CH 82.2
On the way to Lu Shi Qing’s study, Yuan Ci Xian felt strange because she saw that all the servants had been driven away. She was about to knock on the door and tell him about inviting a doctor when she heard a burst of laughter from inside.
She paused for a moment. This kind of hearty laughter was definitely not something Lu Shi Qing would do.
Although she had forgiving him for his year-long deception, but because of his superb acting skills before, she still didn’t particularly trust him, fearing that he might have a third identity. When she heard this laughter that obviously didn’t fit his behavior, her first reaction was not thinking that there were other people in his room, but whether he still played such a character.
She was about to eavesdrop, but heard a vague “who” from inside. It’s just that the voice was not high, not like questioning her outside, but who was inside.
It’s really good hearing.
She breathed a sigh of relief now, thinking that Lu Shi Qing was talking to someone, not role-playing. Sure enough, the next moment she heard his voice, telling her to go in.
Because there was no one around, she opened the door and went in by herself. When she walked around a screen, she looked up and saw Zheng Zhuo sitting inside.
She was not surprised when she saw this, she heard the word “who” just now, and then looked at the servants who were driven away all around, she knew that the person who came was likely to be him. She thought that perhaps this study was also connected to the secret passage to Xu Mansion like the one last night, therefore, no one in the house knew of his visit. And the reason why she was able to get close was because Lu Shi Qing told the servants guarding the gate to let her go in.
It seemed that he was tactful, knowing that she lacked trust in him now, and knew how to act honestly.
Seeing this, Yuan Ci Xian gave Zheng Zhuo a simple salute.
Zheng Zhuo nodded slightly at her, and called her: “County Princess.”
Lu Shi Qing coughed uncomfortably.
Zheng Zhuo glanced at him helplessly, changed his words: “Lady Lu.”
Yuan Ci Xian commented angrily: “I think ‘County Princess’ sounds better. Your Highness should just call me like before, saving you the trouble of memorizing new name.”
Lu Shi Qing’s face darkened. He had just praised her in his heart earlier, could she show him some face now.
She shrugged her nose at him, making a “not convinced? come fight me” expression, then found a suitable corner seat and sat down, “What are you talking about?”
The last time the three of them met like this was during the Flower Festival in the stone pavilion on the mountain. After Yuan Ci Xian asked this sentence, she sighed with emotions and remembered the various eye gestures between Zheng Zhuo and “Xu Shan” that day. She sighed at herself for being played around and thought that Zheng Zhuo, this accomplice, was not good people.
Lu Shi Qing also happened to be lamenting this scene as “things have remained the same, but people have changed” in his heart, so he didn’t pay attention to what Yuan Ci Xian asked, but only saw Zheng Zhuo suddenly laugh. At first, he was holding back, only his shoulders couldn’t help shaking slightly, and then it seemed like he couldn’t hold back anymore, and burst out laughing
Yuan Ci Xian blinked slowly twice, and looked at him strangely: “Your Highness, did I say something funny?”
Zheng Zhuo thought it was funny, it was so funny. Before she came, Lu Shi Qing was asking him why he came so quickly last night, what went wrong, and what could be done to avoid it again.
As soon as he thought back to his unspeakable and puzzled expression just now, he could laugh for three days and three nights.
Lu Shi Qing already understood what he was laughing at, his face was so dark that ink could be ground from it, he gritted his teeth and said, “Zheng Zhuo, stop it.”
He called his name directly, which confirmed Yuan Ci Xian’s suspicion: The relationship between these two people was indeed very close, Zheng Zhuo did not regard him as a subordinate, and he didn’t consider himself as humble as a subordinate.
Thinking of this, Yuan Ci Xian frowned slightly, then suddenly Zheng Zhuo coughed and asked, “Then you don’t want to know the answers to the questions just now?”
“I don’t need it.” Lu Shi Qing replied through gritted teeth, “Don’t bother you old man.”
He then explained to the confused Yuan Ci Xian: “Sixth Highness told me a joke just now.”
Zheng Zhuo immediately continued: “Yes, Zou Ji feels that he’s not as beautiful as Xu Gong in the north of the city.”
