Chapter 12: Xuan Yizhen is like a boneless vine, binding inch by inch...
In the morning, the brilliant rays of light from the sky fall upon the earth. Where the clouds rise, the morning sun appears hazy with a red glow, illuminating the prosperous capital.
The streets and markets of the capital were bustling with people. Officials were heading to the inner city early in the morning, and there were many carriages and horses. Occasionally, they met and chatted about court affairs.
"Sir, what should we do?"
"It's been over half a month since the Third Princess' boat accident. If you and I don't bring this case to a close, I'm afraid the Holy Lord's wrath will linger."
"It's best to just let this matter go. Can you imagine how ordinary fireworks could have such a terrifying deafening power?"
After he finished speaking, the two of them knew what was going on and kept silent. The biggest problem in this matter might lie with the Third Princess herself.
The third princess loves fireworks shows, so she must have secretly stored a large amount of prohibited items such as gunpowder raw materials, which led to serious accidents.
If a thorough investigation is conducted, a large number of officials in the capital will be severely punished for their crimes of poor supervision.
After all, the capital is under the feet of the emperor, and so many dangerous substances flow into it without control. This is undoubtedly a capital crime!
The two were merely the Shaoqing and Sicheng of the Dali Temple. Logically, they were not qualified to take full responsibility for the matter. It was obvious that they were being pushed aside to ward off disaster, and their faces turned pale.
In the silence, a few pink and white apricot petals floated down. The two were puzzled because most apricot flowers at this time of year were turning white and about to wither.
Then they looked up and saw a young man on horseback coming towards them with apricot blossoms in his arms. Red silk was wrapped around his wrist in the wind. His face was too fair and handsome, especially his eyes, which were clean and bright. He was at an age where he didn't know the taste of sorrow.
However, when they saw the troops accompanying the young man, the two officials were stunned. Their eyes fell on the flying feather accessories on the sword handles that were interwoven with red and blue colors. These were unique costumes of the Wanqi tribe and were only worn by the personal guards of Princess Zhanghua in the capital.
It seems that this young man has quite a background.
The sound of horse hooves faded away. Before I knew it, the sun rose in the east, the heat gradually surged, and the scene of early summer was faintly visible.
Yin Xing also rode his horse and saw the outer gate of Xuan Yizhen's villa from afar, and saw another line of carriages and horses coming out from inside.
In the capital, most carriages and horses would have jade plaques with names attached to them to show their identities, but this group of people were very low-key.
However, the number of carriages and entourage still revealed his extraordinary identity.
Yin Xing pulled the reins unskillfully, worried that his foal would be frightened, so he patted his hand lightly. He caught a glimpse of the curtain of the other party's carriage swaying slightly, and realized that it was a man wearing a jade crown. He looked vaguely familiar.
I seem to have seen this person at the Princess Look-Along Banquet?
Although the four great families are not as powerful as the royal family, their etiquette is far superior to that of ordinary nobles, and there are also regulations on the use of jade. So is this person the son of a noble family who inherited the dukedom?
Men in the dynasty were generally ashamed to ride in cars and mostly rode horses, so Yin Xing had to learn horse riding, but why did this man keep it secret?
Yin Xing didn't think any more and rode into the outer gate of the villa. What he saw was an endless expanse of lush and bright flowers, the blue sky and clear clouds, and the beautiful scenery. He had an ignorant expression on his face.
The outer gate of a normal mansion opens into the front hall, but whose house has a door with three layers inside and three layers outside?!
Although he already knew that Xuan Yizhen was of noble status, Yin Xing's psychological cognition was still broken.
After a while, Yin Xing rode his horse through one tall gate after another, looking at the gorgeous garden that slowly appeared before his eyes. He still couldn't believe that this was not the princess's mansion, but just a villa.
Such a large garden in the capital was actually just Xuan Yizhen's private residence. Yin Xing suddenly understood the concrete manifestation of the rumors that Princess Zhanghua possessed tremendous power and wealth.
Soon, Yin Xing carefully dismounted and stepped into the corridor. He saw an elderly woman. Her figure was taller than that of an average woman, and she was dressed like a senior court lady. The red and blue flying feather earrings dangling slightly on her ears were very unique, with a somewhat exotic style. She said sternly, "Please stop."
This majestic and solemn voice made Yin Xing, who had been walking freely before, stop immediately. With a friendly smile, he said, "Are you the head lady here? I come to see Princess Zhanghua."
