Chapter 66 Chapter 66 Leaving Wuling County City.
In the afternoon, Cai Shu brought a chestnut mare with a pair of big black eyes, which looked very docile.
Zhang Jingxian only had time to take a quick glance before the horse was led away by Xie.
This was Envoy Xie's order. The new mare had to be raised with the dozens of black horses they brought for two days to get familiar with each other.
They planned to leave Wuling County and return to Changling County the day after tomorrow.
For this, Zhang Jingxian also has to make preparations.
The next day, she asked Yi Yu to buy a spacious and comfortable wooden cage in Wuling City to store the yellow warbler's nest. If it was willing to stay with her for a while, she could take the cage with her on her journey and let it rest in it when it got tired of flying.
After the wooden cage was bought, the yellow warbler circled around it curiously, not understanding at first what it was used for.
Until its human friend put the nesting hole in it, the little bird suddenly understood.
It flew out of the open window.
Zhang Jingxian was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed it outside and looked up at the sky to identify the direction.
Only by flying north can we return to Yangshan. Before she could finish her words, the oriole had already disappeared among the trees. She wondered if it had been scared away by the wooden cage.
There is no bird that doesn't like freedom, so how could it be willing to live in a cage?
Zhang Jingxian stared at the sky in a daze until a soft female voice came from behind her.
"Is that oriole Madam Zhang's? Its feathers are very beautiful."
She turned around and saw a girl in gorgeous clothes, Cai Shu.
"I didn't raise it. It's my friend. It flew over to visit me a while ago." Zhang Jingxian smiled at Cai Shu and the little cicada beside her. "Madam Cai, you came here with the little cicada. Are you here to thank me?"
She rarely beats around the bush when she speaks. Cai Shu and Xiao Chan looked at each other and nodded.
"Madam Zhang has been very kind to me, the Cai family, and me. My father and I were previously busy begging Envoy Xie for forgiveness and didn't have time to spare. Now that the matter has come to an end, of course I must come here in person to express my gratitude to Madam Zhang. My father is aware of this and has instructed me to bring Madam Zhang a generous gift."
Cai Shu spoke in a calm tone. After a day or two, there was no trace of sadness between her eyebrows. She only had some confusion about the future of the Cai family.
Her mother was dead, and her father had only two children: her and her brother. Her brother...died, so quickly that her hatred hadn't even taken shape before a heavy burden suddenly fell upon her.
My father is getting older, and she will be the one in charge of the Cai family in the future.
But she couldn't think of how to keep the family business.
Zhang Jingxian looked at the thank-you gifts sent by Cai Shu, which were several rare books and some precious medicinal herbs, while Xiao Chan gave some easy-to-carry food.
She accepted it without any pressure. Just as she was about to taste the steaming red bean cake, she heard Cai Shu softly ask her, "Madam Zhang, if you were me, how would you act as the head of the Cai family?"
What if she is Cai Shu?
Zhang Jingxian pondered for a moment and shook her head at Cai Shu, "But I'm not you, Madam Cai."
"Just treat it as nonsense." Cai Shu's expression was gloomy. When she asked this question, Madam Zhang really couldn't answer it.
Because Madam Zhang is not Cai's daughter, not herself.
But when she turned to leave, Zhang Jingxian spoke calmly.
"You were born and raised in the Cai family. You have a father who is already the head of the Cai family. After all these years, do you really not know what to do? Madam Cai, you are just afraid to take the first step."
"When I was first taken away from home by my aunt... I was also very confused. But after I spent a day, two days, and a month alone, I found that it wasn't difficult at all. It was just fear that scared me."
Often, fear is fear itself. Zhang Jingxian simply told her about her past experience.
In fact, at the critical moment that day, Cai Shu handled the situation very well when facing her brother's betrayal and big mistake.
"Madam Cai, you are very smart. You have a father who loves you and a loyal little Chan. You have no need to be afraid or confused."
Zhang Jingxian spoke to her slowly, and at that moment, Cai Shu seemed to feel a breeze blowing through her heart.
"I understand. Thank you, Ah Xian."
After a while, she gave a grateful smile to the peasant girl whom she had once looked down upon.
Cai Shu and Xiao Chan came and left quickly.
Zhang Jingxian took a bite of the red bean cake that Xiao Chan brought her, and looked at their backs with envy as they left. She was the one who was truly at a loss.
At least, they don't have to leave their homes and be forced to integrate into a dangerous and complicated world.
You can't escape it, and you can't hide from it.
She placed her hope of getting rid of Xie Yun on Prime Minister Xie. If that failed, she would only have the bow and arrows on her body.
…
Not long after, Zhang Jingxian was surprised to find that the yellow warbler had flown back again.
It held a long white feather in its mouth and dove into the wooden cage. It placed the feather neatly on the nest, occupying a small half of the cage.
The yellow warbler chirped towards its human friend, and Zhang Jingxian broke off a small piece of red bean cake and fed it to it.
So the yellow warbler pecked a few times and flew away again.
When it brought back a long white feather for the second time, Zhang Jingxian finally understood the logic behind its behavior. It wanted to use the feathers to decorate its nest, not because it hated the wooden cage and flew away in a hurry.
"I thought..." Zhang Jingxian pursed her lips, her eyes unconsciously glancing at the two feathers in the wooden cage. Her expression changed slightly, and they looked somewhat familiar. "Could these feathers be plucked from Gong Chengyue's feather fan?"
