Chapter 105 Qi-Liang Boundary (Seventeen) Do you believe me or not?
The next morning, Xu Bai got up and went to the main room to see Si Rou. Before dawn, he saw his mother already in the bedroom serving Si Rou medicine. After Si Rou finished taking the calming pills, he went up to greet her. Si Rou was shocked and looked him over, asking him why he was still at home and hadn't gone to the capital.
Xu Bai was stunned and said, "The house caught fire and someone died, so I came back. Don't you remember, Madam?"
Sirou sat on the bed in a daze for a moment. Just then, Enoki went to take the teacup from her hand. Suddenly, she looked terrified. "I remember now—" Then her eyes darted around and she looked straight behind Enoki. She threw the teacup at Enoki. "No wonder there's a ghost in this room! Go find the person who harmed you, don't look for me! Quickly, drag him away!"
Although Enoki dodged it, the teacup shattered behind her with a loud crash, startling her. She turned around and saw that it was just dawn, and only two lamps were lit beside the bed. The room was dimly lit to the side, and there was a plum blossom stool in the corner that looked like a figure crouching there. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
Mrs. Wang quickly stepped forward to comfort her, and Si Rou seemed to recover. She looked around the room, asking, "Where's Xu Yun? Why isn't he here?"
Enoki came to her senses, hesitated for a moment, and then smiled and said, "It's still early. The elders will have breakfast inside before they come."
Si Rou deliberately raised her eyelids to look at her, her face full of dissatisfaction. She lazily lifted the quilt and got out of bed, and was helped by Wang Ma and a maid to the washbasin stand to wash up.
Enoki pulled Xu Bai into the outer room and said, "You got up exceptionally early today. Stay here and have breakfast with me and Madam. You haven't been to the yamen for the past few days anyway. Sit down for a while, and I'll go to the kitchen to check. Madam mentioned at dinner last night that she wanted to eat a dish of mustard greens stir-fried with spiced tofu."
She said she was going to take a look, which meant she wanted to do it herself. Xu Bai frowned, somewhat displeased by her subservient attitude towards Si Rou. But there was nothing he could do; it was the custom that concubines had to be obedient and humble, even after the master was gone.
After she left, Xu Bai went out of the house and went around to the right corridor. There was an arched doorway in the corridor, leading to a small courtyard and three rooms where Enoki lived. Enoki's maid, Xiao Yan, was doing needlework in the room. Xu Bai went in and sat down, asking her for a bowl of hot tea.
After a while, Xiaoyan brought tea, and Xubai took the opportunity to chat with her, "On the day Chen Zifang died, did you notice anything unusual about anyone in the mansion?"
"We still don't know when Chen Zifang died."
He died on the night of the 12th.
Xiao Yan picked up her needle and thread and sat down beside him. After thinking for a while, she shook her head. "I don't see anything wrong. Doesn't Second Master know that I'm the only one in this room? Do you think I would dare to wander around like this?"
Xu Bai naturally knew that she was the only maid in the room, along with two old women responsible for cleaning, delivering messages, and passing things; he was just using that as a way to start a conversation. He seized the opportunity to ask, "What were you busy with on the twelfth?"
"There wasn't much to do. The rent for the first half of the year from the estate was collected on the tenth day of the month. I helped my aunt with the accounts in the madam's room for three or four days."
Whatever she was busy with, Enoki was busy with too. Xu Bai nodded, "You and your aunt have been in Madam's room the whole time?"
"Yes, I didn't go back to my room to rest until after midnight."
"Hasn't gone out again?"
Xiao Yan smiled and shook her head. "No, I helped my aunt wash up and then went to sleep in the inner room on the west side."
As they were talking, they heard Enoki return and call Xu Bai to eat from under the cave entrance. Xu Bai got up and went out. Xiao Yan also came out and pulled Enoki back to a stop, then quietly told Xu Bai what she had just asked.
