31 Chapter 31
◎Princess, why do you want to hurt me?◎
It is windy in the capital city in spring, and another gust of wind blew at this time, causing the bamboos near the teahouse to collide with each other, and the branches and leaves rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.
This kind of thing was common, so Minister Wei did not take it seriously and just stuck his head out as usual.
There was no one outside, but in the teahouse courtyard separated by a wall, the bamboo forest rustled, and a few branches and leaves fluttered down, being blown by the wind into the courtyard of the study.
Minister Wei left the window, turned around and looked around the entire study, looked up again before leaving, and finally left with peace of mind.
"Guard the study and don't let anyone in."
"yes."
Inside the teahouse courtyard separated by a wall, Xu Qinghe opened his eyes in disbelief.
"You...didn't he notice just now?"
Wei Che raised his eyebrows and said proudly, "Of course not. It was all thanks to that gust of wind. The wind was strong enough to cover up the sound of us climbing over the wall."
He smiled and pushed the bamboo beside him again. "Later, I deliberately shook these bamboos, and the bamboo leaves made a sound. Even if he heard something before, he would just confuse it with the sound of bamboo leaves."
Xu Qinghe was amazed at the man's kung fu, as he was able to carry her and even hide the sounds of his movements in the wind.
With such ability and being born in the Prince of the State's Mansion, it is hard not to make the emperor wary of him.
No wonder he hid his strength and was willing to be a notorious and incompetent prince.
After Minister Wei left, the two of them went back in and finished reading the files and letters that they had not found on the bookshelf.
And then ended up with nothing.
How could that be? Didn't Minister Wei leave the secret letter at home? Or was it not in his study?
If not in the study, where else would it be, the bedroom?
Xu Qinghe was puzzled and looked around every corner of the study. Not only did they check the visible areas, but they also checked the dark corners. For example, she had even touched under the desk with her own hands.
The study wasn't big, and they had searched every inch...
No, not every inch.
Xu Qinghe suddenly looked up.
Wei Che also looked over at her and instantly understood what she meant.
He flew onto the beam of the house. On top of the beam, in a dark place that was difficult to see from the ground, there was indeed a palm-sized wooden box. When he opened the box, he saw a letter inside.
Wei Che returned to the ground with the box and the letter. The two opened the letter and found that what was written inside was exactly what happened that year, which was the secret letter from that year.
Xu Qinghe was delighted. In order to prevent Minister Wei from finding out that the letter had been stolen, she had prepared a replacement piece of letter paper.
Wei Che took out the secret letter and put it in his arms. Xu Qinghe glanced at him, seemingly dissatisfied, but did not get angry at the moment. Instead, he quickly replaced the blank letter paper in his arms.
Then he repacked the envelope and put it into the wooden box, and finally Wei Che put it back to its original place.
Who knew whether Minister Wei would come back? The two men did not dare to delay. They pretended that no one had been there and returned the same way, returning to the teahouse courtyard separated by a wall.
As soon as he landed, before Wei Che could even open his mouth, a sharp blade with a cold glow was pressed against his neck.
Xu Qinghe approached him with a dagger in his hand, his face grim.
But Wei Che still smiled and asked in a low voice: "What do you mean, Princess?"
"Give me back the secret letter." Xu Qinghe moved the dagger an inch closer, pressing it tightly against the side of his neck.
The handle of this dagger was inlaid with several rubies, and it was the one Wei Che gave her that night.
"Princess, I gave you the dagger, but not for you to kill me." He was still so casual and didn't believe that Xu Qinghe would really hurt him.
"Give me back the secret letter," she repeated.
Wei Che: "Princess, just tell me what you want this for, and I will return it to you."
Xu Qinghe: "Then tell me first, what do you want this for?"
The two men confronted each other silently. The wind blew again, and the bamboo leaves above their heads rustled, and a few pieces fell down in a swirling sound.
It fell on the blade of Xu Qinghe.
She thrust the dagger in another inch, leaving a bloody mark on Wei Che's neck.
