Chapter 43 "Not tonight."
Cangshu entered the unlit bedroom, presented the paper tube in his hand to Song Jie, and tried to say something in a low voice, but Song Jie pointed at him to be quiet.
Don't wake her.
Song Jie pulled the letter out of the paper tube and, by the light of the lamplight outside the corridor, saw a line of small characters on it: Consort Zhang said that His Majesty met someone in the alchemy room tonight.
The Imperial Guards completely surrounded the alchemy room, leaving only the eunuch who had served him since childhood and the old nanny by the emperor's side; no one else could get close.
Consort Zhang could only confirm that the person the Emperor met came from outside the palace; she could not find out anything else.
Outside the palace? Who could His Majesty have met outside the palace that warrants such strict guarding?
Song Jie couldn't help but wonder if the assassin at Yuqing Temple tonight was a coincidence.
He handed the letter back to Cangshu and whispered, "Let's talk outside."
As soon as she moved her feet, Xie Yushu's sleepy voice came from inside the bed curtains: "Is it dawn yet?"
I still woke her up.
Song Jie turned around and returned to the bedside. He lifted the bed curtains and saw Xie Yushu in the dim light. She was still lying on her side, looking up at him with her eyes half-closed, like a lamb.
"It's not dawn yet." Song Jie softened his voice, bent down to pick up the blanket that had fallen to the ground and put it back on her, saying, "Sleep a little longer."
Even she exuded the fragrance of morning dew.
Song Jie moved closer to her, covered her with the blanket, and watched her gaze at him drowsily. A strange sense of satisfaction and joy welled up inside him, as if she completely belonged to him...
But outside the door, her nanny seemed to have heard her voice and immediately asked respectfully, "Has Miss woken up?"
She blinked her groggy eyes, then sat up as if she had just woken up and asked, "Granny Xizhi? I heard Granny Xizhi's voice?"
Song Jie sighed helplessly.
Cangshu reported from outside the bed curtains: "Yes, your nanny has come to the Prime Minister's residence to see you."
"Is there something urgent?" Xie Yushu was fully awake and lifted the bed curtains to get out of bed.
Song Jie stopped her, saying, "It's still raining outside, and it's very cold." He then instructed Cang Shu to bring in Granny Xizhi.
As soon as the door opened, a cold draft rushed in.
But she didn't care at all, and went barefoot to greet her: "Granny Xizhi, what brings you here?"
She doesn't care at all about getting sick.
Song Jie had no choice but to pick up the outer robe from beside the bed and drape it over her shoulders. "Xie Yushu, put on your shoes."
Xie Yushu completely ignored what he said.
Granny Xi was so shocked that her eyelids twitched. The young lady and Prime Minister Song were only wearing their undergarments, and Prime Minister Song was even personally draping an outer robe over the young lady... How was this scene any different from that of a married couple?
"This servant is here." She immediately took the outer robe from the Prime Minister's hand, put it on her mistress herself, and hurriedly went to the bedside to get her mistress's shoes, secretly glancing at the bed and the other side bed.
There was only one soft pillow on the bed, but the bedding on the other side of the bed was neatly arranged, clearly indicating that no one had slept there! It didn't look like they were sleeping on separate beds at all!
"Why are you so soaked?" Xie Yushu put on her shoes, noticed that Granny Xizhi's clothes were all wet, and pulled her down to sit, asking, "Did something urgent happen?"
Cangshu turned on the lights in the room.
Granny Xizhi smoothed her hair, glanced at Prime Minister Song sitting on the side couch, and hesitated to speak, "It's some family matter..."
Xie Yushu realized that this was something that Song Jie shouldn't know, so she got up and pulled Xizhi Granny, saying, "Let's go outside and talk."
Song Jie frowned. It was raining so hard outside, and she had just woken up and was already going out.
"You two can talk inside," Song Jie said, knowing she wanted to avoid him. He got up, grabbed his outer robe, and said, "I have some things to do in the study."
"That's perfect." She pulled Granny Xizhi back to sit down, showing concern that the woman had caught a chill while wearing wet clothes outside.
It was really cold outside. Song Jie started coughing as soon as he stepped outside, but she didn't seem to care and didn't even look at him.
"Prime Minister, be careful not to catch a cold." Cangshu tied his outer robe for him.
After Song Jie and Cang Shu had walked away, Xi Zhi closed the door, took out a lock of black hair from her bosom and handed it to Xie Yushu, whispering, "Miss, Xiao Dao is gone."
