The wet nurse and Mitui took Da Yuanbao away, leaving her a bit bored. Thinking of Xiao Xueyi, Zhongli Mingye still hadn't said he would release him.
It was freezing cold now, and with his frail body, he couldn't bear the cold.
The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Anyway, Xiao Xueyi had saved her life, and Tingran Pavilion had taken her in.
She couldn't just turn a blind eye, for both emotional and moral reasons.
It was just after the New Year, so Zhongli Mingye shouldn't be too busy.
"What is she doing?"
Zhongli Mingye was reviewing memorials. He was about to write "Approved" with the vermilion brush when he heard Qingfeng say, "Miss Ningyue has gone to bed."
He immediately changed it to "Reorganize". But then, with the sound of footsteps, he picked up the pen again and crossed it out, changing it to "Supervise".
Ningyue pushed the door open and came in, carrying a tray. "Is Yuanbao asleep?"
"Yes! This meat congee was cooked by Ningyue... Would you like to have a taste?" Summoning up her courage, she offered the congee to Zhongli Mingye.
Her fair little hand holding the blue - and - white porcelain was extremely charming. Zhongli Mingye couldn't help but want to reach out and touch it, but the little hand quickly withdrew!
"If you have something to say, just say it. But don't mention Xiao Xueyi and Tingran Pavilion..."
"..."
Then what else could she say? She stood there huffily.
Zhongli Mingye looked at her leisurely. "If you don't say anything, come and grind the ink!" Grind the ink? Ningyue was suspicious. He wouldn't be using this as an excuse to do something bad, would he?
"If you don't grind the ink, what kind of maid are you!"
Reluctantly, she stepped forward, picked up the purple - gold inkstick, and began to grind it carefully. Her mind was spinning rapidly. She wanted to persuade Zhongli Mingye, but didn't know where to start.
At the moment, this man was like a docile donkey. If she went along with his wishes, things might be better.
A docile donkey? The image of Zhongli Mingye turning into a donkey popped into Ningyue's mind, and she suddenly felt like laughing.
"What are you thinking about?"
Could he tell what she was thinking even when he was burying his head in reviewing memorials? Instantly, Ningyue composed herself and didn't dare to be distracted anymore.
Finally, the man closed the last memorial.
Leaning back on the chair, he closed his eyes. Ningyue looked at his phoenix - like eyes, and there was a faint trace of worry between his eyebrows. She suddenly wanted to reach out and smooth it away.
As she was thinking, she got distracted again.
Zhongli Mingye opened his eyes, but she didn't notice. "Am I good - looking?"
"Good... looking..."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Ningyue finally realized she had behaved inappropriately. Her face quickly flushed red. She immediately wanted to leave, but the man who had been looking tired with his eyes closed just now didn't give her a chance.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. "Am I more good - looking or Xiao Xueyi?"
This question?
Ningyue's eyes widened. How should she answer to avoid getting into big trouble?
She bit her white teeth gently and summoned up her courage to squeeze out a sentence from between her teeth: "Naturally, His Highness the Crown Prince outshines others."
"You deserve a spanking... This is so untrue." As he said, he pinched her delicate and fair cheek, picked up a bit of the rouge on it, and gently twirled it. The atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous.
Ningyue murmured to herself. Could she hit him?
She really wanted to, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it when looking at this face.
Now, she still had something to ask of Zhongli Mingye.
Just as Ningyue was hesitating how to speak up,
Zhongli Mingye let go of her. "Don't worry... I'm a person who knows how to repay kindness."
Not having the heart to see her in a dilemma, Zhongli Mingye finally relented. "As long as he behaves himself, I will surely spare him and Tingran Pavilion."
"Go and rest first!"
There seemed to be stars in Ningyue's eyes, and she immediately felt relieved. But as soon as she stepped out of the door, she gritted her teeth in anger at Zhongli Mingye's next words, "You have to serve me well obediently!"
In the end, he was just making things difficult for her!
"Master Xiao, please!" The jailer never dared to treat the elegant young gentleman carelessly. Because he had received instructions earlier that this gentleman was only temporarily detained here.
Now, the Crown Prince had passed on an oral order. He even found a cleaner cell and assigned a servant. Xiao Xueyi couldn't help but smile helplessly.
He really underestimated Zhongli Mingye. For the sake of Song Jinyu, the man would stop at nothing.
However, a smile curled up on his lips. She simply couldn't regain her memory. What could Zhongli Mingye do?
Thinking of this, he felt a sense of pleasure in his heart.
