Chapter 28 Chapter 28 "I'm greedy."
When she finished speaking, the air fell into a brief silence.
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her deeply, as if he wanted to see through her to see clearly what she was thinking.
After a while, he looked calm, as if it was no big deal, or as if it was a joke, and answered half-seriously:
"I'm not a cheap person. You have to pay me enough money before you can order me around."
Xue Yuanyin also said jokingly:
"How about I give you ten taels of silver a month?"
Even though Zhang Jingxuan thought she was joking, he couldn't help but sneer at this moment and said:
"Xue Yuanyin, are you sending away beggars? If you wanted to buy me, it would cost you at least a hundred taels of silver."
Upon hearing this, Xue Yuanyin looked at him carefully.
A young man, almost coming of age, with eyebrows and eyes like ink-black mountains, dressed in an ochre-red brocade robe, a beautiful lantern-shaped folding fan casually hung at his waist, and a green jade pendant...
His whole body was noble and refreshing, and he also had a bit of the pride and nonchalance of a young master from an aristocratic family.
She nodded in agreement and said thoughtfully, "That makes sense..."
With a beauty like Zhang Jingxuan, sleeping with her would cost hundreds of taels of silver, which is not a bad deal.
Zhang Jingxuan had no intention of discussing this topic in depth. He walked past, opened the private room, and said:
"Let's go and find the county magistrate."
Xue Yuanyin looked at him and felt that he seemed to be avoiding certain topics.
She knew Zhang Jingxuan was usually clever, so had he noticed something? Yes, even when her abacus beads were about to crash into his face, he remained so calm, as if nothing had happened.
As expected of someone who has been assisting the prince since he was young, he is truly mature in character.
But Xue Yuanyin just didn't want him to get what he wanted.
Seeing that he was about to step out, she suddenly took a step forward and grabbed his wrist.
He didn't shake it off, but looked sideways.
Xue Yuanyin smiled and said, "Answer my question and leave. Why did you recite the Meditation Technique just now?"
Zhang Jingxuan seemed to dislike her questioning and said coldly, "I told you, I'm teaching you how to breathe. You're breathing too heavily in this cramped place."
Xue Yuanyin raised her eyebrows slightly and asked bluntly:
"Wasn't it because of that scene at that time that you were afraid that if you continued, you would become lusty towards me and it would be impossible to end it?"
Zhang Jingxuan seemed to have heard something out of the ordinary, and said calmly:
"You overestimate your own charm and underestimate my self-control. Xue Yuanyin, your methods are too naive to test me."
Xue Yuanyin glanced at his expression. The two of them stood in silence for a while. She curled her lips in boredom and took the initiative to let go of his hand. "Okay, I got it. Let's go and get down to business, okay?"
She always felt that Zhang Jingxuan didn't want to face her thoughts directly. It seemed that she had to be more patient and not be too impatient.
Xue Yuanyin followed the direction the county magistrate left and walked out first.
Zhang Jingxuan lagged behind her by a few steps, raised his eyes and stared at her back, his eyes suddenly darkened and became gloomy, completely different from his previous calm demeanor.
She didn't know that no one had ever dared to tease him with such words before, let alone look at him with such eyes.
With just a casual word, he could drag such a person down and wipe him out.
She was his sister with whom he had the purest affection, but she actually dared to harbor such thoughts and provoke him with such an attitude... How dare she, how dare she?
She really didn't know how brave she was.
Zhang Jingxuan closed his eyes and felt his breathing gradually calm down. That was the meditation technique he had been silently reciting.
He opened his eyes, regained his clarity of mind, and then walked out.
-
Xue Yuanyin and Zhang Jingxuan successfully found the county magistrate's private room. They eavesdropped next door and indeed heard some inside information.
There were four or five people in the private room, chatting in a reserved manner. However, Xue Yuanyin and Zhang Jingxuan, through guesswork and speculation, confirmed something they had long suspected:
The mines dug by the county magistrate were iron mines, and the only use of those iron mines was to cast weapons. The doubled profits of the caravan were all earned by the county government in exchange for the privately cast weapons!
Before the county magistrate and others left, Xue Yuanyin and Zhang Jingxuan left first to avoid being discovered.
