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After lunch, Wu Ruian was to assume his new post at the Ministry of Justice.
Since Wu Ruian’s demotion to an eighth-rank storekeeper at the morning court today, more than half of the various people who had constantly crowded the Prince’s manor gate had disappeared. However, many still persisted in waiting, among them a confidant of Gongsun Qi, who had been squatting at the gate of Prince Wu’s manor for several days just to deliver a handwritten letter from his master.
The page saw Wu Ruian coming out and immediately rushed forward, but someone got to Wu Ruian first.
It was a woman dressed in a goose-yellow gown, wearing a veil over her head and carrying a small basket.
He couldn’t see her face, but from her figure and attire, she was probably just a common woman who, relying on her looks, wanted to climb the social ladder.
There were countless such women, so many that if they lined up, they could stretch from Xuanwu all the way to Loulan. He didn’t believe she could catch Prince Wu’s eye.
The page walked forward, expecting her to be rejected, but to his surprise, Wu Ruian actually took the woman’s basket, pulled out a pink pastry from inside, handed it to the Third Prince beside him, and then picked up another piece and put it directly into his own mouth!
The page’s jaw nearly dropped in astonishment. He quickened his pace, wanting to see what kind of stunning, peerless beauty this woman possessed that she could capture Wu Ruian’s attention!
He jogged to Wu Ruian’s side and only then realized that the woman beneath the veil was not that astonishing.
She smiled sweetly, her features looked gentle, beautiful indeed, but not a world-shattering beauty. Compared to the young ladies of noble families in the capital, or even the courtesans and musicians in the pleasure quarters, she still fell short.
The page breathed a sigh of relief, bowed and chuckled, “Prince Wu, do you still remember this humble servant?”
Wu Ruian and the others paused, turned to look at him, and asked suspiciously, “You are…”
“This humble servant is Young Master Qi’s personal attendant! After three years apart, Your Highness is still as dashing and exceptionally handsome, truly…”
“Alright, there’s no need for flattery. Tell me, what do you want with this Prince?”
The page, his face wreathed in smiles, said, “My young master has a letter for you, you see…”
Wu Ruian’s expression was somewhat displeased. He stared at the page for a long moment, but the other party seemed completely unable to read his desire to keep him at arm’s length.
Wu Ruian remained silent for a long while, finally accepting the envelope from his hand. After handing the letter to Wu Ruian, the page continued to look at him expectantly.
“This Prince has received the letter. You may leave.”
The page froze, clearly not expecting Prince Wu to speak to him like that; he used to be…
“What are you still standing there for? Get out!” Wu Ruian’s face darkened, his eyes instantly filled with murderous intent.
The page was bewildered and somewhat incredulous, but being intimidated by Wu Ruian’s aura, he immediately bowed and retreated.
“What does the letter say?” Di Jiang smiled slightly.
“Nothing more than an invitation; there’s nothing worth seeing.” Wu Ruian coughed lightly, seemingly unwilling to open the letter.
Wu Yu, standing nearby, felt a touch of surprise.
He could tell that Wu Ruian seemed to treat this woman who brought pastries somewhat differently.
He seemed… afraid of her?
Yes, it must be fear…
Wu Yu thought for a moment, then concluded, Wu Ruian was indeed afraid of her!
“Since it’s from Gongsun Qi, open it and see. Aren’t you looking for him?” Di Jiang said again.
Wu Ruian, met her gaze, had no choice but to take a deep breath and slowly open the letter.
An explicit erotic painting of intertwined figures immediately met the gaze of the three.
Indeed…
Wu Ruian’s heart sank abruptly.
He knew it, Gongsun Qi would definitely send him something like this!
Now, his brilliant image in Di Jiang’s heart… it was shattered into pieces…
The wind stopped at that moment.
The bustling sounds around them seemed to be isolated.
Di Jiang and Wu Yu stood with mouths agape, staring at the letter in Wu Ruian’s hand, looking extremely surprised.
Wu Ruian, his face ashen, resignedly lowered his head.
“This is…” Di Jiang said, stunned.
“An erotic painting,” Wu Yu prompted from the side.
Although he had lived a difficult life since childhood, as a man, he was not unfamiliar with this…
Wu Ruian felt like dying. He glared at Wu Yu, quickly flipped the erotic painting over, and pointed to the hastily scrawled handwriting on the back, saying, “This is Gongsun Qi’s usual trick! He used to send these every time to invite me to pleasure houses! It means nothing else, please don’t misunderstand!”
Indeed, the back of the erotic painting read: “Tonight at the hour of You, I await your esteemed presence at Xie Fang Pavilion. See you there, without fail.”
Di Jiang recovered from her initial surprise, curved her lips, and smiled, “Used to? Every time? Hmm?”
“You, you don’t look at me like that… I’m scared… Who hasn’t had an ignorant youth? Right?” Wu Ruian waved his hand in exasperation, pleading, “In short, now I firmly love only you! Only you! I will never look at other women again!”
Wu Yu was stunned by Wu Ruian’s sudden confession.
Only then did he notice that Wu Ruian consistently referred to himself as ‘I’ in front of Di Jiang.
So, she was Sixth Brother’s beloved… Then all of Sixth Brother’s fear made sense.
Wu Yu felt it would be impolite to stay any longer, so he bowed with a smile and said, “You two talk, I’ll go ahead.”
