Chapter 32: Sharing the same bed, never regretting it until death
Their eyes met, and they both fell silent.
Xiao Qingxu chuckled in his heart and reached out to pour a cup of hot tea for his fifth sister whom he hadn't seen for many years.
He actually looked down on her.
"In that case, Princess, are you unwilling?"
Xiao Qinggu shook his head, picked up the teacup and drank it, "No."
"Oh? What about this, Princess?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'll wait until I've seen what you want to show me. Besides, I quite like that 'Shang Yuwan'."
"Second brother must have other things to do in Luzhou City this time. Perhaps it's related to the flood in Luzhou City. You have lost his manpower, so he won't come to cause trouble for the time being. Anyway, I can't get any food, so it's okay to play with you for a while. There's no rush."
Xiao Qinggu played with the teacup in his hand, his eyes half closed, his expression unclear. "Before that, how about you do me a small favor?"
Xiao Qingxu naturally agreed, "Princess, please feel free to speak."
"Help me find someone."
"who?"
The other party's style of doing things was not at all dragged out, and Xiao Qinggu was also a straightforward person, "My personal maid, Xiaoman."
Xiao Qingxu remembered something, "I heard from the deputy building owner earlier that you asked your personal maid to leave the city overnight? Are you going to chase her from outside the city?"
"No, not outside the city."
There was an unclear smile on Xiao Qinggu's face.
"I'm still in the city. She won't be far away. Calculating the time, she should be back to find me."
Xiao Qingxu pondered for a moment, "Could it be that the princess wants to...?"
"I just need you to get someone to help me find her as soon as possible. I will take care of the rest."
Xiao Qingxu would not refuse her. Seeing that Xiao Qinggu had nothing else to say, she stood up and said goodbye.
Xiao Qingxu looked at the teacup used by Xiao Qinggu and thought deeply.
According to the guest who followed the princess, Xiaoman, the maid who has been with Xiao Qinggu since she was three years old, seems to know some martial arts, but she is not outstanding. From what she said, it seems that Xiaoman... has problems?
Xiao Qinggu went to find Liu Niang first. She and her daughter were just ordinary people, and they must have been shocked after this incident, so she was worried.
Twelve had been guarding the door and refused to leave to rest. Xiao Qinggu had just gone over when she saw him. Ji Suxian and Shang Yuwan had just come out of the room and hurried forward to ask, "How are they?"
Seeing that it was Princess Xiao Qinggu, Ji Suxian was a little curious, but she didn't say much. "They have already gone to bed. With my calming incense, they won't have nightmares."
Shang Yuwan asked, "Princess, why don't you go and rest?"
Xiao Qinggu rolled his eyes and said, "Xiaoman always slept with me before. She's not here, so I want to find someone to sleep with me tonight."
"Not as good as you..." Xiao Qinggu's eyes fell on Twelve behind him.
Shang Yuwan and Ji Suxian followed his gaze and found that Twelve was also staring at Xiao Qinggu.
Twelve's fingers holding the long knife moved. She looked at Xiao Qinggu and felt a little itchy.
Twelve suppressed his thoughts, stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his fists: "I am willing to accompany the princess."
Her move was exactly what Xiao Qinggu wanted. Shang Yuwan saw through Xiao Qinggu's little trick, but did not expose it. She pulled Ji Suxian, who didn't understand, back to the room to rest.
"By the way, how is Ikyou Cheng?"
"He even used up the Thousand Machine Thread to protect Brother Xiao. He took out a semi-finished product and it was damaged not long after use. He must be unable to sleep and is still repairing it. I guess he is also repairing the Rain Needle."
"Actually, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now. You always call me 'Brother Xiao' when you're out and about. Is my last name Xiao?"
"...It's Xiao, the Xiao with a moon underneath..."
Shang Yuwan and Ji Suxian gradually walked away. Twelve stepped forward, blocking their backs. "Princess, have you heard enough?"
Xiao Qinggu's gaze returned to Twelve's face and he curled his lips.
"You haven't changed much since you were a child. Not only are you still very tall, but your face is still as sharp as a rock."
She was a head taller than me when she was little, but now she only reaches my chest. It's really infuriating.
Twelve's eyes moved slightly, and he stretched out his hand to ask: "Princess, if you want to talk, why not change the place?"
"Okay, let's change places."
“…”
Xiao Qinggu lay on the bed, speechless.
"Shang Twelve, don't you have anything to say to me?"
You're sitting on the ground with injuries on your body. Won't your butt feel cold?
Twelve sat cross-legged at the end of the bed, holding a long sword and closing his eyes to rest. Hearing the voice, he said lightly, "The princess looks familiar."
