Huo Jingsha quickly composed herself, stepped forward, offered a teacup, and asked ingratiatingly, "Why do you look so unhappy? Is something bothering you?" He carefully observed her expression, because he didn't know how much that damned man had revealed to her.
She glanced at him and said, "It's nothing, I just ran into an old friend and chatted for a bit."
"Oh? May I ask which old friend it was, and what you were chatting about that made you look so unhappy, madam?"
Unexpectedly, she dared to admit it. Huo Jingsha clenched her fist behind her back. Perhaps she should have killed that man that day, to prevent him from remaining incorrigible and harassing Shu Yao. He even arrogantly claimed that he would wait for Shu Yao forever. Let him wait then. Unless she died, no one could have any designs on his woman.
"It's just a chat about recent events and catching up."
You Shuyao didn't intend to reveal too much, only staring into Huo Jingsha's eyes, feeling a pang of sadness. She thought Huo Jingsha truly loved her; the happiness of the past year was undeniable, giving her the illusion that she would spend her life pampered by him. Unexpectedly... it couldn't withstand a single word from the Emperor. Perhaps in the face of power and status, women are destined to become victims of self-interest.
She thought that after nine lifetimes of entanglement and repeated tragic deaths at his hands, this life would finally bring her happiness. Little did she know that she might ultimately be unable to escape the fate of being ruthlessly abandoned, and would become a pawn in his grand scheme.
If Qi hadn't told her today, she might have died again in a daze. She was furious and walked back to the Huo mansion step by step with inexplicable feelings. But the reason she was holding back now was because the ninth day of next month hadn't arrived yet. Whether what Qi said was true or false, and whether Huo Jingsha was willing to let her go to her death, all the answers would be revealed when the day came.
Seeing that Huo Jingsha seemed about to ask questions again, Shu Yao immediately spoke up before he could, "Where is my son?"
"Oh, the young master is in his room, and the nanny is playing with him," Dongxue replied.
"I'm going to check on Xiaobao." She left again.
Staring at his wife's beautiful back, Huo Jingsha gritted her teeth.
"Didn't Madam say she was tired and wanted to go back to her room to rest? Why is she going to see the young master again?" Chunlu muttered to herself as she chased after Shuyao.
"Chunlu, come back." He called out to her with a stern face.
"Does Your Excellency have any further instructions?" Chunlu stopped in her tracks as ordered.
"Did you meet a man when you came back, young mistress? Did you hear what they were saying?"
Hearing the question from the official, Chunlu was slightly taken aback. She looked at Xu Chang standing beside the official and seemed to understand something. "No... Madam didn't let us go over at the time, but the two of us only exchanged a few words before taking our leave."
"Chunlu, what are you dawdling for? The fabric I bought for Xiaobao is still in the car. Hurry up and have someone bring it to the backyard," Shuyao called out impatiently from the front.
"Oh, you're here!" Chunlu hurriedly bowed to Huo Jingsha, then quickly ran to get her things.
"My lord?" Xu Chang saw his master's gloomy and terrifying expression and the words he wanted to ask to return to the department got stuck in his throat.
"Speak!" he commanded through gritted teeth.
"Um... sir, should we investigate that man?"
"How do you investigate? What you see may not be his true face. This person is a master of disguise. But it doesn't matter, I have a way to find him."
He can run away, but he can't hide. He thinks he's gotten away with it, stirring up trouble between the couple so he can reap the benefits? Hmph! No way! He's determined to get rid of Prince Jing, and Shu Yao won't leave him. Although the process will be dangerous, he believes Shu Yao will understand him once she finds out.
"My lord, the young mistress has been staying in the manor for too long and is unaware of the dangers of the outside world. She can easily be fooled by a few words from outsiders. And that pretty boy today, he's clearly no good. He's just a smooth talker. Once a woman has a change of heart, she'll do it again. You should..."
"Shut up!" Huo Jingsha's handsome face was grim. He then waved his hand and said, "Go back to the Commander's Office first. I'll call you if I need anything."
After Xu Chang left, he sat alone in the hall for a long, long time! With the day drawing ever closer, how could he bring up that request to Shu Yao? Although there were risks, he would do everything in his power to ensure her safety. But then he thought again, Prince Jing was driven to the brink; what if he chose a desperate, all-or-nothing approach… what if something went wrong? What would happen to Xiao Bao? Would he even want to live? Would Shu Yao hate him to death? He simply dared not think any further.
*** ***
During the Qingming Festival, a light rain was falling, and Huo Jingsha decided to take his wife and children to sweep the tombs.
This is a major event for the Huo family and cannot be taken lightly.
Because Huo Jingsha was a martial arts champion and did not have a strong family background, he climbed to his current position entirely on his own. Therefore, after he became a high-ranking official, he paid special attention to the pomp and circumstance of the worship of his deceased elders. On the one hand, it was to show his filial piety, and on the other hand, it was to show outsiders that the Huo family had grown strong overnight.
After several maids and servants quickly and efficiently cleaned the ancestral cemetery, Huo Jingsha, dressed in official robes and wearing a peacock feather on his head, respectfully performed the elaborate ancestral worship rituals for second-rank officials promulgated by the Ministry of Rites, ensuring that no detail was overlooked.
The process was lengthy, and it happened to rain, leaving everyone soaked. Huo Jingsha told people to quickly set up a rain shelter and settle his wife and children before continuing to arrange the worship ceremony himself, even in the rain.
He tried to light the incense several times, but the rain extinguished it each time. It took him a long time to finally light the tinder, but once the fire started, it set the entire incense stick ablaze. Everyone was shocked. Oh no! Isn't this what is known as "lighting the incense burner"?
Huo Jingsha was stunned.
"My lord, this is bad. The lighting of the furnace signifies the descent of our ancestors. Could this be a sign from our ancestors, reminding you of something?" The chief steward, who was also seeing this phenomenon for the first time, couldn't help but speak out in alarm.
"What do you want to remind me of?" Actually, he was the least likely to believe in these superstitions, but today's ancestral worship was indeed not going smoothly as in previous years.
"Something has happened to the Huo family." An old Taoist priest presiding over the worship ceremony uttered these four words in a powerful voice.
Upon hearing this, the servants who had been whispering fell silent. The implications of this statement were significant, foreshadowing the rise and fall of the entire Huo family and also concerning their own vital interests.
"How will it change?"
“My lord…” The old Taoist priest walked to his side, bowed first, and then spoke slowly in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “I just noticed that the incense burned out from the southeast direction first. This direction belongs to Yin, which means that it has nothing to do with your career, but rather… rather, the lady of the house may have changed.”
Huo Jingsha narrowed his eyes, a dull pain rising in his heart. He involuntarily looked towards the woman holding his son in the rain shelter.
The Taoist priest did not answer again, and looked at the young mistress with him.
"My lord, the young mistress is beckoning to you. Why don't you go and take a look?" The Taoist bowed again and turned back to his previous position.
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