Some people were running, some moved their desks, some exclaimed. But only the tragic sound of hitting the pillar did not come.
Immediately afterwards, the female servants hurriedly lit the candlesticks, and the light returned to the hall.
Everyone looked over in shock and saw Xu Keyue sitting on the ground beside the pillar with disheveled hair, already covered with a robe.
No one saw what happened at this moment.
Mrs. Gantang couldn't care about anything, she staggered over and hugged Xu Keyue, she was already sobbing.
Wanyan Jun's face darkened and he was about to get angry when Xie Queshan frowned and said, "Master Wanyan was just joking. The second sister made me cry. It's so frustrating. You can take Di Ji down to change clothes." .”
Mrs. Gantang hugged Xu Keyue and left as if running away.
Xie Queshan picked up the wine glass as if nothing had happened and congratulated Wanyan Jun loudly: "Master Wanyan, don't worry about these women, let's continue drinking. Congratulations on taking Mr. Song into your employ. The shipbuilding project is now settled."
The gloom on Wanyan Jun's face immediately dissipated, he laughed along with Xie Queshan's words, and raised his glass: "Mr. Song, let's come together?"
Song Muchuan still refused to touch the wine in his glass.
"Mr. Song?"
Song Muchuan stood up with a stupefied expression, cupped his hands and said, "The common people are too drunk. I have to sort out the books and drawings when I go back, so as to contribute to Master Wanyan's career. It is not appropriate to drink anymore today, the common people say goodbye."
His eyes fell on the untouched sweet soup on the table, and then he took a deep look at Xie Queshan. In the eyes of others, this is a look of resentment. If it weren't for today's host, how could he be in a dilemma.
But this glance made Xie Queshan tighten his fingers on the cup.
Wanyan Jun did not stop anyone, but only ordered two followers to follow Song Muchuan in the name of "escort".
Xie Queshan turned the wine glass in his hand and put it to his mouth. The glass blocked most of his thinking expression.
If Song Muchuan hadn't given him that look, he wouldn't have figured out so quickly why today's events suddenly developed like this.
He acted flawlessly, but he was too comprehensive. Only then did Xie Queshan realize that Song Muchuan was acting, and he performed his image of a weak scholar to the fullest. Only under such circumstances, his promise to do things for Qi people is more credible than surrendering on his own initiative, and no one will doubt him.
If he really doesn't want to take over the Shipping Department, he will try his best to send him away. But only now did he realize that Song Muchuan was willing.
He knew his best friend too well. This knowledgeable scholar may look weak, but he has an unshakable determination to do what he has decided. As long as he didn't want to, even under such high-pressure pressure from Wanyan Jun, he could still find a way to refuse.
Such as dying to make one's ambition clear. This is something he can do.
But instead of doing this, he still endured the humiliation and carried on in this game. Unless...Song Muchuan deliberately walked into this trap like a prey.
Xie Queshan's eyes darkened.
Song Muchuan was determined to join the game. He has long been reborn and has big plans, but when facing his old friends from the past, he lost his sense of proportion and was manipulated.
Xie Queshan drank the wine in his glass, and felt a sharp pain in his head. He frowned, raised his hand to rub his temples, and glanced at the girl by the window unintentionally.
She leaned forward to close the window, secretly pulled out the sleeve arrow nailed to the window frame, and hid it back in her sleeve. She glanced back furtively and met his eyes.
Her eyes immediately darkened, filled with confusion and resentment, but she quickly hid her emotions and returned to her desk as if nothing had happened.
It seems that even she thinks that he and Qi Ren teamed up to force Song Muchuan to submit.
Well, that's not a bad thing.
——
In the back room, Mrs. Gantang opened the hem of Xu Keyue's skirt distressedly. Her thin ankles had been rubbed with blood marks by the heavy iron chains.
What a carefree girl she once was, running among the glazed tiles of the imperial city, her skirt flying like a kite in the sky, following her footsteps.
She felt extremely distressed and called out: "Yao Yao..."
Hearing this familiar yet distant call, Xu Keyue's empty and absent-minded face took on a look of real sadness.
Mrs. Gantang wanted to apply medicine to the wound on Xu Keyue's foot.
"Aunt..." Tears fell down like broken threads. Xu Mengyue raised her hand to stop her, "He doesn't allow me to apply medicine to the wound. If he sees..."
Mrs. Gantang was stunned. The expression on her face changed from surprise to distress to anger. At this moment, thousands of words ran across her tongue, but she was speechless and choked.
She held Xu Keyue's face and murmured: "Yaoyao, don't be afraid."
But she was powerless, how could she not be afraid? She didn't dare to look into Xu Keyue's eyes anymore. She only put her forehead against hers sadly, trying to convey some meager strength.
"Auntie will find a way to kill that beast and rescue you. Just wait for auntie, okay?"
Xu Keyue's heart was filled with despair: "Auntie, don't strike with an egg against a stone. I've been like this all my life, and I'm even lucky..."
At this point, I choked up again.
Of course Mrs. Gantang understood what she meant by luck. Most of Tianjia lived a life of darkness and darkness in Daqi. However, Xu Mengyue was brought to Lidu Mansion. At least she returned to her homeland, and at least she had no worries about food and clothing...
"As long as you can be well, I have nothing else to think about."
"It's not time to admit defeat yet!"
Mrs. Gantang's words were so firm that Xu Keyue couldn't help but be stunned.
"Alive."
Xu Keyue murmured and raised her head: "Thank you just now...Xie Queshan also said something to me."
Mrs. Gantang was stunned for a moment.
"Just now...what happened?"
