at night

Arranged by weather?

The waiting time will always be longer. There is nothing else to do at the moment. It is a rare quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Jiang Nian propped up his head and looked at the young man. He repeated the name in his mind several times and suddenly thought of a blind spot.

"Did your master give you this name?"

For some unknown reason, Xiao Yingzhu's full name kept repeating in her mouth. She hesitated for a moment but still didn't say it out loud.

The boy's black and white eyes reflected her shadow. After a moment, he finally said a few more words.

"It's not the master, it's the trade winds."

Feeling that the person in front of him had a hint of thought in his words when answering, and thinking that the young man belonged to Xiao Yingzhu, and asking more questions would be suspected of inquiring for information, Jiang Nian nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tell me after he replies."

I don’t know if the other secret guard speaks as little as he does. I wanted to ask him which of the two names, Qing or Yu, he is Qing or Yu.

But seeing his indifferent and docile look, Jiang Nian somehow felt that if he asked more questions, it would be considered as overly concerned. The question went around in his mind, but he decided to leave it until the next time he met the other secret guard.

—

The night was late, the wind was clear and the moon was bright. It was almost four o'clock in the morning, and Guizhi and Fuling had already gone to bed.

Jiang Nian pretended to close his eyes in sleep and just opened them.

Although the kitchen still has porridge prepared these days, the flavor has been changed according to her wishes.

But she could always sense a hint of worry in Jiang's mother's eyes recently.

This gaze was like a thorn, making her feel she was going against her conscience whenever she wanted to stay up a little longer and go to bed later.

Afraid that his mother would ask too many questions, Jiang Nian chose to rest before the two maids went to bed tonight. He pretended to go to bed early and got up from the bed at the right time when the moonlight was hazy.

The two secret guards spoke little. The secret guard who delivered the message to Xiao Yingzhu was named Yu. He moved freely and came and went quickly.

Not long after Qing left, Yu brought a message from Xiao Yingzhu.

See you at Chou hour.

—

After leaving Jiang's house, the rain was leading the way. Jiang Nian pulled up the hood of his night cape in the cold night wind, concealed his face with the light and shadow blocked by the darkness, and got into the car from a secluded place.

I met Xiao Yingzhu by chance when I went to the blacksmith shop before. I wonder if the "friend's teahouse" he mentioned at that time was this place.

The carriage's rollers seemed to make no sound as it moved forward in the pitch-black night, covered by thin clouds that obscured the bright moon. It passed through the city gate along a secluded road and finally turned upwards at a high ground.

Looking through the car window in the moonlight, Jiang Nian lowered his eyes and looked at the traces on the ground. There were few roads leading to and from the teahouse here, so it seemed like their private place.

Yu drove steadily uphill, making almost no noise, and finally stopped the carriage beside the pavilion.

Jiang Nian didn't need Yu's help, and she knew his main task. She lifted the curtain and got out of the car, looking around the teahouse that seemed half covered with gauze in her impression.

—

The teahouse is in the shape of an elegant pavilion. There is a dead silence all around. The clear moonlight casts a shadow over the courtyard next to it. The grass and trees in the courtyard are cooling down in the moonlight, while the green bamboos growing around it are wrapped in the cool moonlight.

At night, the bamboo shadows dance, interwoven with the rich black, like a natural screen, separating this leisurely place for conversation from the city.

Although this place is not far from the city, standing on the pavilion and looking at the bamboo scenery next to it, one can suddenly have the illusion that this place is separated from the world.

The paint on the outside of the pavilion contrasts with the carvings inside, and the candlelight reflected on the window paper is like a touch of red.

Jiang Nian raised his head and looked up. The window paper on the pavilion reflected the curling lights and engraved a faint black figure.

Xiao Yingzhu arrived before her.

The door under the pavilion was opened a crack in advance, silently inviting the night travelers to come.

Jiang Nian withdrew her gaze from the window frame above, lowered her eyes and glanced at the neatly arranged crepe skirt she had worn when she left the house, and followed Yu into the building with the plum-patterned gold box in her hand.

—

The room was filled with the faint fragrance of tea, and the wooden stairs were dimly reflected in the soft and faint light.

The moonlight that shone through the pavilion and the candlelight outside the pavilion illuminated Jiang Nian's eyes.

The tea room is spacious, with a very thin and light stream rustling.

The person in front was wearing a snow-blue brocade dress with dark floral sleeves, which was like flowing lines with tiny light under the moonlight. Her black hair was tied up and fell down like black clouds, and her silhouette facing the moon by the window seemed to be wrapped in a hazy and cool light.

Jiang Nian's gaze paused for a moment on his clothes, gathering his thoughts. He walked around the pale white mist in the room, created by the clear water vapor, and sat down by the window.

The partition door was pulled up by the rain, and the sound of trickling water in the extremely quiet small indoor water feature expanded in the senses, and the cool and icy feeling seemed to fill the heart.

Xiao Yingzhu withdrew her gaze from the carriage below the window, her eyes briefly glanced at the bag in her hand, and her fingertips lightly tapped the table.

"A new deworming formula?"

The folded paper was spread out under the candlelight. Jiang Nian was thinking over the next question in her mind. She pushed the paper in front of him with a calm and steady voice.

"Well, I'll need it next."

The effects of each recipe on the paper were clearly marked, and black lines were drawn under several of the minerals required.

Xiao Yingzhu glanced at the other prescriptions and her eyes fell on the name of the mineral. Her smile faded a little and she raised her eyes to look at Jiang Nian thoughtfully.

