155 Chapter 155
◎This person is full of tricks.◎
Since that day, Xie Qi never came to visit again, and Xu Qinghe never saw him again.
Regarding the military supplies that had been agreed upon, she sent Lin Xiao to hand over to him.
That day, Lin Xiao came back to report.
After returning to the southern border, the lady let her go home. Lin Xiao stayed at home for a few days, but found it too boring. She thought it would be more enjoyable to work for the lady, so she ran back.
Later, Sister Nanzhi took charge of the princess's mansion in Jizhou for the lady, so she helped the lady with business in Lanzhou, and as for Yingzhou, it was handed over to the marquis.
"Madam, when I went to see the Marquis, I found that he looked very bad, as if he was still ill." She looked over tentatively.
But the lady didn't react at all. She didn't even talk to her about the Marquis. Instead, she asked about her accounts.
However, the more he avoided it, the more it proved that something must have happened between the two of them.
She thought of the letters that the lady had written to the Marquis when she was expecting her baby. They had been kept safely in her room, and she didn't know when they would see the light of day again.
After reporting what his wife had instructed him to do, Lin Xiao tried again, "I heard that the Marquis will be leaving in three days, and the Governor has booked a private room in our Guixiang Building for the Marquis to stay with him."
These two temptations did not escape Xu Qinghe's eyes. She raised her eyes and looked at the chief manager under her.
"You don't need to tell me about his affairs."
Lin Xiao felt a chill on the back of his neck from this look, and quickly said, "Lin Xiao's point is that the governor might send a letter to Madam when the time comes. If Madam wants to go, she should prepare in advance."
"I'm not going."
Xu Qinghe deliberately changed the subject: "How about you, how's the matter I asked you to investigate?"
Although she had asked Governor Qin to investigate openly, she had made two preparations and also asked Lin Xiao to investigate secretly.
There has been no news from the governor so far, and she hopes to hear about the progress from Lin Xiao.
Fortunately, Lin Xiao said with a cheerful expression, "Madam, one of our people saw someone from Cuiyu Pavilion secretly passing on information."
Cuiyu Pavilion was a famous performing arts center in Lanzhou City, attracting a large number of young, beautiful, and well-behaved young men. Unfortunately, it wasn't Xu Qinghe's property, otherwise she could have handled it secretly.
However, it was not easy for her to enter or leave that place with her status. After thinking about it, she instructed Lin Xiao: "Let our people pretend to be guests and go to test the waters."
Cuiyu Pavilion is a great place. Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao couldn't help but smile: "Then what about the cost..."
Xu Qinghe: "You can withdraw it from the account as you see fit."
Suddenly remembering something, she glanced at Lin Xiao and said, "You are still young, don't do anything out of line."
Lin Xiao disagreed with this.
"Ma'am, I'm already twenty."
She pretended to puff out her chest and said proudly, "My wife was this age when she gave birth to the little lady. Don't think I'm young just because I was very young when you first met me."
Xu Qinghe curled her lips slightly: "It's up to you."
Because of what Lin Xiao said during the day, Xu Qinghe couldn't sleep at night.
Suddenly I realized that almost five years had passed.
Even Lin Xiao has grown from a little girl of fourteen or fifteen years old into a big girl.
The five years this time were different from the previous five years when he was trapped in the deep palace after leaving the southern border.
In these five years, she did everything she wanted to do.
First she gave birth to a daughter, and then she set out to return home. Although she only enjoyed life in the princess's mansion for half a year before coming to Lanzhou, she never had a hard time in Lanzhou.
Not to mention the family fortune and manpower she had accumulated in the capital, just the paintings she sold along the way back to the southern border amounted to a considerable sum.
At that time, Xu Qinghe thought that it was fortunate that her mother had hired a famous teacher to teach her painting since she was young, and fortunately, when Daying established the country, the founding emperor liked to collect calligraphy and paintings, so this trend became popular among the people, and the prices of calligraphy and paintings were hyped up to extremely high levels, so that she could profit from it and accumulate family fortune.
Otherwise, it would take a long time to make money from painting.
She had money, and Lin Xiao was a good manager, so it wasn't long before they bought a lot of shops in the city. Their shops were booming, making Lanzhou, which was not very prosperous, even more prosperous.
Therefore, although her identity had never been revealed here, perhaps because she was in charge of a small half of the shops in the city and almost controlled the lifeline of Lanzhou City's commercial route, Governor Qin had always treated her with courtesy, sometimes more like an elder who could answer her questions in time.
