"come here."
Shen Zhixi pulled Yuanyang inside and took her to sit on the elegant seat in front of the window.
Just as he was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.
Yuanyang was startled and felt at ease when he heard that the person speaking outside was a waiter from the teahouse.
The waiter came in and brought the tea he had just ordered, as well as several plates of snacks. Shen Zhixi waited for him to put them down and then let him leave. The voices of Wei Hong and Yang Xinyue could no longer be heard outside the half-open door. It was known whether the two went into the house or went downstairs and left the teahouse.
"Miss, you don't need to persuade me."
Yuanyang looked out the window and breathed a sigh of relief at the endless traffic of the street.
"I have never thought about what to do with him. As I said last time, even if I have feelings for him, I can't force him to be interested in me as well. In fact, I am also very confused about how I feel about him. I was so scared during the two days when I was taken to Uncle Guo's house. I was afraid that Uncle Guo would torture me or torture me. So if Wei Hong showed some kindness to me, I would instinctively be moved and grateful. , I...I don’t know.”
"I understand." Shen Zhixi took Yuanyang's hand.
There was a bit of regret mixed in as he spoke.
"It's rare that my mandarin duck has had such thoughts for the first time. Originally, I thought about going to Song Lianzhou to help you find a matchmaker after the matter is settled. But judging from the situation just now, Wei Hong and Yang Xinyue are in love and live happily together. We have been in love for many years, so we can no longer forcefully get involved."
"Of course." Yuanyang held Shen Zhixi's hand, nodded solemnly and said, "I'm not the kind of person who wants to ruin other people's relationships. I just didn't know that he had that kind of relationship with Miss Yang before, but now I know It’s not too late, lovers should get married eventually.”
Yuanyang's open-mindedness makes Shen Zhixi shine.
"Let's not talk about it, miss. When we were at Fang's spice shop just now, did you suspect that I was also used that kind of soul-stirring incense when I was at Uncle Guo's house?"
"Yes." Shen Zhixi also sighed while looking at the long street under the window.
She was kidnapped to Yuejing City, and Yuanyang chased her all the way. She must have been very anxious. When she met Song Lianzhou, she learned Song Lianzhou's identity. Song Lianzhou threatened and lured Yuanyang on the grounds that he could save her. She believed that Yuanyang would not betray her, but if the premise was for Saving her is a matter of life and death, and Yuanyang may not be able to talk about it.
But if that's the case, how did Song Lianzhou know about such things as Soul Incense?
"I heard that Princess Zhaoheng is ill again."
Shen Zhixi was lost in thought when she suddenly heard a discussion below the teahouse, which caught her attention.
"I heard that the little princess is quite pitiful. She has been stimulated by unknown sources since she was a child. She often gets sick and mutilates herself. This time her biological mother is dead, which will only stimulate her even more. No, today is supposed to be She helped the spirit to go to the southwest imperial mausoleum together, but she began to fall ill again and almost wiped her neck. She was finally rescued but was dying. She could not help the spirit back and could only stay in the palace to recuperate. Cheng can’t send it off either.”
“……”
Shen Zhixi's face was serious when he heard it, and he didn't react even when he was burned by the cup of hot tea that had just been poured into it.
"Miss."
Yuanyang stood up and snatched the tea cup from her hand, and saw that her fingertips were burnt red.
Shen Zhixi looked up at her, his brows furrowed, and he murmured, "That's true."
"What's going on? Miss, what did you say?"
Shen Zhixi lowered his head and blew on his sore fingertips. He silently made a plan in his mind. His mind was spinning rapidly, but he ended his thinking in an instant. He stood up and walked out. He just said: "No more tea. Let's go out." Go back home."
Princess Zhaoheng was ill, and her frequent self-harm was just a lie to hide her illness.
Therefore, it was impossible for her to miss the important event of sending Concubine Yu to the imperial mausoleum because of self-mutilation. That was her biological mother, and she must go.
The reason why she can't go now is because the emperor doesn't let her go, and then the news spread that she fell ill and committed suicide.
But when Princess Zhaoheng’s biological mother passed away and her biological father treated her as a blood slave and was trapped in the palace with no way to escape and unable to resist, what would happen to her who was hopeless?
He walked out the door, went downstairs, got on the carriage and set off back to Ningcheng Hou Mansion.
In front of the Hou Mansion, I met Xie Muyun who was seeing off the clan elder who had been drunk and resting in the Hou Mansion.
"Go back, I respect you. Don't send me away. After a long sleep, I'm much more awake now. Isn't there a carriage? You can also rest in the carriage..."
Shen Zhixi didn't care about that clan's name and seniority, so he couldn't remember it.
But the name he called Xie Muyun shocked her.
He called Xie Muyun "Jingzhi".
Why haven't I heard that Xie Muyun has another name before?
Seeing Shen Zhixi, the clan elder paused and turned around to say hello to Shen Zhixi. Shen Zhixi just smiled indifferently, nodded and walked past them and stepped into the threshold.
She could feel Xie Muyun's eyes sweeping over her body, and she also looked at him with her peripheral vision.
Finally, they looked back at each other tacitly.
As soon as she arrived at Shixingyuan, Shen Zhixi called the secret guard hidden in the dark to come in. She took out a piece of ruby with gold tassels from a hidden box in the house and handed it to the secret guard.
"Take someone to guard outside the palace. When Qi Yuan comes out, give him this jade."
At the same time, Shen Zhixi stretched out another piece of paper, and could vaguely see a few lines of black words written inside.
"Yes, I will take your orders."
"Be careful what you do."
"My subordinate understands."
After a few more instructions, the secret guard exited the door.
*
royal palace.
Qingchen Palace, where Princess Zhaoheng lives, is as cold as a cold palace.
Inside the palace gate, there were no palace attendants. Fallen leaves were falling all over the courtyard, which showed that no one had cleaned them for a long time.
In the entire Qingchen Palace, the most lively place was Zhao Yushu's bedroom.
It's just that this excitement is really sad to say the least.
The lively voice was actually bursts of sobbing, still weak, as if it was almost impossible to cry.
"Your Highness Princess, you are too ignorant. You owe your body and skin to your parents. The emperor gave you life and gave you the supreme honor and glory. You don't want to repay but you still want to commit suicide. Where is your filial piety and conscience? Fortunately, slave. You must be cautious and come in time, otherwise if you die, you will also implicate the slave and be punished, right? The slave is ordered by the emperor to take blood for His Highness, and His Highness is seeking death himself, so don't harm others."
Liu Yan stood in front of the bed with a cruel smile on his face, admiring the masterpiece made by himself on the bed.
Zhao Yushu's western limbs were tied, and her hands and feet were tied to the western end of the bed with a thick hemp rope.
After a fierce struggle, Zhao Yushu's ankles were bruised with blood.
Not only was she tied up, but a thick ball of rags was also stuffed into her mouth, so she couldn't scream or cry, only the sobs in her throat were left.
"Your Highness is so restless, my servant can only tie you up. You don't have to get out of bed anymore. Someone will feed you when you eat and drink. You can just deal with the problem in bed. The people below will clean up regularly. From now on, His Highness has only one mission, and that is to repay the Emperor for his nurturing grace by providing blood to the Emperor."
