Late into the night.
Huo Wujiu, who was lying on the bed, had not moved, so Jiang Suizhou
then put out the lamp, pulled a blanket, then slept on the couch.
As expected, he slept quite soundly that night.
The couch wasn't completely comfortable, but Jiang Suizhou practically
stayed up all night for two consecutive days and had already exhausted his
energy. Therefore, as soon as he touched the pillow, he sunk into a deep
sleep, and had a dreamless night.
Until the day dawned.
Jiang Suizhou was sleeping when he felt someone carefully patting him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a shocked Meng Qianshan standing in the
hazy morning light.
Fright instantly awakened Jiang Suizhou.
He sat up and saw Meng Qianshan bowing in front of him with an envelope
in one hand. With a surprised look, he glanced at the bed, then at Jiang
Suizhou, and spoke in a stammering voice, "Master, why are you sleeping
in…"
Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth and lowered his voice to interrupt him, "Is
something the matter?"
This Meng Qianshan was fine everywhere else, but he was a bit foolish.
What other servant would, having seen his master sleeping on the couch,
ask him, "Why are you sleeping on the sofa?"!
Meng Qianshan froze, handed the envelope to Jiang Suizhou, and said,
"This came last night…"
Jiang Suizhou paused and immediately raised his hand, signaling Meng
Qianshan to shut his mouth first.
He glanced at Huo Wujiu on the bed.
At this time, the sky was only slightly bright, and it was far from time to get
up. Huo Wujiu looked to be sound asleep, so their talking would surely
wake him up.
Meng Qianshan followed Jiang Suizhou's line of sight and instantly
understood.
Meng Qianshan hurriedly and soundlessly followed Jiang Suizhou outside.
The two of them walked all the way outside of the bedroom and closed the
door before they spoke again.
"What is it?" Jiang Suizhou asked.
Meng Qianshan handed him the envelope in his hand and said, "Your
Highness, the two lords who asked you to have a drink last night asked
someone to secretly deliver this before dawn this morning, saying that they
had intended to hand it to you yesterday, but you were unwell, so they
rushed to deliver it today."
Jiang Suizhou took the envelope.
He had a rough idea what it contained. The two people who had asked him
to drink yesterday were both minor officials of the Ministry of Works. He
believed that the information they had sent him was most likely related to
the repair of the ancestral hall.
He took the envelope, gave a hum, and turned around to leave.
But at this moment, Meng Qianshan actually stepped forward and stopped
him.
Jiang Suizhou frowned at him, then saw righteous indignation written all
over Meng Qianshan's face.
"How can Madam Huo let you sleep on the couch?!"
Jiang Suizhou was a bit speechless.
How dare you ask! I interrupted you so you wouldn't say anything, yet you
still asked!
Jiang Suizhou answered indifferently, "Is it your business?" Then, he turned
around in an attempt to go inside.
But he saw Meng Qianshan face death unflinchingly.
"It should be none of my business, but Your Highness is so sick and weak.
How can I allow him to bully you to this extent!"
Jiang Suizhou could hear the tremor in Meng Qianshan's voice. At first
glance, he was scared. But he forcibly stopped himself and whispered, "Is
Madam Huo bullying you because of his superior martial arts skills? Your
Highness, don't be afraid, this is not their Northern Liang, where he can run
wild…"
Jiang Suizhou helplessly raised his hand and cut his words short.
He knew of Meng Qianshan's sincere loyalty, but this man…he really had a
one-track mind!
Jiang Suizhou asked coldly, "Why are you shooting in the dark? Mind your
own business."
After saying that, he went around Meng Qianshan and pushed the door of
the room open.
But behind him, Meng Qianshan's voice sounded aggrieved and puzzled.
"Your Highness is sleeping on the couch. Why do you want to get this
person into your courtyard?"
…If I don't make it clear, is there no way to get over this?
Jiang Suizhou took a deep breath, closed the room door and turned around.
"I want to sleep by myself," he said.
