Song Jinyu took Niaoniao to pick and choose in the herbal medicine shop. Although Tianmen Mountain had no shortage of any herbal medicine, the extremely precious ones were still extremely rare.
"Do you still have any purple ganoderma?"
"Miss, Liuzhou is no match for the capital city," said the shopkeeper, his face wrinkled. He recognized this young miss of the Song family.
"In the bustling capital, every shop would have some more or less."
The shopkeeper said proudly, "In the whole city of Liuzhou, only our shop has it."
"Then wrap it up!" Jinyu thought of making some tonics for her master.
As soon as they stepped out of the shop, a carriage stopped in front of it. Qingfeng got off the carriage and saluted Jinyu. "My prince requests that the young miss pay a visit to the mansion."
Song Jinyu remembered that she had hurt Prince Yu with medicine last time, and couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed.
Qingfeng still maintained the posture of saluting, showing no sign of giving up. So Jinyu had no choice but to get on the carriage.
Prince Yu lit a stick of sandalwood in the warm pavilion in the garden. The smell was elegant, gentle and lasting.
The guqin was placed in the center. The man's slender hands were adjusting the tune. When Jinyu just arrived at the garden, the cold and clear sound of the guqin passed through the bead curtain of the pavilion. At first, it was like a soft whisper, gentle and lingering. Then the sound gradually became stronger, just like "a light boat has passed, and the momentum is wandering."
Jinyu thought to herself, "What a luxurious enjoyment! I wonder which beauty is playing the guqin so well."
She gently lifted the bead curtain and walked in. She saw Zhongli Mingye playing the guqin in the sandalwood fragrance. It turned out that the beauty in her imagination was him. She lightly moved her lotus steps and sat a little farther away from him.
She could just see the withered lotus in the lake, but it reminded her of the night when she poisoned the prince and made him fall to the ground. She felt a bit guilty and decided to curry favor with Zhongli Mingye today so that he wouldn't vent his anger on her father and brother.
When the tune ended, the man stood up leisurely and looked at Jinyu.
"Was it nice?"
"Of course it was nice!" Jinyu flattered him obsequiously.
"This tune should only be heard in the sky. How many times can it be heard in the mortal world?" She picked these two lines from the few poems she knew.
"Of course, the person playing the tune is also a celestial being." Jinyu racked her brains to praise Zhongli Mingye.
"Can you play the guqin?" Zhongli Mingye didn't respond to her insincere praise and asked.
"No, I can't." Jinyu really had no interest in musical instruments at all.
"Would you like me to teach you?" Zhongli Mingye slowly walked towards her and tempted the girl.
"No, no!" Jinyu waved her hands hurriedly and refused. "I'm too dull to be taught."
"Why are you so afraid of me?" Zhongli Mingye was dissatisfied with her attitude.
"I heard in the storybook that it's easy for a man and a woman to develop an ambiguous relationship when learning the guqin," Jinyu replied seriously.
"Cough, cough." Zhongli Mingye had just taken a sip of tea when he was choked by her words.
"It doesn't matter if my reputation is damaged, but it would be a sin if I damaged the prince's reputation."
Jinyu quickly stepped forward to pat him on the back. She tilted her head and saw that his eyelashes were very long and thick. She couldn't help feeling envious.
Prince Yu looked up at her. The woman was being modest, but her eyes were full of cunning.
Song Jinyu continued to flatter him. "Your Highness, you're really handsome!"
Zhongli Mingye said, "Among the men around you, am I the most handsome one?"
"Of course you are!" Song Jinyu nodded. This was really true.
"How do I compare to Yan Fei?"
Yan Fei? Why did he compare himself with her junior brother?
But she still answered honestly, "Each of you has your own strengths. Junior brother has a sickly beauty, while you have a heroic beauty."
Each has his own strengths? Zhongli Mingye snorted and suppressed his dissatisfaction. He just asked someone to prepare lunch.
Different from the large plates and small dishes at other banquets, the dishes in the prince's mansion were all served in delicate small clay pots.
