away the maid with bad intentions. After hearing Rong Ting's words, she didn't think about it and said immediately: "Even if we didn't meet her, we have to drive her out."

"Hello?" Didn't meet?

She was immersed in her own emotions and humming, and suddenly she was stunned.

"The scent of her powder was so disgusting that it made me want to vomit. I didn't let her touch me."

The fire that had been burning in Jiang Rao's heart all the way and growing stronger and stronger was extinguished in an instant.

On the contrary, an inexplicable joy suddenly ignited like a small flame.

She herself felt that she was a little abnormal today, feeling sad and happy at the same time, which was not like herself. Her face was now hot. She exhaled, and a puzzled look appeared on her face again, "Then why did you say that you are not clean?"

"The study is a place for reading books of sages. She sneaked in in the middle of the night and broke the rules set by our ancestors. If our ancestors saw this in heaven, they would definitely scold me for being dirty and having no sense of propriety, righteousness, and shame."

Rong Ting spoke sincerely, with a look of disgust on his face, as if he couldn't raise his head.

Jiang Rao finally understood the whole story and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

From childhood to adulthood, she has traveled from north to south and seen the customs of various places. In some border areas, women have the same status as men and can do things that only men can do. But in those places, she had never seen a man who cared so much about his reputation and kept himself clean.

But she was a little happy in her heart. She couldn't explain why, but her voice became softer. "This is not your fault. Even if the ancestors saw it, they would scold the person who broke into your study."

"It's my fault for being careless and giving that maid the opportunity to break in."

"Not really."

Jiang Rao asked him,

"Where is the maid now?"

"She got angry and ran away because of my rejection."

Jiang Rao's smile fell, and she found it a little strange, "Why do you look... a little unhappy?"

The palace maid left. Isn’t this a good result?

"Before she left, she called me a cripple, saying that I was only half a person and didn't know what was good for me..."

His eyelids drooped and his tone was low, as if he was really hurt by these words.

Jiang Rao looked at Rong Ting in front of her, and it seemed as if she saw him being insulted by that palace maid.

At times like this, she actually hoped that he could be like the Jiu Ye in her dreams, seeking revenge when necessary and being a little lawless.

She shook her head slowly, "Don't listen to her. Whether your leg is good or bad, you are a very good person."

Rong Ting looked uneasy, "Don't you dislike me?"

Jiang Rao was very determined, "I won't."

There was a knock on the door.

Ming Shao couldn't bear to see Jiang Rao's mind focused on Rong Ting. Jinling was different from the outside world. If she made the slightest mistake, she would be easily criticized. She wanted to supervise the young lady to observe etiquette. She knocked on the door twice, "Young lady, His Highness the Ninth Prince, have you finished your conversation?"

Jiang Rao then remembered the important matter.

She pulled an envelope from her sleeve.

"After autumn, if you can really enter the Ministry of Industry, this will be useful."

After she heard the news that Rong Ting would join the Ministry of Works, she sent someone to get a clear list of officials in the Ministry of Works and their respective temperaments and preferences, and wrote them down on a piece of paper.

With the Xu family's connections in the court, it would be easy for Rong Ting to enter the Ministry of Works, but if he wanted to thrive in the ministry, he would probably face some resistance. The sooner you know what kind of people are inside, the easier the road ahead will be.

Rong Ting took the letter.

Ming Shao was outside, and asked impatiently, "Girl?"

Jiang Rao lifted the curtain to go out, and Huai Qing lifted the curtain to come in.

In this short period of time, Rong Ting had opened the letter and read the name of the person on the letter and the small words after the name.

Huai Qing glanced at it and was a little surprised, "Isn't this what His Majesty the Ninth Prince asked me to inquire about?"

"Should we tell the fourth young lady so that she won't waste her efforts in the future?"

Rong Ting looked at the figures of the master and servant outside the curtain. He held the thin piece of letter paper and whispered, "There's no need to let Nian Nian know that we asked about it."

