Let Me Pursue You - Chapter 46
Yuan Cixian glanced at the black-covered boat behind him, cleared her throat: “No, I’m not cold…”
Her expression was three points awkward and seven points cautious, just as Xu Ruqing expected, she began to avoid “Xu Shan”. Lu Shiqing should be happy about this, but he couldn’t bear to see her who seemed to be greatly shocked, and had the urge to comfort her.
He silently gritted his back molars and held back.
After all, once this comfort is uttered, it not only offends the teacher’s wife, but also offends himself, and it will also trap the deceased teacher into injustice.
After a long time, he explained: “Xu is a little afraid of the cold. If the county master doesn’t mind, can I borrow your carriage?”
Yuan Cixian let out a low and short “ah”, and suddenly realized: “That’s how it is, please sir.”
After she finished speaking, she turned around and walked to the intersection where the carriage stopped first, walking quickly all the way.
This embarrassment made her mistakenly think that Xu Shan was caring about her.
Seeing her hurried back, Lu Shiqing’s heart softened again. He took a few steps forward, coughed and said, “The county magistrate should add more clothes when he goes out.”
Yuan Cixian was slightly taken aback, not because he was surprised by his words, but because of his cough, which made her feel very similar to Lu Shiqing.
She was a little confused. When she was with Lu Shiqing, she thought about Xu Shan from time to time, but now that she was with Xu Shan, she thought of Lu Shiqing again.
What’s wrong with her.
Yuan Cixian quickly collected her thoughts and said, “Thank you for your concern, sir.”
The two walked a long way and got into the generous carriage one after the other. Yuan Cixian poured a cup of tea, handed it to Lu Shiqing, and said politely: “Sir, if you are afraid of the cold, drink some hot tea.”
Lu Shiqing didn’t reach out to pick it up.
He knew that after returning to Beijing this time, it would be much more difficult to conceal his identity than before, after all, Yuan Cixian was quite familiar with him.
No matter how spacious the interior of the carriage was, it was narrower than the outside. His hands were white and beautiful. The journey south must have left a very vivid impression on her. He can’t tell.
Seeing that he didn’t pick it up, Yuan Cixian put the tea pot in front of him, and withdrew her hand embarrassingly.
She suddenly remembered the hot wine she had just seen in the awning boat.
When Xu Shan came to the Yuan Mansion for a banquet, he once said that he was not good at drinking. But is it because he is not good at drinking, or is it because of a past when he was drunk that he no longer wants to drink with other women? She thinks the latter is more likely.
Seeing that she looked a little embarrassed, Lu Shiqing couldn’t help but acted too much, and remedied: “Thank you, county magistrate, Xu will drink later.”
She smiled and said nothing.
“The county lord mentioned in his message yesterday that he had something to discuss with Xu. May I ask what’s the matter?”
When it came to business, Yuan Cixian no longer shy away from it, and hurriedly said: “Oh, that’s right, when I was in Shuzhou with Lu Shilang, I met the third prince, King Ping. It’s nothing else, except that once, he invited me Playing chess together, I was thinking, does this matter have something to do with Mister?”
Of course Lu Shiqing knew about this. At the beginning when he was out and busy, Liu Yuan Cixian was alone in the mansion. Although he knew that Prince Ping would not harm her, he was not at ease, so he arranged a lot of eyeliner.
He said: “There should be.”
Yuan Cixian frowned: “He really wants to use my chess skills to spy on whether I have anything to do with you?”
Lu Shiqing nodded.
“Fortunately, I was careful.” She smiled sheepishly after she finished speaking, “But even if I don’t, it’s not a big deal, after all, I only watched one game of chess, sir.”
Lu Shiqing also thought about it this way. He has studied his teacher’s chess skills for many years, but he has not fully understood the mysteries inside, let alone Yuan Cixian. So at the beginning, when she wanted to play chess with him, he didn’t refuse. For one thing, there is still a gap between him and the teacher’s level, and for two, she has never understood the essence of the teacher’s chess skills.
