The woman who delivered the hidden arrow darted around in her bright eyes, and in an instant...
Qin Weixi was taken aback upon hearing this: "How did you know?"
Chu Yening's jaw remained taut: "He had red eyes at the meeting today, and many people saw it."
However, Chu Yening has not entered the palace recently. When he came to the Marquis's residence, Songyang casually mentioned that he had not gone to the Zhenfu Division today either. So how could he have known that he saw Jiang Yuanjun with red eyes going to court this morning?
"Could it be that Fourth Brother has spies in the palace watching Fifth Brother?" Qin Weixi asked with a smile. She subconsciously glanced at the small window and saw the withered branches of a tree outside. Then, as if possessed, she shifted her gaze to the gray tiles on the eaves.
She suddenly remembered that after he and Tao Qingyun were assassinated that day, stray cats had been constantly swarming on the eaves of her Listening Rain Pavilion. And last night, a tile fell from the roof during the rain; Feng Hua had spent most of the night observing it, but hadn't seen a single stray cat. Thinking of this, she said seemingly casually, "Has Fourth Brother's residence attracted any stray cats? Lately, my Listening Rain Pavilion has really been..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chu Yening suddenly reached out and pinched her cheek, just like when they were young: "Qin Luo! In the past, there were no such formalities when entering my study. You could just come in whenever you wanted. But now you've neglected me?"
She felt a sharp pain, but the comforting scent of tangerines still filled her nostrils.
Chu Yening loosened his grip, turned around, poured a cup of tea, and then took two small dried peaches from another small porcelain bottle, put them in, and handed them to her.
He pointed to the armchair in front of his desk, where a black cloak embroidered with cloud patterns hung, clearly indicating that he often sat there.
"Go sit there."
Qin Weixi did not refuse, took the teacup and sat down. Then she said, "I have something to tell you, Fourth Brother. The woman you saw at Mother Luo's estate that day is Mu Tong's fiancée. As for what she found out at the Liang family a few days ago, I'm sure Songyang has already told you without me having to say it."
Chu Yening raised an eyebrow, then pondered for a while before saying, "An imperial edict? I've never seen one before."
He walked to the desk and stroked a seal made of chicken-blood stone. His father had loved calligraphy and painting, and the founding emperor had bestowed upon him several pieces of chicken-blood stone. At that time, chicken-blood stone was very rare, and only noble families could possess a small number of pieces. The day he first returned to the capital and met the emperor, the emperor stared at him for a long time, seemingly lost in thought. A few days later, just like his father, the emperor bestowed upon him a similar piece of chicken-blood stone, but this one was different from his father's; it had two small characters engraved on it.
Thinking of this, he smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, which Qin Weixi, who was standing very close to him, could naturally see.
This chicken-blood stone seal is different from the one she saw at the Chu family mansion when she was a child. She remembered that Uncle Chu used to enjoy writing and painting in his spare time.
Back then, Uncle Chu said, "Time waits for no one. We must do something meaningful. On the battlefield, missing a single opportunity could result in the loss of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of soldiers."
Over the years, she had been living in Jiangnan, and on the day of the Qingming Festival, she would ask her elder brother Luo Ling to visit Uncle Chu on her behalf and bring him some pastries and wine.
As a child, she asked her grandfather why it always rained on the day of the Qingming Festival. Her grandfather said it was because people from two worlds were reunited, and the deceased would follow the tears of their living relatives to find them.
Let us reunite in heaven and on earth.
She also missed that young old man who, after drinking, would often murmur to the moon!
She concealed her unusual expression, looked at the two small characters carved on the bloodstone, and whispered, "Jiayou?" She suddenly remembered that when she first went to Chengxin Nunnery after returning to the capital, Tao Qingyun had also called him that by Taiji Lake.
"Is this Fourth Brother's handwriting?"
Chu Yening came back to his senses: "I've often wondered what role the monarch my father served so loyally played in all of this."
Upon hearing this, Qin Weixi turned his gaze back to the bloodstone.
Chu Yening regained his usual composure: "It wasn't the Emperor who named it, it was Uncle Luo."
Qin Weixi looked surprised; she had never heard of this before.
He asked, "How's the gust of wind where you are? Has it bothered you?"
Thinking of the sudden wind, she smiled: "With plenty to eat and drink, life is comfortable and carefree. After eating your fill, you can bask in the sun, and after basking in the sun enough, you can run around wildly in the garden."
Chu Yening raised an eyebrow: "You yearn for it?"
Qin Weixi remained silent, but her eyes were full of tenderness. Then she smiled gently and looked at him, saying, "Speaking of which, doesn't Fourth Brother know more about Zhoufeng than I do? You should have seen it quite often these days."
Chu Yening raised her eyes.
She added, "Why don't you come to my Listening to the Rain Pavilion, Fourth Brother..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chu Yening walked around the desk in a few steps, grabbed her wrist, and led her to a grand chair under the window. She hadn't expected this, and when she tried to get up, he pressed her down.
The two were very close.
Chu Yening smiled slyly: "Seventh Sister, do you miss your Fourth Brother, wanting to sneak into your boudoir at night?"
Qin Weixi choked upon hearing this.
Chu Yening lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. Then he heard her say, "Fourth Brother, you stepped on me."
Hearing the sound, Ye Ning looked down and saw that the corner of his brocade boot had unknowingly stepped on her snow-white silk shoes.
He hurriedly raised one foot, and then Qin Weixi saw that he was staring at his pair of brocade boots and fell silent.
Her bright eyes darted around, and suddenly, Chu Yening raised her head, her dark eyes fixed intently on her: "I want one too."
"What?" Qin Weixi asked blankly.
