The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 45

Sheng’er, are you hurt?

Xiao Bingying sensed that Zhao Jiayu had gotten angry, and guessed why her mother had sent Xiao Yaocai over. If even Zhao Jiayu had realized it, then Lin Xizhao naturally knew as well.

Xiao Yaocai was a bit younger than them, but his marriage was also not yet settled. Xiao Bingying looked toward Lin Xizhao, apology in her gaze.

Whether it was Lin Xizhao, or the emotionally slow-to-react Qu Sheng, Xiao Yaocai was not worthy of either of them.

Not because of family background, but because of character.

Lin Xizhao looked at Xiao Bingying, the corners of her eyes curving slightly, not minding at all. Xiao Yaocai was Xiao Bingying’s younger brother, and also Zhao Jiayu’s younger cousin. It was just a meal; she would simply treat him as a younger brother.

When Xiao Yaocai heard his older cousin’s fierce tone, he mumbled, “It’s not like I wanted to come.” Xiao Yaocai had self-awareness, but he also harbored a fluke of luck in his heart¹.

He couldn’t climb up to Lin Xizhao, but Qu Sheng was a fool, and her looks weren’t bad. If he could marry her and bring her home, he would gain the Qu family’s support, and no one would control him—what was there to not be happy about?

Hearing Zhao Jiayu’s words now, although he lost face, he still wanted to stay.

Xiao Yaocai sat there without moving. Zhao Jiayu shot him another sideways glance and was about to speak when Lin Xizhao cut in, “Jiayu, Bingying hasn’t had a single bite of food yet. Let her eat something before drinking.”

Lin Xizhao expressed that she didn’t mind. It was Xiao Bingying’s first time hosting guests in her residence, so it wouldn’t be good to make things too tense; after all, this was also Xiao Yaocai’s home. She could let her own younger brother join them for a meal, so how could she not allow Xiao Bingying’s younger brother to do the same?

Hearing Lin Xizhao’s words, Zhao Jiayu suppressed the anger she was about to unleash and sat down, starting to eat without a care for anything else.

Xiao Bingying exchanged a look with Lin Xizhao, saw the gentleness in her eyes, and also sat down.

During the meal, no one spoke. Only Lin Xizhao would occasionally feed Qu Sheng.

“Has Sheng-meimei always been like this?” Xiao Yaocai had heard before that Qu Sheng couldn’t manage to eat by herself. Now, watching Lin Xizhao feed Qu Sheng, he blinked his eyes and asked doubtfully.

“None of your business. Eat your food,” Zhao Jiayu retorted irritably.

Xiao Yaocai wasn’t afraid of much, but he was afraid of this biaojie² of his. She showed no mercy at all. Even though his father’s current official rank was much higher than his uncle-in-law’s, he didn’t dare to offend her. On top of that, he had heard today that she was engaged to the fourth young master of the Marquis Qu Residence, which made him feel even less confident.

Hearing this, Lin Xizhao smiled and glanced at Qu Sheng, then looked back at Xiao Yaocai and replied, “Sheng-meimei can eat by herself. It’s just that I want to feed her right now.”

It wasn’t just that she wanted to feed her; Qu Sheng also wanted to be fed.

Listening to Lin Xizhao’s explanation, Xiao Yaocai smiled, raised his wine cup, and said, “Xizhao-jie, I’ll toast you.”

Hearing this, Lin Xizhao looked up at him, raised her cup, clinked it with his across the space between them, and took a small sip.

Zhao Jiayu’s gaze flickered toward Xiao Yaocai, then she met Lin Xizhao’s eyes. Lin Xizhao shook her head at her, so Zhao Jiayu dropped her ugly expression, picked up a cup of wine, and said to Xiao Bingying, “Ajie³, let’s have a drink.”

Hearing this, Xiao Bingying put down her chopsticks, picked up the wine cup before her, clinked it lightly with Zhao Jiayu’s, and drank it down. Seeing her finish it, Zhao Jiayu quickly took the wine pot and refilled her cup.

