57 Chapter 57
◎ Would you be willing to take action against your ex-lover?◎
Xu Qinghe is indeed much better today.
The traces of the rash have faded very lightly, the swelling in my throat has subsided, and my strength has mostly recovered.
But today, when she went to the Zhuming Pavilion to keep her appointment, she still pretended to be speechless in order to hide her identity and gain people's sympathy.
But she didn't want to return to the Prince's Mansion so soon just because she was well again.
"Prince, if you have something to say, just say it." Xu Qinghe turned his head to the side to avoid the scorching breath from the other person.
Seeing the reluctance on her face, Wei Che moved away and sat back in his original seat.
"Then I'll be frank. Since you've already met the person you wanted to see, why not come back with me now?"
He actually knew the purpose of his trip?
Xu Qinghe was startled for a moment, but only for a moment.
After all, this is a person who can sneak into the palace late at night. What does it matter if he finds out his whereabouts?
However, living under such surveillance still made her look wary.
Wei Che chuckled lightly, somewhat helplessly: "Are you angry already? You're a married woman, and you're secretly meeting your lover. I, your legal husband, am not even angry yet, but you're the first to get angry."
Xu Qinghe remained silent, still not saying a word, but his expression became even colder.
But he remembered that he had indeed met Wei Ming accidentally just now.
Wei Che stared at her for a long moment before finally saying, "I wasn't following you, nor did I intend to inquire about your whereabouts. I just happened to be having a drink at the restaurant across from the Bamboo Tea House today and saw you. ...Oh, and your eldest son, Wei."
Xu Qinghe's expression eased a little.
His reaction really seemed like he was jealous because he saw Wei Ming entering the same teahouse with him.
"Whatever the prince says is what it is. I will go back with you." She said smoothly, but did not explain that it was just a coincidence that she met Wei Ming today.
After returning to the Qi Mansion, Xu Qinghe explained to Jing'an that he was about to return to the Fuguo Mansion.
Princess Jing'an was shocked and asked, "So urgent? You haven't recovered yet, why are you going back there?"
Xu Qinghe accidentally ate quite a few peanuts this time, but her symptoms were very mild, only because she was well prepared.
Ever since she announced at the Wei Mansion that she couldn't eat peanuts last time, she guessed that someone with ulterior motives might take advantage of this to do something bad, so she prepared some medicine as a precaution.
On the day of her wedding, she took medicine in advance, which could make her experience the symptoms of eating peanuts without endangering her life. She also took the opportunity to secretly force Wei Che to help her leave the house.
Now that her goal of earning money as a private painter has been achieved, it is really not appropriate for her to continue to bother the Qi Mansion like this.
While the two sisters were still bidding farewell to each other, the Wei family's carriage in front of the Qi Mansion had already occupied half of the street.
There were countless servants and guards surrounding the carriage in front and behind, and dozens of boxes and baskets of gifts following behind.
"Thank you Princess Jing'an for taking care of the princess these past two days. I have prepared a small gift to show my gratitude."
Jing'an looked up at the "small gift" he mentioned and was slightly surprised.
These small gifts are probably equivalent to the dowry given by ordinary families in Beijing.
Qinghe had just said that she was going back to the Fuguogong Mansion, and Prince Wei came up with so many small gifts out of thin air. He did it so quickly, so he must have already made plans to take her away.
For a moment, Jing'an was a little confused about the attitude of Prince Wei.
Not only him, but also the common people in the capital and even Emperor Yongshun in the palace could not quite see past this boy.
"He himself requested the imperial decree granting the marriage, but his wife was driven away by his insistence on taking a concubine. Now he's inviting her back with such fanfare to save face. Wei Qing, I really can't see your son clearly."
In the palace where Emperor Yongshun was discussing matters with his close ministers, Wei Yiqun stood below with a slight smile.
"I hope Your Majesty will understand. This boy has been a scoundrel for a long time. Even I myself cannot keep him under control sometimes. Now, thanks to Your Majesty's love, you have granted him a marriage, but he keeps acting up again and again. How can he be the steady man of a married family? When I return home, I will discipline him properly. If that doesn't work, I will send him to the military camp to gain some experience."
