Chapter 64 Chapter 64 Regarding the meeting, Benbo does not want to follow his advice...
The powder of broken jade fell from his hands like quicksand, and in Mrs. Li's eyes, it seemed as if she had become the broken jade herself.
Her body couldn't stop shaking and her expression kept changing.
"Uncle, Uncle, it wasn't A-Zhan's idea to meet that night."
She reacted and was eager to distance herself from the matter, speaking quickly and urgently.
The candlelight lengthened the figure of the person in front of him, making it hard to breathe.
Duan Wenpei looked down at her, his eyes revealing an unpredictable sinister look. He patted the powder from his palm and said coldly, "Madam Li, if you have time to waste on this nonsense with me, you'd better think about how the Li family and Master Li can pass the test of His Majesty and the Princess. After all, entering the capital without a summons is a capital offense."
After he finished speaking, he stopped looking at the person at his feet and turned to leave.
Madam Li had already turned pale at the word 'death penalty'. In her panic, she ignored everything else and reached out to grab Duan Wenpei's clothes. "Wei Yangbo, you have a solution, right? Yes! Lord, you must have a solution. Please show me the way!"
"Let go." Duan Wenpei didn't look back.
The woman in black behind her quickly squatted down and pried Mrs. Li's hands apart.
Madam Li refused to let go, clinging to him tightly. "If Master doesn't answer me today, I'd rather die here. Then Master will be accused of killing innocent people, and I don't think he'll ever win your favor..."
"Bang!" Before she finished her words, an invisible force emanated from Duan Wenpei's body, and Madam Li almost fell out and hit the huge screen.
The hibiscus pattern embroidered with gold and silver threads could not bear the weight of a woman. It broke into pieces at the pistil, and Mrs. Li fell heavily to the ground.
The pain in her chest and abdomen was so severe that she felt like she was being dislocated and could hardly breathe. Mrs. Li supported herself on her elbows and tried to get up, but failed for a long time.
She tried to open her eyes, but everything in front of her was blurry. She could only hear the sound of footsteps that were gradually receding without stopping, and Duan Wenpei's indifferent and cold voice that made her tremble all over.
"This screen is from a master's hand and is very valuable. Madam Li, don't forget to compensate the shopkeeper when you leave."
"Also, I hope Madam Li will keep her mouth shut. I don't want to hear from anyone else about my wife meeting the young master before she got married."
Mrs. Li’s eyes went dark and she fainted from the pain.
*
Duan Wenpei had a cold face when he came out of Tianxiang Tower.
Liu Hui vaguely guessed that Madam Li probably didn't say anything good, but since Duan Wenpei didn't say anything, he didn't dare to ask, so naturally he had no way to persuade her.
There was silence in the carriage for a moment, and then it suddenly became lively outside. It seemed that we had arrived at Zhuque Street, where there was a night market.
Dazzling flames of various colors soared into the air, lighting up most of the night sky and illuminating the dim carriage red.
Duan Wenpei's deep voice suddenly rang out.
"parking."
Before Liu Hui could react, Duan Wenpei had already opened the car door and walked out.
Liu Hui followed closely behind.
"Master, news has come from the palace that this time it is truly His Majesty's order, asking you to enter the palace tonight without further delay."
Duan Wenpei walked and stopped, and finally stopped in front of a jade shop.
Liu Hui looked at the shop owner who came up to greet him with a smile and said in surprise, "Master, you want to buy jade? The jade at the night market is not of good quality. How about I ask the shop owner of our family to have someone select good ones and send them to the mansion tomorrow? For now, it's more important to go to the palace first."
Duan Wenpei had already followed the shopkeeper in and ignored Liu Hui.
"Sir, is this a gift or something for yourself? If so, is it for a man or a woman? The Hetian jade here is of excellent quality, and there are also these..."
“Do you have any seed material?”
The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then reacted and said hurriedly, "Yes, yes, sir, follow me."
Looking at the goods the shopkeeper took out, Duan Wenpei waved his hand in dissatisfaction.
The shopkeeper had been doing business for many years and saw that Duan Wenpei's attire was not that of an ordinary person. He had an idea in mind and hurriedly asked his clerk to open the warehouse and take out the treasures that were kept in the store.
After several rounds of selection, Duan Wenpei picked out a piece of dark green material.
The material was emerald green and translucent. The shopkeeper smiled and had someone wrap it up. He was about to ask Duan Wenpei where he lived so that the shop assistants could deliver the things to his house, but Duan Wenpei had already walked to the outer room of the shop.
"Pack up these carving knives as well."
The shopkeeper followed him out and saw that Duan Wenpei was pointing at the two rows of carving knives of various shapes displayed on the wall. He was a little unsure of what he meant.
"Sir, do you want to carve the jade yourself?"
