Chapter 9 Who will pity me when my beauty fades and my fragrance disappears
After walking a long way, so far that Xie Fei could not possibly see her, Xiwen finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the box in her hands again, her face flushed, and she touched the lock with a confused mind. Inexplicably, a little sweetness arose in her heart.
When Tinglan came over with a lantern in hand, she saw Princess Anping standing there stupidly, grinning. She took two quick steps forward and exclaimed, "Princess, you're finally back. Where have you been? We were so worried!"
Xiwen raised her eyes and glared at Tinglan, then stammered guiltily, "No, I didn't go anywhere. I just stayed in the pavilion in the middle of the lake for a while." After saying that, she moved away, covered the box in her arms, and quickly walked back to the room.
After quickly washing up, Xiwen climbed onto the bed eagerly. After the palace maids had left, she quietly took out the box from under the pillow and gently opened the lock. What she saw was a crystal clear and exquisite jade rabbit pendant, which was carved lifelike, especially the two red eyes of the jade rabbit, which made the rabbit even more vivid.
Rubbing the Jade Rabbit Pendant carefully, Xiwen curled up the corners of her mouth quietly, pursed her lips and smiled silently.
Immersed in the sweetness, she suddenly remembered that Xie Fei seemed to have said "It's quite similar to you" before. Blinking, Xiwen frowned and guessed what he meant. When her warm fingertips touched Yutu's red eyes, a light flashed in her mind and she finally understood what Xie Fei meant by this sentence - he was mocking her for being a crybaby.
"How are they similar?" Xiwen pouted and murmured shyly as she looked at the jade ornament. After a while, she smiled with a smile on her face.
She looked at it over and over again. It was obviously just a simple jade rabbit pendant, but she felt she could not look at it enough. Later, Xiwen fell asleep in a daze while holding the jade ornament.
After a good night's sleep, Xiwen woke up early the next day. Her consciousness was still a little fuzzy. She lay on the bed in a daze, gradually recalling every detail of last night. Suddenly, she remembered the jade rabbit pendant that Xie Fei gave her.
After shaking hands, she found it empty. She immediately opened the quilt and pillow in panic and searched around, but found nothing.
"Where is the jade pendant? Where did my jade pendant go..." Xiwen knelt on the bed and searched for it, even in the corners.
Tinglan heard the noise in the inner room and quickly pulled aside the beaded curtain and walked in. Seeing the princess frantically searching for something on the bed, she quickly stepped forward and asked, "Princess, did you lose anything?"
"My jade pendant is missing--" Xiwen said anxiously.
Jade pendant?
Tinglan said "Ah" and asked, "Are you talking about a white rabbit jade pendant?"
"Yes, do you know where it is?" Xiwen suddenly looked up at her and asked anxiously.
Tinglan smiled and said, "Princess, don't worry. Last night, when I came to add the quilt for you, I saw the jade pendant was about to fall to the ground, so I collected it for you and put it on the dressing table."
"Bring it here quickly, I want to see it." Xiwen breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered.
Tinglan responded and went to get the jade pendant and handed it to the princess. After Xiwen took it, she carefully examined it like a treasure, and then smiled happily: "It's good that it's not broken."
"Princess, I don't think I've seen this jade pendant before. I wonder who gave it to you?" Tinglan looked at the princess holding the jade pendant, her eyes full of love and her face flushed, obviously looking amorous, so she asked curiously.
Xiwen looked at Tinglan in a reproachful manner. She knew that as her personal maid, there were some things that could not be hidden from her. Besides, Xie Fei was not someone else, so she smiled coquettishly and said, "Who else could it be except Master Xie?"
Upon hearing this, Tinglan widened her eyes in surprise and said, "So it's the Prince Consort!"
"Don't shout, he's not yet." Xiwen blushed and said tenderly.
"As you command." Tinglan responded obediently. After a pause, she covered her mouth and smiled, "Madam of the Crown Prince!"