Huai Qing suddenly thought of the palace lanterns under the corridor and the bonsai in the courtyard. He understood Rong Ting's meaning and knew that he had said the wrong thing again. "It was I who overstepped my authority."

Outside the curtain, Ming Shao watched Jiang Rao walk out with bright eyes. Looking at her, she felt that she was happier than usual, so she became happy too, but only for a moment.

Ming Shao was no longer happy when she thought that the person who made Jiang Rao happy was the Ninth Prince.

The corners of his smiling mouth drooped again, and he glanced into the house with some resentment, "Miss, there are guests coming to our house today, and they will stay for dinner. The Fourth Master asked us to go back early, so we should leave."

"guest?"

Ming Shao leaned close to Jiang Rao's ear and said, "It's Pei Shaoqing."

Jiang Rao guessed that it would be him.

Ever since the day she met Pei Songyu by chance in the corridor, she often saw Pei Songyu coming to discuss matters with her father.

Pei Songyu has helped her father a lot recently, but she is not arrogant and her attitude is always humble. He did not claim to be a gentleman, but his behavior made people feel that he was a man of both appearance and substance, with an elegant and upright demeanor, and a star-like figure, making it difficult for people to dislike him. It's not a bad thing for Dad to associate with him.

Jiang Rao had a pretty good impression of this distant cousin. The only thing she was dissatisfied with was that when her father was discussing matters with him, he always liked to occupy the pavilion in the middle of the lake where she liked to cool off. She always ran into him a few days ago, but later she simply stopped going there.

Ming Shao continued, "The old man will also be here, girl, you can't miss this occasion, it's time to go back and dress up."

"It's just a meal together, no need to dress up." Jiang Rao seemed to be bored, but she really couldn't find an excuse to refuse. She opened the curtain, said hello and goodbye to Rong Ting, turned around and said to Ming Shao: "Let's go back first."

Seeing that she was willing to go back, Ming Shao followed her and said with a smile, "Even without dressing up, you are still very beautiful."

Jiang Rao was used to hearing this and no longer felt much about it. When they were almost out of the alley, she asked Ming Shao softly, "Why would I be unhappy that His Highness the Ninth Prince had a maidservant beside him?"

Ming Shao was stunned for a moment.

Sleep with me? Ninth Prince? Isn't he disabled?

The unmarried maid had only a vague understanding of such things, but because Jiang Rao's words made her a little unhappy, she keenly realized that something was wrong.

She thought for a long time and said to Jiang Rao, "The Ninth Prince is too weak. You should be worried about his health."

Jiang Rao didn't say anything else.

Ming Shao followed Jiang Rao step by step, and advised worriedly, "Young lady, you are so beautiful. You must find a handsome man in the future. When you stand together with young lady, they will be a perfect match. They look so well-matched, and will be envied by others."

She stands

He bit her particularly hard and pulled Jiang Rao's sleeve, his eyes full of worry and advice like "Girl, don't jump into the fire pit."

Jiang Rao had never thought about it that way and did not understand the deeper meaning in Ming Shao's words.

On the contrary, because Ming Shao had been nagging her about marriage recently, she looked at Ming Shao angrily and pretended to scare her fiercely, "If you talk too much, I will move the Buddhist scriptures and wooden fish from Nanyun Temple to your room and let you recite them to your heart's content every day."

Ming Shao shut up immediately.

…

After the master and servant left.

Rong Ting's eyes were gloomy and cold.

Huai Qing only knew that Jiang Rao and her personal maid said something outside the curtain before leaving, but he had poor hearing and was inside the house, so he didn't hear clearly what they talked about.

To avoid being seen, Huai Qing originally wanted to wait for a while after Jiang Rao left, and then find a street with no one around to leave. Huai Qing glanced outside the alley, and heard Rong Ting behind him say, "Let's go back to the academy first. I have something to do, and I need to see the master."