He nodded: “It’s okay, but since Prince Ping has become suspicious, he will make other moves. Xu will treat it with caution. Thank you for reminding the county magistrate.”
King Ping probably thought that Yuan Cixian had no scheming and could be bullied at a young age, otherwise he would never have threatened the snake like this.
Yuan Cixian shook his head to indicate that he is not polite, and asked: “So, the one who assassinated you three years ago was King Ping?”
“That’s right. At the beginning, I made some actions to make King Ping misunderstand that I was going to work for His Highness the Second Highness, and did not expose His Highness Six. It’s just that in recent years, the situation has gradually developed in a direction that is beneficial to His Highness Sixth Highness, and King Ping became suspicious. Then he looked back and looked at the events of the year, so he guessed that Xu may not have died, and he probably served His Highness the Sixth Highness. As for the relationship between the King of Southern Dian and His Highness the Sixth Highness, he was still not sure, so he secretly tested you. “
Yuan Cixian’s heart tightened subconsciously: “Prince Ping has already guessed to such a point, aren’t we in danger?”
Lu Shiqing shook his head: “It doesn’t matter what King Ping thinks, what matters is what the sage thinks. The county magistrate can feel at ease for now.”
If he is really Xu Shan, no matter he, Zheng Zhuo, or the Yuan family are in danger now, but fortunately he is Lu Shiqing, as long as Emperor Hui Ning is under control, King Ping will not be able to make big waves for the time being.
When Yuan Cixian was reminded of his words, he suddenly realized something: “In this way, the leader of those killers in Shangzhou should probably be King Ping! He knows he can’t get rid of my Yuan family, so he wants to make Yuan jealous of me. My father’s saint came to do this. He helped Nanzhao to capture me. If this happened, my father would be constrained, so he would be forced to act according to Nanzhao’s will, or the saint would misunderstand that my Yuan family is treasonous…”
“And even if things fail, he has thought up a plan to blame others. Not only can he suppress the Second Highness again, but also successfully make the saint have doubts about the relationship between the Sixth Highness and my Yuan family. Fortunately, the master is resourceful and this plan is half-way died young.”
Lu Shiqing seemed to have smiled, acquiesced to his actions, and did not speak.
He felt that after going south, Yuan Cixian already had a little trust in “Xu Shan” and Zheng Zhuo working together, and no longer tried it as frequently as before.
Yuan Cixian was also thinking about this. Because of her dreams, she was still unable to completely let go of her guard against Zheng Zhuo and Xu Shan, but this time the former argued for the suffering of the people in the court and asked the saint to give up repairing the Huai River embankment, and the latter cleverly broke King Ping’s plan and helped The Yuan family escaped, it was really hard for her to remain unmoved, that’s why she discussed this with Xu Shan today.
But looking at Xu Shan’s strategizing, she reckoned that her reminder was superfluous.
Yuan Cixian was silent for a while, and said: “It’s good that Mr. Ping is sure about King Ping. It’s not early, and I should go back. I hope you don’t blame me for what happened today.”
Lu Shiqing seemed to be slightly taken aback: “Why did Xu blame the county magistrate?”
She smiled embarrassedly: “Mr. must have guessed that the reason why Xu Sanniang came to Chang’an is because I sent someone to take your chess records to test Mr. Xu.”
“It’s nothing.” He said lightly, “Even for a business transaction, the two parties have to negotiate the price and inspect the goods openly and honestly, let alone a political cooperation that is about life and future. It is normal for the county magistrate to have doubts about Xu But it’s okay. You are cautious and thoughtful, and His Highness and I should be grateful for having such an ally.”
If he is a lobbyist, he is really good at talking.
Yuan Cixian smiled, and after finishing the business, remembering Xu Sanniang, she felt that she should not be alone with Xu Shan for too long, so she said, “How did you get here, sir, do you want me to take you back?”
