Ten Mile Temple in Jinling City
A large green sedan stopped beside the Ten Mile Pavilion.
"Is he here yet?" An old and slightly hoarse voice came from the palanquin.
The attendant outside the palanquin quickly approached the palanquin and said respectfully,""Master, she hasn't come yet." After saying that, his sharp eyes looked forward again.
It was late at night and the surroundings were rapidly darkening. The occasional chirping of returning birds could be heard from the horizon. Other than that, it was very quiet.
It was because of this that when someone approached from afar, they did not even see the sound of a figure.
"Master, they're here!"
"Yes."
Not long after, a man and a horse appeared on the official road and immediately arrived in front of the ten-mile pavilion.
A person immediately jumped down and hurried to the side of the sedan.
"You're finally here. I've been waiting for a long time." The attendant reprimanded him with slight dissatisfaction.
"I'm sorry. I had something on and couldn't come out. I was delayed.”
"No worries." After a pause, the old voice came from the palanquin. "How is the matter going?"
"No progress."
"Hmm?" Other than doubt, there was also dissatisfaction in his light tone. "Counting the time, it has already been four months, hasn't it?”His tone was obviously sharp.
"The other party has hidden himself too well. Please give me some more time. I believe I will be able to make some gains.”
This time, there was no reply.
Please give me another chance." He knelt down.
"Seeing that you're so thoughtful, I'll give you another chance.”The voice sounded again.
"Thank you, sir."
"After a few days, I will send someone to secretly help you.”
"My lord…"
"Don't worry, the agreement between you and me will remain unchanged. You can do whatever you want.”
"May I know who you have sent?"
"When the time comes, you will definitely know."
"Yes, sir!"
"Do it well. Don't disappoint me.”
"I will definitely not let you down.”
"You can go!"
"Yes." As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly mounted his horse and disappeared on the other side of the road.
The sky had completely darkened.
"Rise!"
"Yes." The servant waved his hand, and the four sedan bearers immediately set off.
As they advanced, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
"Cough, cough cough…"
"Master, are you okay?" The attendant signaled for the sedan chair to stop.
"It's fine. Let's go!"
"Yes."
When they entered the city, the scenery was already covered with a layer of snow. The green sedan passed a few streets and stopped in front of a mansion.
It was snowing heavily, and the cold weather was unbearable. Even in a place like Jin Ling City, where there were many rich families, there were still people starving and frozen corpses on the road.
Early in the morning, there was a commotion outside the Minister's Residence.
"Madam, Madam-"
"Stop arguing. I still want to sleep." Liu Yuanchun laid on the bed.
These few days, the heavy snow continued to fall, and the weather was so cold that it almost drove people crazy. Liu Yuanchun spent most of the day hiding on the bed, and even when eating, he had the servant girls set up a low table on the bed, wrapping the quilt around him as he ate.
She had never experienced such cold weather before, and she really couldn't take it.
"No, Madam, someone's going to die!”Lu Xiu hurriedly pulled Liu Yuanchun up.
"What lives? Look at how serious you are." Liu Yuanchun sat up and became slightly more clear-headed.
"There's a woman lying outside the gate. She's frozen and unconscious, and she's on her last breath.”
"Then why aren't you saving her in the residence?" Liu Yuanchun instructed enthusiastically.
"Manager Yao refused."
"Why?"
"Chief said that the Minister's Residence is a prestigious family, how can we let a woman of unknown origin die in the residence, it's not auspicious!”Greensleeve told him everything.
"This Yao Fu really has no sympathy and doesn't help.”Just as he finished speaking, Liu Yuanchun had already gotten off the bed and put on his clothes, hurriedly heading outside.
"Wait, Madam hasn't combed her hair yet!”Greensleeves called out anxiously.
"Comb? He was about to die. It was more important to save him.”As she spoke, she opened the door and left.
Lu Xiu smiled and chased after him.
