48. Wife
Xuanyuan responded with a "thorough investigation!" and the investigation into corruption began in full swing.
As the whistleblower, Yun Zhihe had the responsibility to take on this task.
The position of Prime Minister was still vacant, and the old ministers were holding on tremblingly, just waiting for her to gain a firm foothold and take the position when she had the ability to look down on the world.
It was originally a small matter of several county magistrates embezzling taxes and enriching themselves, but as the investigation progressed, a large amount of silver was confiscated. This matter was so strange that Yun Zhihe was very busy.
Yun Zhihe and Cheng Guomu have truly fallen out. Perhaps he had been pretending to be nice to her out of affection for her mother before, but now he has a gloomy face whenever they meet.
The two also began to confront each other.
Yun Zhihe and Cheng Guomu are like an egg hitting a stone when they are in conflict, but the Xuanyuan family believes that they have done something wrong, and has been keeping a low profile these days, not really causing trouble for Yun Zhihe.
Even if I did find it, it would only be trivial matters, such as -
"Your Majesty, Yun Zhihe is already nineteen years old. Even though she is the descendant of a loyal minister, she is still a concubine. It is probably inappropriate for her to live in the palace..."
Lord Chen spoke, his back arching.
Following her voice, others began to respond.
"Your Majesty... After all, there are still three unmarried princes in the palace. It is really inappropriate for Madam Yun to live in the palace."
There were also some sensible people who spoke up, saying that their comments were not directed at Yun Zhihe, but were indeed made after multiple considerations.
Xuanyuan Ying paused.
He hasn't really thought about this issue yet.
He watched her grow up, from a teenager to a young woman, from a child to a young girl... The palace was obviously her home.
Yun Zhihe stepped forward, lowered his head, and spoke in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, after Lord Chen's reminder, I also know that this matter is inappropriate. I implore Your Majesty to allow me to leave the palace and establish a family."
"The servants of the Yun Mansion are still here, so I can move out today."
Xuanyuan Ying is a kind-hearted person and rarely shows any mood swings. Moreover, he watched Yun Zhihe grow up, so people think that he treats Yun Zhihe as his adopted daughter.
Few people probably thought that he had other thoughts.
Xuanyuan Ying pursed his lips and nodded.
"Since you have such thoughts, my dear, then leave the palace and start a family..."
He clutched his sleeves with his fingertips and continued speaking, announcing a series of rewards as housewarming gifts. The string of rewards made people dizzy.
It also made everyone know...that Madam Yun was a court official valued by His Majesty.
The palace maids were packing up the things in Yun Zhihe's palace and loading them all onto the carriage.
Just as she was about to follow Ah Zhi into the carriage, she saw a man in white clothes and a fox fur coat standing at the door.
Yun Zhihe still walked forward.
She saw Qin Duan standing under the dead tree, his eyes bent, a red plum and white jade crown pinned in his hair, looking particularly gentle and cold.
"Jinniang..."
He crossed his sleeves and held the heater in his hands. It was autumn after all, and the wind was very cold, making a rustling sound as dead leaves fell.
Probably because of the hand warmer, there was a little color on his face. Seeing Yun Zhihe coming, he smiled and reached out to hand over the hand warmer in his hand.
The hand warmer is exquisitely crafted and beautiful, emitting a warm breath.
"…But it's cold?"
Yun Zhihe was speechless, but nodded slightly.
They had seldom met since that confrontation, and she knew that it was he who had instructed Yuanzi Luo to criticize her in court for burning the mob, and it wasn't resentment, but just mixed feelings.
I just couldn't look him in the eye.
His eyes seemed to be filled with the light of the moon, bright and hazy like fog.
Yun Zhihe couldn't see through him.
He put the hand warmer in Yun Zhihe's hand without thinking. The flowing hair blocked his sight. Qin Duan stretched out his slender hand and put the hair behind his ear.
The tips of the ears are as white as jade.
The cold was dispelled, and all of a sudden, my hands were filled with warmth.
Yun Zhihe nodded and spoke to him in a hoarse voice.
"...Thank you, brother."
He still loved her, and his hands with strong body temperature covered the back of her hands, conveying warmth to her, which was particularly hot and moving.
Qin Duan didn't seem to care about her hesitation. Instead, he gave her instructions, as if he was giving instructions to his wife who had just gone out.
"The food outside is not as good as the fine food in the palace. My brother brought you a few chefs from the palace, and their cooking skills are superb."
