leave
Inside, Wei Qiao and Qiu Jiu sat on the daybed, drinking wine. Qiu Jiu had come to deliver the bookstore's profits for the season to Wei Qiao and also to have a drink and chat with him.
"I heard that the Emperor has bestowed a marriage upon you and Miss Ming. I had the honor of meeting Miss Ming last year, and she is indeed a woman of great literary talent and beauty. However, I heard that Miss Ming is only twenty-six years old, a year older than you. Are you really not bothered by this?" Qiu Jiu asked him.
Wei Qiao pursed his lips, "There's nothing to mind. It's all my fault for holding her back." If my father hadn't been deposed and I hadn't died, she wouldn't have wasted her youth until today.
Qiu Jiu patted his head and laughed, "I actually forgot about your past with her. It seems you two are destined to be husband and wife. What are your plans for that Miss Xichun in the manor? Are you just going to all that trouble to bring her out of the palace only to treat her like a decoration?"
Wei Qiao downed the wine in one gulp, recalling the words his father had spoken to him when he chose Ming Chuqing as his future crown prince consort.
“Ren’er, you are of noble birth. Only a woman of noble birth and with both beauty and virtue is worthy to be your principal wife. Those seductive but unprincipled women with only empty shells can be kept as concubines, but they are absolutely not qualified to be the Crown Prince’s consort. Remember your father’s instructions. From now on, Chu Qing will be your principal wife, and no one else can surpass her in the future.”
He hadn't forgotten his father's words. He poured himself another cup of wine before slowly saying, "After Chuqing and I get married next year, I'll make her my concubine. Given her status, it won't be an insult to her. Chuqing is a lady from a respectable family, and she's worthy of being the mistress of my household. Xichun, on the other hand, comes from a humble background and can't even write. She's really not fit for a refined position. It's better to let her be a concubine and enjoy wealth and luxury by my side."
"Lord Wei has such a virtuous wife and beautiful concubines in his arms, I'm so envious!" Qiu Jiu said with exaggerated laughter.
Wei Qiao rolled his eyes at her. "What are you envious of? So many singers and dancers from the Wan Hua Lou threw themselves at you, but you rejected them all. I think you only have your deceased wife in your heart."
Hearing Wei Qiao mention his wife, Qiu Jiu took a sip of wine in a sullen voice and said bitterly, "Zhuiyu is my first wife. If I hadn't insisted on coming to the capital to make my way in the world back then, she probably wouldn't have died. We were childhood sweethearts, and on our wedding night I promised her that I would be with her for life. Even if she leaves me first, she can only be my wife in this life, and there will never be anyone else."
Wei Qiao never imagined he would only have one woman in his life. He loved Xi Chun very much and had felt heartache and shed tears for her, but he still wanted to marry Ming Chuqing. He could understand Qiu Jiu's pure love for only one person, but he could never do it himself.
Xi Chun listened silently to their conversation from outside the door. Wei Qiao still had reservations about what she had said earlier; it turned out he truly believed that someone like her was unworthy to be his wife. If that was the case, what was the point of her staying in the Wei household?
Xi Chun quietly left, placed the jade pendant on the table in Wei Qiao's bedroom, returned to Shiliu Courtyard and sat on the swing for a long time until the moon was high in the sky before returning to her bedroom to wash up and go to sleep.
The next morning, Xichun asked Shuixian to accompany her to the market to buy a comb.
"Miss, this shop doesn't have the comb with plum blossoms on the handle that you want. There's a jewelry shop across the street, let's go take a look." The two had already visited several jewelry shops, but they still hadn't found the comb that Xichun liked.
Xichun saw that she was at a road intersection, a convenient place to escape. Leaning against the wall, she pretended to be a little tired and pointed to the tea stall in front of her, saying to Shuixian, "Shuixian, my feet hurt a little. I'll wait for you at the tea stall ahead. Can you go and see if they have any combs and buy them?"
"Alright, then wait for me at the tea stall, I'll be right back." With that, Shui Xian walked towards the jewelry shop across the street. Seeing Shui Xian enter the jewelry shop, Xi Chun took off running into the alleyway opposite the Wei residence. Since Wei Qiao didn't want her as his wife, she didn't want to stay in the Wei residence anymore. She took twenty taels of loose silver and put it in her sleeve pocket; with that money, she could live on her own outside.
One day, she will forget Wei Qiao and meet a man who is willing to marry her, and she will live happily ever after.
