At this moment, Xia Jiangmin was depressed. Ever since Xia Jianghe Lang came to the capital, she had been confined to the guesthouse. She was not allowed to step out of the main door. With great difficulty, she endured until the New Year, when Xia Jianghe Lang granted her permission to meet outsiders.
On the ninth day of the New Year, she went out with Ji Xingxuan and secretly ordered her personal maid to deliver a letter to Huixing Street. When she came back, she was told that the family had moved away before the new year!
The worse news was that they had left the capital.
Xia Jiangmin had nowhere to find them. After returning home, she choked for three days. If she was not afraid of being seen by Xia Jiang Helang, Ji Xingxuan sent someone to invite her yesterday, she would not have the energy to go out.
Coincidentally, when she walked to Horse Street, she heard passers-by talking about the opening of the restaurant. She was in a good mood and pulled Ji Xingxuan to join in the fun.
In a private room on the second floor, the two women sat down and looked around. They were very satisfied with the elegant and pleasant environment.
"What signature dishes do you have here?" Ji Xingxuan asked. Today, she was the one who invited Xia Jiangmin out. Naturally, she had to be the host.
The waiter said: "There are many signature dishes. Cold, hot, meat and vegetable. Whatever you have eaten outside, we have it all in Forgotten Plane."
"Haha, what a big tone." Xia Jiangmin smiled and suddenly interrupted. She took out a pair of ivory chopsticks from the small rack and tapped them on the table. "Let me ask you, is it true that your restaurant is offering lantern riddles today? If you get it right, you'll get free food."
The waiter said: "It is true. Look at the lanterns above your head. There are ready-made riddles on it. However, you can only answer once per table. It is limited to fifty taels of food and wine. If you answer correctly, you will have to pay for it. Hey."
Xia Jiangmin frowned: "What if I order too much?"
The waiter said: "It doesn't matter if you order too much. If you exceed fifty taels, there will be one question for each dish. If you answer correctly, you will have free food."
"Interesting," Xia Jiangmin smiled again and turned to ask Ji Xingxuan: "Jiejie, what do you think of the riddles?"
"Eight or nine out of ten." Ji Xingxuan's expression was calm as if she didn't know how to be humble. However, she didn't sound arrogant at all when she said this, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Xia Jiangmin's eyes brightened and she happily said, "Jiejie is awesome, I am also good at guessing riddles. Let's have a good meal today." Her eyes flickered, she put down her chopsticks and said, "Waiter, pick twenty of your restaurant's best dishes and bring them up, no matter the price."
The waiter looked at their attire and knew that they were rich and respectable. He was not afraid that they would renege on the bill later. He said, "I will go and order the dishes. Miss, please wait for a moment."
Seeing how excited Xia Jiangmin was, Ji Xingxuan frowned slightly but didn't say anything.
Yu Shu went downstairs and returned to the backyard. She knocked on Xue Rui's door and went in to explain the situation outside. Finally, she teased him, "I think there are a lot of people in this banquet who have some knowledge in their bellies. Just wait for today's big payout. You'll have to pay a few thousand taels of silver."
Xue Rui flipped through the book in his hand and said, "The more you lose, the more you will earn in the future."
Yu Shu also understood this logic and didn't say anything more. She looked at the heavy book in his hand and asked curiously, "What are you reading?"
"The files of the Supreme Court over the years." Xue Rui paused and added, "They are all unjust cases."
Yu Shu rested her chin on one hand and said with interest, "If you didn't mention it, I would have almost forgotten that you are an interrogator. Let me ask you, up until now, how many cases have you solved?"
When Xue Rui heard this, he knew that she was a layman. He raised his head and looked at her with a smile, saying, "Most cases are handled by the yamen and the Ministry of Justice. We, the Supreme Court, are in charge of the trial. Since I entered the Supreme Court, I have handled more than ten cases, but when it comes to solving cases, I have only solved two. "
"Eh? You mean you don't solve cases? That's not right. That time when someone died in the Taishi Library, wasn't it your Supreme Court that investigated the case? " Speaking of this, Yu Shu couldn't help but think of the sisters of the Xia Family. She felt pity for the young Xia Jiangying who died young.
The speaker didn't mean it, but the listener heard it. Xue Rui said thoughtfully, "There are also situations like this. Every time there is a major case, the Emperor will directly assign the Supreme Court to investigate. Speaking of which, that was the first case I tried, but in the end … "
Yu Shu knew that there was an inside story to Xia Jiangying's case. At that time, in order to solve Xia Jiangying's case, Xue Rui would look for her every two or three days and even suspected Xia Mingming. Later, for some reason, there was no news. On the day the case was solved, Xue Rui didn't appear in court. Instead, he was drinking at the tavern across the street and she met him.
Hearing Xue Rui stop halfway, her eyes flashed and she deliberately said, "Wasn't that case closed? Wasn't the demon who killed Xia Jiangying beheaded in the end?"
Xue Rui slowly nodded his head, "That's right."
Yu Shu still wanted to say something, but there was a knock on the door outside. Lin Fu's voice said, "Gongye, Shizi Ye and Feng gongzi are here. They have been invited to the private room on the second floor of the backyard."
Xue Rui stood up, brushed his clothes, and said to Yu Shu, "Let's go. Come with me to meet people and ask for help."
