There is a saying: In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain.
Chu Xinian is good at reading people's minds. He is used to competing with his enemies in the dark, lowering his eyebrows and smiling slightly to calculate people invisibly. Face-to-face confrontation is a style he would never choose.
But Xie Jingyuan's sudden kiss just now was like a powerful enemy, which killed him with one blow. Chu Xinian's tricks died in his stomach before he could even speak them out.
Chu Xinian didn't understand why Xie Jingyuan was like this. His mind was blank and he sat on the bed in that position without moving. He didn't react for a long time until Yunque couldn't help but come in and call him, and then he came back to his senses.
"Master," Yun Que walked into the room and suddenly knelt down in front of him, saying with a sullen face, "I made a mistake today, please punish me, Master."
Chu Xinian roughly guessed what she was referring to. He picked up the clothes at his feet a little late, then dusted off the dust on them. His rationality of leaving home finally returned, and he said, "What happened this morning? Tell me everything."
Yun Que was also frightened today. She glanced at him secretly, and then she told him what happened with a guilty look on her face: "... I didn't mean to do it. I was just worried about you, so I accidentally offended the general. I never thought that I would implicate Jiuyong..."
Chu Xinian thought she had overheard some secret, but it turned out to be this. When Yun Que heard him vaguely say that he saw Xie Jingyuan seemed to be in person, his body was barely perceptible and he paused for a moment, then he said in a calm voice: "Don't do this again in the future. I know you used to serve my mother and were the most trusted, but the general's mansion and Quyanghou's mansion are not like that. The rules are very strict and you may risk your life at any time."
This time, Xie Jingyuan didn't do it directly for Chu Xinian's sake. If someone else came, Yun Que's life would be in jeopardy.
Yun Que kowtowed and said, "I know I was wrong. Please punish me, sir."
Chu Xinian saw that she was sincerely repentant, so he did not punish her severely: "Since this is the case, I will fine you three months' salary. In the future, you must do your job carefully and do not do anything extra."
Yun Que's eyes were red: "Sir, that Jiuyong..."
Chu Xinian knew what she was thinking: "He has followed Xie Jingyuan for many years, so his life is naturally not in danger. He was punished for doing something wrong, so you don't have to worry about it."
Yun Que always felt that whatever the young master said was right and never wrong, so she could only suppress her worries and help Chu Xinian get dressed. When she found a piece of jade around his neck that she had never seen before, she didn't dare to ask more questions and bent down to tie his belt for him.
Chu Xinian was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Where is the general?"
Yun Que shook her head when she heard this: "I don't know. I haven't seen him since I left the house this morning. Is there anything the young master wants to talk to the general about?"
Chu Xinian touched his face thoughtfully, but said, "Nothing."
He tidied his clothes and went straight to the room where the female thief was imprisoned. Through the window, he saw her sitting on the bed, eating chicken legs, with the table full of leftovers, looking quite happy.
When the guard at the gate saw that it was Chu Xinian, he did not stop him. He directly unlocked the door and let him in. It seemed that Xie Jingyuan had instructed him in advance.
"Where did the girl stay last night?"
Qianqian was eating a chicken leg when she suddenly heard a clear sound that sounded familiar. She looked up and saw that it was the young man who had tied her up. The chicken bone in his hand fell to the ground.
"It's... it's okay..."
Qianqian wiped her mouth with her sleeve and stood up from the bed. She was afraid that these people would poison the food yesterday, so she didn't dare to eat, but she was so hungry after staying up all morning that she ate all the food on the table.
Chu Xinian found a place to sit down. Seeing that the food on the table had already gone cold, he smiled and asked Qianqian, "Miss, are you full? Cold food hurts your stomach. Would you like me to have someone make you a hot meal?"
He spoke in a reasonable and gentle manner, which made Qianqian feel a little overwhelmed. She tried to pretend to be tough and said, "No... No need to beat around the bush. Why did you arrest me? It's impossible that you invited me to the general's mansion as a guest. If you have anything to say, just speak frankly."
Another straight ball.
Chu Xinian raised his hand slowly, motioning her to sit down: "Miss, don't be nervous. I just heard that there are a thousand flying thieves in the capital recently. They are superb at light work and come and go like the wind. There is nothing in the world that they can't steal, so I want to see them for myself."
Qianqian felt a little flattered by his flattery, but also a little embarrassed. After all, she was caught in a trap by him. But she still refused to admit defeat and said, "Of course, if I want to steal something, it's as easy as taking something out of a bag. The secret techniques of your wealthy families are nothing special."
Unexpectedly, Chu Xinian chuckled and shook his head slightly, expressing his disapproval: "To be honest, I thought so before I met the young lady. But when I saw her yesterday, she really didn't live up to my expectations. She is no better than the legendary master thief."
