32 Catching an adulterer
◎Large Shura Scene◎
Before she could utter the word "help", someone covered her mouth and she felt hot air in her ears.
"It's me."
Wait, this voice sounds familiar. Shu Yao gradually calmed down.
Chen Jing'an sighed imperceptibly, let her go, and lit the candle on the table.
The firelight was bright, and Shu Yao finally saw the person in front of her clearly. Chen Jing'an was standing opposite her. His handsome features were more three-dimensional and distinct under the candlelight. The light and shadow flickered, and she could not see his expression clearly. She could only feel that he was lonely all over.
Shu Yao sat down and poured two cups of tea. She drank one to calm herself down and pushed the other in front of him. Chen Jing'an sat opposite her, putting away his usual unruly demeanor. He stared at her face, his eyes never moving away.
Perhaps it was the first time she saw him like this, Shu Yao felt a little uneasy. She smiled awkwardly and broke the silence, "Prince, what brings you to see me so late at night?"
She couldn't understand why Chen Jing'an suddenly came to see her in the middle of the night and knew where she lived. It was really puzzling.
After hearing her words, Chen Jingan seemed to come back to his senses. He smiled and returned to his usual self: "I haven't seen you for an hour. I missed you so much."
He spoke jokingly and looked at her with some amusement.
These words were like thunder in a clear sky. Shu Yao was startled and stood up quickly: "Your Highness, you are joking."
What did Shen Jing'an mean by this? Was he interested in her? No, she didn't want to mess with any royal nobles. She just wanted to complete the mission safely.
Seeing her frightened look, Chen Jingan played with the teacup in his hand and soothed her: "It turns out that my little Yao'er is so easy to tease."
Shu Yao breathed a sigh of relief. She knew he was joking with her, but then she came to her senses.
How did she become his?
He finished the cold tea in his cup, stood up, and leaned closer to her: "See you tomorrow, Xiaoyao'er."
Shu Yao nodded randomly.
There was a commotion in the yard. Shu Yao hurriedly stopped Chen Jing'an's hand from opening the door, made a gesture to him to silence him, and then put her ear to the door to listen to the noise outside.
She frowned tightly, wondering why it was the old lady's voice.
What was the old lady doing in the North Courtyard so late at night? Whatever she was doing, it couldn't be good.
Thinking of this, she quickly asked Chen Jingan to hide first.
As a newly widowed woman, if the old lady caught her with a man in the house, she didn't know what she would do to her.
She got a headache whenever she saw the old lady, and she was too lazy to deal with it.
Chen Jingan stood at the door, staring at Shu Yao with a half-smile: "Xiao Yao'er, am I so shameful?"
Shu Yao listened to the footsteps getting closer and closer outside, and was so anxious that she broke out in a cold sweat. She didn't care about any etiquette, pulled up his sleeve and walked to the only cabinet that could hide him: "Prince, please bear with it for a while."
Chen Jing'an raised his eyebrows: "Then Xiaoyao'er, say something nice."
Shu Yao: ...
If he wasn't the prince, she would have wanted to knock him out and stuff him in.
Chen Jing'an still looked at her with a half-smile.
Shu Yao was extremely anxious and started to flatter her: "The prince is handsome, unparalleled in appearance, a graceful gentleman..."
Chen Jingan's smile widened, his eyes lit up with joy, and he asked, "And then?"
Shu Yao took a deep breath. This guy is really difficult to deal with.
"The prince is the most handsome man I have ever seen."
Chen Jingan smiled and hid in the closet. As soon as the door closed, the voice of Nanny Wang beside the old lady came from outside: "Is Miss Shu here?"
Shu Yao glanced at the closed cabinet and slowly opened the door.
The moment she saw her, the old lady's face turned pale as the bottom of a pot, full of disappointment. She didn't expect that she was still alive.
The old lady stared at her coldly, her eyes filled with poison.
Nanny Wang beside her whispered, "Madam, I thought I heard a man's voice in Miss Shu's room just now."
