Chapter 47 The First Doubt
They were about the same age, and the young people understood each other's feelings very well. The dark-skinned boy was obviously stunned by his wife and fell in love with her.
Xiao Ji immediately narrowed his eyes and ordered Zhao Tong behind him: "Push me over."
Zhao Tong looked at the wet underwear in his master's hand and wanted to advise him, but he kept his mouth shut in the end. After all, he had not persuaded his master not to wash his own clothes.
Qingwu was discussing wages with the young man when she heard the sound of wooden wheels rolling on stone slabs getting closer and closer. She turned around and saw two people coming, but what attracted her attention most was the ball of white cloth in his hand.
However, since this was in front of outsiders, Qing Wu couldn't point it out, so he just said softly, "Breakfast isn't ready yet, Liu Lang needs to wait a while."
Xiao Ji in the wheelchair nodded slightly and said, "Hmm," "No rush."
He slowly shifted his gaze to the three children standing aside, one big and two small. Of course, he mainly looked at Ah Zhu, the one in the lead. He couldn't help but compare himself with Ah Zhu. The Ah Zhu was not small in height, but still shorter than himself. His appearance was decent, but still far inferior to himself... After the comparison, the hand that was holding the armrest of the wheelchair loosened quietly.
But when Xiao Ji's eyes fell on Azhu's legs, which looked very strong, they still dimmed slightly.
Unfortunately, Qing Wu didn't notice his subtle emotion and asked, "Liu Lang, is there anything else?"
To Xiao Ji, this sounded like a question asking him why he didn't leave. Although he knew Qing Wu had no ill intentions, he couldn't help but pursed his lips and replied, "Am I not the head of the family? Can't I ask about family affairs?"
Isn't he allowed to take a look?
After last night, Xiao Ji's mood became more complicated.
He was quite attracted by the second wife of the Xi family because of his trip to the horse farm, so after returning to the palace, he couldn't help but compare the two twin sisters with each other, so that he had no feelings for his wife and even had a vague rejection attitude.
It was not until the past two days, when he had frequent contact with her, that he realized that he was wrong again. His wife was also a very good girl, but he always couldn't help but mistake the two of them for the same person, which made him feel very conflicted.
Many times, he told himself that the person in front of him was not the first girl who moved him, but he could not help but project that throbbing feeling onto her, so when he saw her talking to other young men, he could not help but feel jealous.
So he said that question with a hint of questioning. The tone was not too harsh, but Qingwu, who was used to seeing young people blushing, was still stunned.
In fact, Xiao Ji regretted what he said. His wife was a very good person, and he planned to live with her in respect. It was really wrong for him to be jealous of a man outside of his family talking to her for some unspeakable reason.
But before he could explain, the girl next to him laughed and said, "Of course."
She walked over, stood beside him, put her arm around his shoulders and neck, and introduced him to the three children, "This is the master of our family, my husband Liu Lang."
Her eyebrows were slightly curved, and her voice was filled with an indescribable doting, as if she was coaxing him like a child.
Qing Wu was indeed treating Xiao Ji like a child or a patient. Xiao Ji's facial expression was more lively when facing her, but once he talked to others, he became less interested and exuded a cold, or even somewhat decadent aura.
Yesterday afternoon, on the surface, it seemed that the four of them were sweating profusely and busy cleaning up, while he was sitting alone in the corridor to rest, as if he was daydreaming. However, Qingwu saw him staring at their legs involuntarily several times, with unspeakable emotions in his eyes. He wanted to do something, but he could not help at all, so he had to show no interest in anything.
Just think about it, who would feel good about going from being a favored child to a commoner with a broken leg? Xiao Ji is already considered strong-willed to be able to do this now. If it were someone else, they would probably have given up on themselves and stopped eating, let alone pay attention to their family affairs.
Not to mention what happened in bed last night, which also touched Qingwu. Any man who is willing to satisfy his wife's needs even with a broken leg and does not feel angry or inferior about it is already magnanimous.
So Qing Wu was not angry when he heard his words, but was very happy. It was always good to have the mind to do something else, so he hugged Xiao Ji and introduced him, and asked with a smile: "So, Liu Lang, the head of the family, how much do you think the wages should be?"
Her action made Xiao Ji, who was in the wheelchair, freeze again. Feeling the soft arm on his shoulder and her breath beside him, Xiao Ji couldn't help but pursed his lips.
We're still outside...how can you be so intimate?
But although he pursed his lips, there was a joy between his brows that he himself was not aware of. When he looked at Ah Zhu again, he suddenly felt that it was not so glaring, especially when he saw the trace of surprise and loneliness in Ah Zhu's eyes, his back straightened a little unconsciously.
"Then the wages will be one hundred wen a day?"