"Give me."
"If Princess wants to take it, just come and get it yourself. Why hurt me?" Wei Che sighed and spread out his hands, as if letting her do what she wants.
Xu Qinghe freed one hand and felt inside his clothes, and sure enough, he felt the letter. After confirming that it was a secret letter, he took away the dagger and turned away.
Wei Che looked at her back and smiled silently.
The letter was indeed more useful in her hands than in his.
**
In the guest room of Wei's house, Nanzhi and Lin Xiao were running around in a panic.
The princess has been gone for half an hour, and now there is only half an hour left before the birthday banquet begins. What should I do if someone comes to look for her?
Lin Xiao was so anxious that he suddenly stood up and rushed to the door, "I'm going out to look for the princess!"
"No!" Nanzhi hurriedly called her back and quickly took a set of the princess's dress. "Put on the princess's clothes first."
"This..." Lin Xiao was puzzled.
She was petite to begin with, not as tall as the princess, and others could tell at a glance that she was a fake. However, Nanzhi, although not as tall as the princess, could probably pass herself off as such, and was still better than herself.
"Sister Nanzhi, why don't you come?"
Nanzhi shook her head and said as she helped her get dressed, "I'm the princess's personal maid. Others have already recognized me. Only when I'm here will others believe that it's the princess beside me."
"But my figure is not similar to the princess's. Won't I be discovered at the first sight?" Lin Xiao said worriedly.
"Don't worry about it. The princess has already made arrangements. Just trust her and put on your clothes first."
Lin Xiao had no choice but to assume that the princess really had a solution, and cooperated with Nanzhi obediently to put on the clothes that were a little too big for her.
Nanzhi had just changed her clothes and put away the old palace maid clothes that Lin Xiao had taken off, when she heard the sound of conversation outside the door.
"The feast is about to begin. Why did the princess disappear after meeting with my brother?"
Hearing the voice that sounded like Miss Wei's, Nanzhi hurriedly pulled Lin Xiao to lie down on the bunk bed in the room and lowered the curtains layer by layer.
"Don't say anything later. No matter what they say, don't make a sound. Do you understand?"
Lin Xiao nodded repeatedly, "I understand. I won't say a word."
At this time, the maid outside reported: "I took the princess to the bamboo forest, and the eldest master asked me to leave..."
"Asshole!" Miss Wei suddenly slapped the maid and asked angrily, "You mean it's my brother's fault?"
"I dare not..."
"Don't be angry, young lady. The most important thing now is to find someone." Miss Wei's personal maid advised, "The princess came on behalf of the Queen Mother and will definitely need to show up at the banquet later. We should find her first."
Nanzhi in the house heard the noise, took a deep breath, pinched her thigh, and her eyes suddenly became hot and misty.
She opened the door and said in a tearful voice, "Second Miss Wei, the princess is here."
Miss Wei Er immediately noticed something was wrong with her face and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong with the princess?"
Nanzhi welcomed the person in, shedding tears as she spoke, "The princess just came out of the bamboo forest and changed her clothes here. But right after she changed her clothes, she discovered a large rash all over her body, and even on her face... on her face..."
"How could it be?" Miss Wei was shocked. Today was their family's banquet, and all the food and utensils were from the Wei family. If something happened to Xu Qinghe, wouldn't it be the Wei family's fault?
That’s not the problem, the most important thing is, if something happens to her under his nose, how will she explain to her eldest brother?
"But what's wrong with today's diet?" asked Miss Wei Er, as she was about to lift the bed curtains.
"Miss, you can't!" Nanzhi quickly held her hand down and cried, "Girls value appearance the most. The princess's face has become... Please save some face for the princess!"
Miss Wei Er could understand this. When she was young, she had a serious illness and was almost emaciated. She felt that she was extremely ugly, so she just wanted to stay in her room all day and didn't even want to see her parents and brothers.
only……
"I've been here for so long, why hasn't the princess said anything?"
