In the capital city, at the Prince’s mansion.
The fourth prince sat in the hall, holding a brush and painting a crape myrtle flower on the Xuan paper.
His expression was very focused, outlining the contours of the purple flower with the tip of his brush.
Whether it was the crimson or scarlet petals, whether it appeared in the courtyard or by the lake, it was equally bright and beautiful.
The fourth prince had liked the crape myrtle flowers in the imperial garden since he was a child.
But since he came of age and learned that crape myrtle flower was the imperial star, he no longer casually picked the purple flowers in the palace.
Because the palace belonged to the emperor and would eventually belong to the Crown Prince.
Even if the crape myrtle flowers in the imperial garden were blooming beautifully, he had no right to pick them and could only draw them on paper.
If a child made a mistake, others would say he was still young and immature. But if an adult made such a mistake, it would be tantamount to defying the emperor.
After finishing the last petal of the crape myrtle flower, the fourth prince finally put down his brush satisfactorily.
He looked up and found the steward of the mansion standing in front of him, who seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.
Well, it had been a long time, so it didn’t matter now.
The fourth prince pinched the corners of the Xuan paper at the bottom, first lowered his gaze and unfolded the painting on the paper, then said to the steward, “What’s the matter, just say it.”
With the master’s instructions, the steward dared to speak: “According to your highness’s orders, the old slave has bribed the people in the Dali Temple. The news came that… the ways those people died were similar, and they were probably all killed by the same person, and a incence pill was found in their throats.”
“Well, where did the incence pill come from?”
“It is said to be from Yanyu Building.”
The fourth prince put down the painting in his hand, looked up at the steward, and said regretfully, “Although this mansion also wants to solve the case for my third brother, Yanyu Building belongs to the Bai family, and the backer behind the Bai family is the Crown Prince. So this matter is beyond our control.”
“Moreover, if even you can get information from the Dali Temple, it is very likely that the Crown Prince deliberately released this news to confuse people. This mansion… does not believe it.”
Hearing this, cold sweat broke out on the steward’s forehead. He felt that the prince was probably secretly calling him foolish for believing in such news.
Thinking of the prince’s orders to keep a close eye on Yanyu Building in recent days, it seemed that he really did not want to let this matter go.
So the steward still braved it and reported today’s situation: “Your Highness, the spy lurking in Yanyu Building came to report that three new guests arrived at Yanyu Building today. One of the women had difficulty walking and was sitting in a wheelchair with a white cloth wrapped around her eyes. It seems that she is a blind woman.”
The fourth prince repeated thoughtfully, “Blind woman in a wheelchair?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. This description reminds this palace of someone, but that person is always proud and arrogant, and he would never do something like this.”
The fourth prince seemed to recall something and smiled again. “By the way, how long has Princess Zhao Yang and Lady Shufei been staying in the White Horse Temple? When will they start their journey back to the capital?”
The steward thought for a moment and replied, “If I may answer Your Highness, they should start their journey back tomorrow.”
“So it’s tomorrow.”
The fourth prince looked at the purple crape myrtle flowers on the painting and frowned, pondering something he had been trying to figure out for a long time: why did Xiao Jin try to steal the bride on his wedding day?
To this day, he still couldn’t quite understand it, but he could vaguely sense that Xiao Jin had changed in some way.
Thinking of this, the fourth prince stood up and lazily picked up his fur coat that was resting on the chair.
He put on the heavy fur coat and smiled, “Since it’s tomorrow, this palace can still be willful once.”
“Old Wang, take a team of men to Yanyu Building and remember to be quick… After all, if that person really is third brother, this palace wants to give her a surprise.”
…
“Who are you?”
Bai Zheng’s voice was very indifferent, but this question had many implications.
Because the scope of this question was very broad.
Perhaps she was asking about Chu Shao’s background, or she could be asking who you really are beyond your identity as “Young Master Chu.”
A few days ago, it rained all night on Fuhua Street.
The cold night rain poured down on the mysterious swordsmanship master, and it was unknown if it could wash away his appearance.
