Zhou Xian walked into the hall of the high-level residence in the ceremony hall and realized that it was not a good weather today. Tokyo was not a good place either. It was dry and cold. It was neither snowing nor raining. The sky was gray and very cold.
She took a quick look at the messenger waiting in the hall and thought he was annoying. Maybe Zhou Duan didn't have anyone useful around him. The messenger was indeed sent by Zhou Duan. Zhou Xian recognized him because he had sent letters twice before.
Bring it here. Zhou Xian suddenly looked very rude.
The messenger had no choice but to take out the letter respectfully and hand it over. After Zhou Xian received it, he said angrily: "Don't send letters for no reason.
The messenger was confused as to what the villain had done wrong.
Zhou Xian came back to his senses, said nothing, and turned away. She went back and opened the letter at random, and read it through with an upset mood. She felt that Zhou Duan's words were all nonsense, all about their departure from Tokyo, and it was a purely polite letter.
She sat gloomily beside a round table, biting her scarlet lips with her snow-white teeth, thinking: I will never take the initiative to have any contact with him, so let it be. Even if he wants to meet again, I will not agree.
At this moment, the servant who had just reported the news came in again and said: Madam, there is someone else who wants to see you, it's a woman.
Zhou Xian blurted out, "I don't see you."
The servant was startled and whispered: "Then I will reject her. What excuse should I come up with?"
Wait. Zhou Xian frowned and said, since she is a woman, bring her in and ask what's the matter.
Yes. The servant responded.
After a while, a tall, plump, beautiful woman with an indifferent expression was brought in. She was wearing a lapel gown. Judging from her expression, she seemed to be a noble lady with higher status than Zhou Xian. But Zhou Xian recognized her. She was just an attendant of Guo Shao, named Jingniang. Jingniang glanced at Zhou Xian and said with a complicated expression: Madam Li, can you please have a word with me for a moment
The woman deliberately emphasized the three words "Mrs. Li" and seemed to have a hint of contempt in her tone.
Come over here. Zhou Xian glanced at the doors and windows and said calmly.
The woman came closer and said coldly: My Ah Lang was afraid that you could not confirm that he was the one who sent the people, so he sent me specially. You have seen me. If not for this, I really don’t want to do such a thing.
Zhou Xian said coldly: What important business does he have? Just speak directly, there is no need to talk about useful or useless things.
Jingniang said: Turn left out of the ritual hall and walk south, you will see the Daxiangguo Temple. There is the largest teahouse, Tokyo Spring, on the north side of the temple. Go upstairs to see my Alang.
Jingniang's tone was very blunt: Your husband has gone to see the Minister of Rites now, and he won't be back before dark.
Zhou Xian said coldly: He heard it very clearly.
Jingniang said: What are you asking about Wang Pu inviting your husband? It was Alang who instigated you to do that. He said something about making friends with the Southern Tang Kingdom.
Zhou Xian felt insulted by Jingniang's tone, and felt ashamed and annoyed. He blurted out: If I don't go, what can he do? I am not his relative, how can we be friends? Why can he come and go at will
Jingniang asked, looking Zhou Xian up and down.
Zhou Xian said: If you say you won't go, then you won't go. You can go now. I won't keep you here.
Jingniang nodded: Then I will go back and tell them.
After she left, Zhou Xian grabbed the teacup on the table and tried to throw it in the air, but she finally put it back on the table. She was so angry that her chest heaved and her face flushed.
After a long delay, she finally realized that it was all because of Jingniang's incompetence, otherwise why would Guo Shao go through so much trouble? But Guo Shao didn't seem to have a better choice. For a private appointment like this, he must make sure that it was someone Guo Shao sent. Otherwise, Zhou Xian would not go out easily for safety. Zhou Xian couldn't confirm Guo Shao's handwriting. What kind of handwriting could the letter have? It was written with his left hand.
Zhou Xian thought that he couldn't blame Guo Shao, but only blamed women, who were the most unreliable in doing things, and she was the only person around him who had seen him.
She knew it had nothing to do with Guo Shao, but her mood was completely ruined. If it were normal, she would definitely not hesitate, but today was her last chance to say goodbye.
Zhou Xian hesitated for a long time, feeling that he couldn't feel at ease. At this moment, he was very restless and had no mood to do anything. He was just thinking about what happened just now.
She finally called out to the person coming, stood up, frowned and said, "Go and ask someone to prepare the carriage. I'm going to my cousin's house to say goodbye to her."
The servant girl answered and went out. Zhou Xian hurried into the house and found a relatively new set of clothes to put on. After looking at herself in the bronze mirror, she quickly changed into another set. Then she fixed her hair in front of the mirror and applied some light makeup, especially her lips, which were a little dry because she had not yet adapted to the winter climate in Tokyo. She needed to apply some rouge to look better.
After some trouble, Zhou Xian realized that he had just rejected Jing Niang, and Guo Shao was still waiting in the teahouse for this powerful general. He probably didn't have enough time to do useless things.
Zhou Xian suddenly felt depressed, feeling that nothing went well today and he couldn't do anything well.
At this moment, the servant said: Madam, the carriage and horses are ready.
Hmm. Zhou Xian stood up with a straight face. He just kept doing this without any purpose. Maybe he could go to say goodbye to Chen Jiali. He had nothing to do anyway. Although she and Chen Jiali were scheming against each other, the conflict had not reached the point where they would tear each other apart and never talk to each other again. Isn't this the case for most of the relationships between the noble families in the palace
The streets of Tokyo were still very peaceful. Although this was a war-torn country, it was still the capital. Every street had at least one official shop, and there were runners on duty day and night to maintain law and order. There were also imperial guards stationed on important roads.
Zhou Xian took a carriage all the way to Chen Jiali's mansion in the west of the city.
Just as she said goodbye to Chen Jiali, Chen Jiali covered her mouth and laughed softly: I think you want to ask for help, go see General Guo
Zhou Xian said: We are leaving for Jinling tomorrow. He sent someone to say goodbye, but I refused. Now I am afraid that everyone has left the place where he arranged to meet.
Chen Jiali said, "If my cousin regrets rejecting him, it's not a big deal. Let's go see if he's here first. If he's not here, I'll send someone to ask him to go again. It's no big deal."
Zhou Xian remained silent.
Chen Jiali smiled at her, turned around and called Aunt Sun in, and said, "Settle the people my cousin brought with her, and tell them that she will have dinner at home. Send a few more people, because my cousin and I are going out for a while."
At this point, Zhou Xian said: "I just want to go and see him. If he has left, please send me back. It's not something important. I just want to thank him for helping my husband say goodbye. That's all."
Chen Jiali said seriously: "General Guo helped a lot. In comparison, the loss suffered by my cousin is nothing. We should still be a little more considerate in etiquette."