Lu Shi Qing: “…”
Yuan Ci Xian snorted, remembering the Sanskrit text that Lu Shi Qing taught her to write, and now she understood why he went crazy at that time.
Lu Shi Qing thought it would be a disaster for Zheng Zhuo to keep staying here, so he asked him with a frown, “Do you still have business to discuss? If not, take some rice dumpling back and eat slowly.”
The Dragon Boat Festival was coming soon.
Zheng Zhuo waved his hand to indicate that there were a lot of rice dumpling in his house, there was no need to take his, and then said: “Of course I have some serious business, otherwise I wouldn’t be so blind and disturb you on the day after your wedding.” After he finished speaking, he glanced at Yuan Ci Xian on the side.
Lu Shi Qing understood the meaning of this look, thinking that he was concerned about her presence, so he hinted whether he want to avoid her or not.
He quickly said: “Just say it.” Indicating that there was no need to hide anything from her in the future.
Yuan Ci Xian was satisfied in her heart, but on the surface she pretended to be indifferent: “I won’t listen to you talking about business matters.” After saying that, she pretended to leave.
How could Lu Shi Qing not know her loosen the rein to grasp better trick, if he let her go now, she might suspect that he really had a secret. He frowned, raised his chin, and silently told her to sit back.
Yuan Ci Xian lowered her head and smiled quietly, and after returning to her seat, she listened to Zheng Zhuo explained: “It’s like this, my hidden piece at the Ministry of Justice received a news, it says that Third brother may attack Minister Cai again.”
She was stunned, but soon realized what she had suspected before was correct, Cai He was the fake bait thrown to replace the real “Xu Shan”.
Zheng Zhuo continued: “Do you still remember the private salt case on the Fourth month? At that time, Minister of Household Department was involved in it, but was finally acquitted by Minister Cai. Now this case has been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, and some evidences have been collected to prove that he accepted bribes to shield the criminal. Once such charges are confirmed, dismissal and investigation are inevitable, and I guess Third brother will not stop here, I’m afraid there are still some crooked doorways after.”
Lu Shi Qing made a faint “hmm”, as if to indicate that he understood.
“In your opinion, should we save him or not? Last time on the Third month, Third brother also took action, and we barely averted the disaster. But this time the implication of the case is really big, and I’m afraid that you will be easily exposed if you make another move.”
Yuan Ci Xian was slightly surprised to hear this.
She originally thought that even if they pushed Cai He out, they should have thought of a proper way out, but she didn’t expect they actually willing to sacrifice an important third-rank official, an innocent person.
She opened her mouth, and was about to interject to say how could he not be saved, when Lu Shi Qing replied very simply: “Save.”
He continued: “There is no reason to sacrifice Cai He. I said that I will protect him. If I didn’t save the second time, the first one would be meaningless. I know you’re worried that this can’t go on forever, that it’s easy to lose focus and undermine our defenses. So this time, I will come up with a permanent solution.”
When Lu Shi Qing said this, his attitude was tough and straightforward. Seeing his serious expression, Yuan Ci Xian couldn’t help but catch her breath.
When she first learned the truth last night, she was still thinking that if Lu Shi Qing was Xu Shan, she would rather this lie never be exposed, lest she would be sad when recalling all the things he lied to her, but now, she seemed to have a different idea.
She suddenly thought, Lu Shi Qing was Xu Shan, the Xu Shan whom she admired and respected, the Xu Shan who had a benevolent heart and never despised others. Then this was good, really good.
She looked at him from a distance, watching the sunlight projected from the window shining on his tall nose bridge, making his pair of phoenix eyes radiant and shining.
Those eyes were not only filled with her, but also filled with those she and he cared about.
Thinking like this, the corners of her lips slowly curved, finally forming a crescent shape.
After the two of them finished talking, Zheng Zhuo said goodbye and left. Seeing that she had been looking at him like a fool, Lu Shi Qing couldn’t help but wondered: “I wanted to ask just now, why are you giggling about?”
Yuan Ci Xian withdrew her smile and shook her head, then said slyly: “Nothing.” She then seemed to remember something, “Lu Shi Qing, let me ask you a question, and you have to answer it seriously.”
Lu Shi Qing let out a confuse “Oh”, and listened to her: “If one day, His Highness and Yuan family have a political conflict, or even a life-and-death confrontation… If he wants to abandon the Yuan family like he abandoned Minister Cai, will you protect my family?”
