Chapter 12 How did Xie Yushu manage to "bewitch" people...?
That... is Xie Jianing?
Xiao Zhen stared in shock at the half-face, almost thinking it was his imagination. He leaped onto a closer rooftop to get a better look, but the woman in the Taoist robe had already turned and entered the courtyard.
The back door was tightly closed, leaving only the swaying shadows of the trees on the ground.
Xiao Zhen remained motionless on the rooftop for a long time. He couldn't believe his eyes. In that fleeting glimpse, the half-rosy face, the slightly drooping eyes... even the blue Taoist robe, the black hair and hair ribbon that were being blown by the wind were exactly the same as Xie Jianing when he first met her.
The first time he met Xie Jianing, she was dressed like this in the Taoist temple. That night, she had secretly drunk some osmanthus wine, and her face was flushed as she held it out to him, asking in surprise, "Who are you? How did you get injured like this?"
He knew very well that she was Xie Jianing, the only legitimate daughter of the Yong'an Marquis's mansion whom Song Jie had exceptionally kept by his side, so he deliberately fell on her way back to her room...
Xie Jianing has been missing for several years without any news. If she were to be found, the entire Yong'an Marquis's mansion would definitely announce it to the world in a grand manner, and he couldn't possibly be unaware of it.
It was even more impossible for Xie Jianing to be seen at the back gate of the Pei family. The Yong'an Marquis's Mansion had long since broken off the "childhood betrothal" with the Pei family and looked down on the defeated Yongyi Earl's Mansion.
That's definitely not Xie Jianing.
Could it be that concubine's daughter who looks like Xie Jianing? Did she marry Pei Shilin in Xie Jianing's place?
Xiao Zhen couldn't remember the name of the concubine's daughter, only that he had seen her once at the funeral of the old lady of the Yong'an Marquis. At that time, she was crying in the garden in mourning clothes. When she heard his footsteps, she raised her head in a panic, revealing a tear-streaked face, and then hurriedly knelt down to pay her respects to him.
The face did resemble Xie Jianing somewhat, but the eyes and demeanor were very different. At least Xie Jianing would never kneel before him, even after knowing he was a prince. Xie Jianing would raise his chin and say, "Even if you are a prince, I am still your savior."
Xie Jianing was a girl who was pampered and spoiled. She would never be obsequious or timid to anyone.
Xiao Zhen found it hard to reconcile the tear-streaked face beneath mourning clothes with the haughty Xie Jianing; even if he were a fake, he wouldn't be qualified.
But that half of her face under the moonlight just now... looked so much like Xie Jianing, even the faint smile on her lips resembled hers.
So who exactly is it?
Xiao Zhen doubted his eyes, but it was hard to doubt that the woman was the concubine's daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an's household, especially since she had just left from Song Jie's residence.
Surely Song Jie wouldn't use such a low-quality counterfeit to replace Xie Jianing?
Xiao Zhen was very puzzled. He jumped off the roof and ordered his guards, "Immediately investigate who the woman who just entered the Pei residence was."
He needed to know who she was tonight. How could she freely enter and leave Song Jie's residence and then enter the Pei family's gate?
※
“Miss.” Someone suddenly stood up from the stone steps.
Xie Yushu had just helped Jin Ye into his courtyard when he was startled by the sudden sound. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Xiao Dao.
He stood under the dim corridor light, leaning on his cane, his bright black eyes looking at her: "You're back."
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Xie Yushu had told everyone to go to sleep before she left, and not to wait for her. "It's already past midnight."
"I'm not sleepy." Xiao Dao approached her, and frowned when he smelled the medicine and blood on her: "Miss, are you injured? You smell of blood."
Xie Yushu raised her sleeve in surprise, "Your nose is so sensitive?" Her fingernails and sleeve were stained with a lot of Song Jie's blood and ointment.
Xiao Dao reached out and grabbed her fingers: "Miss, is your hand injured?"
"What are you doing!" Jin Ye quickly slapped his hand away, glaring at him and saying, "You can't be pulling and tugging at the madam like that! What if someone sees us? Don't you know any of these rules?"
Xiao Dao withdrew his hand, pursed his lips, as if confused and dissatisfied with Jin Ye's reprimand.
It seems as if they genuinely don't understand these rules and the separation of men and women.
"It's alright." Xie Yushu patted Jin Ye's hand to calm her down, then held her blood-stained hand up to Xiao Dao's eye. "It's not my blood, I'm not injured."
Xiao Dao lowered his eyes to look at her hand.
Granny Xizhi and Yinya came out of the house to greet her.
Her attention then shifted to them. She withdrew her hand, walked around him, and asked why they weren't asleep.
