Jiang Suizhou had a good night's sleep. He slept continuously until the next
morning, waking up refreshed and his spirits a bit lighter.
Meng Qianshan prepared breakfast early in the morning. Perhaps because
he upset Jiang Suizhou last night, the dishes on the table were particularly
rich. On top of that, all were also arranged according to Jiang Suizhou's
most favorite dishes.
Jiang Suizhou swept Meng Qianshan a quick glance, and saw him smiling
awkwardly and flatteringly.
He said nothing, coldly withdrawing his gaze.
He'd better scare Meng Qianshan a bit, to prevent him from committing
such smart-ass deeds again and getting himself into trouble.
Hence, it wasn't until Jiang Suizhou finished eating that he opened his
mouth coldly and spoke to Meng Qianshan.
"Isn't it time for Madam Huo to change his bandages?" He asked.
Meng Qianshan nodded repeatedly: "The mansion doctor will come later
today, so don't worry, Your Highness."
Jiang Suizhou snorted, paused, and then said, "What's the date today?"
Meng Qianshan replied, "Your Highness, it's the eighth day of the month."
Jiang Suizhou nodded.
"It's the fourth day. Send someone to Madam Gu's courtyard later and
inform him that I will have dinner there tonight."
Meng Qianshan was dumbfounded.
Your Highness! You…how can you say this in front of Madam Huo!
Meng Qianshan stared blankly at Jiang Suizhou for a time, until Jiang
Suizhou, who received no response, glanced askance at him. Only then did
Meng Qianshan nod blankly, "Yes…I will do so in a while…"
Jiang Suizhou looked at him and frowned.
What was with this kid's expression? In front of Huo Wujiu, Meng
Qianshan was staring at him as if he betrayed his lover!
What if Huo Wujiu saw him like this and thought wrong?
Jiang Suizhou hurriedly stole a glance at Huo Wujiu.
Huo Wujiu was eating with his eyes downcast, as if he hadn't heard
anything.
——Well, since I married Huo Wujiu, I have been at peace with him and
haven't done anything out of the ordinary. I think Huo Wujiu also has an
idea in mind and knows that my relationship with him is not the same as my
relationship with Gu Changyun and the others.
…Although my relationship with Gu Changyun is also extremely innocent.
Exactly.
With this thought, Jiang Suizhou was relieved. Seeing that the hour was
almost up, he got up and went to the Ministry of Rites to continue slacking.
Only Meng Qianshan was left, looking at Huo Wujiu worriedly.
He finally knew what it meant by the emperor was not anxious but his
eunuch was.1
Men, their upper and lower bodies were really separated. Just like His
Highness; he told him yesterday of how deep his love for Madam Hou was.
His Highness said that he was so smitten that he couldn't bear to defile him.
Yet today, he said that he was going to his concubine's room right in front
of Madam Huo.
Meng Qianshan fretfully looked at Madam Huo, who looked indifferent and
unaffected.
How should he console Madam? Although Madam still looked indifferent,
it was unwise to leave a bad impression of His Highness's philandering
ways in his heart.
After a moment of deliberation, he went out of the room. He found a maid
and asked her to pass the King's order to Madam Gu's room. Then he
returned and stood in front of Huo Wujiu.
"Madam Gu entered the mansion earlier, as you know, Master," he carefully
said with a smile piled on his face.
This "master" was already an address of Meng Qianshan's utmost respect
for Huo Wujiu.
Usually, it was the servants who served the concubines in the rear court
who addressed their own concubine as master. He, the grand eunuch by the
King's side, naturally would not be so placating.
Huo Wujiu lifted his eyelids and gave Meng Qianshan a look.
Meng Qianshan showed him a flattering smile and consoled him, "Madam
Gu is delicate in nature and will make a fuss when he doesn't see His
Highness for a few days. His Highness is impatient of the like, and is even
more resistant to him making trouble. I don't think he really loves that
Madam."
Huo Wujiu frowned.
What was he trying to tell him? What did it matter to him what King Jing
was going to do?
Meng Qianshan spoke as if Huo Wujiu was a concubine in the harem,
competing for favor.
He heard Meng Qianshan rambling on, "Besides, that Madam Gu is not a
reasonable one either. Although His Highness keeps you in the yard day by
day, it doesn't necessarily prevent jealous men from storming to you to vent
his displeasure, does it? His Highness will sleep there overnight, but it's
also all for your benefit…"
Huo Wujiu listened to his gossip and found it noisy. He was about to tell
him to shut up when he was caught off guard by the word "overnight".
The picture he saw last night surfaced in front of him again for a moment.
He recalled the man's moist and slender waist and belly; his thin red ears
when he was shy and angry; and his soft whispers through the door that day
when he said his heart fell for him a long time ago; that clear and magnetic
voice.
What would a man like him look like when he spent the night with another
man?
He was stunned.
…What am I thinking!
The thought struck without warning. After he recovered, he was so
surprised and caught off guard that he was inevitably a little annoyed.
He raised his eyes and gave Meng Qianshan a cold look.
With only one look, Meng Qianshan's throat choked with fright, and he
immediately shut his mouth.
He looked at Huo Wujiu in trepidation.
Huo Wujiu stared back at him. Although Huo Wujiu was looking up from
below, his ruthless eyes made people want to kneel down in front of him
involuntarily.
Huo Wujiu faltered.
…He wasn't interested in fighting with a eunuch who was missing a string
in his head.
He withdrew his gaze.
