The door opened and closed again.
Jiang Suzhou left.
Gu Changyun leisurely walked back to Xu Du's side and sat down. He picked up his teacup.
"It's still early. Why don't we play a game of chess before going back?" He said lazily as he blew on the floating leaves.
Xu Du did not say anything.
Gu Changyun looked up and saw Xu Du sizing him up.
The two of them had worked together for a long time. With just one look, Gu Changyun knew what Xu Du was thinking.
He held his teacup and chuckled.
Xu Du opened his mouth and said, "You can tell too." It was not a question, but a statement.
Although that person was clearly a prince, he was definitely not a prince.
Their lives were tied to the prince's, so the prince was never worried that they would betray him. He did not even need to pretend in front of them … and he had never treated them so calmly.
Especially when Pang Shao snatched away the things that were in his hands. He was too calm.
As for that Huo Wujiu …
The emperor had decreed the marriage. Even though the prince had never met him, he hated him to the core. The prince had transferred all his hatred for Pang Shao and the emperor onto Huo Wujiu. He only wished that Huo Wujiu would die suddenly in his residence and be dragged to a mass grave like those spies.
After all, to the prince, Huo Wujiu was a symbol of the emperor's wanton humiliation. As long as Huo Wujiu was in his residence, it meant that he was trampled under the feet of the good-for-nothing he had always looked down on.
Therefore, Xu Du could tell that Gu Changyun's suggestion was a test.
Gu Changyun put down his teacup.
"What can you tell? Wasn't the prince the one who came just now? "
His tone was light. As he spoke, he took out a chessboard and two chess baskets from under the table. One was black and the other was white. He placed one of them beside Xu Du's hand.
"Anyway, the lives of my family are in the prince's hands." As Gu Changyun spoke, his hands moved the chess pieces slowly.
"As long as we obey the prince, we don't have to worry about anything else, right?"
As he spoke, he placed a chess piece on the chessboard and looked up at Xu Du.
That pair of delicate and beautiful eyes were so cold that they could see the bottom, but they flickered with a bit of excitement.
— —
Jiang Suzhou was swayed by the two's words. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to go to Huo Wujiu's residence.
After all, the spies sent by the concubines were not only endless, but the more they were killed, the more suspicious they became. Moreover, he was a modern man.. he could not kill them...
........
On the way, Jiang Suizhou was extremely upset.
. He hated himself for speaking too harshly.
Last night, he had warned Huo Wujiu not to be an eyesore. Today, he rushed to their residence to be an eyesore.
He had not even seen Huo Wujiu, but he was already feeling embarrassed for himself.
The carriage traveled for a long time until it reached a courtyard with waning lights.
Jiang Suzhou sat in the carriage. He only glanced at it briefly before looking away.
The courtyard next to it was dark, but there was a faint light. It must be a servant's room.
Unexpectedly, the carriage stopped in front of the courtyard.
Jiang Suzhou looked to the side and saw Meng Qianshan coming up to him with a smile. Meng Qianshan wanted to help him down the carriage.
Jiang Suzhou walked down the carriage and asked with a frown, "We're here?"
Meng Qianshan nodded quickly, "We're here! This is the courtyard that the prince specifically ordered for Mrs. Huo. Has the prince forgotten? "
Jiang Suizhou stood still and raised his head to take a look.
From afar, the courtyard blended in with the surrounding houses. There was nothing special about it.
But when he stood closer, he saw that the courtyard was barren. There were weeds everywhere. A few untrimmed trees grew fiercely in the courtyard. The ground was covered with a layer of leaves that had fallen from last year's autumn.
Through the faint light coming through the window, he could vaguely see the broken window frames and window paper fluttering in the breeze.
.. How could this be a place to live!
He chased him to the most remote corner of the prince's residence and gave him such a run-down room. It was obvious that the original owner of the body wished that Huo Wujiu would never appear in front of him again. He even deliberately made things difficult for him so that he would not have a good life in the prince's residence.
Although the original owner of the body struggled in Nanjing, it was limited to fighting for power with the successor and Pang Shao. To him, Huo Wujiu was a traitor, an enemy that he would never consider roping in.
— — How could he know what Huo Wujiu would do three years later?
Jiang Suzhou's emotions were complicated. He could not help but thank his two "concubines" in his heart.
If they had not come in time today, he would have taken the blame of the original owner of the body and been marked down in Huo Wujiu's account.
He sighed in his heart and said, "I just mentioned it casually. I don't remember."
As he spoke, he walked into the courtyard.
Meng Qianshan, who was beside him, clicked his tongue in wonder.
How could he not remember? A few days ago, when he asked the prince where Mrs. Huo lived, the prince's eyes were frighteningly cold. He specifically told him to throw Huo Wujiu away so that he would not see him.
But …
Recalling the prince's expression in the morning, Meng Qianshan understood.
The prince used to hate Mrs. Huo because he had never seen her face.
Now that the prince and Mrs. Huo had spent the night together, his attitude had changed this morning. The disgust from before naturally did not count in the face of such doting …
Meng Qianshan trotted behind Jiang Suzhou.
