Chapter 47 He would feel immense pleasure when he touched her…
Doesn't she know whether he wants her to come or not?
Spending real money is just to keep her for an extra hour, but she might not even give it a second glance.
But how could Song Jie answer? He could imagine how sarcastic Xie Yushu would be if he answered "yes" to mock him.
So he didn't answer, but slowly sat down in the chair next to her, getting closer to smell the sweet floral scent on her body, and his tired body and mind seemed to be soothed and calmed little by little.
This made him uneasy; he seemed to need her more and more.
On the table were two plates of steamed dumplings, some refreshing side dishes, and braised beef. It was clear that the cook had prepared everything that could be eaten as soon as possible because of her sudden arrival.
"Haven't you had dinner yet?" Song Jie asked her, trying to keep it as casual as possible.
Xie Yushu, however, refused to let him go. He put down his chopsticks and deliberately said, "If you don't want me to come, I'll leave." He then made a move to get up.
Song Jie subconsciously reached out and grabbed her wrist. His hand was so cold that he could feel the heat of her skin even through the thin gauze sleeve.
He looked up at her, sighed helplessly, and said, "You know I've sent a carriage to the Meng family several times to invite you, so why do you still ask?"
Xie Yushu naturally knew that Cang Shu had been going to the back gate of the Meng residence almost every night for the past few days, making up various excuses to send someone to ask her if it was convenient for her to leave the residence, but she insisted on asking.
“Of course I want to hear it from you yourself,” she said. “I don’t like people who say one thing and mean another.”
Song Jie looked at her with his narrow eyes, and said softly, seemingly helplessly, "I did."
Xie Yushu smiled with satisfaction, sat back down in his chair, and handed him chopsticks as a reward: "You haven't had dinner either, have you? Eat something together."
He hadn't eaten much, but when he took the chopsticks, he saw that she was in a good mood and put a few steamed dumplings on his plate. For some reason, he felt better too, so he lowered his head and ate the dumplings she had put on his plate, listening to her talk to him from time to time.
They praised Jiang Hua's cooking skills, and said that Pan Pan seemed to have gained weight again... These were all idle chatter, but Song Jie felt that the cold and icy mansion had become lively.
"Did you accompany the Emperor on a boat trip on the lake today?" She then brought up Meng Jinyue's desire to go horseback riding with her in the Western Hills that day.
Song Jie put down his chopsticks and looked up at her. He heard her say, "I heard that His Majesty went boating on the lake today, so I didn't go, for fear of running into him. Although Yue says that Xishan is a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the road to the lake."
Song Jie had a subtle feeling, as if there was a hand in the dark pushing Xie Yushu toward the Emperor... If she went to Xishan today, she would definitely meet the Emperor.
"Have you seen the Emperor?" Song Jie asked her.
She nodded and said, "I saw him at Yuqing Temple. His Majesty came to accompany the nun Yusu."
"Have you managed to speak with them yet?" Song Jie asked again.
A subtle look of unease crossed her face as she shook her head. "No, but... I think His Majesty is acting strangely." She lowered her voice to utter such disrespectful words.
Song Jie looked at her and asked more patiently, "What's wrong? It's fine to talk about these things in my residence."
She frowned and thought for a moment, as if she didn't know how to say it. She simply raised her arm and brought it close to Song Jie's face, asking him, "Do you think I have any strange fragrance? I haven't used any floral perfume."
Song Jie's heart sank for some reason. Could it be that the Emperor also smelled the floral fragrance he had detected on Xie Yushu?
"Perhaps it's the fragrance from your cosmetics," Song Jie asked her gently. "What? Did His Majesty say you had a strange smell?"
She said, "His Majesty asked me what kind of floral dew I used." Her brows furrowed. "Fortunately, the Fourth Prince came to my rescue."
There's also the matter of Xiao Zhen.
Song Jie frowned and stopped speaking, but his mind was still unsettled. No wonder that old bastard Xiao Xu suddenly asked about Xie Yushu. It turned out that he had noticed Xie Yushu since that time. Asking a woman what kind of flower dew she used was enough to show that he had ulterior motives. Today, he asked her again if she was married...
The old man, half-buried in the ground, still has the mind to indulge in lust. It seems the medicine wasn't strong enough, making him too healthy these days.
Song Jie thought to himself with a belly full of sarcasm: If he hadn't yet found the old man's biological son, he would have sent him to his grave long ago.
