C260

It was just that for such a secretive matter to be investigated after so many years, it must have been extremely difficult.

Even though Shopkeeper Xiao appeared to be obedient to me, he was still King Qi's advisor in the end. It would be better if I arranged for him to do some digging related to what King Qi had given me.

I have nothing to resent about that.

He had to let go of this matter for now.

The more I thought about it, the more troubled I became. I decided to take the two maids out for a walk. The land that just rained was loose and soft, the pebbles on a gravel road were washed smooth and clean, and along the way back I went home to listen to Bamboo Pavilion.

Through the door, he heard the crackling sounds of the abacus.

Jiayi was holding an account book and doing the accounts with great concentration.

I led the maidservants to a round table in the outer hall, where Yen Wenlian and Ying'er served tea.

It was Da Hong Pao.

I pointed at the teacup and smiled. "Is this a gift from Mother Du?"

The two maidservants smiled and nodded, "It was a congratulatory gift from mother!"

The child is short of spirit, drink strong tea at night easy to fall asleep. Moreover, it was now late autumn, so he should drink some cooling tea.

"Send a packet of Chrysanthemum over!"

I smiled back at Lan. She quickly smiled in response.

I happened to see the girl behind Lan Li tilting her head to listen to the sounds of the abacus. I smiled as I beckoned to her. "Compared to Second Young Master, who's the better one in terms of abacus?"

The young mistress quickly bowed and greeted him, "This servant is lowly. How can I dare to be on par with the young master?"

I smiled and sighed, Lan Ling this child taught a lot of trickery!

After dinner, I went back to my own courtyard and brought out a book of accounts for the various rooms that had been used for the month.

Like me, my sister set her abacus aside and did the math.

My rough estimate is that it's better than family justice.

Both children are particularly sensitive to numbers, much more than I was back in my day.

When I paid my respects to my grandmother the next morning, she smiled and told me to get another dowry. I asked, "Which sister in your house is going to be released?"

"It's Hong Chang, she has followed me for a long time!"

I knew that the eavesdropping had happened, but my grandmother did not mention Lan Li, nor did she give me any hints, she only said that she wanted to marry Hong Chang, so I did not say anything, and immediately agreed.

After eight days of this leisure, Zhou's mother came into my yard on a sunny afternoon and brought back a letter from the shop.

The same method as last time, he stuck the letter onto the envelope. If someone tore open the envelope without permission, it would definitely harm the letter and be difficult to preserve it.

The only thing written on it was, "Zodiac as scheduled."

This is a warning to me that King Qi is here.

I still dismissed Mommy Zhou and told her to go back and say, "I'll be there tomorrow."

The next day, after taking care of his family's affairs, he got into his grandmother's car and drove to the shop before lunch.

"Miss, there's a young master following us!"

The coachman's voice was somewhat terrified.

Don't think about who it is, it's just that I don't have the mood to play with him today.

"Tell the coachman that we're taking a detour!"

The green bandit hurriedly nodded his head and ordered the carriage driver.

A moment later something flew into the carriage with a "duo" and turned several times to stop at my feet.

The green bandit stared at the green fruit and asked: "This... "What is it?"

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Did he think he was the ancients of the Pre-Qin or the Tang Dynasty's An Lushan?

Playing this game of "Vow Me With Papaya And With Qiong Yao"?

This person was clearly an old man when he was doing things, but he had to pretend to be an unruly and ignorant youth. How repulsive!

I smiled to myself as I took off the White Lotus Jade from my waist and used the knife that I usually use to cut a part of the papaya before stuffing it in.

Ye Zichen raised the curtain on the side of the carriage, and saw Jiang Ming, who wore a white and green water graffiti on his horse. I threw the papaya at the figure, but it was too weak and it only landed a short distance away.

I laughed and said, "Let's go! Do not miss the timing! "

When I reached the tea shop, I saw that the back door was still open. The atmosphere was different from usual, cheerful and lively, whether it was the servants or the old mothers, all of them had tense faces.

Shopkeeper Xiao smilingly led me to the second floor of the small building. Before he left, he even threw me a compassionate smile.

This was the first time I had seen such a display of true emotion from a middle-aged man who looked simple on the outside but was shrewd on the inside.