Zhao Jiayu’s head was a straight line⁴; after eating for a while, she forgot the earlier unpleasantness and started playing huaquan⁵ with Xiao Bingying. Now that Xiao Yaocai was there too, she pulled him in to play as well.

Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng never participated. The two of them drank as they pleased, and Zhao Jiayu would never try to force them into a drinking competition.

“Hey, you lost again! Biaodi’s⁶ hand luck isn’t good today, huh.” Zhao Jiayu got into the game, planting one foot directly on her chair. When she played huaquan with Xiao Yaocai, her presence was in no way inferior to a man’s.

“Biaojie, you’re not producing an old thousand⁷ when you play huaquan, are you?” When Xiao Yaocai played against Zhao Jiayu, he lost eight times out of ten. He didn’t know if his luck was just bad, or if Zhao Jiayu was really that good.

“Let’s play with dice.” When Xiao Yaocai was idle, he would also go gambling, but he never played for high stakes. His vices were all focused on women.

The moment Zhao Jiayu heard “play with dice,” she became even more energetic than before. “Sure! But just drinking won’t do. We need to have some stakes.”

“Bet what?” Xiao Yaocai looked completely confident.

“Money, of course. Two liang⁸ for a loss.”

“Two liang?” Xiao Yaocai was a little surprised.

“What, you think it’s too little?” Zhao Jiayu gave Xiao Yaocai a disdainful look.

Hearing this, Xiao Yaocai laughed, “I heard Biaojie only gets four liang of silver for your monthly allowance. If you lose it all, don’t you go crying from the nose⁹.”

“What’s with all the nonsense? Are you betting or not?” Zhao Jiayu said, raising her hand. Xiao Yaocai was no match for her and quickly ducked, covering his head.

“Ten liang a round. If I lose, it’s on Ajie. If I win, it’s mine.”

“Ajie only gets one liang of monthly allowance. Are you trying to make her cry?” Xiao Yaocai laughed even harder when he heard Zhao Jiayu’s unreasonable words.

“Who says I’m definitely going to lose? Hurry up and get the dice,” Zhao Jiayu said scornfully.

Xiao Yaocai had someone fetch the dice, and he and Zhao Jiayu moved to a small table.

The meal was more or less finished. Although Zhao Jiayu hadn’t had her fill of wine, the thought of winning until Xiao Yaocai cried made her face break into a secret, gleeful smile.

The two of them played dice at the table. At first, there were wins and losses, but later on, Xiao Yaocai would lose four or five rounds before winning one. After he had lost two hundred liang of silver, Zhao Jiayu changed the rules.

“Don’t say your biaojie didn’t give you a chance. Let’s raise the stakes. You’ve lost a total of two hundred liang to me. I’ll put in another two hundred, for a total of four hundred liang. If you win, all four hundred are yours. If you lose, just consider it you being filial to your biaojie. What do you think?” Zhao Jiayu said, fiddling with the two hundred liang in yinpiao¹⁰ in her hand while glancing at Xiao Yaocai, who was staring intently at the dice cup.

Lin Xizhao had once said that anyone who gambles will always harbor a fluke of luck in their heart.

One round to win it all back—he would definitely agree. And she had even added another two hundred liang, which would only make his desire to take the risk even stronger.

“Really?” Xiao Yaocai raised his head and looked at Zhao Jiayu, afraid she was setting some kind of trap for him. “No backing out. Ajie and Xizhao-jie are both watching.”

Xiao Bingying and Lin Xizhao had been sitting together talking about unimportant things. Hearing Xiao Yaocai’s words, they both looked over. Only Qu Sheng, sitting beside them, had been watching with great interest the entire time.

Zhao Jiayu glanced at Qu Sheng, then cleared her throat theatrically. “Of course. When have I, your biaojie, ever gone back on my word?”

