Chapter 070: Bitter Cold At Year’s End

Xei Wei stared at her for a long time.

Jiang Xuening felt his gaze was somewhat cold.

Xei Wei asked, “Does Yan Lin know?”

Although he had never asked directly, Jiang Xuening could guess that Xei Wei knew about her relationship with Yan Lin, or rather, Yan Lin’s feelings for her. Initially, she thought he was meddling too much, but recalling the suspicions You Fangyin had mentioned in her previous life, she felt that if those suspicions were true, it was understandable for Xei Wei to care about this matter.

As for Yan Lin…

He probably didn’t know that she liked Zhang Zhe, after all, she had only been reborn for a short time. But that day at Cengxiao Tower, even though she didn’t say those words out loud, Yan Lin understood. He just didn’t want to hear her say it directly, so he told her not to speak.

Xei Wei’s lips curled into a slightly cold smile: “If I were Yan Lin, I would skin you alive and pull out your rebellious bones. I haven’t heard that you knew Zhang Zhe before. Even if you had a secret admiration for him in the past, falling in love at first sight today might just be wishful thinking. You like him, but he might not be able to reach your level.”

Jiang Xuening felt a chill at the first half of his sentence.

But the latter half almost made her jump up in anger: “You’re the one who’s wishful thinking! What nonsense are you talking about!”

She looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, baring her claws.

Xei Wei didn’t like her behavior.

His gaze deepened, becoming as still as a cold pond: “I only mentioned Zhang Zhe once, and you jumped. You can’t keep your composure, revealing your weakness in a few words. Do you think I’m a good person, trustworthy, or do you think everyone in the world is good and you don’t need to guard against anyone?”

Jiang Xuening suddenly shivered.

Xei Wei calmly said: “If I were you, I would keep my feelings hidden forever, never speaking of them, and not letting anyone know. Today you met me, and I won’t do anything to you for now; but if you meet someone else in the future who wants to deal with you, they will first trouble Zhang Zhe. Then you’ll see how the saying ‘harming others harms yourself’ is written. No wonder you get along with Yan Lin, you’re both equally foolish.”

He had never spoken to her so rudely before.

Jiang Xuening didn’t expect him to scold her and even insult Yan Lin. She stared at him in a daze, realizing that he was right: she had been so happy that she had revealed her feelings in front of Xei Wei?

But thinking back, it was clearly Xei Wei who saw through her first, and she only admitted it.

Suddenly, she felt a chill of fear in her heart.

Xei Wei was just trying to scare her, to make her remember this lesson seriously. Seeing that she was finally afraid, he knew that she had listened to his words, although he didn’t know why he felt even more displeased. However, he didn’t have time to waste here.

He handed the lantern directly to her.

“It’s too late, go back,” he said.

Jiang Xuening took the palace lantern, but since there was only one, she instinctively wanted to ask, “What about you?” But Xei Wei had already turned his back, walking along the high palace walls towards the exit.

The surrounding darkness seemed to press down on him.

This person was different from Zhang Zhe.

Even when Zhang Zhe walked in the night, he seemed to carry a light with him; but when Xei Wei left the light of the lantern and walked into the darkness, he merged with it, as if he had come from it.

*

After the incident at Yangzhi Zhai, everyone returned in a state of shock, still somewhat frightened. No one dared to go back to their rooms alone, so they gathered in the Liushui Pavilion, drinking hot tea to calm their nerves.

Since it was discovered that a palace maid had framed them, no one dared to let the maids serve them at this moment.

There were seven people in the pavilion, excluding Jiang Xuening who had not yet returned.

Chen Shuyi, indifferent to the matter, said, “She was lucky and bold, daring to confront the Empress Dowager directly and claim that she was a minister’s daughter, not a palace maid, and that the investigation should be handled by the Jinyiwei or the Ministry of Justice. That’s how she managed to wait for Lord Chen and Lord Zhang to arrive and escape. Otherwise, we might not have seen her alive.”

Yao Rongrong, however, remembered a detail.

The person who went to the Ministry of Justice to find help was the same eunuch who had knelt outside Kunning Palace that day. She murmured to herself, “Was it really just luck…”

Xiao Shu glanced at her but said nothing.

Zhou Baoying, blinking her eyes, kept looking towards the door: “Sister Ning went to thank him, it should have only taken a few words, why hasn’t she come back yet?”

Yao Xi’s face darkened.

You Yue was quick to notice the subtle change in the atmosphere. Her mind turned, recalling the relationship between Yao Xi and Zhang Zhe, and she suddenly understood what Yao Xi was concerned about.

She never shied away from adding fuel to the fire.

Covering her mouth with a smile, she said, “A life-saving grace, and a timely help in need, of course, deserves a few more words of thanks. But I didn’t expect that this legendary Zhang Zhe, although he seems a bit cold, is quite a handsome and upright gentleman. Yao Xi, you are very fortunate.”

Even though everyone knew You Yue was the type to stir up trouble, and both Xiao Shu and Chen Shuyi had warned against trusting her or getting too close, who could remain calm after hearing such words?

Zhang Zhe was her future husband.

In such a situation, Jiang Xuening should avoid suspicion at all costs! After all, she was a wild girl raised in the countryside, with no manners!

Yao Xi heavily placed her teacup down.

Chen Shuyi, knowing well what kind of person You Yue was, nonetheless agreed, “Yes, Yao Xi is indeed fortunate. But Jiang Xuening is unlucky. Although she escaped this time, she has greatly offended the Empress Dowager. Now, with everyone watching, the Empress Dowager might not do anything to her immediately, but she still has to stay in the palace. Even with the protection of the Princess, her days will be difficult, not as easy as they are now.”

