Wei Qinglou did not answer, but smiled and held her hand in return: "He is full of tricks, I must stay by your side and only feel at ease when I see that you are safe and sound."
He was explaining why he was there—not because he distrusted or doubted her, but simply because he was worried about her.
Zhu Jiayu's hand was enveloped in his palm, and her heart felt warm and comforted.
She pursed her lips, stopped walking with him, and turned to look at him: "Wei Qinglou, I came to see him so late, don't you have anything you want to ask?"
She thought that if Wei Qinglou asked, she would tell him everything.
But Wei Qinglou simply said, "I believe you."
He didn't seem inclined to ask.
Zhu Jiayu nodded: "I gave you a chance today, but you didn't ask. Next time you want to know, I might not tell you!"
Wei Qinglou chuckled and pinched her nose, then led her to the carriage and asked, "You keep your word?"
“Of course it counts!” Zhu Jiayu stared at him and said.
Wei Qinglou leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Do you remember the night before the New Year when I went to the palace banquet, you told me that you wanted to kidnap me to be your bandit wife?"
His hot breath brushed against her ear, and the next moment, he kissed her earlobe, gently and delicately nibbling at it, asking her in a low voice, "I'm quite curious, how exactly are you planning to steal it?"
Zhu Jiayu buried her face in his clothes, feeling very embarrassed by him.
She had almost forgotten about it, since Wei Qinglou hadn't mentioned it in so many days. But now that Wei Qinglou brought it up, she remembered it again.
When she's drunk, she talks and acts recklessly, but even when she sobers up, she doesn't forget the foolish things she did.
Her face flushed, she closed her eyes and said, "That was drunken talk, don't take it seriously!"
"But I took it seriously, and I was already prepared for you to take it from me."
He released Zhu Jiayu, leaned casually against the carriage wall, his clothes loose, looking completely at ease.
Zhu Jiayu moved closer to him and reached out to touch the front of his shirt.
Wei Qinglou tensed up instantly.
No way...
He just wanted to tease Zhu Jiayu; she probably wouldn't be that bold...
He sat there half expectant and half nervous, when suddenly he felt his clothes tighten.
It turned out that Zhu Jiayu had put his loose clothes back on him and even tied a knot in them.
Before Wei Qinglou could discover the secret, Zhu Jiayu jumped off the carriage that had already stopped and instructed Shujian, "It's too cold. Take your young master back to the Duke's mansion as soon as possible, so he doesn't catch a cold!"
Shujian deeply agreed.
As a responsible and caring subordinate, he should indeed be concerned about his son's health.
Wei Qinglou chuckled, but upon looking down, he discovered the crux of the problem.
Zhu Jiayu actually tied a knot in his long robe that was impossible to untie?
He smiled with lowered eyes, pulled a dagger from a hidden compartment in the carriage wall, cut the knot, then took off his long robe, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside. After a moment, he thought for a moment, then unfolded the robe and folded it neatly again.
...
The next morning, Zhu Jiayu opened her eyes groggily in bed and saw a man's robe folded beside her pillow. The color and pattern looked quite familiar.
She called Green Kite and asked her what it was.
Green Kite exclaimed "Ah!" and said, "Shujian delivered it early this morning. Lord Wei said that you damaged his robe and that you should find a way to repair it."
Um?
Zhu Jiayu turned over, sat up and looked at her. She then spread out the robe beside the pillow and saw that the hem of the robe, which she had tied into a knot last night, had been neatly cut off by Wei Qinglou with a sharp weapon.
She held the long gown, about to let Lüzheng take it, but then a plan came to her mind. She smiled maliciously at Lüzheng and said, "Go and find me some needles, thread and fabric. Find lots of thread, all kinds of silk thread."
Green Kite nodded and quickly brought over the needle and thread she had asked for.
Zhu Jiayu was too lazy to get out of bed, so she sat cross-legged on the bed and began to thread a needle, preparing to "properly" repair Wei Qinglou's long gown.
...
On the other side, after Wei Qinglou had Shujian deliver the long robe to the Zhu residence, the smile on his lips never faded. He was in such a good mood that the officials of the Ministry of Justice almost thought that this Minister had solved some major case again.
The smile on his face only disappeared when he took the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to the prison.
He walked through the narrow, dimly lit passageway to Rong Heng and asked the jailer to bring Rong Heng the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Before he could speak, Rong Heng had already begun grinding ink and wielding his brush, writing on the Xuan paper with flowing strokes. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he stopped writing, blew the ink off the paper, and said to Wei Qinglou, "I have written down all the charges against you. Before I die, I have only one wish."
Wei Qinglou looked at him, gesturing for him to speak.
"I want to see Zhu Jiayu."
Wei Qinglou chuckled softly: "Why should I agree to that?"
His smile was extremely light and faint, like a light ink landscape painting on rice paper, with a sense of remoteness and detachment.
Rong Heng laughed too. His laughter was more like sarcasm and provocation. He asked Wei Qinglou, "What are you afraid of?"
“Oh…” he drawled, calmly analyzing, “Are you afraid that if I see her one last time before I die, she will never forget me? Or are you afraid that there are many things between us that you don’t know, and that she doesn’t want to tell you?”
Although reluctant to admit it, Rong Heng had to acknowledge that Wei Qinglou indeed possessed exceptional shrewdness and composure. He believed that with these two qualities, Wei Qinglou would surely be able to discern that Zhu Jiayu's attitude towards him was extraordinary.
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