Chapter Forty-Four: Fei Yang Bu Xi
To be honest, Ruan Bi was still a little lost.
Although she had always known he was interested in her, they had only met a few times, often in front of others, and hadn't exchanged more than fifty words in total. They had just been arguing, and suddenly they were sitting together talking—the turn of events was like a rollercoaster. Even with her exceptional mental fortitude and quick wit, she couldn't adapt. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Even if I taught you this trick, who taught you to smash the carriage and beat the servants?"
The Prince of Jin said, “Don’t worry, my guards are all well-trained and know their limits. What looks like blood is actually just superficial wounds and nothing serious. As for the carriage, I have already prepared a new one to compensate you.”
Ruan Bi looked at him in surprise and said, "How did you know...?"
Before he could finish speaking, the Prince of Jin understood. A smile flickered across his face as he said, “Yes, I know. I knew as soon as you accepted the chrysanthemums. Or even earlier, when Youde asked you and you didn’t answer, I knew something. You’ve been avoiding me. If you really didn’t like it, you would have told Youde clearly… I later thought that perhaps you were worried about your background.”
Youde pressed further, asking if it wasn't a rash act by Youde himself, given that it happened at the Huiwen Changgong residence. Ruan Bi suddenly felt a chill and stammered, "That time at the horse farm, Youde kept pressing me, asking if...it was you...who instigated it..."
The Prince of Jin suddenly laughed, his eyebrows and eyes relaxed, and his laughter was very elegant. After a while, he said in a low voice, "How could I be so bored..." He paused, then said firmly, "No."
But after hearing that "no," would Ruan Bi still dare to believe it?
She didn't reply, sealed off the side door, and forced him to make a statement. But she hadn't expected that his smashing of the carriage and his outburst of anger would also be a way of forcing her to make a statement.
The Prince of Jin saw her staring blankly, looking rather frightened, and he was secretly amused. He didn't say anything, just stared at her.
A moment later, her head suddenly drooped.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Ruan Bi couldn't quite describe how she felt at that moment. She thought she had hidden it well and was able to control her emotions, which she thought was very skillful. She didn't expect that others had already seen through her.
The carriage lurched forward again. She was sitting upright, unlike the Prince of Jin who was leaning against the brocade couch. Caught off guard, she leaned back and bumped into the carriage wall, crying out in pain. This time the impact was more severe, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
The Prince of Jin helped her up, and seeing her tearful face, he kicked the carriage wall with displeasure and asked in a low voice, "Nanfeng, what are you up to now?"
Nanfeng secretly groaned, saying, "Miss Wang... Fifth Miss, this time the road is truly uneven."
Ruan Bi touched a noticeably swollen lump on the back of her head and sighed. "This trip out of the house has been full of misfortunes; I'm definitely going to live up to my reputation as a jinx."
"Nonsense."
Ruan Bi complained, "What nonsense did I say? You smashed my carriage and beat my servants. Do you think my mother and grandmother will dare to let me go out in the future?"
"Don't worry, you're not going anywhere anyway. If the Princess or Master Ziying sends a carriage to pick you up, or if you go to the palace, your mother and grandmother won't object."
Ruan Bibai glanced at him and said indignantly, "All you know is how to use your power to bully people."
The Prince of Jin said calmly, "Power is the ability to control based on profit; what's wrong with that?"
As expected of a general, his words are full of military strategy.
Warfare is based on deception. Ruan Bi thought to herself, what are the chances of victory for a career woman like herself against a strategist skilled in deception? Suddenly, she heard the Prince of Jin say, "Speaking of which, I still don't know your name."
"Why don't you just ask my third uncle?"
"How can your name be known from other people's mouths? Of course, we have to ask you ourselves."
Ruan Bi turned to look at him.
He was still sitting on the brocade couch, one hand propped against the window, his head slightly tilted, looking at me with gentle eyes.
In this era, a woman's given name was not easily revealed; some men, even after years of marriage, still didn't know their wives' names. But Ruan Bi, who wasn't originally from this era, openly declared, "My name is Ruan Bi."
The Prince of Jin looked at her blue silk dress and then at her pure, spring-water-like eyes, and said, "Bi, the blue beauty of stone, this character is indeed suitable for you." He paused and then added, "My single character is Xi, and the character for grass is not Yang."
Chai Xi? Chai Feiyang. Ruan Bi silently repeated it in her mind, then asked, "Is it Feiyang Bu Xi?"
"It is indeed taken from the poem 'Zhanlu' in the Book of Songs, but it doesn't mean that. 'Xi' means the dawn in the east, and 'Fei' is the same as 'Fei'."
Fei Yang, that is sunlight with five colors intertwined. Ruan Bi savored it carefully, and said jokingly, "It's a good character, but it doesn't suit you. You always have a stern face, like a cloudy day."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Youde said in a low voice outside the carriage, “Little girl, what nonsense. What do you mean by having a stern face, like a cloudy day? Our King… is the most cheerful, brighter than a sunny day.”
Ruan Bi felt completely bewildered and glanced at Prince Jin with shame and anger.
Prince Jin's face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Luo Youde, go back to the palace later and collect your twenty strokes of the military rod."
Youde said in a low voice, "This... I didn't mean it, I really have something important to report."
"What important matter do you have to report?"
Youde suddenly raised his voice and said, "Reporting to Fifth Sister, Yuxu Temple is just one mile ahead."
