Jiang Suzhou called the manservant to the side. Seeing that there was no one around, he spoke.
"What's your name?" He asked.
The manservant hurriedly wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Your Highness, my name is Sun Yuan."
Jiang Suzhou nodded slightly and gave him a few simple instructions.
He simply told him to serve Huo Jinyao carefully and not to make any mistakes.
The manservant looked like an honest and timid person. When he listened to Huo Jinyao, he pinched the corner of his clothes.
Jiang Suzhou observed his every move.
This honest and honest person was suitable.
After a pause, Jiang Suzhou asked, "Since you served Madam Huo yesterday, did anyone ask you to bring her anything?"
Sun Yuan was stunned. Then, a look of panic appeared on his face as he waved his hands.
"No … no!"
That meant there was.
Jiang Suizhou thought about it and understood. Although Huo Wujiu was from Beiliang, his father was a general in Nanjing. There were some people in the imperial court who were involved with him. It wasn't strange for one or two to do something secretly.
Jiang Suzhou nodded, "Even if there was, I won't punish you."
Sun Yuan hurriedly said, "Your Highness, someone asked me to bring a letter, but I refused!"
Jiang Suzhou tried his best to put on a pleasant expression and said calmly, "So you did?"
Sun Yuan was so scared that his legs turned to jelly.
He knew that something must have happened when Huo Jinyao suddenly came looking for him! Who didn't know what kind of person Madam Huo was? How could he dare to write a letter for her? He didn't expect Huo Jinyao to guess it. Regardless of whether he helped to deliver the letter or not, he would be killed …
The calmer Huo Jinyao's voice was, the more sinister it felt like a storm was coming. Sun Yuan was so scared that his legs turned to jelly.
"There was … but I definitely didn't …"
"The next time someone sends a letter, just give it to Madam Huo. You don't have to report it," Jiang Suzhou said.
After all, Huo Wujiu wasn't stupid. If the letter could be delivered to him so easily in Jiang Suzhou's courtyard, Huo Wujiu must have known that someone was going easy on him.
However, Sun Yuan, who was halfway through his sentence, was dumbfounded.
"I definitely wouldn't … Huh?" His face was full of disbelief.
Jiang Suzhou paused and put on a cold and serious expression again.
"Just do as you're told. Don't tell anyone," he said.
"If you leak even the slightest bit of information … you should know the consequences."
— —
After threatening Sun Yuan, Jiang left with his hands behind his back.
His room was currently in a mess. It was all Meng Qianshan's fault. Jiang Suzhou walked closer to take a look and felt a headache coming on. When he thought about Huo Wujiu sitting in the room, he didn't want to go back.
He immediately decided to leave the room and hide in the study for a while.
With that in mind, he calmly walked up the steps and was about to go around the corridor to the study.
But at that moment, he caught a glimpse of Huo Wujiu in the room from the corner of his eyes.
In the hustle and bustle of people coming and going, he was the most out of place. He sat in a wheelchair in the corner and didn't say a word.
He was good-looking, but his eyes were a little fierce. Every time he looked at people, their hearts would skip a beat.
But at this moment, he lowered his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something. His long eyelashes covered the fierce look in his eyes. For a moment, he seemed to be very quiet. He was clearly excluded from the world around him.
Jiang Suzhou stopped in his tracks.
At that moment, a maid carrying a box passed by Huo Wujiu. She wasn't careful and kicked Huo Wujiu's wheelchair.
Huo Wujiu only swayed slightly, but the maid staggered and almost dropped the box.
The maid stood still and complained in a moderate voice, "Why are you in the way? Don't you know to sit further away?"
As she spoke, she gave Huo Wujiu a glare and walked away.
Jiang Suzhou frowned.
He was about to walk to the study, but his footsteps turned uncontrollably. He stepped over the threshold of the main room and walked in.
"What did you just say?" He asked with a frown.
How could these people, whose names he didn't even know, cause trouble for him? He had been thinking of ways to curry favor with Huo Wujiu in secret, but this group of people actually dared to bully him openly?
The servants in the room were all taken aback and looked in Jiang Suizhou's direction.
They saw Jiang Suzhou's cold gaze fall on the maid.
The maid carrying the box was shocked. When she saw Jiang Suzhou looking at her, she immediately knew that he had heard her words. She didn't dare to refute. She hugged the box and knelt in front of Jiang Suzhou.
He looked down at the maid and said coldly, "Do you know your mistake?"
The maid nodded repeatedly.
Jiang Suzhou continued to ask, "Who should you apologize to?"
The maid quickly put down the box and kneeled in front of Huo Wujiu. She kowtowed to him and said, "I was rude. Please forgive me, Madam!"
Huo Wujiu sat there, his body turned sideways. He didn't even lift his eyes, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him.
Jiang Suzhou paused for a moment.