“Alright then, let’s re—”

“Hey, but this round doesn’t count,” Zhao Jiayu cut off Xiao Yaocai before he could say they should start a new round.

Hearing Zhao Jiayu’s words, Xiao Yaocai’s eyes filled with doubt, but in the next moment he said, “How can that be? People say in chess, once a piece is placed, there are no regrets. Our dice have already landed on the table, how can we regret it? We’ll open this one.”

“If I say it doesn’t count, it doesn’t count. We just changed the rules, so of course the dice have to be re-rolled,” Zhao Jiayu said, adopting the authoritative air of an older sister toward her younger brother.

“Biaojie, you can’t be so unreasonable.”

“Reasonable? In all these years, have you ever been reasonable with me?” Zhao Jiayu shot back.

“How about this? I’ll add to the stakes. An extra hundred liang. If I win, I’ll give you another hundred on top of that. If you lose, you don’t have to add anything,” Xiao Yaocai said, mimicking the way Zhao Jiayu had just raised the stakes.

Hearing this, Zhao Jiayu lowered her eyes and calculated for a moment, then asked, “Did you call big or small just now?”

“Big.”

Zhao Jiayu thought again, then said, as if a little uncertain, “Then I’ll guess small.”

“Alright. You open it or I open it?” At this moment, Xiao Yaocai was confident he would win back all the money he had lost.

“You open it. Your hand luck stinks,” Zhao Jiayu said, lifting her chin slightly.

When Xiao Yaocai heard Zhao Jiayu tell him to open it, a triumphant smile spread across his face as he reached out and lifted the dice cup.

“Hey, three-three-four, small!” Zhao Jiayu looked at the three dice on the table, which added up to ten, and immediately held out her hand to Xiao Yaocai. “A bet’s a bet, you have to admit defeat. Hand over the money.”

Xiao Yaocai stared wide-eyed at the dice on the table, now filled with regret that he hadn’t listened to Zhao Jiayu and re-rolled.

“Ahem, you wait. I’ll go get the money.” Xiao Yaocai had lost all the money he’d had someone bring over earlier, but he still had some extra silver his mother had given him.

“Waiting for you. Hurry up,” Zhao Jiayu urged.

As soon as Xiao Yaocai left the room, Zhao Jiayu excitedly tried to hug Qu Sheng, but just as she got close and reached out, Qu Sheng stood up and walked to Lin Xizhao’s side.

“Hey, I’m not even allowed a hug anymore.” Zhao Jiayu didn’t just want to hug her, she wanted to kiss her too, for helping her win so much money.

Watching Qu Sheng approach, Lin Xizhao straightened her dress for her, her eyes curving as she said softly, “Not again.”

Zhao Jiayu had been able to win just now entirely because of Qu Sheng’s hints from the side. She had played like this before at the Prime Minister Lin Residence; the person she had fleeced that time was Xiao Bingying.

Lin Xizhao had only discovered by chance that Qu Sheng was extremely sensitive to the sound of dice landing on a table. She didn’t know who had taught her, but she had carefully explained the dangers of gambling to her and warned her to never get involved.

Today there was a reason for it. Zhao Jiayu had been relentlessly giving her and Qu Sheng meaningful looks, so Lin Xizhao hadn’t stopped Qu Sheng from helping Zhao Jiayu.

When Xiao Yaocai returned, he held out the silver with a reluctant expression and asked tentatively, “Biaojie, you really want it?”

“Hand it over.” Zhao Jiayu snatched it away and began counting the yinpiao, muttering, “Haven’t you heard that the gambling table does not recognize its six relations¹¹?”

Zhao Jiayu finished counting the yinpiao, looked up with a smile, untied the hebao¹² money pouch from her waist, and put the notes inside.

“We’ve eaten, we’ve drunk, let’s call it a day. Biaodi, you can go back now.” As soon as she took the money, Zhao Jiayu started trying to get rid of him.

