Chapter 54 [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Birthday.
This matter couldn't be kept secret. Xu Xinshu knew very well that the palace was full of Qi Jin's spies. Even if he didn't let them in, it wouldn't be long before the news reached Qi Jin's ears. And judging from Su Siyang's appearance, he didn't seem like he could stop them.
Xu Xinshu, holding up his umbrella, steadied himself and bowed slightly to Su Siyang, saying, "Lord Su, please wait a moment, this servant will go in and inform him."
"Okay." Su Siyang responded, watching Xu Xinshu go inside.
After a while, Qu An came out and said, "Lord Su, His Majesty invites you in."
Su Siyang led Ayu inside, through a small door, and down to the corridor. He folded his umbrella and handed it to the waiting eunuch. The ambergris incense in the Imperial Study was quite strong. As Su Siyang and Ayu moved in, the fragrance wafted around them, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, floating and uncertain, just like Su Siyang's heart at that moment.
Qi Jin sat on the dragon throne, propping his head up with one hand, seemingly waiting for Su Siyang and the others to come in.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty," Su Siyang and Ayu bowed and paid their respects to Qi Jin.
"Get up," Qi Jin replied lazily. "Why are you returning to the palace so late at night?"
"Your humble servant encountered the Empress Dowager's personal maid, Ayu, at the palace gate," Su Siyang continued.
Su Siyang stopped there and didn't say anything more. Ayu, with great insight, knelt down and told Qi Jin everything that she had just said to Su Siyang.
"Really?" Qi Jin asked calmly.
“This servant dares not deceive Your Majesty. At first, this servant did not believe it either, but this servant went to the governor’s mansion to check, and those lying in the governor’s mansion were indeed the guards who accompanied the Empress Dowager to Wanjiang Mountain.”
Ayu spoke with utmost sincerity.
As soon as Ayu finished speaking, she heard a voice beside her. Su Siyang's voice rang in her ears: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager's fate is currently unknown. I request to lead troops to Guizhou to search for her."
The room fell silent for a moment, broken only by the crackling of the candlesticks burning on the table. Qi Jin paused for a moment, then tapped the table twice with his index finger and replied, "Then let Han Qingzhou go with you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Su Siyang replied. "Then this humble subject will take his leave."
Qi Jin did not respond, watching the two of them leave. After they left, Xu Xinshu hurriedly knelt down and said, "This servant deserves to die a thousand deaths, Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Qi Jin slowly closed his eyes, the flickering red candlelight before him. Xu Xinshu knelt at his feet; the silence at this moment was unbearable, every single second.
"Didn't they say he had already fallen off the cliff?" Qi Jin asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Xu Xinshu replied hastily.
"If you fall off the cliff at Qian'an Slope, you'll surely be left with nothing but bones."
"Of course," Xu Xinshu replied, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Arrange for men to kill all those assassins." Qi Jin said this very casually. When he heard the last two words, Xu Xinshu's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly recovered and replied, "This servant understands."
"If this matter goes wrong again..." Qi Jin's words were slow and deliberate, like a knife hanging over Xu Xinshu's head.
"This servant understands." By this time, Xu Xinshu's back was already soaked with sweat. As he walked out of the imperial study, a gust of wind blew past, and he felt a cool breeze on his back, suddenly feeling a sense of relief as if he had survived a disaster.
"It's getting late, and the rain is so heavy. Why don't we wait until tomorrow morning to set off?" Qinghong knew that Su Si had volunteered to go to Guizhou, and he had no choice but to go. But it was indeed very late today, and the rain was so heavy that it would be inconvenient to go now.
Before Qinghong could finish speaking, she noticed Su Siyang's gaze. Qinghong paused, and wisely kept quiet.
After getting into the carriage, Qinghong rode alongside it and heard Su Siyang's voice coming from inside.
"Leave the city directly."
Qinghong was taken aback: "My lord, aren't you going back to the manor?"
"Go back to your residence and pack your things," Su Siyang instructed directly.
"And what about Lord Han?"
“He will lead his troops to follow,” Su Siyang replied, then said to the coachman, “Let’s go.”
The coachman obeyed, flicked the reins, and the horse reared up, galloping swiftly into the night. Seeing this, Qinghong quickly raised his whip and rode off towards the Zhongshu Mansion.
When Yu Jing woke up, it was already broad daylight. Even with the bed curtains drawn, she could still feel the light streaming in from outside. Turning her head, she saw that the bed beside her was empty. Ever since Xie Xuan had pleaded with her that night and she had responded, their relationship had become much closer than before.
Yu Jing threw back the covers and got up. Her injuries were much better than before. There were many things Xie Xuan didn't need to help with anymore, but he still did them for her. Today was Sun Jun's birthday, and Xie Xuan had gone up the mountain a few days ago to hunt some pheasants to sell, earning some silver. There wasn't much to buy in the village, so they decided to give the silver to Sun Jun as a birthday gift during dinner that evening.
Pushing open the door, Xie Xuan was hanging clothes to dry. Hearing the commotion, he turned his head to look at Yu Jing and called out with a smile, "Queque."
Yu Jing walked to Xie Xuan's side and was about to bend down to take the clothes from the wooden tub when Xie Xuan saw this and quickly stopped her, saying, "Let me do it."
Hearing Xie Xuan's words, Yu Jing put down her hands. Watching Xie Xuan hang up the clothes, she suddenly remembered what Li Yun had said to her a few days ago.
"Everyone in the village envies you for finding such a good husband! Xie Xuan is as handsome as an immortal, and he treats you so well that it's truly enviable."