She changed back into her coarse linen clothes and left Yixianglou. She went to the shop to change back into her own skirt and shirt. As she walked through the hustle and bustle of cars and horses, she frowned and said,
"How dare the county magistrate forge weapons privately? He's so bold!"
Zhang Jingxuan glanced at her and said, "The point is not about the private casting of weapons, but who these weapons were sold to."
Who in the imperial court wants to compete for the throne? The answer is self-evident.
Xue Yuanyin looked at him and thought he was doubting her, so she said in disbelief:
"It's not His Royal Highness Prince Yu, and it can't be him! Although His Royal Highness Prince Yu is ambitious, he would never do something that would dig his own grave!"
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly, "I know. His Highness Prince Yu is certainly not that stupid. I was just wondering where all these privately minted weapons went."
This is indeed a serious problem at present, and they alone cannot solve it. Qin Fang and others need to escape as soon as possible and report to the emperor.
Thinking about the business to no avail, Xue Yuanyin's thoughts returned to Zhang Jingxuan, and she couldn't help but wonder about his attitude tonight.
He… doesn’t want their current relationship to deteriorate?
She refused.
She also made a bet with him. Even if she couldn't win the bet, she would still win his body.
Whether it’s the mind or the body, you have to have one!
Xue Yuanyin's gaze drifted towards Zhang Jingxuan vaguely.
Only then did she realize that Zhang Jingxuan was a whole head taller than her. She was not particularly short among women, but she had not expected him to be so tall and slender.
It's not a figure that can be easily shaken.
Thinking of his unmoved appearance, Xue Yuanyin felt a little worried. Under Zhang Jingxuan's calm gaze, she sighed, half-seriously, "It would be better if you were a pervert."
That way she could fight back openly and do whatever she wanted to him, instead of being helpless now, unable to do anything about his stubborn attitude.
She said this abruptly, and she didn't know whether Zhang Jingxuan understood what she meant. She only heard him ask back:
"If I were really a pervert, and took advantage of you and took advantage of you like those men in the private room did to you, what would you do?"
Xue Yuanyin raised her eyebrows slightly and said without hesitation, "If you force me, I will naturally retaliate. If a man really violates me, I will do everything I can to castrate him!"
Zhang Jingxuan glanced over and didn't say anything, but Xue Yuanyin understood what he wanted to say - it's over.
Xue Yuanyin curled her lips, wanting to tease him and say something else: "But, if you do this to me..."
Zhang Jingxuan interrupted her, looked at the street vendors and said, "There are some storybooks for sale there. Don't you like reading storybooks?"
Xue Yuanyin was interrupted. Seeing that he took the initiative to walk over, she had no choice but to stop talking and follow him to the storybook stall.
She flipped through a few books at random and unexpectedly found a pleasant surprise. The stories of the books were not about love between young men and women, but about heroes who saved the common people and the country, which was very much to her liking.
If she hadn't been completely broke, she would have definitely bought one to take away.
Seeing that she was still immersed in the conversation after she left, Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyes and asked, "Is your ambition to be a hero and be remembered forever?"
Xue Yuanyin didn't understand why he asked this, and asked in surprise: "Huh?"
Zhang Jingxuan retracted his gaze and looked at the lit lanterns in front of him. He whispered, "And then, like your brother, at such a young age, you aspire to go to the battlefield?"
Xue Yuanyin suddenly lost the relaxed smile she had maintained all the way, and looked at him deeply with her round eyes, suppressing her voice and saying coldly:
"You still have the nerve to mention my brother?"
Doesn’t Zhang Jingxuan know that part of the reason she resented him was because her brother went to the battlefield and died on the frontier after having a quarrel with Zhang Jingxuan?
Zhang Jingxuan saw the suppressed emotions in her calm eyes and frowned slightly.
Is this the fundamental reason why Xue Yuanyin has a rift with him and resents him? Does she think that she is the one who caused her brother's death?
Zhang Jingxuan never liked to drag things out, so he opened his mouth to clarify immediately. Unexpectedly, Xue Yuanyin looked away and tried to bring up the topic again as if nothing had happened, and her emotions disappeared without a trace.