Madam had always been kind-hearted, easy-going, and kind. She had not followed the wrong master.
Not long after, the master and servant arrived at the courtyard. Yao Fu was ordering someone to close the door.
"Quickly lift it away! If Daren sees a dead person after court later, he will definitely be unhappy. Hurry up!" He ordered the servants to carry the unconscious woman away from the roadside as he walked into the house. Out of the blue, he bumped into something.
" Aiyo, which one of you is blind…" He suddenly stopped before he could finish his sentence. "Ah…it's, it's Madam!" He immediately took a step back, his expression somewhat strange, almost criticizing.
He did not expect her to leave the room so early in the morning without dressing up. She did not even wear shoes, revealing her two feet.
Meeting Yao Fu's scrutinizing gaze, Liu Yuanchun finally realized that he was actually standing barefoot in the snow.
In an instant, a chill went straight to her heart, and she couldn't help but shiver. "Greensleeves said that someone outside the door fainted from the cold.”She endured the bone-piercing cold and asked in a trembling voice.
"Why is Furen asking this?"
"To save people, of course!" Liu Yuanchun said matter-of-factly.
"Furen, don't worry. This lowly one has already handled it properly. There is no need for Furen to worry.”Yao Fu sighed, rubbed his hands, and walked into the house with his shoulders hunched.
Liu Yuanchun didn't believe it and immediately walked to the door. "Open the door!" She ordered the doorman.
" Madam, why do you have to…" Yao Fu walked back.
"Open the door!" Liu Yuanchun pulled a long face at the doorman.
After all, she was the wife of the minister, and the doorman did not dare to offend her. He immediately opened the door of the minister's manor.
Liu Yuanchun and Luxiu stepped out of the door and saw a person lying on the snowy ground about ten steps away. The master and servant immediately ran out.
Liu Yuanchun stretched out his hand to check the woman's breathing.
"How is it?" Lu Xiu stared at the woman's pale face and asked nervously.
"He's still breathing."
"Furen, how can you leave the residence without permission?”Yao Fu chased after him.
"Is this what you mean by 'well-cade'?”Liu Yuanchun stared at Yao Fu, his tone was unprecedentedly cold and stern.
She had thought that people in ancient times were more simple-minded and helpful. However, she could not see this kind of virtue in Yao Fu.
Yao Fu was stunned by her stare. He never knew she was so fierce.
"She's dying anyway." Suddenly, he blurted out.
"Not yet!" Green Sleeves interjected.
"That will happen sooner or later." Yao Fu said indifferently.
"She can still be saved." Liu Yuanchun spoke and instructed Lu Xiu to help him up.
"Madam, there are so many people in Jinling City who have frozen to death or starved to death.”
"At the very least, I'll save every one I see.”As Liu Yuanchun spoke, he was about to help her into the residence.
"Furen, w-what if Daren comes back and blames us?”Yao Fu said worriedly as he followed behind.
"Are you afraid?" Liu Yuanchun stopped in his tracks and turned around to glare at him.
"Of course."
"Aren't you afraid that you'll be thrown into a pot of oil by the little ghosts in the underworld after you die?”Liu Yuanchun threatened.
"Uh…this…"
"Humph!" Lu Xiu made a face at Yao Fu and followed the madam into the manor.
"Why are you becoming more and more like me?" Liu Yuanchun glanced at Lu Xiu.
This time, the person who spoke was Yao Fu.”He deliberately emphasized the last sentence.
Liu Yuanchun smiled and replied," Chief has been following you all day long. Could it be that he has learned to watch you die?" I'll have to ask Milord later."
"Please spare my life, Madam!" Yao Fu begged for mercy.
"I can spare your life, but there are conditions.”
" Let alone one condition, even if there are ten, eight…"
"Enough! Don't be so talkative, quickly help carry her into the residence!”Liu Yuanchun's bare feet were already frozen to the point that they couldn't stand it.
