Xiao Yixuan desperately wanted to sweep all the annoying books off the table, but refrained due to concerns about Xiao Wuchen.
He clenched his fists tightly.
He didn't believe that Xiao Jingcheng could hide forever.
Uncle Huang had been on the road for so long. He should be approaching the capital soon. Once the body entered the city, everything would be set in stone, and Xiao Jingcheng would have to be a real dead man.
Xiao Jingcheng didn't have the military amulet, and the Shen family in Hexi didn't have military power. He wanted to see how his good elder brother could turn the tables.
Closing his eyes tightly, when Xiao Yixuan opened them again, he had regained his calm.
Rather than exhausting his mind to search, it would be better to wait for Xiao Jingcheng to be unable to hold back and show up on his own.
Xiao Jingcheng was in a coma before he disappeared. He should not know what had happened in Dongli Town, nor what role he had played in it. So, this could be well utilized.
Even if he was born with the purple aura and the appearance of an emperor, so what? It was still uncertain who would win in the end.
Picking up the cold tea on the table, Xiao Yixuan tilted his head and drank it all in one gulp.
He called someone in to help him change his clothes. When he caught sight of something placed on the bedside, his gaze paused, and his expression softened a lot.
He had been extremely busy these days and hadn't seen Ye Wanmian for quite a while.
He wondered how she had been doing in Dongli Town recently.
Picking up that thing, he gently rubbed it in his palm for a moment.
Just wait a little longer. After he got rid of Xiao Jingcheng and entered the Eastern Palace, he would plead with the emperor to bestow her upon him as a side concubine.
She came from a humble background after all. It was an extra grace for her to be a side concubine. The children she gave birth to could also be raised by his side. He would cherish her well.
He was so preoccupied with Ye Wanmian that he completely forgot about Ye Wanxing, who was engaged to him and was going to be his main concubine, and was in the same building as him.
The summer nights were much shorter than the days. Amidst the chirping of insects and sparrows, the stuffy summer night gradually became bright, and the sky soon turned white.
A house in the south of Dongli Town was filled with smoke and the shouting of people placing bets and calling the banker.
The tightly closed door was suddenly knocked open. Two big men dragged a person out and threw him out of the door.
"Get the fifty taels of gambling debt together within three days. Otherwise, don't blame our boss for being merciless," a man with a long, thin face and a bushy beard said to the man who was howling on the ground.
The man quickly got up from the ground and pounced on the thin - faced man. "Lord Hu, give me another chance. Let me gamble one more time. I guarantee that I will win back the principal and the interest this time!"
A big man beside the thin - faced man kicked him and roared, "Zhuang De, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Lord Hu has given you countless chances and even lent you twenty taels out of his own pocket, but you lost the money right away. How can Lord Hu trust you anymore!"
"Get out of here! You're not welcome here until you pay back the money!"
Then, the two men slammed the door shut, blocking the man named Zhuang De outside.
The thugs in this gambling house were very tricky. They specifically beat the most vulnerable parts of a person's body, while the exposed parts like the cheeks and arms were unharmed. So, no one knew what he had just gone through.
Taking a sharp breath, Zhuang De got up from the ground, patted the dust off his body, and spat at the closed door. "Bah! You sound so nice, lending me twenty taels out of your own pocket. When I make a fortune, I'll make you kneel down and call me grandpa!"
The movement tugged at his wounds, and he grimaced in pain. Then he turned around and limped away.
It wasn't completely bright yet. Apart from some wild dogs running around, Zhuang De was the only one on the road. He muttered something in a low voice and walked towards home. Just as he turned a corner, a woman wearing a white veil hat and a plain dress walked towards him.
The gambling house was located in a remote and hidden place. Suddenly seeing a woman in white in such a desolate place, Zhuang De was terribly frightened and turned around to run!
It's a ghost!
At this time, a female voice came from behind. "I have a way for you to pay off the fifty - tael gambling debt tomorrow. Do you want to cooperate with me?"
Zhuang De stopped abruptly, turned around, and looked at the woman. "Is what you said true?"
The woman took out a money bag and said, "Here are twenty taels of silver. As long as you agree, I'll give you another thirty taels after it's done."
Zhuang De's eyes lit up, but he wasn't stupid. Resisting the urge to snatch the money, he asked, "How do I know you're not kidding me? Open the money bag first and let me see if there's really silver in it."
The woman opened the money bag as he asked. After seeing the shiny silver inside, Zhuang De felt relieved.
"I wonder what the kind - hearted lady wants me to do for you?"
...
Huichuntang.
The faint morning light shone through the half - open window onto the bed near the window.
Li Zhao frowned tightly and was deeply trapped in a nightmare.
"What was your name before you entered the Li Mansion?"
In the wisteria bushes, a girl was kneeling beside him, applying medicine to his injured shoulder.
The girl's voice was soft and pleasant, like the chirping of a golden oriole.
"My father and mother always wanted a younger brother, so they named me Jiang Pandi. Later, my younger brother was finally born. My parents were very happy and said I was their lucky star."
Li Zhao turned his head to look at her.
The girl was extremely beautiful and was the most beautiful maid in the entire Li Mansion.
He chuckled. "Lucky star? If you're a lucky star, why did they sell you like an object?"
The girl gently raised her eyes and smiled. "Because there was a locust plague in our family. The harvest was completely ruined. We couldn't afford to pay the heavy grain tax, and there was no rice to eat. So, my parents had no choice but to sell me."
She dug out a small piece of ointment and applied it to his wound, gently smoothing it out.
"Maybe I'm really a bit lucky. After my parents sold me, before the tooth - woman could sell me, she met Granny Qian who was selecting people for the old lady. So, I was selected into the Li Mansion like this."
"Being able to serve by the old lady's side, being favored by the old lady, and being protected by the young master today, how can I not be lucky?"
Li Zhao's heart in his chest trembled violently. He looked up at the gorgeous wisteria and the blue sky above his head.
"Zhaodi is really an ugly name. Grandmother calls you A Li, but she has bestowed you upon me. How about I give you another name today?"
The girl looked up in surprise.
His slender fingers held the girl's small chin, and he looked deeply into her eyes.
These misty eyes, like those of a deer in the forest, made a poem come to his mind.
The rippling water shimmers on a sunny day, the distant mountains look lovely in the rain.
"Let's call you Zhiqing, Jiang Zhiqing. Your nickname is Yingying."
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "But remember, Yingying, only I can call you that."
The girl opened her rosy lips and was about to say something to him when she scattered like sand in front of him.
"Don't... don't..."
He panicked and tried to hold the scattered sand, trying to put it back together, but the sand slipped through his fingers one by one.
"Yingniang!"
Li Zhao suddenly opened his eyes and woke up from the dream.
There was no longer the gorgeous wisteria bushes in front of him, nor any sand.
Sensing something, he looked beside him. Another girl was sleeping soundly on the bedside.
His eyes grew hot. He raised his trembling hand and gently placed it on her head.