Hearing this, the old lady's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. Great, she finally got the evidence. Hiding a man during the mourning period is a capital crime punishable by being thrown into a pig cage. Thinking of this, she stretched her neck to look inside the house.
Shu Yao saw through her thoughts and her heart was pounding. If they really found Chen Jing'an, she would have no way to explain herself.
In ancient society, a woman's reputation was very important. She glanced at the wardrobe secretly, "Chen Jing'an, Chen Jing'an, why are you sneaking around to see me so late at night?"
The old lady said: "You Shu Yao, you actually dare to steal a man." As she said that, she wanted to go inside.
Shu Yao stopped at the door and said, "Old Madam, you should have evidence when speaking. What makes you say that I have someone hiding in my house?"
The old lady snorted coldly: "Madame Wang just heard a man's voice in your room, are you still trying to deny it?"
She looked Shu Yao up and down with her drooping eyes, and said in a very sarcastic tone: "You are so anxious to find a strange man right after your husband passed away. You are such a restless vixen. Bah."
Shu Yao grew angrier as she listened. She crossed her arms and retorted, "Madam, you didn't cry at my husband and father-in-law's funeral. You really don't have a close relationship with me."
The old lady's cheeks trembled: "Hmph, sharp-tongued." She signaled with her eyes to the two maids beside her.
Two maids came up and restrained Shu Yao, while she rushed into the house with a group of maids. She looked around and saw that the house was bare and the only thing that could hide someone was the wooden wardrobe standing by the wall.
She walked over eagerly with the help of her maid, stretched out her dry hand and opened the cabinet door impatiently.
Shu Yao's eyes were fixed on the cabinet. A bone-chilling chill surged up her spine. When the cabinet door opened, she forgot to breathe for a moment.
The cabinet was pitch black. The maid took a bright lantern and moved closer, but the wardrobe was empty. There was nothing inside except a few thin straw clothes.
All in view.
The old lady was very disappointed. She looked around again without giving up, but she didn't see any human figures, not even a ghost.
Shu Yao blinked. Where is Chen Jingan?
She breathed a sigh of relief, her body instantly warming up. She straightened her back and said, "Old Madam, you've come to my house with such a large force and slandered my reputation. Do you want to give me an explanation?"
The old lady looked up and scanned the entire room again. After confirming that no one was there, she looked at Shu Yao fiercely: "That wild man must have escaped today. You won't be so lucky next time."
After saying this, she left with a group of maids and servants.
Shu Yao didn't really want the old lady to give her an explanation. The old lady would never bow to her. She just wanted to tell the old lady that she was not someone who could be bullied.
After the group left, the yard returned to silence. She hurried to the cabinet and looked carefully at every corner. How could a living person disappear just like that? Could there be some mechanism inside the cabinet?
She took the candle, looked at it carefully, and knocked on it around. When she knocked on the innermost wooden board, she found something wrong and heard a series of "dong dong dong" sounds.
This side is hollow.
She pushed gently, and the wooden board began to shake slightly. She gritted her teeth and exerted some force with her hands, and the wooden board began to turn slowly. Then, she saw the scene in Ji Shijing's house.
It turned out that this wardrobe connected their two rooms.
Shocked, she walked over slowly holding a candle and saw Chen Jing'an standing by the window, while Ji Shijing was sitting on the bed with his clothes on. He lowered his head, his black hair hung down, and he looked cold all over.
Shu Yao put the candle on the table and asked, "What's going on?"
Chen Jing'an shrugged, "I accidentally pressed the trigger and ended up here." He then looked at Ji Shijing and muttered softly, "Who knew I'd run into a dumb monster?"
When Shu Yao heard him say that about Ji Shijing, she felt a little unhappy: "If you have nothing else, please go back. A Jing and I need to rest."
Chen Jingan suddenly felt a little aggrieved and stepped forward to pull her sleeve: "Xiao Yao'er, can you bear to chase me away?"
