by Ning er
As Yun Qian Meng was unexpectedly speaking to his brother, Yun Yi Jie interrupted, "Cousin nowadays looks even more beautiful.”
Yun Qian Meng only then looked towards to Yin Yi Jie. He had been in the capital for around half a year already, but still had the same greasy-haired and powdered face he did in Su City, even those hostile eyes that harbored malicious intentions. Yun Qian Meng, with cold glint in her eyes immediately smiled and said, "Cousin's praise is too much. Meng'er actually thinks that meimei is even more stunning lately. Over time, she will definitely become a a lody of note in the capital.”
The old madam loved to hear this kind of flattery. Watching her two grandsons who were going to participate in this year's autumn exam, she held onto Yun Qian Meng's hand and refused to let go. She then said with some concern, "Whether Yi Yi can become a notable lady or not depends on her two brothers. If they pass the autumn exam this year, then we will not have to worry about Yi Yi's marriage in the future. Meng'er is aware that your uncle does not have any achievements and your dad is usually busy with official business, leaving us orphans and a widow behind to fruitlessly grasp at social connections.”
Hearing the old madam's words, Yun Qian Meng knew what she would be bringing up next.
Since they hit a snag with Yun Xuan Zhi, they would change their target to her.
The purpose right now was to move the attention from Yun Yi Yi who was quick to cause trouble, to the two lovable grandchildren. Showing Yun Qian Meng Yun Yi Heng's talents, so would pull some strings for them.
Yun Qian Meng was calm and collected with a slightly smile on her face, but the look in her eyes was becoming increasingly estranged as she only indifferently said, "Imperial Examinations are based on one's own abilities. Zumu should not to think of finding other ways of to pass it. Moreover, Meng'er sees that cousin's bearing is out of ordinary, really could even become well-know. Why does zumu worry so much? If people were to discover that zumu bribed the commanding officer who marks the exam papers, it would really ruin cousin's life.”
As the old madam listened to Yun Qian Meng's analysis, her complexion gradually turned indifferent. The hand that was holding Yun Qian Meng's hand slowly loosened. Yun Qian Meng adopted a posture that seemed to say that everything went in one ear only the exit out of the other, as she seemed to have only heard the beginning and the end.
When Yun Yi Heng heard Yun Qian Meng speak ill of him, his eyes were suddenly filled with rage. His hands tightly grasped onto the armrests as he restrained himself from getting angry so as to avoid being mocked by Yun Qian Meng.
As for Yun Yi Jie, he actually had an indifferent look, but hearing Yun Qian Meng's jabs actually made his heart twitch. Contrary to what one might expect, he actually wanted to get more intimate with his beautiful cousin.
Yun Qian Meng swept her gaze over the expressions of the people in the room, yet she refused to show that she was in a bad mood. Standing up to face them, three person to wish them happiness and luck she then said in a quiet voice, "Granddaughter would like to be excused.”
As Yun Qian Meng repeatedly rejected their requests time and time again, the old madam's heart was already dissatisfied and did not want to see her indifferent face. Somewhat agitated, she waved her hand for Yun Qian Meng to leave.
Yun Qian Meng had just taken a step out of Bai Shun Tang, when Yun Yi Jie hurriedly stood up, faced the old madam and also asked to be excused. He then worriedly chased after Yun Qian Meng's beautiful figure.
"Meng'er!” madly rushing to catch up, he finally saw the green silhouette of Yun Qian Meng, and Yun Yi Jie had immediately called aloud. He stopped running and walked slowly toward Yun Qian Meng.
"Xiaojie." Mu Chun had long since discovered that Yun Yi Jie's intention was not proper. Now that Yuan Dong was not by xiaojie's side, Mu Chun immediately stood in front to block Yun Qian Meng from his view as her eyes were alert in guarding against him.
"Meng'er, your yatou is so interesting." Yun Yi Jie once was still being foolish. Seeing Mu Chun's hostility, he still spoke to Yun Qian Meng while frivolously reaching out his right hand intending to touch Mu Chun's face. Mu Chun was frightened and grew pale, but faithfully stood her ground to protect Yun Qian Meng, refusing to make way.
But a cold hand pulled Mu Chun's arm, gently pulling her to the side. Immediately, the two of them had moved behind Yun Yi Jie. Yun Qian Meng suddenly kicked out one foot, and Yun Yi Jie suddenly fell forward along with his momentum and he fell flat on his face. Right just then, the image of the elegant gongzi suddenly vanished.