Xichun wasn't very familiar with the layout of the capital, so she just wandered around by instinct. Meanwhile, Shuixian came out of the jewelry shop with a comb and went to the agreed-upon tea stall, but didn't see Xichun there.
"Shopkeeper, where has my daughter gone?" Shui Xian asked the stall owner anxiously, and then gestured to the stall owner to show him Xi Chun's appearance and the clothes she was wearing.
The stall owner shook his head after hearing this, "No one like that has been here. You can look for them elsewhere."
Shui Xian was instantly alarmed. How could the young lady have disappeared without a trace? Fearing that something might have happened to Xi Chun, she hurriedly ran back to the mansion to explain the matter to Fu Qing.
Meanwhile, Xichun, wearing a veil, hurried along with her head down. Hearing someone calling, she assumed it was Shuixian summoning someone for her. Reaching a small alley, she suddenly heard shouts behind her and rushed forward. Because of the veil, she bumped into an old woman carrying a basket of oranges. The old woman fell to the ground, and the basket of bright yellow oranges rolled away.
When Xichun realized she had bumped into someone, she quickly lifted her veil and went to help the old woman up. "I'm so sorry, old lady, I didn't mean to bump into you."
Aunt Feng was a cheerful person by nature. When she heard Xichun apologize, all the resentment she had felt earlier disappeared. She smiled and said, "It's alright, this old woman is in very good health."
Xi Chun smiled apologetically at the other person, then bent down to pick up the oranges scattered on the ground. The alley was on a slightly sloping slope, and several oranges had rolled down the slope to the wall at the alley entrance. As Xi Chun walked towards the alley entrance, she saw a tall man in white bend down and pick up the scattered oranges as he entered the alley.
As Xichun approached, she realized the man looked familiar. When he handed her the oranges, she recognized him as none other than Miao Wendao.
"Lord Miao!" Xichun greeted Miao Wendao excitedly.
Upon hearing Xichun's voice, Miao Wendao froze on the spot. He looked up at Xichun's face and exclaimed in surprise, "Consort An... Consort An?"
Xi Chun tiptoed and quickly covered his mouth with her hand, "Lord Miao, I am Jiang Xi Chun."
Miao Wendao stared at her vivid face and nodded, and Xichun then removed her hand from his mouth. Miao Wendao immediately understood that there must be something strange about the fire at Chuyun Temple. He had cried for Xichun when he heard that she had perished in the fire, and now, seeing her standing safely in front of him, Miao Wendao was filled with emotion.
"Miss Xichun, we meet again."
Aunt Feng came over carrying a basket. Seeing the two talking, she said to Miao Wendao, "Suqing, do you know this girl?"
Miao Wendao naturally took the basket from Aunt Feng's hand and introduced her, "Mother, this is Miss Jiang who gave the silver bracelet to save Yusheng back then."
Aunt Feng never expected that the girl in front of her was the kind person from back then. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wanted to bow to Xichun. "Miss Jiang, thank you so much for what happened back then."
Xichun quickly reached out to support her, saying, "Grandma, you mustn't, you mustn't."
Miao Wendao and Xichun comforted her for a while before Aunt Feng stopped crying. Aunt Feng took Xichun's arm and said, "Miss Jiang, it's not easy to meet you today. It's almost noon now, so let's go to my humble abode for a meal."
Then he instructed Miao Wendao, "Suqing, go to the restaurant and buy some good dishes."
Xichun had nowhere to go and was worried that Shuixian would lead people to find her, so she nodded and accepted Aunt Feng's kindness.
Miao Wendao and Aunt Feng lived in Shuangliu Lane in the north of the city. Xichun followed Aunt Feng all the way home.
After the three of them had a hearty lunch, Aunt Feng and Xichun started chatting about everyday things.
"Miss Xichun, I noticed you looked flustered this morning. Were you hiding from someone?"
Xi Chun pondered for a while and then nodded. She knew that Aunt Feng wasn't a bad person, but she didn't want to tell anyone about her relationship with Wei Qiao.
Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Aunt Feng didn't press the matter further.
Then he asked, "So where do you live now?"
Xi Chun smiled sheepishly, "I...I haven't found a place to stay yet."
Aunt Feng took her hand and said, "Good child, if you don't mind, you can stay at Aunt Feng's house. Don't worry, Aunt Feng will never tell anyone about your situation. Aunt Feng will just tell everyone that you are my distant niece."
