Chapter 23 The Mysterious Confidence of a Confident Dog
Xiangqiao shook her head: "I don't know her."
"ah?"
Xiangqiao looked through the thin window paper at the two people walking outside. They looked like a couple, but she had never seen them before.
How could Yang Yan let someone he didn't know in to see her?
Chai Heng was just thinking about it when he heard a familiar voice with a smile: "Chai Si, can I come in?"
Chai Heng couldn't turn around, but he had already recognized the owner of the voice. It was Ji Changqing.
"Master Ji?"
Ji Changqing came over with a smile, holding a folding fan and wearing a navy blue gown embroidered with chrysanthemums. With his hair tied up with a jade crown, he looked neat and tidy. Unlike his time in the Western Rong, he wore clothes with holes here and there, his hair was always messy, and he always looked panicked.
Standing beside him was his wife, Chen Lianyi, also looking at Chai Heng with a smile. Chen Lianyi had fair skin and wore a light red, cross-collared jacket and a skirt embroidered with magnolias. She had embroidered the magnolias on the hem herself, identical to those made in other embroidery studios. She was very skillful, perhaps because she came from the countryside of Cangzhou, but she could do anything.
In their previous life, Chai Heng and Yang Yan returned from Xirong. Tired of the meals cooked in the family's small kitchen, and unwilling to learn how to cook themselves, they frequently ate at Ji Changqing's house. Chen Lianyi's dishes were even better than those at many renowned restaurants in the capital, especially her skill at making flatbreads.
Back then, every time Chai Heng finished her meal at their house, she'd always take home at least ten pancakes. Later, as her visits became more frequent, she felt embarrassed to go, and she even asked Yang Yan to ask Ji Changqing for a large pancake. But Yang Yan, unusually for a man, was incredibly polite about this. She'd mentioned it to him ten times, and he'd only tell Ji Changqing three times at most.
Memories of the pancake from his previous life came flooding back. Chai Heng looked at Chen Lianyi and smiled, "Lianyi."
Ji Zhangqing's eyes widened. "How do you know my wife's maiden name? I haven't even had the chance to introduce you to my wife, who is so capable of both housework and socializing."
Chai Heng made up a story: "You always mentioned it when you were in Xirong, so I remember it."
Ji Changqing touched his head and said, "When I was in Xirong, I always mentioned my wife, but I never mentioned her maiden name." He began to doubt himself.
Chen Lianyi didn't mind. She had come all the way from Cangzhou to follow Ji Changqing, and since arriving in the capital, she'd barely gone out except for some shopping. Making friends was a rare opportunity, so she was naturally overjoyed.
"My husband is a bit simple-minded and timid. When he went to Xirong, I was worried at home during the day and at night. Fortunately, Miss Chai and Lord Yang, otherwise I would be afraid that I would really be a widow at such a young age." Chen Lianyi smiled.
Chai Heng felt that it was not a good idea for him to lie down while the other two stood, so he quickly asked Xiangqiao to bring them two chairs.
Ji Changqing's transfer to the Ministry of War after completing his imperial examinations was purely accidental. He was different from Yang Yan, who, though a scholar, had aspired to bring peace to the country and end war since his youth. Therefore, from the moment he entered the officialdom, he had been single-mindedly pursuing the Ministry of War.
Ji Changqing Chunchun was transferred to the Ministry of War. He was originally supposed to go to the Ministry of Personnel, but the brother-in-law of the Minister of Works wanted to go there and took his place. He was offered a transfer to the Ministry of Revenue, a lowly position, but he refused, and was sent to the Ministry of War by accident. He was later sent to Xirong because no one wanted to go to that remote place. Although going there meant promotion, few people in those days would really risk their lives.
But that's okay.
He was luckier than his colleagues. After returning from the Western Rong, he was promoted. He jumped from a sixth-rank official to a third-rank official, and his family's life became much better.
When life gets better, people naturally become more generous.
This time when he came to see her, he not only brought ten large pancakes, but also a lot of pastries and dried fruits.
After putting the things down, Ji Zhangqing looked at her with a "tsk tsk" sound: "Chai Si, Chai Si, how come you've gotten yourself into this state after not seeing you for half a month?"
Chai Heng was also helpless: "It's a long story."
Ji Zhangqing said, "Now your colleagues in the court are saying that you and your wife had a fight. Lord Yang's handsome face was once the flagship of the Ministry of War, but now you have smashed it. As for you, he couldn't have caused you to be like this, right? Would he have the heart to hit you?"
The two words "willing to give up" have some meaning when placed here.
Only when you care about someone can you say whether you are willing to give up or not. When you care about someone who doesn’t care about you, it means you are teaching her a lesson.
"That's because you don't understand him yet." Chai Heng said.
