drunk
In the past few days, after taking medicine, Shen Yunqiu's complexion has become much rosier and his hair has become darker. He looks very similar to Lin, as if they were cast in the same mold.
After pondering for a while, she saw that the maids beside her had gone to clean up, and finally she couldn't help but speak.
"Sister Bihe, do you know that the young master is the Madam's biological son?"
"Of course! My aunt is the old nanny of the Shen Mansion. She came to the mansion after the Madam gave birth to the eldest young master. She personally helped the Madam to give birth! But..."
Bi He paused for a moment, "But Auntie said that Madam cried for several days and nights after giving birth to the young master. Since then, the young master has been taken care of by the wet nurse. Madam has always been closer to the eldest young master."
"But you can't talk nonsense about these things. If it weren't for you wanting to bring happiness to the young master, I wouldn't tell you."
Having said that, Bihe glanced at Suxi with a hint of sympathy and then left. After Bihe left, Xihe saw Suxi looking dazed and worried: "Xiaoxi, why don't you just run away? I'll take care of the investigation at the Shen Mansion. Otherwise, if the young master dies one day, you will have to..."
"Don't talk nonsense." Su Xi was a little annoyed and picked up a peanut to block Xi He's mouth. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, but..."
But this Lin was clearly Shen Yunqiu's biological mother, yet she didn't love him. If she didn't like this son, why did she cry back then? Furthermore, Lin was from the Lin family's cloth shop. When the cloth shop failed, Lin should have been beheaded or exiled like everyone else in the Lin family. However, because she was a married woman, she was spared from punishment.
"Lin family..."
Su Xi murmured, feeling that this small Shen Mansion held too many untold scandals. The Lin family's fabric adulteration case from over a decade ago, now that he thought about it carefully, seemed to be closely linked to both the Lin and Shen families. But how could he investigate? Could he just ask the Lin family directly?
No. If so, Lin will definitely collude with Shen Pingchang and bring disaster upon himself.
But she had searched Shen Pingchang and Lin's bedroom last time and didn't find much. No---
There is another place.
"What's wrong, Xiaoxi? Have you thought of something?"
Suxi suddenly came back to his senses and looked at Xihe.
"Xihe, what have you heard from the old lady recently?"
"No," Xihe shook her head somewhat depressedly. "The old lady worshipped Buddha and chanted scriptures every day. I didn't know anything else there except that I was forced to memorize a lot of Buddhist scriptures. Besides, when the old lady talked with the master, she would send the maid away. I really didn't dare to eavesdrop."
"The old lady is away these past few days. Can you still enter her yard?"
"Of course! Although I've had a lot of free time these days, I still have to do the house cleaning every day!" Xi He replied, and suddenly her eyes widened as if she had thought of something. "Yes, I'm the old lady's personal maid. It's so hard to get such a great opportunity. Maybe I can find something useful!"
"But if you are discovered..."
"Don't worry, Xiaoxi!"
Xi He patted his chest and said, "I'm responsible for cleaning the old lady's room. No one can find out my fault! Just wait for my good news!"
Hearing Xihe's confidence, Suxi finally felt relieved and started to think about his next move.
Shen Pingchang and Shen Wenzhao were not in Qingzhou for three days, which was a perfect opportunity. If they searched everywhere that might be related to the case, they would definitely find some clues.
Thinking of this, Suxi said goodbye to Xihe, turned around and walked towards the West Garden.
-
That night, Yinzhen worked hard for the entire afternoon to prepare a large table of dishes, but Suxi was in no mood to eat. He just picked at the vegetable seedlings that had turned yellow by the late autumn frost in front of him, thinking about how to sneak into Shen Wenzhao's bedroom.
She couldn't figure it out, and now she regretted not telling Shen Yunqiu about the Su family that day. After all, if the young master of the Shen family had helped her cover up, the Nanyuan guards would never have stopped her from entering.
No, no, what was he thinking? How could he drag Shen Yunqiu into this mess? That would be too selfish.
