20 Palace Banquet
◎Don't be afraid.◎
After lighting incense, burning paper money and making offerings, the sky had already darkened. The cold wind blew through Ci Ying's clothes stained with mud. As her fingers shivered with coldness, a snow-white cloak was gently draped over her from behind.
Ci Ying raised her eyes and found that Xie Huaijin, who was originally beside the carriage, had walked over to her at some point. The cloak should have been hanging on the young man's arm before it was put on her. When she looked back, Xie Huaijin's slender, bony hands were still resting on the cloak.
The faint scent of cedar followed the cloak to Ci Ying's nose. The cloak must have been kept in the carriage, burning with warm charcoal. When Xie Huaijin put it on her, Ci Ying felt the warm breath.
She stood up as the young man extended his hand and said thank you again.
Xie Huaijin shook his head gently and said softly, "I have someone buy this house. Mo Yu will send the deed to your room after we return to Chang'an. Anhuai is a ten-day walk from Chang'an. If you want to come and pay your respects in the future, please let me know."
Ci Ying was originally looking at Xie Huaijin, but as she watched, tears began to fall. She lowered her head to wipe away her tears, her fingers pinching Xie Huaijin's sleeve. The young man seemed to chuckle softly, took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her face, saying gently, "Ci Ying, it's just a normal thing. You are my wife, this is what I should do."
The handkerchief gently kissed away the tears on Ciying's face. Her eyes trembled, and her eyelashes were like the fluttering wings of a butterfly.
She lowered her head, and her heartbeats spoke for her as she said "hmm".
Later, whenever Ci Ying thought about it, she couldn't blame herself for falling in love with Xie Huaijin. Even if Xue Ri hadn't saved her life, she would still have fallen in love with Xie Huaijin due to fate's coincidence.
Not for any reason, just because if you stand far away, without putting all those "affection" and "love" on Xie Huaijin, and just watch him from afar, Xie Huaijin is indeed a very good person.
After returning to Chang'an, Ci Ying had not lived a peaceful life for two days and had not yet dealt with the affairs that had accumulated in the past few months when she heard three pieces of news.
First, Lin Shu is going to stay at Xie’s house for half a month.
Second, Xie Anyun was taken back from the farm by the old lady to take care of her illness.
Third, the emperor was going to hold a celebration banquet for Xie Huaijin five days later. After hearing about her charity, he specifically asked her to go with him.
Every time Xiaowan said something, she would glance at Ciying's expression.
Ci Ying lowered her eyes, skipping over the first and second items, and asked softly, "Was it Mo Yu who came to report the palace banquet?"
Xiaowan nodded. "Mo Yu only asked Madam to let you know first. It's just a simple banquet. Even if the Emperor hadn't specifically instructed me to take you there, I wouldn't have worried too much. Clothes and jewelry will be delivered when the time comes. You don't have to worry too much about the palace rules."
After saying that, Xiaowan's face showed a little worry: "Young Madam, the cousin and the third daughter have already arrived at the mansion. The cousin lives in a courtyard very close to the young master's study. In the past few days, she has been going to the courtyard to inquire about the young master's situation in Anhuai. Although the third daughter is in the old lady's courtyard, if she causes trouble, it will inevitably cause trouble..."
Ciying put down her pen and looked at the small bowl.
For some reason, this girl was more worried than her, and no one knew where she had heard so much news. Ci Ying tapped the table lightly with her hand, and finally sighed, and gently called Xiaowan over.
Xiaowan is very smart and knows how to seize opportunities. She took over Ru Zhen's affairs directly after she left. She is loyal and protective of her master, and is always worried about her. Everything that has happened in the past six months has made Ciying unable to say anything harsh.
Ru Zhen's incident taught her a lesson, but how could a person change so completely all of a sudden? The barriers she had erected before were now all Ci Ying had. Now, facing Xiao Wan, who was also in her teens, she said, "Xiao Wan, don't worry."
Xiaowan looked at her with her almond-shaped eyes. Ciying took Xiaowan's hand and promised, "Don't worry. I promise that what happened before won't happen again. I have no say in the matter of the flower viewing banquet, but everything is over. I won't let you fall into the situation of being sold at any time because of my mistakes. Believe me, okay?"
Xiaowan's tears were streaming down her face. This time she didn't call her "Young Madam", but stammered "Miss".
Ci Ying was a little distracted, but she still repeated gently, "Believe me."
Xiaowan nodded, emphatically.
But he quickly spoke: "What about Miss Cousin and Miss Three..."