Yu Jing didn't understand what he meant at first and looked at Li Yun in confusion. Seeing Yu Jing looking at her like that, Li Yun said, "What husband would wash a woman's clothes? It's even rarer for a young master from a wealthy family."
Yu Jing thought about it and realized it made sense. To her, Xie Xuan was like a celestial emperor. It seemed a bit much for a celestial emperor to do all sorts of things for her.
Thinking of this, Yu Jing bent down again to take the clothes from the wooden tub. Xie Xuan had just finished hanging them out to dry and saw Yu Jing going to get them again. So he walked over to Yu Jing's side and reached out to take the clothes from her hands.
As luck would have it, what Yu Jing was holding was her own undergarment. After her injuries had healed considerably, Li Yun had helped her prepare a few pieces. The fabric wasn't the finest, but it wasn't bad either; it had a light blue background with a pink mimosa flower embroidered on it, making it quite delicate.
Their fingertips touched before Yu Jing realized what she was holding. She coughed awkwardly, blushing as she released her grip. Seeing this, Xie Xuan naturally took the object and hung it up to dry.
"You're all up!" Li Yun greeted him with a smile as he returned from outside.
"Big sister." Yu Jing greeted Li Yun, who was carrying a piece of meat.
Li Yun raised his hand to show them the meat he was carrying, and said with a smile, "Today is Old Sun's birthday. I was lucky enough to run into Old Wang's family slaughtering a cow at the village entrance. So I spent some money to buy a piece of meat, which I'll use to cook longevity noodles tonight."
"Mm." Yu Jing nodded.
As night fell, Li Yun not only cooked longevity noodles with beef, but also prepared several other dishes. Sun Jun even brought out a jar of wine. Yu Jing and Xie Xuan sat together, looking at the wine Sun Jun had brought out, somewhat bewildered.
Sun Jun looked at the wine with a look of delight and said to them, "This is a wine I've treasured for many years. Since we're all happy today and there are so many people, I'll open it and we can all have some fun together, shall we?"
"Okay." Seeing Sun Jun so happy, Xie Xuan replied.
"Great!" Sun Jun was even happier after hearing Xie Xuan's words, and reached out to lift the lid of the wine jar. The aroma of the wine instantly filled the entire kitchen, even overpowering the smell of the food on the table.
Even though Yu Jing doesn't drink much, he still found the wine to be very fragrant and mellow.
"Come on, fill it up." Sun Jun picked up the wine jar and poured wine for Xie Xuan and Yu Jing. After pouring for Yu Jing, Sun Jun came back to his senses and said, "Miss Guiyi, your injury has not yet healed. I was so happy that I forgot. Look at me, I really am."
"It's alright, it's my wife's, I'll drink it for her," Xie Xuan said, his ears turning red before he even took a sip of the wine.
"Great!" Sun Jun picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and then said to Xie Xuan, "Then let's drink until we're drunk today."
"We won't leave until we're drunk." Xie Xuanyi readily picked up his wine glass, clinked glasses with Sun Jun, and drank it all in one gulp.
Yu Jing had heard that Xie Xuan would drink with his subordinates after winning battles, so he assumed Xie Xuan had a good capacity for alcohol. Besides, he thought it was Sun Jun's birthday today, so even if he got drunk, it wouldn't matter, and he let them be.
Sun Jun was in high spirits and drank a few more cups with Xie Xuan. When Li Yun saw that Sun Jun's face was flushed and his speech was becoming slurred, he advised them to stop.
The group had almost finished eating. Sun Jun was a little drunk, so Li Yun pulled Sun Jun up and said to Yu Jing, "Guiyi, since Old Sun is drunk, I'll take him back to his room first. I think Xie Xuan is also a little drunk, so you should take him back to his room too. I'll clean up the table tomorrow."
"Okay, sure." Yu Jing responded, watching Li Yun lead Sun Jun out, then turned to look at Xie Xuan. Xie Xuan's face wasn't red, but his ears were bright red. He was propping his head up with one hand on the table, as if he were drunk.
"Xie Xuan," Yu Jing called out softly as she leaned closer.
"Mm," Xie Xuan replied, looking up at Yu Jing.
His eyes were glistening with tears, reflecting her face. Yu Jing could even feel the joy in them. Seeing his expression, Yu Jing paused for a moment, then coaxed, "Shall we go back inside?"
"Okay." Xie Xuan responded and was about to stand up when he stumbled slightly. Yu Jing quickly reached out to support him. Xie Xuan's hand was very hot, while Yu Jing's hand was a little cool. The touch of their hands created a very subtle feeling.
Yu Jing felt her heart was beating a little fast.
The short distance from the kitchen to the house felt like an eternity to Xie Xuan, who was supporting Yu Jing. Once inside, Yu Jing closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief, only to see Xie Xuan about to sway to the side. She rushed over and reached out to steady him.
Sun Jun's liquor wasn't strong at first, but it had a strong aftereffect. Xie Xuan was starting to feel the effects of the liquor. As Yu Jing supported him, he followed her slender, fair hand upwards and met her eyes.
"Magpie, so beautiful."
"What?" Yu Jing was completely confused and asked in return. The next second, Xie Xuan's head was already resting on her shoulder.
His breath, seeping through her thin clothes, brushed against her collarbone, sending shivers down her spine. Hearing Yu Jing's question, he propped himself up slightly, leaning closer to her ear, and repeated, "Queque is so beautiful."
He had been drinking, and his voice was dull, like that of a child, which made it sound all the more sincere.
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