When Huo Cong spoke, everyone nodded in agreement and praised him for his magnanimity.
While a play was being performed on stage, the atmosphere among the neighboring seats was even more lively.
Ji Yuluo was engrossed in the performance. Unconsciously, she picked up two honey dates from the small table, not noticing the glance Huo Xian shot her way. She was deep in thought. She had inquired about Huo Xian before, so she naturally knew about the grudges between him and the Huo family. However, she remembered that Huo Cong had been weak since childhood and was always taking medicine. If he hadn’t been poisoned, perhaps with proper care, he could have lived a normal life.
But wielding a sword and fighting? That seemed unlikely.
Thinking this, Ji Yuluo asked her question.
The surrounding voices seemed to freeze for a moment. Huo Xian looked at the half-eaten honey date she held to her lips. “What?”
The people at the neighboring seats also turned to look.
Perhaps it was because of Ji Chongwang that Ji Yuluo viewed the students of the Imperial Academy with a certain disdain. Or maybe it was the fleeting expression in Huo Xian’s eyes that reminded her of someone.
Ji Yuluo put the remaining half of the pitted honey date into her mouth. After chewing slowly, she said, “I mean, Young Master Huo was born frail. Even if you didn’t harm him, he couldn’t possibly bear the responsibilities of the Marquis’ household, could he?”
Huo Xian didn’t speak, only raised his eyebrows slightly.
Ji Yuluo’s voice wasn’t loud, but at that moment, a new play had just started, and it was quiet. The people at the neighboring table were particularly attentive, so someone said disapprovingly, “You can’t speak like that. Madam Huo, being the eldest daughter of the esteemed Dean, how can you talk about harming others so lightly?”
It would have been better if they hadn’t mentioned this.
After all, they were about to leave the capital, and Huo Xian had already noticed the signs.
Ji Yuluo wiped her fingers, sticky from the candied dates, with a handkerchief. Her actions were elegant, but her words were not. “The esteemed Dean of the Imperial Academy… my father? If he could marry into the Huo family, what kind of good person could he be?”
No one knew who she was cursing more, but her words made everyone present fall silent for a moment.
The young men at the neighboring table were all students of the Imperial Academy. Their admiration for the esteemed Dean of the Imperial Academy had long been shaken by such rhetoric, but they hadn’t expected these words to come from Ji Yuluo, making them momentarily unsure of how to refute her. Finally, Huo Cong snorted coldly, “Shameless. No wonder you could engage in clandestine meetings with others. You two are a perfect match.”
Ji Yuluo indeed showed no shame, smiling faintly.
Her gaze slowly returned to the stage. She no longer had the interest to entangle with a group of immature youths. Bored, she leaned back in her chair and picked up a teacup, only to find it empty.
Just as her eyes landed on the teapot not far away, a hand reached out.
Huo Xian picked up the teapot and poured her some tea, smiling as he said, “You know about Huo Cong’s frailty? It seems you did your homework before marrying into the Huo family. You care about me that much?”
Since the news of Huo Xian poisoning had spread in the capital, it had been exaggerated through countless retellings. People only talked about those harmed by him, never mentioning his original condition. Over time, few people knew the truth.
So, when Huo Xian heard her just now, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
There was a mix of probing and teasing in his eyes. Ji Yuluo paused and said, “Isn’t that to be expected?”
After speaking, she avoided his gaze, furrowing her brows as she turned her head away.
She just realized that his expression for a moment looked remarkably like Ji Yuyao’s when she returned from Chengyuan Temple, silently enduring the punishment from Ji Chongwang and Lin Chan, yet hiding her grievance.
She actually saw a hint of grievance in him.
She even thought of Ji Yuyao, that delicate little flower. How blind she was.
Ji Yuluo sipped her tea without any expression, feeling deeply frustrated for having spoken up earlier.
Seeing that she finished her tea, Huo Xian asked good-naturedly, “Do you want more?”
Ji Yuluo forced a not-so-genuine smile. “No, thank you.”
The play was halfway through, but Ji Yuluo found it hard to sit still. Moreover, there was an undisguised gaze fixed on her the entire time. She took a silent deep breath and had Hongshuang settle the bill.