Zhang Jingxuan grabbed her wrist. This was not a good place to talk. He forcibly pulled her to the side of the road under the shade of a tree where no one was around. He looked directly into her eyes and said:
"Xue Yi's going to the battlefield was not something I instigated, and it has nothing to do with me."
Xue Yuanyin paused, suppressing the hatred rising in her heart again, and said casually:
"Oh, really? But how did I find out that he left because of a big fight between you two? Even if you wouldn't encourage him to die, considering our long-term friendship, you should at least stop him. You just watched him go, didn't you? Zhang Qu, tell me, is that right?!"
At the end of her words, she couldn't control the trembling of her voice, and her eyes stared at him fiercely, a little stubborn and full of resentment.
Xue Yuanyin felt that she had lost her composure and tried to control her emotions, but she didn't expect tears to suddenly slide down from her eyes and drip onto the back of his hand that was holding hers.
Zhang Jingxuan was not expecting this and was stunned and astonished for a moment.
The hand that was holding her wrist loosened, and then continued to hold it tightly, not knowing whether he wanted to control her from leaving or to calm her down.
He paused for a moment before continuing calmly:
"Xue Yi is one of my closest friends, of whom I've known for many years. I don't want to blame you for making such assumptions about me, but I want you to remember—you don't understand your seemingly unfocused brother at all. He was the first to have the idea of going to the battlefield, wanting to fulfill his long-held ambition. He asked for my opinion without telling you, and I firmly disagreed. He felt I didn't understand him, while I thought he was stubbornly insisting on going his own way, and that's why we had such a big argument."
Xue Yuanyin was stunned. It turned out that he was not the one who betrayed her first as she thought?
So she had been blaming him wrongly all these years?
Xue Yuanyin wiped away her tears, inexplicably not understanding why she had been entangled in such hypocrisy all these years, but she still said in a low voice:
"I don't believe it. Who knows if you're deliberately making up a lie to deceive me in order to let me down my guard?"
If Zhang Jingxuan hadn't betrayed her first, what would her resentment for so long be for? She didn't want to think about this question.
Zhang Jingxuan sighed softly and raised his hand to touch her head. The force was light, but the touch was very noticeable.
He had now more or less figured out the technique for soothing a stubborn cat—don't fight it, as that would only make the cat more rebellious. It was best to stroke it gently. Only when the cat was pleased would it reveal its belly again.
Xue Yuanyin felt a little awkward, took his hand away, and muttered softly:
"I'm not a child anymore, stop touching my head."
She lowered her eyes and said, "I don't blame you, Zhang Jingxuan. I have always been too naive."
Zhang Jingxuan curled the corners of his lips slightly, thinking, it's obvious that he is being naive.
I was so naive that I did it even though I knew it was impossible. I was so naive that I still hope she will come back.
But there was no point in saying more, so he restrained himself, his Adam's apple moved slightly, and he finally suppressed all these emotions.
He glanced at Xue Yuanyin and saw that she had calmed down, knowing that the misunderstanding had been resolved.
Originally, this topic should have ended, and he knew it needed to end. But perhaps it was because the night was too dark, which gradually swallowed up some of his persistence and rationality; or it might be because her tears dripping on the back of his hand, which made him feel a little more compassion in his heart that he claimed to be as cold and hard as a rock.
He looked at the lighted buildings on the street, and after a long moment, he looked back at her, who was looking down. When he spoke again, his voice was so soft, so soft that it almost drifted away in the air.
But Xue Yuanyin still heard him, and heard him say:
"Qiaoqiao, I'm not cold-blooded and heartless. I won't be able to bear to face you either."
Xue Yuanyin was slightly startled, thinking that Zhang Jingxuan might have cast a spell on her while she wasn't paying attention. Otherwise, how could she have heard a hint of partial tenderness in his tone, causing her heart to tremble.
She was inexplicably at a loss, and as if trying to change the subject, she said abruptly:
"Everyone wants to write a heroic story, but I'm just an ordinary person."
Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyebrows slightly, remembering what he had asked her before - Do you want to be a hero remembered by others?
He didn't ask any more questions, just nodded. He already understood what she meant.
It was already late, so the two of them returned the same way. After discussing such a heavy topic, the atmosphere should have been depressing, but Xue Yuanyin, whether because her heart knot had been untied or for some other reason, felt better.
