Jiangzhou
Until the carriage arrived at Jiang's house, Guizhi still didn't understand why Jiang Nian suddenly refuted those rumors.
Does the young lady want them to change their opinion of Xiao Yingzhu?
But the lady didn't say anything else in the end. She just looked out the window of the carriage, not knowing what she was thinking about.
Guizhi cleared the dishes off the table and said to Jiang Nian, "Miss, I'll go to the kitchen first. If you have nothing else to do, please remember to rest."
It was hard for the little girl to be so busy and still care about her health. Jiang Nian nodded and smiled and said, "I will remember it. You can go and get busy first."
After changing clothes, I will go to Jiangzhou with Xiao Yingzhu. Jiangzhou is not far from Pingzhou, and it only takes two and a half hours to get there by carriage.
When we arrived in Jiangzhou, it was already evening.
Jiang Nian watched Guizhi walk towards the kitchen in front, then looked away, thinking about what kind of suitable clothes he should change into for the night, and turned to go into the side room.
—
Fuling was packing her things in her room. When she heard footsteps, she raised her head and said, "Miss, you're back."
Jiang Nian nodded and was about to ask Fuling to find a few dresses she wanted to wear, but then she thought of something else.
"If you have nothing else to do later, have a few people take turns guarding the rice fields where the competition will take place. Their time will be similar to the patrols at the warehouse."
Hearing Jiang Nian's instructions, Fuling put away the wet cloth in her hand and replied, "Okay, I'll go and arrange things for them now."
"Oh, Miss, the medicine shop has already started moving things in. They'll probably be able to arrange them in the order you want in the next few days. Uncle Xu said he hopes you'll go take a look then."
There wasn't much to do recently. It was nothing more than going to the rice fields to test the insecticide's effectiveness, or checking out the layout of the medicine store. Jiang Nian reached out and took the clothes handed to him by Fuling, nodded and said, "I understand. You can go and do your work."
Fuling received a new task and immediately started to do it as instructed.
As soon as the room was empty, Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief. He lowered his eyes and stared at the clothes in his hands for a moment, then raised his head and called upwards, "Rain."
The young man named Yu suddenly transformed and appeared before Jiang Nian: "Here."
Ever since he noticed that Qing had changed slightly, Jiang Nian wanted to see if Yu, who was also a twin, would also change because of Qing's change.
Yu, who appeared in front of her, still had an expressionless face. He stood in front of her, lowered his head slightly, and waited quietly for her instructions.
Jiang Nian pondered for a moment, observing Yu's subtle expression, and said, "Do you remember the owner of Xu's Pharmacy? There is a temporary task that needs to be assigned to you."
"This mission is as important as guarding Fangzi. You must do it well."
Yu lowered his head slightly as if he had heard some important instructions. His eyes flickered slightly and he raised his head to look at Jiang Nian.
Jiang Nian still smiled softly, but the light in his eyes was colder than before: "Then the Xu family's shopkeeper will find someone to spread rumors about me between today and tomorrow to destroy the conspiracy between Xiao Yingzhu and me."
"And your mission is to kill Shopkeeper Xu's idea before it becomes a problem."
Yu was silent, and nodded as if she understood, but her expression was still confused, as if there was a layer of hazy fog between them, which made it impossible to see or understand clearly.
Jiang Nian couldn't penetrate the mist to see Yu's emotions. Whether it was joy or sadness, calmness or anger, she couldn't feel anything.
Qing's change hadn't changed him at all, but instead made him seem even more difficult to understand.
The invisible white mist that enveloped him isolated him from the outside world. Even when standing face to face, Jiang Nian felt as if they were in different worlds.
Although Yu can receive signals from the outside world, his feedback is very slow, almost non-existent.
Didn’t Qing tell him what happened that night?
Jiang Nian pondered for a moment, but did not have the time to pursue the details. Seeing Yu nodded in agreement, she asked a little worriedly about Qing. After learning that Qing had been with him all the time, she let Yu go with the mission.
The time gradually shifted, and the time outside the house had changed in an instant, slowly tilting from the right to the left.
After changing into the skirt that Fuling had found for her, Jiang Nian looked at herself carefully in the mirror for a moment. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, she stepped out of the wing. She didn't even have time to eat the lunch prepared for her by Guizhi. Her skirt swept over the steps and she pushed the door open and left the Jiang Mansion.
—
The familiar carriage had already stopped outside the mansion.
When Jiang Nian saw the familiar figure in the carriage, she slightly curved her eyes, glanced back at the door of the mansion which was not guarded by anyone, lifted her skirt, reached out to lift the curtain, and leaned over to sit in.
During this period of time, there was no one guarding outside the Jiang Mansion, so Jiang Nian got into the car very quickly. She was afraid that someone would see her actions and ask her to stay and question her before letting her go.
The aroma of tea wafted through the carriage, and without looking for it, one could tell that it was the type of tea Xiao Yingzhu preferred.
After Jiang Nian sat firmly, the carriage slowly moved forward. Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand to lift a corner of the curtain, and looked back. He saw that the Jiang Mansion was gradually left behind by the carriage. Not long after, it became a small dot and disappeared behind the road.
Coming back to his senses, Jiang Nian glanced to the side and saw a cup of tea placed on the table next to him. The cup had become completely cold, and the orange-brown tea soup had sunk to the bottom. Xiao Yingzhu, who was sitting next to him, was still wearing casual clothes, with his head slightly lowered, looking at the book on his lap.