Of course Lu Shiqing heard her intention of chasing the guest, and originally planned to leave, but he had a plan and was unwilling to do it, so he said cheekily: “Then I will have to trouble the county master.”
Yuan Cixian choked. She is just polite, why can’t he understand.
She had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, “You’re welcome, sir, where do you live?”
“Yongxing Square.”
She let out a “huh” and asked Shicui outside to drive to Yongxingfang, and then said: “You and Lu Shilang are neighbors?”
Lu Shiqing nodded: “It can be said that. Yongxingfang is full of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. It was naturally not Xu’s turn, but the sixth prince thought that it was suitable for paying attention to the courtiers’ movements, so he arranged a private house for me. It seems that Xu is a rich man in Chang’an.”
What Lu Shiqing said was true. Every time he does business in Xu Shan’s capacity, he will first go to the private house through the secret road of the Lu Mansion, exit through the gate of the private house, and return back the same way after finishing the work, so as to prevent the possibility of exposure.
Yuan Cixian couldn’t help being curious when he heard the words, and asked, “Then you also monitor Lu Shilang?”
Good to ask out. He said this in order to naturally lead the conversation to himself.
He nodded and replied, “He is also one of them.”
Yuan Cixian let out an “oh” and continued to ask, “Do you know what he’s been up to these days?”
“Lu Shilang has been in ignorance for a long time, so he should be busy with government affairs. The county magistrate hasn’t contacted him recently?”
She pouted and shook her head.
Seeing this, he smiled and said: “Look at you, you must be bickering with Lu Shilang.”
Yuan Cixian was taken aback for a moment, then glanced at him: “Mr. has insightful eyes.”
Lu Shiqing was secretly excited. Everything went so smoothly, the next thing left was to persuade Xu Shan to make peace.
In order to avoid her suspicion, he suppressed his eagerness and said slowly: “If the county master doesn’t dislike it, you can talk to Xu.”
Yuan Cixian pretended to be drunk last time, and had confided to him about Lu Shiqing’s “mind”, and now she has nothing to say, simply said: “The reason is that he got a cold, but he lied to me that it was the plague.”
He said “Oh” in a deep voice, and said strangely: “According to Xu’s knowledge, Lu Shilang doesn’t seem to be such a swindler.”
Yuan Cixian let out a low snort and said nothing.
Lu Shiqing’s face behind the mask was stunned. What does “huh” mean?
He tentatively asked, “Huh?”
Yuan Cixian remained silent and did not answer.
In fact, after thinking about it carefully afterwards, Lu Shiqing really didn’t intend to lie to her at that time, and even explained it many times, but she refused to listen, and refused to believe it after hearing it. In this matter, he is not wrong.
But why did he not look for her for several days in a row, as if all the way south was in vain, and he returned to the attitude he had before leaving Beijing.
Originally, it was true that she was looking for someone to be her backer, and it was okay to continue to stalk him with a lower profile, but since she knew that he was a little emotional, she inevitably became greedy, hoping that he would take the initiative sometime, So I waited for a few days.
But now it seems that Lu Shiqing probably knew that her purpose of approaching him was impure, so he despised her, otherwise, he would have done nothing.
Well, if you dislike it, you will dislike it. Who can’t live without him? Maybe he will be an unreliable idiot all his life. She is doing well with the sixth prince now.
Thinking of this, she suddenly heard Xu Shan sneezed, quickly retracted her thoughts, blinked her eyes and said strangely: “I scolded Lu Shilang in my heart, why did you sneeze instead?”
“…”
Lu Shiqing held his breath and said very kindly: “Oh, what are you scolding him for?”
“It’s nothing, I don’t want to mention it for fear of dirtying Mr.’s ears.”
Mention, little ancestor!
He endured it for so many days, but he couldn’t find a suitable reason to go to Yuan Mansion, and he couldn’t bear to come to the door to apologize, but he didn’t wait for her to come to Lu Mansion, but he pointed to the fact that he could get something out of her today.