Ci Ying laughed and said softly, "Send someone to keep an eye on it. If anything comes up, you can report to me. Lingyue Lingshuang has been quite busy lately, so please keep an eye on the affairs in the mansion."
Xiaowan nodded heavily. When she left, Lingyue came back to report. Lingyue looked at Xiaowan's excited back and reminded Ciying, "Young Madam, you're too indulgent towards Xiaowan."
Ci Ying shook her head. It might be that the soil is what it is, and the flowers are what they bloom. If we really want to talk about indulgence, her indulgence towards Ru Zhen is a thousand times greater. She treated her the same way when the young lady was alive.
Xiaowan, Ciying recalled that day in the Water Pavilion, when Jian Yu was about to kill someone, and Xiaowan had stood in front of her to protect her until the very last moment before she fainted. With Xiaowan's personality, she wouldn't cause any major trouble.
Lingyue said nothing more, simply beginning to report on the external accounts. Ciying slowly ticked the numbers on the rice paper, not stopping until the page was full. Ciying waved a hand to indicate that she understood, then whispered, "There have been successive disasters in Anhuai, and a lot of land and houses have been abandoned. Lingyue, I want you to buy some land and houses in a different way than in my name, preferably in the southwest."
Lingyue didn't ask why: "Yes."
After Lingyue left, Ciying recalled what happened in Anhuai. As she was thinking, she took out a geographical book from the bookshelf behind her, opened it, and stretched her finger from Anhuai to the north, all the way to Mobei.
The King of Mobei is named Yuwen Shu, the uncle of the current emperor. He has only one son, Yuwen Fu. After Yuwen Shu failed in his bid for the throne, he returned to his fiefdom and left his only son as a hostage in Chang'an.
Over the years, Yuwen Shu did not cause any trouble. Instead, Yuwen Fu, who stayed in Chang'an, caused more trouble. He was a dandy boy, who teased cats and dogs, and raped women, and the incident even got him in front of the emperor several times. Ci Ying could name no less than ten of these things, and he was notorious over the years.
Ci Ying thought again of what Ouyang Yan said that day.
Ouyang Yan said: "You should know who I am."
Ci Ying looked at the geological book. There were rivers and seas all around Anhuai, and only the mountains in the north stretched all the way to Mobei. When the young lady was alive, she had told her that the royal family was weak, and the princes from all over the country were eyeing them covetously. There would be chaos one day, but this had little to do with their Xie family. No matter who became emperor, no one would be stupid enough to make an enemy of the Xie family.
Then...what if the Xie family took the initiative to become enemies with that force?
Ci Ying calmed down and realized that her guess should be almost correct.
Three days later, there was a palace banquet.
Ci Ying was helped by Xiao Wan to change into the clothes sent by Mo Yu, which were much more complicated than what she wore in the past. The maids who were doing her makeup knelt beside her to tidy up her appearance. When one of the maids was putting the flower ornaments on her forehead, Ci Ying suddenly thought of Ru Zhen.
She still didn't understand why Ruzhen did that...
What did Xie Anyun give Ru Zhen at that time that she couldn't give?
How is Ruzhen now?
.......Are you still alive?
Ci Ying lowered her eyes to hide her complicated emotions.
Seeing Ciying staring at the bronze mirror in a daze, Xiaowan called out softly a few times: "Young Madam, Young Madam..."
Ci Ying came back to her senses and said softly, "Let's go."
Lingyue and Xiaowan walked behind Ciying. Xiaowan sighed and said to Lingyue in a voice that Ciying couldn't hear, "Young Madam is good in every way, but she's too soft-hearted. She must have been thinking about Miss Ruzhen just now. If you ask me, Miss Ruzhen did that, Young Madam should be a little harder-hearted. If we meet in the future, we should treat each other like strangers. It's a kindness of ours that we don't hold a grudge against Miss Ruzhen."
Lingyue glanced at Xiaowan and saw that Xiaowan had a calm expression on his face. It was obvious that Xiaowan must know something that others didn't know. As for whether he had told the young lady, Lingyue felt that he probably hadn't.
When Xiaowan mentioned Ruzhen, her fear was almost written on her shrewd face, but she wasn't so shrewd that anyone could see through her at a glance. Lingyue didn't think Ciying didn't see through her, but Ciying didn't argue with Xiaowan. Lingyue rarely agreed with Xiaowan: "Young Madam is indeed soft-hearted."
Even though she was being agreed with, Xiaowan was still unhappy. Lingyue looked at her sister beside her, but Lingshuang just shook her head at her, implying that she should mind her own business.
