He shifted his gaze to the one whose lips were smeared with juice as they ate...
Thinking to himself, he gradually slowed the horse's pace, then pulled on the reins to stop. Only then did he notice the basket of bright orange fruit on the boy's back. He shifted his gaze to the child's hands, whose mouth was smeared with juice: "Little boy, are these fruits sour?"
The toddler was eating with great interest: "It's sour! And a little bit sweet."
Upon hearing this, the boy beside her put down the bamboo basket he was carrying, jumping up and down in anger, pinching her cheek: "You idiot, this is sweet, okay!"
The toddler retorted, "Brother, I'm honest with everyone!" She looked at the well-behaved wolfhound sitting in the wicker basket and liked it very much: "This dog is so well-behaved!"
The young man was about to speak again, but the handsome young man on horseback had already handed over the money bag: "I left in a hurry today, so this is all I have. Please see if it's enough."
The boy's eyes lit up, and he took the money bag: "Young master, this is too much, you don't need this much." As he spoke, the boy opened the money bag, took out only the money he was entitled to, and intended to return the rest to the person on horseback.
The man replied, "No need. I'll take this basket with me; go buy a new one."
The young man spoke concisely and decisively, scooping up the fruit basket from the ground and heading forward. The boy behind him glared at him, saying, "Silly girl, if there's a next time, I won't bring you."
The toddler retorted, "But you still sold it! Brother, you could have sold it without me!"
The boy retorted angrily, "That's a sucker! You..."
Unexpectedly, the handsome young man riding the horse turned back again. The boy blushed and was about to apologize when the man said, "How many of these frozen oranges do you have at home?"
The boy hurriedly said, "These tangerines can't be grown in our northern region, so many people buy them from merchants from the south. Those tangerines are big and sweet. These are frozen tangerines that my uncle brought back from somewhere. They're said to be fruits that can only be harvested in March or April. The fruits are too sour, and we have a lot left over, so we thought we'd sell some..." The boy's ears turned very red by the end.
Chu Yening raised an eyebrow: "Anything left? I've ordered these fruits. You can send them to the Marquis of Jingning's residence later. Someone will give you the money." With that, he sped off.
"The Marquis of Jingning's residence?" The young man stared, mouth agape, for a long time before he came to his senses.
Chu Yening sped all the way to the Luo residence. Luo Ling had just finished her shift and returned home to change clothes in the inner courtyard. Uncle Gu invited him to the main hall and said, "This old man will go and invite the young master here. The young lady is reading in the library and probably won't be able to come out for a while."
He drank half a cup of tea. Luo Ling was delayed and hadn't returned yet, so he stood up and put his hands behind his back, saying, "It's alright. I'll just take a walk by myself."
Uncle Gu had watched him grow up, and upon hearing this, he chuckled and said, "Alright then, young marquis, shall we have dinner here tonight? I'll go to the kitchen and let them know, and they'll prepare some of your favorite dishes."
"And there's also Xiaofeng's favorite meat bone!" He looked at Zhoufeng beside him, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
"Thank you, Uncle Gu." Chu Yening did not refuse.
To the west of Tingyuxuan stands a small building overlooking the river, surrounded by a covered walkway and shaded by a grove of lush bamboo, a place of quiet seclusion and tranquility. It was personally named the Library by the patriarch of the Luo family.
The painting stood quietly under the eaves. A sudden gust of wind rushed across the corridor to the front of the library, wagging its big tail and its eyes seemed to be sparkling.
Feng Hua was taken aback when she saw the dog suddenly appear. After a moment of confusion, she squatted down and petted it, saying, "Ha, what are you doing here? Who brought you here? Did you get lost?"
The sudden gust of wind ignored her, sticking out its tongue and circling in front of her.
Feng Hua: "Are you hungry?"
The sudden gust of wind immediately settled down, tilting its head to the side.
Seeing this, Feng Hua peeked into the library and said, "Wait here, I'll go find you something to eat."
When the wind blew, the bamboo forest rustled. The door to the library was half-open and not closed tightly. Chu Yening walked in silently.
The girl was wearing a simple silk skirt, her jet-black hair casually tied up with a wooden hairpin. She sat on a small stool, rubbing a hairpin back and forth against a large blue stone in front of her. Scattered on the ground were several oddly shaped hairpins and a small box. As for the oddities of these hairpins...
Hearing faint footsteps, Qin Weixi did not stop what she was doing. Without looking up, she asked, "Brother, are you off duty?" Her tone was relaxed and casual, unlike her usual self.
Chu Yening: "What are you doing?"
Qin Weixi raised her head, and the hairpin in her hand clattered against the bluestone before bouncing away into the distance. She immediately stood up.
She thought it was a painting.
The bamboo grove outside rustled in the wind, and the warm midday sun shone through the bamboo grove and the half-open door, casting a ray of light that made her eyes turn amber, so clear and bright.
His Adam's apple bobbed for a moment, and it felt as if a sharp blade had silently sliced through his heart. In that instant, it was like the few paintings and calligraphic works he often ruined, crumpled into a ball in his hand.
Seeing her look blank for a moment, Chu Yening couldn't help but chuckle, and stretched out his hands from behind his back, revealing a bright orange frozen tangerine lying in his jade-like palms.
“Give me your hand,” he said.
She instinctively reached out and took it: "Mandarin orange? What are you doing here?"
“It’s a frozen tangerine. Where can you find tangerines at this time of year?” He looked down at her palm, where the striking bloodstain from that day had now become a faint, delicate scar, which put his mind at ease.
