Chapter 17 I never show mercy to women
The golden beast in the hall exhaled fragrance, and the emperor laughed loudly upon hearing it.
The eunuch Yuan Jinbao brought the purple hair and the emperor personally wrote the edict of ennoblement.
At the beginning of the midnight hour, the palace banquet with undercurrents finally ended.
The officials who left can be divided into three groups: the prince's party, the princess's party, and those who are free and easy and only want to protect themselves.
The Chen and Liu families were the last batch.
The vermilion palace walls are tall and majestic, and the deep palace is even quieter at night.
Shen Zhiyan and Luo Wan walked in the corridor one after the other, and the moonlight stretched their shadows very long.
At this time, most of the officials had left, with only a few drunk people left behind.
"Mr. Shen, please stay." A clear voice like a spring sounded behind him.
Just a voice makes people wonder what the woman whose voice is as soft as a trickle of water looks like.
He stopped, turned around and looked carefully.
The woman was about twenty years old. She wore a lilac-colored skirt that made her skin look as white as snow. She had a standard oval face, delicate features, and gentle and soft eyes. Her temperament was like a short-lived flower in the world, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Standing next to the woman was Liu Shiyu, who had just targeted Luo Wan!
I heard that Taifu Liu Zong had a legitimate daughter who was beautiful and talented. This person was Liu Shuyi, the most famous talented woman in the capital.
Liu Shuyi's eyes passed over Luo Wan like a dragonfly skimming the water, and a perfect smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then he looked at Shen Zhiyan: "Mr. Shen, may I have a word with you for a moment?"
Luo Wan had seen all kinds of women, and Liu Shuyi's voice was not deliberately that way, but was just like that. Her voice was gentle but not coquettish, and it sounded very comfortable.
Liu Shiyu saw that Shen Zhiyan was worried about Luo Wan, and said sinisterly: "Master Shen is very concerned about this female staff member. There are guards patrolling the palace, so there won't be any accidents."
Luo Wan had no intention of getting involved in Shen Zhiyan's family affairs in the capital, so she tactfully said, "I'll just take a stroll. I'll see you at the palace gate in one stick of incense."
Young men and women of this age cannot escape the word "love", and the two people in front of them, Shen Zhiyan and Liu Shuyi, are obviously a couple with no feelings but affection.
When she left, she caught a glimpse of Shen Zhiyan's hesitant expression and suddenly found it interesting.
A person like Shen Zhiyan has his heart filled with the people of the world, so it would be difficult for him to make room for Miss Liu.
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavier, the palace lanterns gradually dimmed.
Occasionally, a night patrolling Yulin Guard would pass by with a lantern in hand. The eunuchs on duty would hunch their necks, walk hurriedly, and look less energetic than usual.
Luo Wan was walking aimlessly when he suddenly saw a patch of bright color blooming in the white snow in front of him. It was a red plum garden.
The garden is not big and very quiet, so quiet that you can hear the sound of snow dripping.
The snow on the long street inside the palace walls had long been swept away by the palace servants, but the snow in the garden had not melted and was piled up thickly, as if it was a corner that had been deliberately forgotten.
Luo Wan walked in on the fallen petals on the ground. His boots squeaked as they rolled over the snow, leaving behind a series of footprints of varying depths.
The night wind swept across the branches, shaking off a few remaining plum petals, which floated down mixed with the broken snow, touched her shoulders, and quickly turned into water marks.
Luo Wan exhaled a breath of white air.
It is colder when the snow melts than when it snows. The cold seeps into the bones and even the fingertips become slightly stiff.
The fresh scent of plum blossoms in the garden permeates the air, passing through the last plum branch.
Luo Wan looked up and saw a warm light faintly coming from behind the rockery. It was a room with candlelight reflected on the window paper, which looked particularly abrupt in the silent and dark surroundings.
She paused and narrowed her eyes.
Just as I was hesitating whether to get closer, the door of the warm room was pushed open a crack.
The person who came out was the one who had been seen in the palace before, Yuan Jinbao, the chief eunuch of the emperor's personal guards.
Instead of serving the emperor, he came here to take a break.
I heard that there were often eunuchs and palace maids in the palace who couldn't stand the loneliness and had affairs, which was called "Dui Shi".