"Winter is coming soon. You knelt in the snow for so long last year that even a young woman would be afraid of developing a chronic illness. Brother has made you some close-fitting clothes made of soft, warm cloth."
…
He was still chattering, and Yun Zhihe could even smell the elegant fragrance on him.
Her brother was still reliable, but he was no longer hers.
Yun Zhihe paused, put away the hand warmer, adjusted his expression, followed his instructions, and chuckled.
"Thank you, brother. I am busy now. I have to take my leave now."
Qin Duan nodded and reached out to straighten her collar.
Being so close, he lowered his head slightly, and his scent was particularly pleasant, and his voice was mellow and pleasant.
"You're so busy you haven't even straightened your collar."
A feeling of elegance.
Yun Zhihe let his fingertips move around her neck, as obedient and dependent as she was when she was a child.
We are close, but I don’t know if our hearts are close.
She couldn't see through him.
Yun Zhihe closed her eyes, reached out and took his hand away, her expression calm and composed.
"Brother, Jinniang is no longer a child. There are differences between men and women. It's better not to do this."
He began to laugh, his throat trembling, as if he was looking at an ignorant child, and seemed to be relying on her, doting but helpless.
"Then I won't touch it."
...It's like this again.
Yun Zhihe took a deep breath, turned around and left, "Then Jinniang won't see you off."
She didn't turn her head, and she didn't know how long Qin Duan looked at her.
All she knew was that she hadn't heard footsteps for a long time. He was still standing there, tall and handsome, looking at her quietly, with emotions surging in his eyes.
I don't know what he was whispering as his lips moved slightly.
…
Yun Zhihe left with Azhi. Before she got on the carriage, she saw a red figure, but she seemed dazzled. When she looked again, it was gone.
She drew down the curtain.
Qin Zhi, holding the pastries he had made, his hands red, followed Qin Duan.
Qin Duan's fox fur coat was blown soft by the wind. After taking a few steps, he turned around and looked at his royal brother.
Even though they were half-brothers, they were not very familiar with each other.
Qin Duan's father had never been favored, and as a result, he had rarely been hugged by his mother.
Qin Zhi was a spoiled child, loved by everyone since he was a child, and was a rose held in the palm of someone else's hand.
It looks wild and unruly, but it is actually soft and delicate.
"My royal brother has been following me for so long, but what's the matter?"
He still had a calm expression, with a fixed curve at the corners of his lips, gentle yet distant.
Qin Zhi pursed his lips and handed the tray in his hand to Chunya. His voice was hoarse and he seemed to not know what to say. He hesitated for a few moments before speaking.
"My royal brother is of marriageable age but unmarried, but... does he have a wife he likes?"
Such questions didn't sound like something Qin Zhi would ask.
He is a daughter of a royal family, how could he... ask such a delicate question?
However, he originally wanted to give the cakes he made to Yun Zhihe, and he saw her being extremely intimate with Qin Duan at the door, with his fingertips touching her neck as if he was going to kiss her.
Poor Qin Zhi, who had lived a reckless life, tasted jealousy for the first time.
He is jealous of his own brother, it's so... pitiful.
Qin Zhi knew something was wrong with him.
He had never seen Yun Zhihe being intimate with anyone.
She was always like that, gentle, yet as distant as the bright moon, and had never been fond of anyone.
Qin Duan paused after hearing what he said, raised his hand to cover his lips and chuckled, then changed the subject to him.
"What about my royal brother? Is there a woman he likes?"
Qin Zhi knew he couldn't win against him.
Qin Duan and Yun Zhihe have been together since they were young and have a close relationship. He is her good brother and she is infinitely dependent on him.
And Qin Zhi... was just a spoiled bad boy when he was young. He often threw school homework to her to do and competed with her secretly. Who would have thought that he would now become a puppet of love between men and women, like a delicate man who felt sorry for himself in the shadow, hoping that his beloved would look back at him.
The second prince pursed his lips, not knowing how to respond.
Qin Duan's eyes were deep and complicated, as if he was just waiting for him to speak.
"No, never..."
Qin Zhi glanced over, his ears were red, obviously he had lied.
"Really..." Qin Duan smiled like a good brother watching his younger brother's embarrassment. "If my royal brother finds someone he loves, I can also give you some advice."
Qin Zhi paused, a blush spread across his face, and his whole body trembled slightly.
His joy...was being affirmed.
The sourness and swelling pain in his heart overwhelmed him, and suddenly a few traces of sweet joy arose.
Joy was such a torturous thing, even more torturous than the wild horses he had trained.
