Nan Yi did not leave the courtyard again. Yinzhen sent two secret guards to hide in Lan Courtyard. The first time she went out, she was stopped by two strangers. Later she learned that Yinzhen had specially arranged for people to secretly guard Lan Courtyard and keep an eye on her.
She didn't want to reveal her martial arts skills, so she could only return dejectedly. When Yinzhen learned of this, he just frowned and remained silent.
She no longer insisted on leaving the manor, and instead, she would take her maids to pick fights with the guards who were secretly guarding the place. When the guards hid in trees, she would have Xiao Shunzi catch a beehive and use it to sting them (don't ask her where the beehive came from). The guards would be covered in welts from the bites.
When someone hides on the eaves, the guards have the maids use bamboo poles to knock them down unexpectedly, causing them to fall and get their buttocks bruised. When someone hides among the flowers, they have water splashed on them, soaking them like drowned rats. The guards seem to enjoy doing this, leaving the two guards feeling helpless and frustrated.
In early April, the Fourth Prince's residence was filled with joyous occasions. Lady Li became pregnant again, and Yinzhen took another concubine.
On the day of Yinzhen's wedding, the mansion was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and was bustling with activity. All the princes came to the banquet, and it was said that even the crown prince came to offer his congratulations. Nan Yi felt irritable and, on a whim, slipped out of the mansion.
After outwitting and outmaneuvering the guards, she finally left the mansion. She wandered the streets for a while, thinking of finding the Eighth Prince and his group. But then she realized they had probably all come to her house to offer their congratulations, so she went to Xiao Xi's house instead.
Xiao Xi's family was having dinner when they suddenly saw her, and they were quite taken aback, as she had heard that the Fourth Prince was marrying a concubine today.
“You should stay in the manor,” Xiao Xi said with concern.
Nan Yi walked straight into the courtyard, slightly annoyed, and said, "It's not like I'm getting married, why are you meddling?" Anyway, that man is a groom every night, so she doesn't care how many wives he marries.
However, the noise made her restless and irritable, and she couldn't stand it for even a moment longer, wanting only to escape the chaos.
Xiao Xi seemed to understand the subtle bitterness in her words. He leaned closer to her head, blinked a few times, and smiled teasingly, "Jealous?"
Nan Yi's heart skipped a beat, and she spat at her mischievously, "Go away, if I'm jealous, I'll drown in a vat of vinegar." Xiao Xi raised her eyebrows with a wicked smile and said, "You're not telling the truth."
Nan Yi snorted softly, ignoring her, and wondered to herself, was she jealous? She felt a pang of sadness, a bitter taste in her mouth, and a restlessness in her heart—was she jealous?
Nan Yi felt uneasy. Could it be that she liked Yinzhen and started to care about him? Oh no! She couldn't fall into his trap. She was naive and incompetent, only good at being domineering. She wouldn't get along with him. She should quickly put the thought aside.
Nan Yi didn't go inside. Instead, she sat down under the grape trellis in the courtyard. It was already summer. She had been in the Qing Dynasty for a little over a year, but it felt like many years had passed. She was only seventeen years old. How was she going to live the many years to come?
Xiao Xi sat down beside her, sighed softly, and patted her shoulder gently. Nan Yi chuckled when she heard this. What was she worried about? At least she had been married once before, and it had been a pretty good marriage.
Xiao Xi then jokingly said, "Xi Xi, why don't you get married yet, so you don't become a spinster?"
Xiao Xi was taken aback. Although she didn't know what "leftover woman" meant, she knew from the literal meaning that it wasn't a good thing. She said, "No rush. I'm only eighteen. Let's talk about it in three years." Besides, she didn't want to get married. After marriage, she could only be a wife and mother and stay in the backyard all day. She wasn't cut out for that.
"What?" Nan Yi was stunned. Eighteen years old? She looked Xiao Xi up and down. She didn't look like it. She had always thought Xiao Xi was older than her. Xiao Xi was tall and slender with heroic features, but her skin was dark. She looked like a girl in her early twenties.
Xiao Xi was slightly annoyed, knowing his own shortcomings, and muttered, "The constable runs around all day, exposed to the sun and rain, so naturally he looks old."
She didn't want to, but it was her profession; she had been ridiculed many times, and even though she cared, she couldn't change it.
"Hehe, Xixi, you should be careful, or you'll never get married," Nan Yi laughed, leaning against Xiao Xi's shoulder, not afraid of upsetting her.
"I know, but you keep rubbing salt in my wounds. Keep talking, and I'll get angry..."
"hehe......"
At the Fourth Prince's residence, Yinzhen was entertaining several brothers when Su Peisheng approached with a strange expression. Yinzhen caught a glimpse of him, said a few words, and then withdrew.
"Greetings, Master."
"What's up?"
“Master, Master Tong is missing,” Su Peisheng said.
Yinzhen's face instantly darkened, and his pupils contracted slightly. This woman was really something. In just three months, he thought she had become smarter, but why couldn't she learn her lesson?
He didn't go to see her, but he kept a close eye on her every move. Several times he unconsciously walked to the Orchid Courtyard, but he always remembered that fierce argument and couldn't let it go.
Yinzhen smiled bitterly. He couldn't deny that he missed her sweet and gentle words when she used to sneak into his study and snuggle up to him.
There was also the willful woman in the orchid courtyard who slept in each other's arms every night and who would always be obsessed with him in the morning, refusing to let him get up.
However, he dared not face it. Just as when he took a concubine, according to custom, the wives and concubines in the mansion were required to come out to receive female guests, but he tacitly allowed her excuses for refusing, without being able to explain the reason.
"Your Highness?" Su Peisheng interrupted Yinzhen's chaotic thoughts.
He let out a sigh of relief. "I understand. If he doesn't return by the second watch, go and investigate Xiao Xi's house." Befriending a female constable is quite like her personality. However, he still hasn't figured out how the two of them became friends. He hates things that are not under his control, especially with her.
"Yes, sir!" Su Peisheng was about to leave.
"Wait," he said slowly, "tidy up Wanyue Pavilion, and let her move in when she comes back."
That place was right next to the study in the main courtyard, the closest residence to him. He wanted to be closer to her, even if it was just to look at her.
At midnight, in Xiao Xi's courtyard, on the stone table under the grape trellis, wine jars lay scattered about, their seals torn open. Nan Yi was gulping down wine, muttering a complaint, "Xi Xi, your wine doesn't even make you drunk?"
Xiao Xi propped himself up on his hand and looked at her, saying, "It was only brewed recently, and you insist on drinking it. It doesn't taste like wine at all." She couldn't understand what Nan Yi was up to. It was perfectly normal for a prince to take a concubine. Ordinary people with spare money would also want to take a concubine, under the guise of having more children.
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