Chapter 107 Liar
The indifferent look disappeared after the East Palace guards knocked on the door of the Jian family. Si Li looked at her aunt in disbelief, "Isn't Sister Qingya engaged?"
Besides, these two people don’t have much contact with each other, right?
Mrs. Jian led her out, her heart in turmoil as well. She could only repeat over and over again, "Don't be afraid, Ah Li, don't be afraid."
With more shocking news, everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to the gate of the Jian family in West City. However, they were afraid that the imperial guards would not be able to approach them, so they crowded together and watched the situation from a distance. More and more people came to join in the fun. Even on the best streets in West City, people were standing on ladders and looking from afar. None of the owners in the Si Mansion were there, so the little girls also raised their heads to join in the fun.
Qinglian was one of them. The maids around Sitang had been replaced since she returned from the Prince of Yue's Mansion. She could only do some cleaning work in the main courtyard. She was just being lazy at the moment, so she climbed on the ladder and lay on the eaves to look into the distance. The maids who didn't dare to go up asked in a low voice, "Sister Qinglian, what's going on? It's so lively."
The other maids in the main courtyard who looked down on Qinglian glared at the younger maids and avoided the area where they might be scolded by the housekeeper, but they also pricked up their ears to find out what was going on outside. Qinglian, the only one who was brave enough, lay on the roof, unable to speak for a long time. She wiped her eyes again and again, and still saw the prince's team leading the wild geese to the door of the Jian family. Her heart was clenched into a ball, regretful and afraid. When she was asked by the little maid again, she screamed "Ah" and fainted on the roof.
The maids who were gathered together were startled and scattered like birds and beasts.
Mrs. Jane, who was at the center of attention, was also a little nervous. She held Si Li's hand and nodded to the doorman. The door creaked open and the team outside just dismounted.
The fluttering corners of the red robe blocked Si Li's sight for a moment. When the robe fell to the ground, she saw that the always cold and indifferent Crown Prince had a different expression from the past few times. He looked unhappy, but also seemed to be unable to suppress his joy. His eyes looked familiar, as if Jiang Shizhi had looked at her before. In a pool of spring water, only her was reflected.
"Greetings—"
Before Si Li could finish her words, Jiang Hengyun, who was holding the wild goose in one hand, reached out and stopped her from bowing. His hand touched Si Li's wrist, and his palm was warm, but a little wet, as if he was nervous before a battle. Such contact was really too rude for unmarried men and women. Jiang Hengyun separated as soon as he touched her, and his body returned to its original position, but his outstretched hand was still in place.
"Your Highness." Madam Jian took the lead and blocked Si Li behind her. Si Li looked at the gaze following her from the side. The young man cast from ice and snow slowly raised the corners of his lips. His gentle smile was like a blooming spring flower. Even the sunshine in winter was not as bright as it was at this moment.
"Li Li, why don't you wait for me?"
The tone was familiar, the movements were intimate, if Si Li was more obsessed with looks, she might have stepped forward and held his hand in a daze. But even so, Si Li was still dazed for a moment, relying on the firm thoughts in her mind to maintain her composure, "Your Highness, did you recognize the wrong person?" She gave a reason stubbornly and smiled.
Jiang Hengyun lowered his eyes, his hands still stubbornly suspended in the air. The pair of wild goose feathers that were lifted up shone with a dark golden luster, which was very beautiful. The loss and grievance emanating from him also lowered their heads humanely.
The girls in the crowd who came to watch the ice beauty softened, holding their chests and breathing coldly, only regretting that it was not them who were standing opposite. Seeing Si Li's rejection, they felt their hearts were about to break. Most of the Kyoto residents who had never experienced the shock of His Royal Highness's appearance were in a dazed state of happiness, listening to the old residents next to them talking about the grand scene when the God of War returned to Beijing and the streets were empty.
Following Mrs. Jian, Si Tang arrived near the gate of the Jian family. Since she was not the host, she did not go forward to greet the guests. She just stood not far away and watched. Her eyes gradually became bloodshot. Her chest was almost exploded with anger. She clenched her mother's arm, "Mom, look, look at her!"
