Chapter 39: Drunkard, you go with King Jin.
Du Rupan was very surprised by Congying's visit. He was flattered to invite her in, and at the same time he hurriedly cleaned up the mess in the room. He picked up the straw raincoat hanging on the screen, the dishes and chopsticks placed beside the desk, the waste manuscripts scattered on the floor, etc., and piled them all in the inner room where she could not see.
Cong Ying disapproved of his slovenliness, but she didn't show it on her face. She even helped him put away the umbrella he had been holding for half a month. She said sympathetically, "I see the ink on Brother Du's desk is still wet. I bet you've been writing all night."
"It's not an article, it's an impeachment memorial."
Du Rupan used his sleeve to sweep the dust off the guest chair, picked up a cleaner teacup and poured her some water. He took the opportunity to defend himself: "I was indeed too busy, but I usually have a neat routine."
Cong Ying looked at the old tea stains in the cup, smiled and changed the subject: "I came here to ask Brother Du some questions about state affairs."
Du Rupan was slightly startled: "Political affairs?"
Cong Ying said, "Recently, a group of bandits have appeared outside Yunjing City, causing chaos and harassing innocent people. The leader calls himself the One-Eyed Dragon. Brother Du, have you heard of him?"
"The bandits are causing chaos, yet the court remains silent," Du Rupan slammed the table and said, "Maintaining order within and outside Yunjing is the responsibility of the Twenty-Four Guards. Xie Xuanlan boasts of his power every day, yet he allows the bandits to continue their activities and conceals their crimes from his superiors. It seems this point needs to be added to the impeachment memorial against Xie."
Zong Ying's eyelids twitched slightly: "Brother Du, is it the Xie family that you want to impeach?"
Du Rupan didn't shy away from her and showed her the draft of the impeachment he had prepared last night. "The Xie faction claimed they wanted to renovate the summer palace and took hundreds of prisoners from the Ministry of Justice to do hard labor. But according to my investigation, they were clearly secretly building a private residence for the Xie family. A few days ago, I submitted a sealed memorial impeaching the Wang family for illegally seizing people's land, but the Xie faction suppressed it. This time, I will wait until the court meeting to impeach them in person!"
Collusion between aristocratic families and factions was common. Wang had repeatedly wanted to marry a girl from her family to Xie Xuanlan, and this rumor had also reached Cong Ying's ears.
In the past, she did not dare to accept Xie's marriage proposal because she was worried that Xie would become too powerful and would attract attention. Although she had managed to convince herself that she could be a hermit after marriage and spend her days studying and researching, she still felt a subconscious tightening in her heart when she heard about Xie's actions.
She lowered her eyes to look through the draft of the impeachment letter. Du Rupan's tone was somewhat tentative: "Fourth Madam, do you really want to marry into the Xie family?"
From Hotaru: "...Yeah."
Du Rupan gently advised, "Although Xie San is a good-looking man, the Xie family is not a good-hearted family. Look at what they are doing now. If you marry them, your reputation as a good scholar will be in jeopardy."
Cong Ying curled her lips and said, "Grandfather's reputation has long been ruined. Besides, although Xie is arrogant, he is..."
But what about the words? Zong Ying couldn't say anything else. Her eyes fell on the three words "Ghost Crying Zhang" in the Heben book, and the smile on her face slowly disappeared.
After a long pause, she asked, "You said Xie was building a private residence south of Guikuizhang?"
Du Rupan: "Yes, they just transferred the prisoners to the north to repair the palace, and then they started to build the house in the south. How could such a coincidence happen?"
Cong Ying thought of the Ghost Crying Bandits who had robbed Ji Caibing's caravan, and then recalled Xie Xuanlan's words about knowing One-Eyed Dragon. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "Yeah, how could such a coincidence happen?"
She immediately stood up and said goodbye. Du Rupan wanted to keep her for dinner, but before he could finish his words, Cong Ying's carriage had already sped away.
＊
When Cong Ying went to see Du Rupan, Xie Xuanlan was reviewing the troops and selecting the generals in a grand manner on the parade ground.
He ordered his messengers to hold up the command flag and gallop across the parade grounds, shouting, "Prepare your troops and horses! Suppress the bandits at Guikuzhang! Prepare your troops and horses! Suppress the bandits at Guikuzhang!"
After shouting like this for half an hour and three rounds of tea, Prince Huai finally arrived.