The curtain at the neighboring seat had already been lowered. As she was leaving, she still heard someone say, “Finally, they’re leaving. Sitting next to them felt like bad luck.”
This “them” mainly referred to Huo Xian.
Ji Yuluo thought to herself, he really isn’t liked by people.
Huo Xian had come on horseback. After leaving the theater, he handed his horse Qingfeng to Nanyue and then got into the carriage to return to the mansion with Ji Yuluo.
On the way back, neither of them spoke, both seemingly deep in thought.
Upon returning to the mansion, the servants in the courtyard were no longer as relaxed as before. Seeing the two of them returning side by side, they became even more respectful.
Previously, Huo Xian seldom returned to the main courtyard, so the maids and servants naturally slacked off. Even after the new wife arrived, she was an easy-going person who didn’t bother much, so they weren’t afraid. But that slap had been truly shocking, forcing everyone to reevaluate this seemingly gentle new mistress.
Thus, they didn’t dare to treat her casually as before, fearing that one day, a careless mistake might result in that slap landing on their own faces, a thought that was terrifying.
Ji Yuluo also noticed this change but acted as if nothing had happened. She left the flower gate and sat in the courtyard to bask in the sun.
Being in the same room with Huo Xian was truly exasperating.
It was still not dark yet, so she avoided it as much as she could.
Huo Xian stood under the long veranda of the waterside pavilion, watching from afar. Naturally, he knew why she refused to return to the main courtyard, and couldn’t help but smile.
So, she too could be annoyed by being watched.
He had thought she was more patient.
Nanyue asked, “Master, should we have someone keep an eye on her?”
Huo Xian nodded. “Watch her, wherever she goes. If they lose sight of her again, have them come see me with their heads.”
The word “again” made Nanyue pause.
Huo Xian gave him a sidelong glance. “Do you think she really went out just to stroll around today? Losing people right under your nose, and these are the bodyguards you personally selected.”
As for how Huo Xian knew, it wasn’t because he had extraordinary vision, but because he had smelled a faint scent of pine on Ji Yuluo in the theater. It wasn’t an ordinary pine scent but of the highest quality, indicating that the user was either rich or noble.
It suggested that the person was very particular.
Particular.
Huo Xian was momentarily taken aback, a figure flashed through his mind, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, so fast that he didn’t even realize his brief distraction. He just instructed Nanyue, “In any case, keep a close watch on her. Also, investigate the relationships among the people in the Ji household more thoroughly.”
As Huo Xian spoke, he stared at the back of the girl sitting on the swing. The scorn in her eyes when she mentioned Ji Chongwang earlier was definitely not just a daughter’s resentment towards her father.
There wasn’t even resentment, just scorn.
What had Ji Chongwang done to make her look at him like that?
Nanyue respectfully acknowledged his instructions, mentally raising the danger level of Ji Yuluo by another notch.
Meanwhile, Ji Yuluo gripped the swing rope, her toes touching the grass repeatedly, and she glanced at the sparsely distributed guards around her. She called Hongshuang over nonchalantly.
Hongshuang lightly pushed the swing. “Miss, with Huo Xian watching us like this, we are at a disadvantage.”
The wind lifted the strands of hair on Ji Yuluo’s forehead. “It’s time to take the initiative. This place is not suitable for a long stay, and there’s no need to deal with the others anymore. Send a message to the dark posts tonight. I need to borrow someone Li Shu has placed in the Zhao prison.”
Hongshuang instinctively thought she was planning to rescue someone important to Shen Qingli from the Zhao prison and frowned. “Miss, Li Shu’s person is just a lowly jailer. The Zhao prison is heavily guarded. Even with inside help, a jailbreak is impossible.”
“Jailbreak? Rescue someone, rescue Shen Qingli’s people?” Ji Yuluo lifted her eyes slightly, she was not some benevolent Bodhisattva. She said, “Don’t worry, a lowly jailer is enough.”
As long as it’s not a jailbreak, Hongshuang felt relieved.
Ji Yuluo said, “In the letter, tell Li Shu to prepare some explosives.”
Hongshuang choked, the breath she had just taken stuck in her throat.
Not a jailbreak? Miss was planning to blow up the Zhao prison!