"My Lord, I am not feeling well now. No one is allowed to disturb me."
"But I just saw a carriage leave the villa not long ago."
After she finished speaking, Lady Ji lowered her brows, her gaze like a sharp knife as she stepped closer to scrutinize the young master of the Xizhou Marquisate. She said in a low voice, "Please don't be ungrateful, or I won't mind ordering someone to give you a small punishment."
Yin Xing subconsciously stepped back in fear, thinking that this female official was much scarier than Manager Chen!
"Well, could you give the bouquet to Princess Zhang Hua?" Yin Xing looked at the pink apricot blossoms in his palm and thought to himself that the weather was getting warmer and they would probably wither soon.
The female official Ji frowned and refuted in a stern voice: "This old slave is not someone you can order around casually. If you don't leave immediately, you will bear the consequences!"
After he finished speaking, Yin Xing was so confused by this arrogant and unreasonable female official in charge that he didn't know how to show his goodwill.
This mother-in-law is too fierce and totally unreasonable.
At this time, another group of maids passed through the corridor, and the leader said, "Aunt Ji, the master invites Master Yin into the palace."
Hearing the voice, Yin Xing didn't wait for the female official in charge to react. She immediately held the flowers and moved quickly, secretly sighing that it was a close call!
Seeing this, Lady Ji's eyes showed displeasure. She fixed her gaze on Yin Xing who was being led away by the maids and said, "Chun Li, you are so bold!"
Chun Li chuckled nonchalantly and stepped forward, jokingly saying, "Aunt Ji, you're the one who's so bold. That young Master Yin has the master's jade pendant as a token of his loyalty. Logically, you should have informed him. How severe a punishment should he receive for such disrespect?"
After saying that, Chunli turned around and left the corridor. Female official Ji looked embarrassed, thinking to herself that the master's eyes and ears were becoming more and more alert!
On the other side, Yin Xing walked briskly through the winding corridor and followed the maid to the central residence. His eyes fell on the vines climbing between the beams, pillars and tiles. Small blue flowers grew among them, and the greenery was lush and full of vitality, just like a fairy tale scene. He wondered how many years it would take to grow these vines.
After the door was pushed open, Yin Xing stepped in, but found that there was another door inside, and the further he went inside, the quieter and darker it became. There were very few furnishings in the room, mostly ancient lacquered wooden utensils, but he could smell the overly strong sweet fragrance of medicinal fumigation.
Could it be that Xuan Yi is really seriously ill? !
The maids stopped by the door. Chunli raised her hand respectfully and said, "Young Master Yin, please come in."
"Thank you." Yin Xing came back to his senses and responded with a raised eyebrow before stepping inside.
I originally thought that Xuan Yizheng's bedroom, even if not magnificently decorated with countless rare treasures, should at least be a bright scene decorated with countless clusters of flowers.
But Yin Xing never expected that the scene would be so empty and lonely, as if he had nothing.
This place seemed to be completely sealed off with no windows. Candlesticks and lamps were set up to hang in the air, and desks, screens and stands were placed around it, as if to avoid something.
In the silence, there is a faint sound of beads being plucking and bumping against each other, making a clear and melodious sound.
Yin Xing regained his composure and walked into the dim room. His sight fell on the bed with a gauze curtain hanging down, and he saw the figure inside. His eyes suddenly brightened.
The figure half-sitting and half-lying on the couch was now only wearing a plain white inner garment, with long flowing hair. Perhaps because she wore no makeup, her temperament was cold and outstanding, like the bright moon that had fallen into the mortal world, appearing even more quiet and beautiful in the darkness.
"Yizhen, why are you sick?" Yin Xing stepped closer to the couch, raised his hand to lift the gauze curtain, and was inexplicably embarrassed to look directly at her overly beautiful face.
"No, I just feel uncomfortable." Xuan Yizheng closed the book slightly, the green beads on his wrist jingled softly, and his eyes fell on the pale pink apricot blossom held by Yin Xing, feeling a little surprised.
Hearing this, Yin Xing, sitting nearby, joyfully handed over the apricot blossoms in his hand and said, "Yizhen, look, it's rare to see such tender pink apricot blossoms at this time of year."
"Yeah, I think most of the apricot blossoms have already turned pale and faded. You must have been picking them for a long time."
"Hey, I went to pick apricot blossoms before dawn this morning. The petals were still glistening with dew, and they smelled especially fresh and elegant, making me feel happy!"