When the carriage entered the palace, Ci Ying lifted the curtain and saw the vermilion wall.
She looked up at the end of the wall, but there were still walls. Xie Huaijin was wearing a snow-white robe today and a jade hairpin on his head. Apart from that, there was nothing else on his body. He looked like the snow on the thousands of mountains in Xiling.
A cold wind rushed into the carriage. Ci Ying lowered the curtain and whispered, "What a high wall."
Xie Huaijin smiled softly and led her out of the carriage.
Ci Ying was a little surprised, because Xie Huaijin usually didn't treat her so intimately.
In fact, except for that time in front of the dry well, as a couple, they don’t have much physical contact on a daily basis. Seeing each other once a month is normal, which is why Xiaowan has been anxious.
But Ci Ying soon understood why. Once she got off the carriage, she would inevitably meet people. Although she basically didn't know any of them, everyone was looking at her openly or secretly.
Ci Ying inevitably thought of the rumors about her in Chang'an City that Xiaowan had told her. Even if Ci Ying wanted to ignore those vague glances, she couldn't. She couldn't help but gently hold Xie Huaijin's hand.
Xie Huaijin turned around to look at her and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Ci Ying couldn't say anything and could only shake her head, but she held Xie Huaijin's hand even tighter.
It was from this time that Ci Ying discovered she was becoming dependent on Xie Huaijin. Perhaps even earlier, Ci Ying had gazed at Xie Huaijin with trembling eyes, hoping he would notice the subtle but unspoken unease in her heart, and she inevitably began to feel an anticipation.
Xie Huaijin met her expectations.
The young man in the snow-white coat smiled faintly, took her hand, and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid, Ciying."
Her name lingered on his tongue. Countless people had called her name before, but never had Ciying felt this way. The young man's warm breath fell upon her, and as they drew near, the faint fragrance of his snow-white clothing reached Ciying's nose. A moment later, Ciying's neck flushed red.
At the same time, with Xie Huaijin's actions, the noises around him suddenly became quieter. Perhaps they were not quieter, but Ci Ying certainly could not hear them as much.
The pounding heart doesn’t know, the girl’s bright eyes don’t know, but expectation can sometimes turn into a biting poison.
A young man in a crimson brocade robe smiled and said, "This must be my sister-in-law, right? I'm Lin Huaian, courtesy name Anzhi. You can call me Anzhi like everyone else in my family."
It was the first time Ci Ying was called that, and she blushed almost instantly.
Lin Huaian couldn't help but exclaimed, "Are you shy, sister-in-law?"
Xie Huaijin said calmly, "Lin Anzhi."
Lin Huaian immediately put away his playful smile and jokingly said, "I'm just saying hello to my sister-in-law, you stingy guy."
Ci Ying looked at Xie Huaijin carefully. The young man had a smile on his face and was obviously not really angry. He just raised his hand and touched her head, saying gently, "She is still young, don't take advantage of her."
Lin Huaian couldn't help but utter a "tsk" sound, and without further discussing the question of title, he said with a slightly serious expression: "A new official takes office with three fires, Shuhe, the little emperor wants to use you as a scapegoat."
Ci Ying's eyes widened, and she wanted to listen, but Xie Huaijin covered her ears. The young man looked helpless: "Don't scare her."
Lin Huaian really laughed out loud and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I know you are protecting me."
Only then did Ci Ying feel relieved.
She didn't see that, out of the corner of her eye, the two people looked at someone not far away with cold expressions.
After taking her seat, Ci Ying felt a little uncomfortable because it was too close to the front. She had never been to a banquet with the young lady before, and although she had asked the nanny to teach her etiquette, she was still afraid of making mistakes.
Xiaowan's position was replaced by Lingshuang. Xiaowan, who always loved to compete, did not say anything this time. The majestic emperor's procession was right in front of her. Xiaowan swallowed her saliva, afraid of making a mistake and embarrassing Ciying.
Although Ci Ying tried her best to restrain herself, she couldn't help but stiffen her body in front of everyone.
Xie Huaijin looked at Ciying's awkwardness, but he didn't show any disdain. Instead, he took out his serving chopsticks and picked up some food for Ciying. He repeated in a gentle voice, "Just treat it like you're at home."
This sentence only made Xie Huaijin see Ci Ying's eyes widen unconsciously. The girl's usual calmness was mostly gone, and some childishness that was suitable for her age emerged.
Xie Huaijin found it rare, and a rare smile appeared on his lips. He softened his voice and said softly, "Don't be afraid, okay?"
Ci Ying nodded hard.
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