The result of her better mood was that the look in her eyes when she looked at Zhang Jingxuan was no longer restrained, but almost loud and unbridled.
Zhang Jingxuan frowned slightly.
He inexplicably felt a little regretful for having been honest with her just now.
Xue Yuanyin suddenly tilted her head to look at him and said with a smile, "Zhang Jingxuan, why haven't you been looking at me?"
Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyes and said, "I thought you would rather be quiet for a while."
Xue Yuanyin was in a good mood and didn't care about his attitude. She asked casually, "Tell me, if I'm attracted to you and we're not on the same page, what should I do?"
Zhang Jingxuan remained unmoved and said calmly, "Then you will lose our bet, and I will still have you beat."
Xue Yuanyin changed the subject and said, "If you were attracted to a girl, how would you pursue her?"
Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "I won't actively pursue a woman." After a pause, a hint of pride appeared between his eyebrows, and he said calmly, "I will only let her fall in love with me, and then take the initiative to pursue me."
Xue Yuanyin curled her lips, looked at him with deep eyes, and said meaningfully, "What a coincidence, me too."
The provocation in her words was too direct, almost blatant, and she didn't believe that Zhang Jingxuan didn't understand.
But Zhang Jingxuan looked away when she looked at him and said, "It's getting late. Go back early and bring them the materials for making the compass."
He chose not to talk about it.
…
In the end, Xue Yuanyin was unable to pry a few words of truth out of Zhang Jingxuan's mouth, because they encountered an accident on the way to pick up the stored items -
Three or two foreigners with deep facial features, dressed in a low-key manner, walked quickly in the alley near Yixianglou.
Xue Yuanyin thought she had seen it wrong, because the appearance of foreigners here was as absurd as a little princess of the royal family leading troops to force the palace, but she believed her eyes. The deep pupils that flashed by in the alley just now did not look like those of people from the Central Plains.
She quickly told Jing Xuan about this, but she didn't see any surprise on his face. She only heard him say calmly:
"My initial guess was that those privately forged weapons were given to the people of the Western Regions, who then exchanged them for rare gems, glass, spices, and medicinal herbs—the so-called 'exotic goods'—which were then sold by the caravans. Now this has simply been confirmed."
Xue Yuanyin could hardly believe it and said in a low voice:
"So the county magistrate wasn't planning to start a rebellion, he was—" treason?!
Zhang Jingxuan glanced at her, interrupted her and said, "Go back immediately and inform Qin Fang and the others."
The two of them immediately went to Qin Fang and his friends' residence. Worried that the hostel had poor sound insulation, they specially found a secluded grove next to the toilet.
Zhang Zimo had already expertly stuffed his nose with a ball of paper and calmly concluded, "Wait until we finish making the compass and send it to you. Then we'll find a way to escape and bring the news to His Majesty. You wait in the county for the pigeon to arrive with the message from His Majesty."
After exchanging information, Xue Yuanyin and Zhang Jingxuan said goodbye and left without staying any longer.
-
Xue Yuanyin walked back with the Pixiu jade carving she had won.
It was late in the evening, and the streets were quiet. All the street vendors had packed up, and the numerous roadside shops were also closing one after another.
There are few pedestrians and it seems too quiet.
They returned to the rented yard in silence. Everyone should have gone back to their own rooms, but before Zhang Jingxuan stepped in, Xue Yunyin turned around and stood at the door, blocking his way in.
Zhang Jingxuan frowned slightly and looked at her without saying a word.
Xue Yuanyin took a step forward. They were already close to each other, and if he took another step closer, their noses would almost touch.
According to her understanding of Zhang Jingxuan, he seemed gentle but was actually arrogant inside, and would definitely not retreat. However, she did not expect that as soon as she approached, Zhang Jingxuan actually took a step back, keeping the distance between them within a safe range.
Xue Yuanyin paused, stopped where he was, and sighed softly:
"Look how scared you are. I'm not doing anything to you."
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her with his light brown eyes, his emotions hidden in his eyes, making it difficult to see clearly. He said calmly:
"I didn't say I was afraid of what you would do to me."