"...It seems that the emperor's brother has something to do, so the emperor left."
The two of them parted ways.
Qin Zhi was left standing there with his head down, trying to calm the sweetness in his chest.
Chunya seemed to be hesitant to speak, holding the cake in her hand, not knowing whether to put it down or put it up. She just felt that her own prince... seemed to have been fooled...?
Chunya's little head couldn't figure it out either.
After holding it in for a long time, he could only remind her, "Your Highness...are you still going to give me this cake?"
…
A plate of cakes was delivered to Yun Zhihe's residence by the second prince's servant.
She didn't know what to do, she just stared at the pastries on the table, feeling a little confused.
It's probably because of poor craftsmanship or... a deliberate prank.
The pastry looked really ugly, with cracks all over it, and looked unappetizing.
Qin Zhi stood in the wind for a long time. He suddenly woke up and asked someone to bring the cakes over. He didn't observe carefully, and the wind blew through the cakes, causing them to crack.
It tasted extremely sweet and Yun Zhihe couldn't swallow it after eating half a piece.
Very sweet.
How did he recruit the cook?
Besides, the relationship between Yun Zhihe and Qin Zhi is already so... incompatible?
Why send such cakes as a housewarming gift...
Is it really that unpleasant?
Yun Zhihe felt a little aggrieved.
But this was a gift from the prince after all, so Yun Zhihe put it on the table, opened the window, put down the documents in his hand, and rubbed his forehead.
The matter of corruption requires careful investigation and cannot be accurately ascertained in a short period of time.
But this case is very complicated. I originally thought that it was just corruption of a few people from the Xuanyuan faction, and I simply dismissed them to dampen the Xuanyuan family's arrogance. I never thought that there seemed to be deeper clues behind it.
Besides, she still didn't know the relationship between Qin Duan, Yuan Ziluo, and Queen Mother Cheng.
...Yun Zhihe pursed his lips.
The cool night breeze blew on her face, waking her from her drowsiness.
There is no moon today and the sky is covered with dark clouds.
She stared at the sky for a few moments, and was about to close the window because of the biting cold wind. At this moment, a sound suddenly came.
“…Don’t turn it off.”
There was a person's fingers on the window, strangling Yun Zhihe's strength to close the window.
The voice is low and hoarse.
Yun Zhihe was stunned.
Was it Queen Mother Cheng... who sent someone to assassinate him, or what... He began to think of a countermeasure.
When the half-closed window was opened, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the dark clouds in the sky seemed to be blown away. In an instant, the sky was covered with moonlight.
The vast moonlight spread to the ground and all fell on the person in front of him through the window.
The moonlight was cool and bright, illuminating the man's figure.
Her hair shone with tiny rays of light, and her figure stood tall and straight. She was especially beautiful under the moonlight.
Yun Zhihe saw the man's face clearly.
Is it... Lou Zhi?
"Lou, General Lou?"
Lou Zhi nodded.
His hair was tied up, with a slight smell of blood, and his eyes were lowered with fatigue.
Not to mention that he had been gone for several months and why he suddenly appeared in her yard, smelling of blood.
Yun Zhihe hurriedly welcomed the person in.
Lou Zhi came in through the window, his hand moving swiftly and skillfully.
Yun Zhihe quickly closed the doors and windows.
Under the bright candlelight, she could see the bloodstains on his face, along with the scar, which made him look particularly sinister.
"General Lou...when did it happen?"
Lou Zhi paused, looked at Yun Zhihe, his throat trembling slightly, and spoke again.
"Nothing serious. I will leave the city as ordered and return today."
He pursed his lips, followed Yun Zhihe's gaze, touched his scar with his fingertips, and then wiped away the blood splatter.
"...There were assassins ambushing the Lou Mansion. They killed them and came here."
Yun Zhihe paused.
The Lou Mansion and the Yun Mansion are far apart, so why do you insist on coming to the Yun Mansion?
"General Lou, are you injured?"
Lou Zhi raised his hand again to wipe away the blood drops on his face, then lowered his eyes to look at Yun Zhihe, his expression calm.
"No, no one can hurt me."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"General Lou, do you know who sent the assassin and why they wanted to kill you?"
"I don't know."
Lou Zhi shook his head. He never cared about those twists and turns. He would just do whatever Xuanyuan asked him to do, and that was all.
He sat down on the chair and looked up at Yun Zhihe.
"There is an assassin in the Lou Mansion and I can't sleep peacefully, so... I have to stay here..." He seemed a little confused and didn't know how to start.
