In Yixin Courtyard, Qin smashed several teacups and yelled at the secret guard Feng Qi who was kneeling on the ground: "I told you that if she doesn't die, you will die yourself. You can't even kill a maid, so why did you come back?"
Feng Lun, with tea leaves on his head, said in a panic, "I did a bad job and I should die to apologize, but Madam, what happened today was indeed an accident. If the Second Young Master hadn't suddenly shown up with his men, I would have succeeded. I dare not ask for Madam's forgiveness, but only ask Madam to give me another chance to make amends."
"If I give you another chance, can you guarantee that you can succeed?" Qin said coldly.
"If I fail, I will commit suicide to apologize!" Feng Qi said.
"Okay, I'll trust you again." Qin said, "I'll give you two days. If you succeed, I'll reward you handsomely. If you fail, you three brothers will accompany me to the underworld."
Feng Qi was startled and looked up at Qin. Seeing that she had a determined look on her face, he lowered his head, replied "yes", stood up and walked out.
After returning to the Marquis' Mansion, Xie Nanjia did not go directly back to Yilan Courtyard, but followed Zhao Jingyu to the west wing.
Hualou has been receiving treatment from Hu Qianshan here for three days, and she wants to see if the condition has improved.
Zhao Jingyu happened to have something to ask her, so he took her to the secret room.
When they arrived at the secret room, Hu Qianshan was curing Hualou's poison in the inner room. The two of them didn't want to disturb him, so they sat and waited in the outer room.
Zhao Jingyu asked someone to bring hot tea, sat opposite Xie Nanjia, and talked about the assassination of Mrs. Xie in Fanyin Temple.
"Who do you think wants to assassinate Mrs. Xie?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"I don't know, but I am sure that they didn't intend to leave anyone alive." Xie Nanjia still has lingering fears when she thinks of the scene at that time. Fortunately, the sword deflected towards her because of her interference. If it had really hit her mother, the consequences would have been disastrous.
"Perhaps the general has offended someone in the court, or maybe it's an opponent on the battlefield." Zhao Jingyu said, "In any case, he is definitely not an upright person who attacks someone's family."
"I hope that I... General Wu'an can find out the truth and find the murderer." Xie Nanjia almost said "my father", but fortunately he reacted in time and changed his words.
Zhao Jingyu looked at her with deep eyes and suddenly changed the subject: "You have been in the mansion for half a year, don't you miss your mother at all?"
Xie Nanjia was startled and asked cautiously: "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing, I just care about you." Zhao Jingyu said, "Come to think of it, I didn't see your mother last time at the farm, why don't I find some time to take you back to see her?"
Xie Nanjia felt more and more that he had ulterior motives: "Why are you looking at my mother for no reason? Is she planning something bad again?"
"Look at what you said. She's my mother-in-law. What bad ideas can I have?" Zhao Jingyu said seriously.
"Mother-in-law?" Xie Nanjiateng blushed and glared at him with a mixture of shyness and anger. "What nonsense are you talking about? Who is your mother-in-law?"
"How can you go back on your word?" Zhao Jingyu said seriously, "We have done what we should do. If Princess Jinping hadn't come back suddenly, the marriage might have been arranged by now. So, is it wrong for me to call you mother-in-law?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Shameless guy, I have done everything I should do. You forced me to do it, okay
"Anyway, you can't yell." She said with a red face, "If you continue to be so frivolous, I will ignore you in the future."
"If you ignore me, I won't let Hu Wanshan cure Hualou of the poison." Zhao Jingyu said shamelessly.
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Then I will ignore you after the painting building is finished, she said in her heart.
Zhao Lanyu seemed to have heard her inner voice and threatened: "Don't forget, I still have a lot of leverage over you, such as Qingqu Garden, Aunt Hong, the haunted Yaoyue Residence, Qin Wanru's fall..."
Xie Nanjia’s eyes widened immediately. It would have been fine if it was anything else, but when Qin Wanru fell, he was still in the Duke’s Mansion. How did he know it was related to her
Zhao Jingyu raised his eyebrows proudly: "So, you still dare to ignore me?"
"…" Xie Nanjia rolled her eyes, "Childish!"
Wei Jun, who was waiting far away, also felt that his own son was so childish. He was usually a mature and steady person, but whenever he met Xiu'er, he would quarrel like children.
In fact, he only said ruthless words, but when he saw Xiu'er in danger, he rushed forward without hesitation, completely deceiving himself.
The same goes for Xiu'er. She is usually smart, calm, and thoughtful, but when she is in front of the Second Young Master, she becomes a different person. She becomes shy, acts like a coquettish person, and gets angry at every turn, like a spoiled little princess.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem to realize that she treated the Second Young Master differently, and always tried her best to pretend to be more mature than him, as if she was his sister.
It’s not right to call her a sister. Sometimes she even feels like a mother, who is disappointed in her son. She has advised the Second Young Master to be proactive more than once.
All in all, this was the strangest couple he had ever seen.
When the word "couple" came out, Wei Jun was shocked. He didn't know when he started to think of the Second Young Master and Xiu'er as a couple.
He wondered if anyone else was like him. He decided to ask Feng Lun.
The two men were arguing, and the door to the inner room opened, and Hu Qianshan and Hualou walked out.
Xie Nanjia hurriedly went up to greet Hu Qianshan, and then asked Hualou why he didn't get some sleep today
Hualou said that he felt much better today and did not feel sleepy at all.
Hu Qianshan explained that the poison had been mostly eliminated, so he no longer felt sleepy.
Xie Nanjia was finally able to put the worry that had been hanging over her head for several days at ease and thanked Hu Qianshan again.
Hu Qianshan said with a smile: "No need to thank me, the important thing is to make me something delicious."
