Xie Xuanye left the Li residence.
“Su Yuewei!” Li Jinghe said quietly.
Xie Xuanye covered his mouth in surprise, "It's her!"
"I didn't expect you to be so charming! You actually managed to get a young girl to drug you!"
Li Jinghe didn't want to talk about this anymore, so he changed the subject and asked, "Last night you said you had something important to tell me."
Xie Xuanye slapped his forehead, "I almost forgot something important!"
"Last time we stole money from the magistrate's house, and the magistrate reported it up the chain of command. The imperial court is planning to send people to attack me and my brothers!" he said nervously.
Li Jinghe said casually, "Don't worry, they're not attacking you, but those bandits!"
"You'd better stay away from that group of people, otherwise when the imperial court arrives and sees you mingling with those bandits, your Xie family will definitely be severely impeached before the Emperor!"
Xie Xuanye immediately shook his head and refused, saying, "No! They are my brothers! How can I just leave them to fend for themselves!"
Li Jinghe looked at him seriously and asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
Xie Xuanye said with a worried expression, "I wanted my brothers to hide for a while, but they refused and chose to fight a tough battle with the imperial court!"
"I came here to ask if you have any good ideas?"
Li Jinghe thought for a moment and replied, "You can choose to do the same as them and fight the imperial court to the death."
Xie Xuanye pursed his lips, looking at him helplessly, and said, "Jing He! Stop teasing me, give me a good idea!"
“They offended officials appointed by the imperial court, so it is only right that the court sends people to eliminate them!” Li Jinghe said.
Xie Xuanye said with dissatisfaction, "Yes! They offended the county magistrate, but this county magistrate has done nothing for the common people!"
"He takes the salary from the imperial court while harming the common people!"
Do you know why there are mountain bandits in Pingchun County?
"Do you know that those people don't live a normal life, but insist on living a life of constant danger!" Xie Xuanye said, the veins on his neck bulging.
Li Jinghe looked at him seriously and said, "Your intentions are good, but your behavior is unacceptable."
Xie Xuanye was slightly taken aback and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Li Jinghe poured him a cup of tea and said, "Since it is the magistrate's fault, you should go and explain the situation to his superior."
"Alternatively, you could write a letter directly to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who is in charge of the appointment and transfer of officials."
"Hmph!" Xie Xuanye scoffed, "Your idea is truly naive."
“You stay in this courtyard all day and don’t know what’s going on outside.”
"Officials protect each other! Jinghe! Do you know how serious the corruption is in Yun Dynasty!"
"Not long ago, the Imperial Censor discovered that he had embezzled 100,000 taels of gold!"
"This is equivalent to ten years' worth of tax revenue from the Yun Kingdom!"
"Of this, only 50,000 taels of gold was disaster relief grain allocated by the imperial court to five counties in the south, and it ended up in the hands of corrupt officials!"
"And on my way from the capital to Pingchun, I saw people suffering from famine by the roadside, they..."
"They exchanged their own children to eat them!"
"They would fight over a few pieces of meat in the pot!"
Li Jinghe saw grief and helplessness in his eyes. After all these years, Xie Xuanye had not changed; he still had the heart to dedicate himself to the common people.
Li Jinghe sighed helplessly and said, "Xuan Ye, it's still not too late for you to back out before those bandits know your identity."
"You can't drag your whole family into this!"
Xie Xuanye looked at Li Jinghe and said, "I asked you to think of a solution!"
Li Jinghe said in a deep voice, "This is my solution!"
Xie Xuanye was so angry that his mouth twisted into a crooked shape. "What kind of bullshit method is this?!"
As soon as he said it, Xie Xuanye covered his mouth.
Li Jinghe gave a mocking smile. "Birds of a feather flock together."
“The former Prince Xie would never have said such rude things.”
Xie Xuanye pursed his lips, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, and said, "Jinghe, I didn't mean anything by it."
"I was just too angry, so I said the wrong thing."
"Some changes happen gradually, not just for you, but for your entire family. Try to stay away from them as much as possible."
Xie Xuanye's apologetic expression gradually froze, and he said coldly, "No matter what I say, you don't believe me."
"You said it yourself, birds of a feather flock together. In that case, I'll leave." With that, she turned away resolutely.
Li Jinghe opened his mouth but then closed it again. He couldn't stop him, so he could only sigh helplessly and watch Xie Xuanye's figure disappear.
Su Yuewei has been feeling anxious and uneasy these past few days because she feels guilty for what she did to Li Jinghe.
Su Yuexing came to her room and chatted with her. Noticing something on her mind, she asked, "Yuewei, what's wrong?"
"What difficulties have you encountered?"
Su Yuewei clenched her fists and said, "No, I'm fine, sister."
Su Yuexing guessed, "Are you missing your mother?"
"Why don't you go back and see your mother in a few days?"
Su Yuewei immediately stood up and said, "I'm perfectly fine here, I'm not going back!"
"If I go back, my father might sell me into a brothel!"
Su Yuewei grabbed Su Yuewei's hand and pleaded, "Sister! I don't want to go back!"
Su Yuexing frowned slightly and said, "When you came out, Mother was still bedridden."
