Chapter 42 Chapter 42 11
Ruoruo naturally saw his tightly closed eyes, and even noticed his movements of wanting to retreat.
She shook her head and slowed down her movements.
After she had half of her shirt on, she asked him to leave.
This time she slowed down her tone and spoke softly, with a negotiating tone, like a caught rabbit trying to negotiate with the hunter whether to let it go.
"Sir, could you please... could you please go out? Or turn around..." Even though the man had his eyes closed, the girl seemed to feel panicked.
Qi Xunjing listened to her voice and obeyed obediently, but he could not help but forget the scene just now.
By the time Ruoruo finally put on her clothes, Qi Xunjing's palms were already sweating from holding her.
"Sir, can you open the door? Ruoruo still has things to do." When Qi Xunjing opened his eyes, Ruoruo had already walked to his side.
She was wearing a glazed yellow outer robe, with the moon-white undergarment she had just held underneath, and a bright yellow belt lightly tied around her waist. Her face was incredibly beautiful, and she looked simple, quiet, and delicate, making it impossible to look away.
A faint but alluring fragrance wafted through the air, and Qi Xunjing even breathed cautiously for a moment.
Qi Xunjing didn't know what was wrong with him. He just murmured "Okay" and mechanically made way with a red face.
So her name is "Ruoruo"? I don't know which "Ruoruo" it is, but it seems that no matter which word it is, it sounds good. He thought so, but the girl didn't turn around to look at him again.
She just left like that, waving her sleeves and leaving only a slim figure behind to Qi Xunjing.
Qi Xunjing stared at the receding figure in a daze for a long time, and did not change his clothes. After all, his clothes had dried in the short while.
"My Lord, my Lord, you are here! It's so easy for me to find you. I thought you had gone back early!"
Lord Li ran over in a hurry. He said that he had just shouted twice in the same place. How come Lord couldn't recognize his voice?
However, this doubt flashed by, and he soon got down to business. "Sir, Lord Sun wants to see you. When he arrived at your house, he found you were not there, so he followed the servants here. Please go over and take a look."
Lord Sun was a typical Confucian scholar. In the eyes of other officials, he and Prime Minister Qi were very similar. Of course, the similarity here did not refer to appearance and official ability, but to their temperament and style.
He also speaks bluntly, rarely interacts with colleagues, and lives a simple life. The only thing that makes him better than Qi Xunjing is that he has a wife.
If you really talk about it, he is even more frightening than Qi Xunjing. After all, Qi Xunjing is just a man who is strict with himself and does not prevent others from enjoying themselves. But Lord Sun is different. He is strict with himself and others.
If he saw something he didn't like, even if it was an official's indulgence in extravagance and pursuit of pleasure, he would report it. In his words, how much money could an official's salary be? Such extravagance must be a sign of greed! He even spared no one from aristocratic families. He believed that those in high positions had to shoulder their responsibilities. Even if they were under the protection of their ancestors, they should accumulate virtue and not indulge themselves.
So Lord Li was very anxious to find Qi Xunjing because he had already been scolded by Lord Sun.
Lord Sun had no control over him, and his scolding was nothing to the shameless Lord Li. But the problem was that Lord Sun was serious about his complaints! Over the years, he had sued countless people, and even occasionally, when officials were arguing in the court, he would bring up such things and talk about them.
The emperor usually treats people with leniency, but Lord Sun can embarrass those he dislikes in front of all the civil and military officials.
People like him are the most annoying to other officials, but they don't have any leverage over him, so other officials can only tolerate him, be humble to him, and if all else fails, try to avoid him.
Sure enough, after Qi Xunjing left, not only Lord Li, but Qi Xunjing was also affected. After all, when he criticized someone, he didn't look at their status, but only at their behavior.
So as soon as Qi Xunjing went out, he faced questions and disapproval, such as "Sir Qi, why do you come to such a place?"
If it were in the past, Qi Xunjing would not care about what he said at all. He was just that kind of person. Arguing with him would only lead to endless trouble and arguments.
But now, no matter how Qi Xunjing listened to him, he found it unpleasant.
What kind of place is this? This Jiaofangsi is run by the royal family, and everything is reasonable and legal. Why does it sound so dirty and disdainful in his words?
Qi Xunjing didn't like this attitude and rhetoric. He felt that it would inevitably make people look down on the people there. Especially when he thought that the girl he met might face such discrimination, he felt uncomfortable.
"Lord Sun, please be careful with your words." Qi Xunjing was displeased.
Lord Sun, who was originally talking, was stunned for a moment, thinking that Prime Minister Qi's attitude was really strange.
But he lowered his voice unconsciously. After all, Qi Xunjing was the prime minister, while he was only a third-rank official.
In the past, Qi Xunjing didn't care about him, and he had always been very clear about this.
"If you have official business to discuss, Lord Sun, please follow me to the Prime Minister's Residence, or to your Sun Mansion. There is no need to discuss anything else. The Jiaofang Bureau is not what Lord Sun thinks it is."
"The Jiaofangsi sounds nice, but it's just a brothel when you peel it off... Prime Minister Qi, if a person like you is lonely, you should marry and have children properly. Wouldn't it ruin your reputation to come to a place like this?" Lord Sun didn't understand why Prime Minister Qi suddenly started to defend the Jiaofangsi, but he couldn't help but tell the truth.
It was obvious that after he said this, Qi Xunjing's eyes looked at him even more fiercely.
He shuddered and quickly changed the subject, saying he had something important to discuss.