Xiao Dao secretly sniffed, and in the fragrance that wafted by, he smelled a very strong ambergris scent. That was not the perfume she had used. Whose perfume had gotten on her?
Xie Yushu was ushered into the room by a group of people. Granny Xizhi had already made up the bed for her and fumigated the curtains with mosquito-repellent fragrance.
Yinya quickly brought warm water and helped her remove her makeup and wash up.
Xie Yushu was so well taken care of that he couldn't help but want to give them a raise.
Yinya also reported to her: "Before Madam returned, Young Master Pei and the Old Madam hurriedly left the mansion. I inquired with the gatekeeper and it seems that someone from the Prime Minister's mansion took them to see the Second Young Master."
She added, "Oh, by the way, right after Madam left, an old nanny was loitering around our back gate. Can you guess who it was?" She then eagerly answered, "It was Madam's mother, Qiao Bao'er..."
Before she could finish speaking, Granny Xizhi glared at her: "No manners! Madam's mother is the Lady of Yong'an Marquis."
Yinya quickly shut her mouth.
Xizhi sent the two maids to rest, while she stayed behind to take care of Xie Yushu.
After they left, Xizhi took out a cloth bag and handed it to Xie Yushu, saying, "Tonight, Aunt Qiao sent some things to you through her nanny. Luckily, Yinya and I were waiting for you at the back door, otherwise the young master and the old lady of the Pei family would have told you to have less contact with Aunt Qiao."
"Don't call her Aunt Qiao anymore," Xie Yushu told Xizhi. "That's my mother."
She opened the cloth bag and saw several newly embroidered handkerchiefs inside, each embroidered with silver-white plum blossoms. Because Xie Yushu liked white plum blossoms, each of her handkerchiefs was embroidered by Qiao Bao'er herself.
There was a brand-new set of clothes under the handkerchief, and inside the clothes, something was wrapped in the handkerchief.
Xie Yushu opened it and saw a silver note worth one thousand taels of silver.
Xizhi sighed, gently touching the fabric of the new clothes, and said with a touch of sadness, "Such fine fabric must have been a gift from the Marquis to her. She couldn't bear to use it herself, so she made new clothes for you."
"You asked Jinye to deliver this banknote to her, right?" Xizhi said in a lower voice, "How could she use your money? She asked the nanny to tell you that she is doing well, you don't need to worry about her, and you shouldn't give her any money. Keep the money for yourself."
Xie Yushu felt as if her heart had been struck a heavy blow; Qiao Bao'er had returned the silver note to her.
“This servant understands that you are a filial and good girl.” Xizhi smoothed Xie Yushu’s stray hairs and said sadly, “But think about it, why did Aunt Qiao specifically instruct the nanny to find you through the back door? It was because she was afraid that the people in the Pei family would look down on you and mistreat you because of her.”
Xie Yushu recalled that in the original drama, Qiao Bao'er never allowed Xie Yushu to call her "mother." After Xie Yushu was brought into the Marquis's mansion, she rarely visited Xie Yushu, fearing that because of her servant background, her daughter would be ridiculed and looked down upon.
Everyone in the Marquis's mansion was laughing at Xie Yushu and her mother for being greedy for wealth and status, saying they would do anything to get into the mansion, calling them a vixen mistress and a scheming illegitimate daughter.
But who wants to be a slave for life? Who is born to be a slave?
“Bao’er once worked for me, so I know her character and that she would endure any hardship for you.” Xi Zhi’s rough hands gently stroked her face. “She already felt very sorry for you because you were born from her womb. She hoped that you would be the daughter of the Marquis’s wife and that the Marquis’s wife would take good care of you because of her obedience and not let the Pei family bully you.”
Xie Yushu looked up and saw her red eyes, and her heart ached. Everyone treated Xie Yushu as a fake of Xie Jianing, but in Qiao Bao'er's heart, Yushu was her most precious daughter.
Qiao Bao'er, who was illiterate, hired a tutor for her to teach her to read and write, and named her "Yu Shu".
Qiao Bao'er, who came from a servant family, did not hope to repay her daughter after she became rich and powerful. Instead, she was afraid that she would drag her daughter down and cause her to be bullied.
Xie Yushu had never been loved like this before. Her mother died after she was born, and her father got a new wife less than three months later. She grew up with her maternal grandmother and hardly ever saw her father. Later, she finally grew up and earned money, but her maternal grandmother passed away before she could enjoy it.
She couldn't help but wonder how heartbroken Qiao Bao'er must have been to learn that her daughter had suffered so much hardship and humiliation, and had hanged herself in the bridal chamber.