Xie Yushu finished the last steamed dumpling and put down his chopsticks.
"Are you full? Shall we have Jiang Hua make another dish?" Song Jie asked her.
She quickly said she was full, rinsed her mouth, and then lowered her head to play with her plate.
Song Jie gestured for Cang Shu to go to the kitchen to boil water, then got up and went to the wardrobe to personally take out two sets of nightgowns, placing them on the side couch and saying, "These two sets are made of better material; you can wear them tonight."
Xie Yushu looked up in surprise and said, "I didn't plan to stay tonight."
He made it sound like he was tacitly agreeing that she would stay.
Seeing him calmly take the box containing the gold coins, Xie Yushu said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Paying won't work. I have to go back to the Meng residence tonight. Jin Yue invited me to go horse racing in the Western Hills before dawn tomorrow. I came tonight because I have something to ask you."
Song Jie's expression turned cold, and his tone became sarcastic: "You were able to easily free your mother from slavery, so what else do you need to ask me?"
Xie Yushu was not surprised that he knew about this, and frankly said, "Because this matter may be of great importance, I don't know who else I can trust besides you."
Her words left Song Jie speechless. He never expected Xie Yushu to say that she trusted him and felt that there was no one else she could trust besides him.
She probably didn't even realize how weighty those words were; they were not related, yet she trusted him.
Looking at her, Song Jie felt that his words just now were completely unnecessary. Why had he treated Xie Yushu with such a bad temper? He clearly cared about her, needed her, and wanted her to stay by his side longer...
But he didn't know how to openly admit these things, because he knew all too well that the more he cared, the easier it was for him to get hurt.
The room was so quiet that only the sound of Panpan's tail hitting the ground could be heard.
Song Jie waved for Cang Shu and her maid Jin Ye to leave, then sat back down next to Xie Yushu and said, "Ask away."
Xie Yushu patted the dog hair off his hands and said in a very soft voice, "Xiao Dao has been taken away."
Little Knife? The lame attendant beside her?
Song Jie asked in confusion, "Who took them away?"
"The assassin who attacked me at Yuqing Temple that night." Xie Yushu didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "After I was kidnapped by the assassin, Xiaodao also chased after him. There were three or four men in black with the assassin. They captured Xiaodao and took him away."
Song Jie was even more confused: "The assassin took Xiao Dao? Why didn't you mention that at the time?"
She suddenly became hesitant to speak, got up and paced around the room as if uneasy, before finally making up her mind to lean over to Song Jie at the table and say, "You swear that you will never tell anyone what I told you tonight."
Her fragrance wafted over at once.
Song Jie stared into her eyes, which were very close to his, but found it hard to concentrate on her words. He even raised his hand and made a vow on his own. When he said that breaking the vow would result in being pierced by a thousand arrows, she grasped his fingers and pressed his hand down.
Her warm palm gripped his fingers as she said, "There's no need to be so ruthless."
Song Jie subconsciously squeezed her hand back, his heart and tone softening as he asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Yushu sat back down in the chair in front of him, his knees almost touching his knees, his hands still on his. He said nervously, "I didn't say it then because the assassin told me that he wouldn't hurt Xiaodao. He just wanted to take Xiaodao to see someone, and he would release Xiaodao after seeing that person."
"You just believed the assassin's words like that?" Song Jie couldn't help but gently rub her fingers together. She was so hot and fragrant that she didn't even bother to pull her hand away, as nervous as a small animal encountering danger.
"The reason I believe it is because of that assassin..." Xie Yushu paused before speaking, took Song Jie's hand and pulled him closer, whispering in his ear, "That assassin seems to be... Pei Heng."
Her warm breath tickled his ear, and Song Jie didn't react for a moment. Only when he silently repeated the name she had said did he turn around in surprise and look at her: "Pei Heng? Pei Heng from the Yongyi Earl's Mansion? Pei Shilin's uncle?"
Xie Yushu nodded, becoming even more nervous. "Although I didn't see his face clearly, I heard his men call him 'General,' and he told me he wouldn't hurt me and would send Pei Shilin to pick me up... I thought about it and he was the only one I could think of, so I believed him." She nervously gripped Song Jie's hands. "But so many days have passed, and Xiao Dao still hasn't returned. Song Jie, can you help me find Xiao Dao?"
