Old friend
The ornately decorated carriage slowly emerged from the palace gates and headed straight for Shanghua City's main street. Pedestrians, seeing a distinguished person on the road, gave way. After skirting two main city thoroughfares, the driver gradually slowed down, and Jing Yao knew they had reached the heart of the city's bustling downtown.
She gently lifted a corner of the side curtain and looked at the bustling crowds on the street, the constant flow of cars, the sounds of gongs and shouts, a completely prosperous scene.
This scene seems like a lifetime ago.
Jing Yao lowered the curtain and chuckled twice, feeling that it really had been a lifetime.
The streets of Shanghua City were no different from what she remembered. The carriage stopped in front of Yaoyue Tower. Bo Yue and Zhi Yue got off first. When the guards saw that there was no suspicious situation around, they signaled the two to help Jing Yao get off the carriage.
Jing Yao specially picked out a bright blue wide-sleeved dress from the wardrobe today, decorated with golden patterns in gamboge, showing her beauty and nobility.
The navy blue veil hid the beauty's face, and passers-by could only see her graceful figure and extraordinary demeanor. A few bold perverts wanted to move forward to see her face clearly, but they were met with the guards' fierce gazes and had to leave in disappointment.
Jing Yao looked up at the gilded plaque of Yaoyue Tower. This was the restaurant where she used to come most often for fun, but she hadn't been here for two years.
"Ma'am, let's go."
Bo Yue lowered his head slightly and held out his arms, allowing Jing Yao's delicate hands to rest on them casually, and helped his wife into the gate of Yaoyue Tower.
The current owner of the restaurant personally came downstairs to greet her. "Madam Jing hasn't been here for a while. Madam Huo and Madam Jiang are here. I have specially prepared for you the most fashionable pear blossom wine in Shanghua City, as well as some trendy delicacies, for you to enjoy."
"You're thoughtful."
Jing Yao casually threw two gold leaves, and the shopkeeper, with a happy smile, led the people out of the wing room and left respectfully.
The guards were standing guard outside the wing room. Jing Yao pushed open the door, but no one was at the table. Before she could react, three figures rushed out from behind the door and shouted in unison: "Ah!"
Jing Yao was so frightened that she screamed repeatedly, and the three of them burst into laughter when they saw that their plan had succeeded.
"Ling Yi, you are still so timid!"
Jiang Jing almost laughed to tears, and Jiang Wen was laughing so hard that she couldn't speak. Only Huo Zhuxin quickly held back her laughter and welcomed the person in.
"Come in soon."
After the three of them sat down, Huo Zhuxin ordered her maid to call for the dishes.
Jing Yao was about to raise his hand but put it down again when he saw this.
She wasn't used to it for a while, but now the three of them were more familiar with Yaoyue Tower than she was.
Huo Zhuxin noticed Jing Yao's disappointment: "During the time you were in the palace, we always came here. Every time we came, we always thought, it would be great if Ling Yi was here too."
She held her friend's hand and said, "Ling Yi, we all miss you so much."
Jiang Jing and Jiang Wen nodded together and said in unison, "I really want to!"
Jiang Wen directly exposed her sister's past: "Jiang Jing was hiding in bed crying!"
"Didn't you cry too?" Jiang Jing wasn't to be outdone and brought up her sister's embarrassing story. "You cried yourself to the point of fainting from hunger. Your parents called a doctor, and you clutched his hand and yelled, 'You want Sikong You!'"
"you!"
Jiang Wen's cheeks flushed red, and she couldn't utter a word. She turned her head and threw herself into Jing Yao's arms: "Ling Yi, look at her!"
“Hahahahahahahaha…”
Jing Yao and Huo Zhuxin laughed at the same time. Jiang Wen was so annoyed that she slapped her several times before pretending to be serious and said, "Ahem, sisters should be friendly with each other. Wenwen is young... Tell me what happened to Wen Renyou?"
Jing Yao turned the topic directly to Jiang Wen, and the little girl's face turned completely red.
Jiang Jing smiled from ear to ear: "I fell in love with the fifth young master of the Wen family at first sight."
Huo Zhuxin was surprised: "How could I not know? When did it happen?"