In the darkness, Xu Keyue bumped into the pillar resolutely. She thought her head would be broken in the next second, but she didn't expect to bump into a warm embrace.
He quickly put his robe back on her body, and amid the chaos around him, he left two words in her ear - "Live."
Only then did she realize that it was Xie Queshan's voice.
"I thought that now that he was in a high and powerful position, he would avenge his personal grievances and add insult to injury to me."
Mrs. Gantang knew about this past incident. Although Xu Keyue and Xie Queshan had never met, there was a grudge that was neither minor nor serious.
After Xie Queshan was admitted to the Juren Examination, he could take part in the examination in the first year. There was nothing wrong with it, but his article was read by Xu Keyue.
At that time, Xu Keyue was a talented woman who worshiped the great Confucian scholars of the time as her teacher. Her talents and learning were well-known in Tokyo. She accidentally saw Xie Queshan's article and admired it greatly. When she inquired about it, she learned that he was a traitor. After leaving Taoism and breaking up with his family, his attitude immediately changed 180 degrees. He believed that this person was talented but not moral, unfaithful and unfilial, and unworthy of entering the court. He ordered his name to be crossed out from the list of candidates for the Spring Palace, and he was not allowed to enter the court. He takes the exam.
This forced the proud young man to wait for another three years. Later, it was the Song parents and Mrs. Gantang who took over, and it was only three years later that he had the opportunity to take the examination again.
But he entered the examination room and left before he could wait for the results.
Since his defection, Xu Keyue would hear this person's name sporadically from other people's mouths. She hated this rebellious minister and believed that her judgment back then was absolutely correct.
At a young age, she was domineering and doted on by thousands of people. At that time, she didn't know the principle of keeping a tightrope in life.
Now that she sees Xie Queshan, their status has been reversed, and she is afraid of him. The old grudges from back then have become a knife above her head, which may make her already extremely unbearable situation worse at any time.
But she didn't expect that the man who was so cruel and ruthless in her heart would rescue her and leave her some dignity.
"Chaoen... after all, he has the blood of the Xie family in his body," Mrs. Gantang's words interrupted her thoughts, "But many times, I can't see through him. Sometimes I have vague misunderstandings... Third brother It’s still the third brother…”
"He has a very high status in Daqi..." Xu Keyue poured cold water on Mrs. Gantang, "Wanyan Jun believes in him very much. They are all people of Daqi Prime Minister Han Xianwang."
Mrs. Gantang sighed. The situation of internal and external troubles made it difficult for her to see a glimmer of hope.
At this time, someone knocked on the door outside.
"Ling Fu Di Ji, the banquet is over, Lord Wanyan is going back to his house."
The despair of returning to the cage rose again in Xu Keyue's eyes. She did not dare to waste any time and stood up immediately.
"Auntie, don't miss me." She whispered.
Don't care whether I live or die, as long as free people can live well, that is her biggest wish now.
——
The wind chimes on the west corner of the carriage swayed with the speed of the carriage, and the sound of the bells swayed on the deserted streets at night, rather like the soul-searching sounds coming from the underworld.
Wanyan Jun and Xu Keyue were sitting in the carriage together, and Xu Keyue shrank into the corner as much as possible.
Wanyan Jun was in a good mood and had no intention of quarreling with Xu Keyue. There was still a smile in the corner of his eyes, and he lazily pulled her over and held her in his arms.
He said in a gentle tone: "What did your aunt say to you?"
Xu Mengyue shrank back nervously and shook her head.
Wanyan Jun knelt down in front of Xu Keyue, pulled up the corner of her skirt and looked at the wound on her ankle.
Seeing that there was no medicine on the wound, he showed a satisfied smile.
"OK."
Wanyan Jun, who was usually arrogant, squatted in front of Xu Keyue with such a good temper, took out a small cube of ointment from his sleeve, and helped her apply the medicine with great patience: "Tell me, isn't it just a joke tonight? , why do you still take it seriously?"
Xu Keyue didn't dare to speak. She couldn't figure out Wanyan Jun's temper. Sometimes he was rough with her, but sometimes he was gentle and even apologized to her.
"Are you unhappy? Can I call Zhang Zhicun to accompany you?"
Xu Keyue's pupils suddenly dilated, and she seemed to be greatly humiliated when she heard these words.
Wanyan Jun said casually, with an extremely mean sarcasm hidden in his tone: "He is very obedient now, like a dog I raised."
"I don't want to see him!" She showed such intense emotions for the first time.
Zhang Zhicun was Xu Keyue’s husband—or, his ex-husband during the Yu Dynasty.
Ever since they were kidnapped to Daqi, their husbands and wives and their parents had all been trampled under their feet by the Qi people. These noble Tianjia people didn't even have a fig leaf to hide themselves from.
"Oh? Don't you think about him every day?"
"I... didn't..." Xu Keyue could only tremble and shake her head, unable to say a complete sentence.
Wanyan Jun said, his tone became gloomy between the lines, he stood up slightly, and his shadow pressed on Xu Keyue.
He pinched her chin and forced her to look at him: "You've been crying all day long, and you don't have a good look on me. You're not thinking about him...then what are you thinking about?"
Before she could answer, the predatory kiss came down like a violent storm.
The carriage has arrived outside the mansion, but the people in the carriage have not gotten out yet. The car curtain shook, and the woman's broken voice came from the tent.
The guards were accustomed to it and waited outside the carriage with their heads lowered.
After a long time, Wanyan Jun got out of the carriage holding his belt and strode into the house.
The person had already turned the screen wall and could no longer see the shadow. Only then did a trembling voice come from the carriage: "Please... bring me some clothes... please."
