Chapter 72 Be nice to Pei Xingju now
After the sky cleared up, the sun shone through the gaps between the lush green leaves, casting dim shadows on the bluestone floor.
Zhuang Wan was bored and lay in front of the counter with her face in her hands waiting for customers.
The needlework shop is in trial operation. Perhaps the goods are not yet complete, so a few customers come in occasionally, look around, and then leave.
Qiu Tan was clacking the beads on the abacus. After she finished, she got up and went to the backyard to tidy up things. When she came back, she cleaned the container with a feather duster. After that, she went to supervise the embroiderers' embroidery.
He looked like the boss of the house.
"Miss," she came over after a while, "If you feel bored, would you like to go to the theater across the street?"
Wuma Street is located in the west of the city, where most people live. However, even if the common people in the capital are poor, they are still richer than those in other places. Therefore, Wuma Street has a variety of theaters, teahouses, and wine shops.
Zhuang Wan shook her head and didn't want to go.
Her mind was in turmoil, and she kept thinking back to what Pei Xingju had said that day. He seemed to have a hidden agenda, yet it also seemed as if he was just saying it casually.
In short, his recent attitude has been very torturous, making her feel uneasy.
"Is there anything I can do?" Zhuang Wan asked.
Qiu Tan's eyes widened and she said fiercely, "You are a young lady. How can a servant ask the master to do things for you? Don't say such things again."
“…”
Zhuang Wan smiled and continued to look at the people coming and going on the street with her face in her hands, bored.
After a while, someone asked, "Boss, how much are these handkerchiefs for?"
Zhuang Wan turned her head and glanced, then immediately looked again.
"Huh? Sister Baohe?"
"Sister Zhuang?" Jiang Baohe was surprised: "I didn't even realize you were here."
She asked, "Is this your shop?"
Zhuang Wan laughed, "This is my first time doing business, and I'm not doing well."
"Everything is difficult at the beginning, but it will get better slowly." Jiang Baohe came over and said, "I didn't expect to meet you here. I was worried about you after we said goodbye at the tea party last time."
"Why are you worried about me?"
Oh, the last time she went shopping with Jiang Baohe, she ran into Pei Xingju accompanying Princess Wu Jing on Ningyang Street and was misunderstood by Jiang Baohe.
She smiled and said, "It's been so long since Princess Wu Jing's incident, and you still remember it."
"It's not about Princess Wu Jing," Jiang Baohe said. "I heard later that you and Princess Wu Jing were competing at the East Suburbs Martial Arts Arena."
She lowered her voice and said, "I've heard about Jiang Shan. Marquis Cheng'en hates evil and cares about his reputation. What you did must have angered him. I've been worried about you."
"Thank you, Sister Baohe, for your concern. I'm fine. Even with Master Pei here, Marquis Cheng'en can't do anything to me. Besides, it was Jiang Shan who instigated it first. If he had any dignity, he shouldn't have blamed me."
Jiang Baohe smiled after hearing what she said: "I feel relieved to see that you are doing well today."
"You don't know..." She whispered again, "Jiang Shan has been sent away. It's hard to say whether she will come back in the future."
Zhuang Wan was surprised: "Where did you send it to?"
"Sending her to her ancestral home would be a huge loss of face for Jiang Shan. It would be difficult for her to find relatives in the capital, so she would definitely marry somewhere else. Queen Cheng'en wanted to save face, so she naturally didn't want such a daughter to embarrass him in the capital, so she simply sent two maids to send her there. As for the future..."
Jiang Baohe said, "Humanity is so fickle. Even family members can be treated this way. How can we expect our in-laws to treat Jiang Shan?"
Zhuang Wan sighed.
"But Sister Zhuang, don't blame yourself." Jiang Baohe added, "Jiang Shan has only herself to blame for her current situation. Perhaps it's not entirely a bad thing for her. With her personality, marrying into a wealthy family might not be a good thing. Marrying into a humble family might make her life easier. If she can understand this, she might be able to live a good life in the future."
Zhuang Wan nodded: "Everyone has their own aspirations. It depends on her own luck."
"Yes," Jiang Baohe sighed, "Things in the world are impermanent, so let's focus on the present and do our best in the present."
Zhuang Wan always felt that Jiang Baohe had something difficult to say, but since she didn't say it, she didn't dare to ask.
She asked, "Sister Baohe wants to buy a handkerchief?"
Jiang Baohe nodded and said, "I saw that the handkerchiefs in your shop have unique embroidery and I really like them. I'm thinking of buying some for when I go to the palace later."
"By the way," Jiang Baohe asked, "Will Sister Zhuang go to the palace?"
"Palace? What palace?"
"You don't know?" Jiang Baohe said, "The Empress Dowager is seriously ill, and the autumn heat is so severe that the Emperor has ordered all civil and military officials to take their families and move to the temporary palace to escape the heat. They won't be back until the end of August."
Zhuang Wan shook her head: "I don't know about this."
Jiang Baohe: "Master Pei is the emperor's most valued minister. When the emperor goes to the palace, Master Pei will naturally accompany him. I just don't know if Sister Zhuang will also accompany him."
"Pei...Yuzhi never told me, so I guess I don't need to go with him, right?" Zhuang Wan said.
Hearing this, Jiang Baohe felt a little regretful: "It would be great if you could go to the palace, so we can have company."
.
On the way back home, Zhuang Wan kept thinking about what Jiang Baohe had said.
Pei Xingju will accompany the emperor to the palace and will not return until August. Wouldn't that be more convenient for her plan?
Her heart was excited. It was just right. She broke up with Pei Xingju before he went to the palace. When Pei Xingju came back from the palace, she had already arrived in Jiangnan safely.
God really helps me!
After returning home, Pei Xingju had not yet returned from court. Lixia said that he was still in the palace and might not be able to leave the palace until noon.
Zhuang Wan nodded. That was perfect. She would make him a sumptuous lunch.
I have to be nicer to Pei Xingju now, so that I can break up with him with a clear conscience. Isn't this what they mean when they say the deeper the love, the deeper the hatred?
Immediately, Zhuang Wan rolled up her sleeves and ran to the kitchen.
Pei Xingju came back at noon. Zhuang Wan prepared lunch and had it served in the main courtyard, but then she heard that Pei Xingju went to the library as soon as he returned home.
"What was he doing in the library, reading?"
"I don't know." Guard Lu said, "The master won't let us follow him. He's alone inside."
"oh."
Zhuang Wan was suspicious and thought that the lunch she had worked so hard to prepare should not be wasted, so she walked towards the library.
She had been to the library once before, basking in the sun in the courtyard when she saw Pei Xingju gazing out from the library railings. Unsure if he was watching her slacking off, she dropped her melon seeds and went looking for him.
This time, when I returned to the library, I found it unusually quiet. The sun was shining brightly, yet as I approached the library, I felt a sense of melancholy.
Zhuang Wan knocked on the door: "Is anyone there?"
"Yuzhi, are you in there?"
"I'm coming in, huh?"
It's quiet inside.
After waiting for a while, Zhuang Wan said, "I'll count to three. If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your consent."
"one two three......"
She reached out to push the door, but as soon as she did so, a strong force pulled her inside.
Zhuang Wan jumped in fright, and only after she stood firm did she see that it was Pei Xingju.
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