"Gone?" Xie Yushu took the hair and saw Xiao Dao's hairband tied on it, and her heart felt inexplicably empty.
Xizhi only told her the gist of it. Xizhi didn't know where Xiaodao had gone. She only knew that a masked man had taken her to see Xiaodao, and Xiaodao told her to wait for her.
It must be Pei Heng.
Xie Yushu guessed that Pei Heng had taken Xiao Dao away, most likely to take him back to the battlefield.
But she didn't understand why the knife had to be taken to the battlefield. Had the emperor actually verified that the knife was his son?
If Xiao Dao is the real prince, shouldn't the emperor keep him by his side?
If Xiao Dao were not a prince, the emperor could either let him go or kill him to silence him. It would be so easy for the emperor to kill someone; there would be no need to send him to the battlefield.
After much thought, the most likely explanation was that the emperor was not yet fully certain that Xiao Dao was his son and needed more corroborating evidence. However, fearing that the evidence would leak out before it was found, he had Pei Heng, who knew the truth, take Xiao Dao away far away.
The emperor was so cruel. He could have found a more suitable and safer way to put Xiaodao away, even just letting him hide in a mansion for a while, but instead he sent him far away to the battlefield.
Xie Yushu even felt that if Xiaodao died on the battlefield, the emperor would only breathe a sigh of relief.
He has four sons and doesn't care whether he has one more or one less son.
"Will Xiaodao come back?" Granny Xizhi asked her.
"Yes, he will." Xie Yushu looked down at the strand of hair. She knew Xiaodao would come back. He hadn't even seen her one last time before he left, but he would definitely come back alive to see her.
Granny Xizhi glanced at the door again and whispered to her, "Why did Miss stay at the Prime Minister's residence? And..." There were many things she couldn't say, but she asked worriedly, "Has Miss been bullied?"
Xie Yushu had also had several boyfriends, so she naturally understood what Granny Xizhi meant. She smiled and said, "Do I look like someone who has been bullied, Granny?"
Even if something were to happen between her and Song Jie, it would only be voluntary and enjoyable for her.
Seeing her smug look, Granny Xizhi couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, our young lady is different from before. She's quite formidable now."
Before Xie Yushu could even feel smug, the system quietly said, "Host, Song Jie kissed you while you were asleep."
He kissed her? Why didn't she feel anything? Where did he kiss her?
"I kissed your palm and the back of your hand," the system replied earnestly.
Xie Yushu was speechless for a moment, then heard the system add: "He secretly held your hand and touched himself..."
Where did you touch?
"I touched his face, neck, and chest." The system remained serious: "Then he awkwardly went out to change his clothes, and your 'charm' rating increased by 4 points."
Xie Yushu laughed when he heard this. What a spineless virgin! He can't even handle touching his face.
“Miss…” Granny Xizhi smoothed her black hair and finally asked in a low voice, “If I may ask something I shouldn’t, do you have any feelings for Prime Minister Song?” She truly treated Yushu like a daughter, so she lowered her voice and said, “If Miss has any feelings for Prime Minister Song, I think he’s at least better to you than Pei Shilin. Why don’t you divorce Pei Shilin?” After the divorce, Miss can find a good husband again.
"He's not good to me at all." Xie Yushu said without lowering her voice, "He only sees me as a substitute for someone else. If I could still have feelings for him, I would be doing myself a disservice." It would be doing the real Yushu, who was bullied to death, a disservice.
Xizhi wanted to say something more, but she had already gotten up and quickly went to the bedside, took something out from under the pillow and handed it to her: "Keep this for me."
Xizhi received three gold notes worth ten thousand taels each!
"W-so much money, where did Miss get it from?" Xizhi exclaimed in astonishment. Thirty thousand taels of gold notes were enough to buy an entire street!
"That's why I'm willing to give Song Jie a friendly look," Xie Yushu said with a smile as he sat back in his chair. "If it weren't for Song Jie's money, I wouldn't bother with him at all."
Xizhi, holding the gold coins, hurriedly said, "Miss, please keep your voice down, in case someone hears us..."
“It doesn’t matter if I hear it; Song Jie knows all this perfectly well,” Xie Yushu said.
Sure enough, someone knocked gently on the door and said, "Miss Yushu, the Prime Minister instructed me to bring you some snacks and goat milk tea."
It's ginger flower.
※
The rain seemed to have lessened a bit.