And on the second day after Lin Xiao met her, the elder really came to visit.
Xu Qinghe met him in the front hall as usual.
"Everything here is settled. Tomorrow the Marquis will depart for Yingzhou. I plan to host a banquet for him at Guixiang Tower. Why don't you come with us, Boss Xu?"
In front of Governor Qin, Xu Qinghe declined politely: "I have to oversee the shop renovation tomorrow, so I'm afraid I won't be able to be there."
But the governor of Qin said, "That's all right, that's all right. Boss Xu, please decide when is the best day. The Marquis said that we can come as soon as possible."
Xu Qinghe: ...
He had said such harsh things that day. Did this man really have to see her before he left?
She hesitated, "I'm afraid everyone's been busy these past few days. Since this is a farewell banquet, I guess it won't matter if I'm not there. Military matters are important, so please tell the governor to put the overall situation first."
Governor Qin was silent for a moment. "A few days ago, as Boss Xu predicted, Lord Xie came to see me. I responded according to Boss Xu's instructions."
Governor Qin stopped talking here. Even if Xu Qinghe didn't want to know what happened next, he had to say some polite words and ask.
"Then what?"
Governor Qin laughed and said, "I'm afraid all the strong liquor in the city has gone into the Governor's Mansion these days."
Xu Qinghe lowered his eyes.
This has nothing to do with her. It's Xie Qi who doesn't know the difference between the important and the trivial. It has nothing to do with her.
"In fact, I met you once when Princess was young." Governor Qin suddenly said.
Xu Qinghe was stunned.
"That year, I failed the imperial examination and decided to start a small business in the southern border. It happened to be the young princess' birthday. Her words benefited me greatly, so I eventually returned to the path of the imperial examination, passed the examination, and finally reached my current position."
"I thought we would never see each other again, but I never expected that the princess would come to Lanzhou and make such a contribution to Lanzhou."
Seeing her confusion, the governor of Qin said, "Princess, you are so stunningly beautiful that even after so many years, I can still recognize you."
Because she had rarely been to Lanzhou when she was young, and more than ten years had passed, Xu Qinghe thought that no one in the southern border would recognize her. In addition, disguise was indeed troublesome, so she always showed her true face. However, she did not expect that she would be recognized.
But she had no recollection of what Governor Qin said.
The Qin governor laughed and said, "The princess was very young at the time, and so many years have passed. I think she has forgotten it."
Talking about the past, Governor Qin's words were filled with emotion. "So many years have passed, and I've grown old. A while ago, while supervising the construction of a dam in Yunya County, I twisted my back. Since then, I've been in so much pain that I've had no choice but to submit my retirement letter to the court. The new governor is probably on the way now. In less than two weeks, I'll be leaving."
Xu Qinghe didn't say anything, but he had already vaguely guessed what the other party wanted to say.
"I am poor, so I will treat tomorrow's farewell banquet for Lord Xie as my own. I just wonder if I can ask the princess to attend."
Xu Qinghe pursed his lips for a long time, still thinking.
She didn't want to see him again, but she couldn't offend Governor Qin.
Even if there was no so-called old story he mentioned, based on everything that Governor Qin had done for Lanzhou over the years, she should still send him off.
At that time, a voice in her mind asked her: Do you not want to go, or do you dare not go?
——Are you afraid to go?
Is she afraid of seeing Xie Qi?
Of course not.
She wasn't the one who did anything wrong, so why should she be afraid?
"Okay, since this is Governor Qin's farewell banquet, I will definitely be there."
But he didn't mention the other person's name at all.
**
On the day of the banquet, Xu Qinghe did not go alone, she also brought Ping An with her.
"Don't talk nonsense when you get there, got it? If your father finds out about anything, I'll punish Ping An by not allowing him to eat candy figures for the next six months."
Ping'an softly replied, "I understand," but she was puzzled: "Why did Mother bring Ping'an to the adults' banquet?"
Xu Qinghe: "Mom is worried that you will be lonely at home."
Safety:"……"
Why can't I believe it?
Xu Qinghe wanted to take Ping An with him, of course he had other intentions.
She was afraid that Xie Qi would say something inappropriate at the banquet, so bringing Ping An along was a reminder that he was already married and that he should be careful about his behavior.
The same people were present at the banquet as that day. Governor Qin said that he considered this as his farewell banquet, but he did not invite any of his colleagues.