She paused for a moment. This kind of hearty laughter was definitely not something Lu Shi Qing would do.
Although she had forgiving him for his year-long deception, but because of his superb acting skills before, she still didn’t particularly trust him, fearing that he might have a third identity. When she heard this laughter that obviously didn’t fit his behavior, her first reaction was not thinking that there were other people in his room, but whether he still played such a character.
She was about to eavesdrop, but heard a vague “who” from inside. It’s just that the voice was not high, not like questioning her outside, but who was inside.
It’s really good hearing.
She breathed a sigh of relief now, thinking that Lu Shi Qing was talking to someone, not role-playing. Sure enough, the next moment she heard his voice, telling her to go in.
Because there was no one around, she opened the door and went in by herself. When she walked around a screen, she looked up and saw Zheng Zhuo sitting inside.
She was not surprised when she saw this, she heard the word “who” just now, and then looked at the servants who were driven away all around, she knew that the person who came was likely to be him. She thought that perhaps this study was also connected to the secret passage to Xu Mansion like the one last night, therefore, no one in the house knew of his visit. And the reason why she was able to get close was because Lu Shi Qing told the servants guarding the gate to let her go in.
It seemed that he was tactful, knowing that she lacked trust in him now, and knew how to act honestly.
Seeing this, Yuan Ci Xian gave Zheng Zhuo a simple salute.
Zheng Zhuo nodded slightly at her, and called her: “County Princess.”
Lu Shi Qing coughed uncomfortably.
Zheng Zhuo glanced at him helplessly, changed his words: “Lady Lu.”
Yuan Ci Xian commented angrily: “I think ‘County Princess’ sounds better. Your Highness should just call me like before, saving you the trouble of memorizing new name.”
Lu Shi Qing’s face darkened. He had just praised her in his heart earlier, could she show him some face now.
She shrugged her nose at him, making a “not convinced? come fight me” expression, then found a suitable corner seat and sat down, “What are you talking about?”
The last time the three of them met like this was during the Flower Festival in the stone pavilion on the mountain. After Yuan Ci Xian asked this sentence, she sighed with emotions and remembered the various eye gestures between Zheng Zhuo and “Xu Shan” that day. She sighed at herself for being played around and thought that Zheng Zhuo, this accomplice, was not good people.
Lu Shi Qing also happened to be lamenting this scene as “things have remained the same, but people have changed” in his heart, so he didn’t pay attention to what Yuan Ci Xian asked, but only saw Zheng Zhuo suddenly laugh. At first, he was holding back, only his shoulders couldn’t help shaking slightly, and then it seemed like he couldn’t hold back anymore, and burst out laughing
Yuan Ci Xian blinked slowly twice, and looked at him strangely: “Your Highness, did I say something funny?”
Zheng Zhuo thought it was funny, it was so funny. Before she came, Lu Shi Qing was asking him why he came so quickly last night, what went wrong, and what could be done to avoid it again.
As soon as he thought back to his unspeakable and puzzled expression just now, he could laugh for three days and three nights.
Lu Shi Qing already understood what he was laughing at, his face was so dark that ink could be ground from it, he gritted his teeth and said, “Zheng Zhuo, stop it.”
He called his name directly, which confirmed Yuan Ci Xian’s suspicion: The relationship between these two people was indeed very close, Zheng Zhuo did not regard him as a subordinate, and he didn’t consider himself as humble as a subordinate.
Thinking of this, Yuan Ci Xian frowned slightly, then suddenly Zheng Zhuo coughed and asked, “Then you don’t want to know the answers to the questions just now?”
“I don’t need it.” Lu Shi Qing replied through gritted teeth, “Don’t bother you old man.”
He then explained to the confused Yuan Ci Xian: “Sixth Highness told me a joke just now.”
Zheng Zhuo immediately continued: “Yes, Zou Ji feels that he’s not as beautiful as Xu Gong in the north of the city.”
Lu Shi Qing: “…”
Yuan Ci Xian snorted, remembering the Sanskrit text that Lu Shi Qing taught her to write, and now she understood why he went crazy at that time.