The stove in the study was burning, but Song Jie still couldn't stop coughing, so Cang Shu closed the doors and windows tightly.
Jiang Hua lowered her head and whispered back to what she had overheard a few steps away.
Cangshu couldn't help but sneak a peek at the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's face didn't look good, but he didn't seem too angry. He was just coughing silently.
Song Jie wasn't angry at all. What right did he have to be angry? Xie Yushu was right. He had only kept her with money. He knew perfectly well that Xie Yushu didn't like him and disliked him.
The room became stuffy, but he still felt cold; his hands and feet were icy, but his chest was not warm.
"I didn't hear anything else clearly," Jiang Hua replied truthfully. After she arrived at the bedroom door, she only heard Miss Yushu say that the Prime Minister was not treating her well.
Song Jie didn't press further. He gestured for Jiang Hua to leave and then instructed her, "Prepare breakfast, and also prepare some more steamed dumplings for the midnight snack."
He didn't say whether Xie Yushu liked to eat it or he liked to eat it.
The ginger flower should be removed.
Cangshu closed the door, dissolved a pill in warm water, and handed it to the Prime Minister. After watching the Prime Minister take it, he whispered, "Why doesn't the Prime Minister tell Miss Yushu that you no longer regard her as a substitute for Miss Jianing?"
Song Jie swallowed the bitter medicine, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and said, "What's the point of telling her? Do you think she'll forgive me because of this? No, she'll only hate me more."
Cangshu didn't understand, but he knew that the Prime Minister was truly in love with Miss Yushu. He said softly, "People's hearts are made of flesh and blood. Why don't you help Miss Yushu get a divorce, ask her for your hand in marriage, and spend time with her day and night to treat her well? She will eventually feel it."
The room was so quiet that you could hear the crackling of the charcoal fire.
Song Jie rubbed his cold chest, reminiscing about Xie Yushu's warm hands, and sighed, "How could you think she needs my help to get a divorce? It's not that she can't get a divorce, it's that she doesn't want to."
Cang Shu fell silent. Yes, after that commotion at the Pei residence, Pei Shilin and his mother were already terrified of Miss Yu Shu. If Miss Yu Shu wanted a divorce, she had plenty of ways to make it happen...
"Cangshu." Song Jie suddenly called his name, and quietly looked at the swaying lanterns outside the window and said, "I won't live much longer. Every day I live is to perish together with the emperor and Wan Susu... Asking to marry her will only drag her down with me."
Cangshu felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He understood that the Prime Minister was suffering from the deadly poison every day as he plotted revenge. The Prime Minister had never dared to hope to live a normal life like an ordinary person.
Someone knocked on the door of the study.
Cangshu opened the door and saw Miss Yushu and Granny Xizhi, who had changed their clothes.
"Where is Prime Minister Song?" Xie Yushu peeked into the study and saw Song Jie walking over quickly.
Song Jie's gaze swept over her, seemingly quite pleased with her outfit. It was made by a tailor from her old clothes that he had left behind, and it fit her perfectly.
"I'm going back to the Pei residence," Xie Yushu said directly. "No need to see me off, my carriage is already waiting outside."
Song Jie frowned, glanced at the still-falling rain and the still-dark sky, and said, "Let's wait until it's light before we leave. Jiang Hua has already made your breakfast."
"No need, it wouldn't be good if someone saw us leaving before dawn." Xie Yushu refused again: "Besides, I have other things to do."
"What is it?" Song Jie asked.
She frowned unhappily: "This is not something Prime Minister Song should concern himself with."
Song Jie was speechless and felt a tightness in his chest from her words. After she woke up, she became cold and fierce, giving him no kind look whatsoever.
Despite the heavy rain, she was determined to go.
Watching her departing figure, Song Jie couldn't help but speak again, "I'll send Cang Shu to pick you up tonight."
She stopped and looked back at him, still frowning, as if asking: Why are you coming again tonight?
Song Jie coughed twice and said, "I got caught in the rain, and my old illness has probably flared up again."
"Not tonight." She refused him again: "I have other things to do tonight."
What's up?
What is it that needs to be done at night? Why is everything else about her more important than seeing him?
"Host, you have gained 1 point of green hat value, from Song Jie," the system reported in surprise.
"?" Xie Yushu was also puzzled. Did she say anything? What was Song Jie jealous about?
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Author's Note: Song Jie: Jealous from afar. [Clown]
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