Chapter 32 Humiliation
In the study, Zhuang Wan had no idea that Chen Yi had misunderstood her just because he had eaten a piece of cake. She placed the food tray on the table and stood aside.
Xuejuan twisted the embroidered handkerchief in her hands again and again, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.
Pei Xingju ate a few sweet cakes and felt quite satisfied. He glanced at Zhuang Wan and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."
"It's indeed a little thing." Zhuang Wan smiled at him ingratiatingly.
"What's up?"
"Um...I want to go out for a while."
Pei Xingju raised his eyes.
Zhuang Wan looked at him anxiously: "Can...can I?"
I waited for a while, expecting to be rejected, but he unexpectedly said, "If you want to go, go ahead. Why ask me?"
He said, "I've already told you that you should continue to behave as you did at home before. There's no need to be restrained."
Zhuang Wan was grateful and thought that he still had some humanity in not restricting her freedom.
"real?"
"Of course. When do you want to go out? Then let Guard Lu and Jingzhe escort you."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Wan's slight gratitude vanished completely. As expected, he couldn't trust her to go out alone.
But it doesn't matter. She is not running away this time, but going to do something. As long as she can go out, it's fine.
Seeing that the goal was achieved and Pei Xingju had almost finished the pastries on the plate, Zhuang Wan stepped forward to collect the plate.
The food tray was on the left, where he had just piled a pile of documents. It was inconvenient for her to reach out, so she went around to the right.
"The day after tomorrow," she said. "The day after tomorrow is free."
Just now, Guard Lu said that Pei Xingju still needs to take medicine for a day, so why not go the day after tomorrow? She is not in a hurry anyway.
Zhuang Wan leaned over to pick up the plate.
As she moved, her long hair tilted and slid down, almost all falling into Pei Xingju's arms, but she was completely unaware.
Pei Xingju's body stiffened slightly.
He didn't know what she used to wash her hair, but he could smell the faint fragrance. The fragrance seemed to have a light hook, drilling into his lungs and making his heart numb.
This strangeness was so unfamiliar that he felt at a loss as to what to do.
He leaned back silently, holding his breath, and only breathed a sigh of relief after she took the plate and walked away.
.
Pei Xing stayed at home for another day, taking his medicine, and then returned to court. Zhuang Wan no longer had to attend to him every day, and finally found some relief.
The next day, she went out with her maid Qiu Tan.
Time passed, and it wasn't long before Pei Xingju regained his memory. Zhuang Wan was pressed for time, and before planning her departure, she had to prepare everything.
The first thing is to find a good escort agency and carriages so that we don’t end up in a rush and mess like last time.
She wandered the streets as usual, picking up little trinkets from every stall she passed. Qiu Tan was carrying a lot, and even Jingzhe and Guard Lu were carrying quite a bit as well.
Guard Lu quietly asked Qiu Tan if she wanted to help her share some of the work. Qiu Tan pouted and said, "You look down on me? I've been serving the young lady for many years. I've done everything. It's just carrying some things. I have plenty of strength."
After saying that, he casually took the bag of fried peanuts that Zhuang Wan had just bought and hung it on his arm.
“…”
Guard Lu scratched his forehead and followed her obediently.
After walking down two streets, Zhuang Wan pointed to the teahouse across the street and said to Guard Lu and Jingzhe, "There's a cloth shop over here. I'll go in and take a look. I'll be back in a moment."
What surprised Zhuang Wan was that this time, both of them were obedient.
Guard Lu nodded and led the others to the teahouse. Jingzhe thought for a moment and said, "I'll wait for Miss Zhuang at the door."
Zhuang Wan didn't care and walked straight into the house with Qiu Tan.
The cloth shop wasn't big, but it was doing brisk business. In the lobby, many ladies were selecting fabrics. The embroiderers didn't recognize Zhuang Wan, but from her clothing they knew she was either wealthy or noble.
"What would you like to buy, miss?"
"Is there any softer material?"
