Chapter 52 Copying Books for Lu Qian
Lu Tanwei glanced at the imperial guards and wanted to ask a few more questions, but when he saw the trembling fear on the face of the Jingzhao prefect, he sighed and stopped talking.
"It's getting late, and I have to go back to the East Palace to handle government affairs. Please do as you please, my two lords." Xiao Mingyi drove his horse into the city, and the imperial guards gathered around the city gate followed closely behind.
In a moment, like a whirlwind, hundreds of riders and horses rushed into the city gate and disappeared at the end of the long street.
The Jingzhao prefect wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath: "I have to thank the Duke for escaping a disaster today."
"Sir Li, the person you should thank is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. You must be more careful in the future," said Lu Tanwei.
The prefect of Jingzhao had a sad face and nodded in agreement.
…
The night is dark.
When Lu Tanwei returned home, it was already three quarters past midnight.
In the Weirui Hall, a huge incense stick was held high, and Qingyue led the way with a lantern, explaining to Lu Tanwei what had happened during the day.
"What?"
"This brat is always causing trouble."
Lu Tanwei's scolding voice came from the door. Wang, who was absent-minded in the inner hall, looked up and said with a gloomy face: "A Qian keeps getting into trouble, isn't it because we usually spoil him too much?"
Lu Tanwei could hear the anger in his wife's tone and strode into the inner hall, saying in a rather flattering manner, "Don't be angry, Madam. I'll go to the ancestral hall and teach that brat a lesson."
"It all happened this morning. What's the point in going now?" Wang glared at him resentfully. "The office was already closed. Why are you back so late, Duke?"
Lu Tanwei hadn't mentioned his trip to Jiuhua Mountain to suppress the bandits to Wang Shi yet, fearing his family would worry. He drank some hot soup and recounted everything he had seen and heard at the city gate.
The courtyard is quiet and the corridors are dimly lit by candlelight.
A black shadow crouched and quickly passed by the window, heading towards the ancestral hall.
Weirui Hall was not far from the ancestral hall. The girl walked over carefully and happened to hear a conversation in the inner hall.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally led the Imperial Guards to Jiuhua Mountain to suppress the bandits?"
It was my aunt's voice, her tone was surprised and a little bit unbelievable.
"I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?"
Suppress bandits?
The girl outside the window paused and frowned. What kind of bandit was worthy of the prince leading an army? Could it be Shen Wuhui?
"What kind of bandits are worthy of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's intervention?"
"How would I know? They said they were looking for someone. Those bandits burned, killed, looted, and even raped women..."
The girl didn't dare to listen to what was said next. She walked slowly towards the ancestral hall, breathing rapidly and with a hint of panic in her eyes.
The bandits burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. They clearly deserved what they got today, but why... Whenever he thought that this news might be related to Shen Wuhui, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
In a trance, she had walked out of the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall is filled with incense, and the silver-gilt flower branch lamps inlaid on the walls illuminate the room.
Looking in from outside, the young man in brocade robe had his head lowered and his back slightly bent, kneeling quietly on a cushion and copying scriptures.
The distraught girl came back to her senses a little, stepped over the threshold with the food box, and walked lightly to the boy.
Lu Qian's ears moved slightly, knowing that someone was coming in, but he deliberately did not react. When the person got closer, he suddenly turned his head.
In the warm yellow light, the pair of auspicious phoenix eyes were cold and fierce. The moment they looked straight at her, Song Lingyi shrank back in fear.
"What are you doing here?" Lu Qian frowned.
“…”
Song Lingyi calmed herself down, placed the food box in front of him, and said guiltily, "I heard you haven't eaten all day, so I went to the kitchen and got a few plates of cakes. You can fill your stomach with them."
In the silence between them, Lu Qian looked at her, his eyes seemed to say, "Are you so kind?"
Knowing that she had an unshirkable responsibility for what happened this morning, Song Lingyi stammered, "I was also wrong about what happened today."
Lu Qian raised his eyebrows, very surprised.
The silly girl actually admitted her mistake. Did the sun rise from the west?
"You're not trying to play tricks on me again, are you?" Lu Qian hesitated and glanced down at the food box. "Is there poison hidden in the pastries?"
Song Lingyi glared: "How is that possible!" His kindness was really taken for granted.
She opened the food box and took a bite of each of the three cakes.
"I believe it now, don't I?"
Lu Qian didn't say anything. He turned his head lazily and continued copying the Buddhist scriptures with a very cold attitude.
Looking at the red and swollen slap marks on the boy's face, Song Lingyi lost her temper, pursed her lips, and sat down quietly on another cushion.
The atmosphere in the ancestral hall was too quiet. She was originally thinking about how to coax people, but as she was thinking, she suddenly started to think about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suppressing bandits.
“Hello…Hello!”
There was a loud bang in my ears.
The girl sitting cross-legged on the futon trembled with her shoulders and tilted her head in panic: "What are you doing!?"
"I should be the one asking you this!" Lu Qian said in a cold tone, "Why are you sitting here all the time? Are you trying to make fun of me?"
"No, I sent you some pastries to ask for peace, and not only did you ignore me, but you also made assumptions about me." You deserve to have no friends.
"No need, just take the lunch box and go." The boy stood up with sharp thorns all over his body like a hedgehog.
Song Lingyi bit her lip.
In her usual temper, she would have taken the lunch box and left long ago, but today she pushed him into the pond and complained to her aunt, causing him to get slapped twice. She felt really bad. They lived under the same roof and had a lot of time to spend together in the future. It was not a good idea to keep the relationship this tense.
She has lived two lives and is not someone who can't lose face. Besides, it is not shameful to take the initiative to seek peace.
"Cousin." The girl smiled softly with her eyes curved.
Lu Qian's eyelids twitched slightly, and he glared at her like he saw a ghost. "If you have something to say, just talk it over nicely. Don't do this to her."
"I really know I was wrong. Please forgive me." To prove her determination to make peace, Song Lingyi took the initiative to move the table and took the wolf hair brush from Lu Qian's hand. "At worst, I can copy the rest of the scriptures for you."
The girl bent over the desk, imitating the previous handwriting and carefully copying the scriptures.
The green gauze lamp placed on the right corner of the table emitted warm candlelight, which sprinkled on her black hair, forehead, and nose tip. Her profile seemed to be coated with a layer of soft golden light, making her cold and austere face look a little gentler.
The sky outside the window was pitch black, and the ancestral hall was filled with sandalwood incense.
Lu Qian sat cross-legged in a lazy posture, tapping his knees with his slender fingers from time to time, looking at the girl quietly, with the only sound of rustling writing in his ears.
After finally finishing a piece, the girl yawned, covering her lips with her hands. Lu Qian's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyes instantly shifted away. He lowered his eyes to glance at the cakes in the food box, reached out to pick up a piece of lotus cake, took a bite, and the sweetness exploded in his mouth.
The taste is okay.
Lu Qian took two more bites and noticed from the corner of his eye that the girl was looking at him. He raised his eyes and met her smiling face.
"Isn't it delicious?" Song Lingyi tilted her head slightly and said as if presenting a treasure, "This is a traditional pastry from Huaizhou. I love it."
Huaizhou pastries...
Lu Qian's expression changed again and again, and he hesitated to speak: "You didn't do this, did you?"
Song Lingyi shook her head and said as she copied the scriptures, "How could I make these? My aunt knew I loved them, so she asked the kitchen staff to teach me how to make them."
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