"I came to see how you were doing. I've been held up by some matters lately, and it wasn't convenient for us to talk much that day in the palace." He unconsciously moved closer to her, just inches away, his eyes like stars: "Doctor Dong still has his scar-removing medicine? Young ladies aren't like us grown men; scars don't look good."
In her youth, she loved beauty most. Beautiful dresses, jeweled hairpins and jade ornaments. Now, only the clarity in her eyes remains the same as before.
She looked at the fruit in her hand, then secretly glanced at the person opposite her, before sitting down again.
She said, "Sit wherever you like." She then placed the frozen orange aside, took off the sachet from her waist, and picked up her favorite Tongling crisp candy to eat. But she smelled a familiar tangerine fragrance, which didn't smell like the fruit itself, but rather like the scent emanating from him.
Chu Yening looked down and saw the purse in her hand. The embroidery on it was no longer the same as the one she had seen outside Chengxin Nunnery that day.
He casually found a small stool, sat down without any formality, and said, "Why didn't you ask me if I wanted to eat?"
Qin Weixi's lips curled slightly. See? What did she say again? Still has the heart of a young boy.
She gave an irrelevant answer. The vast library was quiet, with only the two of them present. She countered, "Didn't those assassins leave any survivors?" She said to herself, "That makes sense. What could you possibly get out of a bunch of assassins who risk their lives for others?"
She ate another piece of candy, her expression calm. She looked at him again, a fleeting glint of cunning in her eyes: "Fourth Brother, don't you think so?"
He raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, but the strange look in his eyes quickly vanished, which was to be expected. He said, "Could it be that Eighth... Sister has a heart of extraordinary wisdom?" He deliberately dragged out the tone.
She pressed on, "Fourth Brother, I heard from Third Brother that you saw Cai Yuan at Woxue Pavilion? Is he the Cai Yuan who pleaded for the entire Qin family back then?"
She stared intently at him. Just as Chu Yening was about to speak, a dog barked from outside, and then the two of them, Luo Ling in front and Feng Hua behind, entered one after the other.
Luo Ling raised an eyebrow slightly, then his gaze shifted between the two. Seeing that their expressions were calm, he looked at Chu Yening and said, "Want to come sit at my place? Or stay for dinner? Would you like to invite Qingyun along?"
Chu Yening said, "He probably doesn't want to be with me these days, lest we get caught in the crossfire."
Luo Ling suddenly understood and didn't say much: "You brought crabs and fruit? So many, where did you get them from?" He couldn't help but chuckle and said: "My little sister loves to eat crabs."
This "sister" is not that "sister." However, they share a common hobby. As children, Luo Zhaoxing and Qin Weixi both loved eating seafood.
But her wound has just scabbed over.
Chu Yening nodded: "I came to deliver a sudden gust of wind. I've been too busy with things lately, so I asked you to look after things for a while. I happened to run into Physician Dong, and I mentioned the crab to him as well. When he learned that I had come to the Luo residence, he asked about the injury that day to the young lady in the manor. He said that after the wound scabs over, it's appropriate to eat some of these."
Luo Ling smiled gently: "Do you think I have a lot of free time?"
Chu Yening turned his gaze to Qin Weixi.
Luo Ling: "..."
Qin Weixi blinked.
Dinner consisted of a pot of steamed flower crabs, a pot of Autumn Dew White wine, several dishes of home-style side dishes, and a large bowl of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, when the late emperor was alive, he would always drink realgar wine and calamus wine on the day of the festival, eat zongzi, and take his younger generation to go boating and dragon boat racing.
The people of Daxia deeply respected this benevolent founding emperor, and gradually, even before the festival, they began to wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
Legend has it that during the Dragon Boat Festival, every household in the city would buy clothes and jewelry for their youngest daughter, and pluck a pomegranate flower to adorn her hair. Even if a daughter reached marriageable age, she would still return to her parents' home on this day to celebrate the festival with her father and mother, enjoying the beautiful scenery by the lake.
This day is also known as Girls' Day.
As dusk fell, Chu Yening returned to the Chu residence. Jiuqu greeted him with important news, when someone tossed him a handful of unidentified objects. Chu Yening said, "Catch."
Jiuqu steadily accepted the food box. Before even opening it, she could smell the fishy smell of crab. Looking at the basket of steamed crabs in her hands, she grinned from ear to ear.
"My lord, how did you know I love seafood?"
Chu Yening raised an eyebrow: "I don't know. A girl left it for you and Sparrow Tongue."
Jiuqu was somewhat puzzled, but he knew that he had gone to the Luo residence today and remembered the girl he had met at the foot of Xiaguangding Mountain that day. Upon seeing Queshe, he immediately called out her name.
"Is this Miss Luo?"
Chu Yening did not answer, but asked him, "What is it?"
Jiuqu said, "Someone from the palace has come. It is Chen Guiyi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He brought many imperial treasures, saying that the Emperor wanted to comfort you, Lord Marquis, about the assassination attempt that day."
The two walked inside while talking.
Chu Yening asked, "Didn't you send people from the Ministry of Justice to investigate?"
Jiuqu scratched the back of his head: "This matter didn't even pass through the Ministry of Justice. I don't know how the Emperor ended up handing it over to the Directorate of Ceremonial. Chen Guiyi came to the manor just now to explain this matter to you, Lord Marquis. He has already sent someone to the Woxue Pavilion and said that the theater is quite ordinary. He will return to the palace to report back and explain to the Emperor, and then investigate among the old Marquis's former enemies."
Chu Yening stopped and immediately turned around, his expression revealing his surprise.
"Chen Guiyi?"
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