Chapter 98: Fight 4 There will be no “next time” between her and him...
The moonlight was like water, painting the entire river beach with a layer of silver light and shadow.
Under the light and shadow, some are born, some die, and some are between life and death.
Xie Wuhen led several officers and strode towards the wooden house until they stood in front of the door.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a moment, an old woman in a headscarf came out to open the door.
The old woman opened the door only a crack. She poked her head out, glanced at Xie Wuhen, then at the officer behind him, and asked cautiously, "I wonder why the official has come to visit so late at night?"
Xie Wuhen smiled and said, "I just finished my official duties and wanted to come in and have a cup of tea." Without waiting for the old woman's response, he pushed the wooden door controlled by the old woman.
The speed was so fast that the old woman was caught off guard.
The door creaked open, and what came into view was a simple tea table and chairs.
At the tea table against the wall, there were two women sitting, one of whom was turning her head to look at him.
The moment their eyes met, he froze in silence, and time seemed to stand still at that moment.
That woman was none other than his wife.
Next to his wife was the maid Chunlan.
His wife actually came to this teahouse on the south bank of Qingshui River?
He was in a trance, in disbelief, and it seemed as if something was exploding in his brain.
At this time, Su He had stood up and walked towards him, smiling and speaking gently, "Husband, aren't you going to be busy with official business tonight? Why are you here in the South Bank?"
He was looking at her!
His eyes were dark and deep, full of doubts. "Why did my wife come to the South Bank?" he asked.
Su He looked at the old woman calmly: "I came to talk to Aunt Liu about the store."
Upon hearing this, the old woman called Aunt Liu stepped forward, looked at Xie Wuhen for a few seconds, and asked Su He, "Is this official really the young lady's husband?"
Su He smiled and nodded: "Yes, it is my husband."
Aunt Liu beamed with joy: "The two of you standing here look like fairies and immortals from heaven. You are truly a perfect match."
Su He politely replied, "Aunt Liu, you're too kind. We are just an ordinary couple."
"No matter how ordinary you are, you are still a distinguished guest of my tea shop." Aunt Liu greeted them warmly, "Please wait a moment, I guarantee that there will be enough tea today." After saying that, she turned around and went to the back of the house to boil some hot tea.
Xie Wuhen still stared at her with a stern expression: "I wonder what the matter of the shop you came here to discuss?"
Su He explained, "It was Uncle Qing from Ping'an Lane who wanted to buy this tea shop, so he asked me to come and negotiate the price."
His eyelashes fluttered, half believing and half doubting, "If Uncle Qing wants to open a tea shop, there are certainly plenty of them near Ping'an Lane. Why would he have to come all the way to this deserted South Bank?"
Su He replied, "I told Uncle Qing the same thing, but Uncle Qing said that the tea shops near Ping'an Lane were too expensive for him to run. He also heard that the Ministry of Works of the Imperial Court had announced that they would focus on developing South Bank and strive to transform it into a prosperous area like Jinling Road. That's why he set his sights on this shop on South Bank."
Finally, she requested, "How about my husband help me find out if the Ministry of Industry really has such a plan?"
Xie Wuhen replied: "The Ministry of Industry does have such plans."
Then he changed the subject: "But, if you want to buy the shop, you can come here during the day. Why do you choose to come here at night?"
She even appeared when he was searching for the princess, which made people wonder.
Su He remained calm and composed. "I wanted to come during the day, but Uncle Qing is impatient. He sent me a message at dusk asking me to come and see you. I saw that my husband had to work all night, and I was bored at home alone, so I simply asked Chunlan to come along."
Upon hearing this, Xie Wuhen looked at Chunlan.
Chunlan, who was sitting next to her, immediately stood up and replied tremblingly, "If Master thinks... it's inappropriate for the young lady to go out at night, I will definitely persuade her more next time..."
Xie Wuhen was silent for a moment, his stern expression softened slightly, and his tone softened a little: "I'm just worried about my wife's safety."
Su He stepped forward, took his hand, and said in a flattering tone, "I know you have good intentions, my husband. At worst, I won't leave the house at night next time, okay?"
He took her hand in his and breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you're alright, ma'am."
Then he asked, "How long have you been here, ma'am? Have you seen anyone else passing by?"
Su He shook her head: "I have been here for a while, and I haven't seen anyone else."
After saying that, she also asked, "Could it be that my husband came here to arrest someone?"
He hummed, his expression somewhat gloomy, but he did not continue the topic: "After I finish my tea, I will return home with my wife."
Su He smiled and nodded.
While drinking tea, Su He pretended to be serious and negotiated the price with Aunt Liu about the sale of the shop. After going back and forth for a long time, they were unable to reach an agreement.
In the carriage on the way back home, the couple were both a little quiet.
The glass lamps in the carriage flickered as the carriage bumped along, making the entire carriage look bizarre and colorful.
Behind a thin curtain, Wu Sheng was driving a carriage outside, with Chunlan sitting next to him.
The two of them were chattering back and forth.
Wu Sheng was puzzled. "Every time I'm investigating a case and reach a critical moment, I'll inexplicably run into the young lady. This is just too much of a coincidence."
Chunlan retorted, "What do you mean by 'every time'? Didn't we just meet once today?"
Wu Sheng tried to lower his voice, but even so, the sound still carried clearly through the curtains into the car. Wu Sheng said, "Didn't someone report that the young lady had left the city at night when Judge Liu was murdered last time?"