Emperor Yongshun felt that this was wrong. "No matter what, he is still Wei Qing's son. How can he be thrown into a place like the military camp to train? Wei Qing is willing to let him go, and I, as his uncle, can't either. It just so happens that the affairs of the Imperial Guard are being reformed now, so let Che'er follow the prince consort to train together."
Wei Yiqun thanked him respectfully, and took the opportunity to praise the son-in-law for his promising young age, saying that His Majesty was delighted to have such a good son-in-law, and that the Daying Dynasty would have a long and prosperous history.
Emperor Yongshun was so flattered that he was beaming with joy. Naturally, he thought of his daughter whom he had sent out for marriage. After Wei Yiqun left, he ordered someone to send rewards to Princess Jing'an.
In the warm orange light of dusk, a large group of palace servants carried rewards into the Qi Mansion.
Within just half a day, the Qi Mansion received two groups of valuable gifts, which made Princess Jing'an flattered.
It was a pity that Xu Qinghe had already left, leaving her with no way to express all her questions and surprises.
However, she had no idea that Xu Qinghe, who had left an hour ago, had not returned to the Prince's Mansion yet, but was enjoying delicious food in the best restaurant in Beijing.
"Why are you here instead of taking me back to meet the Duke and his wife?"
Xu Qinghe smelled the spicy aroma on the table and his appetite was indeed aroused, but he could no longer act recklessly without regard for etiquette.
After all, she is now the new bride of the Wei family. What would it look like for her to hang out outside all day?
Wei Che said, "The Duke had just entered the palace when I left. He probably hasn't left the palace yet. Even if we go back, we'll still have to wait for him to come back. Why bother? We might as well come here and fill our stomachs first."
He picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of double pepper fish fillet, removed the bones and placed it on the plate in front of Xu Qinghe.
“Although I don’t know when the princess recovered, it’s better to eat less of this kind of stimulating dishes. I believe the princess will take care of her body and won’t eat too much, right?” Wei Che looked over with a smile.
Xu Qinghe looked down at the dishes on the table. Which one was not spicy and numbing?
Knowing that she can't eat it, he still ordered so much and showed off here. It's so infuriating!
She glared at Wei Che, and without touching the piece of fish that Wei Che had cut for her, she just picked up another piece for herself.
The fish meat was smooth and tender in her mouth. She realized belatedly that it only smelled spicy, but it was not that stimulating when she ate it. Instead, it was very mild.
Wei Che said, "This is the best restaurant in the capital, and the kitchen staff are all talented. Since the princess is so talented, then let's smell the food first and try some truly spicy and delicious dishes later."
Xu Qinghe said nothing, but just lowered his head to eat.
He seemed to take really good care of her, even taking into account the detail that she loved spicy food but couldn't eat it now.
Since arriving in Beijing, apart from Jing'an and Chen Fei, no one else has been able to take care of him as well as his old friend from the southern border.
Xu Qinghe's heart moved slightly, and he couldn't help but think of the past, which was mostly bitterness. Soon, a layer of mist covered his eyes.
Wei Che's expression changed slightly, and he scooped a spoonful of the Mapo Tofu she was eating.
This thing isn't spicy, so why does it make me cry?
"If you can't eat all this, shall we change to another table?" Wei Che asked cautiously.
Xu Qinghe looked over with tears in her eyes, and met Wei Che's worried eyes.
She shook her head, took a few more bites of the food on the table without interest, and then put down her chopsticks.
Wei Che didn't know that she had lost her appetite because she was thinking about the past, he just thought that these dishes were not to her taste. When he set off to return home, he bought a few hot donkey meat buns from a stall, but she still didn't eat a single bite.
On the carriage back to the mansion, Wei Che saw the girl in front of him with her eyes downcast, and knew that she was reluctant to return to the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion.
But he was not a generous person. The situation forced them to separate, and gave Wei Ming the opportunity to be with her for five years.