Lin Xiao gritted his teeth inside the bed curtain, his heart pounding so hard that it almost jumped out of his chest.
Nanzhi continued, "When the princess was ten years old, she accidentally ate the immortality fruit in the southern border. Immediately, her body was covered in rashes. Later, her throat swelled up and she couldn't speak. In the end, she almost lost her life..."
Longevity fruit...
Miss Wei Er recalled that among the cakes served today, there seemed to be one made by crushing the longan into powder. If you looked with the naked eye, you couldn't tell what it was.
"Someone, go find the palace doctor!"
Nanzhi prostrated herself on the ground and said gratefully, "Thank you, Second Miss Wei!"
Miss Wei helped her up and sighed, "This matter happened in the Wei Mansion, so it should naturally be resolved by the Wei Mansion. But since the princess has been feeling unwell for a long time, why don't you come to me quickly, or ask someone to find a doctor?"
Nanzhi sobbed, "When the princess first developed the rash, she knew she might have accidentally eaten the immortality fruit. But today is Old Master Wei's birthday banquet, and the young lady has to entertain the guests. How could she dare to bother the young lady? I originally thought it would be fine since she didn't eat much, but then she started to lose her voice. I was at a loss and was about to go look for the young lady when she happened to find me."
She spoke sincerely and Miss Wei had no doubts. She just stared anxiously at the figure inside the bed curtain, waiting for the court doctor to arrive.
But in the end, she didn't get the palace doctor, but instead got her eldest brother's maid.
"Second Miss, the banquet is about to begin. The eldest master wants you to come over quickly."
Nanzhi wiped the tears from her face and said sincerely to the Second Miss Wei, "Since the birthday banquet is about to begin, Second Miss, please go and take care of it. I will wait here for the palace physician to arrive. However, given the princess's condition today, I'm afraid she won't be able to attend. Please convey my apologies to her."
Miss Wei nodded and said, "Okay, I'll come to see the princess as soon as I'm done with my work. Please take good care of her."
Then he said to the person inside the bed curtain, "Princess, it is important that you rest and don't overthink. It was the Wei family's mistake in the food that prevented the princess from attending the birthday banquet. I will apologize to the princess first."
Lin Xiao nodded inside the bed curtain, agreeing.
Miss Wei Er left with peace of mind. After she left, Nanzhi and Lin Xiao both breathed a sigh of relief.
Now I just hope the princess can come back soon.
The two sat facing each other anxiously. After about half a minute, there was a noise coming from the back window of the room.
Nanzhi hurried to see who it was and called out in a low voice with joy, "Princess!"
This time, Xu Qinghe also climbed in through the window. After coming in, he took off his coat and asked Nanzhi about the situation.
Nanzhi called Lin Xiao out, and the two of them changed the princess's clothes together and briefly recounted what had just happened.
Xu Qinghe listened attentively and nodded.
As soon as he entered the flower hall, he smelled the aroma of the longan in the dessert on the table, so he came up with this plan and told Nanzhi.
If she could come back in time, she would attend the banquet as usual. If not, she would let Nanzhi and Lin Xiao use this excuse to delay time.
"Where are the things?" After changing her clothes, she looked at Nanzhi.
Nanzhi hesitated and said, "Princess, since Miss Wei Er has no doubts, let's not go this far..."
"No." Xu Qinghe shook his head. "The court doctor is coming soon. I can hide it from Second Miss Wei, but I can't hide it from the court doctor."
Nanzhi had no choice but to take out the longevity fruit she had found somewhere else.
Xu Qinghe looked at the plump white longan fruits lying in the handkerchief. The strange itching on her body and the pain of the swollen throat at the age of ten made her hands tremble, but she finally gritted her teeth, picked up the fruits and put them in her mouth.
Not long after, she began to feel itchy all over her body again, and her face was itchy and painful. Her throat also began to swell, and even swallowing became difficult.
Just then, there was finally a knock on the door.
"Princess, the court doctor is here, please open the door."
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