When the lids of the pots were lifted, the fragrance of the dishes filled the air. Jinyu couldn't help looking at them a few more times and swallowing her saliva gently.
Seeing that she was attracted by the lunch, Prince Yu explained with a smile, "This is a dish from the capital city called clay pot stewed dishes."
"The dishes and soup are put in small clay pots and then placed in a large pot. They are stewed with a big fire, which preserves the essence of the ingredients and keeps the original flavor."
"This meal is quite elaborate!" Jinyu looked at the dozens of small clay pots with great interest.
Zhongli Mingye was also happy because of her liking.
The two of them had lunch in the warm pavilion.
Jinyu felt a bit embarrassed about eating for free, so she asked Niaoniao to give the purple ganoderma she bought in the shop to Prince Yu.
"Let this purple ganoderma be my apology!"
Zhongli Mingye looked at Song Jinyu with a smile. Qingfeng had invited her here just because she was in the shop. He thought that this purple ganoderma was not specially for him, but he still took it with a smile.
As for the apology, was she feeling guilty for poisoning him last time?
He couldn't help feeling proud. This woman was really interesting.
"Jinyu, you don't have to be so distant in front of me in the future."
"Okay, okay." She just hoped that he wouldn't blame her father because of her.
Since Jinyu had an appointment with her sister-in-law to go to the weaving workshop to look at the cloth in the afternoon, she said goodbye to Prince Yu and left. After Zhongli Mingye saw her off, he arranged for someone to send some delicate clay pots.
He still remembered the surprised look in Jinyu's eyes when they were having dinner.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Song Chuyu had to return to the military camp. So Mrs. Xiang quickly made several sets of clothes for him to take with him. But this time, before the sister-in-law and sister had chosen enough, Song Chuyu rushed back from outside.
"Yu'er, you should stay at home with your sister-in-law these days," Song Chuyu knew that his younger sister was not an obedient person, so he specially warned her.
"What made you so panicked, brother?" Song Jinyu didn't take it seriously. She was a disciple of Tianmen Mountain. Who in the whole city of Liuzhou could do anything to her?
"A flower-picking thief has come to Liuzhou. He specifically targets the young ladies of wealthy families," Song Chuyu said seriously.
"Three young ladies in the city have already suffered misfortune. Now father is very worried about this matter."
A flower-picking thief? Song Jinyu's eyes turned cold.
"The mansions of wealthy families are always well guarded. How did this flower-picking thief get into the houses?" Jinyu asked.
"Father is investigating this matter. You just take care of yourself!" Song Chuyu saw that his younger sister was becoming more and more beautiful. He couldn't help warning her a few more times.
The folk customs of the Daxia Dynasty were conservative. Once a woman lost her virginity, she would have no way out. At best, she would become a nun. At worst, she would be drowned in the pond. So as soon as this happened in Liuzhou, Song Chuyu rushed to find Jinyu and warned her carefully.
This flower-picking thief was really hateful!
Jinyu lost interest in choosing cloth. She found an excuse and returned to the Jinxuan Courtyard.
"Chengsong, go and find out how the three victimized young ladies are," she said.
Since her father had received the report, she was afraid that the three young ladies were already dead.
Chengsong went out for a while.
Niaoniao brought in the clay pots sent by Prince Yu. Song Jinyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she saw the pile of small clay pots. Although the clay pot stewed dishes and soup were really delicious, there was no reason to bring these pots back.
"Miss, I secretly read the case file," Chengsong said.
"I rushed to the mansions of the three young ladies and found that they had already committed suicide."
"Alas, as I expected," Jinyu's mood sank to the bottom. Her father's investigation was a bit slow. It would be better for her to handle it herself.
"My dear miss, please don't cause any more trouble," Niaoniao panicked when she saw that Jinyu wanted to investigate the case again.
"Niaoniao, don't try to persuade me anymore!" Jinyu said with a gloomy face. She clenched her hands and was determined to seek justice for the three dead young ladies.