Qi Xunjing didn't say anything else, but his brows twitched slightly after hearing his last remarks about "getting married and having children".
He hadn't thought about it just now, but now he suddenly remembered that since he had seen the girl's body, shouldn't he take responsibility?
But he had been called out today, and Lord Sun was still waiting for him, so he couldn't turn back, but he made up his mind to come back tomorrow. As for the women of the Bai family he had wanted to see in the beginning, he had forgotten about them long ago. Anyway, it was just a spur of the moment thing.
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After Ruoruo left the locker room, she went straight back to her room. After opening the door, she found Nan Xu already sitting inside. He showed no expression when he saw her come back. He just gently held the kettle and poured her a glass of water.
"Eunuch Nan..."
"Why don't you call me Nan Xu anymore?" Eunuch Nan asked jokingly with an eyebrow raised, but it was obvious that he was not happy at all. Even the corners of his slender and upturned eyes were drooping, as if they had lost their usual color.
"Ruo Ruo, you don't believe me."
Whether it was that she didn't trust her own feelings or her abilities, this fact made him very sad.
Although, he really doesn't want Ruoruo to come into contact with other people, especially men.
"It's not that I don't believe it. It's just that Ruoruo felt that my father-in-law seemed to be hesitant and conflicted, so I made the decision on my own." Ruoruo explained tremblingly.
Nan Xu smiled bitterly.
What else could he say? Never mind, she had never belonged to him anyway.
Besides, looking at her like this, how could he not be soft-hearted?
"Prime Minister Qi, before he went to change his clothes, specifically requested to see the women of the Bai family. I... I don't know what he meant by that, nor do I know what her attitude and opinion is towards the Bai family. Please pay attention."
Nan Xu hadn't lied about this. He truly didn't know Qi Xunjing's attitude towards the Bai family. Qi Xunjing was honest, upright, and devoted to his country, but no one knew him, so how could they possibly know his true attitude towards this?
Perhaps he wanted to take care of the women of the Bai family because of their glorious military achievements, or perhaps the result was the opposite, or even he just wanted to get something from Bai Jing. It is not impossible.
Ruo Ruo nodded, her eyes a little melancholy, "Okay, I understand."
"Can't I really leave the Jiaofangsi?" Ruo Ruo asked him, her tone full of expectation.
Nan Xu shook his head as he always did when asked. "If you're not bored staying in the Jiaofangsi, I can quietly go out for a walk with you. But if you want to visit your relatives in prison, I advise you not to waste your time on it."
Publicly, he couldn't let her go out; that was the rule. Privately, he wasn't comfortable letting her go out on her own either.
After a few seconds of pausing, he slowly said, "I can find someone to help you find out about the situation in the prison. Besides Bai Jing, who else do you want to know about?"
These words were meant to test him. After all, Nan Xu was also curious about the relationship between Ruoruo and the Bai family. He had asked twice before, but each time Ruoruo abruptly changed the subject.
After a while, Ruoruo hesitated and shook her head.
She should have cared about Mrs. Bai, but she could still vividly remember Mrs. Bai's attitude towards her. She used to be able to call her mother timidly, but now she didn't want to mention it or pay attention to it at all.
Anyway, Mrs. Bai never liked her, and every time she saw her, she was like looking at dirty garbage. Her unauthorized inquiries and concern were against her own conscience and would not necessarily make Mrs. Bai feel comfortable.
"Then let's go out for a walk?" Ruo Ruo suggested excitedly, "Nan Xu, didn't you say you could go out for a walk with me quietly? I hardly ever go out!"
All her memories were mostly about the square courtyard of the general's mansion. She would only go to other places in the mansion occasionally. As for leaving the mansion... her chances of leaving were very rare.
Nan Xu thought she meant that she had not been able to go out since she came to the Jiaofangsi, and felt that she was being overly restricted.
Although very few people who entered the Jiaofangsi could leave, Ruoruo was a completely different existence to him after all.
Nan Xu went to find two suitable clothes by himself. They were planning to leave secretly, so they naturally couldn't leave in a high-profile manner wearing the clothes they wore in the Music Bureau. Although he was the director of the Music Bureau, he couldn't stand the gossips of the people, and people's hearts were unpredictable.
He chose a dark-colored skirt for Ruoruo and also picked up a piece of clothing for himself. Although the two people's clothes were made of different materials, the colors were very similar.
Ruoruo changed into the clothes he brought her, and when she went out, she realized that at first glance, their clothes actually looked like the same set.
Nan Xu usually wore eunuch's clothes. Even though they were made of luxurious brocade, different from those worn by ordinary eunuchs, they were still eunuch's clothes after all. Now that he had changed into normal clothes, his appearance was even more prominent.
If he didn't make any movements or say anything, who would have thought that such a handsome young man would be a eunuch?
Although, Nan Xu usually tried really hard not to show the common habits of eunuchs in front of Ruoruo.
The Jiaofangsi was located in a prosperous area of the capital. Nan Xu specially found a carriage and planned to take Ruoruo to Xicheng District.
There were actually quite a few people on the streets in the busy area, but it was inevitable that there would be a few people who recognized him with all the people coming and going. It would be bad if people noticed Ruo Ruo who was beside him.
"You can actually drive a carriage?" Ruo Ruo exclaimed, sitting obediently inside and looking at Nan Xu with admiration.
"What's there to be unsure of?" What skills had he not learned during his first few years in the palace? He was just a brick, destined to be moved wherever needed. When he moved to that place, he had to learn even if he didn't already know how, or he'd be punished.
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