Not only was the courtyard low, but the residence's running water was also brought in from here. As soon as Jiang Suzhou entered the courtyard, he could clearly feel the dampness and coldness. Even the wind blowing on his body was a few degrees colder.
… … His sickly body was too sensitive.
He walked straight to the room in the middle, but there was no one in the corridor.
Before he could say anything, Meng Qianshan spoke first.He raised his voice and said, "Where are the people in this courtyard?"
A moment later, two maids rushed out from the side room. It looked like they had already gone to bed.
When they saw them, their faces were filled with shock and fear. They hurried over and knelt in front of Jiang Suzhou, "… … Your Highness!"
Jiang Suzhou frowned.
Although he was not used to the concept of hierarchy in ancient times, he knew that he had to do his job after receiving his salary. He could not bully his employer.
They were clearly bullying Huo Wujiu.
Meng Qianshan saw his expression and said sternly, "Why is there not even a night guard at the door? You just left your master to sleep like this? Did I send you here to serve the mistress or to be your masters? "
The two maids did not dare to raise their heads. They kept kowtowing and apologizing.
Jiang Suzhou raised his hand and rubbed his temples.
He knew that in the unofficial history, the original owner of this body died not only because he had a poor will to live, but also because everyone in the residence was flattering the strong and stepping on the weak. They wanted him to form a deep grudge with Huo Wujiu.
He waved his hand and said, "Take care of it." Then he turned and went into the room.
Meng Qianshan quickly agreed and said, "Come, drag the two of them away. Give them a beating first. Tomorrow, return them to the slave trader along with the slave contract. Sell them to wherever they should be sold!"
The two maids cried as they were dragged away.
Jiang Suzhou did not have time to care about them.
Because as soon as he entered the room, he choked and coughed violently.
There was dust everywhere and it had already filled the air.Jiang Suzhou only took a breath before he felt that his weak lungs had been hit hard. He coughed until he could not tell north from south as tears filled his eyes.
The servants following behind him were frightened. They hurriedly followed him in, helping him and pouring tea. But there was not even a place to sit in the room. There was only half a pot of cold water in the pot on the table.
Everyone was in a mess. In the midst of the chaos, Jiang Suzhou could vaguely hear the sound of a wheelchair. It was extremely low and muffled, but it was soon drowned out by the noise of the crowd.
He was helped to sit down on the side. After coughing for a long time, he took a cup of hot tea that the servants had painstakingly found to suppress his coughing.
Only then did he open his teary eyes and see Huo Wujiu sitting diagonally in front of him. Huo Wujiu was tilting his head to look at him.
His dark eyes were like a whirlpool.
He could not help but cough a few more times. Physical tears fell from his eyes.
As his tears fell, Jiang Suzhou also saw Huo Wujiu clearly.
He did not know if it was an illusion, but those gloomy eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of fog.
But in the next moment, those eyes looked away and did not look at him again.
Jiang Suzhou naturally did not know how pitiful his appearance was in the other person's eyes.
A sickly man who was too cold, beautiful, and weak. His eyes were red, his eyelashes were teary, and he was wrapped in a thick cloak. When he looked at others with teary eyes, he looked a little deplorable.
Jiang Suzhou was completely unaware. After he finished coughing, he adjusted the cloak that Meng Qianshan had wrapped around him. He sat up straight and said calmly, "Meng Qianshan, is this what you meant by 'arranged'?"
He was now clear-headed from his coughing. He knew that he had to throw the blame away first before he could make the decision to change Huo Wujiu's residence.
When Meng Qianshan heard this, he did not care about anything else. He admitted his guilt in a trembling voice, "This humble one was negligent! This humble one was negligent! Tomorrow … Ah no, immediately! This humble one will immediately get someone to prepare another courtyard for Madam Huo to move in! "
Jiang Suzhou grunted and took another sip of tea.
He thought to himself that it would be best if she moved closer to him. After all, he had just accepted the advice of the two aides. These days, he would have to go to Huo Wujiu frequently …
He stopped drinking his tea.
Wasn't there a lot of empty rooms in the Hidden Peace Hall where he lived?
He could see Huo Wujiu every day and prevent others from secretly bullying him. He also had a way to sneak back to his room to sleep. If this news reached the ears of the successor and Pang Shao, they would be able to achieve their goal … Was there anything better than this?!
Jiang Suzhou's eyes lit up.
He put down his teacup and said lightly.
"There's no need to prepare," he said. "Just move to my place."
For a moment, the servants who heard this were stunned.
Jiang Suzhou, however, did not move.
In any case, he didn't need to explain his decision as the Manor Head to them. He only needed to pretend to be unfathomable and that would be enough.
However …
He turned his gaze as if nothing had happened and carefully glanced at Huo Wujiu from the corner of his eyes.
But he was stunned.
He saw that under the dim light, Huo Wujiu's complexion was not normal.
He was not listening to him at all. One of his arms was supporting himself on the armrest of his wheelchair. He raised his hand to support his lowered head with difficulty.
… Was he sick?