Chapter 15 The Fifteenth Kill

Xiaoyu originally planned to take a leisurely stroll after delivering the letter.

Now that I've been tricked by this cunning shopkeeper, I don't even have the energy to stroll around.

After leaving the shop, she bought a string of candied haws and prepared to eat them while walking back to the palace.

After taking two bites, something sharp got rubbed between Xiaoyu's teeth. She covered her mouth and spit the contents onto the ground. At a glance, she saw small stones mixed in with the hawthorn crumbs and blood foam.

Hey, all the sneaky things happened on her today!

Xiaoyu stood up and looked around, and saw the candied haws vendor walking to the end of the street and preparing to turn.

She ran after him angrily, holding a grapefruit candy in her left hand and a half-eaten candied haws in her right hand.

There were many pedestrians on the road, so Xiaoyu had to be careful not to let the wooden stick of the candied haws hit other people. By the time Xiaoyu caught up with the seller, he had arrived at an unfamiliar residential area.

Most of them are old houses that are about to collapse, and at every corner there are more than a dozen old people with gray hair sitting and chatting.

Xiaoyu walked up to the candied haws vendor and said, "Brother, your candied haws are not clean. I bit a small stone and it hurt my tooth and it even bleeds!"

The seller was a man in his forties with two deep wrinkles on his forehead. Seeing the aggressive Xiaoyu, he was not afraid, but had a nonchalant expression: "What can I do? Just beat me to death."

Xiaoyu: ".....I'll make you pay!"

"no."

"How could there be nothing? I didn't see you buying anything along the way. You must have hidden it on you. Take it out now!"

The other party simply gave up and said, "I don't have money, but I have my life."

Xiaoyu was so angry that she was about to lose her temper. An old man in the group of elderly people sitting nearby and chatting said, "Miss, please let him go. He has elderly parents and young children to take care of. It's not easy for him to make some money."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the old men and women sitting around him started to speak up to help the vendor.

The anger in Xiaoyu's heart turned into a ball of fire, choking and swirling in her chest, unable to be released.

She endured it and said hesitantly: "Okay, you should be more careful next time."

"Thank you, Miss. You look like a good person. You will definitely be blessed in the future."

"Yes, yes, look at the big round face of the young lady, it is a face of enjoying happiness. Sister-in-law, you are right."

"That's right. When I was at my mother's house, I learned fortune-telling from the eldest master of a neighboring family. I said before that the girl from Erlang's family was a lucky person. Now she has entered the palace to enjoy a happy life."

The little fish, whose face was praised for being so round and big, was about to leave, but when he heard that there might be a story behind this, he followed their example and found a stone to sit on.

The man selling candied haws saw that she stopped talking and guessed that there was nothing for him to do, so he lowered his head and left.

One of the women, who had a floral scarf wrapped around her head, sighed, "That girl is also heartless. She just entered the palace to enjoy the good life, and now she wants to tear down our home."

Xiaoyu stretched his head forward and asked: "Why did she want to tear down your house?"

Everyone complained to her, "Why else? The palace is going to be expanded. I heard that even the topographical map has been drawn. Now the government is negotiating with every household, asking us to move out."

Her leg sank and Xiaoyu turned around to look. A chubby little girl, about three or four years old, with double buns was lying on her legs, drooling as she looked at the grapefruit candy in Xiaoyu's hand.

Xiaoyu pinched her chubby cheeks, held her and put her on his lap, then pinched out a candy and put it in her palm.

"The expansion of the imperial city is a good thing. It provides money and housing for resettlement."

The woman with the floral headscarf said, "That's true, but we are already half buried in the ground. Who would want to go to a strange place to get familiar with it?"

Xiaoyu nodded, that was true. People say fallen leaves return to their roots, and what they return to is their hometown.

The little fish shook its legs, teasing the little girl in its arms and pinching her chubby fingers.

Seeing that she didn't have the aloof air of the young ladies from aristocratic families, the old woman in the floral headscarf continued, "The man who sold you the Tanghulu just now is from our street. His mother is sick in bed and can't get up. She doesn't want to move because she's afraid that her soul won't be able to find her home after she dies. He's worried about this, and he probably mixed stones into the Tanghulu because of this. You're a magnanimous person, don't give him a hard time."

"That's right. I tried to think of a way for him to trick his mother into moving to the new house, but he refused to do so. I think he would die sooner or later, so it's better to die sooner rather than later to save the children from suffering."

Xiaoyu sighed: "It is indeed a troublesome matter."

On one hand, there is the money given by the government and the new house he is destined to move into, and on the other hand, there is his elderly and sick mother. No one can make a choice.

After this matter was said, they changed the subject. Xiaoyu was about to listen again when he saw a figure flash past the corner not far away.

She was not mistaken, it was Lin Kun.

Xiaoyu put the little girl down, pinched her three grapefruit candies, then stood up and chased in the direction where Lin Kun disappeared.

Although this place is located at the foot of the imperial city, it is some distance away from the imperial gate and is not in the same direction. How could Lin Kun, as his junior fellow apprentice's close bodyguard, appear here?

When she ran over, Lin Kun was no longer there.

Following the direction he was moving, Xiaoyu moved forward, turned the corner, and a spring house tied with colorful ribbons appeared in front of her.

Spring House!

Lin Kun was actually shopping in a brothel in broad daylight!

