Chapter 212 An Explanation
The wound on Qiao Wanyan's arm has scabbed and healed, and with Yun Heng's medical treatment, the scar has also begun to fade.
Ziyuan peeled the grapes for her and put them on the plate. "Miss, it looks like it's going to rain outside."
Qiao Wanyan took a small fork and ate a grape, the juice splashing in her mouth, sweet as honey.
She opened the window and looked outside. The sky was covered with dark clouds. Soon, fine rain began to fall from the sky continuously.
"It looks like the exam will be held soon."
Zi Yuan was a little surprised why she suddenly brought up this matter. The eldest branch of the Qiao family had few descendants, and the young lady did not have any brothers or sisters who wanted to take the imperial examinations.
She remembered that the second son of the second house seemed to be taking the imperial examination this year. Could it be that the young lady was worried about the second son? But the young lady was not very familiar with him.
"I heard that this year's imperial examination will be personally presided over by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with the assistance of the Ministry of Rites. I don't know who will win the first place this year."
Qiao Wanyan didn't say anything.
Who else could it be? Of course it was his father’s most valued disciple, Xu Shujian.
From the child examination, provincial examination, metropolitan examination to the palace examination, Xu Shujian had a smooth journey and easily won the first place.
By the way, Xu Shujian was a very good painter. The picture of herself lying on the couch that she drew for herself is still hanging in Yongning Pavilion.
The rain was falling harder and harder. The ministers arrived at the city gate first, got off their carriages and kowtowed to the emperor.
Qiao Wanyan should have gotten off the car, but Jingyuan, who was beside the prince, came over and told her that she didn't need to get off, so she was able to avoid getting wet by the rain.
It was a long time after the imperial carriage entered the city gate before the ministers and their families returned to their own residences.
After Minister Qiao returned home, he saw a servant come up to him and whisper something in his ear. Then he turned around and said, "Madam, Yanyan, you two should go back and rest first. I have something else to deal with in the study first."
Jin nodded slightly and accompanied Qiao Wanyan back to Yongning Pavilion first. Minister Qiao looked at the backs of the two as they left, then hurried towards the study.
After entering alone, he locked the door from the inside and strode towards the back of the screen. Looking at the man standing with his hands behind his back looking at the portrait hanging on the wall, Minister Qiao half closed his eyes and walked over.
"Master Shangshu is back. Thank you for your hard work along the way."
Xu Shujian's voice was cold and emotionless, and his face, like the first clear day of frost and snow, was equally calm without a ripple as he stared at the portrait of the woman on the wall.
That belongs to the second young lady of the Qiao family.
Holding a handful of peach blossoms in her hand, she smiles brightly, like a flower fairy in spring enjoying the essence of heaven and earth in the mountains, lively, beautiful and radiant.
"Sir, don't you think you should give me an explanation?"
Xu Shujian turned around and looked at him.
Completely different from the gentleness and kindness he had shown to his wife and daughter just now, at this moment, Minister Qiao's face was covered with a layer of frost, and the aura he exuded when he was silent was overflowing. When he spoke, his voice was low and full of oppression.
"Young Master once said that this plan would never harm Yan Yan in the slightest. But now, if the genius doctor from the Pharmacist Valley hadn't come out of the valley, my Yan Yan would have died."
Xu Shujian was not angry at his questioning, "Master Shangshu, please calm down. I am willing to give you an explanation for this matter."
As he finished speaking, he twisted the vase at hand, and a secret passage suddenly appeared.
He walked in as if he was familiar with the place, and Minister Qiao followed him without hesitation.
This is the dark room in the study, from here you can quietly leave the Shangshu Mansion through the secret passage.
In the dark room, several luminous pearls were lighting up the room. On the ground knelt a man with his tendons cut. He was the chief assassin who plotted to kill the prince in Shanglin Paddock.
He was also the one who ordered the use of Qiao Wanyan to lure the prince.
"The people below do not know the rules and act on their own. I am willing to sacrifice his life to make the Shangshu feel better. You and I have great ambitions. Please do not let this kind of dirty thing end our cooperation."
Minister Qiao looked disdainfully at the man lying on the ground with his tendons cut.
After a long silence, he said, "I just hope that no matter what happens in the future, my wife and daughter will not be implicated. Otherwise, it will not just be the end of our cooperation."
Xu Shujian just smiled and said, "As you wish, sir."
Minister Qiao said, "It turned out just as you expected, without the slightest mistake. After some time, Xiling will surely send the person over, and Prince Jing will take him back to the capital."
Xu Shujian opened his thin lips and said, "My plan is very ambitious. Every time I take action, I will think about it thousands of times in my mind, looking for any loopholes that may lead to accidents and fill them. The plan is going smoothly, and the next plan should also be put into progress."
The two of them didn't mind at all that there was a third person on the ground listening to their plan. In their eyes, they had tacitly regarded him as a dead man.
There is no difference between the dying and the dead.
After Xu Shujian left, Minister Qiao personally stabbed the assassin's chest with a dagger. Looking at the assassin's ferocious expression, he slowly turned the dagger and forcibly crushed the flesh on his chest, including his heart, into pieces of minced meat.
The smell of blood filled the air, and Minister Qiao calmly took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood splattered on his hands and face.
Xu Shujian saw Ziyuan when he left.
"Mr. Xu? Is Mr. Xu here to see the master?" Zi Yuan asked curiously.
Xu Shujian nodded slightly, "Yes, I came here to return the books that the Shangshu Lord borrowed from me before, but I didn't expect that the Shangshu Lord would come back today. But the Lord seems to have something to deal with, so I will go back first."
Zi Yuan nodded slightly. What he said made sense. She did see someone whispering something in the master's ear just now, as if there was something urgent.
A poor scholar like Mr. Xu naturally has to wait until the master is done with his work before he can be summoned.
"Then I'll see Master Xu off. I happen to be going out as well."
"Where are you going, Miss Ziyuan?"
Zi Yuan said, "I heard that Mingyue Tower has just launched a delicious sweet-scented osmanthus sugar steamed cheese dish. Miss is resting now, so I'll go buy some and wait for her to wake up so she can eat it."
Xu Shujian: "The Second Miss seems to like sweets with the flavor of osmanthus."
Zi Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Xu is right. My lady likes the smell of osmanthus the most. Every October, the whole Shangshu Mansion is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus trees. It smells so good."
Xu Shujian smiled and said, "Last time, the Second Miss sent someone to send me a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, but I haven't had the chance to thank her in person. I wonder if Miss Ziyuan could give me this opportunity to buy it in person and send it to the Second Miss to enjoy, as a way to thank her for her gift."
Zi Yuan thought about it and realized that the last time she gave Mr. Xu the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, it was also a reward from the young lady. She did it simply because she thought his painting was very good and his paintings touched the young lady's heart.
Now that he wants to do something for the young lady, it is not impossible for me to agree.
but.......
She wanted to eat the big pork elbow from Mingyue Tower, and she was thinking of bringing some cheese back for the young lady after eating the pork elbow.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be easier for her to just send a servant to buy it?
But seeing Master Xu's earnest look, Zi Yuan couldn't say the words of rejection that were on the tip of her tongue.
“Okay, okay…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
