Upon hearing this, Qin Weixi of Woxue Pavilion raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with icy coldness...
As the carriage of the Marquis of Jingning rumbled through the streets and alleys, Tao Qingyun, inside the carriage, almost dozed off, listening to the clanging sounds coming from both ends of the carriage canopy.
Jiuqu suddenly smiled like a ghost: "Isn't that old Cai, the former Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices? Did he steal someone's chicken? He's looking around in front of the theater like a thief."
Tao Qingyun, who was on the verge of falling asleep, suddenly woke up.
Cai Yuan.
He quickly got up and lifted the curtain to look, and sure enough, he saw him peeking out from a corner of the street, looking in one direction. He followed Cai Yuan's gaze.
Woxue Pavilion!
He quickly recalled what Jiang Yuanjun had said that day: the few words Gao Jian left before his death seemed to be related to this Woxue Pavilion. Thinking of this, Tao Qingyun couldn't help but turn back to look at Chu Yening, who was now wearing a golden crown and dressed in a well-fitting brocade robe.
He really is a handsome young man!
He straightened his slightly wrinkled brocade robe and smoothed his black hair at his temples before saying, "Stop the car! This great master is taking you to see a play!"
Chu Yening remained leaning against the carriage wall with her eyes closed. Seeing this, Tao Qingyun stepped forward, grabbed her, and tried to pull her down: "Hurry! Hurry!"
Tao Qingyun coldly said, "Let me tell you, raising Zhoufeng these past years has not been easy. However, a friend entrusted me with an important task back then, and my already meager Chengyi Marquis's mansion suddenly had an extra portion of food, fearing that Zhoufeng would go hungry. Although I am the one treating today, you have to pay for it!"
Chu Yening looked at him and said simply, "Bandit."
Nine Turns and Fortune followed behind the two.
Inside the theater, Cai Yuan was directing his guards to look around at the audience, seemingly searching for someone, while he himself huddled in a corner. Hearing the noise at the door, Cai Yuan's eyelids lifted slightly, then he was startled.
No one in this letter mentioned the Earl of Chengyi's grandson.
He pondered for a moment, then slammed his cane down and said to the two guards, "Let's go back to the manor! We're not going to watch this show."
Tao Qingyun stepped forward and smiled. He wasn't familiar with Cai Yuan, but he and Luo Ling had paid more attention to him because that guy had stabbed this man, who was then serving as the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, with a sword in the Golden Palace back then.
However, Luo Ling was not very familiar with this person.
I remember how he pleaded for the entire Qin family back then...
"Whom is Lord Cai looking for?" Tao Qingyun stepped forward and bowed.
Cai Yuan waved his hand: "Watching the show. I'm not watching anymore, I'm going home. Young Master Tao, please wait." He didn't even glance at Chu Yening, but snorted coldly as he walked up to him.
"unlucky."
But he remained silent, while others spoke. Just as Cai Yuan was brushing past Chu Yening, he suddenly heard this voice, and a blade flew past. He shouted sharply, "Chu brat, who are you talking to?"
"Oh? Did I say anything?" Chu Yening didn't even look up at him. He continued, "If you think it's you, then it is you."
Cai Yuan was so angry that his eyes rolled back and he fell backward. Two guards rushed to help him up.
Chu Yening suddenly smiled: "How can one achieve great things if one cannot withstand storms?"
Tao Qingyun turned to look at him, her gaze deep and unfathomable, as if trying to see through his eyes to understand what was going on.
They found a secluded corner to sit down, and the theater manager quickly came over with his entourage: "Gentlemen, would you like some fruit and snacks? Would you like to hear any opera? Wo Xue Pavilion recently has a new actor; how about he plays a tune?"
Chu Yening nodded slightly, and Jiuqu behind him quickly took out a gold ingot and placed it on the table.
The leader was taken aback, rubbed his eyes, and said with a fawning smile, "Gentlemen, isn't this a bit too much? Actually, we don't need this much." As he spoke, he looked the two men up and down, noticing that they were dressed in fine clothes of the highest quality, and their every move exuded the air of nobility. They were either scions of a noble family or descendants of royalty.
He bent down even lower.
Chu Yening then said, "Take it."
Tao Qingyun glanced at him suspiciously, then seemed to understand and gave Fa Cai behind her a look.
However, Fa Cai didn't understand and stepped forward, grinning foolishly, "I want to eat peaches!"
Upon hearing this, Jiuqu burst into laughter.
Tao Qingyun gritted her teeth, looking at him with a disappointed expression: "Silver, I want silver. If you have any, bring it all up; if not, go back to your residence and get it!"