"Miss Chi." The voice seemed to be squeezed out from the throat, with a deliberately low and sharp tone, and the ending tone rose slightly, light and sharp.
Yuan Jinbao approached with a lantern in hand. The candlelight shone on his wrinkled face. Only then did Luo Wan discover that he had a scar on his brow bone.
Yuan Jinbao asked, "The palace banquet is over. Where is Miss Chi going?"
Luo Wan thought to himself: Why does this former eunuch look like a ghost?
However, his words reminded Luo Wan that she had walked a little too far.
Luo Wan pondered and said, "The palace is too big. Master Shen and I accidentally got separated and lost our way."
Yuan Jinbao hunched over and said, "Go a little further and you'll reach the harem. The concubines are all resting. To avoid disturbing you, my lady, I'll lead the way."
Guessing that it was almost time to reunite with Shen Zhiyan, Luo Wan said, "Please trouble you, eunuch."
Following Yuan Jinbao's footsteps was much faster than wandering around on her own when she came here.
Soon I passed by the place where I met Liu Shuyi just now. It was empty and no one was there.
When they reached a small path, Yuan Jinbao reminded her, "Miss Chi, please be careful with your steps. This road is paved with cobblestones and might be a little slippery after the snow melts in winter."
It was the first time for Luo Wan to hear a eunuch speak at close range. He found the voice strange but also quite amusing, so he chatted with him in a random manner, and Yuan Jinbao patiently answered all his questions.
They had been talking about trivial matters before, but when Luo Wanqi asked about Pei Shaochuan's aunt who was a concubine in the palace, and the topic involved nobles in the palace, Yuan Jinbao tightened his mouth.
He then said, "Miss Chi, you don't know that the nobles in the palace are moody and should not be provoked lightly."
Just a few words shut the conversation up.
At this moment, they heard a very light laugh. They looked up and saw a figure falling from the eaves. With his clothes fluttering, the young man had landed in front of them.
Climbing over the wall in the palace is very Jiang Cichen.
With the support of the eldest princess, no guard in the entire palace dared to stop him.
Luo Wan suddenly understood why the Jiang family was executed a few years later. Which emperor would dare to keep such a person?
Jiang Cichen sat outside the corridor with one knee bent, leaning against the pillar, and said in an unclear tone: "The former eunuch is free. Instead of serving His Majesty, he is here to guide a little girl."
Luo Wan said, "I got lost, so I asked the former eunuch to lead the way for me."
Yuan Jinbao said that the nobles in the palace should not be provoked easily. In fact, the person who should not be provoked the most in the world is Jiang Cichen.
In the previous life, Luo Wan knew very little about Jiang Cichen, but he knew that he would win in the end. A traitor grew up to be the ruler of the world, and his thundering methods were unimaginable.
It must not be a coincidence that he appears here at this moment. Jiang Cichen is a proud and arrogant man. Since he has set his eyes on her, he will not give up until he gets to the bottom of his suspicions.
Jiang Cichen was suspicious of Luo Wan, and naturally didn't believe her words. He asked, "You were following Shen Zhiyan, how could he let you get lost?"
Luo Wan frowned and wanted to turn around and leave immediately to avoid having anything to do with this person, but she had to pretend to be a lady.
She lowered her eyes slightly and said, "Master Shen has many friends, so we're separated for a while."
Jiang Cichen stood up and took two steps towards Luo Wan, still looking down at her. His tone revealed an attitude that brooked no refusal, "It just so happens that I am leaving too. Miss Chi, please follow me."
Yuan Jinbao remained silent, waiting for the two to make a decision.
After a pause, Luo Wan smiled slightly: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Young General."
In addition to going to Xiliang Chi Wanwan's grave and digging out the body.
Luo Wan guaranteed that Jiang Cichen would not be able to find any clues from her.
Yuan Jinbao bowed and retreated.
Luo Wan was not used to leaving her back to others, so she followed Jiang Cichen.
The boy was very tall, with a broad and straight back. He casually broke off a branch from the roadside and played with it in his hand. He still had the spirit of a young man, like a cynical young man.
Jiang Cichen said without turning his head: "Shen Zhiyan really brought you here."