"Cousin, why were you not careful? Tripping while only walking? If can't walk steadily, it's better for you to go back and properly learn how to appear in from of people." Yun Qian Meng stood still, cold eyes gazing up at Yun Yi Jie as he was standing up.
This Yun Yi Jie really had a lot of courage to even dare to touch her yatou. He really thought she and Mu Chun were just two weak women that he could do whatever pleased and be disrespectful to.
Yun Yi Jie still had no reaction. But seeing Yun Qian Meng's hold on Mu Chun's arm, he immediately understood that it was Yun Qian Meng who just kicked him.
Even after being kicked by someone, there was still no anger in his face, and actually looked unconquerable. Patting the dust off his body, step by step he approaching Yun Qian Meng and said, "I did not think cousin had such a provocative side. You really make me want you even more.”
Before he was even finished talking, Yun Yi Jie stretched out his arms intending to hug Yun Qian Meng...
Mu Chun was greatly alarmed yet Yun Qian Meng was very calm and composed. She walked to where the flowers were in reach of the corridor, snapping a soft piece of branch. A white hand grabbed Yun Yi Jie's shoulder to turned him around. Immediately, her hands pulled at Yun Yi Jie's arms and quickly put his wrists together to tie his wrists tightly together with the soft branch, restraining him...
Yun Yi Jie did not anticipate that Yun Qian Meng would actually do something like that. He struggled to untie the branch but Yun Qian Meng had actually used the boatman's hitch to tie him. Though it looked simple, it was very difficult to undo and despite Yun Yi Jie's brow beading with sweat, those knotted branch did not even show any indication of loosening.
"Yun Qian Meng, let me go." How could Yun Yi Jie still playing tricks on a beautiful woman's mind at this moment? If brother saw his tied up appearance, he was certainly screwed. In his anxiety, he continuously called out Yun Qian Meng using her full name.
"What is cousin worried about? On such a hot day, Meng'er will take cousin somewhere nice to help relieve the summer heat." Yun Qian Meng pulled on the part of the branch that was hanging down a bit, forcing Yun Yi Jie to move forward and walk.
With his hands tied behind his back, Yun Yi Jie could only walk. Because Yun Qian Meng walked very fast, he nearly tripped several times and looked as miserable as his situation entailed. He had not been paying attention to where Yun Qian Meng was taking him, but because it was too humiliating, he did not to dare to shout.
Due to the hot weather, most of the nucai took shelter in the house where there was cool air, sono one noticed Yun Yi Jie's embarrassment.
"Cousin, you should properly relieve the summer heat." Yun Qian Meng suddenly stopped, without waiting Yun Yi Jie's reaction, she immediately extended her arms and shoved Yun Yi Jie's body into the lotus pond...
Splash!
As a huge wave rose, Yun Yi Jie became wet from head to toe. When he opened his mouth to curse Yun Qian Meng, he consumed several mouthfuls of the pond water, choking and looking very red.
Yun Qian Meng did not feel like offering any words to this kind of lowlife, so coldly glanced at Yun Yi Jie, and soon left the lotus pond together with Mu Chun.
Going to the old madam's place had wasted a lot of time. Yun Qian Meng had the coachman speed up, and they quickly arrived at Tian Fu Lou. She barely stepped into the entrance when she saw Rong Yun He run down from the second floor.
Chapter 94: part 1 | Chu Wang Fe
i
“You're here!” Rong Yun He seemed really happy to see Yun Qian Meng, but under the cover of happiness in his eyes hid deep worry.
Yun Qian Meng raised her head and saw Rong Yun He standing two or three steps above the ground in a dark silver silk coat and a Hetian jade pendant hung on his waist. Along with his dazzling white hair, he immediately caught the attention of all customers in the lobby. Fortunately, Yun Qian Meng had donned a gauze hat before going down her carriage a while ago. Although it was quite hot and suffocating, it effectively blocked the curious gazes of the people, lessening a lot of trouble for her.
