The First Jasmine - Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Brother and Sister Reunited
Watching the stone door close once more, Xu Qingchen frowned in a way that was almost imperceptible. The Southern Border Saintess was gradually losing her sanity. As long as everything proceeded smoothly according to the plan he and Princess Anxi had discussed over the past half-year, they could completely capture both the Southern Border Saintess and the forces deployed by King Li in the Southern Border without shedding a single drop of blood. In that case, he should now consider how to make his escape; since his objective had been achieved beyond expectations, remaining here any longer served no purpose. Furthermore, the longer it dragged on, the more dangerous this place would become.
The stone door was pushed open from the outside once again, and Xu Qingchen said calmly, "Does the lady still have business here?"
"This lady has no business, Qingchen-gege, but I do..." A crisp, delighted giggle rang out from the doorway. Xu Qingchen started, swiftly turning his head to look toward the entrance. By the half-opened stone door, a delicate young maiden dressed in goose-yellow attire was smiling brightly at him. "Lier..." Ye Li stepped forward, appraising the environment of the stone chamber with a winning smile, and said, "Brother, it looks like you've been living quite well here." Xu Qingchen looked at her with a smile and said, "Lier, how did Lier come to be here?" Ye Li blinked at him, pointing toward the still half-open stone door as she smiled, "To welcome Qingchen Gongzi, of course."
Xu Qingchen cast a pensive glance toward the doorway. "There are still people outside?"
Ye Li took Xu Qingchen's hand with a smile and said, "Let's ignore that for now, let's hurry and leave. It wouldn't be very good if that woman happens to kill her way back." Xu Qingchen nodded and said, "Lier is right. Whatever there is to discuss, we can talk about it after we get out—for instance, why I suddenly acquired a fiancée?" The smile on Ye Li's face instantly froze, and after a long moment, she let out a dry chuckle and said, "Qingchen-gege, once we're outside, remember that my name is Chu Liuyun, alright? Not even knowing your own fiancée's name makes it very easy for people to become suspicious." Xu Qingchen tidied up slightly, collecting a few items from a nearby table to carry with him, and followed Ye Li out through the stone door. Outside the door, An Er was waiting with two unfamiliar shadow guards. Seeing Ye Li and Xu Qingchen emerge, they all let out a breath of relief. "Qingchen Gongzi is indeed here. Miss, we'll exit through the imperial palace."
"What about that woman?"
An Er replied, "Princess Anxi took people and headed to the Saintess Palace in accordance with the information we provided. Coupled with those corpses, that woman will definitely believe Princess Anxi has already set her sights on her. Right now, she's probably waiting at the Saintess Palace feeling as though facing a formidable enemy." Ye Li nodded with satisfaction. "And the imperial palace side?" An Er said, "Young Master Han will create chaos in the imperial palace when the time comes, and we can take advantage of the opportunity to slip out." Ye Li nodded. "I hope Han Mingxi is just as reliable this time." An Er lowered his head and chuckled muffledly, "Young Master Han had An San pass along a message guaranteeing he won't let the Miss down."
"I hope so."
Two shadow guards protected Xu Qingchen, with An Er and Ye Li bringing up the front and back. Just as they had anticipated, a long secret tunnel connected the two ends of the imperial palace and the Saintess Palace. Although the mountain belly behind the imperial palace had not been hollowed out entirely like the Luoyi Tribe's territory, there were still several stone chambers connected to the secret tunnel, and the one where Xu Qingchen had been placed under house arrest was one of them. With Ye Li and the others leading the way, the group naturally reached the imperial palace exit very quickly. Xu Qingchen frowned and asked, "Where is the exit?" An Er said with a hint of regret, "Inside the Nanzhao King's bedchamber. With that Southern Border Saintess being so unhinged, the Nanzhao King still dared to build a secret passage right inside his own bedchamber—wasn't he afraid of getting himself killed by her one day?" Xu Qingchen wasn't surprised at all, saying placidly, "Under normal circumstances, the Southern Border Saintess would be absolutely loyal to the Nanzhao King." An Er was puzzled. "Then what is going on with this one?"
Ye Li cut in, "We'll talk about what's going on after we get back."
An Er hurriedly acknowledged the order, stepped forward, and carefully triggered the mechanism of the secret passage. The heavy boulder was moved aside, and what appeared in everyone's view was a spacious palace chamber. Once all five of them had stepped out, An Er resealed the secret passage mechanism. The two shadow guards flashed out ahead, pulling two guards who had come to investigate the sound into the room before they could even utter a grunt, sending them collapsing silently and softly to the ground. Xu Qingchen glanced at Ye Li, whose expression remained completely normal, a subtle shift crossing his eyes. Reaching out, he pulled Ye Li close to his side. Ye Li looked up at him with a faint smile and said, "Big Brother, let's hurry and get out of here." Xu Qingchen nodded. Emerging from the Nanzhao King's luxurious bedchamber, they didn't encounter many guards along the way, and the few sentries they did run into were all swiftly dealt with by the two shadow guards and An Er. Because their route had been meticulously planned in advance, the group spent virtually no effort before successfully exiting the royal palace and arriving at the secret staging ground Han Mingxi had prepared for them beforehand.
