The end of the month arrived quickly and the Old Lady sent two capable stewards to Shui Yue Nunnery to pick her up.
Because the Crown Princess's premature birth case had come to light, the mastermind was the Second Prince's Wife and her family. Although the Second Prince tried to deny his knowledge, he was still demoted to a commoner by the Emperor and sent to the Imperial Mausoleum to be placed under house arrest for life. The Second Prince's Wife's family was sent to the death row and beheaded within a few days.
Following that, the Yangzhou salt tax case broke out. The Yangzhou officials embezzled more than 30 million taels of tax which was equivalent to ten years of the national treasury's annual income. The Emperor was furious and ordered the Dragonscale Guard to take over the case and investigate it to the end. Those who should be executed would be executed and those who should be beheaded would be beheaded. Those who should be dismissed would be dismissed. There was no mercy allowed outside the law.
The end of the month was the time when everyone was in danger. Not to mention that the doors of the aristocratic families were closed, even the number of pedestrians on the streets were much lesser. Only the market was very lively. Every day, several heads could be seen and there were countless prisoners who were locked up in the Dragonscale Guard to undergo inhumane interrogation and torture.
Yu Pinyan's degree of busyness could be imagined. Shen Miao Qi returning home was a small matter that did not leave a mark on his heart. Early in the morning, he went out to complete his task.
The Old Lady saw that the time was about right and personally went to the Yi Door to welcome her. Seeing that Yu Xiang was already waiting outside and had also burned a brazier to get rid of the bad luck, she immediately felt very satisfied. That's right, based on Shen Miao Qi's fate, she really had to get rid of the bad luck before entering.
The Lin Clan hurriedly rushed over and kept tidying up their hair and tugging at their skirts, appearing very nervous. They repeatedly waved their hands to send Mama Kim to the main door to take a look.
"Coming, coming, Young Miss is back!" Mama Kim lifted her skirt and rushed over. Behind her was a large group of sturdy maids carrying boxes and baskets.
Shen Miao Qi's hair was tied up in a flowing cloud bun with a golden phoenix hairpin pinned on it. She was wearing a snow white satin long dress, accompanied by the warm spring breeze and fluttering flower petals as she leisurely walked step by step. Her beautiful face was gentle like water and her elegant bearing was completely natural.
In just a short half a month, she had shed the lowly servant's lowly appearance of a merchant and became a real lady of a noble family.
Not only was the Lin Clan ecstatic, even the Old lady could not help but nod her head. Now, he could finally go on stage.
Shen Miao Qi's pair of watery eyes searched through the crowd, skipping past the smiling Yu Siyu and looking straight at the young lady sitting in the wheelchair. The string of jealousy in her heart was stretched to the extreme and was about to break.
She asked Nanny Qin openly and secretly about Yu Xiang's situation. She only knew that Yu Xiang had a broken leg when she was ten years old. She had a fierce personality and a beautiful appearance. She was a wonderful person. Both Old Mistress and Yu Pinyan liked her very much.
She had originally thought that the other party was on par with her, or perhaps even slightly inferior, because she had always been a beauty since she was young. Wherever she went, she would attract countless gazes. However, when she saw the real Yu Xiang, she realized that Qin mama's hesitation in saying the word 'delicate' wasn't an insincere compliment, but a helpless action because she couldn't think of a more appropriate adjective.
He saw the young girl lazily leaning against the wheelchair with one hand resting on her knee and the other supporting her chin. Her beautiful eyes with distinct black and white were looking over, and there was a divine light shining in them that was brighter and more beautiful than the spring sun. Her skin was as white as snow and her pair of eyebrows were not the currently popular curved willow leaf eyebrows. Instead, they were thick and black sword-like eyebrows. The eyebrows were slightly slanted upwards and almost disappeared into the thick hair on her temples. Her exquisite and perfect facial features had the beauty of a woman and also revealed a unique masculine domineering aura.
How could the word 'delicate' describe her? She was beautiful to the point of being fierce, beautiful to the point of being flamboyant, beautiful to the point that there was nowhere to hide. Shen Miao Qi only needed one look to feel breathless.
Yu Xiang was Shen Miao Qi's enemy. She would unconsciously use everything she had to compare with Yu Xiang to see who was better and who was worse. She originally thought that she was not much worse than Yu Xiang, especially after training hard for half a month. However, when she saw the real person, she realized that even if Yu Xiang did not know how to walk, she would not be able to hold up the aura of a noble lady in front of her.
She only slightly raised her eyebrows and raised her chin. This simple action brought out a hundred and twenty percent arrogance.
Shen Miao Qi did not dare to take a second look. Her heart was in a mess and her steps were also messy. As she got closer and closer to the brazier, she repeatedly took deep breaths in an attempt to regain her composure.
Just at this time, the sound of a servant's greeting could be heard from the door.
Shen Miao Qi turned back to look and saw Yu Pinyan expressionlessly walking in with a spring embroidered knife in his hand. He was wearing a crimson official's robe and the lower hem seemed to be stained with a lot of liquid. The originally intense crimson red color was dyed black. That liquid was very thick and as he walked, drop by drop, it slid down from the cloth.
A gust of wind blew and what it brought was not the fragrance of a hundred blooming flowers but a nauseating fishy smell.
Shen Miao Qi saw a series of bright red dots on the bluestone and discovered that his clothes were not stained with water but with fresh blood. How many people did he have to kill to bring out such a strong smell of blood? To be able to completely dye the heavy cloth wet?