Upon hearing Bai Zheng’s question, Chu Shao’s lips curved into a polite smile despite her confusion. “To answer Miss Bai’s question, I reside in Yunqin and my surname is Chu. My given name is Yu.”
Bai Zheng gazed quietly at Chu Shao. Although she knew she was likely lying, she still smiled curiously and asked, “Is young master Chu’s ‘Yu’ character the ‘Yu’ in ‘Yuan Yu’?”
Chu Shao also looked at Bai Zheng with a faint smile on her lips. “No, it’s the ‘Yu’ in ‘Wo Jin Huai Yu.'”
…Wo Jin Huai Yu?
Xiao Jin fell silent.
Were there no other phrases in the female lead’s knowledge base? Why did she have to use this one?
Although the faces of the two people in front of her bore gentle smiles and they seemed to be extremely amiable, Xiao Jin inexplicably detected a slight sense of something off.
This kind of feeling often appeared during war when both sides ignited the gunpowder during the fighting- commonly known as the smell of gunpowder.
It was normal for the female lead and the third female lead to dislike each other, but the male lead had not even appeared yet, and they had already started to ignite the war, which was truly ridiculous.
After hearing the four characters “Wo Jin Huai Yu,” the smile on Bai Zheng’s face seemed to diminish slightly.
She and Chu Shao gazed at each other for a long time before she casually passed over the previous topic and began discussing something else. “Just now, Young master Chu said she wanted to find a fragrance that would complement Young master Chu’s temperament.
Coincidentally, I have a fragrance here in my Yanyu Building that is light but elegant, which would be perfect for Young master Chu.”
Chu Shao looked at Bai Zheng and asked gently, “Oh, what fragrance is that? I’m all ears.”
“This fragrance is called ‘Spring Mountain Empty,’ and I formulated it into a pill several years ago.
To make it, one must take white plum from deep winter, peony from early summer, and add sweet pine, Lingling incense, and red Poria.”
Xiao Jin felt somewhat surprised. Bai Zheng didn’t seem to care about commercial secrets at all, calmly and confidently introducing the formulation method for “Spring Mountain Empty” to them, and even recounting the origins of this pill.
“At that time, it was early spring, and it was the first year that Prince Yan went to war against Yao county. I had nothing to do and was idle, so I looked at the rain outside the window and created this pill, naming it ‘Spring Mountain Empty.'”
As Bai Zheng spoke, there was still a smile in her eyes, which was quite a bit like that of a young girl.
After a moment, she looked at Xiao Jin, who was sitting in a wheelchair, and sighed softly, “After all, this spring rain can really make people feel empty and produce needless worries. But the two of you were born in Yunqin, and you may not know some of the old stories of Qi country.”
Upon hearing Bai Zheng mention the original owner, Xiao Jin felt that something was strange.
She tried to lower the clasp tone assigned to her by the system and said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t know why Miss Bai is worried?”
Bai Zheng looked at the white silk wrapped around Xiao Jin’s eyes and laughed softly, “Yes, this young lady should not worry. It’s just that during the Prince Yan attack on Yao country, the heavens didn’t cooperate, and there was a heavy rain.”
“Because the heavy rain blocked the view, Prince Yan was caught off guard by the enemy’s poisoned arrow and contracted a leg disease, leaving behind the root of her coughing. So, this young lady said that the rain was really unfortunate and made people feel disgusted.”
Talking about the original owner, Xiao Jin could only remain silent. After all, she was just a transmigrator and didn’t know how the original owner had contracted tuberculosis and leg disease. However, it was too exaggerated to achieve both infection and disability with just a few dark arrows.
The author’s settings were so sloppy that Xiao Jin didn’t even know where to start criticizing. There were so many flaws, it was truly impossible to count.
Although she didn’t know how the original owner was hit by a dark arrow, it seemed genuine from Bai Zheng’s mournful expression.
Could it be that Bai Zheng knew the original owner and had some connection with her?
Just thinking about this, Xiao Jin quickly dispelled this terrible idea. After all, if that were the case, then wearing a disguise would be pointless.
