Chapter 19: Fu Huaiqing, or Xu Wenche...
Her clear voice was neither too loud nor too soft; Fu Huaiqing could just hear it.
He paused, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, and glanced at her with a detached look.
The moment the piercing gaze struck, Biezhi froze, her eyes reflecting the hesitant expressions of the crowd. She covered her mouth and coughed lightly, muttering, "I didn't say anything wrong."
No woman will like a fierce-looking man!
Fu Huaiqing didn't hear her muttering this time, but judging from her expression, she didn't seem like she was going to say anything nice.
Since they had known each other since childhood, this was the first time Qin Wan had seen Fu Huaiqing speechless and choked with emotion. She couldn't help but laugh out loud, and felt even more that her little sister was truly a wonderful person, and extremely cute.
"What a coincidence, I also think he's fierce," Qin Wan whispered in agreement.
Biezhi fell silent again.
Her eyes darted around, but she couldn't figure out Qin Wan's intentions.
Could it be that this is just a prank between the young couple? And I'm just a pawn in their little game?
Qin Wan observed Fu Huaiqing's expression, her playful side emerging, and asked, "In your opinion, is the prince more handsome, or the man downstairs?"
The other branch remained silent.
This time, it seems they have no intention of answering anything.
She shouldn't meddle in what's going on between the young couple.
Prince Su may spare Qin Wan, but he will not let her go.
What's more, his eyes now look like those of a predatory beast. If she speaks again, he will pounce on her and bite her neck fiercely, looking incredibly vicious!
At this moment, the maid who had gone to inquire knocked on the door and entered.
When the man looked away, Biezhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the slightly panting maid and asked excitedly, "Did you find out?"
"I found out." The maid stepped forward. "It's Xu Wenche, the young master of the wealthy Xu family in Jingzhou."
"The Xu family of Jingzhou?" Qin Wan frowned slightly.
Seeing her slight hesitation, Biezhi's almond-shaped eyes darted around as she inquired, "Is there something amiss with the Xu family?"
“It’s not exactly inappropriate.” Qin Wan’s gaze swept over the indifferent and silent Fu Huaiqing. After a moment of thought, she said tentatively, “Jingzhou is located on the border, and the Xu family does all sorts of risky businesses.” Seeing that Fu Huaiqing did not intend to stop her, she continued, “If you get involved with the Xu family, it’s fine if nothing happens, but if something unexpected happens, it might be detrimental to you.”
What Qin Wan said, Bie Zhi naturally knew.
However, she would not back down because of this. She said, "Sister, I just want to get to know him and make friends. I have no intention of marrying him."
Qin Wan was speechless, thinking that Bie Zhi had feelings for Xu Wenche.
She stared intently at Biezhi's expression for a moment. The girl's bright, sparkling eyes gradually dispelled her suspicions. "If it's just about making a friend, that's fine too."
Bie Zhi hadn't expected Qin Wan to think so much, and her eyes curved into a smile: "I just think that the young master of the Xu family is handsome. There are so many good-looking men in the world, you can't have them all."
Upon hearing this, Qin Wan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The girl's tone was tinged with regret, and her expression was slightly disappointed, as if she really wanted to take it all if she could.
The people following in the room couldn't help but smile. Jiang Yue's smile was halfway up when he suddenly remembered his master. His eyes seemed to glance at the prince's increasingly unspeakable expression, and he silently lowered his smile.
Fu Huaiqing looked at the overjoyed girl with a complicated expression. Even when she was disguised as Ji Ran, he had never seen her with such a charming expression. It was as if she really liked Xu Wenche very much, even more than Ji Ran.
His eyes darkened.
His deep, dark eyes looked at her again, and the corners of Biezhi's upturned eyes quietly lowered. In a daze, she felt that the surroundings were getting colder and colder. If she stayed any longer, she would surely be frozen into ice.
She pursed her lips slightly and said, "Sister, may I walk around by myself?"
"Where to?" Qin Wan asked, puzzled.
Bie Zhi smiled coyly, glancing at the figure still lingering on the street.
Seeing this, Qin Wan couldn't help but nod and chuckle: "Go ahead."
She nodded, and Biezhi immediately stood up, curtsied to Fu Huaiqing, and left without looking back, as if afraid that the person behind her would chase after her. Her steps were quick.
Hua Chao, who came out, ran all the way to the top of the street before catching up with him.
Hua Chao, panting, looked at the girl who stood motionless. "Miss, where are we going?"
"Find Xu Wenche." Bie Zhi's gaze swept quickly around; the man who had been standing on the street just moments before had vanished without a trace. She frowned slightly: "Have you seen him?"