He spoke tentatively. He had seen Zhao Tong rewarding other eunuchs with small change before. He knew that ordinary people would not be able to use too much of it, so he used wen as the unit.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the people around him fell silent. The dark-skinned boy of the same age in front of him was stunned, and the two younger ones behind him were even more dumbfounded.
Xiao Ji knew she had said the wrong thing. Qing Wu beside her sighed softly. Just as she was about to speak, Ah Zhu in front of her waved his hand and refused, "How can this be? Just cleaning the yard, how can you ask for a hundred coins?"
You have to know that working in the city only pays a maximum of fifty cents a day, and only young men between twenty and thirty years old are eligible. These half-grown teenagers cannot afford this price. Only the young men and women from wealthy families in front of them are so generous.
I just don't know why they ended up living in this palace that had been abandoned for many years... However, no matter how dilapidated it is, it is still a place only high-ranking officials can live in. If they take the money and then regret it later, they won't be able to fight back, so it's better not to take it in the first place.
However, the girl in front of them smiled and comforted them, and of course made some requests to them.
"A promise is made, and it cannot be taken back. Since my Liu Lang has promised to pay you a hundred wen a day, then it is a hundred wen a day. However, this is for young men. Children over twelve years old are twenty wen a day, and those between fifty and seventy are forty wen a day. Furthermore, this palace is quite large and has been abandoned for many years. For this price, you must clean it up and do the work well and quickly."
Qing Wu couldn't bear to offend Xiao Ji. Since he mentioned such a price, she would accept it. Anyway, she had a huge sum of money now, which was given by her uncle of the Yang family. She also knew that it was not easy for the people. This was the only chance to do this job, so she would just give it to him and consider it as a good deed.
Seeing her speak, the "head of the family" sitting in the wheelchair did not say anything against it. The three children finally made up their minds and happily went back to the village to call people.
Only after the people had gone far away did Xiao Ji raise his head and look at Qing Wu. A rare look of guilt appeared on his face. Like a child who had made a mistake, he asked, "Is my price too high? How much should I give?"
Before Qing Wu could reply, Zhao Tong answered for her, "My Lord, how can the wages of ordinary people outside be worth so much? Fifty cents a day for an adult is only for heavy work. For a servant like me who cleans the palace, thirty cents a day is the maximum. Luckily, Madam helped you out and reduced your expenses. It really is true that a house needs a mistress."
Zhao Tong sighed again after saying this. It wasn't that he felt sorry for the copper coins, but he felt that his master was indeed a prince who was once respected as a prince, but he had fallen into the hands of the common people and had no common sense at all.
But he didn't expect that his sigh, coupled with Qing Wu's previous sigh, would cause the person in the wheelchair to fall silent. Xiao Ji lowered his head and whispered after a few breaths, "I'm sorry, I spoke nonsense."
This shocked the people around. Not only Qingwu, but also Zhao Tong, Fugui and the two Zhu'ers were stunned.
The former crown prince actually apologized for such a thing?
How can he be blamed for this? You don't have to think about what kind of life he lived in the past. He didn't need to spend money to get what he wanted. It's normal for him not to know about this kind of thing. In fact, Qingwu felt that it was good to hear the word "copper coins" from his mouth. At least he didn't start with silver.
But his self-blaming look was really pitiful, so Qing Wu patted his shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay. It's understandable that Liu Lang didn't have access to these things in his previous identity. You will understand in the future. Besides, we have plenty of money, so we don't need these."
Xiao Ji still felt unrelieved. He naturally knew that he didn't lack this much now. He had a lot of money, but it was not his own money. He was not at ease.
Now he is just a disabled man with a broken leg. Even if he heals, he will still be lame and unable to do any work.
Seeing that he remained silent, Qing Wu had to find another way to coax him. Seeing the underwear still in his hand, his eyes turned and he smiled, "Liu Lang, why are you holding these underwear? Do you want me to wash them?"
The effect was immediate. Upon hearing this, Xiao Ji immediately raised his head, his face instantly flushed, and he quickly refused, "No, of course not..."
When Xiao Ji met Qing Wu's half-smile, he knew that she had seen through everything. He immediately wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, but now he couldn't even do it, so he hurriedly asked Zhao Tong to push him away.
"I've washed it. I'm going to find a place to hang it up. Zhao Tong, let's go."
Seeing that he had recovered from his lifeless state, Qingwu no longer planned to embarrass him. She turned around and went into the kitchen to cook the meal she had promised yesterday.
Xiao Ji, who had walked away, gradually regained his composure. Thinking back to what Qing Wu had just said, a slight curve appeared at the corner of his lips, and suddenly a question emerged in his mind.
It’s understandable that I couldn’t access these things in my previous identity…
Does her status mean she can access these things? Didn't she also grow up in a pampered environment?
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