Luo Wan said insincerely, "The young general is truly as foresighted as a god."
"Do you know who Yuan Jinbao belongs to?"
Luo Wan said calmly, "His Majesty's men."
Jiang Cichen suddenly stopped and asked: "Are you really stupid, or are you pretending to be stupid?"
Luo Wan ignored the mockery in Jiang Cichen's words and asked, "What do you mean, Young General?"
Jiang Cichen raised his eyebrows: "Yuan Jinbao has been the Ninth Prince's man from the very beginning."
The Ninth Prince he was referring to was obviously the one who was absent from the banquet due to illness.
If the eunuchs are the Ninth Prince's power, then Yuan Jinbao, as the chief eunuch and the head of the eunuchs, must be the Ninth Prince's man.
So Jiang Cichen appeared here, in addition to his own suspicion of her, there was another reason: Shen Zhiyan's staff and the Ninth Prince's people came together.
The Northern Emperor was casual, or perhaps he was tired of the throne and no longer had the ability to control the government and the country, which led to the princes, aristocratic families, and eunuchs getting involved.
Luo Wan said: "I have no intention of participating in the disputes between the party and the government."
Jiang Cichen's expression was indifferent. He said lazily, "I've seen many self-righteous people, but none of them have ever experienced life and death." The young man's voice turned cold. "A single Hongwenguan can't keep Shen Zhiyan. Sooner or later, he will be involved in this dispute. Will you say the same thing then?"
Luo Wan said: "Heroes are like crucian carp crossing the river. Hongwenguan can't keep Master Shen, but in this world, there are too many things that can keep a woman."
There has only been one Kunyi in the history of the Northern Kingdom, and many princesses could not escape the fate of marrying off or marrying down.
What's more, if Chi Wanwan, the daughter of a fourth-rank official, really returned to the capital, she would not be able to escape the fate of being taken away by Chi Jing'an and presented to high-ranking officials, becoming a victim of power.
She always thought Jiang Cichen was a smart man and naturally understood what she meant.
Jiang Cichen spoke slowly: "You are different."
Luo Wan frowned, and before she could understand what Jiang Cichen meant, she met a pair of sharp peach blossom eyes.
He leaned in very close, his eyes scrutinizing her. "You're not Chi Wanwan at all."
Luo Wan's delicate and tender face was calm, her eyes clear and bright as she asked indifferently, "According to the young general, who am I?"
The two looked at each other for a while. Seeing that she was indifferent, Jiang Cichen said softly, "You are a little fox."
Luo Wan felt a surge of anger in his heart and left with a flick of his sleeves.
She has been so worried all the time!
Jiang Cichen was clearly making fun of her!
Jiang Cichen's voice came from behind: "Do you know what Shen Zhiyan said to me after you left that night?"
Luo Wan paused, turned back and stared at him for a moment.
Jiang Cichen spoke word by word, emphasizing each word: "He asked me not to target you."
Before Luo Wan could reply, Jiang Cichen said, "It's rare for the son of the prime minister to ask for help! I could have considered it a teacher's love for his student, but what happened at the palace banquet tonight showed that Shen Zhiyan was too partial to you. He has more than one student, so why you? It's obvious that your relationship is more than what it seems."
Luo Wan disagreed: "If it were anyone else, the Major General would still ask that person, 'Why you?' No matter who it is, you would be suspicious."
Jiang Cichen said: "I only doubt you."
Luo Wan said: "That's really flattering."
Jiang Cichen said coldly: "I never show mercy to women, don't let me catch you."
Luo Wan said: "Young General, you worry too much."
At the palace gate, Shen Zhiyan was already waiting there. When Luo Wan and Jiang Cichen arrived, they saw a carriage leaving with the word "Liu" printed on its flag.
Luo Wan boarded the carriage back home. Just as the curtain was about to be lifted, she heard a voice and suddenly turned around.
Jiang Cichen crossed his arms, raised his eyebrows, and said in a loud voice: "The title you thought of for me today is not bad."
The author has something to say:
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The early stage may be slow to warm up, but the plot will advance faster after the 20th chapter. I am very grateful to my reader Xiaobao for accompanying me~ [milk tea][milk tea][milk tea]
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