Meng Qianshan was filled with surprise.
Then he saw his own master's face as frosty as ice as he spoke stiffly,
"Although he is a concubine, my heart fell for him, and I do not want to
insult him at will. Understand?"
Meng Qianshan's eyes were about to pop out: "You, Your Highness! But
you only…you only met him for the first time two days ago!"
….And now you also got to the bottom of it.
Jiang Suizhou just wanted to quickly fool this rash young man, and made
up nonsense, "How do you know it was the first time? When the Marquis of
Dingbei returned to the capital, I had seen him at that time and had long
been attracted to him. Since then…time has passed, and although I have not
seen him in person, I frequently received news about him."
Meng Qianshan was dumbfounded.
It was obvious to Jiang Suizhou that Meng Qianshan believed him, so he
stopped talking and warned, "No one else knows about this matter, and I
haven't revealed a hint of it in front of Madam Huo. Therefore, even if you
know, you must keep it to yourself. Remember?"
Meng Qianshan's eyes were frozen straight at this point, and he nodded his
head stupidly.
Jiang Suizhou faintly glanced at him, turned around and pushed the door
open again.
It was still early, and instead of arguing with Meng Qianshan there, he
might as well go back and sleep for another half an hour.
With this in mind, he gingerly returned to his couch. As he was lying down,
he did not forget to shoot Huo Wujiu a few glances.
Huo Wujiu remained motionless and still hadn't awakened.
Jiang Suizhou laid down in relief and closed his eyes.
Unbeknownst to him, the moment he closed his eyes, a pair of pitch-black
eyes slowly opened in the darkness.
The man frowned, his face brimming with surprise. His eyes fell on Jiang
Suizhou's back with extreme complexity.
What Jiang Suizhou didn't know was that Huo Wujiu had been in the army
for many years, and even in his sleep, the slightest noise could wake him up
immediately.
He also didn't know that Huo Wujiu had extremely sharp eyes and keen
ears. Even through the door, even when he lowered his voice, Huo Wujiu
heard every word he said.
Not a single word was left out.
Dawn had fallen.
Jiang Suizhou wanted to get back to sleep, but did not expect sleep to
escape him once he lay back again. Therefore, he got up early, and Meng
Qianshan prepared breakfast in advance.
Huo Wujiu also got up very early.
Although they shared the same bedroom, there was basically no
communication between them. Meng Qianshan waited for Jiang Suizhou to
finish washing up, while Huo Wujiu went to the inner room to clean up.
When Huo Wujiu returned with his wheelchair, Sun Yuan pushed his
wheelchair to the table.
The breakfast meal was already on the table, and Jiang Suizhou was sitting
there reading a book.
He didn't necessarily have to wait for Huo Wujiu to eat together, but the
table manners ingrained in him since childhood forced him to wait for
everyone to gather before he could start eating.
Upon seeing Huo Wujiu, Jiang Suizhou put down his book and
automatically picked up his chopsticks.
Even when they were eating breakfast together, they looked at each other
without saying anything.
But today, Jiang Suizhou had a feeling that something was wrong.
He felt like Huo Wujiu kept sizing him up, but whenever he looked at him,
Huo Wujiu was eating with his eyes down. He didn't even spare him a glance at all.
It was quite weird.
But Meng Qianshan, who was waiting on the side, caught his master
peeking at Madam Huo all morning. He only took it as his master being
unable to help himself in front of his sweetheart.
At this time, as a qualified servant, he naturally shared his master's worries.
With these thoughts in mind, Meng Qianshan smilingly spoke, "Master, a
carpenter has already come yesterday. I remember you had mentioned that
Madam's wheelchair was not working well, so I asked him to hurry up. The
new wheelchair will be delivered to our courtyard within the day."
Jiang Suizhou looked up and saw Meng Qianshan blinking at him
vigorously.
It was a no-brainer. This kid was showing off for Jiang Suizhou in front of
Huo Wujiu, making innuendos to inform Huo Wujiu how good Jiang
Suizhou was to him.