However, her coquettishness and complaints had lost their effect bit by bit. Mrs. Si, who was twisting her prayer beads, saw the scene in front of Jian's house. In the past, she had never been able to find Si Li's whereabouts. The last time her daughter made trouble, she was scolded by the "Prince of Yue" and Liu After the Xiao family's frightening incident, the three things were connected together, and an almost impossible answer appeared in front of her. She smiled bitterly, "Qiyun Tower was originally left by the queen. This is possible. It must be Si Li’s fate.”
The head of the clan affairs office, who had been forced to ride with the two men, wiped the sweat off his forehead, finally got rid of his weak legs, and stood between the two men, "Today, we have the eldest daughter of the Si family, who is both virtuous and talented..."
Wow - he really is here to propose marriage! Zong Zheng's voice was like water falling into a frying pan, stirring up the noises in front of the Jian family's door. Envious and jealous eyes all fell on Si Li, but Jiang Hengyun, who noticed the unfriendly looks everywhere, stepped forward to block them.
After Zong Zheng read out a long paragraph that sounded like a rote phrase, Si Li slowly realized that the main idea was to propose marriage.
But how could this be possible? She knew very well that the one who proposed marriage to her was Jiang Shizhi. She nodded and agreed. He had a sister who was Princess Jinhe. So what if she was envied by others? So what if she was prettier than Jiang Shizhi? He was not Jiang Shizhi.
Si Li took a step back. The speculations that had been covered up with absurdity and impossibility in the past slowly surfaced. Her eyes suddenly fell on Jiang Hengyun's hands, which were very familiar to her.
"I, I..." Si Li managed to catch her thoughts in shock. It was not a good idea to reject the proposal of the future ruler, the prince, in public. "I need to think about it."
"Ali? Don't be afraid." Amid the booing and enthusiastic congratulations, Madam Jian squeezed Si Li's hand to calm her down, and her expression when she looked at the other person was ugly, "Your Highness, please come in and tell me."
Si Li was dragged into the house by Madam Jian in a daze. The imperial guards from the Eastern Palace carrying gifts followed them in. Many soldiers lined up around the Jian family's house to evacuate more and more civilians.
Seeing that the excitement was over, the people of West City slowly dispersed under the might of the imperial guards, gathering in groups of three or four to talk about the rumors. "Isn't it said that Miss Si and the Prince of Yue's Mansion..."
"I always see the Prince of Yue at Wanglaiju..."
"No, none of you are right. Didn't the Prince of Yue send a gift from the East Palace to Wanglaiju? In my opinion, the Prince acted as a matchmaker for Yingying!"
"Eh, that seems to be true..."
With all sorts of speculation, this pile of gossip did not develop in a strange direction. Instead, because the prince had always been cold and unpopular, speculation that he needed a matchmaker to act as a matchmaker became rampant.
——In a sense, that's true.
Zhong Liuru, who was working overtime to save the reputation of his own prince and the Crown Princess, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the rumors were not going in the wrong direction. "The rest depends on you, Your Highness."
Jiang Hengyun, who boasted that he would arrange other things, followed Mrs. Jian into the Jian family's gate. The first love of a young man is always too obvious. In Mrs. Jian's eyes, the way Jiang Hengyun looked at Si Li could even be described as blatant, which made her even more angry.
"I was going to find a suitable time to tell you." Madam Jian pulled Si Li to sit down. She really couldn't give a good face to the young man in front of her. She coaxed Si Li softly, "In fact, you have guessed a lot, right?"
Jiang Hengyun took a step forward, "Yingzhou, I..."
"No, I don't want to listen." Si Li broke away Mrs. Jian's hand, and rushed out of the room with her skirt lifted up in a very ungraceful manner, "Get out of the way! Open the door!" She was so angry that she didn't even care about the two tricks of getting on and off a horse that she had barely learned from Xiao Qi's later instruction. She only wanted to rush to Qiyun Tower and find Jiang Shizhi, who might be there, to ask him for clarification.
Maybe it's true, maybe it's false, she just wants an answer.
"A Li!" Seeing Si Li climb onto the horse, Mrs. Jian's face turned pale. Just as she was about to ask someone to go up and stop him, she saw someone rushing out before her.