Chu Shao’s lips curved up into a smile, but she didn’t say anything. Thanks to Bai Zheng’s reminder, she finally recalled the first time she met Xiao Jin.
It was indeed a rainy day, but when Xiao Jin entered the Yao Country Palace in silver armor, she did not have a leg disease.
The drizzle was not enough to make people feel particularly sad, only causing their eyes to become a little damp.
Remembering the cold gaze of the Prince Yan holding a long sword, Chu Shao recalled the other’s black hair and slightly hoarse voice.
The Prince Yan features were very attractive, but her lips and complexion were a little pale.
After a long silence, she asked her, “Are you Chu Shao?”
After she nodded, she looked away and simply said, “Good.”
Recalling this incident, Chu Shao smiled slightly but felt a little strange. She didn’t know what was good about the fact that she was Chu Shao, especially for Xiao Jin.
After all, she and Xiao Jin had never met before, and this conversation seemed quite strange.
Moreover, it was even more strange that Chu Shao had a strong feeling that the current Xiao Jin would not say something so inexplicable.
So, what was the reason that caused Xiao Jin to become like this? Bai Zheng did not know what she had inadvertently mentioned.
Bai Zheng didn’t know that the story she casually mentioned would make Chu Shao and Xiao Jin ponder so many things.
She realized that she had said too many irrelevant things, smiled again, and stopped the topic: “But it’s not entirely the heavens’ fault. After all, some things are not predetermined by the heavens, but by human intervention…There are so many different people in the world, and many old things, this young lady has not completely figured out.”
Through a layer of silk, Xiao Jin could vaguely see the smile on Bai Zheng’s face, but she always felt that the other party’s words were obscure and seemed to have an underlying meaning.
Fortunately, Bai Zheng wasn’t purely speaking in riddles. After speaking a series of ambiguous words, she smiled and took out a box of incense pills from the drawer.
“This incense is called ‘Spring Mountain Empty.’ These incense pills are very good, and the girls in the building often use them. I hope Miss Chu won’t dislike them.”
Seeing Bai Zheng hand the box to herself, Xiao Jin still didn’t realize for a while that she herself was “Miss Chu.”
If it weren’t for Su Tan who couldn’t bear to watch it anymore and coughed lightly, she would probably never know that Bai Zheng was actually talking to her.
It was only when Su Tan coughed that Bai Zheng seemed to realize her mistake: how could a blind woman see her handing over the box?
Bai Zheng smiled apologetically, said sorry, and then handed the box to Chu Shao instead.
In fact, she was testing the waters. If the other person was truly blind, they would not know she was handing over the box.
On the other hand, if they were deliberately disguised as a blind woman, they would subconsciously take the box.
After a moment, Xiao Jin also quickly realized that she was still blind at the moment, so Bai Zheng’s behavior just now was probably not that simple.
She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. There were too many tricks in the ancient world, and there wasn’t a single trustworthy person.
Obviously, Bai Zheng’s tricks were one after another, and it wasn’t over for a while.
Although the voice of the blind woman didn’t sound like Xiao Jin’s, her eyes seemed to be truly blind.
But Bai Zheng had liked Xiao Jin for so many years. She firmly believed that even if one day she became a woman, her feelings would never be wrong.
Besides, those few jade-like fingers, even if they were pale and bloodless, just quietly placed between the snow robe, were still as beautiful as the posture of pulling the bowstring in the past.
Bai Zheng was stubborn, and her stubbornness was like eight oxen that couldn’t be pulled back.
She could carry this stubbornness that was stronger than death and love Xiao Jin for so many years, and was not afraid of becoming a laughing stock in the capital.
Naturally, because of this stubbornness, she looked at Xiao Jin sitting in a wheelchair and tried to hint at her for the last time.
So Bai Zheng smiled, casually mentioned something that shouldn’t be mentioned here, “Seeing this incense pill, this young lady suddenly remembered an unpleasant incident that happened a few days ago in the building.”
“That unpleasant incident… had to do with a swordsman.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s note: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution between 2022-02-07 23:37:32 and 2022-02-08 23:59:00.
TO BE CONTINUE…
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