In fact, she was indeed frozen. She had originally hired a carriage to come here, but halfway through, the driver said that the snow was too thick and his horse would be frozen, so he asked Xia Yue to pay more. She was so angry that she walked here on foot. Her cheeks were frozen white, and the breath she exhaled in the snow was not warm.
But she said stubbornly: "If you find it, return it to me and I can redeem it with silver."
Shang Rui was happy: "I love everything except money."
Xia Yue was stunned and didn't know what to do for a moment.
Shang Rui gestured, "I asked someone to make you some tea. If you take a few sips, maybe I'll tell you where that thing is if I'm happy to do so."
Xia Yue sighed and had to open the lid of the cup, but she was a little hesitant.
"Don't worry, I won't put any drugs in it. Otherwise, you can drink my cup." He picked up his own teacup and took a big sip, then blinked at Xia Yue, trying hard to suppress the triumphant smile on his lips.
Xia Yue had no choice but to wait until half a cup of hot tea was gone before she took a deep breath. The warm white mist came out of her mouth, and her lips immediately returned to their original rosy color. She then calmed down and looked at the man in front of her.
He is older than Zijin, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old.
At first glance, he does look similar to Zi Jin, but the look on his face and the way he spoke, and the way he smiled, gave people a completely different impression.
Zi Jin is quiet, gentle and tolerant.
This man had a tough and handsome outline, and his eyes and eyebrows revealed an unconcealable arrogance. In Xia Yue's opinion, there were four words written on his face - disgusting.
"Ms. Snow Fairy, you..."
"Don't call me Xuexian, I have a name." Xia Yue couldn't help but stare at him.
Shang Rui pretended to be surprised: "Then?"
"My last name is Min." She really didn't know what had happened to her yesterday to make her misjudge the person.
"Oh—" He dragged out the ending sound again, and then suddenly realized, "Min Xuexian."
"Puchi—" He Xiang behind Xia Yue couldn't help laughing when she heard that.
Xia Yue finally lost the energy to argue with him and just wanted to know the whereabouts of the jade pendant, so she explained, "It was Min Xia Yue."
"Min Xiayue." Shang Rui put the teacup in front of his lips, slowly savoring these three words, and then suddenly said, "I've seen you."
"… "
Except for Shang Rui himself, the other three people present all laughed. How could he have picked up her jade pendant when they had never seen it before
Xia Yue didn't care whether he had seen her before or not. She drank the tea in the cup in two gulps and asked, "Can you please return my things to me now, sir?"
Shang Rui took out the jade cicada from his arms: "Is this it?"
Xia Yue said anxiously: "Yes."
"I have something to ask you, young lady." Suddenly, he changed his usual tone and became serious, "How could Miss Min have this thing?"
Hearing this, Xia Yue's heart was like a string on a harp, and it was suddenly pulled tight. She suppressed her inner panic and said calmly, "My father just bought it from a jeweler when he was alive."
He frowned slightly, and it was impossible to tell whether he believed it or not. He asked casually, "Does your father know its origin?"
Xia Yue shook her head and pretended to be confused and said, "Please enlighten me, sir."
He stood up, paced a few steps, held the jade in his hand, looked back and stared at Xia Yue, as if trying to find some clues. After a while, he turned around and looked into the distance with his hands behind his back, as if thinking about something.
"This jade is named Zi Jin. Legend has it that it is a treasure left behind by the ancient Emperor Gao Xin. It was buried with him and was later accidentally obtained by our dynasty's Emperor Taizu. It has been hidden in the Forbidden Palace for two hundred years. Back then, the wife of the late Crown Prince Shangning, Yang, lost two sons in succession and gave birth to the only prince. The late emperor was very pleased and immediately awarded the jade to the young prince and named him King of Yanping. Later, the late emperor passed away and the prince's family suffered a tragic change, and the whereabouts of the jade were unknown. Therefore, this jade is unlucky. Please keep it well, young lady, so as not to be seen by the government and accused of treason." His voice was extremely pleasant to the ears to begin with, and now he was pondering and speaking a long and serious speech, which made people listen even more carefully.
Shang Rui sighed, as if sealing up the past again, and then handed the jade to Xia Yue.
When she took it, it still had the warmth from his hand on it.
When she thought of Shang Rui's words, her stubbornness came to her head again, and she stood up and refuted: "But the rumors among the people are not quite the same as what you said. It is said that when the late emperor was seriously ill, Empress Dowager Xu, who was the favored Concubine Xu, controlled the palace with the imperial guards in the capital controlled by her brother Xu Jingye. After the emperor's death, she kept the death a secret, and sent people to secretly kill the prince's family overnight, and forged an imperial edict to send her son Wei Shang Rui to the throne."