"...Sleep here."
Yun Zhihe paused and roughly understood what he meant.
She nodded and agreed to this matter, but at this time Lou Zhi spoke again.
"The dagger I gave you... is it still there?"
That dagger?
She remembered that it was the dagger that Lou Zhi gave her when she was traveling to Longcheng.
Yun Zhihe took it out of the drawer. The dagger was well preserved and wrapped in layers of soft cloth. It was obvious that a lot of care had been taken to preserve it.
Lou Zhi looked at the dagger in Yun Zhihe's hand, but did not take it. He just glanced at it.
"I've given it to you, so you can't take it back."
"Um……"
Yun Zhihe paused, then retracted the dagger.
This dagger looks like a rare treasure, extremely sharp, and seems to be soaked in blood and filled with evil spirit.
He only murmured softly, "That was given to me by my mother."
Yun Zhihe didn't know how to answer. How could such a precious relic be given away so casually?
"…but she doesn't like me."
Only then did she understand.
Lou Zhi murmured softly, then lowered his eyes to look at the pastries on the table and paused.
He pursed his lips, his dark eyes fixed on the pastries on the table.
Yun Zhihe followed his gaze in confusion and saw that he was staring at the pastries in a daze.
"General Lou, would you like to have a piece...?"
Lou Zhi nodded.
"I asked someone to bring food to General Lou. The general has been exhausted from the journey and was assassinated. He must be extremely hungry."
“…No need.”
Lou Zhi rejected Yun Zhihe's suggestion and picked up a piece of cake.
He took a small sip, and just for a moment, the murderous aura on his body seemed to soften a little.
He had no expression on his face and ate the cakes bite by bite obediently.
Yun Zhihe couldn't resist the sweet taste in his mouth. He couldn't help but feel a little worried and wanted to say a few words to remind her.
“This cake…”
"……like."
She heard his hoarse voice, low and magnetic, softened by the sugar cake, and the ending tone trembled.
He seemed to have his eyes lowered.
...especially happy.
He swallowed the cake bite by bite.
Yun Zhihe thought back to what Yuan Ziluo had asked about, General Lou’s interests and past, his interests and hobbies were all...unclear.
At this moment, she had a vague feeling that he seemed to like eating candy cakes.
He ate very seriously and solemnly, but rarely did he let go of his evil spirit.
Yun Zhihe smiled slightly.
Almost no one in the capital is on good terms with him, and no one knows how happy he is... Now he seems to have transformed from a murderous god of war into a touchable man.
No one probably knows that this aloof, expressionless god of war... loves to eat sweets and cakes.
He only ate a few pieces before putting them down, then looked up at Yun Zhihe, his eyes seemed to be softened by the sweet cake.
"Can I stay here?"
He was referring to this room.
Lou Zhi was ambushed, and it was obviously unsafe to go to Lou Mansion again. Yun Zhihe nodded and responded to his words.
If he were to have someone take him to another room, others might know that Lou Zhi was in the Yun Mansion, or... he would be safer staying in this room.
"General Lou, I can sleep on the floor by the door. There's a screen between us, so don't worry."
Yun Zhihe had not taken a bath yet. When the servant brought the bath water, Yun Zhihe hurriedly asked Lou Zhi to hide away.
There was a faint smell of blood on Lou Zhi's body. Men like to be clean, so it's better to give the bath water to him.
"General Lou, please take a bath. I will never overstep the boundaries."
Lou Zhi looked at her for a long time, then lowered his eyes.
It seems... the scars on his body are horrifying.
Lou Zhi was a little confused, but his fingertips were trembling slightly.
Even though there was a screen between them, the sound of dripping water still reached Yun Zhihe's mind. She took a deep breath, cleared her mind, and simply picked up a book to read carefully.
Lou Zhi was in a wooden basin, carefully pouring water over himself.
But his expression was cold, and it seemed that even the good mood he had just had from eating the sweet cake was gone. He just lowered his eyes and looked at the waves floating on the water.
He doesn't understand matters between men and women.
But he knew...it seemed rare for a woman to be happy like this.
His scars spread across his body like blooming flowers, including the scar on his eye...
Lou Zhi stopped thinking about it.
Through a hazy screen, you can vaguely see the figure of a man bathing inside, with water droplets sliding down his skin. His broad shoulders and narrow waist make him look particularly sexy.
The man tilted his head back, revealing his beautiful curves.