So what if he was the all - powerful Crown Prince? At this moment, wasn't he also tied up and extremely worried about this matter! Although Xiao Xueyi had many regrets, he didn't regret it at this moment.
After all, even if he had brought Ningyue to the capital, in the end, he hadn't really traded her for power. The only thing Xiao Xueyi regretted was that he had met her too late.
Ji Yeliu finally bribed his way in to visit Xiao Xueyi.
However, Master Xiao was really angry and refused to see him. He only asked the jailer to pass on a message.
"Tingran Pavilion has never done anything wrong to the Ji family, but the Ji family joined hands with the governors of several cities to frame the Xiao family." These words made Ji Yeliu lose face.
"Master Xiao, the Ji family is only loyal to the court!"
Ji Yeliu sighed. He didn't want to say anything more. After all, because of Yan Fei, he really couldn't bear to see Song Jinyu spend the rest of her life hidden in Gusu City by Xiao Xueyi, living a life that wasn't hers.
He didn't regret it. He believed that one day Xiao Xueyi would also understand. Song Jinyu wasn't someone he could covet.
"Ningyue, His Highness the Crown Prince is drinking on the Moonlit Platform. Go and have a look." Ningyue had just played with Da Yuanbao for a while and had just handed him over to the wet nurse when Mitui came to assign her the task of looking after the Crown Prince.
Look after him? Ningyue was a bit reluctant. Mitui looked at her expression and smiled. "If the Crown Prince gets drunk and falls off the Moonlit Platform, it will be a big problem!"
"I have to get busy with the affairs of the manor. Niaoniao is looking after His Highness Yuanbao. You're the only one left! Hurry up!" While pushing her, Mitui snickered.
There was nothing she could do. Ningyue looked at the sky. The moon was right in the middle of the sky, bright and gentle. The moonlight made the night seem even calmer.
The moonlight was like water, and the night was deep.
She suddenly remembered that tomorrow was the Lantern Festival. She thought about asking Zhongli Mingye to let her go out and buy some interesting and new toys for Da Yuanbao.
Immediately, she lifted her skirt and "clomped" up the Moonlit Platform. The man was holding a delicate white jade wine pot and sitting on a small pear - wood couch beside the platform.
Vaguely, a familiar feeling lingered in her heart. Seeing her come up, Zhongli Mingye shook the wine pot. "It's empty..."
It's empty. Did he want her to refill it?
Looking at her tenderly, he said, "Let's have a drink together!"
His gaze was so intoxicating that Ningyue took the wine pot as if in a trance and went to refill it with osmanthus wine.
When she came back, Zhongli Mingye had already set out two wine cups and several side dishes.
Was he really going to drink with her? Ningyue felt that since she met Zhongli Mingye, she had always been making concessions.
She didn't know why, but in front of him, all her perseverance seemed meaningless.
"Try this osmanthus wine."
Ningyue drained the wine in the cup. The fragrance lingered on her lips and teeth, and the aftertaste was endless. It had a hint of the sweet smell of osmanthus. Ningyue drank happily and had a few more cups.
Before long, Zhongli Mingye took out another kind of wine. "This is nu'er hong (daughter - red)." Ningyue had already drunk a few more cups and was in a daze. She didn't refuse this nu'er hong either.
And those calm and composed phoenix eyes seemed to have something in them because of her, becoming even more profound.
"Ningyue, what did Xiao Xueyi tell you?" He asked casually. The slightly drunk woman let down her guard at this moment. "What did he say?"
Ningyue shook her head and thought carefully. "We're engaged. I'm the fiancée he betrothed to when we were children."
"Do you believe it?"
"I don't know. There's nothing in my head." Ningyue was telling the truth. She didn't dare to trust anyone easily now. She just took what Xiao Xueyi said as a passing thought. But the man beside her took it seriously. "Then now, will you take what I say to heart?"
Zhongli Mingye saw her little face flushed and her eyes blurred.
He naturally knew that whenever she mixed two kinds of wine, she would get drunk easily. "You're my wife and the mother of Da Yuanbao."
But these words didn't register much with Ningyue in her daze. She looked up at Zhongli Mingye. "Um, you're really good - looking!"
He was just about to hold her soft hand when he didn't expect her to be so drunk. She grabbed his hand, gave a faint smile, and then suddenly lay down on the table motionless.
Zhongli Mingye was extremely helpless. He had originally wanted to get her drunk to get information, but he didn't expect her to be so drunk.
Then he thought that maybe it wasn't a bad thing that she had forgotten her past. Maybe without Tianmen Mountain and the imperial marriage, if she fell in love with him all over again, it would be a great blessing for him.