"Of course it looks familiar. We've met before."
Twelve then opened his eyes, "Where?"
"Lie down, or I won't tell you anything."
Twelve's eyes moved a little to the right, then he took off his coat neatly and lay down, straightening his body and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Princess, please speak."
"......" Xiao Qinggu felt that there was a stone sculpture lying next to him as a burial companion (it didn't mean to curse him to death).
"When Miss Shang was five, you were eight, and I was four. I secretly went to Yanmen to play. I rolled you two in the mud and coaxed Miss Shang into jumping off the roof tiles."
twelve:"......"
"Oh. So that mud monkey who disappeared inexplicably and caused the young lady to kneel in the study copying books for three days is the princess."
No wonder when she saw Xiao Qinggu later, she felt that he looked more and more familiar and a little bit annoying.
Xiao Qinggu: "...I was young and playful back then. After I went back, I copied the women's ring many times."
"The young lady nearly died trying to save you."
Twelve has always kept this account in mind.
The two were silent for a moment, and Xiao Qing asked her, "Aren't you loyal to my sister-in-law? Why did you change masters so quickly?"
Twelve didn't say anything.
Xiao Qinggu asked again: "Why are you in Baijialou?"
Twelve doesn't speak.
Xiao Qinggu persisted: "Is it because of the same name that you are willing to follow her? She seems to be special to you. Did you join Baijialou because they are willing to help the Shang family?"
Twelve remained silent.
Xiao Qinggu turned his head and saw that the man had his eyes closed and was breathing steadily, as if he was asleep.
Xiao Qinggu blinked and thought to himself.
Her voice was very soft, afraid to wake the sleeper, "What price did you pay for joining them?"
Twelve opened his eyes: "Freedom."
"?!" Xiao Qinggu almost exploded, "You're not asleep!"
Twelve did not close his eyes and continue pretending to sleep, but looked up at the sky calmly.
"Okay, okay, then why are you willing to exchange such a precious thing with Baijialou? Is the Shang family really that important to you?"
Xiao Qinggu didn't understand why "freedom" was the best and most precious thing a person could have. Shang Twelve had always been Shang Yuwan's personal maid. To put it bluntly, she was a slave who had no freedom for her entire life.
After the Shang family was wiped out, Shang Yuwan also died with them. This is a rare opportunity to gain freedom. Why doesn't Twelve want it?
"Princess, do you know Madam Lu Xu?"
Xiao Qinggu naturally knew Shang Yuwan's biological mother. She was a remarkable woman who became famous all over the world more than ten years ago. Unfortunately, she suffered from a heart disease that could not be cured for a long time, and finally ended up committing suicide.
"Madam treats me like her own daughter, and Miss treats me like her own sister. They are the best people in the world to me."
"The general picked me up from the battlefield." Twelve's expression gradually relaxed, and his eyes were a little sad. "I lost my memory after the fever, and my life story is unclear. Being granted a family name by the madam is already the greatest concession the general has made."
Lu Xu didn't see her as a slave, but as an ordinary child who needed care and love. Shang Yuwan didn't see her as a servant, but as an elder sister, a sister whose martial arts talent far surpassed her peers, but who was also a bit stubborn and single-minded.
"After the madam passed away, the young lady shouldered the burden of the Shang family alone."
"She said she didn't want to trouble others and that she had the ability to cover for the Shang family."
"She said that I didn't need to force myself to learn things that I could never understand. With her around, the Shang family would surely prosper and last forever."
Twelve's fingertips gradually pinched the back of the hand.
"She said that she wanted to make the Shang family gain a firm foothold in Kyoto, so that all the Shang family members could do what they wanted to do and become who they wanted to be - this is what she wanted to do in her life."
"She was always used to taking on all the responsibilities alone, used to taking care of others. She could see how thin her children were getting, how quiet others were being, but she never admitted that she couldn't even hold up the clothes she wore two years ago."
A few traces of blood were faintly visible on the back of Twelve's hand.
"I can't help her. Apart from being pretty good at beating and killing people, I can't help her with anything else."
Twelve could only hug Shang Yuwan when she was about to lose control and give her some time to breathe.
Xiao Qinggu's gaze shifted from the back of Twelve's hand to her face, staring at her intently. "So you're willing to trade your freedom for the Shang family's good reputation?"
"yes."
Twelve turned his head to look at Xiao Qinggu, his eyes cold but firm, like the immovable green mountains and the irreversible huge waves.
"Who can help the Shang family avenge their wrongs and clear their name? I, Shang Twelve, can be anyone's stabbing knife for the rest of their life."
"I will never regret it until I die."
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