The scenery outside the bamboo curtain was receding, and the lush green trees highlighted his ink-black hair. The wooden hairpin casually lifted up his ink-black hair like a waterfall, and a few strands of hair hung down from his cheeks and hooked on his shoulders, like half a wet ink scroll.
The teacup on the table was empty. His fingertips were touching a page of paper that had been turned over in the book. The words on the page were luminous and the content could not be seen clearly.
Feeling Jiang Nian looking here, Xiao Yingzhu raised his eyelids and glanced over here gently: "?"
So focused.
Jiang Nian shook his head slightly, not intending to disturb his interest in reading.
The carriage headed westward, and all we could hear was the dust raised by the horses' hooves and the fragrant breeze blowing past the window.
The setting sun sank into the clouds in the sky. The red sunset illuminated the light in Jiang Nian's light-colored eyes, and then her fair cheeks became red and lively, as if she was looking forward to this sudden trip to Jiangzhou.
The light in the sky was no longer enough to read the book in his hand. Xiao Yingzhu raised his head slightly and looked at the sky outside the window.
"Have you told them?"
Jiang Nian was suddenly called and turned his head subconsciously: "What?"
"...Not yet. I just left a note on the bedroom. When Fuling or Guizhi come, they should see it."
Xiao Yingzhu closed the book lazily: "Didn't you tell me in person?"
"Yeah." Jiang Nian sighed slightly, "If you knew my itinerary, you would definitely ask more questions."
"If I delay the trip, won't Duke Xiao punish me?"
Her last sentence was somewhat teasing. Xiao Yingzhu raised the corners of her eyes and looked at her thoughtfully: "Where did you hear this?"
How could a dignified Duke not know the source of these rumors?
Jiang Nian was surprised for a moment, and seeing Xiao Yingzhu was interested in asking about such events, it was like someone at the center of gossip was interested in gossip, so he quickly responded with a smile:
"On weekdays, in teahouses or in the neighborhood, if children cry or act up and refuse to leave, their parents will use your name to intimidate them."
"You don't know?"
Xiao Yingzhu casually placed her hands on her cheeks and shook her head slightly: "I have never paid attention to such incidents."
"But." His eyes fell on Jiang Nian's face, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Did you hear your last sentence recently?"
Being called out so bluntly by Xiao Yingzhu, Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, and instantly thought of the time at noon when Guizhi got in the car and whispered something in her ear.
He hesitated for a moment, but Xiao Yingzhu saw everything clearly, and he put his hand on the scroll with interest: "Just tell me."
“…”
What he said to Guizhi reminded him of his defense of Xiao Yingzhu. How could he explain this?
I don’t know where Xiao Yingzhu developed those piercing eyes. Jiang Nian always feels guilty in this situation and feels a little overwhelmed.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Nian turned his gaze away from Xiao Yingzhu and said evasively:
"Nothing much. She just told me about what she saw in the teahouse."
"...You're so indifferent to those rumors. I thought..."
Jiang Nianshu let out a breath, calming his racing heart. He looked at Xiao Yingzhu sternly, "When the war is over and His Majesty announces the list, if your name is on it, won't people question its authenticity?"
"What makes it true, and what makes it false?" he said nonchalantly. "Things that appear true but are false are obvious to all. History should determine this, not the words of today."
"That's right. But..." Jiang Nian frowned slightly. She was reluctant to say that, but seeing Xiao Yingzhu's indifferent look, she wanted to speak too.
"But...people who care about you should care."
Jiang Nian didn't say what was in his mind in the end. He spoke the last sentence in a very low voice. Even Xiao Yingzhu didn't hear it. She raised her eyelids and looked at her questioningly.
"nothing."
It's really embarrassing to hear this.
She maintained a calm expression, suspecting that Xiao Yingzhu had discovered what she was thinking. She pretended to look at the sunset outside the window, and the next moment turned her head away and no longer looked at him.
......
Do you like it? I think so.
But this feeling is very weak, almost to the point of non-existence.
It just stops at not wanting others to criticize Xiao Yingzhu.
For some reason, she always reminded herself not to feel sorry for anyone, not to care about anyone, and just be good to herself.
Therefore, she has been avoiding other people's feelings for her.
She could feel the things that Xiao Yingzhu did to her that could be considered privileges.
But she kept avoiding it, trying to pretend not to see it.
Xiao Yingzhu's care for her in the past was very indifferent, the kind that if you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't even know. And if those things were to be investigated, if he didn't want to admit it, he would just gloss over it, leaving himself embarrassed.
How can such a relationship go further?
Jiang Nian lowered his eyelashes. The light outside the car window became dimmer and dimmer. His own hands were already lost in the darkness within his sight.
She was already finding it difficult to predict how the current situation would develop. She had never imagined that she would become so close to someone she had intended to be an ally.
He already knew the biggest secret she had hidden during this era.
......
As for what life would be like without Xiao Yingzhu, she could only imagine a blank.
The carriage moved forward without paying any attention to her doubts about these troubled thoughts.
The subtle tranquility that permeated the carriage did not dissipate until the surrounding scenery changed slightly and fireworks in the distance ignited from the dark sky, lighting up her slightly worried thoughts.
We have arrived in Jiangzhou.
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