A pure heart in a jade pot

Chapter 29

His reaction surprised Mo Yan. She was taken aback when she heard him agree with her so suddenly, and looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"If someone finds out later, just say that," he continued, walking past her.

"……oh."

Mo Yan followed behind him, almost stepping on his heels.

To the south of the lotus pond was Bai Yingyu's small building. It was only a few steps away from the building. As if the heavens were on their side, the rain suddenly intensified as soon as the two stepped into the corridor of the small building.

From the outside, the small building is decorated very elegantly. Several banana trees are planted under the window, and the raindrops hitting the banana leaves make a tinkling sound that is quite pleasant; the window screen is a misty green, a pale green like water melting, and a faint fragrance emanates from it.

Zhan Zhao looked at Mo Yan.

“It’s Chen Xingzhui.” Mo Yan knew what he was going to ask, and wrinkled her nose. “The scent is a bit off. It’s a pretty expensive fragrance, but the way she’s using it is a waste.” After saying that, she lifted the curtain and stepped inside without thinking. Zhan Zhao hesitated on the corridor. After all, it was a young lady’s boudoir, and it seemed inappropriate to trespass like that.

As he hesitated, he heard Mo Yan sigh from inside, "This Miss Bai has excellent embroidery skills. Where is Lord Zhan...?"

Zhan Zhao had no choice but to bite the bullet and go inside.

“This must be part of her dowry, right?” Mo Yan pointed to a red satin lotus flower on the embroidery frame, her eyes filled with envy. “It’s so beautifully embroidered, unlike me, who can only embroider mice.”

"A rat?" Zhan Zhao was stunned.

"Well, it was Han Erge who begged me repeatedly before I embroidered it for him. I didn't expect that embroidering a mouse would be so difficult, even more difficult than practicing swordsmanship. It's a pity that he never wore that garment again, otherwise you would have seen it."

Seeing her looking at him with a smug expression, Zhan Zhao could only say, "What a pity."

Mo Yan was immediately delighted: "Actually, you're not a bad person. If I have time next time, how about I embroider a cat for you?"

"Well..." Zhan Zhao's eyes darted away as he changed the subject, "I wonder if there are any clues upstairs. I'll go up and take a look. You can search carefully downstairs."

"Okay," she readily agreed.

Halfway up the stairs, Zhan Zhao looked down and saw Mo Yan strolling around with her hands behind her back, looking quite happy. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a smile involuntarily appearing on his lips. If she really wanted to embroider a cat for him, he wouldn't know how to refuse.

Upstairs was Bai Yingyu's sleeping quarters, and everywhere he looked were things belonging to a young lady. He regretted not letting Mo Yan come upstairs earlier. Not to mention the dazzling array of cosmetics on the dressing table, it would be extremely awkward to even rummage through the bedding or the clothes in the chest.

Zhan Zhao first checked several places where ordinary people hid things, but didn't find what he wanted. Instead, he found a book in tiny regular script, on which Liu Qiqing's poems were carefully copied. Although Liu Qiqing was a famous white-robed prime minister of the time, he was also a romantic and talented man who often frequented brothels. His reputation among women was not good, so it's no wonder that Bai Yingyu wanted to copy them secretly.

After putting the poetry collection back as it was, leaving only the bedding and clothes chest, Zhan Zhao hesitated about whether to call Mo Yan upstairs when he suddenly heard voices coming from outside. Someone must have arrived.

There was another path leading from the front courtyard to the small building, which was much closer to the way they had come. Before Zhan Zhao could go downstairs to remind Mo Yan, he heard a scream from downstairs.

"You! How dare you trespass into my young lady's private room!"

Two maids helped Bai Yingyu stand at the door, staring intently at Mo Yan, who stood frozen in place, holding an embroidered piece symbolizing a harmonious marriage.

"I came here to take shelter from the rain," Mo Yan said with a smile, quickly putting down the embroidery in her hands and laying it flat as before to show that it was intact.

Upon seeing the embroidery, Bai Yingyu's face grew even paler.

The maidservant angrily exclaimed, "I never imagined that the people of Kaifeng Prefecture would be such shameless and lewd scoundrels!"

The maid who spoke was the same one who was in the study yesterday. Yesterday, she noticed that Mo Yan's gaze was improper towards her mistress, but she never expected that she would be so bold as to barge into her boudoir today.

"A lecherous thief!?"

It was the first time Mo Yan had been given such a title, and she looked a little dazed. But when she looked down and saw that she was dressed in men's clothing, she suddenly realized what was going on.

"Get out of here!"

Mo Yan glanced at the stairs and obediently walked towards the door. Two maids protected Bai Yingyu, avoiding her as if she were a plague.

"By the way, where is Lord Zhan?" Bai Yingyu suddenly called out to her.

“He…” Mo Yan hesitated for a moment, “I got separated from him. It was raining so hard, so we…” She gestured wildly, “we were so focused on finding shelter from the rain that we didn’t notice we ended up here.”

As they were talking, Zhan Zhao walked up behind her in the rain and said in a deep voice, "So you've come here. I've been looking for you for a long time."

Mo Yan turned around and stared at him with wide eyes, as if she had seen a ghost.

Zhan Zhao ignored her and said to Bai Yingyu, "I didn't know this was a young lady's private quarters. Please forgive me if I have been impolite."

"Lord Zhan, you flatter me. It is Yingyu who has been impolite to neglect our distinguished guest."

"Since you have caused me so much inconvenience, I will take my leave."

"Lord Zhan, please wait patiently. I will have a maid hold an umbrella and lead you out so you don't get lost again."

Thank you.

Listening to their polite back-and-forth, Mo Yan chuckled inwardly. This kind of pretentious and affected talk was quite suitable for this cat.

After the maidservants saw the two out of the Bai residence, Zhan Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That was really close."

Mo Yan said dismissively, "Anyway, you're good at light footwork, you can just jump down from the building. I'm the unlucky one, I'm a good person but I've become a lecher." She was surprised to see Zhan Zhao appear from behind her, but she quickly understood.

"Is there anything good upstairs?" she then asked.

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "I can't see anything suspicious about the hidden collection of Liu Yong's poems."

"A collection of Liu Yong's poems!" Mo Yan exclaimed with delight. "I also have a copy. I didn't expect that Miss Bai would share the same interest as me."

"Do you like it?" she asked, tilting her head back.

Zhan Zhao hesitated. He was usually too busy with official duties to appreciate poetry. He only had a vague recollection of a few lines.

“He returned without a trace, where is the former residence? — Is this his?” Zhan Zhao was unsure.