"Is this...convenient? No need to skip words. After getting on the carriage, Mingyu hesitated.
Xu Changqian smiled and said, "It's not inconvenient. Didn't Mingye often bring you to Lord Qi's house as a guest? We are acquaintances. If necessary, I will take you in to express my gratitude. If not, you can wait outside for a while."
The crescent moon was half hanging in the night sky, bright and clear. There were basically no pedestrians on the road. The street that was bustling with people during the day was now silent. The carriage took only a quarter of an hour to arrive at the gate of Qi Mansion. Xu Changqian led his two children out of the carriage and knocked on the door of Qi Mansion.
With the help of two lanterns hanging under the eaves of the Qi Mansion's gate, the two words "Qi Mansion" on the door plaque are clearly visible. The characters are strong and powerful. The person who wrote them must have decades of profound skills. The strokes are flawless, revealing a sense of peace and solidity, just like the gate of the Qi Mansion, low-key and simple.
Mingyu remembered that Xu Mingye said that Qi Su's grandfather had been a grand secretary and even the prince was his disciple. Presumably, this door plaque was written by him.
The person who opened the door was still the half-grown servant who had been there during the day. When he saw Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye, he immediately nodded and smiled, "Master Xu, Master Xu, you are here. Please come in. I will go and inform the master and the young master right away!"
As he spoke, the concierge opened the small door and cordially invited Xu Changqian and the other two to enter the main gate of the Qi Mansion. He then ran madly towards the main courtyard. In the silent night, he could still be heard panting and shouting, "Master, young master, Lord Xu and Master Xu are here!"
The Qi Mansion looked plain in appearance, but was actually much larger than Mingyu had imagined. Looking along in the moonlight, there were not many pavilions and towers, but the open spaces were filled with flowers, trees, and rockery. There was even a thatched cottage nestled among the flowers, trees, and rockery, which looked very wild and showed that the owner had extraordinary taste.
While waiting for people, Xu Changqian said to Mingyu and Xu Mingye: "Since we are here, it is reasonable for us to pay a visit to Lord Qi first, and then Lord Qi will introduce us to thank His Royal Highness the Prince. Mingye, what do you think?"
Xu Mingye nodded, "I think so too." Qi Su is still too young and his words carry no weight, so it is not appropriate for him to introduce. It would be better to find someone of high status to introduce him. Even if His Royal Highness the Prince does not want to see him, it will be enough to save face.
Not long after, Qi Su hurried out of the room. When he saw Xu Changqian, he immediately bowed and said with a smile, "Hello, Lord Xu."
Xu Changqian quickly reached out to support him, waving his hand and saying, "He is not an outsider, so there is no need to do these empty formalities. Besides, if you hadn't brought the Prince down to help today, Lord Wei would not know how to deal with Mingye!"
Qi Su had thick eyebrows and big eyes, regular facial features, and a grin that revealed a row of neat, white teeth. His smile seemed to bring sunshine. Mingyu met him twice, and he was smiling both times, appearing very cheerful and kind.
"Uncle, it's too polite for you to say that. Mingye is my best friend. If he gets into trouble, I will help him if I can. How can I just stand by and watch?" Qi Su said.
At this point, Xu Changqian's thanks seemed a bit forced. He smiled with satisfaction and said, "Well, Mingye is lucky to have a friend like you. I am sorry to bother you tonight because I have something important to ask of you. I wonder if Master Qi has rested at this late hour?"
Qi Su shook his head and said with a smile, "Grandfather hasn't rested yet. He was just lying on the couch listening to me reading history to him."
"That's perfect." Xu Mingye didn't have to be so polite when facing his friends, and said with a smile: "Today, thanks to His Royal Highness the Prince, I don't know what would have happened otherwise. I heard that His Royal Highness would leave early tomorrow morning, and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank His Royal Highness. However, we came here rashly and didn't know the rules of the noble man, so we were afraid that he would be displeased. Lord Qi is His Royal Highness the Prince's mentor. If it is convenient, please ask Lord Qi to introduce us. If you are too busy to meet us, please convey our gratitude to Lord Qi."
Qi Su still had a smiling face. He patted Xu Mingye on the shoulder and extended his hand to make a gesture of invitation. "After going through so much trouble, it turns out to be just such a small matter."
Xu Changqian turned around and told Mingyu, "Stand here and wait for us for a while."
Mingyu nodded and stood at the gate of the courtyard, watching Qi Su lead Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye to open the curtain and enter the house. Since Master Qi had already laid down on the couch, he must have washed up, and it would be inconvenient for Mingyu, a girl, to go in.
Only after his father and brother disappeared behind the curtain did Mingyu retract his gaze and look elsewhere. Although it was early winter, the yard outside was lush with vegetation, full of banana trees, pines and cypresses, and full of vitality.
