Sincerely seeking love
The carriage did not stop at the entrance of the Zhao residence, but instead drove into the residence.
Wu Qi felt dizzy from the sweet and cloying scent of cosmetics and lifted the curtain to get some fresh air.
From a distance, she glimpsed several maids holding jade or glass bowls, lining up in a queue.
She asked, puzzled, "What are they doing?"
Zhao Lang followed her gaze, not paying much attention: "They're lining up to drink those nourishing soups, like bird's nest and ginseng, or some other kind of medicinal soup. I don't really know much about the medicinal soups that the women in the manor like to drink."
Wu Qi asked, "Why pour it out?"
“It’s cold,” Zhao Lang replied.
It's cold...
It's just because it's cold.
Wu Qi stopped asking questions and sat quietly in the carriage watching the maids in line pour out the medicinal soup. Two other maids were supervising them, probably to prevent the maids from secretly drinking the nourishing soup.
Precious medicinal soups must be thrown away when they cool down; even high-ranking officials in the capital dared not be so extravagant.
Perhaps sensing something amiss, Zhao Lang smiled and explained, "A while ago, a woman in the manor drank some cold medicine and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea for several days. She would cry pitifully whenever she saw me. I held her and comforted her for many days before I could calm her down, and it took many more days to help her recover."
"Later, the women in the household stopped liking to drink cold medicine."
Upon hearing this, Wu Qi suddenly recalled the child who bowed to Zhou Lang's golden statue but only took a piece of pastry.
Although everyone has their own destiny, the differences between these destinies are quite significant.
“There’s some money in the family, and the women in the household have always been pampered. It’s no big deal for them to drink some beauty and health tonics,” Zhao Lang said, looking at Yi Shen.
Perhaps because they were both men, he felt as if he had met someone who understood him and wanted to seek some support, so he asked him, "What do you think, Young Master Yi?"
Yi Shen didn't even look at Zhao Lang, and simply said, "I don't know, and I don't want to think so."
He didn't want to be distracted by these things, and he certainly didn't want to discuss women in private.
The already lukewarm atmosphere turned even colder by this one sentence, colder than the winter in Pingwu City.
Wu Qi laughed so hard her shoulders were shaking. Yi Shen looked down at her helplessly, put his arm around her shoulder and supported her body slightly to prevent her from hitting the car wall.
Zhao Lang, who was always eloquent, shook his head and sighed, "Young Master Yi, you have a heart for women, a heart for women."
Yi Shen retorted, "If you truly cherish women, why don't you give your official position to the women in your household?"
Is giving some soup and some money considered showing mercy and tenderness?
Why not give him an official position?
“They don’t understand the ways of being an official,” Zhao Lang said.
"Is it that the women in the household don't understand the ways of officials, or is it that Lord Zhao doesn't want to give them?" Yi Shen said. "If it's the latter, then Lord Zhao can't be considered to be showing any mercy to women."
Zhao Lang laughed heartily, and after getting off the carriage, he discussed the matter with Yi Shen, saying, "These women in the manor are beautiful, but that's all they are. Clever and beautiful women rack their brains to enter the golden house and seek a life of comfort, so it can be said that they haven't wasted their faces."
He jokingly referred to the Zhao residence as the "Golden House".
That's not wrong either.
The Zhao mansion could only be described as magnificent, with carved beams and painted rafters everywhere, jade and gold every three steps, mandarin ducks entwined in the lake, and beautiful women dressed in thin clothes... all kinds of extravagance and luxury.
The group walked to the end of the bluestone path, where a woman was waiting on a boat. Wu Qi then realized that they would be having lunch in the pavilion in the middle of the lake.
After boarding the boat, the woman leaned against Zhao Lang's chest and gave Wu Qi a reproachful look.
Before Wu Qi and Yi Shen could speak, Zhao Lang reached out and pinched the face of the woman in his arms. He was smiling, but his words were very serious.
"Don't look at her like that, she's my honored guest."
The woman lightly patted Zhao Lang's chest and complained inappropriately, "The distinguished guests that you speak of often turn out to be women in your household."
Zhao Lang was fond of bringing beautiful women home, always saying that this girl was a distinguished guest of his household and should be treated with care and respect. He claimed that in less than seven days, this distinguished guest would become a woman in his household.
They had no official titles or status, neither wives nor concubines, and could only be referred to as "women of the Zhao family." However, as the number of women in the mansion increased, it was not clear that Zhao Lang cared about any of them.
If anyone felt wronged, they could throw themselves into Zhao Lang's arms and cry. Zhao Lang would immediately put aside his official duties, hold the crying woman, and gently coax her to cheer her up. In the end, he would even give her some gold and silver jewelry to appease her.
If we're talking about which woman was special, there certainly was.
One of them was Li Shuying, whom Zhao Lang had taken a liking to but did not bring into his household.
The other one is the woman in front of us.
but……
The woman glanced at Yi Shen and thought to herself, "Zhao Lang probably can't take this girl away."
Zhao Lang tightened his grip on the woman's waist, increasing the pressure as if punishing her, and said with a forced smile, "I've told you, you can't look at that lady like that. She's my honored guest."
The woman winced in pain and stammered, "Yes..."
"Be good," Zhao Lang coaxed. "There will be grapes you like later. Don't worry about getting fat, eat more. I'll come keep you company tonight, okay?"
He was that kind of person, remembering each woman's preferences and being able to send each woman the birthday gift she had longed for.
He would give it to anyone, no matter how valuable it was.