The sound of water is indeed chaotic, yet full of rhythm, and each sound is particularly touching.
Yun Zhihe...had never interacted with a man like this before.
She was still flipping through the book in her hand, but in a daze, she closed her eyes accompanied by the sound of dripping water.
The night was dark and Yun Zhihe slowly fell asleep on the desk.
The candlelight flickered, shining on her face, bringing a particularly warm feeling.
At some point, the sound of dripping water had stopped. Lou Zhi, wrapped in a thin white inner garment, walked out from behind the screen and watched Yun Zhihe lying on the desk, sleeping peacefully.
Her usually beautiful face was especially calm, her breathing even, perhaps due to the hustle and bustle of court affairs, she looked slightly tired.
……nice.
This is the only way Lou Zhi can describe it.
There was still moisture on his body, and water droplets flowed down the tip of his tall nose, fell into his chest, and then into his inner clothes.
He just looked at her like this, looking at her sleeping face, his eyes carefully examining and thinking, for a long time, until the candle burned out.
Even though he looked at it for a long time, he was still confused.
Why just look at her.
There was an inexplicable joy in my chest.
It feels like eating a candy cake, sweet and soft to the chest, especially soft and hot.
Lou Zhi had been cold and hard all his life. In his early years, he was imprisoned in the backyard and beaten by his wife. Later, he fought on the battlefield and was covered in blood. He had no idea that there was such a soft thing.
...So strange.
He concealed the inexplicable emotion in his eyes.
Yun Zhihe's dream was hazy and unclear. Between floating and sinking, she seemed to feel the scorching temperature and water vapor. She seemed to be picked up by someone, and she seemed to hear the voice at that time -
When Lou Zhi was eating the cake, he had his eyes downcast and his voice was low and hoarse with a soft ending.
"……like."
Especially violent and beautiful.
…
The second day was a day off, and Yun Zhihe also met and talked with Cui Mingyu and others.
The last time she was forcibly dragged out by Mo Beise, she had never had a deep conversation with these people.
At this time, Cui Mingyu lowered her eyes, and the unruly smile on her face was gone. She lowered her eyes and thought about what happened in the court today.
The Cui family has always been neutral, has never joined any political party, and is unlikely to be involved in party disputes.
But Cui's mother, inexplicably, made friends with Cheng Guomu and had vague plans to join Xuanyuan's party.
Cui Mingyu had a big fight with her mother about this.
"Zhihe...things have been so strange these days, and that corruption thing..."
Yun Zhihe nodded, poured himself a glass of sake, and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Indeed, I have been investigating these past few days and have found some slightly different things."
She paused, then spoke.
"The tax amount doesn't match the embezzled amount. The amount of money embezzled is too large, and we can't trace its source yet..."
"I only vaguely found out about the destroyed Song Mansion, but when their property was confiscated, the Song Mansion didn't have much money..."
Yun Zhihe thought slowly.
When Li Miaomiao heard about the Song Mansion, she paused, looked at Yun Zhihe, and spoke.
"Madam Yun, do you remember what happened with Madam Song Er?"
Yun Zhihe looked up at her.
"Of course I remember."
Li Miaomiao pursed her lips and recalled, "At that time... you asked me to investigate the Song Mansion under the guise of being an aide, and at that time, Minister Song gave me a large amount of silver. Everything the Song Mansion used was exquisite, and she had so many aides..."
"Although I was somewhat famous at the time, I didn't need her lavish hospitality, so the only gift I gave her was the silver she gave to her other staff members."
She continued speaking.
"When the Song family was confiscated, the silver they took wasn't much... I'm still wondering how they got so little."
"...When I think about it, it seems a little unusual."
Yun Zhihe was stunned when she heard her words. Her mind was working rapidly, carefully recalling the clues she had at the moment.
In the early years... the Song family... money... corruption...
She pursed her lips, her expression cold.
At this moment, the noisy laughter of children downstairs in the restaurant suddenly brought her back to her senses.
Yun Zhihe looked outside.
The streets are bustling with people coming and going, and everyone is happy, as if they are living and working in peace and prosperity.
It seems like... a prosperous era.
Yun Zhihe suddenly thought of Qin Duan's sarcastic yet compassionate tone at that time.
"Look, Xuanyuan clan's prosperous age."
The author has something to say:
I want to finish this book quickly so I've written too many words. It's too restrained. The heroine is really too restrained. I really want her to sleep with every man she meets, but her character doesn't allow it. It's so painful... So I'll finish it quickly and start something else.
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