Hua Chao stood on tiptoe and looked around, but couldn't find it: "Wasn't it just here a moment ago?"
"Let's look again," Biezhi said.
She needs to find an opportunity to get in touch with Xu Wenche; waiting for him to come looking for the Qin family girl would probably take forever.
Yongle Avenue was crowded with people, and Bie Zhi searched for nearly half an hour but could not find the man.
She began to wonder if Xu Wenche was really born in the Year of the Rabbit, how could he run so nimbly, and this was the first time she had ever lost track of him.
It was midday, the sun was at its hottest. After searching for half an hour, Biezhi stood sweating profusely in front of the tavern on the street corner, looking around, but still couldn't see him.
Hua Chao followed her along the entire Yongle Avenue, searching from south to north. Seeing her somewhat lost and dejected appearance, he said, "Miss, why don't you rest for a while?"
Biezhi hummed in agreement.
As more and more people came to Yongle Avenue, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack; continuing the search would be pointless.
She glanced around casually, then spotted a restaurant at the end of the street with the words "Qing Shi Zhai" prominently displayed on its signboard. She raised her chin slightly and said, "Let's go there."
Biezhi had never been to Qingshizhai, but had heard of it.
Qing Shi Zhai is located in the southeast corner of the capital. It is known as one of the three major restaurants in the capital, along with Wang He Lou and Ping Yun Ge. However, unlike the other two, Qing Shi Zhai is frequented by many young men from prominent families. It is said that when young men from prominent families in the capital have a small gathering, they often come here.
She glanced inside as she passed by, but Xu Wenche wasn't there.
However, there are quite a few scions of prominent families among them, and some of them may have seen him before.
As Biezhi stepped onto the blue stone steps of the study, the waiter inside suddenly stepped forward. His eyes quickly scanned the girl as she ascended the steps, and he asked, "Would you like to go to a private room, or sit downstairs?"
“Any seats are fine,” Biezhi said.
The waiter called out loudly into the room, "One seat available!"
His loud voice suddenly attracted the attention of others in the building. Curiosity led them to stop their chatter and turn to look at the girl who had stepped across the threshold of Qing Shi Zhai with varying expressions.
"Who is that person?" The man sitting closest to the door looked the girl up and down, his burning gaze lingering on her slightly upturned eyes. "I've never seen him before."
"If you haven't seen it, then naturally none of you could have," a colleague who came with the man said, subtly flattering him.
Biezhi pretended not to hear the whispers and followed the servant who came forward to greet her inside.
There were only a few seats left in the building. The servant led her to an empty seat, took out a folded document and handed it to the table, pushing it towards her: "Miss, see what you need."
Biezhi casually pointed to the name at the top of the document, "This one."
The servant leaned forward and saw where her fingertips had landed. His smile became more genuine as he said, "Please wait a moment, miss, and I'll bring it to you right away."
She closed the folded book and returned it to him.
Her gaze swept over the crowd below the building, but she still couldn't find Xu Wenche, so she had to give up.
“You don’t need to be so reserved when we go out alone.” Biezhi gestured for Huachao to sit down, as she wasn’t used to being waited on. “Just be quick-witted on ordinary days.”
“Miss, this is not appropriate.” Hua Chao glanced at the crowd that kept glancing over, then bent down and whispered, “The guests in Qing Shi Zhai might accidentally step on other prominent families’ scions. If their gossip increases, it won’t be good for you, Miss, nor for the Qin family.”
Upon hearing this, Biezhi felt a slight ripple in her heart.
She turned her head slightly and looked at the woman who was whispering with her eyes down for the first time. The maid sent by the Qin family was much more clever than she had expected.
What Hua Chao said was something she hadn't considered.
Their eyes met briefly, and Biezhi nodded and hummed in agreement, accepting her suggestion.
Just then, a woman's exclamation came from somewhere, and the guests in the scattered seats all looked in the direction of the sound, including Biezhi.
When she caught sight of two figures entangled in the corner of the building, Betsuki, who had no interest in romantic entanglements, casually looked away. It wasn't until she heard the woman's slightly tearful voice again that she turned her head to look again.
Seeing the woman's teary, clear eyes, she frowned slightly.
Before he could even call Hua Chao to go and investigate, he caught a glimpse of the pink-clad woman opposite him standing up impatiently. Before she could even take a step forward, her companion grabbed her wrist.
The woman in green glanced at the corner of the building and shook her head at her indignant classmate: "You know Li's second son's temperament. Don't go and get yourself into trouble."