"What did you say?"
“Of course I will tell the truth, but why is Second Master asking us? Could it be that he has come to suspect us? You are his own mother, and I am a little indignant on your behalf. No matter how upright he is, he should not have come to suspect you.”
Enoki glanced at the back of the white figure as he walked under the dark corridor. A patch of dark blue light shone on him from the side, but it was not clear.
As he grew older, he became more independent and thoughtful. Over the years, he gradually stopped talking to her, probably because he was afraid that she, as a woman, wouldn't understand. Wasn't she the same? He couldn't understand her loneliness either. Even though mother and son were of one mind, the difference between men and women still separated them.
A drop of rain fell from the cave entrance and landed on her forehead. She smiled slightly, but a wave of desolation washed over her.
After a night of rain, water dripped everywhere. Jiuli opened her eyes and stared blankly at the beams on the roof for a while, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity, unlike the beams in her home. Then she suddenly remembered that she had slept in the yamen (government office) last night. She quickly pricked up her ears and listened. It seemed that the shift was changing, and people were talking in hushed tones outside. Once this shift was over, she wouldn't be afraid of being seen by them when she went out, since she had come very early in the morning.
It was dawn, and a faint light shone through the window. She turned over and saw Yu Qi sitting at the octagonal table, drying her clothes. She sat up and asked, "Where did this brazier come from?"
Yu Qi gestured for her to be quiet. She lifted the covers and got out of bed, only to find that she was wearing a clean, dark green, round-necked robe that trailed on the ground. When she lifted her arms, she saw that the sleeves were as long as those in a theatrical performance.
He glanced at her and said, "You couldn't sleep well at night because you were tossing and turning. You must be a light sleeper. I put this robe on you and you were able to sleep peacefully."
She has this problem: she can only fall asleep in an unfamiliar room if she smells a familiar scent. Her clothes are always scented after being washed, and she uses a kind of benzoin incense year-round.
Jiuli walked to the brazier, squatted down, and looked up at him with a smile, "Where did you get this brazier?"
"I found it in the kitchen in the middle of the night."
She hadn't even known he'd gotten up. Going there in the middle of the night, didn't he mean he hadn't slept much all night? She tilted her head and looked at him. "Aren't you sleepy? I'll bake it myself. You can get some more sleep before dawn."
"That's all." Yu Qi smiled at her. "Go and tie your hair up first. Zhang Da has changed shifts and gone home. He'll be back in an hour or so. Then we'll go to the Qi residence together."
Jiuli got up to find a comb, groped around in the dark to tie her hair up haphazardly, and sat down next to him. "If they ask me later, I'll just say I came here very early this morning."
Yu Qi's expression suddenly darkened, and he turned to look at her with a smile, "Don't you like these sneaky kisses?"
She smiled nonchalantly, rested her head on his shoulder, and played with the long sleeve of his arm. "Whether we kiss secretly or openly, as long as I'm with you and you don't send me off to get married, that's all that matters. We'll see what happens in the future."
Yu Qi casually pulled her onto his lap, wrapped a stray strand of hair around the jade hairpin for her, and looked at her face, saying, "If I were to say that what I fear most is ruining your reputation, my own reputation wouldn't matter much, would you believe me?"
If someone else said such a thing, Jiuli would suspect that he was taking advantage of her while pretending to be innocent, but she had no doubt that he was doing it for his own good. If he wanted to harm her, why did he risk his life to save her back then?
She nodded emphatically. Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, he smiled and gently patted her back. "Your clothes are dry, go change."
After sitting for a while, Yanshu arrived at the yamen and ordered someone to invite him. Jiuli went along with him. When they got to the inner hall, they saw Zhao Liang there, having tea. Jiuli quickly went up and called out, "Uncle Zhao."
Zhao Liang put down his teacup and laughed, "Oh my, you little girl, you've come even earlier than us who receive salaries from the imperial court. You must be worried that your uncle is suffering in the yamen, right?"