That was enough. Her beauty was enough to buy her some comfort and money. She didn't ask for anything else, and she dared not ask Zhao Lang to marry her. So she went along with Zhao Lang and said, "No, you hurt my back just now. I don't want you to stay with me tonight."
"It's my fault, it's my fault. I apologize to Pianpian."
It turns out that the woman's name was Pianpian.
While rubbing Pianpian's waist, Zhao Lang looked at Yi Shen and asked, "Since Young Master Yi thinks I'm not chivalrous enough, may I ask how Young Master Yi shows chivalry?"
The boat drifted on the lake, creating ripples on the surface. This startled the mandarin ducks beside the boat, who then flew away, leaving only the people on the boat looking at Yi Shen.
Wu Qi was also curious about Yi Shen's answer.
She looked up at him, but to her surprise, Yi Shen had already lowered his eyes to look at her.
They stared at each other, and Wu Qi slowly blinked, hearing Yi Shen solemnly say, "Whatever she wants, I will give her."
What he has, he will give to her if she wants it.
He doesn't have it; if she wants it, then she'll fight for it.
In short, he couldn't bear to see her cry.
Wu Qi smiled and said, "She might not want anything at all!"
After hearing what Yi Shen said, Zhao Lang inexplicably felt inferior to Yi Shen. He glanced at Wu Qi, his resentment growing even stronger.
What woman doesn't crave something?
The woman spent a fortune on beauty treatments and drank foul-smelling and unpleasant-tasting herbal soups, not so that she would gain nothing when her beauty faded with age...
As for Wu Qi saying he didn't want anything, just take it as a joke.
It's not that she doesn't want it, it's that she doesn't know what she wants.
The pavilion in the middle of the lake was cleverly built. As soon as the group arrived at the pavilion, several servants rowed a small boat to serve dishes, pastries, and grapes that Pianpian loved.
A servant even brought a pot of fine wine, but unfortunately, drinking led to trouble. No matter how foolish Wu Qi and Yi Shen were, they would never drink at the Zhao residence; otherwise, they probably wouldn't even know how they died.
Wu Qi wasn't afraid of Zhao Lang poisoning him, so he picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
To be honest, it's delicious.
Zhao Lang smiled and saw Pianpian reaching for the fish. He grabbed her wrist and said, "Our honored guest likes this fish. Pianpian, please let him have it. Another day, I'll have them send a fish to your room."
Pianpian gave a soft "hmm" and didn't pick up the fish.
Zhao Lang didn't eat the fish either.
Half of the fish went into Wu Qi's stomach. She placed the other half in front of Yi Shen and said, "Yi Shen, eat the fish. If Lord Zhao poisoned this fish, then we'll have to meet in the underworld."
Yi Shen took a bite of the fish.
Zhao Lang laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's not poisoned. I'm always very careful with beautiful women."
“But I heard from that young master Sun that Lord Zhao was ruthless towards Li Shuying, cutting her thirty-two times.” After saying that, Wu Qi suddenly realized, “Oh, I forgot. Young master Sun is possessed, what he says can’t be taken seriously.”
Zhao Lang neither refuted nor responded.
Every dish was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate. Wu Qi, who had been starving all night, took a couple of bites and put down her chopsticks, no longer wanting to eat. She rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the boundless lake, and thought of the thirty-two knife wounds on Li Shuying's body.
There were no wounds on Li Shuying's face, and she had never clearly seen the wounds on Li Shuying's body. However, just hearing "thirty-two" felt extremely cruel.
After the meal, Zhao Lang arranged courtyards for Wu Qi and Yi Shen in the mansion. He arranged two adjacent courtyards, one for each of them, but Yi Shen declined, saying, "No need."
"Young Master Yi, aren't you being a bit too harsh on a lady?" Zhao Lang said, holding Pianpian in his arms and looking at Wu Qi. "Shouldn't this matter be done with the lady's consent?"
“I agree,” Wu Qi said.
Zhao Lang said unhappily, "You...you really agree to the two of you living in the same courtyard?"
“Lord Zhao, we are childhood sweethearts,” Yi Shen said. “In the capital, this is common knowledge.”
Wu Qi echoed, "Hmm, everyone knows that."
Living together means you can help each other out if something happens; if you live separately, who knows what disgusting things might happen...
The situation is still unclear, so living separately would be foolish!
Besides!
She and Yi Shen had slept in the same bed since they were little. From childhood to adulthood, she didn't know how many times she had slept in Yi Shen's bed.
At this point, it's too late to insist on the proper separation of men and women!
At Zhao Langyi's request, a courtyard was prepared for the two of them. Seeing that they had nothing else to do, he led the group away.
The courtyard was quiet, with only the chirping of birds.
Yi Shen said, "He likes you."
He didn't say who "he" was.
Wu Qi laughed and coaxed, "Hmm? Young Master Yi, you're not being precise. What do you mean by 'Lord Zhao likes me'? You should say—'Lord Zhao likes your face'."
She wasn't stupid; she could understand the unspoken meaning in Zhao Lang's words.
“Zhao Lang is indeed skilled at sweet talk,” Wu Qi said.
Yi Shen calmly replied, "Anyone can say sweet words, and vows of eternal love are not necessarily true. A lifetime of companionship is the true expression of love."
Sweet words and vows of eternal love are the cheapest and least effortless ways to woo someone. If one can be easily fooled by a few words and lose one's sense of direction, then Wu Qi is not Wu Qi.
Wu Qi feigned surprise and said, "Can anyone say sweet words? Then why have I never heard our Third Young Master Yi say any sweet words?"
"Wu Qi, you are the most beautiful peach blossom in the world."
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