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine. Things are not going well. If it wasn't for that trace of rationality, I would have definitely left immediately.

"Miss, please come in!"

Shopkeeper Xiao elegantly pushed open the crevice door of vermilion lacquer ice for me.

Even with the veil covering my face blurring my vision, I could still see King Qi standing only three steps away from me, looking so gloomy that he could squeeze water out of his face.

In the few times I've seen this man, he hasn't been normal at all.

I shrugged my shoulders and walked in.

The door behind him immediately closed.

I couldn't help but clench my teeth and thank Shopkeeper Xiao for his concern.

"Screech!" A sarcastic smile appeared on King Qi's face. "Miss Yang is already a wild man in my shop, why are you still wearing your mask?"

I can completely understand why Shopkeeper Xiao would reveal that expression of pity and a hint of schadenfreude.

He was such a good man, why did he like to talk about the trivial matters of the Eastern Family's Xi Family like a woman!

My bad impression of Shopkeeper Xiao didn't seem to be good at all.

"King Qi, you must be joking!"

I smiled in embarrassment.

King Qi suddenly took a few steps forward and snatched the bamboo hat from my head. My veil was lifted, and my eyes lit up. My eyes were unwell, and I hurriedly squinted.

"Speak!" "Who is that wild man?!"

King Qi wasn't pleased at all with my obedience. In fact, his voice grew even colder.

That Jiang Ming was pretending to be confused, while this King Qi was pretending to be confused!

I have no way to deal with these two.

"You already said that he's a wild man, so he's naturally my lover!"

In any case, it wasn't some small girl that couldn't be ignored. I had no intention of fighting with him for the veil that was almost deformed by his pinching. I sat down at the table and poured myself a cup of tea.

"Lover?"

King Qi had a strange expression on his face. He repeated the word several times before looking at me with disdain.

"I thought you were different from that woman, but who would have thought you would be as shameless as her!"

I smiled faintly.

"You're right, and you're wrong!"

"Just like Princess Honghua, I am also in pursuit of love. However, I am different from Princess Honghua. I would never let myself suffer."

Actually, I don't know who the woman King Qi was referring to was, but she was often compared to Princess Honghua. I guessed that he was referring to her.

The moment I saw King Qi's furious face, I knew that my guess was correct.

I once heard from Shopkeeper Xiao that Princess Honghua also had a period of time with King Qi. Later on, she was afraid that her son was really infatuated with her niece, and that the marriage alliance, an extremely beneficial resource for consolidating her status, would be wasted on her mother's family that had already taken her in.

Unexpectedly, the Second Prince was now infatuated with her by visiting her from time to time. To an extremely powerful youth like King Qi, this was naturally unacceptable. I thought about it privately. If Princess Honghua and I didn't have such a relationship, King Qi might not have taken this cousin of his that had died prematurely to heart. However, he could only look up at what he had obtained today. It made him feel like what was originally his was now taken away by someone. Only by taking it back would he be able to justify his actions.

Since his elder brother had inherited the throne, he could hesitate about plotting a new scheme. However, no matter what, he could not snatch back the feelings he had for his long-lost cousin.

Perhaps my good impression of Jiang Ming stemmed from the fact that I was just me in front of him, but in front of King Qi, I was like a shadow, a vase.

"So you're going to elope with him?"

King Qi let out an angry roar and took a few large strides towards me.

He smelled like sandalwood that had not been released for a long time. It was certainly fragrant, but it was also lifeless.

"It might not be impossible!"

If Jiang Ming and I still have that tiny chance, then King Qi and I really are a distant from the world. I don't want to be a substitute, and he can't love me like a treasure. I don't want this kind of love.

Since I am no longer a young girl, love for me is rather lacking.

Since it is impossible, I am not willing to give King Qi any hope.

It was obvious that King Qi was angered by me. He paced around the room a few times, breathing heavily through his nose so that even I, who was sitting far away, could hear him.

"Didn't you agree to work for me?"

After a long while, King Qi finally spoke.

"Don't worry, I will do what I promised you!"

I poured a cup of tea with a humble manner that even I would despise and placed in front of King Qi with a smile.