"Has he forgotten that you are about to get married and actually went out to have fun!" After returning to the palace, Xiaoyu was very angry. She found Minglu and told him everything, not forgetting to scold him before finishing.

Minglu was holding an embroidery needle, embroidering a red-bottomed bird. She didn't look shocked when she heard this, and her voice was as gentle as always: "Don't worry, he won't do that. There must be some misunderstanding."

Xiaoyu was angry at her for not fighting back, "Sister Minglu, don't trust him so much. Men always say one thing in front of you and another behind your back."

Minglu just smiled and said nothing.

Xiaoyu was worried and kept chattering in front of her: "Sister Minglu, you have to recognize him. Marriage is a lifelong thing. He..."

He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Minglu smiled at her and said, "Go open the door."

Xiaoyu was angry, especially after she saw that the person outside the door was Lin Kun. She looked at Minglu and angrily accused her: "Sister Minglu, you did it on purpose."

Knowing that the person coming was Lin Kun, he deliberately asked himself to open the door.

Minglu then put down her embroidery, stood up and walked towards them, saying with a smile: "Aren't you curious about what he is doing there? I am giving you a chance."

She doesn't want to know!

Xiaoyu glared at Lin Kun, then walked around him and left.

Lin Kun's puzzled voice came from behind: "What is she doing here again?"

Minglu didn't answer this question, and asked softly: "Where did you buy the silver candy?"

Xiaoyu could no longer hear what they said next. Even without hearing it, she could guess that Lin Kun must have done something bad, so he bought some crispy candies to please Sister Minglu.

Although she and Sister Minglu have only known each other for a short time, she can see that Minglu is a gentle, elegant and thoughtful person. As for Lin Kun, Xiaoyu feels that he is not worthy of Minglu from the bottom of his heart.

But when I think about it carefully, what my junior brother said is right. Feelings are like drinking water, only the person knows whether it is hot or cold. As long as Sister Minglu is willing, other people as outsiders should not say too much.

Xiaoyu was feeling depressed and didn't even say hello to Wang the Great Steward when they passed each other on the road.

The chief steward stopped her and asked in confusion, "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why are you still looking at me with such resentment?"

Xiaoyu shook her head: "It's none of your business. Chief Steward, when will the prince come back?"

The Grand Secretary said: "It's hard to say. The prince often comes to the palace, sometimes for an hour or two, sometimes overnight, and sometimes for four or five days."

He said with a tone of reproach in his voice: "Xiao Yu, as the prince's accompanying maid, you should know more about the inside story than I do."

Xiaoyu understood the deeper meaning of his words, which meant that she was not qualified to be his junior fellow apprentice's maid.

Xiaoyu did not refute him, and said seriously: "The chief steward is right, it is my fault. The prince is weak and tired from running around all day. As a maidservant, I should always follow him and take care of his life and three meals a day."

It was rare to see her so aware and explain to him from the bottom of her heart. The chief steward's eyes lit up immediately: "Then I will arrange to send you to the palace to accompany the prince?"

His tone was different from the complaints just now, too attentive. Xiaoyu squinted her eyes and stared at him: "General Manager, there is no conspiracy here, right?"

"No, no, I swear to God, I would never harm the prince." The chief steward was so sincere that he almost raised his finger to swear.

"Who would believe you?" Xiaoyu still refused to believe him: "I will go and wait for the prince to come back."

This wait lasted until after midnight, when Xiaoyu dozed off on the table due to sleepiness, and finally Zhou Xunran returned.

He was usually surrounded by a large group of people, all of whom were experienced martial artists. They did not deliberately lighten their steps, and in the quiet night, their footsteps made a rumbling sound.

Xiaoyu was awakened by their footsteps. When she looked up, she saw Zhou Xunran, wearing a floor-length cloak, walking into the yard, surrounded by people like the moon surrounded by stars.

"Your Highness." Xiaoyu stood up from the chair and walked towards him.

Zhou Xunran waved away the crowd and suppressed the fatigue between his brows. "It's late at night, why don't you rest?"

Xiaoyu followed him into the room and said, "You've been gone for a whole day. I have to wait for you to come back."

Zhou Xunran smiled and said, "You don't have to wait for me in the future."

"Okay." Xiaoyu agreed casually. Anyway, she had already decided that she would go wherever he went from now on, without any hesitation.

How could Zhou Xunran not hear her perfunctory tone?

"Do you have any midnight snack? I haven't eaten for half a day and I'm really hungry."

Hearing him say this and looking at his pale face due to hunger, Xiaoyu immediately hung her head in self-blame: "I was so focused on waiting for you that I forgot to do it."

"No problem. There's some in the kitchen. Just go get it."

Xiaoyu nodded and put the grapefruit candy she had saved in front of him: "Junior brother, eat some candy first, the midnight snack will be here soon."

After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked out without waiting for him to continue.

After her figure disappeared, Zhou Xunran looked outside.

A young guard immediately walked in from the door, took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhou Xunran.

"The young lady went out of the house today and sent a letter to the candy shop to relieve her worries. She also bought some candied haws, but they were not clean and she hurt her teeth. When she was settling the bill with the vendor, she arrived at the foot of the imperial city and talked to the old man there. They talked about the expansion of the imperial city. Later, the young lady saw the figure of Lin Shiwei and thought he went to Chunlou, so she came back to complain to Miss Minglu."

Zhou Xunran could almost imagine her complaining to Minglu.

“It’s something she can do.”

He opened the envelope, took out the letter, and looked at the contents carefully.