There was a dark gleam in Ji Yuluo’s eyes. If he had nothing to do, she would give him something to do.
This morning, the Emperor had just spared the lives of the ministers of the Three Judicial Offices. Now that they were all imprisoned in Zhao prison, she didn’t believe that if something happened there, Huo Xian wouldn’t be anxious.
And she intended to use the hours of Huo Xian’s absence to have Biwu submit a request to meet Consort Xi in her name. Last time when the palace caught fire, she was hurriedly sent away by Huo Xian and didn’t get to bid farewell to Consort Xi. This now became her excuse to re-enter the palace.
She discussed tomorrow’s daring plan with Hongshuang under the evening sky. Despite the dangerous nature of the plan, her tone remained steady and unemotional, her toes occasionally kicking at a small red flower on the grass.
Hongshuang couldn’t help but wipe the non-existent sweat from her forehead and pointed out a concern, “But it won’t be easy for that jailer to bring in a large amount of explosives.”
Ji Yuluo stopped the swing and stood up, dusting off her hands. “It doesn’t need to be much, just enough to cause chaos.”
With everything explained, and the sky already dark, the two of them returned to the main courtyard.
Just as they left, a figure approached from afar and stopped at the grass where the swing was, frowning. This person was none other than Ye Linlang, one of Huo Xian’s concubines, who, like Sheng Lanxin, also came from the palace music bureau.
The myriad of emotions on her brows furrowed into a small mountain. Ever since the new madam had entrusted the west courtyard affairs to Sheng Lanxin, those sycophants had been even more eager to flatter her.
However, upon further inquiry, it turned out that this eldest daughter of the Ji family had not lived such a glorious life in the past. She was a soft-hearted person, incapable of managing household affairs, which explained why the keys to the storeroom had not yet been handed to her by the master.
But…
The maid, following her gaze, said, “I heard that these past few days, the master has been staying in the main courtyard and hasn’t even visited Concubine Sheng. He took the madam to his official duties and even accompanied her to the market today. Fearing for her safety, he even dispatched personal guards. Just now, the two of them returned to the residence together.”
Ye Linlang first furrowed her brows, then smiled and said, “That’s good. Fortune turns like a wheel; it can’t always be Sheng Lanxin.”
—
As night fell, Hongshuang hurried to take care of her tasks.
When Ji Yuluo returned to the main courtyard, she happened to see Liyang exiting the room. They nodded at each other. As she entered the inner chamber, she saw a pile of official documents on the desk.
It seemed he had no intention of taking her to the Zhenfu Office, planning instead to keep an eye on her from the residence. He must have sensed something amiss during the day.
After washing up, Ji Yuluo lay down straight on the bed, deliberately extending her right hand out of the covers to make it convenient for him to cuff her.
She was simply too conscientious.
When Huo Xian came to extinguish the light a moment later, he found it amusing.
Although Ji Yuluo had closed her eyes, she still shivered when she felt the cold touch of the handcuffs.
Huo Xian stared at her for a moment before lying down. Faintly, he seemed to still catch a whiff of pine scent mixed with the stuffy heat of charcoal, somewhat bitter, emanating from her.
Around midnight, in a half-dream, half-awake state, Huo Xian seemed to see the figure that had flashed by during the day. A young boy sat on the stone steps, holding a book and softly reciting words like benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, gentleness, respect, thrift, and modesty. Occasionally, when he raised his eyes, his voice was still immature, but he would speak in a mature tone: “Huo Xian, can’t you read more books? How can you be my study companion if you don’t?”
He seemed to rub his forehead helplessly and shake his head.
The person across, sharpening a sword, said indifferently, “Annoying. I never said I wanted to be a study companion in the palace.”
The young boy continued speaking, but Huo Xian’s hearing faded. He awoke with a start to find it already dawn, Ji Yuluo sitting up and watching him intently.
She shook her right hand and said calmly, “Unlock.”
Huo Xian’s face was grim, as if he had had an unpleasant dream. He retrieved the key from under the pillow with a somber expression. Just as he was unlocking the cuffs, Nanyue barged in without waiting, stopping outside the screen, gasping for breath, “Master, something terrible has happened! The imperial prison… something has happened at the imperial prison!”