Jing Yao immediately guessed that Jiang Wen was hiding something, and together with Huo Zhuxin, he forced her to tell him what was going on.
"Hey, aren't we here to have dinner with Ling Yi? Why are you asking me?!"
Jiang Wen was trying to shirk her duties, but just then the waiter from Yuelou arrived to serve the food. It was like she had grabbed a lifeline: "Come on, come on, let's get ready to eat."
Jing Yao felt deeply regretful for not being able to pry any stories out of Jiang Min. Huo Zhuxin remembered that Jing Yao loved to eat the newly fried shrimps served at Yaoyue Tower, so she asked someone to put them in front of her.
Jing Yao tasted two and frowned, "There are too many spices. I still prefer to eat boiled ones. Or maybe I've been eating too much boiled ones in the palace these days, and my taste hasn't changed yet."
When they heard her say the word "palace", the three of them looked at each other and communicated with their eyes repeatedly.
"Ask whatever you want."
Jing Yao naturally couldn't hide the eye contact between the three of them, and he could understand the meaning very well.
Jing Yao picked up a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. There seemed to be no anger or sadness on his face. On the contrary, he was particularly calm and composed.
Jiang Jing thought for a moment and finally spoke: "Ling Yi, I couldn't see you before, and we couldn't be with you... Now that it's been so long, I'm afraid it will make you sad if I bring it up again, but we are all very sad about what happened to your family. If you still have any worries, don't keep them in your heart."
"Yes!" Jiang Wen nodded, "Just tell us everything!"
Huo Zhuxin also gave him a look of firm support.
Jing Yao lowered her eyes. The Jing family's extermination was a thorn in her heart. But perhaps it was because her new life was too far away from those painful memories, or perhaps after experiencing death, she had gained some peace with the matter that had troubled her in her previous life. Now, she wasn't as sad as she had imagined.
But this doesn't mean that she has forgotten this matter.
Until the truth comes out, nothing is over.
"I will definitely get to the bottom of this matter, but you don't have to worry about me. I'm not that fragile."
After Jing Yao finished speaking, he pinched the backs of the hands of the two sisters beside him, indicating that he was really fine.
Seeing that she didn't look like she was trying to lie, the three of them finally felt relieved and had a good meal.
Jiang Jing talked about how her sister-in-law had quickly cleaned up the Jiang family's decadent tendencies and forced her playboy elder brother to follow the right path. Huo Zhuxin explained the new mixed planting of crops she had followed her uncle and grandfather in the past year. She said that if they could really grow new varieties, Xijing's grain output could double again.
After listening to everything, Jing Yao felt that the sisters had a wonderful year.
In the end, Jiang Min finally told Wen Renyou everything honestly - they ran into each other while buying books in a bookstore.
"It was a real collision. He bumped into the bookshelf to avoid me, and a whole row of books fell over!"
Jiang Wen emotionally described the scene of the young man emerging from the pile of white books. At just one glance, she decided that this young man was the destined person for her life.
"Yes or no……"
Jing Yao looked at Huo Zhuxin, who continued, "A bit hasty?"
"No." Jiang Min held her face with her hands and smiled foolishly, looking like a young girl in love. "You don't know until you see it."
Jing Yao took a sip of the pear blossom wine and agreed, "Yes, you know this best."
Jiang Jing edged closer to Jing Yao: "Ling Yi, are you still living in the East Palace?"
As soon as she asked the question, the other two swallowed their saliva at the same time.
Huo Zhuxin rarely widened his eyes in surprise, as if he couldn't believe that Jiang Jing asked so directly.
When the Jing family first encountered trouble, everyone in Shanghua tacitly agreed that it was the work of Crown Prince Si Pei, in order to preserve a good reputation and eliminate his political enemies.
The three of them didn't quite believe that Si Pei would do this. After all, where would Jing Yao stand in such a despicable and cruel act?
The prince would not treat his beloved like this.
But apart from Crown Prince Si Pei, there seemed to be no other suspicious candidates. For more than a year, Si Pei had imprisoned Jing Yao in the Eastern Palace and refused to release her, so they could not help but believe some rumors in their anger.
They were extremely happy to see Jing Yao and the others doing well today. They hadn't originally planned to ask about Si Pei, but unexpectedly, Jiang Jing couldn't help herself.