Xiwen blushed, pretending to be angry, and said angrily: "Tinglan!"
Tinglan begged for mercy quickly: "Good princess, I was wrong. I will go get you some water and help you change your clothes and eat." After saying that, she turned and walked out of the room, but the smile on her lips became more and more obvious.
Here, Xiwen was enjoying her breakfast sweetly, while Liang Shao spent the night in a daze in the dim prison.
Because Liang Shao offended the emperor, he was assigned to the lowest level prison by the jailer. This type of prison was specifically used to detain ruffians, thieves and thieves, and there were usually about ten people in one cell.
The cell was dark, damp and smelly, with insects, ants and rats running around everywhere. Liang Shao couldn't do anything about them even though he had all his strength. At first he found a relatively clean corner and stood there. As time passed, he felt tired and hungry, and his eyes were too sleepy to open. After struggling for a while, he gave up and curled up in the corner to take a nap.
After a long time, an official finally came to deliver food. Those who had just been paralyzed rushed over to grab the food. Liang Shao looked at these people with contempt, walked around them, grabbed an official, and asked arrogantly: "Where is the emperor? I want to see the emperor!"
The officer sneered, shook off his hand, and said impatiently: "Who are you? You still want to see the emperor! Stay still and don't do these tricks, or I will let you taste the taste of the whip!"
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Liang Shao looked at the official angrily, his face turning blue, a surge of rage in his heart burning his internal organs. He glared at the official fiercely, "Do you know who I am? I am Liang Shao, the Dingbei General of the Great Qi!"
"I don't care whether you are General Dingbei or General Dingnan, that's outside!" The officer looked at Liang Shao with disdain, pointed at the ground and said, "Here, you are a prisoner, a prisoner hated by the emperor, whether you can get out is still uncertain!"
Yes, he has been...disdained by the emperor.
Liang Shao shuddered all over, and returned to the corner dejectedly with a pale face, staring at the ground with lifeless eyes.
From afar, the official's muttering could be heard: "He was a good general and a royal consort, but he chose to anger the royal family for a village girl, and his bright future was ruined. I wonder if he has a problem with his brain..."
Liang Shao smiled bitterly and said in a low voice, "Yeah, I'm such a fool."
Three days passed like this. On this day, Eunuch Xi came with the imperial edict. He looked at Liang Shao and sighed deeply, then unfolded the imperial edict and read it out: "In compliance with the will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Liang Shao of Dingbei was disrespectful in front of the palace at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and also disobeyed the marriage and secretly married a wife. However, considering his meritorious service in the war, the death penalty can be spared, but the punishment of life cannot be escaped. Liang Shao is now demoted to the Minister of War, fined half a year's salary, and ordered to return to the General's Mansion within two days to serve as a warning to others. This is the order of the emperor."
Liang Shao took the imperial edict with stiff hands, his face pale and lips purple, and he staggered out of the yamen. Along the way, people in the streets and alleys were talking about his deeds. Although they praised him for his loyalty and heroism, their eyes were full of ridicule.
He didn't want to listen, nor did he want to watch. Liang Shao covered his ears with a dazed look and walked faster and faster, but these words and these laughs still reached his ears clearly. Finally, as if he couldn't bear it anymore, he hurried back to the mansion in panic, and didn't even notice that the housekeeper and the servants were gone.
As soon as he entered the backyard, Liang Shao saw Chen Bing'er hanging clothes with her sleeves rolled up. Her smooth forehead was covered with tiny beads of sweat, sparkling in the sunlight.
After hanging the clothes, she stood up with the basin and looked back. Her clear eyes immediately turned red, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She dropped the basin and trotted over to Liang Shao, sobbing, "Brother Liang, you're back."
Liang Shao lowered his eyes to look at her. Her tearful face was particularly endearing. He frowned, still thinking about the discussions outside. He raised and lowered his hands at his sides hesitantly.
