That night, in Zhihong Garden—
"Here, take this."
Hun Yuan took out a pill from the pile of broken bracelets and held it out to Ye Xi.
"Oh, okay."
Ye Xi snapped out of her daze from looking at the fragments of the bodhi seeds. She obediently swallowed the pill with some water.
She never would have thought that the way to tell which ones contained pills was to smash all the bodhi seeds. She had thought there would be some ingenious mechanism or something.
In the end, Hun Yuan showed up with a hammer and "banged" a few times, shattering the jade - white and shiny bodhi seeds. When he found one with a pill, he took it out; if not, he just moved on to the next one.
Ye Xi was greatly shocked, but Hun Yuan seemed to be enjoying it. In just a few moments, he had found all six pills. Then he took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom. After giving one to Ye Xi, he put the remaining five away on his own. He placed the bottle on the table and said,
"Alright, keep the remaining pills. Remember the dates. Take one every two months."
"Okay."
Ye Xi took the porcelain bottle and started thinking about where to put it.
However, Yi Yuan gave Hun Yuan a sidelong glance and said,
"You just came like this? Isn't there anything you want to give Little Xi as a congratulation for winning today?"
"Well, this is..."
Hun Yuan pushed the hammer beside him forward and said cheekily,
"It's small, delicate, and easy to carry. If you see someone you don't like, just take it out and smash them. It won't hurt your hands for sure."
Yi Yuan: …
Sai Xing was laughing so hard that she actually put the hammer away seriously.
It was Yi Yaofeng who happily ran over with his little legs stomping. He placed the wooden box in his hand in front of Ye Xi like he was presenting a treasure. His fair and tender little face was beaming like a flower as he said sweetly,
"Sister Xi, Yan Xuan and Yan Gui said you were amazing today! You defeated so many other young ladies all by yourself and made those who spoke ill of you slap themselves. Haha... Yaofeng searched in the storeroom for a long time before choosing this for you. Hurry up and take a look."
After a pause, he took out a beautiful and delicate silk ribbon from his bosom and held it out in front of Ye Xi. He said with a smile,
"Lian Yi made this and asked me to give it to you."
Warmed in her heart, Ye Xi gave a gentle smile and said,
"Thank you, Yaofeng. Thank you, Lian Yi."
As she spoke, she took the silk ribbon that was obviously carefully woven. Then she opened the wooden box that Yi Yaofeng had given her. Inside was a jade pendant with excellent luster. It felt warm to the touch and was clearly extremely valuable.
Ye Xi was a bit surprised. She didn't expect that Yi Yaofeng, such a young boy, could choose so well. She told Sai Xing to put the things away. Then she gently pinched Yi Yaofeng's little face and asked about Lian Yi.
Yi Yaofeng got along very happily with Lian Yi. As soon as Ye Xi asked, he started chattering away about what he and Lian Yi had done and said these days. He also said that Lian Yi smiled more than before, seemed to have gained a little weight, and her hands didn't look so bony anymore. Sometimes, people from the Su and Qiao families would secretly go to see her. Whenever that happened, Lian Yi would act furtively like a thief...
Just as he was chatting merrily, Jiang Ning came over holding a wooden box. She said with a big smile,
"Congratulations, Little Xi, on winning the first place. I don't have anything really nice to offer. I only have a brocade handkerchief that I wove myself for you. Please don't dislike it."
"How could I?"
Ye Xi's eyes curved into a smile,
"The brocade handkerchief you wove is one - of - a - kind. Others would be eager to get one. And you're always so busy with the cloth workshop. It must have taken you a lot of time to make just this one. I'm so happy to receive such a thoughtful gift."
"Exactly,"
Yi Yuan started teasing Hun Yuan,
"It's much better than someone who gives a hammer."
Hun Yuan shook his head,
"You don't understand. A hammer has its own uses."
After chatting merrily for a while, Xie Huaiyue also came. Then they set up a small table and ate while chatting.
Jiang Ning sat next to Ye Xi, and the two of them discussed matters regarding the cloth shop. Now that Ye Xi had won the Qingyun Competition, she finally let out a long sigh of relief. Her identity as Master Manping would finally start to take on orders formally. She would cooperate internally and externally to investigate her own background.
The business of the cloth shop was getting better and better. The novel and rare fabrics that Jiang Ning wove were in short supply. Even people from the palace came to inquire. Some of the ladies and young misses who had previous grudges sometimes almost got into fights over them. Ye Xi simply made a new rule: draw lots every day, and the first three would get the fabrics.
This way, it avoided offending some customers by selling to one but not the other. Those who wanted to get the fabrics would go find those who drew the wooden tags marked "One, Two, Three" on their own, and the cloth shop could avoid a lot of disputes.
Yi Yuan and the others started talking about the matters in Tanzhou.
Lin An had sent back a letter. They had investigated Yan Yifan's hometown, and the situation was exactly as Ye Xi had read from people's minds before. Moreover, more than half of the beautiful maids that Yan Yifan had bought were forced by his power to sign away their freedom from good - family people. The mansion he built was also on the good farmland of the common people, and he had even killed many people.
But because Yan Yifan had curried favor with Shen Bianhuai so well, and with Shen's cover - up, the two of them colluded. No one could file a lawsuit against them. To show his gratitude, Yan Yifan not only sent a large amount of silver to Shen but also specifically found a mansion and selected many beautiful and good - family girls to send there for Shen's pleasure.
Lin An had found witnesses and evidence and would return to the capital soon.
"During the days when Yan Yifan has been in prison,"
Xie Huaiyue said while twirling her wine cup,
"Shen Bianhuai has used various excuses to visit a few times, but I've stopped him every time. When Lin An comes back, we'll act quickly."
"Okay."
Yi Yuan nodded slightly,
"It's been a while since Yan Yifan was imprisoned. The Shen family won't just sit back and wait for death. We need to be more cautious at this moment. I'll find some time to go to the prison to see Yan Yifan."
"Also, according to what we found out in Hengfeng City before. Besides the military pay, elder brother should have discovered something else, which is why he was killed. What exactly is this thing? Yan Yifan's rank is too low to know, but Shen Bianhuai..."
Yi Yuan gave a cold smile and drank up the wine in his cup. He said,
"Or rather, the Shen family must be deeply involved."
"A Yue,"
Yi Yuan's phoenix - like eyes swept over Xie Huaiyue, who was slightly drunk. He said in a deep voice,
"When we arrest Shen Bianhuai, you help me keep an eye on him. I want to have a good talk with him."
"Don't worry."
Xie Huaiyue waved his hand,
"Since your future wife has such extraordinary abilities, how could we waste them?"
"However..."
Xie Huaiyue scratched his head in confusion,
"You said your future wife is so amazing. With her identity as Master Manping, she's much more powerful than the winner of the Qingyun Competition. But the two of you are so strange. The amazing one hides her abilities, while the less amazing one tries so hard to compete. I really don't understand why."
Everyone fell silent.
Ye Xi's background was a mystery, and the matter of the gu on her body was also very strange. In this unfavorable situation where the enemy was hidden and they were in the open, the fewer people who knew, the better. So they never told anyone else. Even Jiang Ning only knew a little, and Yi Yaofeng, Yan Xuan, and Yan Gui didn't know at all.
Although they had obtained the pills to seal the gu, it had just started. They glanced at each other and tacitly chose to keep it a secret for the time being. Led by Hun Yuan, they just laughed it off vaguely.
After a few peaceful days, Ye Xi suddenly received a message:
Luo Ji's tail was showing.