Looking through the gray gauze, Rong Yun He saw Yun Qian Meng's light smile and suddenly felt sorry for her. While the others were still enjoying their lives at this age, she, on the other hand, already bore too much responsibilities. That light smile on her face was just her mask. Her real self also had different emotions, but her emotions were all hidden deeply under her smile. But for the people who really mattered to her, she would try her best to protect them. Just like on the night of Qi Qiao Festival when she stood out to protect the da xiaojie of Fu Guo Gong Fu. He's afraid that not even men had this kind of spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice.
Perceiving the investigative looks from the people around, Yun Qian Meng only lightly nodded toward Rong Yun He, then went up the third floor along with Mu Chun.
Rong Yun He naturally knew that the looks from the people were mostly for the purpose of starting rumors; thus, he also acted ordinarily and went past Yun Qian Meng. Between the two of them, one went up the stairs, one went down, and thus they did not encounter each other again.
“Xiaojie!” walking up to the third floor, they saw Jiao Da steadily standing beside the door of the room. His black and bright eyes showed a sense of fortitude and carefulness that only soldiers possessed, which made Yun Qian Meng think that she did not make the wrong choice.
“Thank you for your hard work!” seeing Jiao Da standing absolutely still, Yun Qian Meng was very touched, but before Ying Qiu fully recovered, they still needed to trouble him.
Jiao Da unexpectedly blushed. He tightened his lips, looked straight to the front, and stood more upright, making him look more like he was on sentry duty, causing Mu Chun to secretly laugh at him. Yun Qian Meng turned back and glanced at Mu Chun, who immediately stopped laughing and walked into the room after Yun Qian Meng with a serious face.
“Xiaojie!” now was exactly the time for Ying Qiu to drink her medicine. Seeing the arrival of Yun Qian Meng, Ying Qiu struggled to get up, but was quickly pushed back down to rest by Yun Qian Meng. Then Yun Qian Meng took off her hat and gave it to Mu Chun while she examined Ying Qiu's state.
She saw that although Ying Qiu's face was still pale, compared to her greyish pale face on the day she was injured, she already looked a lot better. She also looked quite energetic after taking the medicine, which made Yun Qian Meng feel somewhat relieved.
“I am to blame for everything. I didn't even get a few guards to protect you and mama, which caused you to be so severely injured.” Yun Qian Meng helped Ying Qiu lie down on the bed again and carefully tucked in the corner of the quilt for her as she blamed herself.
Ying Qiu was always an honest and serious-minded person; moreover, for her, this incident was had just been an accident. Seeing Yun Qian Meng's reaction now, Ying Qiu felt that her heart suddenly became warm. She did not mind her wound which had finally healed. She wanted to stand up and began to explain, “Xiaojie, this was just an accident.”
But Yun Qian Meng helped her lie down again. The softness in Yun Qian Meng's eyes suddenly disappeared, and coldness appeared in them. She coldly smiled and said, “Accident? Even if they were really thieves who plundered the house, they won't go as far as threatening someone's life. Moreover, they even brought weapons with them. This already proves that what they wanted was life rather than money. I originally thought that because mama's identity was special and Su Qing had too much influence in xiangfu, it would be safer to temporarily keep you outside. I didn't consider that it actually gave others a chance to harm you.”
“Does xiaojie know who did it?” Xia mama, who was sitting on the summer cot, had immediately asked anxiously.
All these days, Ying Qiu had taken care of her as a daughter would. For Xia mama, she had already considered this careful and gentle child as her own daughter. Now that Ying Qiu was injured because of her, Xia mama was naturally agitated. If it was not because she was physically incapable, she might already be searching for the assailant herself.
“Mama, there is no need to worry.” Hearing Xia mama speak out of anger, Yun Qian Meng felt really happy. But the most important thing now was to ask Ying Qiu about the make of the boots she had seen before had become unconscious to be able to verify her guess.
“Ying Qiu, what did you see at that time? Tell me carefully and don't miss a single detail.” Yun Qian Meng fixated on her. Ying Qiu felt somewhat nervous, but immediately thought of the chaos that night.
