It was Gu Heguang.
She had inquired about Gu Heguang before.
Gu is an imperial surname, and even in the capital city of Yujing, this surname is not common, let alone in the small city of Heling.
Therefore, it was easy for her to inquire about Gu Heguang. What she later learned also matched her guess: she was the younger sister of the Prince of Jing, an unfavored concubine's daughter in the Prince of Jing's mansion.
Princess Jing died at the hands of bandits in her early years. Later, Prince Jing led his troops to the northern frontier. The young Prince Jing's heir took his half-sister and left Yujing. After staying in his fiefdom for a year or two, he traveled around and only recently settled in Heling.
Now that Prince Jing has returned to the capital and relinquished his military power, he is now working in the Ministry of Works. However, Gu Zhongyi and his sister Gu Heguang are still staying in Heling. In fact, Gu Heguang has even started a business selling fabrics and clothing in a short period of time.
Zhu Jiayu thought about it and felt that it would be very safe to entrust the Zhu family embroidery workshop to Gu Heguang. At least Lin Shi wouldn't dare to make a move against the young lady of the Prince's mansion.
As for how to persuade Gu Heguang, that required Song Jiangmei's help.
She sat in front of the bronze mirror, removing her hairpins, and began to think about how to bring up the matter with Song Jiangmei tomorrow, whether or not to let her know about the Kaiping Marquis's mansion... All sorts of things were stuck in her mind when suddenly, a soft sound interrupted her thoughts.
She glanced around but didn't think much of it, assuming it was just birds making noise.
But not long after, there was another sound. This time she heard it clearly; it was the sound of pebbles hitting the window frame.
She stood up, went to the window, pushed open the window, and saw the man standing solemnly under the moon.
With aloof and cold eyes, a face as handsome as jade, and dressed in a blue robe, he resembled lush green bamboo and flourishing pine trees in the thick, impenetrable night.
It is Wei Qinglou.
Why was Wei Qinglou in Heling? No, more important than that question was why Wei Qinglou was in her courtyard in the middle of the night. Was it something urgent?
Without a second thought, she got up, left the room, and walked up to Wei Qinglou: "Young Master Wei?"
Wei Qinglou was stunned.
He had just arrived tonight, and Shujian was still packing his things at the inn with his men. But he couldn't sit still. He had only wanted to go out for a walk, but he hadn't expected to end up at the Qiu residence by some strange twist of fate, and then he had ended up here by some strange twist of fate.
He felt he was being presumptuous, but at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder what changes had occurred to the girl from Suiping City after several months apart. He hadn't yet decided whether to stay or leave, but now that she was standing in front of him, he couldn't care less about anything else. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and coldly nodded: "It's me."
He remained silent, so Zhu Jiayu asked again, "Young Master Wei, what brings you here so late at night?"
Wei Qinglou himself couldn't explain it.
He had imagined a thousand scenarios of their reunion, countless possibilities of him speaking, but now that he saw her, he had forgotten everything.
After a long pause, he pursed his lips and said, "I just thought that since the moonlight is so beautiful tonight, I should come and visit an old friend."
Whether the moonlight was good or not, Zhu Jiayu couldn't tell, but since Wei Qinglou said so, she decided to assume it was good and absentmindedly agreed, "It is very good."
She didn't ask Wei Qinglou why he had suddenly come to Heling City. Firstly, it wasn't her place to ask, and secondly, it was late at night, and he was in her courtyard, so it was clearly not a good time for small talk.
Wei Qinglou smiled. He had already met the person, and it was getting late, so he should go back. But before he could say anything, a sudden pain struck his body. His expression changed slightly, and before he could hide it, Zhu Jiayu saw it.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Jiayu couldn't help but ask.
Wei Qinglou forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, just a bit of a stomachache."
This is an old problem of his, but he had taken good care of himself in Yujing and hadn't had it for a long time. He didn't expect that these past few days, he had been traveling around and hadn't been eating regularly, and it would flare up again at this time.
Seeing that he was in a lot of pain, Zhu Jiayu thought for a moment but couldn't bring herself to send him away. She turned around and went back into the house to pour him a glass of warm water, saying, "Drink some warm water first and calm down. I'll go find you something to eat."
Wei Qinglou subconsciously took the white porcelain cup from her hand. Before he could say anything, she had already put on her coat and walked towards the kitchen.
He looked at the white porcelain cup in his hand; the delicate surface of the cup seemed to still retain the warmth of the girl's fingers.
When Zhu Jiayu arrived at the kitchen, she found no leftover food or pastries from the evening. With no other option, she could only cook a bowl of noodles for Wei Qinglou.
Fortunately, the earthenware bowl on the stove still contained the thin noodles that the cook had torn during the day. She started a fire to boil water, and then found some green peppers, carrots, cucumbers, and winter melons, cut them into strips, and placed them at the bottom of the bowl with the seasonings. After the water boiled, she added the noodles. Once the noodles were cooked and soft, she scooped them out, placed them on top of the vegetable strips, and sprinkled some green scallions on top.
In her past life, she also suffered from stomach pain. She knew that the pain was unbearable, but eating a bowl of hot noodles or drinking some hot soup would make her feel better.
Thinking this way, she said the same thing when she brought the clear soup noodles to Wei Qinglou.
"Just eat something, otherwise if the pain gets too bad later, I'm afraid you'll faint in the street."
In her heart, Wei Qinglou was still the pampered young master of Suiping City.
Little did they know, the young man before them was already the living Yama, a fearsome figure in the capital city.
Wei Qinglou looked down at the plain noodles in the bowl, then suddenly looked up and solemnly thanked her.
For seventeen years, some people respected him, and some people feared him. They all envied his splendid life or resented his noble and precious background. Only Zhu Jiayu healed his wounds and now cooks noodles for him.
On this clear, moonlit night, he thanked her for her unwavering gentleness and purity, just as she had always been.
Zhu Jiayu raised her hand, tucked her hair behind her ear, looked at Wei Qinglou, and said with a gentle smile, "No need to thank me. Young Master Wei can consider this bowl of noodles as a favor from me. I will not refuse."
“Alright,” Wei Qinglou smiled earnestly, his words carrying a hint of the arrogance he had in Suiping. “Then I’ll consider this another favor I owe Miss Zhu.”
After saying that, he lowered his head and stood under the sycamore tree, eating his noodles bite by bite.
To be fair, Zhu Jiayu's cooking skills were really not that great, at least not comparable to the chefs in Yujing. But after he slowly finished the bowl of noodles, he only had one thought in his mind: he hoped that this would not be the last time he would taste her cooking.
He put down the bowl, feeling as comforted and warm as his stomach: "I feel much better. Thank you for your trouble tonight, Miss Zhu."
Zhu Jiayu shook her head: "It's no trouble at all. Young Master Wei, you should go back now. You've been out for too long, and the guards will be worried if they can't find you. If you need anything in the future, you can come to the Qiu residence to find me. Of course," she didn't shy away from her current situation, "I've been having some trouble lately, so it's best if you don't come unless it's absolutely necessary."
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