He knew that the maidservant should be punished for saying such things. But …
At this time, Meng Qianshan wasn't by his side. He was new here and didn't know what rules the prefectural magistrate usually used to punish servants. He didn't know how much he should pay. As a modern person, he couldn't order her to kneel or be beaten.
After thinking for a moment, he said indifferently, "Go find Meng Qianshan and receive your punishment."
The maid hurriedly bowed to him and said, "Yes."
Jiang Suzhou saw that the servants in the room were silent and didn't dare to make a sound. He thought that his reprimand was effective. At least the servants in this courtyard wouldn't dare to bully Huo Wujiu.
He sighed in relief, turned around, and left.
He did what he had to do. Now, he was going to the study to enjoy the happy time without Huo Wujiu.
However, he didn't see that after he left, the maid kneeling on the ground showed an unwilling expression.
Her name was Taozhi. Originally, in this room, she was highly regarded by the prince. Other than Meng Qianshan, she was the second person to serve the prince.
She didn't expect that because of this cripple, she would be reprimanded by her master and lose face.
However, although her master had reprimanded her and made such a big mistake, he didn't punish her personally.It seemed that her master pitied her and just happened to overhear and give her a few words of advice.
She raised her head and glanced coldly at Huo Wujiu.
It was all because of this cripple.
Jiang Suzhou didn't see how cold Huo Wujiu's gaze was under his lowered eyelashes as he sat in the corner.
When Jiang Suzhou walked out of the room, Huo Wujiu raised his head and glanced coldly at him.
He only thought that Imperial Prince Jing was ridiculous.
If he wanted to send someone to spy on him, he could have just done it. Why did he have to pretend to protect him in front of him?
… He even stayed by his bed all night to put on an act.
There was no need for that.
— —
Soon, night fell and it was time for dinner.
As soon as the prince entered the study, he asked everyone to leave, including the eunuchs in Qianshan.However, this wasn't unusual. Usually, when the prince was busy, he didn't like to be disturbed by others.
Now that there was another master in the room, although the prince didn't come out of the study, dinner was still being prepared in the small kitchen.
Not long after, someone came to deliver a message.
"They said that two officials would like to invite the prince to dinner today. The prince won't be eating in the mansion today," the servant said.
Meng Qianshan was waiting outside the study, so Taozhi was in charge of the room. The maidservants all looked at her, only to see her look around, and finally, her gaze landed on Huo Wujiu in disdain.
He was sitting under the window, reading a book in his hand.
"Then what are you waiting for? Set the table," she said coldly. "The prince won't be eating in the mansion today. Are we going to let the master in this room starve?"
No one dared to provoke her. Hearing this, everyone busied themselves.
Sun Yuan, who was waiting by Huo Wujiu's side, saw this and quickly came forward to push Huo Wujiu's wheelchair to the table.
Huo Wujiu didn't say anything and put the book to the side.
Only he knew how much he didn't like to read.
Ever since he was young, he was annoyed by the sight of words. If he wasn't skipping class to ride a horse in the army camp, he would think of ways to torture his teachers for fun. When he was seven or eight years old, he angered two teachers and drove them away. Yangguan was remote and it was difficult to find a teacher. His father was so angry that he chased after him with a horsewhip every day.
Even now, he still felt a headache from reading a book. But it was funny that he couldn't do anything other than flip through the books that gave him a headache.
Huo Wujiu glanced at the book.
Seeing him put down the book, Sun Yuan pushed the wheelchair and pushed him to the table.
There were already several dishes on the table. Tao Zhi had also spoken, so the piping hot dishes were brought in one after another. Because it was prepared according to Jiang Suizhou, the dinner was very rich and exquisite. Under the bright lights of the hall, it gave off a tempting steam.
Tao Zhi stood to the side and watched, her face as cold as ice.
She was born beautiful. When she first came to the prince's mansion, even the slave trader said that if she was lucky, she might be able to become a concubine. She would be able to go from being a servant to a master.
Step by step, she climbed to her current position. But she didn't expect that her master only liked men.
What was so good about men? Even if it was a man, it was fine if it was someone like Madam Gu. But this tall and big cripple in front of her, how could he squeeze into her master's back courtyard!
Because she had lost face this afternoon, the more Tao Zhi looked at Huo Wujiu, the more she disliked him.
What was the use of being beautiful? What was the use of being a general? Her legs were crippled, but she still had to serve men in other people's back courtyard. Tao Zhi thought bitterly in her heart.
At this moment, a servant girl came in with a bowl of soup. When she stepped over the threshold, she was careless and almost spilled the soup.
… In any case, the prince wasn't here tonight.
Tao Zhi walked forward with a cold face and took the bowl of soup.
"Why are you so careless?" She glared at the servant girl.
The servant girl apologized profusely.
Tao Zhi glared at her, then turned around and walked to the table with the bowl of soup.
In the next moment, she deliberately bumped into the table. The bowl of boiling hot soup was tipped over by her and poured onto Huo Wujiu's legs.