Just as the three of them arrived at the entrance, Yao Xuanye's sedan stopped in front of the door.
"Furen, Daren has left court." said Greensleeves.
Yao Xuanye walked out of the palanquin and stared straight at Liu Yuanchun. When his gaze swept past her bare feet, it instantly turned sharp.
"Luxiu, why did Furen leave the room without wearing her shoes?”
Faced with Daren's sudden coldness, Greensleeves hurriedly knelt down. "Lu Xiu deserves to die. Please forgive me, my lord!"
"What do you mean by should I die? He just forgot to wear his shoes. Why make it so serious?”Liu Yuanchun met Yao Xuanye's unfathomable eyes and showed no fear.
In the next moment, Yao Xuanye's brows furrowed, and he suddenly stepped forward to carry Liu Yuanchun by the waist, and strode into the mansion.
This action caused Yao Fu and Lu Xiu to be dumbfounded.
"Wait a moment." Liu Yuanchun spoke.
Yao Xuanye stopped in his tracks.
"That woman who fainted from the cold, I want her to enter the residence to rest for a while, is that okay?”Liu Yuanchun stared at his slightly angry eyes and still mustered up his courage to speak.
She said that she wasn't afraid of him, but in fact, she was a little afraid. Especially when his eyes were burning with fire, she often didn't know if he wanted to strangle her with his own hands or swallow her whole.
"Yao Fu, bring them to the guest room to rest. Greensleeves, boil a basin of hot water in the room, quick!”As soon as he finished speaking, Yao Xuanye walked away again.
Liu Yuanchun didn't resist and was happy to let him carry him, avoiding the piercing cold of his feet touching the ground.
After returning to the room, Yao Xuanye had Liu Yuanchun sit on the bed, then he squatted in front of her and pulled up her bare feet, gently rubbing them with his palms.
"Is it worth it to freeze your feet like this just to save an irrelevant person?”Her angry tone was filled with concern.
Liu Yuanchun's heart suddenly warmed up. Recently, she had missed her home so much that she felt down from time to time. His care deepened day by day, making her want to break free from such tender shackles, but she found that it was difficult. She seemed to be getting more and more inseparable from him and this place…
As she thought about it, tears suddenly fell from her eyes.
"Are you crying for that woman?" Yao Xuanye couldn't believe it.
Idiot! She missed home, but she couldn't say it. Liu Yuanchun thought to himself.
"I cry for all the people in the world who have starved to death or frozen to death.”
"I didn't expect you to be so worried about the country and the people.”His anger was gone, replaced by his usual half-smile.
"If I were an official, I would be reborn.”Liu Yuanchun wiped his tears and lifted his chin to look at him.
Hearing this, Yao Xuanye laughed. "Blue Sky reborn? Perhaps reincarnation would come faster.”How could she understand the darkness and corruption of officialdom?
"You dare to make fun of an honest official?" Liu Yuanchun glared at him unwillingly.
"Don't you know that it's hard to be an honest official?”He answered half-jokingly and half-seriously.
"Are you a clean official?" Liu Yuanchun suddenly asked.
In an instant, his smile deepened. "Do I look like someone who can be reincarnated so easily?”His dark eyes looked at her with an indescribable, oppressive grace.
However, Liu Yuanchun was a little startled. Was he telling her that he wasn't an upright official?
All the corrupt officials in history were so detestable. Was he one of them?
For some reason, she felt a little uncomfortable.
"Sir, the hot water is here." At this moment, Lu Xiu came in with a basin and placed it by the bed.
"Come, put your feet in." Yao Xuanye said gently.
Liu Yuanchun's frostbitten foot had just touched the hot water when he immediately retracted his foot. "It's so hot!"
"Take your time. I'll help you." He grabbed her slim foot and wrapped it in his palm, then slowly put it into the water.
When Lu Xiu saw that Daren was actually washing Furen's feet, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak. She had never thought that a man who was high above could be so gentle and considerate.