Chunlan was increasingly dissatisfied: "Hasn't the Dali Temple already found out that Judge Liu died at the hands of bandits? How is it linked to my young lady now?"
Wu Sheng sighed: "Anyway, I can't explain it clearly. Anyway, everything is too coincidental."
Chunlan was furious: "It's not that everything is a coincidence, it's that you are mentally ill."
The two of them bickered for several rounds, but Wu Sheng couldn't win and had to keep quiet.
Inside the carriage, Xie Wuhen leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.
Usually when they rode in the carriage, he would either hold her or hug her, but today he ignored her.
She knew he had doubts in his heart.
Even Wu Sheng had doubts, let alone him!
Although many things have been resolved and made sense logically, I can't get over this hurdle psychologically. After all, her appearance was too coincidental; after all, she always used Ping'an Lane as an excuse.
Xie Wuhen is not stupid, and he is not that easy to fool.
Is he already suspecting that she is the murderer?
Su He felt a chill on his back when he thought about it.
Fortunately, she is leaving tomorrow.
Fortunately, I don't have to deal with him inside and out anymore.
But before leaving, she still wanted to try to dispel his suspicions.
She couldn't leave the trouble to Li Shuli. After all, she knew Xie Wuhen better than Li Shuli. After all, if Li Shuli was exposed, she would not be able to live in peace outside.
Su He moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Are you angry, my husband?"
He didn't refuse her, and leaned his head against hers. "Why should I be angry?"
"Mr. Wu just said that my appearance is just a coincidence."
He replied, “It’s a coincidence indeed.”
"Could it be that my husband is doubting this poor concubine?"
"What do you suspect me of?"
She chuckled in a playful manner and said, "Do you suspect that I am the one you want to arrest?"
He smiled too.
Although this is not funny at all.
But in any case, he would not doubt that she was the person he wanted to arrest.
At most, he suspected that she was hiding something from him.
Xie Wuhen placed a kiss on her forehead: "My lady, you are overthinking it."
Then he sat up straight and took out a brocade box from the secret cabinet beside him: "This is for my wife."
Su He's face lit up with joy: "What is this?"
"Open it and take a look."
She opened the lid of the box as instructed, and a complete set of silver-gilt and jade-inlaid headpieces appeared before her eyes. They were so dazzling and glittering that even under the dim car lights, their brilliance could be seen.
She was a little surprised: "When did my husband buy it?"
He replied, "I bought it today when I passed by a jewelry store."
She asked again: "It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
He replied: "As long as my wife likes it, it's worth it no matter how much money I spend."
She smiled and said, "I like it very much, thank you, husband." Then she reached out to touch the jewels inlaid on the headdress.
There were not only jewels on it, but also gold foil wrapped around the jewels.
She secretly drew her fingertips across the gold foil, then cried out "Ouch!"
He asked with concern, "What's wrong, my lady?"
She stretched out her scallion-white fingers in front of him and said, "Look, my husband, you're scratched." Beads of blood were oozing from the fingertips.
"How could you be so careless?" His eyes were filled with heartache as he hurriedly took out gauze from the secret cabinet to bandage her. "If I had known your skin was so delicate, I wouldn't have bought you these gold-foiled jewels."
She was gentle and well-behaved: "I will be more careful next time, my husband, don't blame yourself."
She is showing weakness or playing the victim.
She wanted to tell him how weak she was, so weak that she could never compete with the fat and tall Zhou Yuanze.
After all, he had witnessed Zhou Yuanze's methods of torturing women in the palace not long ago.
Xie Wuhen seemed genuinely touched. After bandaging her wound, he pulled her into his arms and whispered, "My lady, if you want to go out at night next time, you must have me accompany you, so that I won't worry about you."
She said "Okay", then tilted her head back and kissed him on the lips.
She thought there would be no "next time" between her and him.
Her kiss was passionate but also sad.
It's like a baptism, and also like the pain before nirvana.
He was catering to her, and then took the initiative, holding her waist and leaning over to kiss her lips.
It was past midnight outside the carriage.
The streets were deserted, with only a few scattered gauze lanterns lighting the way ahead.
The sound of the night watchman's clappers came from far away, one after another, like the drumbeats of parting.
The two of them were entangled until the carriage stopped at the gate of Xie's mansion.
Wu Sheng called out from outside the car: "Boss, Madam, we're home."
They then reluctantly parted ways and got on the carriage one after another.
After entering Chunhua Courtyard and closing the door, Xie Wuhen could no longer hold back and hugged her and was about to do it.
She gently pushed him away, her tone teasing: "How about, today, my poor concubine and my husband bathe together?"
A light flashed in his eyes: "Really?"
She smiled charmingly: "Seriously!"
In just a few cups of tea, hot water was ready in the bathroom.
All the servants left, leaving only her and him in the room.
The air is filled with white mist and water vapor.
They looked at each other tenderly, then she walked up to him and undressed him.
He held her slender wrist and smiled gently: "Tonight, let me serve you, my lady?"
She did not refuse, and let his hand reach out to her collar, unbutton her clothes, take off her outer clothes, middle clothes, and finally her inner clothes.
Under the flickering candlelight, she was naked, delicate and fair, and incredibly beautiful.
It was the first time he had gazed at her body like this, his gaze burning hotter than the candlelight...
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