Lu Shiqing sighed, and asked again if he wanted to, but he was afraid that if he said too much, he would make her suspicious, so he shut up, and when he arrived at Yongxingfang, he made a last move: “Thank you, the county magistrate, for sending me all the way. Now that you are here, you might as well go to Lu’s mansion by the way.” Look, if you are sullen for a long time, you will easily get sick.”
He felt that he should change in time.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Cixian refused to enter, and looked like he had no such plan: “Mr. Lao, please take care, you go slowly all the way.”
Lu Shiqing had no choice but to get out of the carriage in despair.
When he left, Shi Cui, who had heard all the way, said to the carriage: “Little lady, do you think Mr. Xu is weird?”
Yuan Cixian said “Yes”: “It is slightly different from before. But isn’t the Mr. Xu in Xu Sanniang’s mouth even more different from what we saw? To put it bluntly, we don’t really understand him.”
“That’s not bad, but the servant girl thinks that Mr. Xu seems to be overly concerned about you. He has already got involved with Xu Sanniang, and even in front of you…how could he be so clear-hearted and ask you to add more clothes , I tell you to take care of your health, even the fight between you and Lu Shilang.”
Yuan Cixian didn’t speak when he heard the words.
Shi Cui continued: “In short, the servant girl thinks that Mr. Xu is not good, at least not in matters of men and women. If he is so affectionate, he might as cold as Lu Shilang. You should be more careful.”
Yuan Cixian didn’t want to speculate on Xu Shan’s character at will, but knew that she should keep a distance from him, so she said: “I know, I won’t take the initiative to invite Mr. Xu again in the future.”
After she finished answering, she felt a little tired after blowing the cold wind for a long time, so she leaned against the wall of the car to take a nap, but the stove under her feet was too warm, and she fell asleep after a while.
After this sleep, I went back to Luqiao, which I hadn’t dreamed of for a long time.
This time, she heard a strange female voice on the bridge: “Your Highness finally gave up on salvage?”
The person behind her spoke like a maidservant: “It seems so, Princess Concubine. But the maidservant heard from Butler Zhou that His Highness is busy outside, and I’m afraid he won’t be returning home soon.”
The woman sneered: “He just doesn’t want to see me.”
“Don’t get angry, lest you get angry.”
“Even if the child is born, it will be revealed. My father asked me to climb into His Highness’s bed, and said that once this scandal is publicized, the King of Diannan will definitely not wrong his daughter. He vowed to break off the engagement with His Highness. When the time comes, the prince The seat of the concubine is mine… But what if I get this seat? Your Highness has never touched me from the beginning to the end, even the child…”
The servant girl lowered her voice and stopped her: “You must never say this out loud! You have to remember that this is His Highness’s flesh and blood, no matter how different he is from His Highness. You see, the Yuan family can’t live without their own sins. You did it, and now that Lancang county lord is dead, isn’t it God who wants to help you? As long as you give birth to this child, the future will be long, so why not get His Highness’s heart?”
Yuan Cixian was woken up by Shi Cui’s call, she didn’t slow down for a while, she still felt like she was in a dream when she opened her eyes, and she came back to herself only after being blown by the cold wind.
She got out of the carriage with a dazed expression, and walked towards the mansion with her brows tightly furrowed, recalling what the strange woman said in her dream, when she was passing by the flower hall, she was suddenly stopped: “Cixian is back.”
Shocked, she came to her senses, stopped and turned her head, and saw Jiang Birou and a strange young lady standing at the bottom of the steps looking at her.
Yuan Cixian smiled slightly at Jiang Birou: “Sister-in-law.” After that, she motioned to the little lady beside her, “Who is this?”
“It’s my sister-in-law’s younger sister, two years younger than you, you can just call her ‘Chan’er’.”
She nodded, and before she could say hello, Jiang Bican called her sweetly: “Hello, sister Cixian!”
Yuan Cixian’s smile froze on his lips.
This voice… oh, what a show.