The young master, having just gotten a tap on the head of his own son's fan, quickly realized what was happening. He muttered, "Young master, don't you have money? I saw it. The other day, the Earl tricked you out of all your savings to prevent you from going out and squandering the Tao family's fortune at such a young age."
"Oh? How do you know I didn't do this to shut the old man up? Not only did I lose money in a few days, but I also had to crawl through a dog hole to escape the manor. Go, go back to the manor and get the money!" He beckoned Fa Cai to come closer and whispered in his ear, "I'll tell you where it is, or you can go to the old man's study to get it..."
Fa Cai's big, round eyes darted around for a moment, then he straightened up and stared intently at the brocade boots Tao Qingyun was wearing.
Tao Qingyun quickly realized what was happening, gave an awkward laugh, and in front of everyone, took off his brocade boots, shook them upside down, and two silver notes clattered to the ground. He said, "The world might change at any time, it's always good to have some money on hand. Here, I'm in a good mood today, this is a reward for you!" He looked at the theater manager and chuckled.
The leader accepted the food with both hands, laughing heartily, and said, "Thank you, gentlemen." He then began to instruct the servants in the inn, "Quickly, bring all the food in the inn to these two gentlemen." He then asked the two men, bowing as if to obey their orders, "Would you two gentlemen like to hear any opera?"
Tao Qingyun casually picked up a peanut and tossed it into her mouth, chewing slowly and carefully.
Chu Yening said, "Exploring the snow in the Plum Garden."
Tao Qingyun pinched another peanut kernel. His hand, which had been suspended in mid-air, paused. The leader was also taken aback when he heard this, but quickly recovered his composure and smiled in agreement.
"What tune is this?" Tao Qingyun asked.
Chu Yening said, "I've only heard of it before."
"Exploring Snow in the Plum Garden" was Li Mousheng's favorite piece of music, which was known only to a few members of the Chu family in the past.
The two men were generous spenders, and their fine clothes and elegant demeanor exuded the air of noble families, drawing curious glances from the audience in the theater.
Inside Tingyu Pavilion.
Suddenly, Jiang Yuanfu arrived with her palace guard, Ayi.
After finishing his painting, Qin Weixi returned to his room and fiddled with a few roses in a vase on the table.
Pu Niang brought her a bowl of meat porridge and pushed open the door, looking at her with a smile. Today, she was wearing a snow-white silk dress with a crimson cloak over it. Her skin was as white as snow, and when she rushed to greet her, there was a rare hint of childlike innocence in her clear eyes. Pu Niang stroked her long, black, and shiny hair, as if she were caressing her own little daughter.
Feng Hua said, "The roses in the capital will soon be coming to an end this month."
Qin Weixi nodded with a smile: "Yes, some flowers fade, and some flowers bloom."
At this moment, a maid came to announce that Princess Zhenhui had arrived. Qin Weixi, who was fiddling with the flowers, suddenly stopped.
Pu Niang thought she was being asked to enter the palace, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, forming a vertical line between them. Years ago, the Duke of Dingguo died mysteriously in the palace, and now she felt a strong aversion to the depths of the palace.
Seeing this, Qin Weixi chuckled and gently stroked Pu Niang's brow, murmuring, "Pu Niang, Pu Niang, my Pu Niang. Who was it that told me before that I shouldn't always frown, that frowning would make me old and turn me into an old woman?"
Upon hearing this, Pu Niang laughed heartily, her smile blossoming once more. She lightly tapped the tip of the girl's nose with a finger: "This child, are you imitating Pu Niang's way of speaking?"
Qin Weixi left Tingyu Pavilion to greet Jiang Yuanfu. Jiang Yuanfu, like a butterfly fluttering in the air, was dressed in a pale yellow brocade dress, adorned with pearls and jade, and her complexion was extremely rosy. She walked briskly towards her.
"Eighth Sister, today neither of us will bring any of our maids. We'll go to Shuiyun Tower for a drink, and we won't leave until we're drunk! If you don't want to drink, we'll order some good dishes, and then the two of us will go to Grandfather's little orchard to pick fruit from the trees."
Jiang Yuanfu smiled sweetly, her expression lively, as if she had returned to her youthful days.
"Eighth Sister, are you going or not?"
Qin Weixi smiled and said, "Since the princess has personally come to invite you, how could Eighth Sister refuse?"
Jiang Yuanfu chuckled: "Then I'll wait for you outside."