Madam is really blessed from her previous life!
After a while, she remembered something and quickly said,"Milord, the woman who fainted from the cold has woken up.”
"Ask Yao Fu to withdraw ten taels of silver from the accountant's room and send her out of the residence." Yao Xuanye said without turning his head.”
"Yes." Lu Xiu left in a hurry.
Unexpectedly, after a short while, Greensleeve returned to the room.
"What else?" Yao Xuanye asked unhappily.”
"Sir, that woman refused to leave."
Yao Xuanye narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean you won't leave?" He knew too well the greed in human nature.
"She, she said that she had nowhere to go and hoped to stay in the residence as a servant.”
"The Minister's Estate does not accept people of unknown origins, send her away.”
"Yes." Greensleeve turned around and left.
"Wait!" Liu Yuanchun called out softly. "I want to see her."
"Madam…"
"Maybe she really is in trouble and needs help.”
"How do you plan to help her?" Yao Xuanye spoke with a cold expression.
"Can you have some sympathy?" Liu Yuanchun frowned slightly.
Yao Xuanye smiled coldly. "Be careful, don't use your pity in the wrong place.”
Liu Yuanchun met his deep and unfathomable black eyes and couldn't help but blurt out,""Have you never thought of being a good official who helps the people?”
Yao Xuanye raised his eyebrows and quickly asked,""You think I'm not a good official?"
"I hope you are." Liu Yuanchun gazed at him deeply, then put on his shoes and left with Lu Xiu.
Yao Xuanye stared at her slender figure with her long hair draped behind her back and did not look away for a long time…
After arriving at the guest room, Liu Yuanchun started to examine this woman.
She was very young, similar to him.
Although her fair face could not be said to be devastatingly beautiful, it was very beautiful, especially when she was not speaking. Her crescent-shaped eyes always seemed to smile, and she was beautiful and charming.
"What's your name?" Liu Yuanchun asked.
"I am Ji Xiaoyun." She stared at the peerless beauty in front of her without blinking.
"Do I have horns on my head?" Liu Yuanchun smiled.
"Furen is the most beautiful woman Xiao Yun has ever seen!”she answered.
Liu Yuanchun's smile deepened. "Why did you freeze to death by the roadside?"
"Madam, Xiao Yun originally went to Jin Ling City to seek refuge with her relatives, but they have already moved elsewhere. It's been snowing heavily these few days. Xiao Yun has used up all her money and hasn't eaten for two days, so…"
"I understand. In that case, you can stay in the residence for the time being!”
"Really? Is Madam really willing to take me in?" Ji Xiaoyun smiled weakly.
"Of course." Pausing for a moment, Liu Yuanchun looked at Yao Fu at the side. "Manager Yao, please instruct the kitchen to cook a bowl of noodles. Little Yun has not eaten for two days. No wonder she fainted from the cold.”
Yao Fu looked at Miss Ji and then at Madam. After a while, he turned around and walked out of the room without saying anything. Since Daren did not object to taking in this woman, then he had nothing to say.
"Thank you, Madam."
After eating the noodles, Liu Yuanchun instructed Lu Xiu to bring Ji Xiaoyun around the residence and tell her some of the rules in the residence.
Although the Minister's Mansion was not as big as the Jia Mansion, it was more luxurious than the other first-class official mansions in Jinling City.
"This place is really beautiful!" Ji Xiaoyun praised, her eyes scanning the garden.
After passing through the garden, the two of them arrived outside the study.
"What is this place? Why don't we go in?”Ji Xiaoyun asked as she looked inside.
"This is the study. The lord has stipulated that other than the cleaning servants, no one else is allowed to enter without being summoned.”Greensleeves said.
Ji Xiaoyun nodded. "I understand." A thoughtful glint flashed across his smiling eyes.
From then on, she stayed in the Minister's Residence.