Although he was now Jiang Suizhou's nominal concubine, to him, it was
just a change of jail locations. He didn't succumb to the imperial dungeon
of Southern Jing, so naturally, he would never be assimilated in this kind of
place.
Of course, he wouldn't go so far as to treat a eunuch viciously for such a
thing.
With that in mind, Huo Wujiu raised his eyes and looked at Meng Qianshan
again.
"Get out," he ordered.
There was no gentleness, only ferocity.
Footnote:
1
one himself does not worry but another person worries in vain
When Jiang Suizhou arrived in Gu Changyun's room that night, he was
surprised to find that the bedroom was still occupied by Xu Du.
The food was already placed on the table, and no one was left to serve
them.
When he saw Jiang Suizhou enter, Gu Changyun saluted him and poured
tea for him.
Jiang Suizhou sat down at the main seat.
"Master sent word of your visit earlier this morning, so I had someone cook
a dish of Squirrel Mandarin Fish," Gu Changyun said with a smile while
moving the plate of fish in front of Jiang Suizhou.
"Would you like to try it, Master?"
Jiang Suizhou couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
He himself originally did not like sweets, especially this kind of sweet and
sour southern dish. After staying in the south for a few days, the dishes on
the dining table in his room were always mostly northern.
Could it be that the original owner loved sweets?
He looked at Gu Changyun with some suspicion and saw him raise his
eyebrows, a hint of surprise on his face.
"Won't you eat it, Master?"
Jiang Suizhou didn't make a sound and stretched his chopsticks to take a
piece of the fish off the plate.
The fish was so sweet and fragrant in the mouth that Jiang Suizhou's
eyebrows could not help but wrinkle.
His chopsticks froze.
Although the soul of King Jing was now him, his body structure was still
King Jing's. The one thing that could affect one's eating preferences,
besides experience, was the taste buds. Since he was originally born without
a sweet tooth and also had no psychological barriers, then his body's
reaction to the fish must be from the original owner himself.
The original owner didn't like sweets, so Gu Changyun's move was clearly
to test him.
Jiang Suizhou chewed a few times and looked at Gu Changyun faintly.
A smile surfaced on Gu Changyun's face. He seemed to be relieved after his
doubts about Jiang Suizhou were dispelled.
Jiang Suizhou did not say a word, only looked at him coldly. His gaze
carried two points of scrutiny and warning.
Gu Changyun immediately sensed it. He blinked and said with a smile,
"Sure enough, Your Highness still doesn't like sweets. It's just a pity that
this famous southern dish has not been able to enter your eyes for three
years."
Jiang Suizhou, however, slowly put down his chopsticks.
"You have a lot of guts," he lowered his eyes to the tabletop and said
indifferently.
Gu Changyun stared at him and did not speak for a moment.
Jiang Suizhou asked, "Did you get the result you wanted?"
Gu Changyun stiffened, and then gently laughed out loud.
"Master, what are you talking about? I was just looking at the fresh
Mandarin fish that was shipped to the mansion recently, and I wanted them
to cook it for you to try."
Jiang Suizhou's knuckles slowly knocked on the table, one at a time.
If the people who knew him well were present right now, they would have
registered that this was his habitual action whenever he saw through
someone's lies and was thinking about countermeasures.
Jiang Suizhou knew that they had noticed that he was not the original
owner.
He had been mentally prepared. After all, these two people were trusted
aides of the original owner. Not to mention that they've spent a lot of time
together, and must also know each other through and through. Moreover,
since the original owner was able to bring these two under his command,
they were absolutely not idlers. Trying to fool them would be very
challenging.
Nevertheless, he did not expect that they would begin to test him only on
their second meeting.
This proved that from the first time they met, these two people had sensed
that he was different from the original owner.
The sound of his knuckles knocked against the wooden tabletop, one after
another. The sound was soft and gentle, and it swept through the quiet
room.
Just then, Xu Du, who had been waiting by, spoke.
"Master, please forgive him. Changyun was just being naughty." He rose to
his feet.
Jiang Suizhou glanced at Xu Du, and saw him bowing deeply before him.
"But rest assured, Master, that no matter what happens, his loyalty to you is
evident in heaven and earth."
This was a promise of loyalty.
Jiang Suizhou knew that he was telling him that no matter who he had
become now, as long as he remained their master, they would both be loyal
to him.
He looked down and took a sip of tea to wash the sweetness that filled his
mouth.
He naturally would not believe what he said.
But he also knew that at present, his identity was evident among the three.
He issued a warning, and they also expressed their loyalty. At this point,
further persecution was useless.
He needed facts to prove that Xu Du's claim of loyalty was true or false.
Until then, what he had to do was to find something that could restrain them
or prevent them from betraying him.
Jiang Suizhou picked up his chopsticks again, as if the confrontation had
not happened, and calmly talked to them about the letter he had received
yesterday.
Xu Du and Gu Changyun also discussed the contents of the letter with him
as if nothing had happened.
As with their last meeting, these two were methodical. They hit all the right
notes and were quite insightful. When they proposed countermeasures, they
usually hit the nail on the head. Their proposals coincided with the analysis
Jiang Suizhou made based on historical data.
He gave off the impression that he really was the original owner, doing his
best, without any reservations.
Jiang Suizhou couldn't tell if they were deliberately disguising themselves,
or if they really didn't care whether the person in front of them was the original King Jing or not. But whatever the reason, the analysis they
presented was desirable. Jiang Suizhou deliberated and wrote down the
parts he thought were useful.
After finishing the meal and discussing the major and minor matters that
happened in the past few days, Jiang Suizhou got up and left.