Ji Zhangqing said, "I still don't think so. I brought my wife to see you today because Yang Yan told me that you were bored recuperating at home alone, so he asked me to bring my wife over this afternoon to chat with you. To be honest, when two people are together, there are always some bumps and bruises. If Lord Yang wasn't so harsh in his words, he would actually be a good match."
"I don't have to be bored, but I am bored because he locked me up." Chai Heng smiled bitterly. She was very disgusted with the idea of slapping her in the face and then giving her a sweet treat.
She is a human, not a dog.
How could she be treated in this way of training a dog?
But this afternoon she had gradually figured it out. She understood why Yang Yan, who obviously hated her so much, was so annoyed with her, and wished she were dead so much at the beginning, had to go to the extent of trapping her in this marquis' mansion.
A lapdog who has loved you for over a decade suddenly shouts that he no longer loves you, of course he'll be disappointed. At this point, he'll instinctively want her to stay, even if he still treats her with contempt, disdain, and disgust. He'll think that if he just shows a little sympathy from a high position, the lapdog will come back and be coaxed into a frenzy.
Chai Heng had no idea what he thought of her as. Only he knew the answer, but one thing was certain: she was not his wife.
From Chai Heng's expression, Ji Changqing could easily see that in the half month since returning to Beijing, Chai Heng's aversion to Yang Yan had increased a lot.
To be precise, I didn't feel disgusted with him before, but now I absolutely don't want to see him.
Ji Changqing wiped the sweat from his forehead and didn't know what to say anymore, so he and his wife tried to talk to her about other topics.
The three of them sat together and chatted for an entire afternoon. Yang Yan did not bother to disturb her, which made Chai Heng feel very peaceful.
As soon as Ji Changqing left, Chai Heng finally had some free time and opened the letter Lu Shichu wrote to her.
She was told that there were only ten days left until Master and Madam returned to the capital. To prevent Yang Yan from going mad, she was told not to antagonize him and to speak gently to him. Master and Madam would remain in the capital for two days, handing over a series of military matters to the Saint, and then return to Furong Mountain. She was told to wait a little longer; these few days were the only thing left, and protecting herself was paramount.
Seeing that there were still ten days left, Chai Heng breathed a sigh of relief.
Anyway, she is a wounded person now, and Yang Yan will not do anything to her for the time being. She doesn't have to go against Yang Yan, but she really doesn't know how to speak to him in a friendly way.
As she thought about this, she fell into a deep sleep again. When she woke up, it was already late at night.
Xiangqiao had also gone to rest and was not in the bedroom. The single oil lamp in the bedroom, which had been burning constantly, had been blown out at some point, leaving the surroundings pitch black and Chai Heng unable to see a thing. Her throat felt dry again, and she wanted a bowl of water. She forced herself to move, enduring the pain in her back, and tried to sit up. As soon as she sat up, she felt something lying next to her.
It's a person.
She frowned, her always sensitive nose now picking up a hint of blood. The wound on her back had already healed, so there shouldn't be a smell of blood.
Chai Heng subconsciously reached out and patted the person next to her. Perhaps her hand didn't hit the right place and happened to hit the person's wound. With a suppressed groan, Chai Heng felt the person under her hand tremble violently. She was stunned for a moment, realized something, and subconsciously wanted to get off the bed to light a candle.
But this man grabbed his wrist.
"Let me lie here for a while."
"Just a moment."
Yang Yan's hands were burning hot, and he held her tightly, unable to move. This reminded her of how he held her in the same way in the Ministry of Justice's prison a few days ago.
Chai Heng really wanted to ask him if he was going to slap Xiti again, but thinking of her senior brother's advice to her, she spoke more gently these days and finally endured it.
"What’s wrong with you?"
She was held back by him and couldn't go down to light the lamp, so she thought he had been assassinated.
The job of Minister of War was a difficult one, extremely sensitive, and assassination attempts were common. In his previous life, he had been the target of numerous assassination attempts over the past few years. These attempts included spies from enemy nations, political enemies within his own country, and those who simply disliked him because of his outburst.
Fortunately, Ji Gang was not only good at setting traps, but was also good at protecting him. That was why, although he had encountered hundreds of assassination attempts, he was only actually stabbed once or twice.
Yang Yan couldn't see Chai Heng's face due to the darkness, so he instinctively asked her, "Are you worried about me?"
She was indeed worried about him.
"If you were assassinated, you'd need a doctor. What would I do if you died of bleeding while lying here?"
Chai Heng's underlying logic was that he was an official appointed by the imperial court. If he were assassinated, he wouldn't be called a doctor. He died beside her in the middle of the night. Given the way the Ministry of Justice handled the case, they would likely label her the culprit behind the murder of the official. She didn't want to be executed for no reason.
But to Yang Yan, these words had another meaning.
He subconsciously thought that she was afraid that he would die like this, and that after his death, she would not be able to live the rest of her life.
He knew that his worries over the past two days were unnecessary.
Xue Ruyue was wrong to scold him. How could Chai Heng not like him?
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