Chapter 28 Five thousand taels of silver, you lie down with me for a while...
Song Jie had that dream again.
He dreamt that he was a tiny version of himself hiding in a closet, while many people outside were looking for him and ordering his foster mother, Yuping, to hand him over.
Granny Yuping kept crying and pleading, "Your Majesty, please spare him! He's only three years old, he doesn't know anything, he doesn't know who his mother is..."
"Yu Ping, do you know how many people he'll kill if you keep him around!" A woman's voice interrupted Yu Ping's nanny, angrily saying, "If he's discovered, it won't just be me who dies, but my maternal family, everyone in my palace! You shouldn't have kept him around in the first place!"
This was the first time he had heard this voice, and he vaguely realized that this woman hated him and wanted to kill him.
Because Granny Yuping kept pleading, kowtowing, and assuring her, "Your Majesty, he won't be discovered! I've raised him for over three years, and everyone thinks he's my child! Please treat him like a dog and spare his life!"
"Foolish!" The woman's voice trembled with tears, and she seemed deeply saddened as she said, "He won't be discovered now, but what if he grows up? What if he tries to find out his biological parents himself? He's a source of trouble. Yuping, your soft heart now will lead to disaster..."
The box he was hiding in was suddenly opened, and light shone in, blinding him so much that he couldn't see anything. He only heard someone shout, "The Empress is here!"
He was dragged out of the box and fell to the ground, his chest and knees aching from the impact.
Yu Ping, the old woman, was so anxious that she tried to hug him, but she was pressed heavily to the ground and could only cry out, "He is still a life, Your Majesty! He is a piece of your own flesh and blood, are you really going to kill him!"
Amidst his sobs, he saw a pair of shoes approaching. They were beautiful shoes, unlike anything anyone else in his village wore. The toes were adorned with pearls, and there wasn't a speck of dirt on them; they looked like the shoes of a fairy.
He curiously looked up at the person in front of him and saw a face that could not be depicted in a painting, as if carved from jade. He thought that this was what the gods in heaven should look like.
But on such a beautiful face were a pair of desperate and painful eyes, looking down at him, her lips trembling as she pressed them together.
She seemed stunned. Yu Ping, the old woman, said urgently, "Your Highness, look how much he misses you! How can you bear to do this to him..."
He saw the tears welling up in her eyes, and her voice became pained: "Yu Ping, you should have killed him back then..."
To save him, Granny Yuping kept calling his nickname and saying, "Little Stone, quickly call her Mother, she is your mother, quickly call her..."
She tried desperately to soften the heart of the person in front of her, thinking that if she called him "mother," he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill her.
But the person in front of him didn't want to hear him call her "mother" at all. Before he could even open his mouth, she suddenly turned around and said in a trembling voice, "Baolian, give him that bowl of soup."
A bowl of fragrant osmanthus honey was placed in front of him. He really wanted to drink it, but Granny Yuping shouted frantically, "Don't drink it! Don't drink it, Little Stone!"
He shrank back in fear, but a hand grabbed his shoulder.
He saw that angelic face turn around and say to him very gently, "Your name is Little Stone, right? Little Stone, if you drink the soup well, I'll take you home..."
Someone pried open his lips, pressed a cold bowl against his mouth, and desperately poured medicine into his mouth...
"Little Stone, don't drink it!"
Song Jie suddenly woke up with a start and shoved the bowl that was pressed against his lips.
Cangshu hadn't expected him to wake up suddenly. He lost his grip on the bowl and it fell onto the bed, spilling the ginseng soup all over Song Jie. He hurriedly grabbed a handkerchief to wipe Song Jie clean, saying, "Prime Minister, this is ginseng soup. It's just ginseng soup." Knowing that the Prime Minister had always resisted taking medicine and sweet soups, he immediately explained in a low voice, "You lost too much blood, so Madam Pei specially prepared this thousand-year-old ginseng."
Song Jie stared at Cang Shu for a long time before he came back to his senses from the dream. Before him was a bed curtain in the color of begonia red, and beneath him was a soft brocade quilt. He also had a warm hot water bottle tucked into his arms.
