June arrived in the blink of an eye. Zhu Jiayu, who was afraid of the heat, declined many invitations and stayed at Chunshan Residence all day without going out.
At this moment, she suddenly began to miss Yujing, which was quite unusual for her.
At least Yujing isn't this hot; it's so hot that it feels like you're in a boiler room.
Green Kite rushed back from outside and, upon seeing Zhu Jiayu lying in the rocking chair, before she could catch her breath, she curtsied and then eagerly began, "Miss..."
Before she could even speak, Zhu Jiayu poured her a cup of iced tea and handed it to her, saying, "Don't rush, tell me slowly what's wrong."
After finishing her drink, Lüzheng hurriedly continued, "I just met with Shulan. She said that Song Qingzhang now completely trusts her, thanks to the assassination you arranged last time. If Shulan hadn't risked her life to save him, she probably wouldn't have gained Song Qingzhang's trust so easily. She means that we can proceed with your next plan."
Zhu Jiayu took a sip of tea and looked at her listlessly: "No, that's too fast. We might alert them."
Moreover, she hadn't yet figured out how to set a trap for Song Qingzhang.
To deal with someone like Song Qingzhang, the only way is to strike him dead in one blow, without giving him a chance to retaliate, otherwise there will only be endless trouble. She needs to be cautious enough to wait for the next opportunity.
And so they waited until July.
The Songjiang River was hit by torrential rains for days, causing floods that stretched for thousands of miles. Houses in the city were destroyed, and people outside the city starved to death.
The Emperor was deeply saddened and ordered Wei Qinglou, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to escort three million taels of silver and ten thousand shi of grain to Songjiang to comfort the disaster victims, as a sign of the Emperor's compassion.
Zhu Jiayu knew that this was the opportunity she had been waiting for.
She summoned Lüzheng and whispered something to her, instructing her to handle the following matters: First, have Shulan find time to lure Song Qingzhang to Yanshui Tower, to the second private room on the left on the third floor; second, have two people memorize her script and converse with her in the first private room according to the information she provided.
"Did the young lady leave no other instructions?"
In the silk shop outside the Song residence, Shu Lan, having received instructions from Lü Zheng, asked another question.
Lüzheng smiled and said no. After thinking for a while, she took her hand again and said, "Take care of yourself. Once this is over, you can leave this place and start over."
Shu Lan nodded, reached out and covered her hand, patted it, and said, "Don't worry, I understand."
She lowered her head and selected a piece of light blue brocade, then carried it back to Song Qingzhang's courtyard in the Song residence.
Song Qingzhang had just returned and was looking for her to talk to, but she wasn't there. So he was drinking tea in her room when he saw her return. He went up to her, took the things from her hands, and took her hand, saying, "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet. You can have the servants do whatever you need. Why bother yourself?"
After he finished speaking, he looked around the room and thought it was still too simple, but Shu Lan always felt sorry for him living under someone else's roof and refused to let him buy anything.
"What are you looking at, young master?" Shu Lan carried the satin into the inner room and came out to see Song Qingzhang's gaze sweeping over the painting hanging in the hall and the jade vase with lotus flowers on the long table below the painting. She asked with a smile.
Song Qingzhang stretched out his long arm and pulled her into his arms. He tapped her delicate nose and sighed, "I wasn't looking at anything. I was just thinking that if I take you back to Yujing in the future, I will definitely buy you the most gorgeous clothes and the most exquisite jewelry."
Shu Lan hugged him back, burying her small face in his chest, and said affectionately, "I don't want anything. As long as I can stay by your side, I'm already content. How could I dare to ask for more?"
She said this, but in her heart she didn't really care.
She thought, "What the young lady said is indeed very true. Men are always like this. They always feel that a woman who stays by their side and doesn't covet or ask for anything truly loves them. On the contrary, if they make any small request, even if it's insignificant, they will greatly diminish their love for the woman and even begin to doubt her sincerity."
If she hadn't initially presented herself as someone who asked for nothing but for Song Qingzhang to take her in and spare her the suffering of wandering, and if she hadn't indeed never asked Song Qingzhang for anything in the days that followed, he probably wouldn't have trusted her so quickly. Even if she had taken a sword for him, he might have even thought she had some kind of conspiracy.
She could see clearly that after she woke up from her sword wound, Song Qingzhang asked her what she wanted. When she said she didn't want anything, the defensiveness and wariness in Song Qingzhang's eyes disappeared, and he began to truly accept her existence.
She scoffed inwardly. If he really wanted to be good to her, why wait until they went to the capital? In the end, men are best at self-pity and making promises about the future.
Feeling Song Qingzhang hug her even tighter, Shu Lan looked up at him with her small, palm-sized face, filled with admiration and surprise, but said nothing, only smiling shyly with her lips pursed.
After a while, she broke free from Song Qingzhang's embrace, frowning as she said, "Oh dear, young master, I was so happy that I forgot there were still things I hadn't bought!"
"What is it?" Song Qingzhang lowered his head, pressing his forehead against hers. "Is it urgent?"
Shu Lan opened her mouth, then turned her back and said softly, "I can't tell you now, young master. It's a bit urgent. I have to go now, otherwise it will be troublesome if there aren't any left later."
Song Qingzhang stood up helplessly and said, "Then I'll go with you?"
"Really?" Shu Lan turned around and looked at him expectantly. Before he could speak, she shook her head. "Never mind, young master's time is precious. How can you accompany me to do such trivial things? I can go by myself."
Song Qingzhang really didn't want to waste time making the trip, but hearing Shu Lan's considerate words softened his heart. He tightened his grip on Shu Lan's hand and smiled reassuringly, "Accompanying you is also important, let's go."
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