Ji Shijing's eyes lightly passed over the piece of clothing corner on Chen Jing'an's finger, and his eyes were dark and unclear.
Shu Yao had a headache and calmly pulled her sleeves back.
Chen Jing'an chuckled: "Okay, okay, I won't tease Xiaoyao'er anymore. See you tomorrow." After that, he opened the window, and the purple figure faded into the night.
Shu Yao came to Ji Shijing and said, "Ah Jing, did I disturb your rest?"
Ji Shijing slowly raised his head, his eyes were extremely dark, as if there was a man-eating monster living in them: "Who is he?"
It was rare to hear him speak in such a tone. Shu Yao licked her dry lips and said, "The young master of the Changxiang Palace."
Ji Shijing's voice was cold without a trace of warmth, just as cold as the aura around him: "Do you know each other well?"
She quickly shook her head: "Not very familiar, just met once or twice."
Ji Shijing turned his gaze away from her face and ordered her to leave: "I need to rest."
Shu Yao tactfully returned to her room and immediately restored the wardrobe to its original state.
After tossing and turning tonight, she fell asleep quickly, but she had a not-so-nice dream. In the dream, Chen Jing'an kept chasing her and calling her "Xiao Yao'er."
Shu Yao felt helpless.
At dawn the next day, she got up, packed up and prepared to go to Zui Xiang Fang. When she went out, she saw Ji Shijing's closed door and sighed.
The weather is getting colder day by day. Shu Yao blew into her hands. It seems that she needs to buy two coats for the winter.
When we arrived at Zui Xiang Fang, several girls were already waiting in the backyard.
Shu Yao warmed her hands by the charcoal fire and started to work. She hadn't rested all morning. After finally seeing off the last customer, she rubbed her aching waist and was about to pour herself a glass of water, but she saw that the teapot on the table was empty. She picked up the teapot and prepared to go to the front hall to pour some tea. As she walked under the grape trellis, a voice suddenly came from above her head.
Shu Yao looked up and saw Shen Qianxiao leaning against the window. She was wearing a mink coat and smiled softly: "Miss Shu, please come up for a moment."
Shu Yao responded with "Okay".
Going up to the third floor, she opened the door and smelled the familiar scent of gardenia. She finally remembered where she had smelled the scent on Chen Jingan. It turned out to be in Miss Qian Xiao's room.
It was warm in Shen Qianxiao's room. She was barefoot on the fox mat, with her black hair draped over her shoulders without any decoration. Her little face was unspeakably plain, like a handful of white snow in winter, pure and flawless.
Shu Yao was once again amazed by her.
Shen Qianxiao lay on the chaise longue, lazily saying, "Please help me put on makeup, Miss Shu."
Shu Yao put down the teapot in her hand, moved a small stool and sat next to the chaise longue, and began to put on makeup for her seriously.
The room was filled with the smell of cigarette smoke.
After an unknown amount of time, she finally put down the final stroke.
Just at this moment, the door of the room was pushed open from the outside.
Shen Qianxiao opened his eyes and Shu Yao turned his head.
Chen Jing'an was wearing a jade belt and purple brocade clothes, standing at the door with a slender figure. Today, he tied his hair up high with a white jade and purple crystal crown, which made him look less dandy and more youthful.
When Shen Qianxiao saw that it was him, she curved her lips and smiled, then ran to his side happily with bare feet. Her white porcelain arms naturally wrapped around his neck, and her voice was sweet: "Your Highness is late today, you must be punished."
Shen Jingan didn't look at her. From the moment he entered the door, he kept his eyes on Shu Yao. When he heard Shen Qianxiao speak, he lowered his head and scratched her nose lovingly. Then he looked at Shu Yao again: "I was entangled by a kitten last night, so I got up a little late today."
Shu Yao lowered her head and stared at her toes, feeling as if a thorn in her back was on her side.
Shen Qianxiao realized that there was something unusual between Shen Jing'an and Shu Yao. She kept looking between the two of them, and the smile on her lips faded a little.
【Author’s words】
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