Hearing this, Xiao Yaocai asked, “We’re not playing anymore?”

“Haven’t you heard it’s ten gambles, nine losses¹³? If we keep gambling, I’m bound to lose.” Zhao Jiayu tapped Xiao Yaocai’s forehead with her finger. “Get going, you.”

Hearing that Zhao Jiayu wanted him to leave, Xiao Yaocai quickly said, “I just sent someone to call for songstresses and dancing girls. They’ll be here in a moment.”

When Zhao Jiayu heard that Xiao Yaocai had invited songstresses and dancing girls, her eyes immediately lit up.

Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yaocai continued, “I haven’t congratulated Biaojie on her upcoming marriage yet. Let’s consider today my congratulations to you.”

Zhao Jiayu shot him a glance, dismissing her original intention to make him leave. Yesterday at the restaurant, she had only enjoyed elegant music. Today, there would be both song and dance; she had to admit the kid knew how to make things happen¹⁴.

Xiao Yaocai had people move all the tables out of the room and rearrange the seating. A short while later, several young women came in carrying musical instruments.

The music began to play, and the one holding the pipa¹⁵ started to sing a little tune. The tune was melodious, and Zhao Jiayu listened with great relish, even starting to hum along.

Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng sat together, also enjoying the performance. After a few songs were sung, a group of dancing girls entered the room, fluttering in from outside.

On such a deep winter day, although the girls’ clothing wasn’t revealing, it was certainly thin. It was a good thing there was a stove lit inside the room.

Lin Xizhao was very appreciative of these dancing girls. It was clear they weren’t just perfunctorily dancing; these girls must have been training since they were children.

Qu Sheng glanced up a few times. The girls’ dancing was beautiful, yes, but it lacked the charm of Lin Xizhao’s dancing. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what the feeling was, but it just wasn’t as beautiful as Lin Xizhao’s.

Everyone in the hall was making their own silent judgments, but one person had no heart to watch these dancing girls. Xiao Bingying was a little worried that Xiao Yaocai would call over Chengxi¹⁶, who was sick in bed.

She had never seen Chengxi dance, but she had heard from servants who had that even the experienced dancing girls of the Jiaofang Court were not her equal.

Every time Xiao Yaocai hosted his friends, he would have someone drag Chengxi over, and always saved her for last.

Several dancing girls finished their dance and withdrew, but the elegant music continued.

Zhao Jiayu, who had been sitting, stood up, glanced toward the door, and asked, “Is there more?”

Xiao Yaocai looked up at Zhao Jiayu, reached out to tug her sleeve, and said slowly with a mysterious expression, “Biaojie, sit down first. Don’t be impatient.”

Seeing Xiao Yaocai being deliberately mysterious, Zhao Jiayu scoffed at him and sat back down. “Who is it that’s so mysterious?”

Xiao Yaocai just smiled and said nothing. A moment later, a woman with an enchanting and graceful figure, her face covered by a veil, entered from outside. As she entered, the music changed, becoming more urgent.

Zhao Jiayu watched the dancing girl. Her movements were fluid, yet they never lost their softness. Zhao Jiayu’s gaze followed the dancer’s turning body, and her heart filled with admiration.

Lin Xizhao was also captivated. She had never seen a dance that was such a perfect blend of hardness and softness. Qu Sheng glanced over, then looked sideways at Lin Xizhao, who was staring at the dancer without blinking. She deliberately reached out and moved her hand toward the teacup in front of Lin Xizhao.

Lin Xizhao noticed Qu Sheng’s hand reaching over, pulled back her gaze, and glanced down. Then she turned to look at Qu Sheng and asked in a low voice, “Are you thirsty?”

Qu Sheng nodded. Lin Xizhao pressed down on her hand and said, “It’s a little cold. I’ll add some hot water for you.” No longer caring about appreciating the dancer’s performance, Lin Xizhao mixed the water for Qu Sheng and handed it to her.

