Chapter 69 The Bright Moon Hangs High, Unaware of Me
Her slender, pale hand, which was resting on the door frame, paused slightly. Beneath her soft words lay a sharp wit that could not conceal the hostility of the newcomer.
Hengbo smiled slightly. Her once timid and shy younger sister had grown up. In the cannibalistic palace, human life was so cheap that it was even less valuable than broken copper and scrap iron. Only a knife that could pierce people could survive.
However, this knife seems to have its own hidden agenda; let's just hope that his beloved royal uncle doesn't get cut and bleed.
Seemingly sensing the tense atmosphere between the two, Eunuch Chen dared not disregard hierarchy and stepped between them, smiling obsequiously at Ji Zhu: "Your Highness, you may not have received the news yet. The Princess has been working tirelessly in Quzhou to control the floods, and these past few days she has been traveling day and night on the water. She must be exhausted. It would be better if you two sisters told her after you return to Yujing and see His Majesty!"
“In that case, it seems that Mingzhen was not thoughtful enough,” Ji Zhu said with a guilty look on her face, but she did not back down an inch. “But before I came, Madam Wen repeatedly told me to bring my sister back. She has missed my sister a lot over the years, and she cried tears of joy countless times a few days ago when she learned that my sister was still alive.”
Eunuch Chen hesitated, "This..."
Hengbo found their tug-of-war amusing, but she also wanted to know what Ji Heng was up to, so she simply went along with their wishes.
Seeing Hengbo nod, Ji Zhu's smile became more genuine. She glanced subtly at Eunuch Chen, who was standing beside her with his eyes lowered and no longer speaking, then stepped forward and took Hengbo's arm, her words full of affection: "Sister still loves me as much as ever."
Hengbo smiled, and with a step, she subtly created distance, slightly shifting half a body away from Ji Zhu.
Ji Zhu, however, seemed oblivious, chattering incessantly on the way to the Wen residence.
It must have been quite a feat for her, to speak with such enthusiasm even while talking to a mute person, she smiled slightly.
The Wen residence was built a few years after the coup d'état in the Eastern Palace, so everything here was unfamiliar to Hengbo. Lord Wen was an incorruptible official who disliked extravagance; the courtyard was mostly planted with vigorous evergreen trees, with few rare flowers. Following the winding stone paths, they were respectfully led by servants to a quiet and elegant courtyard, presumably the residence of Madam Wen. The maid who had led the way announced their arrival and then bowed and withdrew, leaving Ji Zhu and Hengbo to wait at the courtyard gate.
After dismissing the large entourage of maids behind her, Ji Zhu's warmth and smile faded considerably. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell beside her, making her expression appear somewhat abruptly cold.
"Princess," her voice, devoid of any forced innocence and liveliness, sounded eerily like the echoing of a lonely ancient bell, "Sometimes I really wish you were dead."
Hengbo's gaze slowly shifted from the weeds among the pebbles on the ground back to her.
Ji Zhu looked straight back. She didn't think her words were anything outrageous, nor did she care if others knew about her shameful side. However, the moment she met those peaceful yet all-encompassing eyes, her slightly trembling voice betrayed a hint of resentment that she had suppressed deep inside: "Unfortunately, I have to rely on you to live like a human being."
As she spoke, she stared intently at the person in front of her, her slightly reddened eyes and clenched teeth all in anticipation of a response. But there was nothing—no surprise, no resentment, no smugness. Hengbo continued to watch her quietly, as if looking at a naive child.
"What am I supposed to say to a mute like you?" Ji Zhu was the first to look away, her words laced with sarcasm, though it was unclear who she was mocking.
Just then, a gentle-looking, elegant woman came running over, followed by her maidservant. "Ayu, is that Ayu?"
The beautiful face in her memory was now etched with the marks of time, yet her fervent eyes remained as burning as ever. Hengbo's heart clenched slightly, and a few unintelligible sobs escaped her throat.