"Junwei... this prince has returned, why aren't you hurrying out to welcome me?" Before the group even had a chance to sit down, drink some water, and catch their breath, Han Mingxi's wildly flirtatious voice rang out from outside the courtyard. No sooner had they turned around than a dark shadow fluttered down from the top of the wall, lunging directly toward the direction where Ye Li was standing.
"Young Master Han!" An San, who had been following right behind him, broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly called out. Beside Ye Li, Xu Qingchen and An Er also stepped forward simultaneously, blocking Han Mingxi's path. Xu Qingchen's smile was gentle yet aloof as he said, "Young Master Han, what are you trying to do?" Only then did Han Mingxi realize that the person standing beside Xu Qingchen wasn't his beloved little brother Junwei, but a delicate young maiden dressed in goose-yellow gauze. "Uh... this..." Ye Li hurriedly retreated behind Xu Qingchen, poking out only half her face. "Qingchen-gege..."
When Han Mingxi saw that the young lady seemed to have been frightened by him, he was inevitably struck by overwhelming shame. He, the Feng Yue Prince, had roamed the sea of flowers for over a dozen years; when had he ever acted so impolitely toward a pretty young maiden? To salvage his image, Han Mingxi immediately flashed the Feng Yue Prince's signature smile, raised an eyebrow with a chuckle from behind Xu Qingchen, and said softly, "My apologies to the young lady. I am Han Mingxi; did I frighten you just now? Allow me to offer my apologies." Hiding behind Xu Qingchen, Ye Li said in a crisp voice, "It's alright, but Young Master should definitely never... do that again in the future. After all, men and women must keep a proper distance." Han Mingxi's mouth twitched; he truly wasn't a rake, he had just mistaken the person standing next to Xu Qingchen for Junwei, alright? But come to think of it, where on earth had his Junwei brother gone?
"Zhuo Jing! Where has my Junwei brother gone? You're all here, why is he the only one missing?"
Ye Li couldn't help gazing up at the heavens—who is your brother? An San wore a face full of dark lines, silently watching Han Mingxi's relentless demeanor as he said, "The Young Master did not say he was coming here." Han Mingxi was dissatisfied. "Why didn't Junwei come here?" An San replied, "This place is what the Young Master asked Young Master Han to prepare for the Young Master of the Xu family." Han Mingxi cast a displeased, sidelong glance at the graceful and poised Qingchen Gongzi. For some reason, he felt a slight pang of sourness in his heart, and complained resentfully, "But I prepared it for Junwei."
An San couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Our Young Master has a place to stay." Han Mingxi curled his lip and said, "How could the place you're staying at be as comfortable as what I prepared? If I'd known it wasn't Junwei who was going to live here, I wouldn't have put in so much effort." Having said that, he didn't forget to glare fiercely at Xu Qingchen. Taking it all in, Xu Qingchen gave a faint smile and said, "Thank you for the trouble, Young Master Han." Han Mingxi let out a light humph, waving the folding fan in his hand as he said, "Seeing as you're Junwei's elder brother, this prince won't argue with you. Where is Junwei? Since he didn't come with us and isn't with you either, where has he gone now?" An Er quickly glanced at Ye Li and said, "This... just as we were returning, Chu Gongzi received some news and left first, saying he had matters to attend to and would return to rendezvous with us shortly."
"Is that so?" Han Mingxi remained half-convinced; perhaps the slightly stern look on An Er's face carried a high degree of credibility, because in the end, Han Mingxi gave a huff, flicked his sleeves, and left.
Watching Han Mingxi vanish into the courtyard, Xu Qingchen turned back to look at Ye Li, smiling faintly as he said, "Little sister, it seems quite a few things happened during your journey all the way to the Southern Border?" Ye Li offered an ingratiating smile toward Xu Qingchen; with Xu Qingchen's brilliance, it wouldn't be difficult for him to guess that Chu Junwei and Chu Liuyun were one and the same person. Xu Qingchen smiled as he looked at Ye Li's uneasy expression, and nodded. "It just so happens that Big Brother and you haven't seen each other in nearly a year, shall we go inside and chat?" Ye Li blinked helplessly, clearing the path beside her and whispering, "Big Brother, please."
Inside the study, Xu Qingchen sat behind the desk, gazing calmly at the guilty-looking Ye Li. Standing to one side with her head lowered, Ye Li's eyes darted rapidly as she raised her head from time to time to steal a glance at Xu Qingchen. Just as the previous generation of the Xu family feared Xu Hongç¾½ most, the children of the current Xu family generation feared Xu Qingchen most. This naturally included Ye Li, who had frequently stayed at the Xu residence during her childhood. "Big Brother..." Seeing that Xu Qingchen remained merely calm and stared at her without speaking a word, Ye Li asked in a small, aggrieved voice. Looking at her pitiful appearance, Xu Qingchen let out a light sigh and said, "It's been a long time, yet Lier has grown quite bold, actually learning to put on a pitiful act for Big Brother?" Ye Li blinked, pouting as she said, "Big Brother... Lier wasn't putting on a pitiful act, why is Big Brother angry..."
Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow. "Lier doesn't know why Big Brother is angry?"
Ye Li shook her head, and Xu Qingchen asked, "Who is Chu Junwei? And who is Chu Liuyun?"
Trying to circle around Big Brother with evasive detours was a complete waste of effort. With a sense of defeat, Ye Li lowered her head. "Big Brother..." Xu Qingchen pointed to the chair before him and said, "Sit down, sit down and talk slowly." Ye Li obediently sat down on the stool, and then recounted in meticulous detail everything that had happened—starting from being schemed against by Ye Yue in the capital all the way to finding Xu Qingchen in the Southern Border, leaving out nothing. By the time Ye Li finished speaking, she realized her throat was somewhat parched. The moment she raised her head, she saw Xu Qingchen pushing a cup of tea toward her. Ye Li offered a faint smile, hurriedly taking it into her hands to take a sip. After she drank the water to lubricate her throat, Xu Qingchen looked at her and said calmly, "I won't talk to you about being schemed against by Ye Yue for the moment, but why did you specifically run off to Guangling to find Han Mingxi? And why did you bring him to the Southern Border?" Ye Li lowered her voice. "I didn't want to alarm the people in the capital, so it wasn't convenient to mobilize the shadow guards of the Dingguo Estate. Han Mingxi followed of his own accord; I didn't bring him."
Xu Qingchen looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Not wanting to alarm the people in the capital is indeed a fine consideration, but have you asked what relationship Han Mingyue has with the Prince of Dingguo? What should you do if outsiders find out that you, the dignified Princess Consort of the Dingguo Estate, used an alias to go to Tianyi Pavilion? Most importantly, if Han Mingyue genuinely wants to investigate, could he fail to uncover your identity? If he starts meddling or obstructing, what will you do then?" Ye Li raised her eyes to look at Xu Qingchen's handsome face, which still wore a smile. "I left An Si behind to monitor the Qingfeng Mingyue Pavilion. If Han Mingyue returns, he will immediately notify me. Furthermore, the truly important matters weren't even handed over to Tianyi Pavilion to handle. I merely wanted to use Tianyi Pavilion to draw away a portion of the attention from the shadow guards." Xu Qingchen nodded. "We'll let this matter pass. Then... who told you to go provoke the Sick Scholar?"
"Big Brother knows about the Sick Scholar too?" Ye Li asked. Although the Sick Scholar's reputation was resounding, he was a figure of the jianghu; the fact that Xu Qingchen knew of this person piqued Ye Li's curiosity.
Xu Qingchen looked at her calmly. "Ling Tiehan, the First Master of the Yama Pavilion, is a friend of mine."
Ye Li was struck dumb, silently gazing up at the heavens in her heart. She had just been plotting in her mind about how to scheme against the Sick Scholar, but after all, the Sick Scholar remained a dangerous existence. "Big Brother, if I do something to the Sick Scholar, it won't affect the friendship between you and Pavilion Master Ling, will it?" Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to do to him?" Frowning delicately, Ye Li detailed the matter of the Azure-Falling Flower from beginning to end. After listening, Xu Qingchen remained silent for a moment before saying, "So, you're worried that him getting the Azure-Falling Flower would be disadvantageous to the Prince of Dingguo, and you want to strike first to eliminate this hidden trouble, while also feeling that the Azure-Falling Flower might help the Prince of Dingguo's condition, so you want to obtain it as well? You certainly know how to look out for Mo Xiuyao; it's clear you truly regard yourself as the Princess Consort of the Dingguo Estate. Father and Uncle have always worried that your temperament is too aloof, but I imagine they likewise wouldn't wish to see you care too much about the Prince of Dingguo."
Hearing Xu Qingchen put it that way, Ye Li suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed. "What are you talking about, Big Brother? Mo Xiuyao has always treated me well. Since I've already married him, naturally I hope he remains safe and sound. Surely Big Brother doesn't want him to kick the bucket early and leave your poor cousin a widow?"
Looking at Ye Li's forced, self-justifying demeanor, Xu Qingchen chuckled softly. Giving a light cough, he said, "Very well, be careful regarding the Sick Scholar. As for Ling Tiehan, I will communicate with him myself and won't let the Yama Pavilion give you any trouble."
"Thank you, Big Brother," Ye Li smiled.
Xu Qingchen looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "No need to thank me, cousin Lier. Now let's talk about the matter concerning my fiancée. By the way, I've already had someone send a pigeon message back to the capital to inform the people who need to be notified about this."
"Ah... Cousin... how could you do this? No, why did you do it so fast?!" The moment Ye Li thought of how many letters she would receive because of this matter, and how she would be lectured by her First Uncle and Second Uncle in the future, she felt a headache coming on.
Xu Qingchen smiled. "In fact, the very first day I heard about my fiancée coming to Nanzhao, I had someone send a letter back. Or did you think that because Big Brother was placed under house arrest, I had no way to send messages outside? At most, in another five days, there should be a reply. Flowing Cloud, my dear younger sister..."
Ye Li couldn't help wanting to cover her head and groan. Big Brother was truly far too... far too wicked!