Huai Jun Wang Xiao Zezhen was dressed in a drunken, womanizing manner, and had clearly just rushed over from the entertainment venue after hearing the news. However, he pretended to have just encountered Xie Xuanlan by chance in the military training grounds and asked in surprise, "Cousin, what are you going to do?"
Xie Xuanlan slowly wiped his Yanzhi knife and said, "Let's go to Guikuizhang to suppress the bandits."
The Prince of Huai said, "Oh, Ghost Crying Peak, there has been a group of bandits recently, but I have already discussed this with my uncle, so I will let my eldest cousin go, so there is no need to trouble you."
The uncle refers to Xie Xiang, and the cousin is Xie Xuanlan’s biological brother Xie Xuanzhi.
Xie Xuanlan said with a forced smile, "Since you have already made up your mind, I shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. But that one-eyed man from Ghost Crying Peak has offended me, and I will personally skin him alive."
The surprise on the Prince of Huai's face didn't seem fake: "When did he offend you?"
Xie Xuanlan: "I saw a girl at the West Bridge Market and ordered her to be my maid, but that one-eyed man got her first. I have always been kind to women and couldn't bear to see her suffer in this bandit den, so I had to go and get her back myself."
After hearing this, the corners of the Huaijun Prince's mouth twitched, and it was obvious that he did not believe a word of it.
He asked, "Does the girl have a name?"
Xie Xuanlan: "His name is Lianjun. He was just bought today."
Prince Huai nodded and said, "Leave this matter to me and my cousin. Just wait for the news."
Prince Huai had never been so efficient in his work. In just half an afternoon, he had sent Lianjun back safely.
The girl was a little frightened and bit her lip, refusing to speak. Xie Xuanlan asked his subordinates to take her away and take care of her. Then he turned around and pretended to be friendly with the Prince of Huai: "Cousin, your military speed is of the essence. Thank you very much today."
The Prince of Huai said meaningfully, "For our common goal, this little thing is nothing."
Xie Xuanlan patted Prince Huai's shoulder and said, "Let's go. I'll treat you to a drink as a token of my gratitude."
"Oh, I--" Before the Prince of Huai could finish his refusal, Xie Xuanlan had already lifted him onto the horse, whipped him, and he rushed out involuntarily.
The two of them drank until they were completely drunk in Yanxi Tower. When the moon reached the zenith, Prince Huai was already unconscious when he was taken away. Xie Xuanlan walked out in the moonlight, pressed his throbbing head, and cursed softly, "This bastard is almost pickled in wine..."
He wanted to take his horse back home, but he saw a carriage parked next to his horse, and the two horses were eating grass together.
The felt curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a bright and clear face was illuminated in the moonlight. Xie Xuanlan's footsteps suddenly stopped.
He felt the suppressed smell of alcohol rising into his head: "It's so late, why are you here?"
The night was cold and windy. Cong Ying tightened his cloak, stood up to make some space, and invited Xie Xuanlan to get into the carriage to avoid the wind.
Xie Xuanlan still remembered the unpleasantness of the day, this fickle and unfaithful woman...
"Lianjun has been sent to my house. I came here specially to thank you." Cong Ying said.
...She still has some conscience.
Xie Xuanlan walked slowly to her. In fact, his steps were already unsteady, but he knew that he was drunk, so he did not get into her carriage. He just stared at her intently, his pupils washed clean by the smell of wine and moonlight without a trace of dust. Besides being cold and pure, there was a bit of puzzling emotion in his eyes.
Cong Ying felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by him, and lowered her eyes slightly: "I saw you and the Prince of Huai entered Yanxi Tower together, and wanted to wait for you here, but I didn't expect to wait so long."
This inevitably made people think about it. Xie Xuanlan asked her, "Is there something urgent?"
A gust of cold wind blew the tassels on the carriage curtains. Cong Ying also felt cold and said to Xie Xuanlan, "Third Young Master, why don't you come in and talk? I can take you back home."
Xie Xuanlan didn't move.
Cong Ying gave a faint, bitter smile: "Are you so disgusted with me that you won't even ride with me?"
Xie Xuanlan understood what she meant. He took a step forward and bowed slightly. The smell of alcohol on his body almost enveloped her completely.
He said, "The King of Jin told me that people like you who don't like drinking hate others who smell of alcohol the most... How dare I dislike you? I'm just afraid that you'll have more reason to dislike me."
Cong Ying tightened her grip on the curtain and said defensively, "I didn't."