The woman, however, paid no attention to the blankness on her face and the stiffness in her hands and feet. She embraced the child she had watched grow up, and tears of concern fell on the child's frail body before she could.
Ji Zhu, standing to the side, darkened slightly, but quickly put on a charming and playful smile: "Madam Wen and my sister must have a lot to talk about, so I won't stay here any longer." With that, she waved her hand and left.
Lady Wen quickly composed herself and bowed to Mingzhen, saying, "This humble woman respectfully sees the princess off."
...
Within two days, the problem of the leaking hull was resolved, and the group boarded the ship bound for Yujing once again. Hengbo stroked the warm jade in her hand, her gaze calm yet thoughtful, her thoughts returning to that day at the Wen residence.
Madam Wen solemnly handed the warm jade from the box presented by the maid to her, her voice choked with emotion: "Princess, my Jie'er is not worthy of you. The token given by the Wen family back then is no longer there, but this jade given by the former Crown Princess has been preserved, and now it can be considered to have been returned to its rightful owner."
Hengbo frowned slightly, but suppressed her anger after noticing the flicker in Madam Wen's eyes. She knew why Ji Heng had deliberately wanted the ship to break down in Zhuzhou.
With her parents' influence gone and her engagement broken off by her powerful fiancé, Princess Shenxiao was truly in a sorry state.
A helpless and mute woman—Ji Heng didn't want those people to understand her inappropriate thoughts.
A warm and strong hand touched her, interrupting Hengbo's thoughts. She smiled at Madam Wen, took the warm jade, looked at it, and casually tossed it back into the box.
It's ridiculous. Back then, the so-called engagement between her and Wen Jie was just a joke between their parents. There was no engagement token at all.
Ji Heng wanted to use this matter to kill three birds with one stone, without considering whether he could handle the consequences. He should only hope that he wouldn't regret it too much when he suffers the backlash in the future.
Even before the long-lost Princess Shenxiao was about to return to the capital to meet the emperor, the news that Wen Jie had broken off his engagement with Shenxiao and would soon marry Princess Mingzhen spread throughout Yujing.
Suddenly, the handsome and refined Wen Jie became the center of gossip in the city, though of course, it wasn't anything good.
That night, as usual, Chang Sheng reported to Wen Tinglan on the information he had gathered that day. When he left, his complex expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't, made Wen Tinglan frown slightly.
"Is there anything else?"
Chang Sheng hesitated for a long time before finally speaking, "Young master, there have been many rumors about you circulating in the market recently."
Wen Tinglan paused almost imperceptibly in her hand movements. "No."
Chang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Many brothers have been asking me, and I always say that your feelings for the princess are as clear as day and night. How could you possibly do something like that of a heartless man? Who is ruining your reputation? This is trying to drive a wedge between you and the princess! If I catch them, I'll definitely..."
Wen Tinglan interrupted him: "It's not a rumor."
"What? What?" Chang Sheng almost bit his tongue. "Young Master, how could you... how could you marry Princess Shang?"
He looked shocked and incredulous.
Wen Tingyun's recent anxiety and distress had eased somewhat. He smiled and explained, "Ji Heng wants me to marry the princess in order to ruin my reputation. If my reputation is ruined, I will have no choice but to become a close advisor to the emperor."
"Secondly, he wanted to use this to sow discord between me and the princess. He knew that if the princess returned to the capital, I would be her greatest support in Yujing, and he thought that in this way the princess would no longer trust me."
“Thirdly,” he took a sip of tea and couldn’t help but sneer, “he wants the princess to back down, and he wants the former subordinates of the crown prince to back down.”
"Then why did you agree to Princess Shang's request?" Chang Sheng found it hard to accept. "Wouldn't that break the princess's heart?!"
Wen Tinglan slowly put down the tea and said softly, "He is too arrogant. He underestimates both Shenxiao and Princess Mingzhen."
Chang Sheng remained puzzled, but Wen Tinglan said no more. He turned his gaze to the moon high in the sky. If the sun and moon could bear witness, did she understand in her heart?