Xichun saved Yusheng's life during his most difficult time, and she has always remembered this kindness. Now that she has the opportunity, she is determined to repay her.
Xi Chun truly had nowhere to go and was worried that staying at the inn would attract the attention of Wei Qiao's men. She nodded, "Then thank you very much, Auntie."
After speaking, Xichun took out a purse from her sleeve, inside which were five taels of silver. Xichun handed the purse to Aunt Feng. "Aunt, this is for my room and lodging at your house."
When Aunt Feng saw her take the money, she quickly pushed it away, saying, "Auntie can't take your money. I've already told you that you're here to be my niece. Just settle down and stay. Besides, you're such a young girl, how many bowls of rice can you possibly eat?"
Feeling embarrassed to eat and stay for free, Xichun insisted on handing the purse to Aunt Feng. Aunt Feng pretended to be angry and said, "If you keep doing this, I'll get angry."
Seeing this, Xichun had no choice but to put the purse away, thinking that she would help Aunt Feng with more housework from now on. After all, she wouldn't stay in the capital for too long; she would set off back to Sichuan in ten days or half a month.
Meanwhile, in the palace, Wei Qiao was being pulled into a game of chess by Yan Zhongyou, which lasted until evening. It wasn't until he left the palace that he heard A Gui explain Xi Chun's situation to him.
"Master, Miss Xichun went to the street to buy things early this morning with her maid, Shuixian. They agreed to meet at a tea stall, but when Shuixian came out after buying her things, the young lady was gone. I have already asked the servants of the Wei family to search the city, but there is still no news."
Xun Qiu frowned and said sternly, "What do you mean 'disappeared'? How can a living person just disappear in broad daylight?"
Seeing that Wei Qiao was angry, A Gui had no choice but to tell him the truth: "Master, I asked the people near the place where the young lady disappeared. A servant in a fan shop said that he saw Miss Xichun leave by herself after Shui Xian left."
"Left on your own?" Xun Qiu sneered. Just a few days ago, she was whispering sweet nothings in his ear, promising to stay with him forever, and then she turned and left. Jiang Xichun, who do you think you are?
Seeing Wei Qiao's furious yet mocking smile, A Gui felt a little scared, but still hesitated before asking, "Master, do you think we should send more people to continue searching for Miss Xichun's whereabouts?"
"No need, let her leave if she wants," Wei Qiao said coldly.
Sitting in the carriage, Wei Qiao's mind drifted to Xi Chun's smiling face. He had promised her he would treat her well in the future, but she had secretly left without telling him. Oh well, she was just a commoner, unworthy of his status anyway. He had sent her to the palace, rescued her, and freed her from the status of a widow in the Wei family. In a way, he owed her nothing.
Remembering that he had received a pair of priceless jade bracelets from Yan Zhongyou that day and was thinking of giving them to her, he took out the small purple sandalwood box containing the bracelets from his pocket and felt a deep sense of irony.
Upon returning to the Wei residence, Wei Qiao immediately bestowed the bracelet upon Fu Qing. He then went straight to his study, without even coming out for dinner.
The atmosphere in the front yard was extremely heavy because of Xichun's departure.
"Sister, why would Miss Xichun leave Master for no reason?" Zhao Yu asked Fu Qing, puzzled. He felt that staying by Master's side was quite good. Although she was only a concubine, Master had always treated Miss Xichun very well, giving her the best things in the mansion.
Fu Qing sighed, recalling Wei Qiao's upcoming marriage, and said, "I'm afraid it's because Master is getting married." There shouldn't be any woman in the world who wouldn't want to be the principal wife, especially one who loves Master so much. Miss Xi Chun probably left the Wei household because she knew Master was getting married and she couldn't become his wife.
Wei Qiao stayed in his study until late at night, the book in his hand still untouched on the same page he had turned to hours earlier. This was the first time he had ever loved a woman so deeply, and now she had left him without a second thought, without even a word of explanation. His sincere devotion seemed like a joke. His father in his dream that day was right; he hadn't avenged his great enemy and had already indulged in romantic love—he deserved to die! Wiping away the tears from his eyes, he strode out of the room like a shooting star.
"Don't mention her in front of me again."
Ah Gui was dozing off against a pillar outside the door when he caught sight of Wei Qiao coming out and just as he woke up, he heard him say those words. He immediately perked up and nodded to Wei Qiao, saying, "Master, I understand. I will give the order."
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