The original series didn't even explain Qiao Bao'er's fate, because she was just an insignificant supporting character, and no one cared whether she lived or died.
But things are different now. She not only wants to live well for Xie Yushu, but also wants Qiao Bao'er to live a good life, a better life than that of the Lady of Yong'an Marquis.
“Granny, I know your good intentions.” Xie Yushu held Xizhi’s hand and said to her in a soft but firm voice, “But you have also seen that we can’t rely on the Yong’an Marquis’s mansion. Since we can’t rely on them, why should we live at their mercy? My mother is Qiao Bao’er. From now on, we will visit her openly and honestly, and invite her into the Pei mansion through the main gate. With me backing you up, you don’t need to be afraid of anyone.”
She hugged the sobbing Xizhi and made up her mind: she needed more and more money to free Qiao Bao'er and Xizhi from slavery.
She was going to ask Qiao Bao'er whether she wanted to stay with her or continue being her mistress.
That night, only Xie Yushu slept soundly.
Song Jie closed his eyes and could smell Xie Yushu's scent inside the tent, which made him so angry that he couldn't sleep all night.
The Pei family mother and son visited Pei Shibin in prison and stayed up all night.
Even Xiao Zhen sat alone in his palace until dawn. Song Jie's men sent him a message just before daybreak, saying that the emperor was out of danger.
His bodyguards also brought back information about the woman in the Taoist robe. She turned out to be Xie Yushu, the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an, who had just married Pei Shilin a few days ago.
Why would she appear in Song Jie's tent late at night?
The secret guards only found out some things about the Pei family. Pei Shilin's younger brother, Pei Shibin, was involved in a murder case and is currently in jail.
Tonight, right after Xie Yushu returned to the Pei residence, Pei Shilin and his mother went to the prison to visit Pei Shibin, who was being held there.
The visit to the prison happened to take place in the middle of the night, right after Xie Yushu had left the Prime Minister's residence.
Xiao Zhen could hardly help but wonder if Xie Yushu had gone to the Prime Minister's mansion and had some kind of affair with Song Jie in order to save her husband.
What puzzled Xiao Zhen was how Xie Yushu had managed to "bewitch" Song Jie.
That's Song Jie. So many people fawned over him and sent him stunning beauties, but none of them could even enter his mansion.
Almost everyone in the court believed that Song Jie was indifferent to women, and before tonight, Song Jie had never had any interaction with this inconspicuous concubine's daughter.
What exactly did Xie Yushu possess that allowed her to enter Song Jie's camp? Was it because of her face, which resembled Xie Jianing's? But before tonight, Song Jie had already seen this unremarkable illegitimate daughter and hadn't taken her seriously at all.
Why did she suddenly become Song Jie's concubine? Or was it after she got married...?
Xiao Zhen's mind flashed back to the half-face under the moonlight; it was such a pity he hadn't been able to see it clearly.
He was extremely curious: what did Xie Yushu actually look like now? Did he really look that much like Xie Jianing? Or did he have some other methods?
Xiao Zhen suddenly remembered: "Tomorrow is the Duke of Yingguo's birthday, and the Pei family should be among the invited families. Although the Pei family, the Earl of Yongyi, has declined, General Pei Heng is the Duke of Yingguo's prized student, so the Duke of Yingguo will probably still remember some of their past relationship."
Of the Pei family, the valiant Earl Pei, only Pei Heng was promising in this generation. Unfortunately, Pei Heng disappeared on the battlefield, and it is unknown whether he is dead or alive.
If the Pei family is not invited to the Duke of Ying's birthday celebration, the Pei family's position in Bianjing will be even more awkward.
"I wonder if Pei Shilin will bring his new wife to celebrate his birthday." Xiao Zhen knew that Pei Shilin didn't like or respect this concubine's daughter very much, otherwise he wouldn't have been willing to let her be Song Jie's concubine.
The guard added, "I've learned that Madam Pei, Xie Yushu, had a rather unpleasant encounter with Pei Shilin on her return visit. She left early without having lunch at the Yong'an Marquis's residence, and Pei Shilin left first without waiting for Madam Pei to return with him."
The fact that things turned out like this on the day of the bride's return to her parents' home suggests that Pei Shilin truly dislikes his new wife.
Xiao Zhen was somewhat worried that Pei Shilin might be unwilling to appear in public with his new wife.
In her sleep, Xie Yushu vaguely heard a system notification sound. She thought she was accumulating points in her dreams, but when she woke up the next day, she found that her popularity points had increased by 1 point, becoming 8 points.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Xiao Zhen, you'll soon find out how Sister Xie "bewitched" Song Jie. [doge emoji]
We're giving out red envelopes again today!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