"Besides, you've been away for three months now. Don't you miss her at all?"
Su Yuewei said with a displeased look, "Back then, when Father tried to sell me to a brothel, she didn't stop him!"
"She doesn't treat me like a daughter! Why should I treat her like a mother!"
Hearing her words, Su Yuexing felt the person in front of her was a stranger and said, "Yuewei! How could you say such a thing!"
"Do you have any conscience?!"
Su Yuewei sat on the stool, her back to Su Yuexing, and said, "You can go if you want, I'm not going back!"
Su Yuexing slammed her hand on the table. "Bang! You think I don't want to go back?!"
"The main problem is that if I go back and the Li family finds out, they'll make my parents pay compensation!"
"Besides, I can't even leave the Li residence!"
Upon hearing this, Su Yuewei's eyes darted around, and a smile crept onto her lips as she confidently declared, "Sister! Since you want to go out, then leave this matter to me!"
Su Yuexing asked doubtfully, "Give it to you?"
"What do you want to do?" she asked.
Su Yuewei said mysteriously, "You'll find out when the time comes."
Su Yuexing left Su Yuewei's room with some doubt.
A few days later, she forgot about it.
Sai Taxue came to see her and chatted with her for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, telling her about Li Jinghe's situation.
During the conversation, Sai Taxue's attitude was gentle, completely unlike her previous contemptuous demeanor.
Su Yuexing was still somewhat suspicious of his attitude. Had he truly forgiven her from the bottom of his heart?
After seeing Sai Taxue off, Li Jinghe sent Dongyang to tell her to come to his room.
"Young master, the young mistress has arrived," Dongyang reported.
"I understand." Li Jinghe looked at Su Yuexing.
"Have a seat," he said.
Su Yuexing obediently sat down and asked, "Why did you call me here?"
Li Jinghe poured her a cup of tea and said with a light smile, "I can't invite you over for a visit unless there's something wrong."
"If you can talk to Doctor Sai, why can't you talk to me?"
"If anyone wants to ask me about my health, just ask me directly. You don't need to ask him."
Su Yuexing frowned slightly, not understanding why he said that.
Li Jinghe added, "Actually, I've been thinking about this for the past few days. When you went to Qingfeng Temple and met Master Huiyun..."
"What exactly did you talk about with him that caused such a drastic change in your attitude towards me?!"
"It's nothing," Su Yuexing said coldly.
Li Jinghe raised an eyebrow. There was nothing, or there was something, but she was unwilling to say, which made him somewhat irritated.
What could possibly be so important that she'd keep it from me like this?
"Eat your meal here before you go back to your room," Li Jinghe said.
Su Yuexing refused directly, saying, "No need, I'll go back to my room for dinner." She then stood up.
"Do you think it's bad luck to eat with a sickly person like me?" Li Jinghe said quietly.
Su Yuexing slowly sat down again and said, "I'm hungry, bring the food up."
Li Jinghe smiled slightly and winked at Dongyang beside him, who then went downstairs.
Actually, Li Jinghe had been feeling rather depressed these past few days eating alone.
On a whim today, I asked Dongyang to invite Su Yuexing to dine with me.
The delicious-looking and fragrant food made Su Yuexing involuntarily swallow.
Su Yuexing buried herself in her food and ate three bowls of rice. She burped contentedly, unaware that there were still two grains of rice left on the corner of her mouth.
Meanwhile, Li Jinghe was slowly chewing his food, swallowing it before taking a bite.
Su Yuexing rested her chin on her hand, thinking, "Eating like a young nobleman is really different from how I am."
Li Jinghe wiped his mouth clean with a handkerchief, glanced at Su Yuexing, and his gaze lingered on her lips.
"You left some food to feed the rats, right?" he asked.
Su Yuexing asked, puzzled, "What do you mean? Feed it to the rats?"
She saw Dongyang pointing at his mouth behind Li Jinghe.
She touched her hand and saw two grains of rice. She then put them in her mouth, stood up, and said, "I'm done eating. I'm leaving."
She took a few steps, and Li Jinghe called out, "Wait."
"What's wrong?" Su Yuexing turned around and asked.
"Come have dinner with me every night from now on," Li Jinghe instructed.
Su Yuexing, hands on her hips, asked in bewilderment, "Why? On what grounds?"
Li Jinghe looked at her and said, "Just because you are my wife now!"
"It is only natural for a wife to dine with her husband!"
Su Yuexing pursed her lips and said, "Okay! I understand." Then she turned and left.
Dongyang, who was standing nearby, said happily, "Since Madam came to keep the young master company, his appetite has increased considerably."
"This time I was able to finish a whole bowl of rice, whereas before I could only manage half a bowl."
Li Jinghe smiled faintly. He didn't know why, but watching Su Yuexing eat made him feel hungry.
After Dongyang finished cleaning up the dishes and left, Yue emerged from the shadows, knelt on the ground, and said, "Su Yuewei has been getting very close to Doctor Sai these past few days."
"Therefore, I have never had the opportunity to make a move against her."
“Sai Taxue?” Li Jinghe frowned slightly. How did these two end up together?
"And I heard..." Yue whispered into Li Jinghe's ear.
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