"My dear, I don't know that I bought these carving knives for my shop's decoration. Besides, jade carving rarely uses these tools these days. People use tools to cut, polish, cut, and grind jade to make beautiful jade. Using carving knives is not only labor-intensive but also time-consuming. If you trust me enough, please leave me the design you want, and I'll wait..."
"Liu Hui, give me the money."
Before the shopkeeper could finish his words, Duan Wenpei had already stepped out of the jade shop.
Liu Hui placed a bag of money in front of the shopkeeper and urged the servant to take it.
"This money is more than enough to buy this piece of jade and a pair of carving knives. Please consider it a favor, boss."
The shopkeeper opened the money bag and counted it. It was just more than enough, so there was no reason for him to refuse.
He just thought that these noble people had different ideas from ordinary people, so he smiled and watched them leave.
*
Inside the carriage, Duan Wenpei's mood was unclear. The packaged seed material and the carving knife were placed in a corner of the carriage, somewhat out of place with the opulence inside.
"Master, the palace—"
Duan Wenpei raised his hand to interrupt Liu Hui and ordered, "Enter the palace!"
Liu Hui breathed a sigh of relief.
Thinking about his master, he hadn't neglected the important matter, but unexpectedly Duan Wenpei spoke again, "You don't have to go, take these things back."
He pointed at the jade material and carving knife and said, "Don't send it to Jingyuan. Put it in the study in the front yard."
Are you not going to let Madam know?
Liu Hui estimated it and agreed in a low voice.
*
Nan Xu had dinner at the Yin family before leaving.
Madam Yin accompanied her all the way to the second gate. Before leaving, she held her hand and asked her to come and see Yin Ruizhu when she had time to comfort her.
"Good boy, you and Ruizhu are best friends. Ruizhu will listen to you more or less."
Nan Xu's smile was a little stiff, and she agreed perfunctorily, then got into the carriage under Madam Yin's eager gaze.
There was no conversation along the way. Only when they returned to Jingyuan did Nanxu regain his composure.
Nanny Jiang didn't know what was going on. Seeing that Nan Xu looked unhappy, she personally brought a bowl of calming soup for Nan Xu to drink.
As she wiped the corners of Nan Xu's mouth, she asked gently, "Madam, are you worried about Miss Yin? But no matter how worried you are, you must take care of your own health."
Nan Xu shook her head. "Madam, you're worrying too much. Ruizhu has her own ideas, so there's no need for me to worry about them."
This may be fine if someone else says it, but Nanny Jiang disagrees with Yin Ruizhu.
"Madam, this is just an angry remark."
"Miss Yin is a little different from ordinary ladies, but she is just a little bolder and likes to dress like a man. If we talk about who can really make the decision, I think it has to be Madam."
This was a bit biased. Nan Xu smiled and said, "That's because Madam doesn't understand Ruizhu."
"You also said that she is very courageous. If she really encounters something that she cannot escape or avoid, she will often take extreme measures.
Thinking of the words "escape marriage" that Yin Ruizhu blurted out at that time, she still feels a lingering fear.
Nanny Jiang was puzzled. "Madam, are you worrying too much? The Yin family is a well-established family. Even if Miss Yin is willful, how much trouble can she cause? I have also met Mr. Yin. He is a great scholar who has taught so many students. How could he not teach his own daughter well?"
Nan Xu lowered her eyelids. Yes, Uncle Yin had many students all over the world throughout his life. If he knew that his daughter had decided to run away from the marriage, such a self-righteous person would probably be so angry that he would beat his chest and stamp his feet and stay in bed.
How would Yin Ruizhu cope with the situation then?
"Mammy, what would happen if a girl from a noble family was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged by her family and decided to run away?"
Nanny Jiang was about to take off the hairpin from Nan Xu's head when she heard this and asked in surprise, "Why did Madam suddenly ask this?"
Nan Xu played with the pearl flowers on the dressing table and explained nonchalantly, "Nothing. I heard Ruizhu talking about the new play at Zhelefang. She was talking about the woman who ran away from her marriage, but before she finished, Aunt Yin sent someone to call us for dinner. I was curious. I know you have been with mother for so many years, so you must be used to these things, so I thought I would ask a few more questions."
Nanny Jiang quietly observed Nan Xu's expression and saw nothing unusual. She did not suspect anything and said with some satisfaction, "Madam, you have asked the right person."
"Throughout history, such things have happened rarely, but they are not rare either. I witnessed it when I accompanied the Marquis's wife in her boudoir."
