Qing Si let out a soft breath, and a complex smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.
"Six hundred taels!"
"Seven hundred!"
...
The customers kept raising their prices, but he never opened his mouth. However, Qing Si was neither nervous nor concerned, nor was she in the mood to listen any longer. She simply turned around and sat down next to the zither.
Since he's willing to come, she's determined not to lose.
Finally, the price stopped at around one thousand taels, and the customer was quite pleased with himself.
"Is there any other gentleman willing to pay a high price?" the madam asked with a smile, as if it were just a token inquiry.
"Fifty thousand for six months of her life." It was the voice of a young man, offering a price that was neither too high nor too low, just enough to avoid arousing suspicion.
.
In the room, Qing Si sat by the piano with her head down, without saying thank you. She only glanced at him when he came in. Jin also looked at her for a moment before turning around and leaving.
"Does Young Master Ning find it objectionable?" a low voice asked.
Jin stopped and turned around. He saw that there were still tears in her beautiful eyes, but she was smiling with a hint of sadness. This reminded him that five years ago, had that woman also shed tears for him?
He finally spoke: "If you don't like it, I won't have come."
Qingsi remained silent for a moment, then murmured, "I thought you wouldn't come."
Jin looked at that face and said, "You don't need to worry."
A woman's intuition is usually very accurate, and Qing Si was no exception. She discovered that this person liked her face. His gaze wasn't one of amazement or infatuation, but rather one of guilt and sorrow. She immediately felt much more confident. In any case, as long as he was interested, that was enough.
Thank you.
“You don’t need to be grateful. I didn’t save you out of kindness,” Jin Huanlai’s tone suddenly turned cold as he looked away from her face. “Or perhaps the person who saved you is the one who will harm you.”
Qing Si's expression changed slightly, but she forced herself to remain calm: "Young Master Ning is joking."
Jin sneered, "What a joke, of course it's a joke. You were framed for theft and almost starved to death. Finally, someone was willing to save you and even taught you some skills. You thought he was your benefactor, but in the end, you found out that he was the one who bribed the shopkeeper to frame you. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Qing Si was stunned by his words, and after a long while, she lowered her head and asked, "This...is it you?"
Jin glanced at her again, then quickly regained his composure: "It's just a story."
The person who saved you is the one who harmed you; this person isn't what you imagined… Qing Si suddenly looked up: “Your surname is really Ning?”
Jin's eyes flickered: "What?"
Qingsi hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "Last night I heard that person call you... Master."
Jin remained silent.
“I can read lips,” Qing Si smiled, lowering her eyes. “You don’t need to doubt me. Qing Si knows her own identity and wouldn’t dare to have any wild ideas. Since you saved me, how could I make things difficult for you?”
Jin turned and left.
.
The night was not yet deep, but a light rain began to fall from the sky. By the light of the lanterns, the fine raindrops swayed overhead, dripping onto the leaves and water without making a sound. The entire Jin Garden was quiet.
The silence was unusual, and Jin quickly realized it, rushing inside.
Two mute servants collapsed in front of the table, a bowl on the floor was smashed into two or three pieces, and there was a large puddle of medicine. The person on the bed was gone. Reaching out to touch the blankets, they were ice cold, indicating that they had been kidnapped some time ago.
Jin kicked away their pressure points and angrily demanded, "Where are they?"
The two mute servants awoke from their coma, both looking bewildered. They had only been serving Qiu Lingling her medicine and hadn't even seen who had come before they were ambushed.
Too lazy to think any further, Jin rushed out the door.
The Golden Garden Guards were directly controlled by the sect leader, and their martial arts skills were definitely no less than those of top-tier masters in the martial arts world. However, at this moment, they were lying haphazardly on the ground in front of them. Due to the rain, everyone's clothes were half wet, but they had no injuries. They had just been acupunctured, and their eyes were still rolling around.
Jin kicked them one by one, yelling, "Useless trash! Get up, all of you!"
Knowing something was wrong, everyone prostrated themselves on the ground, saying, "Please forgive us, Master!"
Someone trespassed into Jin Garden. Jin Huanlai never imagined such a thing would happen. In the history of the Thousand Hands Sect, such a thing had never occurred before. However, the facts were right in front of him. Now, not only did someone know the exact location of the Thousand Hands Sect's headquarters, but they also broke into Jin Garden at night and kidnapped people without anyone noticing!
Jin sneered, "Who is he?" He leaned down, "Don't tell me you don't even know who he is."
The man turned pale with fright and hurriedly replied in a trembling voice, "It's...it's Young Master Yi."
Jin was stunned.
The crowd kowtowed: "He said he would take Miss Lingling to see Mr. Wei for treatment, please rest assured, Master..."
Jin waved wearily, "I know, you can go now."
Everyone was overjoyed that they had escaped punishment so easily, and they thanked the emperor and withdrew.
A cool breeze blew by, and the fine rain fell like needles, pricking his face and body, and piercing his heart. Jin stood quietly in the rain, silent.