Qin Weixi was still wearing the same snow-white silk dress, and did not keep Jiang Yuanfu waiting for long. Before leaving Tingyu Pavilion, she pondered for a moment, then suddenly called Feng Hua and whispered in her ear: "If I have not returned by the time the lanterns are lit, have Luo Yuan go to Shuiyun Tower to look for me."
Feng Hua nodded and smiled, "The princess is still the same as before."
But when Qin Weixi got into the carriage, she saw that there was another person inside besides the two of them.
Jiang Yuanfu said awkwardly, "Eighth sister, you've just returned to the capital. Even if you had close playmates from your youth, you'll feel distant now." She glared at Pei Qing in the carriage, "Today, my cousin and A-Xi went to the palace to find me. When Mother learned that I was coming to meet you, she hurriedly told me to bring my cousin along. She said that we had caused some unpleasantness the other day, and that we young ladies of marriageable age should stay together and get along well."
But only Pei Qing, who was looking out the window, was in the car; Liang Xi was not there.
On the day of Liang Lang's coming-of-age ceremony, Qin Weixi left early. Afterwards, rumors circulated among the noble ladies that she had inadvertently offended her childhood friends, Liang Xi, due to his somewhat presumptuous behavior, thus displeasing her. Upon her return to the capital, the two began to clash, instantly thrusting the Luo family into the spotlight.
She recalled the day she saw Liang Xi and Li Chuirong and wanted to leave, but she met Liang Lang on the way, and then she saw that earring.
Returning to her homeland ten years later, her heart was not there. Why waste her time on some irrelevant people?
Seeing Pei Qing inside, she wanted to turn around and leave. But Jiang Yuanfu grabbed her hand, her palm icy cold. She glanced down at her; it was a warm May day, and she had changed into a light dress, while Afu's clothes were not thin, and there was a thick felt blanket in the carriage.
She looked at Jiang Yuanfu and smiled helplessly.
The carriage rumbled towards Shuiyun Tower. A-Yi, the guard who always stayed close to the princess, suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" The three then heard him say, "Isn't that the Cheng Yi Earl's mansion's fortune-making business?"
Qin Weixi abruptly lifted the carriage curtain and saw Fa Cai feeding horses outside the theater not far away. She then shifted her gaze to the plaque above his head, the one inscribed with the three characters "Wo Xue Ge" for the theater, and her brows furrowed slightly.
Jiang Yuanfu, who was standing beside him, was also a little surprised and couldn't help but say, "Woxue Pavilion? What's my cousin doing here? Ayi, go and take a look."
As soon as she finished speaking, the group saw two people emerge from the Snow Pavilion. Upon closer inspection, Qin Weixi realized that besides Tao Qingyun, there was another person, and the two of them seemed to be about to ride away, apparently heading out of the city.
Qin Weixi took in everything outside the Woxue Pavilion through the lifted curtain. She looked at Pei Qing sitting opposite her and said to Jiang Yuanfu, "Sixth Sister, aren't we going to Shuiyun Tower? You said we wouldn't leave until we were drunk."
Jiang Yuanfu looked at the two people in the distance, her eyes full of confusion. Pei Qing muttered, "Why is my cousin so close to Marquis Jingning lately?" Then she said to Ayi, who was driving the carriage outside, "Ayi, go and take a look."
Jiang Yuanfu neither indicated nor refused. With that, A-Yi, the driver, sped off without stopping.
Qin Weixi looked at Pei Qing with a cold gaze. When did this Pei family girl become so accommodating that she could summon the imperial guards at will?
She immediately turned cold and said, "Isn't A-Yi always only at the beck and call of Sixth Sister? How come I didn't know that there was another princess in the palace? Do the Emperor and Empress know?"
Pei Qing was taken aback by these words, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes: "Luo Zhaoxing, what do you mean by this?"
Qin Weixi ignored Pei Qing and casually looked at Jiang Yuanfu, saying with a smile, "Sixth Sister, turn around! I don't want to ruin my good mood for today over such a trivial matter."
Pei Qing chuckled softly, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "So this is how the Eight Sworn Brothers of Little Penglai formed their brotherhood?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Weixi raised an eyebrow, looked at her with icy eyes, and said indifferently, "What's it to you?"
Jiang Yuanfu pursed her lips, stepped between the two, and waved her hand, saying, "Eighth sister, cousin! Don't make noise, let's go to Shuiyun Tower!"
In the intricate network of alleyways, several assassins silently approached from all directions, rushing forward one by one, each wielding a sword or knife, aiming directly at the two riders.
Ayi pulled on the reins from the outside, saying in a panic, "Princess, something has happened!"
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