Now that the two of them have rekindled their relationship and are already married, how could he be so heartless as to let his beloved live outside the house and be taken advantage of by someone with ulterior motives?
He didn't know what Wei Ming had said to her today, or how she reacted. He just wanted to keep the person in his care.
She will always fall in love with him again as they spend more time together.
Just like before.
"...If you don't want to come back to the mansion for tea, just continue to pretend to be sick and go back to Fenghe Courtyard. Leave everything to me and just say that I brought you back by force."
Xu Qinghe looked up, blinked blankly, and said after a while: "No need, I came back with you to visit my parents today, you can do one thing for me, so that we won't owe each other anything."
Wei Che: ...
I really don't know how she said "we owe each other nothing", it was obvious that she was ordering him around unscrupulously.
But he still responded: "What does the princess want me to do?"
Xu Qinghe: "Help me check on the Fourth Young Master Wei."
Today, she was at Zhuming Pavilion and painted a portrait based on what Mr. Jiang said. That person happened to be the Fourth Young Master of Wei.
The fourth young master of Wei was dressed in coarse linen clothes. He suddenly turned around in the thunder on a rainy night, and his usually arrogant face was full of fear.
"The Yuzhou disaster victims who were bullied by the Cen family are still staying in Migu Town. The Wei and Cen families have already married, and are now one. Since this matter has been suppressed by the Wei family, we must find the Wei family's fault and find an opportunity to force Cen Liangping to tell us what happened back then."
She analyzed it clearly, but when she looked up, she met Wei Che's teasing gaze: "... Princess, are you really willing to give it up?"
Xu Qinghe was confused: "Why would I be reluctant to give it up?"
Only after the words fell did she realize that he was referring to the fact that since she had feelings for Wei Ming, how could she attack the Wei family.
Xu Qinghe: ...
"In my heart, nothing can compare to the truth of that year." She said calmly.
Wei Che seemed to be lost in thought. After a moment, he spoke, "If the Duke of Fuguo's Mansion had contributed to the casualties among the Southern Border Army, would the princess have attacked me first?"
Xu Qinghe nodded without hesitation: "Of course."
For what happened in the past, she was willing to sacrifice even her own marriage, let alone others.
But she also knew that Wei Che was just joking.
After all, when the Xie family was falsely accused of collaborating with the enemy, Yi Qun was the only one in the court who spoke up to plead for them and asked Emperor Yongshun to investigate the matter in detail.
Later, when Emperor Yongshun handed over the military power of the southern border army to him, he repeatedly declined until the Nanyi Kingdom made another unusual move on the border, and then he was forced to lead the troops to fight.
What's more, she remembered that Xie Qitong had mentioned that Wei Yiqun and General Xie had a very close relationship and were brothers who had fought together on the battlefield.
It was not until today, when the belated bride offered tea, that she actually met this upright Duke of Fuguo.
The other party was indeed a great general who had returned from the battlefield. Just sitting there was enough to inspire awe in people, but it also reminded her of her father and mother.
They were all generals in the army, and their majesty was almost engraved in their bones. However, when facing their only daughter, all their toughness and cruelty turned into tenderness.
Xu Qinghe thought of the past, as if looking back through the elders at the table above him, and he called out with some sincerity, "Father, Mother."
Wei Che lowered his eyes and clenched his hands tightly behind his back.
But this strangeness only lasted for a moment. The next moment, he became unruly again, holding Xu Qinghe's hand and walking towards Fenghe Courtyard, saying sorry to his elders in an incoherent manner.
"It's getting late. My son shouldn't disturb you any further. I'll leave with the princess first!"
Only Lady Zhao Wan, the wife of the Duke of Fuguo, was left there, angrily scolding him for being unruly.
Wei Yiqun, who was also a man, was leisurely sipping the tea offered by his daughter-in-law, his eyes slightly narrowed.
It is said that a short separation is better than a new marriage, but his son has even had a proper wedding night. Now he has experienced another short separation. How can he not be anxious?
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