“At that time, it was already late. Nubi cleared away the herbs and planned to go back and rest. It was really late and seemed very quiet outside, as if even a piece of leaf falling to the ground can be heard. Nubi originally wanted to lock the door of the Medicine Room, but suddenly heard sounds of light footsteps from the yard. Peeking through the window, nubi saw men in black jumping from yard to yard. Each of them had gleaming blades in their hands. Nubi was so scared at that time, and thus ran directly into Xia mama's room and hid her under the bed without even locking the door. Maybe nubi's footsteps caught the thieves' attention; thus, they followed it into the room and stabbed a sword into nubi's stomach without saying anything. Incidentally, the weather that day was rather hot and Xia mama slept with the windows open. With the help of moonlight, nubi saw that one of the thieves wore a pair of black cloth boots. Yes, I remember it was a pair of black cloth boots. Right after that, nubi fainted; thus, nubi is not clear about what happened afterwards.” Ying Qiu tried her best to remember, specially when she mentioned the boots. She had thought for quite a while before spoke with certainty.
Yun Qian Meng's face grew colder. The cold rays from her eyes could freeze one to death. After a long while, she murmured, “I still involved you in this fight.”
Now, there was more than one person in Western Chu who wanted Qu Liang Ao's life. Those people with great powers never lacked people who were willing to sacrifice for them. Although by the style of the shoes, it seemed like a portion of the suspicious people could be eliminated, but it was still possible that the shoes were just a trap to lead them away from the truth.
Yun Qian Meng went towards Xia mama. Seeing that she was also thinking, Yun Qian Meng softly asked, “Is mama willing to go back to xiangfu with Meng'er?”
Although the xiangfu had many divisions, nevertheless, if someone was going to take action, they would still need to consider Yun Xuan Zhi's position as the Prime Minister.
But Yun Qian Meng would also be worried to let Xia ama and Ying Qiu stay outside the fu. Jiao Da still was a person from Chu wangfu. Chu wang was already being rather accommodating by lending him to her this time. How could she trouble others even more?
Seeing Yun Qian Meng's firm expression, Xia mama knew that little xiaojie had already made her decision. Knowing that it might be more dangerous for Ying Qiu and her to continue staying outside, she quickly nodded.
Ying Qiu already looked somewhat tired, so Yun Qian Meng instructed everyone to look after her carefully, then walked out of the room with Mu Chun.
“Did you hear all of the conversation a while ago?” Yun Qian Meng asked Jiao Da after Mu Chun had closed the door.
She knew that with Jiao Da's skill, it was not hard for him to hear the ongoing conversation in the room.
Jiao Da looked at Yun Qian Meng and asked, “Xiaojie wants beizhi to search for the owner of those boots?”
Yun Qian Meng calmly smiled, then nodded, but said with some uncertainty, “Yes! But this direction could also be w
rong. I can only trouble you for this.”
Hearing her say so, Jiao Da also nodded, then answered, “Beizhi understands.”
Afterwards, Yun Qian Meng went down the stairs and exited Tian Fu Lou, only to see Rong Yun He waiting beside xiangfu's carriage.
Fortunately, the carriage was parked near the entrance of the alley and there were not many people passing through there, preventing Rong Yun He's white hair from catching as much attention as in Tian Fu Lou.
“Why are you waiting here?” Yun Qian Meng lightly laughed. She felt that Rong Yun He was really rather careful and sensitive. Knowing that his white hair easily caught people's attention, he waited here instead, which made Yun Qian Meng feel ashamed, since she did not know how long he had waited for her.
Seeing Yun Qian Meng's smile, Rong Yun He also lightly smiled. The stiff and expressionless face of this youngster suddenly brightened as if struck by a ray of sunlight, causing Yun Qian Meng to also become absent-minded for a moment.
Rong Yun He took the chance while Yun Qian Meng was absent-minded and to put a paper box in her hand, “I've always heard that the old madam of xiangfu favored the Jade Mung Bean cakes of Tian Fu Lou. Since you have come, then bring a box home.”
After saying that, he turned around and left with Si'er.
Yun Qian Meng looked suspiciously at Rong Yun He. He suddenly gave her the Mung Bean cakes, but he did not give her a chance to question him, as he quickly went up his horse and left the alley.
“Xiaojie, get in the carriage.” Mu Chun held the box of Mung Bean cakes for Yun Qian Meng and helped her get into the carriage.
But Yun Qian Meng was somewhat suspicious about Rong Yun He's actions today. She told Mu Chun to open the box. When they looked inside, they saw pieces of delicious Mung Bean cake orderly lined in the box. But they were shocked to see that there was another small wooden box in the middle of the cakes.
Yun Qian Meng took out the wooden box and slowly opened it. Her pupils dilated, “This…”