Lu Shi Qing thought it would be a disaster for Zheng Zhuo to keep staying here, so he asked him with a frown, “Do you still have business to discuss? If not, take some rice dumpling back and eat slowly.”
The Dragon Boat Festival was coming soon.
Zheng Zhuo waved his hand to indicate that there were a lot of rice dumpling in his house, there was no need to take his, and then said: “Of course I have some serious business, otherwise I wouldn’t be so blind and disturb you on the day after your wedding.” After he finished speaking, he glanced at Yuan Ci Xian on the side.
Lu Shi Qing understood the meaning of this look, thinking that he was concerned about her presence, so he hinted whether he want to avoid her or not.
He quickly said: “Just say it.” Indicating that there was no need to hide anything from her in the future.
Yuan Ci Xian was satisfied in her heart, but on the surface she pretended to be indifferent: “I won’t listen to you talking about business matters.” After saying that, she pretended to leave.
How could Lu Shi Qing not know her loosen the rein to grasp better trick, if he let her go now, she might suspect that he really had a secret. He frowned, raised his chin, and silently told her to sit back.
Yuan Ci Xian lowered her head and smiled quietly, and after returning to her seat, she listened to Zheng Zhuo explained: “It’s like this, my hidden piece at the Ministry of Justice received a news, it says that Third brother may attack Minister Cai again.”
She was stunned, but soon realized what she had suspected before was correct, Cai He was the fake bait thrown to replace the real “Xu Shan”.
Zheng Zhuo continued: “Do you still remember the private salt case on the Fourth month? At that time, Minister of Household Department was involved in it, but was finally acquitted by Minister Cai. Now this case has been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, and some evidences have been collected to prove that he accepted bribes to shield the criminal. Once such charges are confirmed, dismissal and investigation are inevitable, and I guess Third brother will not stop here, I’m afraid there are still some crooked doorways after.”
Lu Shi Qing made a faint “hmm”, as if to indicate that he understood.
“In your opinion, should we save him or not? Last time on the Third month, Third brother also took action, and we barely averted the disaster. But this time the implication of the case is really big, and I’m afraid that you will be easily exposed if you make another move.”
Yuan Ci Xian was slightly surprised to hear this.
She originally thought that even if they pushed Cai He out, they should have thought of a proper way out, but she didn’t expect they actually willing to sacrifice an important third-rank official, an innocent person.
She opened her mouth, and was about to interject to say how could he not be saved, when Lu Shi Qing replied very simply: “Save.”
He continued: “There is no reason to sacrifice Cai He. I said that I will protect him. If I didn’t save the second time, the first one would be meaningless. I know you’re worried that this can’t go on forever, that it’s easy to lose focus and undermine our defenses. So this time, I will come up with a permanent solution.”
When Lu Shi Qing said this, his attitude was tough and straightforward. Seeing his serious expression, Yuan Ci Xian couldn’t help but catch her breath.
When she first learned the truth last night, she was still thinking that if Lu Shi Qing was Xu Shan, she would rather this lie never be exposed, lest she would be sad when recalling all the things he lied to her, but now, she seemed to have a different idea.
She suddenly thought, Lu Shi Qing was Xu Shan, the Xu Shan whom she admired and respected, the Xu Shan who had a benevolent heart and never despised others. Then this was good, really good.
She looked at him from a distance, watching the sunlight projected from the window shining on his tall nose bridge, making his pair of phoenix eyes radiant and shining.
Those eyes were not only filled with her, but also filled with those she and he cared about.
Thinking like this, the corners of her lips slowly curved, finally forming a crescent shape.
After the two of them finished talking, Zheng Zhuo said goodbye and left. Seeing that she had been looking at him like a fool, Lu Shi Qing couldn’t help but wondered: “I wanted to ask just now, why are you giggling about?”
Yuan Ci Xian withdrew her smile and shook her head, then said slyly: “Nothing.” She then seemed to remember something, “Lu Shi Qing, let me ask you a question, and you have to answer it seriously.”
Lu Shi Qing let out a confuse “Oh”, and listened to her: “If one day, His Highness and Yuan family have a political conflict, or even a life-and-death confrontation… If he wants to abandon the Yuan family like he abandoned Minister Cai, will you protect my family?”
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