"If they run away from an engagement and never return, that's fine. If they're caught by their families, they can keep the story a secret, shove them into a sedan chair, and keep the arranged marriage. That's fine too. But the real worry is that word gets out, they're caught, and everyone knows about it. The betrothed family will come and break off the engagement, and some officials might even find the censor to file a complaint before His Majesty." At this point, Nanny Jiang shook her head with a hint of pity. "These women will either live a life of seclusion or be hanged from the beams. Preserving the family's reputation is paramount."
"How can my family bear to let me go?"
Yuxiang opened the curtain, and Chunya led the maids in carrying all the toiletries. She couldn't help but shudder when she heard what Nanny Jiang said.
Nanny Jiang had already removed her pearl hairpin, loosened Nan Xu's hair, and gently combed it with a jade comb. Without looking up, she said, "You have to be willing to let go, no matter how reluctant you are. Otherwise, how will the girls in the family ever go out and meet people? How will they even get married? Not to mention, if the boys in the family want to be promoted to higher positions, how can they survive in officialdom if they carry such a reputation? They will be criticized and criticized by others!"
A few light words, but they carry a weight of a thousand pounds.
Everyone was so engrossed in listening that they even forgot what they were doing. The water on the towel dripped into the collar like beads that had broken off the string.
Nan Xu was startled by the coolness of the water and reached out to take the thing from the maid's hand.
"Madam, please forgive me. Madam, please forgive me." The maid realized it later and knelt down to apologize.
Yuxiang raised his hand and poked the maid's arm, and Chunya hurried forward to take over.
Nan Xu said it was okay and that she could do it herself. She then turned around and asked the maid to get up. "It's not a big deal. Just be more careful next time."
Nanny Jiang realized that what she said was too scary.
He quickly stopped talking and said, "It's all my fault. Girls, don't worry. It's hard for a family like ours to have a child even after several generations. It's impossible. Everyone, just focus on your work."
When several maids heard her say this, they patted their chests and seemed to be frightened.
Looking through the bronze mirror, I could see that they looked relieved of a heavy burden, and their faces, which had been gray just now, gradually returned to normal.
If such a thing really happened, even a master as precious as him would not be able to escape death, let alone a servant as lowly as duckweed.
Nan Xu withdrew her gaze and, with Chunya's hand, applied the ointment to her ears and neck, while instructing, "This is just a private chat between us, the master and the servant. Everyone, just listen to it for fun. Don't spread such talk outside, or you'll be criticized."
The maids had served Nan Xu for a long time, so they naturally knew Nan Xu's rules. They bowed in response, bowed slightly to Nan Xu, packed up their things and left the inner room.
The Western clock in the corner of the room made a "dong, dong, dong" sound, and it was the beginning of the hour of Hai.
Nan Xu covered her lips with her hand and yawned sleepily. Just as she was about to take a rest, a golden "round" creature suddenly jumped out from the side. It flapped its front and back legs several times before climbing onto the bed, and rubbed against Nan Xu's arms uncomfortably.
Nan Xu looked at the golden ball's round belly, picked it up with some disdain, and flicked the furry cat's head with her finger. "Little glutton, I told you not to eat so much. You just ate it when I gave it to you, aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"
Jinqiu was so upset by what she said that he hung his head and meowed, each meow becoming more and more mournful. Nan Xu couldn't bear it, so she grabbed the ball and held it in her arms, rubbing its belly.
"I'm really impressed by you, little greedy cat!"
Looking at Jinqiu's enjoying expression, Nan Xu remembered the person who fed him during the day.
"Where's Uncle? Hasn't he come back yet?"
She had long since gotten over the confusion she felt when Duan Wenpei first moved to Jingyuan, and had become calm and composed as she is now.
Seeing that she finally remembered to ask Duan Wenpei, Nanny Jiang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, "Steward Liu sent someone to tell me that the uncle has gone to the palace."
"He hasn't come back yet, I guess..."
I think he was kept in the palace.
Nan Xu understood what was going on, but she didn't say anything and just focused on teasing the cat in her arms.
Jinqiu felt comfortable being rubbed, stretched out his body, and wanted to stay in bed. Nanxu looked at him and wanted to laugh, so she asked Yuxiang to take him away. He stretched out his claws to hook the quilt, meowing, which made people feel soft-hearted.
Nan Xu refused to give in and insisted that Yuxiang carry her down. Just as she was about to lie down, she turned around and found that Nanny Jiang was looking at her.
Nan Xu felt a little uncomfortable when she looked at him. She pressed the corners of her lips and said "hmm" calmly.
"I see."
"Should we leave the lights on in the room?"
The answer to Nanny Jiang was a long breathing sound.
Nanny Jiang looked at her wife's sleeping face, shook her head helplessly, quietly lowered the curtain, and blew out the candle in the inner room.
The moonlight was like water, shining through the window lattice and into the bed curtains. The person in the bed slowly opened his eyes.
In the silence, the sound of my heartbeat became clearer and clearer.
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