"So we're just going to let him lay his hands on us in front of everyone?!" the woman in pink said unhappily, her eyes fixed on the two figures in the corner. "If he dares to lay his hands on others today, who knows what he might do to you and us tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, the woman in green paused for a moment.
However, she still didn't let go. Instead, she used a bit of force to pull the woman in pink back to her original seat. "Even so, you can't show yourself." She looked around and saw that everyone was pretending not to see anything. She then said to the maid behind her, "There are Chengtian Prefecture officials on duty at the calligraphy gathering. Go and bring them over."
The maid nodded and hurriedly ran out of the Qing Shi Zhai.
Biezhi, who had overheard the entire conversation, glanced at the woman who was trembling slightly. Her brows furrowed slightly. She then looked at the servants moving around inside the building. They made no move to stop her, allowing the young master Li they were talking about to act recklessly.
After a moment, Biezhi took a deep breath.
It wasn't that she wanted to cause trouble; trouble just came knocking on her door.
Suddenly, a piercing sound rang out in the building. The people who had been whispering with their eyes down looked up and saw a petite girl dragging a chair, walking step by step toward the direction where the second son of the Li family was.
In an instant, everyone in the room stared wide-eyed at the girl who had appeared out of nowhere.
Even the second son of the Li family, who was holding the woman's slender waist, stopped what he was doing and looked at the girl who had interrupted his good time with an impatient expression.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Biezhi dragged a chair to the seat in front of the young master of the Li family, set it up, and sat down unhurriedly.
The second son of the Li family frowned as he looked at her.
The building was silent, and everyone's attention was drawn to it. After a short while, a girl's sweet voice rang out as she called out the name of her maid: "Hua Chao".
Hua Chao, who had followed without a word, had no idea what she was up to. She slightly raised her eyelids and glanced at the increasingly impatient young master of the Li family, before replying, "Miss."
Bie Zhi smiled, but her clear, bright eyes held no trace of amusement. Her tone was a mixture of regret and helplessness: "Sometimes I really envy certain men."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the building looked at each other, not understanding the meaning behind her words.
Hua Chao was also confused: "Miss, what do you mean?"
"Aren't you envious?" Biezhi asked, pouting and frowning.
Hua Chao: "What are you envious of?"
“I envy them. They’re so ordinary, yet so incredibly confident.” Biezhi’s eyes were icy as she glanced at the man who had been stunned for a moment before suddenly snapping out of his daze and bursting into fury. His fleshy face rippled with his anger. She chuckled softly, her gaze fixed on him, and said, “He looks like a pig’s head, yet he boasts of being as handsome as Pan An. In reality, if you threw him on the street, even a passing butcher wouldn’t give him a second glance.”
In an instant, the young master of the Li family's expression darkened.
He abruptly released his grip on the woman's waist and stormed toward another branch. The woman, who had been dragged by him for some time, quickly took a few steps back, looking at him with a terrified expression, and finally couldn't help but cry out softly.
The young master of the Li family glared angrily at the composed young woman, but after thinking for a while, he still couldn't remember whose daughter she was, given her arrogance.
However, her small face is particularly delicate and charming.
After staring at the girl for a while, the young master of the Li family gradually calmed down. He pushed aside the man who was blocking his way and laughed a few times: "If you want to get my attention, you can just come over and say a few words. Why make such a big fuss and make yourself a laughing stock?"
As he spoke, his hands, which were not clean, reached straight for the girl's face. However, before he could touch her soft cheeks, someone suddenly pulled his hand back from his side.
The man, who had been flattering the young master of the Li family for a long time, suddenly remembered where he had seen the girl in front of him before. Fearing that he would get into trouble, he quickly stopped her and whispered, "She is the youngest daughter of the Qin family who was just found."
Upon hearing this, the young master of the Li family paused for a moment, then asked, "Which Qin family?"
"Qin Peibai, Minister of Personnel," the man said.
The man's voice wasn't quiet; those seated a little closer to them could hear it. The most talked-about topic among the prominent families in the capital recently was the Qin family finding their youngest daughter. However, this was the first time they had seen the person in question. For a moment, they all turned to look at him with more concern, and they roughly understood why the girl dared to step forward to stop them.
With the Qin family backing them up, things are naturally different.
When she saw a hint of panic flash across the stunned expression of the young master of the Li family, Bie Zhi couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She really hadn't expected that the Qin family's identity would be so useful.
The girl's sudden sneer caught the eye of the young master of the Li family. He glanced at the crowd in the building watching the show, who seemed to be waiting to see him make a fool of himself. He straightened his back a bit and said loudly, "I thought she was someone from somewhere else. She's just a country bumpkin that the Qin family found outside. She's shameless and does all sorts of bad things because the Qin family is active outside."
