113 Suspicion
◎ "My heart is not big, it can only hold one princess."◎
Perhaps because it was a cold winter, Xu Qinghe's period was particularly difficult this time. In the first few days, her hands and feet were almost always cold and her lower abdomen was painful.
At this time, the envoys of Nanyi Kingdom had already set off to return home, and Nan Mingzhao also returned home first after reaching a consensus with Xie Qi. The Honglu Temple was particularly idle, so Wei Che simply asked for leave from the office and stayed in Fenghe Courtyard every day, always guarding this girl.
After she had endured these few days, she pretended to go back to the office to report for duty.
When the rare good weather finally arrived, Xu Qinghe wrapped himself in a cloak and walked out of Fenghe Courtyard, intending to go back to the restaurant.
Lin Xiao is studious and has some talent in accounting. His business was already booming, and later, the envoys from the Nanyi Kingdom came to visit. This restaurant with the characteristics of the southern border became particularly eye-catching, and suddenly it made a lot of money. A few days ago, several of them even discussed whether to open a few more branches.
On the way out of Fengheyuan, I suddenly saw a cute little kid standing by the well, tiptoeing to pick plum blossoms.
Because she was too short, she couldn't touch the plum branches several times and became a little anxious. The well stones in winter were icy and slippery. She suddenly slipped and was about to fall into the well.
Xu Qinghe was quick-witted and quick-handed, and at the same time, his heart was in his throat. He rushed over and grabbed the little kid's collar.
She pulled hard, and they both fell to the ground in a mess.
The little girl was startled, and came to her senses belatedly. She looked over with tears in her eyes and a pout on her lips.
Xu Qinghe was breathing slightly.
Although she grew up in the war-torn southern region, this was the first time she had seen a situation so close to death. Her heart was finally at ease, but she still felt a little weak in her hands and feet.
But facing the aggrieved little girl in her arms, she still forced a smile and comforted her: "Don't cry, isn't it okay?"
She touched the little girl's cheek, and it was also cold like hers.
The life she had lived in the past few years had made Xu Qinghe not so good at comforting others. Fearing that she might frighten the little girl, she deliberately spoke in a gentle voice, "I've seen you before. You're my second sister, Yun'er, right? Don't be afraid. Everything is fine now."
Wei Yun sat in the arms of the princess's sister-in-law, and was gently patted on the back by the sister-in-law whom she always liked but dared not get close to.
The little boy, who was only six years old, quickly put the crisis behind him and was instead attracted by the faint fragrance of his sister-in-law.
She was about to hold her sister-in-law tighter when she heard her sister-in-law's faint question from above her head: "Why are you climbing plum blossoms here alone, with no one following you?"
If she hadn't happened to see it just now, the little girl would have been in great trouble.
Wei Yun certainly knew that the cold-faced beauty in front of her was the princess's sister-in-law whom she had always liked. That was why she felt wronged and ashamed.
I finally got to meet the princess's sister-in-law, why am I in such a mess?
But she had no choice but to tell the truth: "I fell ill a few days ago, and my aunt didn't let me go out to play. But it was really boring to stay in the house. So I took advantage of my aunt and the others not noticing and sneaked out..."
After all, she was someone else's daughter, and Xu Qinghe, as a so-called "sister-in-law", couldn't say too much. When she was about to order someone to send her back to Aunt Jin's yard, she saw a person hurriedly coming from afar.
The person who came was dressed in a plain green dress and had an anxious look on his face. When he approached, he pulled Wei Yun behind him and looked at her warily.
"Aunt...it was the princess's sister-in-law who saved me..." Wei Yun said softly.
Aunt Jin hurriedly thanked Xu Qinghe again, but she didn't say much, as if she had some urgent matters to deal with. She soon left with Wei Yun, who kept looking back.
Xu Qinghe looked at the backs of the mother and daughter as they left, and his brows slowly furrowed.
Her period had just stopped and her whole body was stiff in the howling cold wind, so she did not stay here for long and soon went to the warm carriage to keep warm.
"Mrs. Jin is really something. She actually thought the princess would harm the second young lady. At the beginning, the look in her eyes was as if she wanted to eat someone. It was really scary to see."
It’s no wonder that Nanzhi complained. It was just that Aunt Jin’s behavior today was too strange.
But Xu Qinghe had never been a mother, and she didn't know whether a mother would indiscriminately suspect everyone around her when her children were injured, as if she had become a different person with thorns all over her body.
After all, when she met Aunt Jin before, she was clearly a gentle and calm person.
When entering the restaurant, Lin Xiao did not come to greet him as usual, but a young man in plain clothes and shorts came towards him.