His words were like stepping on a thunderbolt. Qianqian didn't care that she was still imprisoned, and glared at Chu Xinian and said, "What did you say?!"
A man lives by his face, a tree lives by its skin, and he comes to the rivers and lakes to make a living. Qianqian's skills are much better than those of ordinary petty thieves, so naturally she has no shortage of money. She steals repeatedly in Beijing just to make a living, but she didn't expect to fall into Chu Xinian's hands, and she was very dissatisfied.
Chu Xi waved his folding fan and said, "The young lady's stealing skills are far from impressive. I wanted to compete with her, but now I have to give up the idea. I was not hospitality enough to trap her here yesterday. Now you can leave."
After he finished speaking, he folded his folding fan and pointed at the door.
Qianqian didn't intend to let him off easy. She felt insulted and wanted to seek justice: "If you hadn't messed with me yesterday, the painting of Chen Wang's Banquet would have fallen into my hands long ago!"
Chu Xinian lowered his eyes calmly, the corners of his lips remained unchanged: "If you are not as skilled as others, then you are not as skilled as others. Why do you have to find excuses, young lady? If it was me who stole the painting, I would definitely be able to bring the original work of Meng Xiting to the Prince of Guangping's Mansion intact."
"You? You?" Qianqian was a little girl, and she fell into his trap without realizing it. He looked at Chu Xinian's figure and smiled contemptuously: "You can't carry anything on your shoulders or hands, but you can steal things?"
Chu Xinian: "If you don't believe me, forget it. Stealing is not about martial arts, but about brains."
Qianqian felt like he was scolding her: "You mean I'm not smart?"
Chu Xinian seemed unwilling to continue arguing with her. He brushed off his sleeves, got up from his seat and prepared to leave. He deliberately said to the guard at the gate: "This thief's martial arts are mediocre. It's really meaningless to catch him. It's troublesome for you two to guard all night. Go find the steward to collect the reward."
"Mr. Chu, stop right there!"
Upon hearing this, Qianqian quickly stepped forward to stop him, and said without thinking, "You said I am Sheng Nanfu, do you dare to compete with me?!"
Chu Xinian paused, and curled his lips slightly without her seeing him, but his tone was uninterested: "Young lady, you should leave. Don't steal again in the future. Otherwise, if you are caught again, others will not be as easy to talk to as I am."
Qianqian: "I just made a mistake yesterday. Since you said my skills are mediocre, why don't you dare to compete with me? Are you afraid of me?"
Chu Xinian turned around and looked at her, and seemed to be provoked. He signaled the guards to move away and smiled: "Why should I be afraid of you? What do you want to compete with, young lady? Stealing something?"
Qianqian snorted: "I am a thief. If not stealing, what else can I compete with?"
Chu Xinian opened his folding fan and thought, "But you have robbed all the wealthy families in the capital. If you just randomly choose one to rob, you are more familiar with the terrain than me. Isn't it unfair?"
Qianqian thought about it carefully and said, "Who said I stole everything? I didn't steal anything from the palace."
Chu Xi smiled young and said, "There are many experts in the palace, and there are also many hidden dragons and crouching tigers around the emperor. It's better not to take risks easily. How about you and I randomly choose one of the princes and ministers who have never been robbed?"
Qianqian said: "Then let's go to Princess Pingshuang's mansion."
Chu Xinian shook his head: "Princess Pingshuang indulged her evil servant in hurting people, and was ordered by His Majesty to go to the temple to practice for three months. She has not returned yet. The princess's mansion is empty, and any petty thief can break in. It's really meaningless to steal."
Qianqian frowned slightly: "Then the prince's mansion."
Chu Xi coughed and said, "The prince is always stupid. What good things can there be in his house? I'm afraid they are all fake things. He didn't even know that he was cheated by a fake painting."
Qianqian couldn't help but fall into deep thought after hearing this. She didn't bother to steal from low-class families in the capital, and she had already stolen from many wealthy families. After counting them all, there really wasn't any house left to steal from: "I do know one, but do you dare to go?"
Chu Xinian smiled slightly: "Miss, please feel free to speak."
Qianqian lowered her voice and whispered five words: "The Minister of War's Mansion."
After she finished speaking, she saw Chu Xinian remained silent, so she thought he was afraid, and she put her hands on her hips and said, "I've been to Qin Daoyan's mansion before, and to be honest, the guards in his mansion are probably no less than those in your general's mansion. Those adopted sons and daughters are all masters, and ordinary people can't easily get in."
Chu Xinian seemed to be interested, and said meaningfully: "Oh, it turns out to be Lord Qin. As the Minister of War, he is favored by the emperor, and his family is naturally full of treasures. I heard that there is a mechanical box under his pillow in his bedroom, which contains all the treasures in the world. Why don't you and I make a bet to see who can steal the treasure?"