Su Xi was biting the tip of his chopsticks absentmindedly. When he came to his senses, he met the puzzled gazes of Chen Yunqiu and Yin Zhen. Su Xi suddenly felt embarrassed and put down his chopsticks awkwardly.
"What are you thinking about? Why are you so absorbed?"
"No, I didn't think anything."
Su Xi deliberately avoided Shen Yunqiu's inquiring gaze, but turned around and caught a glimpse of a jar of wine placed next to the silver needle, and a yellow liquid bubbling in the cup.
When I looked up again, I saw that the dark-skinned boy's cheeks were inexplicably flushed, and his eyes were a little blurry. It was obvious that he was a little drunk.
"Yinzhen, can you drink?"
Suxi asked curiously.
"Can't drink? What man can't drink?" Yin Zhen said in a muffled voice. His eyes met Shen Yunqiu's, and he grabbed the wine jug and pulled the cork out. "Come on, young master, let's have a drink together. Let's get drunk and forget our worries!"
"Hey---wait wait---"
Seeing Yinzhen was about to pour wine into Shen Yunqiu's cup, Suxi hurriedly snatched the wine jug and refilled it: "Yinzhen, what are you doing! Young Master is not in good health, how can he drink? What's wrong with you today? Why are you so abnormal?"
Hearing this, Yinzhen suddenly fell down on the bench and howled at the top of his lungs:
"Xiaoxi, you don't know that I'm trapped in love!"
"You little brat, do you know what it means to be trapped in love?"
Shen Yunqiu twitched his lips in mockery, but Yinzhen suddenly paused, his eyes reddening, "Master, Xiaoxi, do you know who I met when I went out today?"
Suxi: "Who?"
"I met Xiaohua, who was engaged to me as a child! I saw her cuddling with a middle-aged man with a balding head, and she was even pregnant! I stopped her and questioned her, but... she..."
Yinzhen suddenly burst into tears: "And she actually told me to get out!"
"She told me to get out. How could she tell me to get out? She promised to marry me when we were little!"
Yinzhen lay on the table, weeping non-stop. Suxi and Shen Yunqiu exchanged glances, almost unable to contain their laughter. The sobs gradually died down, becoming a snoring sound like a drum. Suxi stood up, somewhat helplessly, and was about to carry Yinzhen back to the side room when an exceptionally thin, pale hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. Suxi looked up and saw Shen Yunqiu's expression, as if displeased.
"Please clean up the table and I'll take him back to the side room."
"You? How are you sending it?"
Suxi was puzzled, but saw the young man sitting in the wheelchair brush away her hand on Yinzhen's shoulder and grab the back of Yinzhen's collar.
Then, as she could barely conceal her astonishment, she saw Shen Yunqiu turning the wooden wheel with one hand and grabbing the unconscious Yin Zhen with the other, dragging him out. He dragged him into the side room, then closed the door and turned to the main house as if nothing had happened.
"Does the old woman's medicine really work?"
Su Xi murmured and shuddered. He hurriedly picked up the empty plate in the wooden barrel and ran into the small kitchen before Shen Yunqiu came over.
In the small kitchen, Suxi worked for most of the hour to wash dozens of dishes. He cursed Yinzhen in his heart for being a hands-off boss. He wiped his hands that were frozen red by the icy water in late autumn, but he still didn't have the courage to rush to Nanyuan alone to search Shen Wenzhao's bedroom.
Feeling depressed, Suxi was carrying the washed dishes in the wooden barrel and was about to put them in the cupboard, but his eyes happened to catch sight of the porcelain jar and wine pot on the stove.
That was the leftover Yinzhen liquor from his drinking just now. Su Xi felt it was a pity to throw it away, so he put it here for now. Maybe he would continue drinking it tomorrow after he sobered up from the Yinzhen liquor.
Suxi set the table and dishes, then subconsciously picked up the jar of wine and examined it carefully in the dim candlelight of the small kitchen. The jar was not big, with a hemp rope wrapped around it, and two large characters written on red paper were pasted in the middle of the jar.