Xue Yuanyin raised his eyebrows, and his eyes swept across the distance between the two of them, which seemed like the Chu River and Han River, and said meaningfully:
"You're not afraid? Then why are you hiding?"
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly and coldly, "Men and women shouldn't touch each other. I don't think that's a safe distance."
Xue Yuanyin looked at his expression as he said this, and suddenly said:
"So when you pulled me over and kissed you on the face that night, that was a safe distance?"
Unexpectedly, she suddenly brought up the old matter again. Zhang Jingxuan paused for a moment. After a moment, he said:
"If you want to pursue this matter, I apologize. It was my fault for offending you."
Xue Yuanyin found this boring and didn't want to apologize.
Her eyes swept across his face and slowly moved to the Adam's apple on his neck. It was a very sexy Adam's apple, and even the protruding curve was particularly restrained and beautiful. She just didn't know when she would have the chance to touch it.
Looking down, although he was wearing an unrestrained ochre-red brocade robe, the collar was not open at all. He was dressed neatly and meticulously without any flaws, eliminating the chance for anyone to peek down.
Xue Yuanyin felt regretful, and when she looked up, she saw Zhang Jingxuan looking as if he was about to give her a cold look again.
He said coldly, "Xue Yuanyin, if you're here to confront me face to face late at night, I'm sorry I won't accompany you."
Tsk, you're angry already.
Xue Yuanyin glanced at his impatient expression in surprise and said slowly:
"I have a question for you. If you promise you'll answer me, I'll let you go to bed."
Zhang Jingxuan was about to frown when he heard this, but Xue Yuanyin spoke before he could refuse:
"It's a serious question!"
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her for a moment and said coldly, "Go ahead."
Xue Yuanyin's playful and casual attitude suddenly stopped, and he asked softly:
"Why did you buy me clothes? Zhang Jingxuan, you didn't tell me the whole truth."
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her calmly with indifferent eyes.
Based on his understanding of her, she was definitely not a very perceptive person in her daily life. Sometimes she was even a little too careless. She hung out with Gao Songlin's group of the opposite sex and even ate the food in their bowls.
Sometimes, he even disliked her carelessness, which made him feel that she had no concept of gender and could become friends with anyone.
But she had to admit that she was sometimes too sensitive, like at this moment.
It was so sharp that he was caught off guard and couldn't think of how to respond.
Xue Yuanyin waited patiently, and Zhang Jingxuan did not give an immediate answer.
Zhang Jingxuan lowered his eyes, as if thinking deeply. But he knew in his heart that he actually knew the answer.
Why?
Perhaps he felt that it had been a long time since he had seen her wearing a skirt and a pearl hairpin like when she was a child, and calling him "Brother Zhang" intimately.
Perhaps she was tired of hearing people praise her over the years for being "as capable as men" and "no difference between women and men."
And... he naturally felt that she shouldn't wear men's clothes every day, and she should dress up beautifully like before.
The Xue Yuanyin he had seen in recent years was not like herself.
The Xue Yuanyin in front of him looked more like the lively and cheerful little girl in his memory, and was what she should look like when she grew up.
Ultimately, it's his own selfish desire.
However, this selfish desire made him make a choice that he would never make under normal circumstances.
Zhang Jingxuan knew that he shouldn't say it, not to mention that he was not good at speaking his mind frankly and honestly.
But he had just promised that he would answer, so he should fulfill his promise.
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her and said slowly and softly:
"I am greedy. I still think of you as my childhood sweetheart and the sister I once favored the most."
The dark night, wrapped in the faint moonlight, fell on him, and seemed to illuminate the corner of his heart that he always didn't like to be seen.
Xue Yuanyin was somewhat surprised by this answer. Her dark, clear eyes widened slightly as she repeated:
"younger sister?"
Zhang Jingxuan treats her as his sister?
What a pity... She, his former childhood sweetheart, whom he treated as a younger sister, was actually thinking about seeing him in heat.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Translate the meaning of a certain dialogue in the text——
Zhang Jingxuan: "Your ambition is to be a hero and be remembered forever?" (Will you die in the future?)
Xue Yuanyin: "Everyone wants to write a heroic story, but I'm just an ordinary person." (I have integrity, but I don't want to die.)
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