Chen Bing'er's eyes were filled with tears. She stroked Liang Shao's face with her cool little hands and looked at him distressedly: "You've lost weight, and have more beards..."
Liang Shao let her touch him, pursed his lips and said nothing, with a hint of struggle and pity in his eyes.
Seeing that Liang Shao was a little depressed, Chen Bing'er withdrew her hand as if she suddenly realized something. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and smiled: "Brother Liang, you must be hungry. I cooked your favorite dishes. Let me get you some water to wash, and then we'll go eat..." As she said that, Chen Bing'er reached out her hand and took Liang Shao's hand and walked towards the well.
In his palm was Chen Bing'er's slightly cold little hand, and in his ears was her soft mumbling. Liang Shao's heart softened all of a sudden, and he slowly and firmly held her hand back.
Shortly after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the literati in the capital jointly organize a banquet to appreciate the chrysanthemums in the autumn.
Although it is called the Autumn Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet, in essence it is a banquet for the princes to recruit talents, so the threshold is extremely high. Those who come to the banquet are either the children of famous families or outstanding people with extraordinary literary talent and martial arts. Of course, this kind of banquet is usually a disguised blind date banquet, so participants can bring their relatives.
Early that morning, Xie Fei went to the palace to pick up Xiwen. At first, Xiwen sat stiffly in her seat. Gradually, the carriage drove into the busy street. From outside, there were hawking sounds one after another, and the aroma of various snacks drifted in. Xiwen hesitated for a while, but finally couldn't help it, and lifted the curtain a little to look out.
The banquet was held in a garden in the suburbs, covering an area of nearly a hundred acres. Xiwen looked curiously all the way. Unconsciously, the carriage gradually stopped. Xie Fei got off first, then turned around and stretched out his hand to her. Xiwen raised her eyes and glanced at Xie Fei quickly, rubbed her hands quietly in her sleeves, wiped off the sweat, and then with a blushing face, she took his hand and got off the carriage.
When Xie Fei and Xiwen walked into the courtyard side by side, almost everyone had arrived. In an instant, everyone looked at the two of them, with amazement in their eyes.
Liang Shao, who was standing behind the crowd, was looking at the two men. Xie Fei was wearing a simple silver robe today, with his long black hair tied up with a tall jade crown. He had a handsome face and a dazzling radiance. Princess Anping, who was standing beside him, was wearing a plain dress as white as snow, with a face like a delicate flower and her black hair tied into a flowing bun. Facing the gazes of the crowd, she pinched Xie Fei's sleeve uneasily, which made her look even more charming and lovely.
For a moment, Liang Shao felt mixed emotions. He turned around, picked up the wine glass and drank it all, then sighed deeply, as if he wanted to let go of the depression in his heart.
Chen Bing'er sat next to Liang Shao with a slight frown on her face. She had just seen the two people, but she was not at all envious or jealous of Princess Anping for having the better Prince Xie. She was just afraid. She was afraid that Liang Shao would abandon her.
No, Liang Shao belongs to her, Chen Bing'er, and she will never allow him to abandon her, otherwise...
A hint of cruelty flashed across Chen Bing'er's lowered eyes, but when she looked up again, she had returned to normal. She picked up the wine jug and filled Liang Shao's glass with wine.
The author has something to say:
I woke up very early today. The bedroom was very quiet. I snuggled in bed and watched the latest episode of "I Am a Detective". When I saw the big red wedding characters and the wedding room, I felt excited and scared. I inexplicably wanted to see the same plot as in "Horror Nursery Rhymes", but I was afraid that the scene would really be so scary. After I found out it wasn't, I was disappointed for a long time. Here comes the point - after opening the last bamboo forest voice-activated door, I got scared. A woman in black clothes looked at me gloomily [Yes, I am so timid →→, but I also prepared a horror world for adventure. In the end, there are only two possibilities, either I scare myself, or I am too sweet to be true 23333
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