His expression darkened slightly, with a hint of exasperation: "She really is just a country bumpkin, not fit for the table."
In an instant, the Qing Shi Zhai became quiet again.
All eyes turned to the girl who was bowing her head and smiling silently. She slowly raised her eyes and said, "If everyone on the stage is like Young Master Li, then it's better not to stand on the stage at all, lest I get my shoes dirty."
After finishing her sentence, Biezhi glanced at everyone present, then stood up unhurriedly. She had no desire to stay in this seemingly glamorous but actually chaotic place any longer. Ignoring the man whose finger was trembling as he pointed at her, she left without looking back.
Only after she left did everyone come to their senses, and they looked at each other in silence.
The windows of the private room, which were tightly closed, were slowly pushed open a little. The handsome, smiling face of the man occasionally peeked through the cracks in the window. He looked thoughtfully at the departing figure, then lowered his eyes and smiled.
The servant Yuan An, who was brewing tea, glanced at his young master and heard him say from the commotion downstairs, "Young master, that young lady is Qin Biezhi, the daughter the Qin family just found."
"I heard that." Xu Wenche chuckled softly, his fingertip resting on the brightly colored glass teacup. "It's more interesting than I imagined."
Yuan An handed over a freshly brewed cup of tea and followed the young master's gaze downwards: "The Qin family's daughter?"
Xu Wenche raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.
Her small mouth was as sweet as honey, and her voice was very pleasant.
He tilted his head back and finished the tea in his cup, then stood up: "Let's go and meet this second young lady of the Qin family."
Unexpectedly, Xu Wenche once again stepped onto Yongle Avenue from the private room of Qing Shi Zhai. Although it was already past noon, the sun had not softened at all.
Looking at the crowded street, she said, "Forget it, I'm not looking anymore."
Instead of searching for a needle in a haystack with Hua Chao, it would be better to return to the Qin residence first and then find an opportunity to secretly leave the residence to investigate one by one. Perhaps this would be faster.
The Qin family carriage stopped at the northernmost point of Yongle Avenue, and they still had to walk back.
But as soon as she turned a corner and stepped onto a less crowded street, several dark figures suddenly darted out. Biezhi's eyes narrowed, and the next moment she saw the young master of the Li family walking out unhurriedly with his hands behind his back. The worry that had been in her throat slowly subsided.
"Go and call for help," Biezhi said to Huachao.
Hua Chao looked up when she heard this, and was stunned when she caught sight of her slightly smiling eyes. Before she could say anything more, she ran away without looking back.
With her gone, things will be easier for Biezhi to do.
Looking at the smiling, fleshy face, she clicked her tongue. She really didn't want to dirty her hands, but since the person had already come to her door, she naturally couldn't let him go easily.
Biezhi swiftly darted past the onrushing servant, grabbed the man's neck as his expression grew increasingly panicked, and slammed him violently against the wall. Her palm tightened little by little, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the servant rushing at her again. Her gaze remained unchanged as she raised her leg, slightly shifted her steps, and swiftly kicked the men in the stomach.
Her other hand wasn't idle either; without using any special techniques, she clenched it into a fist and punched the young master of the Li family a few times.
Biezhi's strength was extraordinary. With one punch, the fat on Li's young master's face flew everywhere, and a white pebble was spat out from his slightly open mouth. Only after it fell to the ground could people see its true form.
A tooth stained with blood.
The shadow guard who had been secretly following glanced at the man whose face was bruised and swollen, whispered a few words to his subordinate, who immediately obeyed and left.
The shadow guard arrived at the back gate of the Prince's mansion, handed his waist token to the guard in front of the gate, and the guard immediately let him through.
He hurried to the study. Cheng Jin, who was guarding the door, frowned slightly when he saw him and walked up to him: "Is there any unusual activity over there?"
“Biezhi beat someone up,” the shadow guard said.
Cheng Jin: "..."
For some reason, he didn't seem surprised.
"Who did you hit?"
The shadow guard said, "He is the second son of Li Shanjue, the Minister of War."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Jin finally showed a hint of surprise. He nodded, walked to the study, and knocked on the door.
The conversation in the study fell silent for a moment.
Cheng Jin pushed open the door and walked in. His gaze swept over Su Ci by the chessboard, and he quickly walked up to the prince who was reviewing memorials. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, Bie Zhi beat up the second son of Lord Li Shanjue."
Fu Huaiqing's brushstrokes, marked with vermilion annotations, remained unchanged, flowing smoothly and with effortless control.
He said expressionlessly, "So what if we fight? What can we do about it?"
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