Watching Qu Sheng drink the tea, she asked again, “Do you want more?”

Qu Sheng shook her head. Seeing this, Lin Xizhao took the teacup back and looked up again toward the dancing girl.

Lin Xizhao had lowered her head to pour tea for Qu Sheng. When she looked up again, she discovered that the dancer’s gaze was fixed on Xiao Bingying.

And Xiao Bingying was also staring back at her, her expression somewhat unnatural.

Lin Xizhao lowered her eyes for a moment. When she looked up, her gaze met the dancer’s just as the dancer was pulling her eyes away from Xiao Bingying. After that brief moment of eye contact, she suddenly felt that this woman’s eyes bore a striking resemblance to her dance.

When the dance ended and the dancer bowed her head in a salute, Zhao Jiayu mimicked the way people watching opera do and called out, “Good.”

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhao Jiayu. Being stared at, Zhao Jiayu seemed a bit embarrassed and quickly explained, “Um, shouldn’t we give some reward money?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yaocai lowered his head and chuckled. The embarrassment on Zhao Jiayu’s face deepened, and she kicked him under the table. “The young lady’s dance is so good. We have no other intentions, just pure appreciation. This little bit…” As she spoke, Zhao Jiayu lowered her head and fumbled in her hebao, taking out a piece of silver. Feeling it was too little, she took out a few more pieces, then stood up, walked over, and pressed them into the dancer’s hand.

“Don’t think it’s too little.” These people were invited here, so naturally they came for money. Zhao Jiayu stuffed the silver into the dancer’s hand and gave a simple, honest laugh.

The dancer was forced to accept the reward money from Zhao Jiayu. She glanced down at it, then bowed to Zhao Jiayu again.

“You may go,” Xiao Yaocai said, raising a hand to dismiss the dancer.

Hearing this, the dancer bowed again and turned to leave.

Lin Xizhao’s gaze, which was on the dancer, suddenly filled with a trace of alarm, because she saw that the dancer’s body seemed unable to support itself, showing signs of collapsing at any moment.

Before Lin Xizhao could be sure, the dancer took two steps and her entire body crumpled.

Xiao Bingying, as if she had sensed it long ago, braced herself on the table in front of her, vaulted over it, and caught the dancer just before she hit the ground, calling out nervously, “Miss Chengxi?”

Xiao Yaocai watched Chengxi half-collapse to the floor and Xiao Bingying rush to support her. Not only did he show no sympathy, but he frowned and muttered about what a jinx¹⁷ it was.

Zhao Jiayu was stunned for a moment when she heard Xiao Bingying call out Chengxi’s name. Then, hearing Xiao Yaocai’s talk of a jinx, she directly confronted him, “You’re the jinx! She’s already in this state, and you still made her come dance? Do you have any humanity?”

Being so bluntly rebuked by Zhao Jiayu, Xiao Yaocai’s face showed a look of confusion. He then mumbled, “Didn’t Biaojie just cheer and give her a reward? Now you’re blaming me for having no humanity. Why didn’t you say anything when you were watching?”

“You—” Zhao Jiayu was choked with anger. How was she supposed to know this dancer was Chengxi?

Xiao Yaocai knew that Chengxi was sick, but he couldn’t care less. As long as he was in the mood, if he wanted her to sing, she had to sing; if he wanted her to dance, she had to dance. His Xiao family did not support idle people.

Zhao Jiayu had lost all patience to deal with Xiao Yaocai. Seeing that he still wanted to talk back, she said bluntly, “SCRAM back to your own courtyard.”

Seeing Zhao Jiayu embarrass him in front of everyone, Xiao Yaocai also stood up in a huff and left.

The young women playing instruments in the room were now at a loss. They didn’t know whether to leave or stay, and all looked toward Xiao Bingying, who was still supporting Chengxi.

“You may all withdraw for now.” Lin Xizhao stood up and walked toward Chengxi and Xiao Bingying.