Nanzhi lowered his head and stood in front of the princess, avoiding her path.
But the young man refused to leave, as if he was determined to blackmail them. Wherever they went to avoid him, the young man would stick to them.
Nanzhi was furious. She happened to recall the protective look that Aunt Jin had given Wei Yun just now, as if she was shielding her from harm. She had no place to vent her anger.
"You scoundrel, how rude! Why do you keep bumping into us? If you dare to—"
"alright."
The princess behind her suddenly spoke up, stretched out her hand to stop her, then looked at the "young man" beside her and said in a calm voice: "Lin Xiao, stop teasing her."
Nanzhi was stunned for a moment, and this time she finally looked up and stared carefully at the young man in front of her.
The young man was not tall, and although he was wearing a loose plain dress, if you looked closely, you could clearly see the curves of the girl's body. Then look at her smiling face, who else could it be but Lin Xiao?
Nanzhi suddenly realized what was going on. She pinched the giggling Lin Xiao's face and complained, "Why are you wearing men's clothes and teasing me? The princess is the same. Why didn't you expose her later so that I could scold her and vent my anger!"
"Men's clothes are convenient and save a lot of trouble." Lin Xiao said with a chuckle, "Why don't I get a set for my sister too?"
Nanzhi doesn't want that. She prefers girls' dresses.
"Back then, you were incredibly good at dressing up. I wonder if you've mastered the art of disguise somewhere! If it weren't for your discerning eye, I would have been fooled by you!"
The speaker may not have intended it, but the listener may have taken it to heart. As soon as Xu Qinghe heard the three words "disguise", the expression in his eyes changed slightly.
After the three of them entered the private room, the two noisy girls at the back quieted down tacitly.
Lin Xiao handed over the account book, and after Xu Qinghe finished reading the account, she mentioned the matter of opening a branch.
"I've already picked out a shop with the owner. It's in a good location, but the price is a bit high. The owner is being very stubborn, and we can't come to an agreement."
Xu Qinghe felt that it didn't matter if the shop in a good location was a little more expensive. If the negotiation couldn't go through, he could just buy it at a high price.
But she also understood that Lin Xiao had been an orphan since childhood, so it was natural for her to save money as much as possible.
"Just do your best. If we can't come to an agreement, we don't need the money."
"yes."
After briefly explaining the restaurant's affairs, she continued to talk to Lin Xiao, "I recently asked you to try to find some people in the martial arts world to find out if there was a way to change a person's appearance. What was the result?"
Fu Zongying once pretended to be Wei Che by putting on a human face mask, but Xu Qinghe had the most intimate contact with Wei Che.
She knew every secret about him, and none of them were the same as the Xie Qi she once knew, and his current face was a real human face.
Fu Zongying also said that there is a secret technique in the world that can change a person's appearance. If this method is used when a person is young, he or she can become more and more like another person as he or she grows up.
Xie Qi was only fifteen years old when he was "buried" in the sea of fire, which can barely be considered young.
If he really used this method at that time, although he had a pair of eyebrows and eyes similar to before, his other facial features had no trace of the past, which made sense.
Lin Xiao replied, "I only found out there's a 'Yufeng Pavilion' in the Jianghu. Its leader is indeed proficient in disguise. I heard he can even change a person's appearance."
Xu Qinghe quickly remembered that she knew something about the Yufeng Pavilion organization.
When Xu Zhuangyuan was looking for his younger brother, he found this organization that was very good at gathering information, and then he found the information about his younger brother as he wished.
I just didn’t expect that such an organization is also proficient in disguise.
"Who is the Pavilion Master? Is it possible to find the person?"
Lin Xiao said with embarrassment: "I only know that the Pavilion Master's surname is Fu. This organization is extremely mysterious. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find him."
"Your surname is Fu... Which character is Fu?" Xu Qinghe frowned and handed the pen to Lin Xiao. After she wrote the character "Fu", which was the surname of the Pavilion Master of Yufeng Pavilion, he remained silent for a long time.
She had a serious expression on her face until she got on the carriage.
Nanzhi glanced at it cautiously and said hesitantly, "What do you suspect, Princess?"
Xu Qinghe subconsciously touched her wrist, but there was nothing there. Her fingertips did not feel the warm touch of the red agate bracelet.
"Nanzhi, I felt familiar with him when I first saw him."
However, in her understanding, Xie Qi had already died. Therefore, even though she knew that there was a technique of disguise in this world, she never doubted the truth of this matter.
It wasn't until that day when she met "Xie Qi" that she discovered the flaw in his words.
Xu Qinghe held the hand warmer in his hand, leaned against the car wall behind him, closed his eyes and took a nap, his mind full of the scene of seeing "Xie Qi" in the cabin that day.
