The person under the bed
"Your Highness, Commandant Chang has arrived." Xueya's voice came from outside. Jiang Jin and Lou Xuan quickly composed themselves. Jiang Jin stood up and sat on a slightly lower wooden stool.
"Come in." Lou Xuan sat in the main seat, adopting a cold expression.
"Your Highness." Chang Yi didn't ask why Jiang Jin was here. He knew Lou Xuan wasn't as he appeared.
"Commander Chang, have all the people in the governor's mansion been settled?" Lou Xuan asked, though he was watching Xueya set out the meal, his eyes were still on Chang Yi.
"We've already got someone watching, there's absolutely no chance of anything going wrong," Chang Yi replied, head bowed.
"Let's have our meal first." Lou Xuan stood up and sat in the main seat.
"Since Your Highness has important business with Commandant Chang, then I shall take my leave." Jiang Jin rose to curtsy, but Lou Xuan called her back.
“I’m really worried that General Wei will hold me accountable for coming here on an empty stomach.” Lou Xuan glanced at Jiang Jin. “Sit down. Xueya, go tell General Wei that his wife is dining here. Don’t worry.”
"Yes." Xueya left and closed the door behind her. As soon as she turned around, she saw the maid hiding in the shadows. She sneered and then ordered someone to keep a close watch on the woman.
"His Majesty already knows what happened at the Prefectural Governor's residence and reprimanded the head of the Wang family. However, the Wang family has already expelled Wang Juesong's branch from the family genealogy," Chang Yi told Lou Xuan, using the information he knew to demonstrate his loyalty.
"Did Father Emperor say how to deal with the Wang Juesong clan?" Lou Xuan asked Chang Yi, taking a sip of milk.
"His Majesty has left the court without a word yet." Chang Yi picked up a piece of sashimi and placed it in Lou Xuan's bowl. "The sashimi is fresh, Your Highness, please have some."
"No need to worry about it anymore. We've already offered a way out. What Father Emperor does is his business." Lou Xuan glanced at Jiang Jin. "Is Lady Wei not eating well? She's eating so little."
"I haven't slept all night, I'm just a little tired." Jiang Jin glanced at the breakfast she loved and could only swallow hard.
"Then Madam Wei should go back and rest early after you finish eating." Lou Xuan looked at Jiang Jin indifferently. "Commander Chang, please go to the governor's mansion to seal up the crossbows and send more people to guard them. If they are lost, it will be a serious crime."
"Yes, Your Highness, I'll go right away." Chang Yi tactfully withdrew, glancing furtively at Lou Xuan and Jiang Jin before leaving.
"Alright, he's gone, eat whatever you want." Lou Xuan chuckled and placed a whole plate of sashimi in front of Jiang Jin.
"This is freshly caught fish. Try it; it's just as good as the ones in the capital."
"I was drooling just now. This whole table is full of my favorite foods. I'd really regret it if I went home hungry!" Jiang Jin picked up a piece of sashimi and put it in her mouth.
"This imperial chef truly lives up to his reputation. One bite of this dish and all my fatigue vanishes." Jiang Jin took another sip of chicken soup. "Your Highness, this chicken is heavenly. If I weren't afraid of revealing my identity, I would love to stay here every day and eat the imperial chef's dishes."
"Eat more, you've lost a lot of weight since you came out." Lou Xuan was especially happy to see Jiang Jinfeng devouring the food.
"It's all because Wei Shu is mistreating me. He said my cold hasn't gotten better yet, so he won't let me eat this or that, not even my favorite pastries," Jiang Jin quickly complained to Lou Xuan.
"Should I issue an imperial decree to punish him?"
Lou Xuan's heart softened at the sight of Jiang Jin's coquettish manner. In recent years, as Jiang Jin had grown older, she had accumulated more and more burdens in her heart, and he rarely saw her so adorable.
"Let's not do it. What if he suddenly does something inappropriate? That would be terrible." Jiang Jin shook her head at the thought of Wei Shu's possible reaction.
"Is Ajin afraid of him?" Lou Xuan smiled and stroked Jiang Jin's hair.
"No, I've figured out that Wei Shu is just a paper tiger at best. Apart from threatening me with the matter of consummating our marriage, he can't do anything outrageous."
Jiang Jin sipped the chicken soup in her bowl and said nonchalantly, "Besides, I know that even if I really don't want to, he won't force himself on me."
"Is Ajin willing?" Lou Xuan poked Jiang Jin's cheek and asked with a mischievous grin.
"Your Highness, why are you talking about these things while we're having a meal!" Jiang Jin lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed, and quickly drank the chicken soup in her bowl with a spoon.
"I'll have Zhai Wan get you some contraceptive pills. You're still young; getting pregnant isn't good for your health." Lou Xuan then placed another piece of five-blessing cake in Jiang Jin's bowl.
"Your Highness, if you keep talking, I won't be able to eat my breakfast properly!" Jiang Jin blinked and looked at Lou Xuan coquettishly.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore. Look at how shy you are. You haven't forgotten everything you learned from Xiao Niang back then, have you?" Lou Xuan was still a little worried about Jiang Jin.
"Your Highness, why bring this up all of a sudden? Oh dear, I'm full!" Jiang Jin put down her clothes and ran out of the room without even a proper greeting, bumping right into Xue Ya.
"Madam Jiang, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?" Xueya was afraid that Jiang Jin's illness had not fully recovered and that she had relapsed due to overexertion.
"Really? Maybe it's too hot inside. Xueya, I'm leaving now!" Jiang Jin covered her face and ran away from Lou Xuan's courtyard.
"Your Highness, I noticed that Lady Jiang's face is a little flushed. Should I have the imperial physician take a look?" Xueya came in, closed the door, and began serving food to Lou Xuan.