Perhaps it was because her original body was still growing at her age, but after only two months, she felt the small clothes were too tight. Qiu Tan offered to make her two more sets, and Zhuang Wan thought about it and decided to buy more cloth and have Qiu Tan make her a few more sets of clothes to keep for her future escape.
The embroiderer quickly responded, "Yes, it's on the second floor. Come with me, miss."
Zhuang Wan followed the embroiderer and just as she reached the top of the stairs, she saw someone coming down. She looked up and stopped immediately.
The other party also stopped.
The two looked at each other, and the man sneered rudely.
"I was wondering who it was. It's a rare occasion, we bump into each other again."
This woman was the same one who had fallen into the lake with Zhuang Wan at the Nanshan Villa. Later, after some inquiries, Zhuang Wan learned that this young lady was the legitimate daughter of the Cheng'en Marquisate, named Jiang Shan. Her mother was the cousin of the wife of the Duke of Xin, and was somewhat related to the Liang family.
No wonder he is so arrogant and domineering.
To make matters worse, standing next to her was Luo Yiyao, who had a previous feud with Zhuang Wan. Now that they had met their common enemy, how could they let him go easily?
Following Jiang Shan's sneer, Luo Yiyao also joined in and asked the embroiderer who led the way, "I don't know when this place became a grocery store, even people of low status are treated as guests."
The embroiderer was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Zhuang Wan.
Zhuang Wan didn't say anything.
This commotion attracted many ladies to look over, and Jiang Shan became even more excited.
"You don't know, do you? This is Zhuang Wan, the daughter of the former Chief Censor. She's no longer a noblewoman. How dare someone who has fallen into low status come to a place like this?"
With a look of disgust on her face, she deliberately asked the embroiderer, "Tell me, we are walking on the same road. Should she give way to me first, or should I give way to her?"
Before the embroiderer could answer, someone in the hall started to sneer.
"Why is she here? We can't let a lowly woman like us here, right? If word gets out, won't it be a mess?"
"Even with something like that happening at home, she still had the mood to go out and flaunt herself. It's clear she's not a virtuous person."
"She has no virtue whatsoever. You may not know that she should have been sent to the Imperial Music Bureau, but she seduced Master Pei in broad daylight. If Master Pei hadn't been kind enough to take her in, she would have ended up in that place long ago."
"Huh? Isn't it because Master Pei has a secret affair with her?"
"Tsk! A man like Lord Pei is self-disciplined and polite. Of course, she seduced him first, and Lord Pei was fooled by mistake."
"I see, she's well-educated. You can't judge a person by appearance."
Zhuang Wan's appearance made her the target of public criticism, or perhaps out of jealousy of her, these noble ladies took the opportunity to ridicule her.
Luo Yiyao felt incredibly relieved after hearing these words. She glanced at Zhuang Wan with disdain and said to Jiang Shan, "Don't be angry, Shan. It's only detrimental to argue with someone like that."
Jiang Shan said, "How could I care? I was just chasing away flies."
She raised her hand and waved lazily in the air: "Otherwise, there's always a bad smell."
After saying this, she raised her chin and asked the embroiderer, "Why don't you answer? Do you think I can let her go?"
"This..." The embroiderer was embarrassed.
At this time, Zhuang Wan said, "I'm just giving way. Of course, I'm giving way to Miss Jiang. How dare you ask me to give way to you?"
She suddenly smiled sincerely and stood aside.
"Ms. Jiang, please."
Jiang Shan was confused, not knowing why she was so easy to talk to. To be honest, she was actually a little afraid of her. Last time on the pleasure boat, she dared to throw tea at her, which showed that she was not a good person.
He is so easy to talk to today. Could it be that he has become obedient because he was scolded by Pei Xingju?
Thinking of this, Jiang Shan became more and more proud.
She immediately walked down the stairs with dignity. However, as she passed Zhuang Wan, she tripped hard.
Jiang Shan screamed in panic and fell down the stairs unexpectedly.
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