Wu Yu finished speaking and then walked along the red wall of the princely manor towards the east.
Wu Ruian had no time for him, his eyes fixed on Di Jiang, constantly explaining to her, “I was just playing along before, I never took it seriously, you must believe me!”
Di Jiang’s shoulders trembled, and she covered her mouth with a laugh, “I was just joking with you, why are you so nervous?”
“Joking?” Wu Ruian looked at Di Jiang’s smiling eyes, and when he was sure she wasn’t truly angry, he relaxed and muttered, “I was just afraid you’d be upset…”
“Alright, I can forgive you, but I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
Di Jiang smiled slyly, “Take me to Xie Fang Pavilion.”
“What?!” Wu Ruian’s eyes widened, “That’s impossible!”
“Prove it to me.”
“Prove what?”
“Prove you can sit in a brothel without being tempted.” Di Jiang said playfully, further annoying Wu Ruian.
What decent lady would go to a brothel? And with her fiancé?!
“Not taking me? Fine, then let’s not see each other for a while.” Di Jiang said, then turned to leave, her long veil fluttering and brushing against Wu Ruian’s face.
Wu Ruian was stunned. Faced with Di Jiang’s blatant threat, he found he seemed completely unable to resist?
Yes.
He couldn’t.
________________________________________
Wu Ruian took three deep breaths, and in the end, he could only nod, shouting, “Alright, I’ll take you. But you have to promise me, you must dress as a man tonight, and be mentally prepared not to be surprised by anything you see.”
Di Jiang turned around, nodded, and gave him a charming smile, “It’s a deal.”
After handing all the pastries to Wu Ruian, Di Jiang returned to the medical hall and began earnestly searching for men’s clothing in the cabinet.
She used to often dress as a man and stroll through the streets; back then, any random outfit would do. But today seemed different. She didn’t realize that she actually cared a great deal about tonight’s outing and subconsciously wanted to dress elaborately so as not to appear rude in front of Wu Ruian’s friends.
Di Jiang didn’t overthink it; she simply followed her feelings. Before long, her bed was piled with various men’s outfits, but she tried them on and wasn’t quite satisfied, always feeling something was missing. Finally, she had no choice but to grab a bag of gold and head directly to the most expensive tailor shop in the east of the city.
Wen Yao had been intently listening to the sounds from upstairs since Di Jiang returned, hearing all of Di Jiang’s sighs. After Di Jiang left, she quietly followed her, a look of suspicion on her face.
When she saw Di Jiang enter the most expensive clothing store in Taiping Prefecture, she became even more convinced that her shopkeeper was definitely in love!
The stingy shopkeeper would actually buy such expensive clothes?
It was simply unbelievable.
Aside from a date with a lover, she couldn’t think of any other reason.
Wen Yao hid behind the wall opposite, peeking her head out, her eyes unblinking as she observed the goings-on in the shop.
Soon, she saw Di Jiang trying on several outfits, but unfortunately, they were all men’s clothes.
Is the shopkeeper crazy?
Did she fall in love with a woman?
What about the Prince?!
Wen Yao’s mind was filled with shock and uncertainty. After half an hour of trepidation, she saw Di Jiang change into a purple outfit.
The garment had silver thread outlining the cuffs and collar, a belt inlaid with white jade and embroidered with silver threads around the waist, and knee-high boots with openings also embroidered with similar flowing cloud silver patterns. The white jade hair ornament on her head tied all her hair back. At first glance, she looked both dashing and graceful, truly a delicate, exquisitely carved young gentleman.
So... handsome...
Wen Yao swallowed, feeling her face flush.
What was wrong with her, had she gone mad too?
Di Jiang bought the clothes and walked out wearing them, attracting many curious glances along the way. The回头率 (rate of people turning their heads to look) was easily ten out of ten, or even twenty.
Wen Yao hadn’t finished copying her hundred Buddhist scriptures yet, so she didn’t dare to bother Di Jiang. When Di Jiang was about to walk back to the medical hall, she immediately found an empty spot and slipped back into the medical hall.
So, when Di Jiang returned, the first thing she saw upon entering was Wen Yao with a brush in her mouth, looking utterly miserable and wishing for death…
Making her copy Buddhist scriptures was indeed the best form of punishment!
Di Jiang was very satisfied and turned to go upstairs.
“Who was that just now? Did you see clearly?” Shuxiang looked up from his book, completely bewildered.
“Who else could it be? Our shopkeeper, of course.”
“She…” Shuxiang was stunned for a long moment, seemingly unable to find the right words to describe his current feelings.
Wen Yao bit the end of her brush, grinning, “The shopkeeper’s definitely in love.”
“…”
Shuxiang pouted, offering no comment. But his eyes clearly conveyed: “The shopkeeper can be in love? I’ll cut off my head and let you kick it like a ball.”
“Don’t you dare disbelieve me, I bet you she’s in love!” Wen Yao said triumphantly, laughing, “We’ll see about that.”
“…”
Shuxiang chuckled, not responding to her provocation. Instead, he handed her a new sheet of Xuan paper and smiled, “You still have seventy-six more to go. Keep it up.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a “snap,” and the brush in Wen Yao’s mouth broke, falling onto the paper in two pieces.
“Two days… and still seventy-six more!?”
Shuxiang looked at her sympathetically and nodded.
Wen Yao trembled all over, seemingly unable to accept this cruel reality…
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