Hearing this, the musicians all bowed their heads in salute and withdrew. Lin Xizhao crouched down and watched as Xiao Bingying took Chengxi’s pulse, asking, “How is she?”

Hearing the question, Xiao Bingying replied, “Her body is too weak. Just now, she… she needs to rest.”

The moment Chengxi had entered, Xiao Bingying had recognized her. Her gaze had followed Chengxi’s figure the entire time, precisely because she was worried something like this would happen.

“Let’s get her back first.” Lin Xizhao took the changyi¹⁸ that Qu Sheng handed over and draped it over Chengxi.

In such a spacious room, it was definitely not as warm as a bedroom.

Hearing this, Xiao Bingying looked up at Zhao Jiayu, who was still standing there stunned and watching them. She then glanced down at the person in her arms, and after a moment’s thought, she lifted her up into her arms.

After leaving the room, Xiao Bingying glanced left and right. One way led out of the courtyard, to take Chengxi back to her own courtyard; the other way led to her own bedroom.

Seeking the closer option, Xiao Bingying didn’t want to let Chengxi suffer the wind and cold all the way back, so she walked toward her own bedroom.

Watching Xiao Bingying carry Chengxi away, Zhao Jiayu’s heart filled with self-blame. “If I had known it was Chengxi, you could have beaten me to death and I still wouldn’t have let her dance.”

Right now, it wasn’t just Zhao Jiayu; even Lin Xizhao felt a bad taste in her mouth. She had already heard that Chengxi was ill, and not lightly. To have her come and dance for them was truly forcing the issue, and if not handled well, it could leave her with a chronic illness.

Lin Xizhao didn’t try to comfort Zhao Jiayu. She turned her head to look at Qu Sheng, who was currently looking down, lost in thought.

“We should be leaving,” Lin Xizhao said to Zhao Jiayu.

They had disturbed them for so long, and now Chengxi had fainted from dancing. They couldn’t be of any help here, and staying would only distract Xiao Bingying.

“Okay.” Zhao Jiayu nodded in agreement. As she turned, she looked back again. “Wait, I’ll go tell Ajie.”

Lin Xizhao nodded. After watching Zhao Jiayu leave the room, she looked toward Qu Sheng.

Qu Sheng looked up and saw Lin Xizhao looking at her. She obediently walked over and held out her hand for Lin Xizhao to take.

The two of them left the room and stood in the courtyard. Zhao Jiayu came out of Xiao Bingying’s bedroom, but before she could reach Lin Xizhao and Qu Sheng, Xiao Bingying chased after her.

“Jiayu, I can’t accept this money.” Xiao Bingying was holding Zhao Jiayu’s hebao, wanting to return it to her.

Hearing this, Zhao Jiayu said, “I already said the wins and losses were all on you. How can there be a reason not to give you the money you won?”

Listening to Zhao Jiayu’s words that were meant to confuse the issue, Xiao Bingying said, “That’s not what you said earlier.” Losses were on her, but wins were Zhao Jiayu’s.

When they were losing at the beginning, Xiao Bingying had indeed paid out the silver.

“No way, you heard wrong. What’s given to you is yours,” Zhao Jiayu refused to listen to Xiao Bingying rehash what was said before and hurried to Lin Xizhao’s side.

Xiao Bingying chased after her. Seeing the hebao in her hand and recalling the conversation between the two sisters, Lin Xizhao said, “If Jiayu is giving it to you, you should take it. You might not need money, but Miss Chengxi still needs to take medicine.”

Xiao Bingying’s monthly allowance wasn’t much, and she had heard that this Miss Chengxi was sick every other day. She probably needed a lot of medicinal herbs.

Hearing the word “medicine,” Xiao Bingying subconsciously glanced back at her bedroom. That’s right, Chengxi needs medicine, very expensive medicinal herbs. If she had this medicine, her long-ailing body would surely recover much faster.