Perhaps his protection wasn't that important to her.
A beautiful marriage is already arranged.
In the early morning, a ray of soft sunlight shone on the eaves, and only the damp ground indicated that it had rained the night before. The young master and Liu Bai slowly walked up to the south building.
Outside the small flower hall, a beautiful woman in red leaned against the door and smiled, while two guards blushed.
The young master stopped: "Miss Xinluo."
Lan Xinlu let out an "Ah" with a mix of emotions, and then laughed, "I heard that Young Master Yi had an urgent matter yesterday and rushed back in a hurry, not even having time to attend the Golden Autumn Gathering. So it was all because of this girl."
Liu Bai glared angrily at the two guards.
The two guards hurriedly said, "This young lady wanted to go in just now, but we didn't know what you meant, young master, so we stopped her."
"Oh, so it wasn't you who let me in?" Lan Xinluo was surprised and laughed so hard she bent over. "It's wrong to lie to the master. If I hadn't gone in, how would I have known who was inside? You two said you wouldn't mind taking a few lashes for me, so why are you so afraid?"
The two guards were alarmed: "You witch..."
The young master raised his hand to stop the two: "Miss Xinluo, you are not going through the main gate. Are you trying to make me, Yi, feel impolite?"
Lan Xinlu blinked: "Is Young Master Yi angry with me for being presumptuous? Why don't you also trespass into my room, and we'll be even."
Knowing her nature, Liu Bai was already used to it, but the two guards were dumbfounded.
The young master smiled and said, "If you have something to say, please speak frankly."
Lan Xinluo straightened up: "Didn't you say you don't do business with women? Now that the main person has returned, he wants to invite you to the manor for a chat, so you can talk to him without worry."
The young master asked, "When?"
"Three days later."
Where?
Lan Xinluo had already walked past him when she heard this. She turned back and smiled, "We will have someone come to pick you up when the time comes. I'm sure you're wondering why I borrowed so much money."
The young master nodded: "I, Yi, will be waiting."
As soon as Lan Xinluo left, Liu Bai's face darkened: "How dare outsiders enter the young master's study?"
The two guards snapped out of their daze, breaking out in a cold sweat: "We definitely didn't let her in, Steward Liu, please investigate thoroughly!"
Liu Bai sneered: "If we didn't let her in, how would she know who's inside?"
The two guards looked at each other, but the young master shook his head: "Never mind, it wasn't them."
.
On the tatami mat, the kitten, having taken its medicine, remained fast asleep.
Liu Bai looked around: "The ledgers aren't here, and nothing else has been touched."
The young master looked at the teapot: "Replace everything for me. There's no one guarding the north side of the garden. Send a few guards."
Liu Bai agreed.
The young master walked to the bedside, bent down, and softly called, "Little girl?"
Her eyelashes fluttered several times before she reluctantly opened her eyes. Seeing the person in front of her, she seemed puzzled, and it took her a while to remember something. Her gaze dimmed slightly: "Thank you."
The young master smiled and said, "Get up. Brother Yi will take you to another room." Before she could answer, he lifted the brocade quilt, picked her up, and instructed Liu Bai, "Tell them to bring the medicine to my room."
"Your room?" Liu Bai stared wide-eyed. "A perfectly innocent young girl sleeping in your bedroom? Are you sure Jin won't skin you alive if he sees her?"
.
The black bamboo blinds have been replaced with brocade blinds embroidered with auspicious clouds. A sword hangs high on the wall, and an incense burner, bonsai, books, and a pen holder are on the table, just as they were when we first met. A purple cloak with gold trim hangs on a sandalwood frame with phoenix heads by the bed.
The young master placed her on the bed and pulled the brocade quilt over her.
Qiu Lingling whispered, "Brother Yi... Brother Yi."
The young master looked down at her: "What is it?"
She lowered her eyes: "I want to go back to Jinyuan..."
The young master frowned: "Is this place not good?"
She shook her head and didn't say anything.
The young master comforted her, saying, "I already spoke with the guards last night. They said they would take you down the mountain to see a doctor. If Master Jin returns to Jin Garden, he will know. Just focus on getting better. Maybe he will come to pick you up."
“If he wanted to pick me up, he would have come last night,” Qiu Lingling pouted, tears streaming down her face, and hugged him, crying, “He wants to be with Qing Si now, he doesn’t want me anymore!”
Looking at the person in his arms, the young master smiled: "Since he doesn't want you, why would you go back?"
Qiu Lingling wiped her eyes and remained silent.
The young master lifted her face and asked softly, "Is Brother Yi good to you?"
Qiu Lingling nodded, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
"Then how about I marry Brother Yi?"
Qiu Lingling exclaimed "Ah!" Her big eyes widened suddenly, and she was stunned for a long time before she reacted. She quickly lowered her head, broke free from his embrace, and her face began to turn red, all the way to her ears.
The young master smiled, observing her reaction: "What?"
She mumbled, "No, that's not good."