He Xiang tugged at Xia Yue's clothes in horror, signaling Xia Yue not to continue saying such evil words.
Shang Rui turned his head, his expression paused slightly, and an unknown smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Miss, aren't you afraid of speaking out of turn?"
"Everyone in the market knows this, I just..." Xia Yue's blood suddenly turned cold and she immediately regretted it.
He sat down again with a bright smile on his face.
"It's fine if you say these things in front of me, but don't mention them again in the future, or else there will be endless trouble."
"I… "
Shang Rui put his finger in front of his lips and made a gesture to keep quiet: "Be obedient. Otherwise, I will want to arrest you and bring you to justice for your reward."
The speaker might have meant well, but with a half-smile on his face and the word "obedient" that he used like he was coaxing a child, Xia Yue sounded completely frivolous.
"You can go see the official or tie me up and go directly to claim the reward, it's up to you!" Xia Yue stood up, slightly annoyed.
"What do you think? It's up to me." Shang Rui also stood up and walked closer.
"What do you want to do?"
"Since you want to fulfill my wish, I would like to try again." After saying this, he turned his gaze to Xia Yue's lips.
"You!" She became even more annoyed and raised her hand to slap him again, but unexpectedly her hand was grabbed by Shang Rui.
He shook his head: "I'm not that stupid to let you succeed twice."
"Let go!" Xia Yue raised her head and glared at him stubbornly.
He did not let go, holding her right wrist, hanging in the air.
"I told you to let go." Xia Yue struggled.
Shang Rui said calmly: "I hate being ordered around the most." Those people in the palace all spoke to him in a flattering way, treating every frown and frown of his brows as a big deal. No one dared to disobey him.
Xia Yue tried to pull her hand out, but he retracted his fingers and tightened them even more.
But she didn't give in after being hurt. Instead, she raised her remaining left hand to continue resisting. She held the jade in her left hand. If it wasn't for the importance of the jade, she would definitely hit him in the eyes and nose. Now, she only dared to hold it tightly and clenched it into a fist to swing at him.
Shang Rui was a martial artist, so he didn't need to put any energy into dealing with her. He quickly restrained her with his other hand.
He had never been accommodating to anyone in his life, especially women, and Xia Yue's stubbornness made him unhappy. When she was angry, her face turned red and she bit her lower lip. At this moment, both of her hands were restrained by him and she couldn't move at all.
The two men stood in a stalemate in the snow, neither of them giving in.
From a distance, they were close to each other, with a slightly ambiguous posture, but their expressions did not seem appropriate.
"Miss Min," Shang Rui said sarcastically, "Even if you have never learned to serve a man before, someone should have taught you how to be a woman."
When Xia Yue heard this, she became even angrier and almost spat in his face.
He Xiang on the side was anxious and didn't know what to do.
Ming Lian felt helpless. It was Shang Rui who first teased the girl. The girl didn't agree with him, but he was still unhappy. So he advised, "Young Master..."
Shang Rui glanced at him and said, "You have no right to interrupt."
Ming Lian lowered his head and dared not say anything.
Shang Rui's displeasure was instantly reduced by the interruption. He raised his eyebrows, hesitated for a moment, and then let her go.
The jade cicada was not big, but when Xia Yue held it in her palm, a tip of it still showed. He had already let go of her wrist, but his right hand could not help but bend back in mid-air, wanting to take another look at the jade. Unexpectedly, she reacted very quickly this time, and quickly retracted her hand behind her back, looking at him warily, protecting the thing tightly, like a cat afraid of someone snatching its food.
Shang Rui burst out laughing.
"I've seen you before," he said for the second time.
Xia Yue didn't understand what he meant, so she retorted, "It has nothing to do with me."
This time he was not annoyed. He just smiled and kept silent.
After a while, he looked at her and said, "I bullied you just now, why didn't you cry?"
Xia Yue suddenly felt that this person was extremely ridiculous: "I cry when I want to cry, and laugh when I want to laugh. It has nothing to do with you."
"What does the left one have to do with you? What does the right one have to do with me? Why do you speak so harshly to everyone?"
"You were the one who was rude first." Xia Yue said.
"At least I haven't picked up anything lost on the road this time." Shang Rui pointed to the jade pendant in her hand.
Xia Yue looked at the jade with her eyelashes lowered, and was stunned. What happened to her? She almost got into a fight with this man. So, she didn't answer any more, put the jade close to her body, hesitated for a moment, and stiffly bowed to Shang Rui, "Thank you."
He Xiang also bowed and then said goodbye together.
The master and servant walked back to the main road a few steps before the sky suddenly darkened and snow began to fall again, with a biting cold wind. The wind blew snow particles into their necks, making them extremely cold.