The oriole said nothing and hurriedly flew away. Two feathers were not enough, they would have to cover the entire nest.
Seeing this, the human girl, feeling somewhat guilty, coughed lightly and secretly picked up a few leaves to cover the feathers.
-
On the day Xie Yun set out, County Magistrate Chen, Xu Ziji and others came to see him off.
While they were saying goodbye and while Gong Chengyue didn't notice her, Zhang Jingxian quietly carried a wooden cage and got into the carriage.
This time she was very conscious. She neither thought about escaping nor deliberately went to the back to pull the frame of the cart with things.
She was well-behaved and sat obediently in the corner of Lord Xie's room, with the wooden cage, which was neither big nor small, hidden behind her.
But in fact, when Xie Yun entered the carriage, he saw the golden bird in the wooden cage at a glance.
He still hadn't forgotten the bite the yellow warbler had given him on the back of his hand. He stretched out his long arm and lifted the wooden cage out, saying calmly, "You're quite clever, knowing you've walked into a trap."
The yellow warbler was stared at by his dark eyes, and its head shrank under its wings in fear, and the whole bird was buried in the nest again.
Zhang Jingxian didn't say a word from beginning to end.
The leaves she put there covered it very carefully. As long as no one discovered that the yellow warbler had stolen Gong Chengyue's feather fan, she believed that no matter how petty Xie Yun was, he would not hurt a little bird.
She took out Prime Minister Xie's collected works and read them carefully.
After Xie Yun had tediously teased a timid oriole, his gaze naturally shifted to another person in the carriage, looking her up and down.
Not a single hair was spared.
Finally, his gaze stopped on her long hair and remained there for a long time.
Zhang Jingxian pretended not to notice, sat upright, and read Prime Minister Xie's collection of essays with fascination, as if it contained her long-cherished wish.
"The letter and evidence have been sent to Jiankang early this morning. Are you happy, Ah Xian? Maybe you will be able to see your cousin soon." Suddenly, Xie Yun stared at her and asked with a smile.
She and her cousin grew up together, living and eating together, so they must have a deep bond. Otherwise, how could they have almost gotten married?
If the imperial court had not conscripted her cousin, they might have had a son and a daughter by now.
Xie Yun hadn't forgotten what she'd said about getting married, and the person she wanted to marry might be her cousin. He was easygoing, gentle, and polite. Was he just a figment of her imagination, or was he really that person?
"Will Prime Minister Xie agree to your request? That day, I saw Mr. Ziji's attitude, and it seemed that the reputation of the eldest son of the Xie family, your brother, was not low." Zhang Jingxian would of course be very happy if her cousin and the villagers could see the light of day or even return home. However, she was smart enough not to show it at this time, but expressed her concerns in a slightly complicated way.
She was secretly testing the character of Prime Minister Xie as mentioned by Xie Yun.
"My uncle has always been fair. As we are both his sons and his nephews, he will not favor anyone. It is difficult to take his life, but it is not difficult to peel off his skin and pull out his tendons to make him suffer." Xie Yun's eyebrows turned cold and he spoke lightly.
Compared with Cai Shu, who was also backstabbed by her brother, there was not a trace of grief and sadness on his face, as if he and the eldest son of the Xie family had never had much brotherly friendship.
But Zhang Jingxian knew it was not.
Xie Yun himself is a suspicious and vicious person. If he had not trusted his brother at the beginning, how could he have fallen off the cliff.
"My dear, what you said is... yes." Zhang Jingxian lowered her eyes and ruthlessly swallowed back the words she wanted to ask.
Everything that happened between Xie Yun and his brother, including the grudges and hatred, had nothing to do with her. She shouldn't have any concern for him that crossed the line.
It is enough to be a calm bystander.
However, she lowered her eyes and calmed down, but Xie Yun refused to let her go and continued to ask her if she was happy to see her cousin.
"Of course I am happy, but my cousin is still under the eldest master's command, so my happiness seems to be floating in mid-air." Zhang Jingxian answered him very honestly about her feelings.
Looking at her, Xie Yun hummed nonchalantly.
He stopped talking. Zhang Jingxian breathed a sigh of relief and continued to read the book carefully.
As she was reading, she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulders and a large shadow fell in front of her eyes.
Envoy Xie sat down beside her silently, and casually put one hand over her shoulder to tidy up the hair scattered on her cheek.
Zhang Jingxian straightened her body stiffly, her eyes fixed on one word for a long time without changing. The carriage was obviously spacious enough to accommodate eight or nine people, and she only took up a small space, but he insisted on sitting over here.
But she had to hold her anger.
"I squeezed my husband." Helplessly, Zhang Jingxian pulled her lips and apologized, and wanted to go to the other side as soon as she finished speaking.
However, Xie Yun completely ignored her. He seemed to be fascinated by her hair and his fingers suddenly untied her hairband.
A hand clamped around her shoulders, preventing her from moving.
"Ah Xian, you can continue reading your uncle's collection of essays." Noticing the woman's stiffness, he spoke slowly, "But, let me help Ah Xian try to tie her hair up."
He wanted to see her with her hair in a bun.
During the two days of free time, Xie Yun impatiently summoned the Cai family's maid and learned about women's hairstyles.
Since the peasant girl didn't know how to do it, he could only help her out of kindness.
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The author has something to say: Muah, I will update twice a day starting tomorrow~
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