Jiang Suizhou was somewhat speechless. However, on second thought, all
roads lead to Rome. Just say Meng Qianshan was pleasing Huo Wujiu on
his behalf.
So, he grunted and replied offhandedly, "Not bad. If it arrives early, take it
out for a spin and try it out to see if it works."
Just as well. Anyway, he worked in the Ministry of Rites while this
bigmouth Meng Qianshan was also idle; might as well let him help Jiang
Suizhou push Huo Wujiu out for a breath of fresh air.
Meng Qianshan agreed with a broad grin.
"If Your Highness comes back early, we can also go out for a walk
together!" He said.
…That's asking for too much.
Jiang Suizhou glanced at him warningly.
Meng Qianshan promptly shut his mouth with a grin.
But as Jiang Suizhou withdrew his gaze, he suddenly collided with Huo
Wujiu's gaze.
Huo Wujiu was looking at him. His eyes were still cold, but there were
dashes of complexities that Jiang Suizhou couldn't understand.
Huo Wujiu's brow was also furrowed.
Jiang Suizhou was caught off guard. Huo Wujiu averted his eyes and didn't
look at him again.
Jiang Suizhou was momentarily dazed.
Er…Did he provoke him with what he just said?
——
Jiang Suizhou didn't bother to care what was wrong with Huo Wujiu. After
breakfast, he went straight to the Ministry of Rites' office to slack off.
Only the extremely diligent Meng Qianshan was left behind to serve Huo
Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu coldly watched Meng Qianshan bustling around him until the
carpenter who sent the wheelchair arrived. The eunuch left temporarily,
finally allowing Huo Wujiu to clear his mind for the time being.
He raised his hand and rubbed his temples.
Meng Qianshan was so noisy.
Just then, Sun Yuan, who had been waiting behind him, cautiously stepped
forward and slipped something into his hand.
Huo Wujiu looked up at him and saw that Sun Yuan was stiff, and
nervousness was almost written on his face.
"This is..Someone asked me to give it to you," Sun Yuan lowered his voice
and stuttered.
He had never done anything like this before, and it was too much for him to
handle.
The day before he pushed Madam Huo to the courtyard, someone stopped
him on his way out of the house and slipped a silver ingot to bring a letter to
Madam Huo.
What kind of person was His Highness, and what kind of person was
Madam Huo? He naturally did not dare to do it. He hastily refused and ran.
Fortunately, that person was not a vicious person. When Sun Yuan refused,
he didn't force him nor silence him.
As a result, His Highness instructed the next day that any letters and
articles, as long as someone sent them, should be given to Madam Huo in
private.
This in turn scared Sun Yuan silly.
However, he dared not go against the King's command.
Last night, Sun Yuan met the man again on his way home from the
residence.
"Just think of it as me begging you to send this letter in," the man said.
"General Huo is not an imprudent man. Just deliver it, and he will not leave
any evidence behind to implicate you."
Sun Yuan halted.
S-Since the King ordered it…
Seeing him hesitate, hope immediately surfaced on the man's face: "What
about it? I can add more money; this is negotiable!"
Sun Yuan had always been honest, so upon hearing this, he stammered in
fright.
I-It wasn't about money either. However, it seemed that Sun Yuan couldn't
just say that it was the King who asked him to deliver the letter…
Sun Yuan stammered for a moment and then replied, "Okay, pay me more."
The man hurriedly asked, "How much?"
"…Add two more silver coins, I guess."
The man: "…?"
So, ridden with the doubt of "how did this man raise the price so
affordably", the man handed the letter over to Sun Yuan, who in turn
handed it to Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu glanced at the envelope in his hand and raised his head. His
scrutinizing gaze fell on Sun Yuan.
Huo Wujiu's gaze made Sun Yuan feel so guilty that he didn't risk taking a
breath. Sun Yuan just stood there like a bamboo pole.