Chapter 14 Delivering Letters
"Still laughing!" Luo Jince came over, rubbing his red earlobe. "What did Master Pei say to you just now?"
"They say there's a dog hole in the west wall of the Imperial College." Luo Zhaohan pretended to twist his ear. "It's perfect for a little truant kid."
The brother and sister's laughter startled a pear blossom tree.
Pei Ji stood outside the moon cave door, listening to the crisp laughter from inside the wall, and reached out to catch the falling petals.
The crying of the woman in my dream last night suddenly faded away.
…
Taking advantage of the fact that there were no outsiders present, Luo Jince finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and eagerly brought up the matter of Xie Wuqi breaking off the engagement.
Luo Zhaohan did not hide anything about this and told the whole story without reservation.
After hearing this, Luo Jince was extremely angry.
Luo Jince suddenly punched the porch pillar, causing the bronze bells on the eaves to jingle. "How dare Xie Wuqi secretly communicate with Liu Yueli? I'm going to tear down his Xie family ancestral hall right now!"
Luo Zhaohan grabbed his brother's sleeve and saw that the bruise on his nose hadn't healed yet. "Do you think you're the Monkey King from the storybooks?" He took out a handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of his bleeding mouth. "Be careful, Dad will know you've skipped school again."
"I'm just so angry!" Luo Jince kicked a stone away. "Liu Yueli eats and wears our clothes, and yet she dares to steal my sister's fiancé!"
Chunxi suddenly tugged at Qiuping's sleeve and said, "That Lord Pei looks even younger than Master Xie, so why is there a Xiezhi embroidered on his official uniform?"
"You don't understand!" Luo Jince perked up instantly, his wound no longer hurting. He interrupted with excitement, saying, "Until he was ten years old, Lord Pei was a moron. He was once locked in an ice cellar by a noble family. After three days of high fever, he suddenly became wise!" He gestured and leaned against the rockery. "Last year, during the Jiangnan salt tax case, he single-handedly fought against corrupt officials and brought down all the beetles, big and small."
"You are all familiar with what happened later. Not only was Master Pei chosen to serve as the Crown Prince's companion, he also earned the favor of Master Chu, earning the honor of being his sole closed disciple. It's said that the Crown Prince held Pei Ji in high esteem during his lifetime, remaining inseparable from him and treating him like a confidant. Even the Emperor favored him. Pei Ji, not yet twenty, has already risen to the position of Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, a truly rare honor. The Changning Earl's Mansion was once on the verge of decline, but unexpectedly, with the emergence of Pei Ji, it miraculously rebounded."
At the same time, Sun Honglei's followers were also talking about Pei Ji.
The setting sun filtered through the cell window, illuminating Sun Honglei's face, which suddenly changed color. A muffled groan echoed from beneath the handkerchief: "Are you itching for trouble? You dare to gossip about the Crown Prince?"
The spit-filled chatter of princes and young men fell silent. Someone knocked over a medicine bottle, and the brown liquid slithered like little snakes across the bricks. Sun Honglei lifted his handkerchief and sat up, his eyes mirroring the sinister gaze of his aunt, Concubine Li. "If I hear you say even one more word, I'll pack up and get out of the Imperial College."
Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Minister Li's illegitimate son, who muttered, "Why are you pretending to be so serious? Didn't he take us to Xiefang Pavilion to tease the opera singers last month?"
“Bang!”
The teacup brushed against Master Li's ear and slammed against the wall. Sun Honglei's fingertips were still stained with tea leaves, and he suddenly smiled creepily, "I heard your aunt is looking for a midwife in the south of the city lately?"
Mr. Li's face turned pale in an instant.
The Sun family still had evidence that his biological mother had cheated on him, and at this moment he wished he could slap himself twice.
…
After finishing the story about Pei Ji, Chunxi hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her almond-shaped eyes widening.
Luo Zhaohan was also moved by what he heard.
"This matter must not be spread outside." Luo Zhaohan stared at his younger brother and cousin and warned them seriously.
Luo Jince and Ye Yiheng exchanged a glance and bowed in unison, "We will follow your instructions, elder sister."
Luo Zhaohan was amused by the serious look of the two funny guys.