"Miss Jiang, are you looking for me to inquire about this mineral?"

His eyes were dark and deep. Jiang Nian looked at him calmly for a moment, then pondered over his words and suddenly smiled.

"Minerals are not something that ordinary people can find. A pharmacy needs to update its products seasonally, so minerals are indispensable."

"But minerals are hard to come by. After much thought, I've come to realize that there are only a few people I can turn to. So, I'll leave it to you, sir."

The paper of the prescription was twisted by slender fingers. Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes and glanced at the prescription for a moment, then casually handed it to the secret guard waiting on the side.

"Since Miss Jiang has chosen this hour to discuss matters with me, there must be more to her than this."

He slowly placed the brewed tea on the table opposite. His snow-blue sleeves and slender fingers seemed to gather light between the alternating brightness of the candle and the moon, flashing a bright color in Jiang Nian's eyes.

The sound and words settled in her heart.

"What do you want to ask? Just tell me directly."

As the sleeves rubbed against each other, the crisp fragrance of bamboo lingered, faintly catching Jiang Nian's nose.

Xiao Yingzhu saw clearly that the mineral written on the prescription was not a mineral in the literal sense.

He was waiting for himself to speak.

Jiang Nian lowered his eyes, picked up the warm tea calmly, and blew on it gently.

"Pingzhou has strict mineral regulations. I heard there's a shortage of minerals lately. Is this true?"

Listening to the chuckles from the other side, her tranquil face seemed to add a bit of cunning. Facing his cold gaze, Jiang Nian added another sentence with a charming smile.

"This is about the survival of the pharmacy, so please give Jiang Nian a definite answer."

There was no point in beating around the bush with Xiao Yingzhu about this matter. He saw through it but didn't say it out loud, just waiting for her to speak.

Then she would simply break the core of the question into two halves and put them in front of him.

But this question is indeed more straightforward.

I almost added that those minerals were used to supply the war.

Xiao Yingzhu didn't expect Jiang Nian to say this, so she told her not to beat around the bush. So she just put the probing question into plain words and threw it to him.

He curled his lips and looked at her steadily for a few seconds before he put away his smile.

"Miss Jiang is right, but it's a strange time to ask."

"Do you have other concerns?"

The floral fragrance in the teacup was fragrant. Jiang Nian took a sip and put the warm tea back on the table.

The dark bamboos outside the window rustled, it was the wind blowing through the forest.

There was little sound of cicadas chirping.

In the eyes of others, a single man and a single woman meeting at night must be an affair.

But when Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu met at night, apart from the chill that often filled the room at night in the forest, the only thing left was the murderous aura of the unpredictable power struggles in the dark.

—

After recounting the key points of what he had seen and heard during the day, Jiang Nian avoided the red-line questions related to the imperial court and the war and asked in a more subtle way.

"...That's where my doubt lies. How do you intend to treat the outsiders in this city?"

Since it has been confirmed that there will be a war, it is time to ask Xiao Yingzhu what he thinks.

As a Duke, Xiao Yingzhu's decisions will always be the same as the emperor's, and he will not deviate from or go against the court's choices.

She wanted to start from this aspect to see Xiao Yingzhu's position in the court.

Only in this way can we make subsequent response decisions before the war, protect ourselves and the pharmacy, and find out our position in this cooperation.

This sentence was quite unconventional, and Xiao Yingzhu must have understood it.

After asking the question, Jiang Nianxin shrank slightly.

Since Xiao Yingzhu returned to the capital, her relationship with Xiao Yingzhu has become closer.

But she couldn't figure out or detect how Xiao Yingzhu would respond to this matter.

It started to rain outside the window at some point, and the candlelight was dimmed by the rain-filled wind outside, leaving only the color outside the window in the tea room.

The light in the sight suddenly faded away, and Xiao Yingzhu was at the intersection of light and darkness, and her face became even more beautiful.

He had been keeping his eyes down since he started telling the rumors about Qixia Mountain, and his expression remained unchanged.

His lowered eyelids hid the emotions in his eyes, making it even more difficult to guess his thoughts. Jiang Nian inexplicably felt that his hands on the table were a little cold.

Is it because of the cold night wind blowing in from the window?

"Is Miss Jiang nervous?"

A cold voice came from across the table. Glancing at the slightly clenched fingers on the table opposite, Xiao Yingzhu raised her eyes nonchalantly.

There was a moment of silence in the room, and his eyes were dark and cold, which was frightening.

Jiang Nian met the other person's cold gaze neither servile nor arrogant, and a soft smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"People are always afraid of the unknown. I'm worried that those outsiders will make a few remarks in the city and disrupt the peaceful life."

"If I could hear your answer now, Jiang Nian would feel at ease."

The other party was silent for a while, and then raised a question that seemed unrelated to her question.

"Miss Jiang, have you ever heard of the Wu Mi people?"

—

"Wu Mi Zhong?"

"What's this?"

Xinfeng's gaze shifted back and forth between the spies in front of him, and finally returned to Xizhen's face.

"The largest rabble-rousing cult in Donglan."

"It established branches in various places, spreading the idea that one can gain eternal life and have the opportunity to hear the guidance of immortal voices through the cult, so as to spread more people to join their cult."

Xizhen's gaze slowly fell on the face of one of the spies.

"One of the missing people from Dongqing Village is here."

His deep eyes flashed with a brilliant color like a stream of light.

"I think the missing people from the other villages must have been taken in as believers."