Xie Xuanlan reached out and grasped her wrist, then suddenly leaned in close to her. He could clearly sense the breath she subconsciously held, and chuckled, "You do."
He stood up and stood downwind, and said to Cong Ying, "No need to pretend. Just say what you want to say. I'll leave after you've said it."
Cong Ying was silent, so he could only ask directly, "The Third Young Master drank with the Prince of Huai, was it because of his pity for you?"
Xie Xuanlan replied: "Xiao Zezhen can indeed contact the One-Eyed Dragon, but it's not entirely for Lianjun."
Cong Ying asked, "What else is it for?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "The private affairs between Xie and the Prince of Huai have nothing to do with you."
Cong Ying: "It's about the Xie family's private residence on Guikuizhang, right?"
Xie Xuanlan slowly opened his half-closed eyes, and a rare hint of clarity appeared in his eyes as he looked at Cong Ying.
He asked Congying, "Who told you that?"
Cong Ying was afraid that mentioning Du Rupan would cause him to get jealous again, so she avoided the topic and only talked about the important things: "The One-Eyed Dragon has been stalking the Ghost Crying Peak area, and Xie also mentioned that the prisoners were building private residences in the Ghost Crying Peak area. This is a strange coincidence. I heard that the Imperial Censor has already filed an impeachment petition on this matter. I'm afraid some people will think that Xie is colluding with the bandits."
A few days ago, Prince Jin mentioned this matter in his letter to Xie Xuanlan.
Reason told him that he should listen carefully to Jiang Congying, but the alcohol poured through his blood like kerosene, ignited by the spark of suspicion, and soon engulfed his mind.
He only knew that Jiang Congying repeated what King Jin had said to him today.
He asked again, "Who told you that?"
From Ying: "..."
Between "Don't argue with a drunkard" and "The night is long and dreams are many, so don't delay." She chose the latter and patiently continued to talk to Xie Xuanlan, "The person behind the one-eyed dragon might be the Prince of Huai. I think he's a bit eccentric. Even to the Xie family, the Prince of Huai isn't entirely trustworthy."
"If he is not trustworthy, then who can be trusted? Prince Jin?" Xie Xuanlan suddenly approached her.
Even though he was extremely drunk, he did not look as drunk as a piece of mud. Instead, his eyebrows and eyes were more gorgeous than usual, as if he was a ghost cut out of a monster painting, staring at her without blinking.
His eyes were hot and cold, and he couldn't tell whether he wanted to repay her with his body or bare his fangs to suck her energy dry.
While holding her breath, Cong Ying heard him say slowly, "It's hard for you to wait for me here until midnight. I thought it was an honor, but it turns out it's because of the favor of Prince Jin... Are you here to lobby for him and recruit the Xie family?"
Cong Ying was speechless. Prince Jin, Prince Jin, Prince Jin, he might as well move to Prince Jin's mansion and live with Prince Jin.
She hadn't mentioned Prince Jin at all tonight, so how on earth was he connected to anything?
Cong Ying's tone also turned a little colder: "You are being unreasonable. It's up to you whether you want to listen or not."
After saying that, she was about to lower the curtain and ask the coachman to drive home, but Xie Xuanlan stopped her before she could, put one leg into the carriage, and was about to say something when his head hit the top lid with a bang.
Before he could finish the word "Jin", he fell forward into Cong Ying's arms.
Cong Ying almost pushed him down, and found that he had fallen into a coma. With a sigh, he asked the coachman to move him upright and covered him with his cloak.
The long street was empty at night, and the carriage was like a small boat, swaying forward in the moonlight flowing all over the ground.
There was a dim light in the carriage. Cong Ying held the book close to her for a long time, but she didn't turn a page. Her eyes always involuntarily stopped on Xie Xuanlan's sleeping face.
I don’t know what I’m thinking. My mind seems empty, yet full.
She saw Xie Xuanlan's lips moving slightly, as if he was mumbling something, so she leaned over curiously to listen. When she heard the words he was obsessed with in his dream, she couldn't help but sigh. When there was no one around, she gently brushed away the hair covering his face.
Looking at him, she muttered to herself, "I always thought a gentleman's heart was upright, so there was nothing he couldn't tell others. But now I feel a little regretful. I shouldn't have admitted my feelings for the King of Jin. Perhaps you would feel better."
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The author has something to say: King of Jin: As if he were here.
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