Zhao Jingyu, who was arguing with Xie Nanjia just now, said, "Let's do it tomorrow. She went on a long trip today and is tired."
"..." Xie Nanjia looked at him in surprise, wondering when did this man become considerate.
Zhao Jingyu seemed to have heard her thoughts again, and said slowly: "I have always been considerate, but you are blind and can't see it."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
Hu Qianshan looked at the two people meaningfully, stroking his beard and smiling without saying anything. After Xie Nanjia and Hualou left, he patted Zhao Jingyu on the shoulder and said, "How about it? I found a good wife for you. What are you going to do to repay me for this great kindness?"
On that stormy night in early summer, Hu Qianshan was giving a lesson to Zhao Jingyu in the West Courtyard when he saw lightning in the south sky that looked like a phoenix dancing in the sky. The light was bright and lasted for a long time. So he made a divination, and the divination showed that a girl with the fate of a phoenix would be born 300 miles south of the capital. If he could get her, he could get the world. So he suggested that Zhao Jingyu go looking for her at dawn.
Zhao Jingyu thought it was nonsense and refused to go no matter what. Unexpectedly, the next day, news came that Hongou Manor had suffered a flood. Everyone in the mansion was busy dealing with the funeral of the Crown Prince's wife. Zhao Jingyu was the only one who was free, so he was sent to investigate the disaster.
Hongou Manor is exactly three hundred miles away from the capital. Hu Qianshan is even more convinced that this is God's will and that Zhao Jingyu must make the trip no matter what.
So Zhao Jingyu had to go reluctantly.
After he got there, he used the excuse of a beauty pageant to look at all the girls in the farm, but he didn't see any clues. However, he unexpectedly met Xiu'er, the little girl he rescued when he was a child.
When he learned that Xiu'er had been killed by a gable but miraculously survived, he thought of the vision described by Hu Qianshan and wanted to bring Xiu'er back to the capital. Later, he accidentally heard Chunfang and Hongxing say that Xiu'er had had an affair with Hu Sanmu's son and got pregnant. He was angry for a moment, so he left Xiu'er behind and returned to the capital alone.
In fact, he figured it out halfway through his journey that it must be those two girls who were slandering Xiu'er, but he was in a hurry to come back to see his sister-in-law off for the last time, and he was too embarrassed to go back, so he had to return to the capital.
Later, Xiu'er followed the Fourth Aunt into the Marquis' Mansion, and the two became involved again.
It is undeniable that his purpose of approaching Xiu'er was not pure at the beginning, but with repeated contacts and the passage of time, he no longer cared about the original purpose.
Besides, even if Xiu'er was a person who came back to life from the dead, it didn't mean that she was really the Daughter of Phoenix. What if the Daughter of Phoenix was the baby born that day? Would he still have to marry a baby as his wife
Thinking this way, Zhao Jingyu asked Hu Qianshan, "How can you be so sure it's her? What if it's someone else?"
Hu Qianshan did not answer but asked: "If it was someone else, would you abandon her?"
"No!" Zhao Jingyu said without hesitation, "If I am really wrong, I am willing to make the best of it."
"But in that case, you may not get that position." Hu Qianshan said.
"I don't care." Zhao Jingyu said solemnly, "If I can only choose one of the two, I would rather choose people."
His answer without any hesitation made Hu Qianshan and Wei Jun change their expressions at the same time, and there was silence in the secret room.
After a long while, Hu Qianshan finally sighed and said, "The emperor will be very disappointed if you do this. My ten years of hard work in teaching you day and night has been in vain. Even Commander Wei's ten years of hard work has been in vain."
As he spoke, he pointed at Wei Jun who was standing beside him with his hands hanging down.
Wei Jun bowed and said, "Sir, I'm fine. No matter what decision the Second Young Master makes in the future, I will fully support him."
"Why?" Hu Qianshan was stunned, not understanding why Commander Wei, who was always strict and conscientious, suddenly said such irresponsible words.
Zhao Jingyu was also a little surprised.
Wei Jun said seriously: "People like the Second Young Master should live the life he wants to live. No matter which kind of life it is, I support him."
"..." Hu Qianshan was very disappointed, "I think you were led astray by the Second Young Master!"
"Good brother." Zhao Jingyu held Wei Jun's shoulders with emotion and said with a smile, "Don't think too much. Maybe I can have the best of both worlds!"
Hu Qianshan shook his head and sighed.
Zhao Jingyu put away his smile and said seriously, "No matter what, I warn you, you must not let Xiu'er know about the divination. If she thinks that I approached her deliberately just for this unreliable divination, I won't be able to explain myself."
"..." Hu Qianshan and Wei Jun looked at each other. Nothing happened yet, but he started to be henpecked. Would the husband lose control in the future
"But speaking of which, sir, do you think there are people in the world whose souls are reborn?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
Hu Qianshan pondered for a moment and said, "I can't say for sure about this matter. Maybe the old monk can help you solve the problem."
"Old monk? He just talks nonsense." Zhao Jingyu said disdainfully, "I went there today, but unfortunately I came back without seeing him. I don't know who was so bold as to assassinate the general's wife. Fortunately, I arrived at the right time, otherwise Xiu'er would have been stabbed to death by a sword."
Then he recounted the scene to Hu Qianshan with lingering fear.
After hearing this, Hu Qianshan couldn't help but wonder, "Since he is a master and he was going after the general's wife, why didn't he stab her directly, but instead stabbed Xiu'er instead of the main purpose?"
Zhao Jingyu's breath hitched, as if a bolt of lightning had split the chaotic thoughts in his mind. Realizing that the target of that sword was most likely Xiu'er, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
"Wei Jun, come quickly, follow me to Yilan Courtyard!" he said in a trembling voice and rushed out first.
(End of this chapter)