Mingyu looked slowly, and her eyes suddenly stopped at one place. A young man in a moon-white brocade robe stood quietly under a plum tree. His ink-black hair seemed a little wet, and was tied loosely at the side of his neck with a purple headband, which hung in front of his chest. The headband was decorated with rice-sized jade beads. Under the bright moonlight, the young man stood straight and elegant, with a handsome face. The plum tree was winding and winding, and a few early plum blossoms were in full bloom beside him, exuding a faint plum fragrance in the quiet night.
When Mingyu saw him, he was also looking at Mingyu, with a pair of dark and deep eyes, and it was impossible to discern any emotion.
The moment she saw Prince Qin, Mingyu's heart beat irregularly. She seemed to have returned to the night at the Anxi Marquis's Mansion. The handsome Prince in front of her and the nobleman Sima Xi in a white robe in her memory seemed to overlap.
The bright moonlight cast a vague halo on his face, which seemed unclear from a distance.
At this time, Xu Changqian and the others had already followed Qi Su into the house to pay a visit to Mr. Qi. The courtyard was quiet, and only Mingyu was facing the Qin Junwang, whom she had met once during the day. Thinking of the "Wei what" incident during the day, Mingyu felt as if her face was burning again.
Without caring about why the noble prince would walk around the garden alone at night, Mingyu came to her senses and walked over, stopping three meters away from him. He was the benefactor of the Xu family, and he saw her, so she couldn't pretend not to see him.
Mingyu was a little embarrassed. Apart from the King of Shu, the Prince of Qin was probably the highest-ranking royal relative she had ever seen. She bowed respectfully to him and tried to calm down, but for some reason, her heart was beating so hard that she couldn't control it. She could even hear the "thump thump" of her heart beating in her chest. When she opened her mouth, she found that her voice was trembling and she stuttered, her voice was as small as a mosquito's hum.
"I... thank you, Your Highness, for saving my brother." Mingyu said stiffly.
Prince Qin took a step towards Mingyu. As he walked, the hem of his brocade robe swayed, drawing a graceful arc like flowing clouds and water.
"What did you say?" He tilted his head towards Mingyu and asked.
Moonlight poured in from above the plum tree, and the tree's curved branches cast winding shadows on the ground. A breeze blew by, and the shadows on the ground swayed, with the fragrance of plum blossoms lingering among them.
Mingyu looked down at the swaying shadow under her feet, her face already red as if she was having a fever. She felt that she had really embarrassed herself to the point that she couldn't even speak a complete sentence when she met the prince.
After the embarrassment, Mingyu made up her mind. After all, she came to express her gratitude, so she had to complete the task. Summoning her courage, Mingyu said again, "I thank His Royal Highness the Prince for saving my brother!"
However, the Prince of Qin just listened, his face still indifferent, without any reaction, as if what Mingyu said had nothing to do with him. After Mingyu finished speaking, the Prince of Qin turned around and left. Not long after, the handsome white figure disappeared behind the lush green grass.
At this time, Qi Su helped an energetic old man out of the hospital, and Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye followed closely behind.
Seeing Mingyu, the old man laughed and said, "Is this little girl Mingyu? It's been such a long time since we last met, and you've grown up. I remember when you were a kid, you followed Mingye every day, and you were Mingye's little tail!"
The blush on Mingyu's face had not yet faded, but now it turned as red as liver. She bowed her head to the old man and said crisply, "Hello, Grandpa Qi!" At this age, he must not be Qi Su's father anymore.
The sixty-year-old Master Qi was still in good health. Qi Su just supported him and helped Mingyu up with a smile, saying, "No need to be polite. You are not a stranger."
After leaving the yard, Lord Qi asked Xu Changqian and the other three to wait there first, while he was supported by Qi Su to go to Prince Qin's yard to see if the prince had rested and to convey Xu Changqian's purpose of coming.
Xu Changqian didn't know that Mingyu had just met the Prince of Qin. It was late at night and the air was very cold. After Lord Qi left, he smiled at Mingyu and said, "Are you cold? If you are, go sit in the carriage first. When your brother and I come back, we will go home."
Mingyu shook her head. She was wearing thick clothes and was not cold at all. She opened her mouth to say that she had just met the Prince of Qin and thanked him. But when she looked back at the place where he had just stood, there was no one under the plum tree. Everything that had just happened seemed like a dream, not real at all.
Xu Mingye followed his sister's gaze and saw several bright red plum blossoms blooming on the plum tree under the moonlight. He asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. The plum blossoms at Brother Qi's house are so beautiful. They've bloomed so early." Mingyu swallowed the words she wanted to say. She was in a daze and couldn't even tell whether anyone had spoken to her just now.
Xu Mingye laughed, "This is a new variety that Lord Qi spent a lot of effort to graft. A few days ago, Qi Su came to show off to me and asked me to come and take a look. It is indeed different."
As they were talking, Qi Su came over with Lord Qi. Lord Qi looked regretful and said, "His Royal Highness has already rested. He said he has accepted your gratitude. Lord Xu, you don't have to be polite." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and give rewards on Qidian Mobile Network (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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