"Sister!" Luo Jince peeked out from the door frame. "I'm going to class now. I'll bring you some amber candy from East Street next month during the weekend!"
"Okay!" Luo Zhaohan responded crisply.
Luo Jince suddenly remembered something and turned around abruptly, his dark sleeves sweeping off a few crabapple petals. "Today, I accidentally punched Xie Wuchen on the right cheek..." The young man touched the tip of his nose and chuckled, "Would Xie Wuqi think that I still have feelings for him?"
Luo Zhaohan picked up the petals that fell on his shoulders, thinking of Xie Wuqi's ashen face when he broke off the engagement that day.
The illegitimate son born to Concubine Zhang was beaten, which was a perfect excuse.
"Just go and make amends." She crushed the petals in her palm, her red lips curled up, "Remember to bring the Guangjitang Jade Skin Cream."
As the carriage passed through the long street, Qiu Ping couldn't help but ask, "Young lady, do you really believe that Master Pei was enlightened by a fever?"
Luo Zhaohan looked at the whip marks on his palm.
In her previous life, when Pei Ji was interrogating her, he had stared at this old wound in a trance. Back then, his official robes were stained with blood, and the broken arm still smelled of medicine, but he threw his only clean handkerchief to her to wipe her face.
"Some people," she stroked the barbs on the whip, "maybe even the Bodhisattva can't save them, and they have no choice but to crawl back from hell on their own."
As the candlelight flickered in the prison cell, Sun Honglei stroked the secret letter sent by Concubine Li. As the letter curled into ash in the flames, he suddenly remembered that when he was a child, he followed his mother into the palace and saw his aunt strangle the snow-white Persian cat to death - because the cat had soiled the hem of the prince's clothes.
"Pei Ji! I will never coexist with you!" He wrote the name on the ashes.
A dark figure flashed past the window lattice, and it looked like a secret guard from the Second Prince's Mansion.
The second prince is her aunt’s biological son!
Sun Honglei blew out the candle and sneered.
This muddy water is finally about to boil.
…
Back at Jinghong Garden, Chunxi watched his young lady pick up the brush and dip it in ink, and was so shocked that he knocked over the inkstone.
"Young lady, are you going to write a letter to Concubine Zhang of the Xie Mansion?"
"Be careful." Luo Zhaohan took the letter from her hand. The small calligraphy with flowers still had the scent of pine smoke and ink. "Send it to the west corner gate of the Wuwei General's Mansion."
Chunxi clutched the corner of the letter and stomped her feet: "You are the legitimate daughter of General Fuyuan! You have to deal with a concubine in person, or are you going to apologize on behalf of the young master?" Her feet clattered loudly, as if she was speaking up for her master.
Luo Zhaohan smiled and pulled the little maid over and whispered a few words in her ear.
Chunxi's eyes suddenly lit up, and her jade earrings cast a green shadow. "I'll go right away! I guarantee that even the tabby cat in Madam Xie's room won't be seen!"
In the main courtyard of the Wuwei General's Mansion, Madam Xie paused as she stroked her jade Buddhist beads. "Did the Luo family's maid send someone?"
Did those soft words I said yesterday at the Luo Mansion actually work? Nanny Chao leaned in and whispered, "It was Chunxi, the head maid from Jinghong Garden."
"Leave her hanging for two quarters of an hour." Madam Xie picked up the Rain-Guotianqing teacup. The crisp sound of the lid hitting the rim of the cup contained three parts of pride and seven parts of calculation.
The bronze mirror reflected the new red gold phoenix-tail hairpin on her temples - this was prepared to be worn when Luo Zhaohan changed his mind.
Chunxi stood in front of the screen wall of the hanging flower gate and counted the cracks in the bricks. When a wild weed sprouted from the crack of the 37th blue brick, a third-class maid finally came slowly to lead the way.
After walking around the winding corridor, Chunxi suddenly clutched her stomach and cried out, "Sister, please be kind, I...I have to go to the bathroom..."
The little maidservant didn't suspect anything and pointed behind the rockery: "Go quickly and come back quickly."
Chunxi scurried into the bamboo forest, fished out two taels of silver from her purse, and gave it to the housekeeper: "Please tell Aunt Zhang that Miss Luo has brought the Jade Skin Cream."
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