He explained this by saying, "Today is not a day off, so I'm just borrowing the Marquis's favor to have a gathering with all the bosses first. I'll host a banquet for my colleagues in a few days when I have a day off."
Xu Qinghe: “…”
Why doesn't he seem to believe it?
But since the other person said so, she didn't dare to question it. She just added a chair for Ping An next to her.
Ping'an is almost five years old. Now he sits obediently in the armchair and buries his whole little face in the cup when drinking water.
"Mom, why aren't you eating yet?"
She asked in a low voice.
Xu Qinghe wiped the water stains from his daughter's lips with a handkerchief and said softly, "Everyone hasn't arrived yet."
She pinched her daughter's nose again and asked with a smile, "When did you become so greedy?"
Ping'an touched her wrinkled nose and thought, she was not greedy, she asked because she saw that her father had not arrived yet.
After waiting for half a minute, the other protagonist of the farewell banquet finally arrived.
Behind Xie Qi was He Yu, who was holding a few small boxes in his hands.
Xie Qi said, "I bid you farewell today. Thank you all for your generous donation to the Southern Border Army. I will repay you all the money I have lent you.
"What are you talking about, Lord? It is a blessing for us to have the opportunity to serve the Southern Border Army and make some small contribution to the pacification of Nanyi."
Everyone started praising each other. Xu Qinghe said nothing and didn't look over there. He just focused on his daughter who was eating and added more food to her plate from time to time.
Ping'an was fine, and she would look up at her father from time to time.
She discovered that even if his father was talking to someone else, he would always look over at them when he lowered his head while eating or drinking.
When she saw her mother, her eyes sparkled.
When he saw her, his eyes darkened again.
That expression was a bit like when she saw the delicious candy man and her strict mother, happy at first and then unhappy.
It was not until Xie Qi told everyone that he had a farewell gift for them that Xu Qinghe politely looked over with everyone else.
Xie Qi asked He Yu to give the small wooden boxes to everyone one by one.
"It's not a valuable thing, but it's just a thought for you all. If you have any difficulties in the future, Xie Qi will definitely help you with all his strength."
"Mom, what's in it?"
Ping'an poked his head out to look into the box.
Xu Qinghe put the box aside and taught her daughter, "Have you forgotten what I told you? If the gift is placed in the box, you must look at it in private after you have opened it. You cannot open it in front of me."
Ping An curled his lips and stopped asking.
But she clearly saw that her uncles and grandfather beside her took it out and looked at it!
She also wanted to see what her father would give to her mother!
Xu Qinghe refused to open the box because he was afraid that the box might contain some of their old belongings.
After all, when she left the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion, she took nothing with her. Given Xie Qi's personality, after learning that they were no longer destined to be together, he would definitely give her something so that she would have a chance to reminisce about the past and not forget him completely.
This guy is full of tricks.
Perhaps because she brought Ping An with her, or perhaps because this man had really given up, nothing went wrong at the banquet. An hour later, everyone dispersed and left.
Xu Qinghe ordered someone to send Ping An home, while he stayed behind to check the accounts.
Since the armistice, Guixianglou's business has been much more prosperous than before. Although the accounts are complicated, it seems that a lot of effort has been put into it.
So when everything was over, it was almost midnight.
Because it was the beginning of the month, the moon in the sky was not round or bright, and today was a cloudy day, so there was no light outside except for the lights.
Xu Qinghe sat for almost a whole day and didn't want to take a car when he went home, so he simply walked back with his two female warriors.
This is Lanzhou, the security is very good and there is nothing to worry about.
Two military servants each held a lantern in their hands and surrounded Xu Qinghe.
There were no people on the streets at this hour. The three of them walked through the empty streets, and for a moment they felt a chill on their backs.
Xu Qinghe looked at the sky and was afraid that it was going to rain, so he decided to speed up his pace.
When I turned the corner, I suddenly heard the sound of ceramics cracking in front of me, followed by the aroma of wine.
The two warriors immediately became alert, one guarded her while the other held a lantern to watch.
Xu Qinghe felt a little nervous, fearing that they might encounter a drunkard who would act crazy.
After a while, the military attendant who had gone to check on the situation came back and reported, "Madam, it's Lord Xie."
The heart was slowly put back into its place.
【Author’s words】
New Provincial Governor's Key Points, To Be Tested [Lemon]
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