He came over early this morning, presumably to support Yu Qi. Yan Shu quickly smiled and said, "It's only because there's no other way that Mr. Yu has to stay here for a few days. Once the case is clear, we'll naturally send him home. Mr. Yu, I wonder how the investigation at the Qi residence went yesterday? Did you find any clues?"
When Zhao Liang heard that Yu Qi had also been invited to participate in the case, he felt relieved and had nothing more to say to Yan Shu.
Yu Qi cupped his hands and said, "It's only been a day, Lord Yan, you overestimate me."
"I'm not urging you, sir. I just thought that since Lord Qi was originally supposed to be summoned to the capital but couldn't go, the Prince will surely tell the Emperor the reason. Since a murder has occurred in the household of the Grand Steward, the Emperor will definitely have to ask about it. That's why I asked. There's no rush. It will take at least half a month for the Ministry of Justice to investigate. If you go to the Qi family today, please pass this message on to Lord Qi."
The implication was that the case should be investigated within half a month, and it was also a reminder to Xu Bai that since the Emperor had been alerted, it was no longer appropriate to cover up or show favoritism.
After Yan Shu finished speaking, fearing that Zhao Liang and Yu Qi might have something to say, he took the opportunity to leave. "I have official business to attend to at the government office. Lord Zhao, please sit here for a while. I will prepare a meal when I return, and we can have lunch together."
Zhao Lianglue rose to see him off, then turned back to his seat. Yu Qi thought that he wouldn't come here for no reason just because of some gossip outside, so he must have something important to do. Therefore, he instructed Jiuli, "Yuer, go to the room and wait."
Jiuli let out an "Oh," curious about what they were "plotting," and lingered, unwilling to leave. Yu Qi immediately glared at her sternly, and she, momentarily frightened, left with a pout.
After she left, Zhao Liang chuckled in a low voice, "Prince Zhao saw me once before he left and had a private conversation with me. From what I heard, it seemed like he was trying to win me over. I'm sure it was you who said something to Qi Xubai, isn't it?"
Yu Qi sat down next to him, chuckling softly, "You've been idle for so many years, I'm afraid you're already restless. In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before Prince Zhao forces the abdication. Why don't you lend him a hand and, like Qi Xubai, realize your ambitions in the future?"
Zhao Liang pointed at him and chuckled, "You little brother, do you think I'm living too long? What ambitions do you think I still have?"
"If you only wanted to wait to retire and return to your hometown, you wouldn't have bothered to find me during the Nanjing epidemic, nor would you have bothered to secretly investigate Lu Shao's whereabouts. You told me about Lu Shao, weren't you just using me to tell Qi Xubai and King Zhao that you already have the intention to surrender?"
Zhao Liang chuckled for a moment, then his expression gradually turned serious. "And what makes you so sure that King Zhao will definitely plot a rebellion and force the emperor to abdicate?"
"Does he have any other way out? He thought he had caught the two Chens red-handed time and time again, but he was disappointed time and time again. This time, he brought Chen Jia back to the capital to be punished. He will probably soon realize that the Chen family's power today is not because the two imperial brothers-in-law have great ability to deceive the emperor, but because the emperor deliberately indulges them so that the Chen family can bear the infamy of being incompetent, immoral, and extravagant."
Zhao Liang remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "You're not an official, and you've never seen the Emperor, yet you see things more clearly than many high-ranking officials in the court."
He smiled calmly, "Although I have never met the Emperor, I know that he must be a cold and cruel man."
"What do you mean by that?"
"When I returned to Quanfu to rescue Xiaoyuer, I saw eight strange men in the fire. They were not servants of Quanfu, and I fought with them. They were all skilled in fist fighting, foot fighting, and sword fighting. In the world today, the only people with such powerful close combat skills are probably the shadow guards around the emperor."
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank you for reading.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