The pain in his shoulder and the fragrant scent of flowers filling the tent gradually brought him back to his senses.
This is... Xie Yushu's room, and he is still lying on Xie Yushu's bed.
His inexplicably tense heart relaxed, and he felt warm and safe. He picked up the hot water bottle in his arms and looked at it. The hot water bottle was wrapped in brocade, with a fluffy ball hanging from the bottom, like a rabbit's tail. Even the fluffy ball smelled good, as if everything around Xie Yushu had been imbued with her fragrance.
He couldn't help but wonder: Does Xie Yushu also sleep with this hot water bottle? Does he play with this fluffy ball when he can't sleep?
Song Jie stroked the fluff ball with his fingers, then turned his head to look out of the bed curtains. It seemed to be raining outside the window, which sounded especially clear in the quiet room.
"What time is it?" Song Jie pressed his wound and slowly sat up, wincing slightly in pain.
Cangshu draped a clean outer robe over him and replied in a low voice, "It's just past dawn."
It was almost dawn, and he had been asleep for so long.
Song Jie glanced at the outer robe he was wearing. It wasn't his clothes, nor Xie Yushu's; it was a men's outer robe. "Whose clothes are these?"
“It’s from the attendant beside Madam Pei.” Cang Shu’s voice was very low, and he quickly explained, afraid that he would mind, “It’s new, Madam Pei just made it for him, he hasn’t worn it before.”
Song Jie frowned. That lame attendant? Xie Yushu even made new clothes for him? And used such fine silk for an attendant? What exactly is her relationship with that lame attendant?
"Where is Xie Yushu?" Song Jie asked.
He thought Xie Yushu had already left him to rest in another room, but Cangshu answered softly, "Madam Pei is resting on the side couch in the outer room."
Song Jie unexpectedly discovered the art of divination.
"After you fainted, Madam Pei was worried that something might have happened to you, so she stayed in the outer room until very late before resting." Cangshu put the overturned bowl back on and said, "She also specially prepared the ginseng soup for you."
She actually... stayed with him and didn't leave?
Song Jie, incredulous, helped Cang Shu to his feet and lifted the bed curtains.
In the dim light, I could see a person curled up on a couch under the window of the outer room. A soft cushion was laid out beside the couch, and the maid named Jinye was sleeping there.
The rain pattered softly, and the person on the side couch slept peacefully, curled up in a brocade quilt.
Song Jie was so surprised that he asked Cang Shu in a low voice, "How much did you pay her to stay and take care of me?"
Cang Shu sighed softly to himself, "I didn't pay. Madam Pei stayed voluntarily out of concern for you." He understood that the Prime Minister never believed that anyone would treat him sincerely.
"She'll probably ask me for money when she wakes up," Song Jie murmured. He released Cang Shu's hand, pressed his wound, and tiptoed out. He walked to the side of the couch and saw Xie Yushu sleeping.
She lay on her side, curled up like a shrimp, with a soft pillow under her head and another soft pillow in her arms. The brocade quilt on her body had somehow slipped down to her waist, revealing her white undergarment and a section of her wrist beneath the thin quilt.
For some reason, as Song Jie gazed at Xie Yushu sleeping peacefully, his heart also calmed down. The hatred and resentment from his nightmares seemed to be easily dispelled in this fragrant room.
He stood quietly watching her and noticed how long her eyelashes were, thick and dark covering her eyelids. He wondered if she was cold, as she was hugging a soft pillow tightly.
She was actually only sixteen or seventeen years old.
A tender feeling arose in Song Jie's heart that he shouldn't have felt. He bent down to pull the brocade quilt up for her, which startled Jin Ye, who was sleeping on the cushion by the bed.
"Prime Minister Song..." Jin Ye was startled.
Song Jie raised a finger and whispered a "shh," silencing her, and gently pulled the blanket up for Xie Yushu.
This won't do!
Jin Ye hurriedly knelt up, tucked the quilt into her own hands, and whispered, "This servant will take care of you, Madam."