"She's just shy, but I didn't say much, we just talked about consummating the marriage."
"Your Highness, Lady Jiang is very shy. She naturally ran away blushing when you teased her." Xueya finally understood why Jiang Jin had covered her face and run away; it turned out she had been teased by His Highness.
"Never mind, let them be." Lou Xuan smiled and shook his head, but he already had his answer in his heart.
Jiang Jin had just returned to the governor's mansion when she saw Wei Shu standing in the distance talking to Zhou Cong. Lou Xuan's question suddenly flashed through her mind, and her cheeks, which had just returned to normal, flushed again.
"Jiang Jin, Jiang Jin?" Wei Shu looked at the person standing blankly in front of him with flushed cheeks and asked with some concern, "Are you alright? Should we call a doctor to come and take a look?"
"It's nothing, it's nothing, I'm just too tired, I'm going to rest first!" Jiang Jin tugged at Wei Shu, "Where are you staying at the governor's mansion? I need to go rest!"
"You really don't stand on ceremony." Although Wei Shu said impatiently, he still took Jiang Jin's hand and led her into the courtyard.
"You go in first, I've asked Zhou Cong to stay and keep you company." Wei Shu withdrew his hand, drawing Jiang Jin's sidelong glance. "No need," Jiang Jin said, "Wang Juesong wouldn't send someone to assassinate me, would he?"
"Don't make me worry." Wei Shu gave Zhou Cong a wink, and Zhou Cong silently stood in the courtyard.
"Alright, then don't overwork yourself." Jiang Jin entered the room and closed the door. Just as she lay down on the couch, she felt a strange noise coming from under the bed. Jiang Jin took off the hairpin she was holding and slowly lifted the curtain. A dagger was thrust directly at her.
"You're asking for death!" Jiang Jin used her hairpin to stop the dagger, quickly grabbed the hiding person's wrist, and pulled her out.
"Who are you?" Zhou Cong heard the commotion inside and quickly climbed in through the window. He saw Jiang Jin sitting and crouching beside the bed, holding a dagger to the man's neck.
"Zhou Cong, your search wasn't thorough enough!" Jiang Jin released the young woman when he saw Zhou Cong enter.
“Madam, I’ve told them to go down and receive their punishment.” Zhou Cong pulled up his wife who had fallen to the ground. “This is the seventh daughter of the Wang family, the wife that the general wants to take back to the capital.”
"I have nothing else to do, so I'll take her back to her own courtyard. His Majesty will decide how to handle the Wang family members." Jiang Jin was terribly tired. "You take her away; I'm a bit exhausted."
"Yes." Zhou Cong opened the door and saw Wei Shu rushing straight towards him.
"Jiang Jin, are you alright!" Wei Shu's heart skipped a beat when he heard the report, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jiang Jin standing unharmed in front of him.
"How did you search them? You don't even know if a single person is missing. Send them straight to be punished with a beating!" Wei Shu pried open Jiang Jin's hand and looked at the red mark on it with a pained expression. "Why didn't you take a dagger?"
"You should be glad I was so sleepy that I didn't take the hairpin off my head, otherwise I would have been completely helpless." Jiang Jin rolled her eyes at Wei Shu.
"Let me apply some medicine for you." Wei Shu took out some medicine from the box and carefully applied it to Jiang Jin's hand.
"General Wei, I am Wang Qi Niang! Please spare my family! I don't want to become a slave!" Wang Qi Niang struggled to get closer to Wei Shu, but Zhou Cong held her firmly.
"His Majesty has not yet made a decision. You all stay in the courtyard and do not wander around. If Zhou Cong encounters this kind of thing again, he will be executed without mercy." Wei Shu frowned and held Jiang Jin's hand. "Why are your hands so cold?"
"I'm tired. I told you to rest earlier, but you insisted on staying with me." Jiang Jin looked at Wei Shu, who lowered his head and blew on his palms, his face slightly flushed.
"Alright, I need to rest now." Jiang Jin got up, took out a dagger, and placed it beside her pillow. "Are you relieved now?"
"I'll stay and keep you company." Wei Shu waved his hand, and Zhou Cong then pulled Wang Jia Qi Niang out.
"General Wei, please help me!" Wang's seventh daughter clung tightly to the doorframe, refusing to leave.
"Zhou Cong, how come you can't even drag a wife away now?" Wei Shu looked at Zhou Cong impatiently. "If you don't want to die, leave now, otherwise I don't mind letting you keep your sister company!"
"General Wei, please help me, for the sake of our impending marriage!" Seventh Sister knew that if she wanted to escape her fate as a slave, she had to hold onto the man before her tightly.
"Pull them away." Zhou Cong pried open Seventh Sister's hands and, with a knowing look, closed the door for the two of them.
"Don't you have anything to ask me?" Jiang Jin's hand, which should have been resting on the blanket, was firmly grasped by Wei Shu as she lay on the couch.
"No." Jiang Jin closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of Wei Shu's palm.
"It was just a tactic Wang Juesong used to win me over, we're nothing!" Wei Shu said in a low voice, afraid of offending Jiang Jin.
“I know that I was the one who released the woman from the capital to become a concubine.” Jiang Jin slowly opened her eyes. “I’m not stupid, why would I be angry about these things?”
"You?" Wei Shu was taken aback.
"Yes, back at the Moon Viewing Pavilion, her sister mentioned demoting the wife to a concubine. I thought if their family was inclined to do so, I would help them out." Jiang Jin yawned.
"Didn't you ever doubt me at all?" Wei Shu felt a mix of emotions.
“You shouldn’t be foolish enough to be blinded by love and actually take a woman from the Wang family as a concubine.” Jiang Jin looked into Wei Shu’s eyes and said, “Although we haven’t spent much time together, I still have at least a basic understanding of you.”
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