Song Jie instinctively enveloped her hand, wanting to say something but his thoughts were in turmoil due to her fragrance and warmth, and he only managed to utter one sentence: "Pei Heng... did the assassin tell you who you were going to see with Xiao Dao?"
She shook her head, then moved closer to him and asked, "Will the knife be in danger? I'm really worried."
Her knees touched his, and he naturally opened his knees to let her get closer, pulling one hand to pull her into his arms. She didn't resist and let him hold her tightly.
“No, if the assassin is Pei Heng, he has no reason to hurt Xiao Dao… He doesn’t even know a follower, maybe he was acting on someone’s orders…” Song Jie spoke without thinking, but quickly realized something.
On the night of the assassination attempt at Yuqing Temple, Zhang Youyi from the palace sent him a message saying that the Emperor had met someone in the alchemy room.
Could it be that she met Pei Heng? Could it be that Pei Heng took Xiao Dao to see the Emperor?
Why?
Song Jie frowned and immediately lowered his head to ask Xie Yushu, "Do you know who Xiao Dao's parents are? Or does he have a master?"
Xie Yushu didn't look up at him, but he already understood that Song Jie hadn't found "Xiao Xiaodao" from the original drama at this point in time, and he probably didn't know who the real prince was.
But he asked about Xiao Dao's master. Was it because he knew who had taken the real prince as a disciple? Could it be that Xiao Dao's master was the one who stole the real prince back then?
"He said he didn't know who his parents were, and that he was raised by his master since childhood, but he never mentioned his master's name." Xie Yushu told the truth. She wanted Song Jie to investigate and verify Xiao Dao's identity as a prince.
Didn't Song Jie hate Xiao Zhen? If he could support Xiao Zhen, why couldn't he support Xiao Dao to become the crown prince and then the emperor?
“But I just remembered something.” Xie Yushu looked up at Song Jie and then revealed some more information to him: “Xiao Dao’s master once gave him a mission, which was to assassinate the female Taoist priest Yu Su.”
Song Jie's eyes seemed to light up in an instant, and he suddenly smiled.
"What's wrong?" Xie Yushu asked. "Is something going to happen to Xiaodao? Is the assassin here to kill him?" She asked anxiously and nervously, pulling her hand out of Song Jie's palm and leaving his embrace.
Song Jie took her hand again, as if he felt it wouldn't hurt to reveal a little, and told her, "If what you said is true, then you don't need to worry about Xiao Dao's safety."
"Why?" Xie Yushu asked anxiously, frowning. "What do you know? Tell me! I've told you everything, why are you still hiding it from me?"
Song Jie found it difficult to tell her, because he was the one who hired the assassin to kill the nun Yu Su.
His goal wasn't to actually have the assassin kill Yu Su Nu Guan, but rather to lure the assassin out and capture him, but unfortunately, he failed.
Because "King Song" was the assassin who secretly switched Wan Susu's biological son with Emperor Xiao Xu's.
He suspected that the child "King Song" had taken away had been raised by "King Song" all along.
If it weren't for the subsequent outbreak of war, and the fact that the "King of Song" joined forces with the vassal state and became its military advisor, he would have captured the "King of Song" and found the child long ago.
I never expected that Xie Yushu would bring such a lost clue to my doorstep.
Is Xiao Dao actually a disciple of "King Song"?
He couldn't help but reach out and touch Xie Yushu's cheek, patiently explaining, "There are many things I can't tell you right now, but don't worry, I will definitely find Xiaodao safely."
He not only wanted to find it safely, but he also wanted to hold the knife in his palm and make it the sharpest sword to deal with Wan Susu and Xiao Zhen.
He stroked her warm cheeks and then gently touched her ears.
Xie Yushu only reacted when she heard the system notification. Song Jie's hand was already kneading her earlobe, bending the earring, and he seemed to be fascinated as he moved from her earlobe to her chin and neck...
She abruptly brushed his hand away, frowned, and said, "Speak properly."
Song Jie's palms were still warm, and his heart was still trembling. It was strange; he felt immense pleasure when he touched her...
It was still drizzling outside the window.
He looked at Xie Yushu, really hoping she would stay tonight and not leave.
So he said in a slightly hoarse voice, "It might rain all night, and the Xishan Horse Ranch will be slippery tomorrow morning, so the horses probably won't be able to run."
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Author's Note: I'll be updating promptly at 6 PM today! Hehe~
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