In the palace, who doesn’t step on the low and flatter the high?

If you know the Empress Dowager dislikes you and still try to please her, you’re courting death.

Chen Shuyi’s words brought some schadenfreude to some, while others felt a bit worried.

But talking behind someone’s back like this was risky.

After all, they had been caught by Jiang Xuening before, and given the current sensitive situation, if she heard them and misunderstood that they had framed her, it would be truly unjust. So, they quickly changed the topic.

You Yue, thinking that they had been in the palace for several days and would be allowed to leave for a break in a couple of days, suddenly saw this as a great opportunity.

She didn’t know much herself, but these people in the palace were knowledgeable.

Hearing them talk about the customs of Yangzhou, she interjected, “I heard that the salt merchants in Yangzhou are as wealthy as nations, living very luxurious lives, probably not much different from us.”

Xiao Shu said, “Salt is traded worldwide, and any large-scale business is profitable. The Jianghuai salt fields are among the top in various prefectures, producing abundant salt, naturally attracting merchants who compete with each other. Their lives are not just comparable to ours, but perhaps even to those in the palace.”

None of them had been to Yangzhou, and they were amazed by what they heard.

You Yue’s eyes flashed, and she said, “But I’ve heard that the Ziliujing salt field in Shu is also famous. Why don’t we hear much about wealthy salt merchants from there?”

Before Xiao Shu could respond, Chen Shuyi glanced at her and said, “The Shu roads are treacherous and difficult to traverse, historically isolated with little news. The Ziliujing salt field is not considered a top-tier salt field, how can it compare to Yangzhou?”

It seemed no one knew about Ren Weizhi yet.

You Yue pondered the legendary “Zhuotong Well.” If it were true, Ziliujing could also become a top-tier salt field, and if she could get a share…

Just as she was about to ask more about the salt industry, Jiang Xuening returned.

Fang Miao was the first to see her and called out.

Chen Shuyi smiled meaningfully, “Why did it take you so long, Second Miss Jiang?”

Jiang Xuening, still holding the lantern, stopped under the eaves and blew out the flame. She glanced back at Chen Shuyi and said calmly, “I ran into Master Xie on the way and was stopped for a few questions.”

Seeing her lack of energy, and remembering how she was always reprimanded by Xie Wei, everyone assumed she had once again failed to gain his favor.

This oddly made them feel a bit better.

Zhou Baoying, with her big eyes, asked softly, “Did Master Xie scold you again?”

Not wanting to join their tea party, Jiang Xuening told a small lie, “Not really, he just told me to continue my zither lessons tomorrow.”

Some didn’t believe it was that simple and laughed inwardly.

Jiang Xuening continued, “Today was truly frightening and exhausting, and I dragged you all into it. I’m really sorry. I’m quite tired, so I’ll go to bed now. You should all rest early too.”

She hung the lantern under the eaves and walked back to her room along the corridor.

Her previously ransacked room had been tidied up.

But as she sat on the seemingly neat bed, she still felt a chill, as if she were in a cold prison.

*

The next two days in the palace were unusually quiet.

Jiang Xuening didn’t hear any more rumors.

Maybe the rumors were still circulating, but none of them made it to Yangzhi Zhai. The whole world seemed unchanged. Only when she occasionally saw curious glances from palace staff did she sense the undercurrents beneath the calm.

That accidental encounter didn’t seem to change her relationship with Xie Wei.

It was still two lessons every three days, and she continued her zither practice.

But she couldn’t find peace of mind.

Xie Wei had her sit at the zither for several days, but it didn’t calm her restlessness. Eventually, he stopped trying, letting her sit nearby while he buried himself in paperwork, speaking even less.

Sometimes Jiang Xuening thought, perhaps this was Xie Wei’s usual demeanor.

Until the day before leaving the palace for a break, she finally met Zheng Bao in a corner of the Imperial Garden.

Zheng Bao quietly told her that the Princess and Prince Linzi had gone to Kunning Palace that night to plead for the Yongyi Marquis’s residence, angering both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. One was punished with house arrest and couldn’t attend school for a few days, while the other was scolded by the Emperor and made to kneel at the Imperial Ancestral Temple for three hours.

She was stunned.

Zheng Bao then looke

d at her with a hint of regret in his eyes and informed her that the palace maid who had framed her died mysteriously on the day she was imprisoned in the Department of Punishments, without revealing anything.

Jiang Xuening didn’t know how she ended up in the side hall of Fengchen Hall.

She was already late today.

But Xie Wei hadn’t arrived either.

She waited for a long time without seeing him. Sitting in front of the ancient zither, she felt cold despite the warmth in the room.

The two carved windows were half-open.

A wailing wind blew in from outside.

Xie Wei’s desk was always neatly organized, with clean brushes hanging on the rack and papers weighted down. The wind only turned a few pages.

However, one page was lightly placed on the corner of the desk.

A gust of wind blew it to the floor.

Jiang Xuening’s gaze fell on it. After a moment, still not seeing Xie Wei, she got up, picked it up, and looked at the writing.

It wasn’t a letter, but a report from two days ago!

In that instant, her heart sank into an icy abyss!

—The Yongyi Marquis’s residence is suspected of colluding with rebels. Before the investigation is complete, the residence is heavily guarded, and no one is allowed to leave!

“Knock, knock, knock.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the hall door.

A young eunuch outside the door said, “A message from the Grand Tutor: he is busy today and cannot come. Apologies for making Second Miss Jiang wait. Since tomorrow is a day off, please rest well for a few days.”

Jiang Xuening looked out the window, realizing that winter had deepened.

There were only fifteen days left until the young man’s coming-of-age ceremony.