The three of them suddenly became nervous, afraid of making Jing Yao sad. Jing Yao looked around with a stern face, and when he saw the sisters about to apologize, Jing Yao burst out laughing.
"Why are you so nervous? I told you I'm fine."
Jing Yao was amused by them, and Huo Zhu was puzzled: "We thought... you would be sad..."
"Why should you be sad? I still live in the East Palace, but not in the Crown Prince's bedroom because he moved into my bedroom."
Jing Yao had nothing to hide from his friends, even telling them that he stabbed Si Pei on the night he was seventeen.
"Oh my God!" Jiang Jing and Jiang Wen simultaneously covered their mouths in surprise. Huo Zhuxin was also a little bit unbelievable: "The prince really is..."
Deeply in love...
This didn't make me angry.
Jing Yao felt sorry for Si Pei when he spoke. "At first, I thought he was the mastermind, just like you guys. But after I stabbed him, I suddenly realized that he wasn't that kind of person. And I found something even more suspicious. Anyway, I plan to investigate it myself now. This matter involves many people and is very dangerous. You don't need to get involved."
After saying that, Jing Yao sighed softly: "I am very lucky to be able to see you."
Huo Zhuxin was always the calmest and most resolute among the group: "Ling Yi, no matter what decision you make, I will support you."
“Us too!”
Huo Zhuxin held Jing Yao's hand and said, "If you need anything, please come to us."
"I know." Jing Yao felt the cool palm of his friend's hand, but felt extremely warm in his heart.
The four of them looked at each other in shock, and then they all laughed at the same time.
"We were unable to send you birthday wishes a few days ago, so we specially gave you one today."
As Jiang Jing spoke, she and her sister presented a mother-of-pearl box with exquisite and intricate patterns. Jing Yao opened it and found a pair of extremely rare yellow and kingfisher hairpins inside.
"It just goes with your skirt today."
Jiang Jing and Jiang Wen each took a hairpin and put it on her. They examined it for a while and were very satisfied: "It is true that beautiful things should be matched with beautiful women!"
Jing Yao adjusted her hair in the mirror, but before she could react, there was another pearl necklace around her neck.
"This is a pearl I picked up a while ago when my second brother and I went to the South China Sea to see the seawater fields. I strung it together myself..." Huo Zhuxin lowered his eyes, "It's not a precious thing."
"But I like it very much." Jing Yao smiled and hugged her, "What you gave me is the best in the world."
Jiang Jing and Jiang Wen also came up. The four girls held each other for a long time, and Jing Yao felt tired. "What's new in the city recently? I'm almost bored in the palace."
Jiang Wen quickly raised her hand: "I know! That new bookstore in the east of the city has a lot of really fresh storybooks!"
"I know that, too. It's a very interesting story. The girls in Beijing have been reading it lately!" Jiang Jing introduced it to Jing Yao with great enthusiasm. "There's the story of the tragic young lady who comes back to life and changes her fate, beating up her husband who favors his concubine over his wife, the story of the bullied concubine who turns out to be a powerful poison maker who poisons everyone who bullies her, and even some of those gay stories... I've never seen anything so interesting!"
Huo Zhuxin rarely read these folk stories, but she had heard of them. "That bookstore is really popular right now. There's no other place like it in Shanghua City. I heard the owner is a very young girl, only sixteen or seventeen. I really admire her."
"Indeed, it's impressive." Jing Yao nodded. While women in business were not uncommon in Xijing, the Wei family, one of the four great aristocratic families in Xijing, was founded by women and had been ruled by female rulers for a hundred years. However, there weren't many young women who could achieve success at such a young age.
Jiang Wen tried to recall: "Yes, the boss is about the same age as us, and his name is... I think it's Yue Ningning!"
Hearing this name, Jing Yao's heart suddenly shook.
Instantly, bloody memories of her past life flooded back into her mind. The girl was embraced by Si Jue, her charming face devoid of any warmth. A cold, triumphant smile flashed through her peripheral vision, and her disdainful gaze swept over the dying Jing Yao as if he were trash.
"Jing Yao, Jing Yao, you really deserve it."
Jing Yao will never forget that person until his death - Yue Ningning.
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