"Do you want me to step on your foot?"
What strange quirks/habits?
She looked at Chu Yening with a somewhat suspicious expression.
Chu Yening said, "I want the cloud-patterned shoes that you made for Brother Luo."
Qin Weixi was taken aback upon hearing this, and for a moment even wondered if she was having another nightmare. Then she shifted her gaze from Chu Yening's face to his arm, and reached out to pinch it.
Chu Yening found it amusing, her starry eyes crinkling as she asked, "What are you doing?" Then she asked, "Have you been sleeping well lately?"
Qin Weixi said, "That's something that can be done casually. Besides, how would I know you..." She looked at Chu Yening with a flippant expression and a defiant look on her face.
“Why not? Have you forgotten that when you were little, your fourth brother bought you flowers to wear?” Chu Yening followed up.
"What's so beautiful about that Tutu Village?" Qin Weixi retorted, not to be outdone.
In an instant, his eyes flickered with a thousand emotions. She looked again, but his eyes held only a carefree smile: "Are you trying to say that I'm different from Brother Luo?"
Qin Weixi smiled, her almond-shaped eyes crinkling. "That's naturally different. An elder brother is like a father." She glanced casually at the collar of his undergarment peeking out from his neck, and after a moment of silence, said, "Why don't you make an undergarment for Fourth Brother?"
This time, it was Chu Yening who was taken aback.
Qin Weixi smiled upon seeing this.
Chu Yening quickly realized her "teasing" and moved a little closer.
The house was quiet, the breathing was steady, and the atmosphere was slightly tense.
Qin Weixi rolled his eyes and quickly shouted behind him, "Brother!"
Chu Yening immediately turned around.
Looking through the slatted window, there was nothing but a few bare branches, and not a single person in sight.
Qin Weixi smiled and couldn't help but laugh: "Fourth Brother, you have someone you're afraid of?"
Chu Yening showed no annoyance, but said earnestly, "It is respect."
He looked at Qin Weixi, whom he had "encircled" within him: "Qin Luo, I will never let you guess what I want or what I like. So from now on, you can't hide anything from me, whether it's what you want or what you want to do."
"feasible?"
Looking into that unreal face, and then through her eyes, clear as a babbling brook, I suddenly remembered that face, so different from the youthful, naive one I knew then, now a radiant, youthful face, as if transformed in an instant.
Qin Weixi felt as if a huge, menacing wolfhound was staring at him intently. A thin layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead without him even noticing.
A gentle breeze stirred in the courtyard, causing the half-closed window of the study to creak and groan as it opened and closed repeatedly. It was as if the breeze was pounding against her heart, making her heart pound rapidly.
"It's getting late, I still need to pick up Xiao Shu." She stood up abruptly, forgetting that Chu Ye Ning was right next to her. The moment she stood up, her head bumped into his forehead.
Chu Yening was unable to dodge in time and took two steps back. Then he felt a pain in his forehead and his eyes began to sparkle with tiny stars.
He rubbed his forehead, as if he had gasped for breath: "He's not only sharp-tongued, but he also tries to harm me in secret."
Qin Weixi suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "How is Yao Zizhu?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Yening's expression suddenly hardened, then he said seemingly casually, "I broke the teeth that were biting wildly and threw them into the latrine for a night. Now they're behaving themselves."
"What?"
Chu Yening smiled slyly again: "I was just joking with you." He then beckoned: "Qin Luo, come here, your fourth brother has something for you."
Seeing that she was not moving, he went to a display case on the wall and took it down. The narrow box opened and revealed a hidden arrow, which was quite small.
"Qin Luo, use this for self-defense. But with me around from now on, you definitely won't need it." He smiled and stared at her intently.
Qin Weixi's eyelashes trembled, and then she heard him chuckle softly, and say again, "Don't sharpen the hairpin anymore."
She looked up and then at the display cabinet filled with a dazzling array of porcelain. When he went to retrieve his hidden arrow, she had seen a vermilion wooden box on the very top of the cabinet. The box was decorated with cloud patterns, patterns she recognized all too well. It was the large amulet she had personally given him before he went to war with Uncle Chu that year, and later he had given her a small sachets. At the time, she thought she was too late, that he had already left the city, and that they might not meet again until the New Year, so she had the Qin family's coachman speed up.
When I was young, there was a display cabinet in my father's study, which contained many of my father's favorite antiques. Every day, my father would take a handkerchief to wipe the dust off the cabinet and then place a precious sword that my mother had given him on the top shelf.
Back then, my father's eyes were like the stars in the sky, bright and dazzling, and a smile that he never tried to hide appeared on his lips: "The top shelf of this multi-tiered display case is the most precious thing in my heart, my most treasured possession."
So over the years, ten springs and autumns have passed in the capital. Even when he went to the border to fight, and as Sparrow Tongue said, he returned to the capital seriously injured, ate snow water to fill his stomach, and died one horse after another on the way, and then went to the northwest and was exiled for ten years, he always kept the clay doll in this box.
She hurried over, stood on tiptoe, and stretched out her arm to reach the box. However, the antique shelf was taller than some tall and slender men. Even with her best efforts on tiptoe, her fingertips could only touch a corner of the box.
A soft chuckle sounded behind her, followed by a hand reaching out and taking the vermilion box. He then opened the box, presenting it to her with both hands, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Want to see what's inside?"
Without thinking, she straightened the box and saw that inside was indeed the auspicious large amulet she had given him years ago. Just as she was about to take it out for a closer look, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye and realized that her hands were now firmly pressed together with his, holding the box together.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she suddenly relaxed, but in that instant she realized that his hands were so cold.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, followed by a soft cough from the two of them.
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