Qianqian agreed without thinking: "If you lose, you have to admit that I am the best thief in the world."
Chu Xinian readily agreed: "If you lose, you can return the stolen treasures."
Qianqian looked at him suspiciously: "That's it?"
Chu Xinian smiled, waving a paper fan, and dressed in casual clothes: "Miss, you have the skill of picking stars, you can use it anywhere else, why go astray. You must know that there are mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people."
After he finished speaking, he looked up at the sky and said, "Now it is 9:00, so the deadline is tomorrow morning. Let's see who has the better skills, you or me."
In the original work of "Qianqiu Fenghou", Qin Daoyan once had secret dealings with foreigners and hid the secret letters in a box with a mechanism under his pillow. Later, they were obtained by a talented person under the command of King Jin, who reported it to the Emperor of Yan and sentenced him to beheaded.
Although the direction of the story is now very different from the original, Chu Xinian cannot be 100% sure that the secret letter is still hidden in its original place, but it doesn't hurt to send someone to find out, it won't take much effort anyway.
Xie Jingyuan was not in the mansion today and came back in the evening. No one knew where he went. Chu Xinian was originally worried that it would be awkward for them to meet, but now he thought it was unnecessary. After taking a bath and changing clothes, he lay down on the low couch in the outer room.
Xie Jingyuan was still waiting for Chu Xinian to come over to warm the bed, but after waiting for a long time there was no movement. He couldn't help but lift the bed curtain to take a look, only to find that she was lying outside reading a book.
Xie Jingyuan called him without emotion: "Chu Xinian."
Chu Xinian really didn't have the heart to read, and his mind was empty. Hearing this, he paused in turning the pages, but didn't turn around: "General, is there something wrong?"
Xie Jingyuan: "I heard that you released the female thief?"
Chu Xinian: “Yeah.”
Xie Jingyuan: "Are you so sure that she will come back obediently?"
Chu Xinian: “Yeah.”
Xie Jingyuan: "This general is cold, come here."
Chu Xinian almost hummed again when he heard this, but when he reacted, he quickly swallowed the words he was about to say. He squeezed the book in his hand so hard that the pages almost rolled up: "… I have caught a cold recently, and I am afraid that I may pass on the disease to the general."
Xie Jingyuan was very concerned: "Cold? Have you taken medicine?"
Chu Xinian nodded.
Seeing this, Xie Jingyuan went straight to the bed, walked over, lifted the quilt, got in and squeezed on the couch with Chu Xinian: "Since you drank the 'medicine', there will be no problem."
After saying that, she squeezed into Chu Xinian's arms.
Chu Xinian didn't expect his action. He slowly lowered his eyes to look at the person in his arms, not knowing what to say: "General..."
He thought that even if he took the medicine, the cold was still contagious.
as well as,
Why did you kiss me...
Chu Xinian might have guessed the answer, but he didn't. People are always hesitant and hesitant about things they have never experienced.
Xie Jingyuan didn't know that Chu Xi was full of thoughts. He checked the jade on his neck and made sure that his precious jade was not lost before lying down to sleep.
The candle went out and the room was dark.
Chu Xinian put the book in his hand aside. He couldn't read a single word. After thinking for a moment, he said to Xie Jingyuan: "The couch is crowded. General, please don't go back to bed."
Xie Jingyuan opened his eyes in his arms after hearing this, his pupils shining brightly in the darkness: "You and me?"
Chu Xinian shook his head.
Xie Jingyuan said: "This general is cold."
As he spoke, he snuggled into Chu Xinian's arms again, his cold body pressed against his, and whispered in the dark, his voice a little unclear: "Chu Xinian, I'm cold alone..."
"… "
Chu Xinian's Adam's apple moved, but he couldn't say a word, as if something was blocking his way. He met Xie Jingyuan's gaze, and after a long while he finally uttered a word, which was:
"Well, then..."
He said a little later: "Then let's sleep..."
There seemed to be some compromise in the words.
The moon was high in the sky, the glazed tiles on the roof were gleaming with tiny gleams of light, and everything was only a black silhouette.
Jiuyong received twenty lashes of punishment, and despite his unhealed back injury, he continued to stand guard outside in his armor at night. It was not until a light pink skirt suddenly appeared in his sight that he stopped his patrolling steps.
Jiuyong stared at Yunque, his eyes still cold.
The girl in the pink shirt said nothing. Unlike before, she looked quiet and gentle. After hesitating for a moment, she leaned over and gently placed a bottle of medicine on the steps, then turned and left.
At this time, the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of War will also welcome a female thief with extraordinary light skills and high morale.