So fast? A thought flashed through the Prince of Jin's mind.
Ruan Bi was also taken aback.
Then Youde said, "Reporting to Fifth Miss, we were only a mile away a moment ago, but we have arrived now."
Nanfeng let out a long "whoosh," gripped the reins tightly, and the carriage moved forward a few steps before stopping.
Inside the carriage, the two looked at each other, their expressions calm, but both felt a little reluctant to part.
The Prince of Jin thought for a moment and said, "If you need anything, just have your third uncle inform me."
Ruan Bi nodded and said, "Then I'll get off the bus."
The Prince of Jin was truly reluctant to part with him, but had no choice. He nodded slightly and said, "Go."
Ruan Bi put on her veil, lifted the curtain, and jumped down from the carriage.
The carriage carrying Xiuzhi and Granny Liu also stopped. Xiuzhi jumped down from the carriage, ran closer, glanced timidly at Youde, and whispered to Ruanbi, "Miss, you..."
Ruan Bi pressed her hand down, preventing her from asking any further questions.
At this moment, Granny Liu and three servants also came over. Ruan Bi led them and politely thanked Xu Maoyu: "Thank you for your help, Mr. Xu. We will come to thank you again another day after we have informed our family."
Xu Maoyu said with a smile, "Fifth Miss, you don't need to be so polite. I came here to pick up my wife, and giving you a ride is just a small favor."
As they were talking, two maids and two old women helped a sedan chair down from the Jade Void Temple and stopped beside Xu Maoyu. A woman of about forty years old with a slightly plump figure and ordinary appearance came out, holding a little girl's hand, and asked Xu Maoyu, "Master, who is this young lady?"
Unexpectedly, Xu Maoyu's wife was indeed offering incense at the Yuxu Temple; the whole performance had been meticulously planned. Even if the three servants of the Ruan family harbored suspicions, as long as they hadn't seen Prince Jin, they could only remain suspicious. Ruan Bi felt a mix of emotions, and secretly glanced at the carriage. With his status, he wouldn't need to exert so much effort to win her over; he could have easily taken her by force. But he hadn't. He had meticulously arranged everything, ensuring she wouldn't be forced to follow him due to any suspicion. If before, Ruan Bi had harbored some doubts about his cunning and scheming, at this moment she was truly moved.
Xu Maoyu said, "Madam, this is the fifth daughter of the Ruan family in Jingxi. Her carriage broke down on the way, and I happened to be passing by, so I brought her here."
Madam Xu said in surprise, "So this is the disciple of Master Ziying. I have long admired your name."
"Madam Xu, you're too kind," Ruan Bi said, bowing to her.
Madam Xu helped her up and said, "Fifth Miss, you don't need to be so polite. You must have come to visit Master Ziying because he is ill, right?"
So Master Ziying really was ill. Ruan Bi was stunned. As expected of a battlefield commander, every detail was impeccable. "Yes, I've come to visit my master."
Xu Maoyu said, "It's getting late, Madam, let's hurry up and head home."
Madam Xu nodded, finally seeing the guards, and said in surprise, "Why did you send Youde and Yuqing to pick me up?"
It seemed she was unaware of the inside story. Fearing she might say something suspicious, Ruan Bi quickly took her leave of Xu Maoyu: "Mr. Xu, I'll take my leave now. Until we meet again."
Xu Maoyu bowed in return and said, "Fifth Miss, please take care."
Ruan Bi, accompanied by several servants, walked to the place where sedan chairs were rented and asked the coachman and two guards, "Do you know the location of our estate here?"
The driver bowed and said, "Fifth Miss, this old man has been here a few times."
"Then you can rest at the farm tonight."
"Yes," the two guards and the coachman replied in unison, but they did not move and their expressions were extremely uneasy.
Ruan Bi noticed that their faces had been cleaned up and their wounds were not obvious. It seemed that what Prince Jin had said was true; his men were indeed well-trained. After thinking for a moment, she still told Xiuzhi to take out a thousand coins and give them to them, saying, "Go and find a doctor nearby to see how serious your injuries are."
"Thank you, Fifth Miss." Zhu Zi took the money, hesitated for a moment, and said nervously, "Fifth Miss, our carriage has been smashed. How should we explain this?"
Ruan Bi knew that since the carriage was smashed, the three servants would be the first to be scolded, especially the coachman. She remembered that Prince Jin had said he would give her a brand new carriage, but she had completely forgotten to ask. Turning her head, she saw that Prince Jin's procession had already turned and walked away. She thought for a moment and came up with a reason, but if she said it herself, it could easily become a handle against her later. Just as she hesitated, she heard Granny Liu say, "This matter today is truly unjust, but if we tell the First Madam, she may not believe that we weren't at fault. How about we say that the horse went mad, rushed into the wheat field, and damaged the carriage?"
Shifting the blame to Ma was an accident, which the three servants were naturally happy to do, and they all looked at Ruan Bi.
Ruan Bi didn't dare to say anything. She glanced at Granny Liu and said tactfully, "Let's settle it then. I'll make the decision. If there are any problems later, I'll take full responsibility."
Her words reassured the three servants, who then mounted their horses and headed towards the estate.
Ruan Bize sat in the sedan chair. After getting off at the mountain gate, she couldn't help but look back one last time. The procession of Prince Jin's mansion had disappeared without a trace, and the dark clouds that had been piled up on the horizon just moments before had also dispersed.
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