Xuan Yizhen looked at Yin Xing's innocent smile, and gently stroked the pink and white apricot blossoms with his palm. He said calmly, "Flowers, can they still bring this kind of feeling?"
Yin Xing nodded without thinking, "Yeah, it's a pity it can't be preserved for long due to the hot weather. Otherwise, I could let Yizhen smell the delicate fragrance of the flowers."
After he finished speaking, Yin Xing noticed the dark green beads on Xuan Yizheng's slender white wrist. They were engraved with runes like Buddhist beads. This color could easily make a person's skin look dull.
But Xuan Yizhen's skin was so clear and glowing that Yin Xing was distracted for a moment, then quickly blinked and collected his thoughts. Then he asked, "Yizhen, do you believe in Buddhism?"
"Of course I don't believe it. This is just a string of beads soaked in a calming medicine. I thought it would soothe the mind when combined with the scriptures, so I flipped through it when I had nothing better to do."
"Oh, the room smells a bit heavy of medicinal fumigation. Why don't you open the window to ventilate?"
Xuan Yizhen shook his head slightly and replied, "The wind will make the discomfort worse. Besides, the cicadas are already noisy at this time of year. It will be very noisy if the windows are not sealed."
When Yin Xing heard this, his face suddenly calmed down a lot, thinking that this was the reason why the doors in the room were made silent.
I think everyone has different sensitivities to sounds. For example, the sound of chalk falling on the blackboard in class. Some people feel uncomfortable just thinking about it.
"Put these flowers in a glass vase."
"good."
Yin Xing got up from the bed, tilted his head to look at the cabinet against the wall, raised his hand to pick up the apricot blossoms and placed them in a glass vase, fiddling with them carefully.
Xuan Yizhen casually placed the scroll and beads aside, raised his hand to pull aside the gauze curtain, and gazed at the bunches of pink and white apricot blossoms from afar. His eyes wandered to the red silk knot wrapped around Yin Xing's wrist, and he said, "Next time you come to visit, try to choose an afternoon."
"Okay, but why?"
"Because other ladies-in-waiting are in charge of the afternoon affairs, they won't stop you like Lady-in-waiting Ji did."
Yin Xing was somewhat surprised that Xuan Yizhen seemed to know what had happened earlier. He stepped back to the couch and replied fearfully, "That's true. That older female official in charge is quite scary."
Xuan Yizhen chuckled softly, his gaze fixed on the scab-free scar on Yin Xing's hairline. He spoke slowly, "Lady Ji is a trusted member of the Wanqi clan who stayed in the capital. She served three generations of the Wanqi clan masters, and so she has this formidable qualification. You must not offend her."
"Don't worry, Yizhen. I won't argue with the old woman. Besides, I wouldn't dare to." Yin Xing said playfully, admitting defeat. Looking at the gentle and beautiful Xuan Yizhen, he remembered that he had heard some rumors about the Wanqi family. "But doesn't the female official in charge listen to Yizhen's words?"
"Well, Lady Ji is only loyal to the Wanqi family and its head. Or perhaps the entire Wanqi clan acts this way, just like the queen ant in a giant ant colony. Only by fulfilling her duties can she have power. Otherwise, she will be destroyed and become food for the ants."
"It's so scary. Yizhen should not trust this female official in charge in the future. It's very dangerous."
Xuan Yizhen nodded in surprise, gazing calmly at Yin Xing's face, which was filled with concern. His jade-white fingertips gradually penetrated her overly wide sleeves, and then rested on her slender arm wrapped in red silk ribbons, clinging to her like a soft, boneless green vine climbing and binding her. His dark eyes were as deep as the abyss, but they only made his skin as white as snow more vivid. The black and white clashed and contrasted, revealing a rare, sharp and shocking beauty. But his words remained gentle, "Of course, so never trust anyone except yourself. This is the most important rule for survival in the capital. Yin Xing, you must remember this firmly."
Yin Xing didn't know how to respond, so he could only nod. He vaguely felt that beneath Xuan Yizheng's gentle and peaceful expression, there was an unpredictable danger.
It feels like being on an icy lake covered with only thin transparent ice. It looks flat and wide at first glance, but in fact, you step on empty air and have no way to move forward or backward.
When the cracks in the ice lake spread, there will be an endless dark abyss in between, and degeneration seems to be the only outcome.
For some reason, Yin Xing subconsciously felt that Xuan Yizheng was in a dangerous situation where the ice cracked, and he had to hold her tightly!
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