Shen Miao Qi seemed to have returned to the dark dungeon of the Dragonscale Guard and her legs could not help but go soft.
Just at this time, she had already walked to the door. Mama Kim kindly reminded her, "Young Miss, it is time to step over the brazier."
Shen Miao Qi reflexively lifted her leg but because she could not stand steadily, she stepped into the red hot charcoal and cried out in pain as she hurriedly jumped away. A few sparks landed on her long skirt, immediately burning a few charred holes.
Yu Pinyan directly walked past her and bent down to pick up his well-dressed younger sister. He reached out and brushed away her hair that was messed up by the wind.
"Older Brother, your face is stained with blood." Yu Xiang took out a handkerchief to help him wipe it.
After the blood dried up, it stuck tightly to the skin and was very difficult to clean. Yu Xiang squinted her eyes and snickered. She used her wet fingertips to smear on the blood and then gently wiped it off.
Yu Pinyan did not dislike it at all. His gaze lingered on her tender red lips for a long time before he looked at the battered and exhausted Shen Miao Qi who was frantically patting her skirt.
The sparks were quickly extinguished and the Old Lady shouted loudly, "What are you panicking for? What are you shouting for? You are so frightened over such a small matter! Still not hurrying to bring Young Miss to change clothes! "
The Lin Clan was so distressed that they shed tears and hurriedly hugged their frightened daughter back to their room.
The Old Lady brushed away the dust that was flying around her nose and looked at the overturned brazier on the ground and sighed. She was indeed a jinx. How could a brazier dispel the bad luck that she carried.
Thinking of this, she pointed at Wan Qiu and ordered, "Go and tell Miao Qi to use grapefruit leaves to bathe before coming to the front hall to meet me."
Wan Qiu softly acknowledged and hurriedly went down.
"Yan 'er, you should also quickly wash up. Look at how dirty you are." The Old Lady's impatience was replaced with heartache. Recently, there were two major cases that landed on Sun Tzu's head. The torture and murder cases were really sinful. If it was not for the fact that the Junjie passed away early, leaving behind the old, weak, women, children and a bunch of wolf-like uncles, Sun Tzu would not have to embark on this difficult and dangerous path.
Yu Pinyan nodded and took his younger sister along with him.
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In the simple but elegant room, Yu Xiang was half sitting on the soft couch. She was playing with a snuff bottle in her hand but her eyes were looking behind the screen that was emitting steam.
Liu Lu stood outside the door and did not dare to enter. Her heart was as anxious as a cat. How could the older brother bathe and the younger sister stay in the inner room? This pair of brother and sister never knew how to avoid this taboo. It was fine when they were young, but now that they were older, they did not take it seriously. This habit had to be changed, changed immediately. Otherwise, how would Mistress marry in the future?
As soon as she stepped out, she stepped on the blood-soaked official's robe. The blood quickly climbed up the fabric to the tip of her shoe. The dark red color looked very frightening. Liu Lu trembled and quickly withdrew. She held her forehead and looked at Tao Hong who was standing not far away playing with a bird. She sighed inwardly: It's good to be a fool, there are no worries.
The sound of water splashing could be heard from behind the screen. After a short while, a handsome young man with wet hair walked out. He was wearing a black brocade robe with only a jade belt around his waist. The lapel of his robe was wide open, revealing his strong chest and strong abdominal muscles. His bronze-colored skin reflected a lustrous light from the water, making him look extremely sexy.
Yu Xiang's ears were hot, but her eyes were glued to the young man's body. Only when she heard a hoarse and deep laugh did she discover that her fingertips had already poked his hard abdominal muscles and were moving along the lines of his muscles.
Her ears instantly turned red like blood.
Yu Pinyan naturally held her small hand and slowly pulled it up. In the end, he placed it on his broad chest, letting her feel his growing impatience and desire day by day.
His heart was beating very fast, but it was also very steady. Thump thump, thump thump. It was like a small hammer hitting her palm. Yu Xiang felt that her palm was not on his skin, but on burning charcoal. The temperature was shockingly hot.
She moved her fingertips and wanted to pull her hand back, but the young man was one step ahead of her and released the big palm on the back of her hand. He handed over a towel and said, "Help me wipe my hair."
The romantic atmosphere burst like a bubble. Yu Xiang blinked her eyes in a daze, then picked up a handkerchief and gently wiped her face. After that, she leaned on her brother's back and gently sniffed the sandalwood aroma from his hair, as she always did.
The two of them did not speak. Their rapid heartbeats returned to normal in the silence. Yu Xiang slyly chuckled twice. Her slender arm wrapped around the young man's neck and asked, "Brother, if I fell into the water at the same time as my sister, who would you save first?"
What kind of question was this? Was she jealous? Yu Pinyan did not answer. He just chuckled to himself. The arm around his neck tightened, as if warning him that if he did not give a satisfactory answer soon, she would be ruthless.
Yu Pinyan stretched out his arms and pulled his sister into his embrace. He tapped the tip of her nose and said, "Naturally, I would save you."
"Then if I fell into the water at the same time as my mother, who would you save first?" Yu Xiang leaned closer and stared into his eyes.
"Naturally, I would still save you." Yu Pinyan quickly answered. His eyes sparkled with joy. He loved Xiang'er, who did not hide her possessiveness at all.
"Then if I and …" She realized that it was not appropriate to compare herself with the ancestor. It was obvious that she was making things difficult for her brother. She omitted the unfinished words and hugged her brother's thin waist with a satisfied smile.
Yu Pinyan forcefully pressed her into his arms and sighed silently.