...
That day, Zhang Da borrowed the only oxcart in the village and brought the rice he had just harvested to the capital to sell for a good price. His son would be of school age after the New Year, so he and his father had rented about ten more acres of land this year to raise enough money for tuition.
Zhangjia Village is far from Yujing. In previous years, the grain was sold to people who came to the village to buy it. This year, in order to make more money, he set off in an oxcart before dawn. Even so, it was already noon when he arrived in the city.
As soon as he entered the city, he noticed the difference. The vendors in the west of the city were still hawking their wares, but the number of pedestrians on the road was much smaller.
With his doubts in mind, Zhang Da arrived at the store. While waiting, he couldn't help but ask, "Manager, the street looks a bit different today."
The shopkeeper lifted his eyelids and glanced at him: "Just arrived in the city?"
Zhang Da chuckled: "I just came from the village today, and I didn't have time to ask around on the way."
A customer waiting to get his rice couldn't help but chime in: "You've come to the right place today. I heard that the princess who was burned to death more than ten years ago is not dead. The emperor found her and she'll probably be back in the capital today."
Zhang Da, a man who toils in the fields, had no idea which princesses existed in the world. He just scratched his head and chuckled, "The emperor's niece? Then we must treat her well."
Looking at his ignorant and uncultured appearance, the man sneered, "What niece? She's clearly the daughter of a disgraced official. If it weren't for the Emperor's kindness, her status wouldn't even be as high as ours!"
Just then, the shop assistant who went to weigh the rice for him returned with the rice, and said sarcastically, "The Princess Shenxiao who is coming back has quelled the floods in Quzhou. What have you done to compare with the princess?"
The person who was being mocked immediately blushed with embarrassment and anger: "A little wench dares to say she's quelled the flood? Who knows whose credit she's really stolen!"
Zhang Da seemed not to hear, and exclaimed to himself, "My goodness, this princess is so capable. Really, really..." He couldn't get the sentence out after a long time, and the waiter couldn't help but say with disdain, "She is indeed a woman who is not inferior to men. You are too uncultured."
Zhang Da wasn't angry at being stabbed; he just chuckled foolishly and said, "I'm uneducated; I'll have my son teach me later."
The shop assistant pointed to a stone of rice on the scale and handed it to the man who was buying it, saying, "Here's the rice you wanted." The man counted out seventy coins and gave them to the shopkeeper, who glanced at them but didn't accept them, saying in a calm voice, "Ten coins short."
The man's eyes widened: "You just said seventy coins, when did the price go up again?"
The shopkeeper gave a forced smile: "Just now."
The man was so angry that his blood boiled and his face turned red, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that he was reluctant to part with ten coins. So he gritted his teeth, took out ten coins, picked up the rice, and strode away.
The shopkeeper scoffed and looked at Zhang Da again, his tone much gentler, "What do you want?"
Zhang Da pointed to the rice he was unloading from the oxcart, "I'm here to sell rice."
Seeing the shop assistant call for someone to carry the rice to be weighed, he asked the shopkeeper hesitantly, "So, are we still buying coarse rice for fifty coins now?"
He noticed that the shopkeeper kept changing the price of the rice, and he was worried that he would be ripped off at the last minute. He knew that he would feel his heart bleed if he sold it for even a penny less.
The shopkeeper, speechless, snorted, "Seventy coins, take it or leave it."
Zhang Da was startled at first, but after he came to his senses, he quickly nodded: "Sell, sell, sell them all."
However, when he was pulling the oxcart home with the freshly earned silver in his hand, he realized that he was buying coarse rice for seventy coins and selling fine rice for seventy coins. So how was this rice shop making any money?
He scratched his head, completely baffled. In the end, he simply remembered the signboard of "Fengliang Valley Market" and thought that this place was honest and reliable. In the future, if anyone in the village wanted to sell rice, he would let them sell it here.
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