"Yellow wine?"
Suxi touched the ink on the altar that had not yet dried, and found that it was newly written.
"Is this newly brewed wine?"
She remembered that when she was little, her father liked to drink rice wine. He would drink several jars every time without getting drunk. He would even hold her in his arms and spin around, and sit under the night sky with her to count the stars in the sky one by one.
"This rice wine... shouldn't be intoxicating, especially since it's newly brewed."
Suxi pondered, deciding to drink for courage. She immediately uncorked the bottle and gulped it down. The wine was pungent; she'd never drunk alcohol before. After just one sip, she couldn't swallow any more. She doubled over and couldn't help coughing. For a long while, her face flushed from coughing, but she felt a warmth in her heart, as if it truly gave her courage. Suxi picked up the jug again, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp. Only after she'd finished every last drop did she put the jar down, still unsatisfied, and walked back to the main house.
In the main room, Shen Yunqiu was leaning against the headboard, flipping through the books of classics and history that he had collected from a great scholar in his early years. He was engrossed in reading when the door was kicked open with a bang. He shuddered with fright and looked up to see the girl closing the door and walking past him with unsteady steps. Her little face was flushed. As she walked around the screen, a waft of alcoholic smell was blown in by the wind, making him feel a little choking.
Shen Yunqiu was startled and immediately put down the book.
"Have you been drinking?"
“No…I didn’t drink.”
Su Xi replied that he felt that the wine was more intoxicating than he had imagined, but at least he could still stay sober, so it was okay.
"Who told you to drink?"
Shen Yunqiu was a little annoyed, and his tone couldn't help but become a little heavier.
"Why are you so fierce! What's wrong with just taking a sip? Besides, I didn't drink your wine, why do you care?"
"you---"
Shen Yunqiu was furious, but he saw the girl opposite the screen sitting at the head of the bed and starting to unbutton her jacket. She took off the jacket, then her shirt. Through the hazy screen, he saw her unbuttoning the front of her inner clothes one by one. His face turned red uncontrollably, and he quickly turned his head away before he made any big mistakes, but he couldn't stop his heart from pounding like it was about to jump out of his chest.
"You..." Shen Yunqiu stuttered for a moment, "How could you, a woman, be so disregarding of the distinction between men and women?"
"What's this about gender segregation? I want to sleep, can't I take off my clothes?"
Suxi could hardly hear what Shen Yunqiu said. He just felt very sleepy. Without even lowering the bed curtains, he fell into the quilt and fell into a deep sleep.
After a while, there was no more rustling sound of undressing. Chen Yunqiu thought that Su Xi had pulled down the bed curtains and gone to sleep. When he turned around, he just happened to see the girl's large white back through the translucent gauze screen.
Instantly, his heart seemed to skip a beat. He suddenly felt that the candlelight in the room was particularly dazzling. He did not dare to move to the other side of the screen to draw the bed curtain for her, so he simply blew out the lights.
The room darkened in an instant, pitch black, with only a faint moonlight filtering through the window screen, making it impossible to discern the scene on the other side of the screen. Though my eyes could no longer see, my mind inexplicably began to race with random thoughts, unable to stop. My heart beat even faster, seemingly even more frantic than when the lights were on.
By this time, Shen Yunqiu was no longer in the mood to read any books. He felt that everything he did was just to hide something. He simply covered himself with the quilt, lay on the bed with his back to the other end, closed his eyes, and silently recited the scriptures and poems in the book in his heart. One quarter, two quarters, three quarters, one hour, two hours...
In the middle of the night, the night watchman's bell rang again and again, but he became more and more awake, not even a trace of sleepiness. Until the third watch, the bell sounded very close, as if it was just outside the West Garden. Shen Yunqiu vaguely heard the person on the other side of the screen seem to move, throw off the blanket and sit up, and then there was the rustling sound of someone getting dressed.
Chen Yunqiu pretended to be asleep and listened to the girl get up and approach. She seemed to peek at his bedside, then staggered to open the door and go out, then closed it again.
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