Two figures were galloping on their horses. Fortunately, the imperial guards cleared the way and prevented any accidents. When Si Li reined in her horse in front of the gate of the residence, she was almost thrown out by the horse. The figure in black clothes who was galloping behind her snatched the reins from her hands and shouted, "Call—"
"Jiang, Shizhi?" Si Li didn't dare to look back. After receiving the confirmation voice, he got off the horse with soft hands and feet.
The sound of galloping horses had already startled the royal court that was coming and going. Seeing Si Li and the prince enter the gate one after another, his eyelids began to twitch for no reason.
Si Li stopped in front of the small door on the courtyard wall, staring at the big lock. She had thousands of words but could not utter any of them until the man behind her said in a calm voice, "I said, wait for me to propose marriage. I like you, Yingzhou, will you agree?" It was the familiar voice of Jiang Shizhi.
"It was Jiang Shizhi who came to propose marriage." Si Li corrected herself. Her heart was pounding. The feelings that had never been brought up in the past were finally spoken out in person. Her heart was pounding and she was confused for a moment.
"That's good." Jiang Shizhi seemed to smile, his voice gentle, "Ali, can you look at me?"
Beauty may be a natural gift for seducing people. Si Li clearly noticed the change in the voice, but still turned around in the gentle voice. The young man who took off his red robe and put on an ordinary black robe was very poorly disguised. The moment Si Li met his eyes, he took off the mask on his face, "I'm sorry for hiding it from you for so long."
In the past, Si Li felt that the plot of people being instantly stunned by the veil or mask falling off was too old-fashioned, but now she was truly stunned by the looks of the two faces before and after. Even though she had just seen that face not long ago, she still found it a little hard to breathe.
The immortal has fallen into the mortal world, and the flowers are in full bloom. Countless romantic stories cannot describe the tenderness of this moment.
The somewhat childish face of Jiang Lang instantly turned into Jiang Hengyun. The subtle disharmony between childishness and tallness that she felt when she first met "Jiang Lang" completely disappeared. It could not be said that the other party was deceiving her. Countless hints were right in front of her, but she didn't take them seriously. Si Li held her eyes and smiled bitterly.
"It's my fault." Si Li finally spoke, "I am stupid, and I am glad to have added a little insignificant fun to your life, but please allow me to take my leave here."
"Yingzhou?!" Jiang Hengyun's smiling face changed. He pursed his lips, and walked forward helplessly to hold Si Li.
Si Li dodged, lowered her head, and walked out the door, "Sorry, Your Highness, I want to be quiet. If you like this place, I can go to another place."
"No, I'm leaving." Jiang Hengyun slowly backed away until he disappeared.
Si Li guessed that he might be watching her from the Qiyun Building next door, but she was too incapable of caring. She stood blankly in the yard for a moment, then went to the front hall to find Wang Ting to remove the menu of the limited dishes at Wanglaiju.
Seeing Si Li's pale and dazed expression, Wang Ting wanted to ask what happened, but he didn't say anything. He removed the menu without saying a word, and asked Ah Zhu to follow Si Li back to her room to rest. Xiao Qi walked in and saw Si Li's ghostly steps forward, and was immediately startled, "Xiao Si?"
"Ah, it's you." Si Li looked up, but her eyes were unfocused. "Do you know who Jiang Mingchen is?"
Xiao Qi looked a little scared when she saw her. She waved to Liu Weiling, who had come with her to thank Si Li, to go find a doctor. She smiled as always, "Jiang Mingchen? Isn't he the Princess Fei who I only see a few times a year?"
Ah Fei, Ah Fei.
"Oh."
Si Li lowered her head and smiled, dragging her feet forward, "I'm a little tired, you can find something to eat by yourself, okay?"
It turned out that everyone knew that something was wrong, but she was the only one who covered her ears and stayed in the dark, not even willing to think about the possibility that there was something wrong with that person.
Sure enough, what Jiang Rufei said was true, Jiang Shizhi was a liar.
--------------------
The author has something to say:
In Chapter 91, the princess said that her brother was a liar.
Alas, the prince is not a bad guy who does bad things. Just be gentle when scolding him. After this setback, he will have his coming-of-age ceremony and get married. It will take some time to finish. If the update is normal, it should be finished by the end of the month. Don't worry. If you want to catch up, you can read other stories in the column. The next one will be published in June. Love you~