He snorted and turned his head away from me.

To be honest, I think King Qi is more suited to be a idle prince than an emperor.

His every move was like a carefully cultivated rose. Beautiful was beautiful, but it was difficult to endure the wind and frost. His injured hand had thorns all over his body, making it difficult for others to get close to him. However, his mind was simple, so it was much easier for others to take advantage of him.

"I asked you to replace Miss Xue. How are you doing?"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The ancestor finally got down to business.

I hurriedly took out the last letter that Big Miss Xue sent over from my sleeve and handed it over to King Qi with both hands.

King Qi was skeptical. He opened the letter and read through it quickly, sweeping the cup of tea I just brewed onto the floor.

The teacup was propped up by a thick carpet and the tea within the teacup was dense and dyed a dark red.

I can understand why King Qi would throw a tantrum when he heard that I had a secret meeting with a man. It's like how a pet wants to escape, something like King Qi's extremely controlled nature is hard to accept. However, it's hard for me to fathom why he's so angry at Miss Xue's letter.

It was obvious that Miss Xue's words were full of love, and she even hinted that she was willing to elope with him. Could it be that I was mistaken? His words about stopping Miss Xue from entering the palace were not due to his interest in her?

"All those gifts you sent me were just to help me express my goodwill towards Miss Xue?"

King Qi spat out one word at a time through gritted teeth as he stared at me as though he had a grudge against me.

"As long as you send a letter to make an appointment with Miss Xue now, she'll be willing to leave with you at any time."

In the past, I only felt that Miss Xue was burdened by fame and fortune and couldn't let go of her hands and feet. From the looks of it, Miss Xue was a woman of character even though she carried out moral etiquette.

The fear of the future before his elopement was something I once knew. Now that I looked at the thin piece of paper in King Qi's hands, I knew that it carried a woman's infatuation and weighed a thousand pounds.

"Bastard!"

King Qi was so angry that his white jade-like face turned red, and his originally delicate features changed. He threw the piece of paper towards where I was sitting with all his might.

This person was truly temperamental!

It was intolerable.

Although I work for King Qi, it does not mean that I have become a slave to him, much less that I have lost the dignity of a human being.

I smiled and bent my knee to him, then turned and walked away.

"Wait! Who let you leave! "

With a single step, King Qi arrived by my side. Grabbing my wrist, he said, "You actually dare to leave without my permission?"

What a joke!

I'm not even afraid of death, why wouldn't I dare?

I wanted to shake off his hand and walk away.

However, he held it so tightly that I couldn't break free for a long time.

I smiled bitterly.

Last time, Jiang Ming had been imprisoned like this as well, but this still made him feel as if there was a trace of playful warmth. Now, even if it was King Qi, he was still as cold as ice.

"You're right!"

I lowered the meek smile from the corners of my eyes and tried to ignore the pain from my wrist.

"That servant girl of mine is missing, why don't you move out from the Yang family to live with me!"

In King Qi's eyes, I'm not even an ant.

"You know I have to look after the family."

I tried to calm my anger.

King Qi let out a cold snort. After a long while, he sneered coldly, "Your family?"

In front of King Qi, I was as naked as a sheet. He knew all the dirty things in the family, and he humbled himself to the dust.

"You know I need this house to make me work for you."

The more objective I became in this conversation, the more I won.

"What else can you do?" King Qi cast me a grateful glance, but there was no trace of closeness in his smile. "Use my silver to give Miss Xue a present?"

"If you marry Miss Xue, perhaps you won't need me."

I retort back.

King Qi, on the other hand, had given up.

Looking at his dejected look, I was a little reluctant.

"Don't worry, I promised to investigate the matter regarding the previous emperor for you, and I will accomplish it in accordance with the agreement."

I couldn't help but soften my voice.

King Qi only waved his hand at me, but didn't say anything else.

I couldn't guess what was in the mind of this boy who was only seventeen years old this year.

I stood up, bowed, and silently left the room. He no longer stopped me.

Shopkeeper Xiao was standing at the door. When he saw me come out, he hurriedly greeted me with a smile. "Miss, do you still want to deliver something to Eldest Miss Xue?"

I glared at him and smiled. "What do you think?"