Xiao Bingying hesitated. She looked at Zhao Jiayu and said, “It’s too much money. I’ll just keep a little.”

“What do you mean, too much? This is all your Xiao Residence’s money. It’s not appropriate for me to keep it.” The reason Zhao Jiayu gave was a bit of a stretch. Several hundred liang of silver, all won from Xiao Yaocai—it was indeed the Xiao Residence’s money.

“Take it. When we have a small gathering next time, you can be the one to treat us,” Lin Xizhao said, persuading Xiao Bingying to accept it.

Xiao Bingying didn’t spend silver, but she truly didn’t have much on hand. Plus, hearing that she was helping Chengxi with her medical bills, she probably had very little left.

Hearing this, Xiao Bingying knew they meant well, but it was still too much money.

“Alright, just take it and spend it without worry. If I run out of money, I’ll ask you for some too. Ajie is my little private treasury.” Zhao Jiayu said playfully, trying to ease the burden on Xiao Bingying’s heart.

When she had gotten the idea to gamble today, it was because she wanted to give Xiao Bingying silver. In the past when she had offered, Xiao Bingying always refused. This time, it was all from her Xiao Residence, so it wouldn’t burn her hands to hold it. Besides, it was a windfall.

Under the two’s repeated persuasion, Xiao Bingying had no choice but to accept the silver.

Xiao Bingying saw them onto the carriage. After watching it drive away, she hurried back into the courtyard.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Jiayu recalled the moment in the room when Xiao Bingying had lifted Chengxi’s veil. For a split second, she had been stunned by her beauty.

She had originally thought that this princess from the Haichao Kingdom was probably not much to look at, otherwise she wouldn’t have been bestowed upon her biaodi. Who would have thought she would be such a beautiful and delicate lady?

“Xiao Sheng’er, who’s prettier, Xizhao or Miss Chengxi?” Zhao Jiayu asked Qu Sheng out of boredom, sitting inside the carriage.

Qu Sheng looked up at her and replied without the slightest hesitation, “Jiejie.”

Of course Lin Xizhao is prettier. Even if all the beauties in the world were before my eyes, only Lin Xizhao would be the most beautiful.

Hearing Zhao Jiayu teasing Qu Sheng again, Lin Xizhao smiled and reached out to take Qu Sheng’s hand. “We’re almost there. We won’t get out.”

Zhao Jiayu had been drinking, and Lin Xizhao didn’t feel at ease letting her take a carriage alone, so she had her ride with them.

Zhao Jiayu nodded. “Okay. You two be careful on the road later.”

Lin Xizhao nodded. A moment later, Zhao Jiayu got out of the carriage and waved at them. After Lin Xizhao lowered the carriage curtain, her expression darkened.

Zhao Jiayu had told her today that the Imperial Noble Consort¹⁹ and the Earl of Yongshen were both out. She hadn’t forgotten.

“Jiejie.” Seeing Lin Xizhao’s low spirits, Qu Sheng called out to her softly.

Hearing her, Lin Xizhao raised her head. Looking into Qu Sheng’s worried eyes, she pulled at the corners of her lips and reached up to stroke her fair cheek.

“It’s nothing, don’t—” worry about me.

Before Lin Xizhao could finish her sentence, she was pulled by Qu Sheng, and they tumbled onto the floorboards of the carriage. Several arrows pierced through the carriage walls, instantly turning it into a hornet’s nest²⁰.

And the page boy outside had already been thrown from the carriage.

The floor of the Marquis Qu Residence’s carriage was reinforced with hidden plates; without mechanical force, they couldn’t be pierced. Lin Xizhao stared at the arrows studding the carriage, her startled soul just settling. She ran her hands over Qu Sheng’s body, her voice trembling slightly as she asked, “Sheng’er, are you hurt?”

---

The author has something to say:

Qu Sheng: “Are you childish or not, asking me a question like that? Of course my wife is the most beautiful.”

Zhao Jiayu: “……”

---

---