On this day, Aunt Liu, who was cleaning the study, came to the study as usual when the adults were in court. Unexpectedly, just as she stepped into the study, she felt a sharp pain in the soles of her feet.
"Aiyo! It hurts!" Mrs. Landis quickly retracted her foot. When she took a look, she realized that the sole of her foot had been pricked by a nail.
Enduring the pain, she pulled out the nail and took off her shoes to take a look. Blood kept flowing. Immediately, she limped out of the study room and planned to return to her room to apply the medicine.
"Aiya, Mrs. Landis, what's wrong?”The person who appeared was Ji Xiaoyun.
When Mrs. Landis saw her, she immediately complained,"I don't know which bastard actually planted a nail in the study, causing a big hole in the bottom of my foot and blood to flow non-stop. He had to rush back to his room to apply the medicine, or else he would have to clean the room before Daren came back.”
"How about this, Mrs. Landis? You can rest in the room this morning. Little Yun will help you clean the study!”
"This…"
"Don't worry, I'll clean it up before Milord returns.”
"Alright then! You have to be nimble. Don't break the vase and jade in the study.”Mrs. Landis instructed.
"Don't worry!" Ji Xiaoyun walked straight into the study.
When she opened the door of the study, she squatted down and picked up the nails that were scattered on the threshold expressionlessly. She put them into a small bag that she had prepared beforehand. Then, he opened the window behind the study and threw the small bag of nails into a small pond behind.
After that, she closed the door and began to carefully search all the cabinets in the study…
Time passed quickly, but she still had no gains.
Just as she was opening a small wooden cabinet beside her desk, a cold voice suddenly came from behind her.
"What are you looking for?" Yao Xuanye stood at the door.
Damn it! When did he come back? She did not hear a sound.
"My lord!" Ji Xiaoyun quickly stood up." Xiaoyun is cleaning."”
Yao Xuanye's eyes flashed as he approached her. "Mrs. Landis has always been in charge of cleaning here, not you.”
Ji Xiaoyun smiled calmly and replied,"Mrs. Landis isn't feeling well, so she asked Xiao Yun to help clean up.”
"Really?" Yao Xuanye stared at her and walked to the desk. "Since you're cleaning, why are you rummaging through the cabinets? What exactly are you looking for?" As he spoke, he approached her.
"Little Yun…I wasn't looking for anything. Milord, Milord has misunderstood.”she argued.
Yao Xuanye narrowed his eyes and grabbed her hand. "Speak! What is your motive?"
" My lord…" Ji Xiaoyun suddenly had a plan in her heart."Because I like you." As she spoke, she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped one hand around his neck. She pressed herself against his tall body and offered her lips at the same time.
At this moment, Liu Yuanchun had coincidentally arrived at the door of the study room, holding a cup of ginseng tea that he had personally brewed.
With a loud clang, the crisp sound of shattering alarmed the three of them at the same time.
Liu Yuanchun was completely unaware that the teacup had already fallen to the ground. His mind was only filled with the intimate scene of the man and woman in front of him.
"Madam!" Ji Xiaoyun smiled and let go of Yao Xuanye's neck.
In the next moment, Liu Yuanchun turned around and ran.
"Don't go!" Yao Xuanye angrily shook off Ji Xiaoyun's hand and chased after her.
Ji Xiaoyun wanted to continue searching the study, but Yao Fu had already arrived at the door. "From today onwards, you don't have to work in the kitchen anymore. You only need to wash clothes and fetch water.”
"Your Excellency's meaning? Or is it the steward's idea?"
Yao Fu smiled and waved his hands towards the door.
Only then did Ji Xiaoyun leave the study unwillingly. She didn't expect to see Bo Xinren.
The moment the two of them brushed past each other, Ji Xiaoyun whispered,"The old master asked me to send his regards."
Bo Xinren was stunned. When he turned around, Ji Xiaoyun was already far away.#
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。