Xie Yushu frowned, as if he was about to be woken up.
Jin Ye gently patted her back, coaxing her to sleep a little longer.
Song Jie withdrew his hand and watched Xie Yushu fall asleep again under Jin Ye's palm. He felt a strange displeasure. His maids and servants always seemed to be wary of him getting close to Xie Yushu.
He's not a tiger, how could he eat her?
Isn't he better than Pei Shilin?
He felt a tightness in his chest and wanted to cough, but afraid of waking Xie Yushu, he covered his mouth and nose and quickly went back into the bed curtains before coughing twice, which made the wound on his shoulder hurt again.
Suddenly, she heard Xie Yushu's sleepy voice outside the tent. She asked groggily, "Why is he coughing again? Is Cangshu feeling any better?"
Song Jie's heart felt as if it had been gently brushed by a soft feather. Apart from the deceased Granny Yuping, there was probably no one else in the world who would wake up worried upon hearing him cough.
He thought that her worry at that moment must be genuine.
How can a person pretend to be asleep right after waking up?
"Madam, Prime Minister Song has woken up," Jin Ye whispered to her from outside.
"Are you awake?" Xie Yushu seemed to have gotten out of bed.
Song Jie saw her figure walking quickly towards him through the bed curtains. She lifted the curtain and peeked in with a sleepy face. She stared at him for a moment, stunned.
This brief moment of stunned silence was the most adorable Xie Yushu Song Jie had ever seen. She hadn't even had time to put on a facade; she was like a little deer that had mistakenly wandered into a grand mansion.
"How are you feeling?" She even forgot to address the Prime Minister as such, asking him as if he were a friend.
Song Jie coughed lightly, clutching his open outer robe, and said, "I'm feeling better. I shouldn't die."
She then regained her usual expression, chuckled, and playfully teased him, saying, "It's good that you're not dead. If Prime Minister Song dies in my bed and the officials come to interrogate me, I'll really be drowned in a pig cage."
Song Jie frowned. He didn't like her cursing him like that. "Don't worry, if I die, I will instruct Cang Shu to handle the aftermath before I die. I will never let you suffer because of me."
She walked in and jokingly said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult to do then. Prime Minister Song is dead, who will be afraid of you? The Pei family will be the first to take my life."
Song Jie suddenly fell silent, because Xie Yushu was right. If he died, his power would collapse as well. How could the Pei family still be afraid of him? They would immediately target Xie Yushu.
When Xie Yushu walked in, he saw that she was wearing a pair of wooden clogs, and her round toes were faintly visible under her robes as she walked. He looked away, his mind in turmoil. He didn't understand why he was thinking about Xie Yushu's fate when he was about to die. Wasn't he and she always in an "employer" relationship?
"Did you drink the ginseng soup?" Xie Yushu stopped in front of him and asked.
He and Cangshu answered almost simultaneously: "No."
“No…” Cang Shu paused and glanced at the Prime Minister, who now seemed to answer every question from Madam Pei.
Song Jie realized that he might have answered too enthusiastically, so he stiffened and shut his mouth.
Cangshu said on his behalf, "The Prime Minister was unconscious just now, so we didn't feed him and he spilled the food."
Xie Yushu saw the still wet bed and said, "Go get another bowl; it's warm on the table."
Cangshu responded and went out to serve the ginseng soup.
Song Jie heard Xie Yushu say regretfully, "That was a top-quality thousand-year-old ginseng, which I obtained with great difficulty from Yong'an Prefecture. What a waste."
He thought to himself, "Is she going to bring up money now? How much this time? Five thousand taels? Ten thousand?"
To everyone's surprise, after Cangshu came in, she didn't say anything, but took the ginseng soup and said, "I'll feed you, don't spill a single drop."
Song Jie looked up at her in surprise.
In the candlelight, she stood there with her black hair flowing down her back, wearing only a loose Taoist robe. She lowered her head, blew on the ginseng soup in her hand, and scooped a spoonful to feed him: "Try it first to see if it's hot. If it's not hot, drink it all in one gulp."