The other party was indeed disguising himself very well. Whether it was the tone of his voice or the demeanor in his gestures, he showed the arrogance and arrogance of the former young general in white.
When he learned that she did not believe that General Xie had harmed her parents and the soldiers of the Southern Border Army, he laughed happily, as if the former major general had broken through numerous obstacles of time.
But strangely, she didn't feel the slightest bit familiar with the person in front of her.
At first, she thought it was because they hadn't seen each other for five years and she was already married, so she felt this way because things had changed.
She was very suspicious, so she brought up some trivial things from the past intentionally or unintentionally. However, the other party answered fluently without any hesitation, as if he had been prepared for her questions.
It was not until the battlefield was mentioned that the man in front of him suddenly showed a hint of discomfort that he could not hide.
"Fighting on the battlefield, not only does it involve bloodshed, but it also involves mentioning military orders. It's too uncomfortable. It's better to be free and happy riding a horse across the rivers and lakes now."
She knew at this moment that the person in front of her was not him.
**
As the end of the year approaches, all the government offices in the capital are busy, but the Honglu Temple is still idle. Wei Che has already stepped into the room before the hour of You.
It was still light outside at that time. He just walked in and shook off the snow on his cloak. He saw the girl wrapped in fox fur leaning against the window reading a book. When she saw him come in, she just raised her eyes and glanced at him lightly, then lowered her head again.
What he didn't see was that the pages of the book in her hand were suddenly clenched very tightly.
In the past few days, Wei Che always felt that this girl treated him a little coldly, a bit like when they were about to meet again a year ago.
Although he did not keep people at a distance, there was always a sense of distance between his words and actions.
He was a little confused. Was it because she was in a bad mood due to her period, or was she still worried about Xie Qi, or...what did she discover when Fu Zongying was exposed that day?
Wei Che didn't dare to think about it too much. After the cold air brought in from outside melted away, he took off his cloak and handed it to the maid in the main room, then walked to the soft couch in the side room.
"The sun is about to set. If you want to read, light a lamp. Be careful not to hurt your eyes."
He snatched the book from Xu Qinghe's hand, and as expected, he received a cold look from the other party.
Wei Che laughed instead of getting angry: "Tsk, I've been in the house for so long, I thought the princess couldn't see me."
The girl in front of him gathered her fox fur coat tightly around her and said calmly, "You know the sun hasn't set yet, so why are you back so early? The current situation in the Duke's Mansion won't allow you to act as recklessly as you did before."
Ever since he made a name for himself in the martial arts competition with the Nanyi Kingdom, the emperor feared the Duke of Fuguo, and the military power of the Southern Border Army was then in the hands of the emperor.
During this period of time, everyone in the mansion has been almost behaving in a low profile. Miss Wei even stayed in a Buddhist temple for a long time to pray for blessings for her family. However, he was still as arrogant as yesterday and was not affected at all.
"It's just the loss of military power. It's not that serious. Just relax."
Wei Che raised his eyebrows and smiled, still wearing his crimson official uniform, which contrasted with the orange-red sky outside, bringing a bit of warmth to this cold winter season.
What's more, he smiled so gently.
Xu Qinghe's heart moved slightly, and he quickly looked away.
The wisteria trellis outside the window is now bare and looks very desolate, and the whole yard is no longer as vibrant as it used to be.
She looked out the window and said casually, "You're the one who caused the trouble in the Duke's Mansion today. Not only did you not help solve it, but you even managed to laugh about it. You're really quite careless."
There was a hint of accusation in his words that he was unfilial.
Wei Che thought, what does the affairs of the Fuguo Mansion have to do with him? He may have occupied the status of Wei's prince, but compared with the souls of those who died unjustly, what the Fuguo Mansion suffered was nothing.
He did not harm any innocent people and let all the people in the Fuguo Mansion be buried with them. This was already a great act of mercy.
Xie Qi was a man who had fought on the battlefield. A kind-hearted man could not command an army. The fact that he became famous and rose to the position of major general in the army was not due to his military merits gained through a few surprise attacks.
His heart was far crueler than Xu Qinghe thought.
But after all, in the eyes of this girl, Wei Che is always the prince of the Fuguo Mansion.
He suppressed the hatred that surged in his heart, lowered his eyes to hide his emotions, and holding the girl's hand, he forced a smile and said, "My heart is not big, it can only accommodate one princess. As for other matters, the Duke of Fuguo will handle it."
"Wei Che."
Xu Qinghe suddenly called him.
"Um?"
"It seems like you've never called the Duke father."
【Author’s words】
Change the word
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Bug fixing
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