Song Jie looked at her quietly, not understanding why she... wasn't mentioning money anymore?
He opened his mouth and drank the spoonful of ginseng soup. She watched him with concern and asked, "Is it hot?"
The ginseng soup flowed down his throat, and his heart warmed up. He wanted her to keep feeding him like this, but he felt ashamed. He wasn't completely injured and couldn't move, so why was he being so delicate?
He took the ginseng soup and drank it down in one gulp, then asked, "So, how much money do you want this time?"
Xie Yushu chuckled, "I don't want money. I saved you because I was genuinely afraid you would die."
Song Jie looked at her in disbelief: "Don't you hate me?"
Her beautiful eyes met his gaze, and she said softly, "I do hate you a little, but if you die, I'm afraid I won't live much longer either."
Song Jiexin was jolted by the impact, and he understood that what she meant was that the Pei family would not let her go even if he died.
But such words sound as if they were of one mind and would die together, as if she would die with him if he died.
"Host, you have gained another point of Popularity Value." The system appeared again.
Xie Yushu looked at the "popularity rating" on the system interface, which had turned into "21 points," and felt so happy he wanted to laugh. Staying with Song Jie was really effective.
Actually, she had woken up before Song Jie covered her with a blanket. She was woken up by the system notification, which was also due to Song Jie's 1 point of popularity.
Song Jie is far too easy to win over. Just a little bit of feigned kindness is enough to make him completely infatuated.
"But if Prime Minister Song really feels bad and insists on giving me money, I naturally won't refuse," Xie Yushu added.
Song Jie couldn't help but laugh, and patted the bed next to him as if teasing her, saying, "Okay, you can lie down with me for a while for five thousand taels of silver."
"Five thousand taels?" She smiled as she smoothed her black hair over her shoulder. "Prime Minister, you underestimate me too much. Am I only worth five thousand taels?"
"Then tell me, how much do you want?" Song Jie asked her.
She answered almost without hesitation, "Money can't buy that, but if you offered me a princess position, I might consider it."
Song Jie looked at her and laughed in surprise: "You have quite an appetite. Even the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an's family is not qualified to be named a princess."
She seemed unhappy, turned around and left with a cold face.
After a while, Song Jie heard her outside saying in a huff, "Just because Xie Jianing can't do it doesn't mean I can't."
As Song Jie gazed at her figure sitting on the couch by the window outside the gauze curtain, he felt a moment of disorientation. He then realized with a start that if she hadn't mentioned Jia Ning, he would have almost forgotten about Jia Ning tonight...
He didn't even see any resemblance to Jia Ning in her face, nor did he think she looked like Jia Ning. When he looked at her, he was only looking at Xie Yushu...
Why is this happening?
※
The rain outside didn't stop until the sky began to lighten.
Song Jie lingered in Xie Yu's study, having breakfast with her, before leaving her courtyard under Xiao Dao's displeased gaze.
However, instead of leaving the Pei residence immediately, he went to see Pei Shilin.
Pei Shilin was badly beaten last night and only woke up at dawn. Now, upon seeing Song Jie, he was so angry that he almost fainted again. But Song Jie, with a kind face, sat a few steps away and said to him, "I heard that you got into the Hanlin Academy through the Duke of Yingguo's connections? And became a seventh-rank editor?"
"What exactly do you want?" Pei Shilin felt a chill run down his spine. Staring at Song Jie, he felt utterly hopeless. He feared that Song Jie's interference would prevent him from even becoming a seventh-rank editor.
Unexpectedly, Song Jie said, "I can help you get a seventh-rank Imperial Academy Reader position, and I can also get your brother out of trouble."
Li Huixian's eyes widened immediately, and she hurriedly asked, "Prime Minister Song, are you serious?"
Pei Shilin angrily scolded his mother, "How could a viper like Song Jie help you for no reason! He will definitely pay the price!"
Sure enough, Song Jie smiled with a pale face and said, "Of course it's true, but I want your son Pei Shilin to never touch Xie Yushu again from now on."
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Author's Note: I'll be updating on time~ Thank you for your praise, I rely on you all for warmth!
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