The moment Yu Shu heard this, she knew that it was Xue Rui's group of nobles that had arrived. One of the reasons why she was persuaded by Xue Rui to come and help in this restaurant was because she wanted to get acquainted with the nobles of the upper class. Now, she didn't have stage fright, so she stood up and followed him.
There were actually two courtyards at the back of Wangji Building. One was a building for guests to stay at night, and there was a small courtyard at the back for horses and maids to live in.
Yu Shu and Xue Rui each occupied a private room in the backyard for resting on weekdays, and the rest were used to entertain guests. Unlike the private room at the front of the tavern, this guest room had a bed and quilt, and the hall was more spacious. It was not a problem to accommodate a dozen people.
Xue Rui brought Yu Shu up to the second floor, and they walked along the fenced corridor to the end before they stopped outside the door of an elegant room. The two guards who were guarding the door were not from the Forgotten Mechanism Tower, but they recognized Xue Rui. They greeted him respectfully and allowed him to open the door.
Xue Rui didn't even knock on the door and directly pushed it open. Yu Shu walked behind him. She heard the laughter inside, and then there was a succession of congratulations, "Congratulations, Brother Rui, your tavern is finally open!"
"Isn't it? I heard him say two years ago that he was going to open a good place, but who knew it would be delayed until now."
There was no lack of women's chuckles in these words. Yu Shu took a step sideways and saw the group of people sitting on the big round table with brocade. She had seen almost all of them.
Needless to say, Feng Zhaomiao was the youngest son of General Feng's family. The gentle-looking one was the young master of Grand Secretary Qi's family in Hanlin Academy. The one with narrow eyes was the only son of Count Zhongyong. Then there was Prince of Xiang's heir, Liu Jiong. As for the other three girls, she had seen two of them at the gambling fair in Dingbo House, and the last one, if she was not mistaken, was the Princess of Prince of Xiang's Mansion. She had also seen her on the last day of the magical skills examination when she visited Prince of Xiang.
In addition, there were two people she did not know, a man and a woman, sitting in the middle, especially the plain-looking young man, who was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. Looking at his seniority, he sat even higher than Liu Jiong.
"This must be the Ninth Prince," Yu Shu thought.
"Eh, isn't this Miss Lianfang?" The one who first called out to Yu Shu was not Feng Zhaomiao, but that heir, Liu Jiong. When everyone in the room heard his voice, they then turned their attention to Xue Rui who walked in behind Yu Shu. Each of them had a scrutinizing look on their faces.
Among the people at the table, there was a change in the expression on their faces for a moment, but it quickly floated back up.
Xue Rui moved to the side and shielded Yu Shu with a hand to go forward and introduced her to everyone at the table, "Since we all know each other, there is no need to introduce her. It's just that you people are full of evil tricks and love to cause trouble. Let me say something clear first, this is my younger sister. When I am not around and you all come, if you bully her when she is young and make fun of her, don't blame me for settling accounts with you later."
His words sounded like a joke, but everyone at the table understood the meaning behind it. He wanted them to take care of her. In the blink of an eye, their faces became friendly towards Yu Shu. They put down their arrogance and greeted her with a smile, giving face to Xue Rui.
However, there was also someone who disagreed and said with a smile, "Brother Rui, they all know this young lady, but I don't. I think that Ninth Brother, who has just returned to the capital, also doesn't know her. Why don't you introduce us? Which family's daughter is this? She looks somewhat familiar."
The one who spoke was Royal Princess Xi Wen of Xiang Imperial Household. She was currently looking at Yu Shu with her head tilted. Her small face was white and rosy, and anyone who saw it couldn't help but like it.
Xue Rui looked at her and was thinking about what to say when Yu Shu took over the conversation. She smiled at the unfamiliar youth and bowed to Royal Princess Xi Wen, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness, greetings, Royal Princess. I'm not the young miss of any family, I'm just a commoner. Your Highness, have you forgotten? I once met Your Highness at Dingbo Hall. My surname is Yu. "
Yu Shu understood that this Royal Princess Xi Wen didn't know her, but she couldn't pretend that she didn't know the royal princess. In addition, the Ninth Prince was sitting on the side, so it was more appropriate for her to speak than for Xue Rui to speak for her. She wasn't stupid enough to think that she could really sit on the same level as this group of proud sons of heaven. She still had to have scruples.
Seeing that she answered, Xi Wen didn't have a place to say her prepared speech, so she turned her head to talk to the young miss next to Liu Jiong.
The Ninth Prince seemed to be a man of few words. He only nodded at Yu Shu and then turned his gaze to Xue Rui, saying, "Everyone, sit."
There were two empty seats on the table, but they were not together. One was next to the Ninth Prince, and the other was next to Feng Zhaomiao. Xue Rui hesitated to ask someone to add another chair, but Feng Zhaomiao had already waved to Yu Shu and whispered to her, "Lotus Room, Lotus Room."
Yu Shu directly walked over and sat next to him. When Xue Rui saw this, he also sat next to the Ninth Prince. He looked up and saw that Feng Zhaomiao was covering his mouth with one hand. He didn't know what he was whispering to Yu Shu.
What was Feng Zhaomiao talking to Yu Shu? In fact, it wasn't a big deal. It was just that during the examination of the strange techniques, Yu Shu went to Taishi Shu Garden to find him. She wanted to enter Prince Xiang's Mansion through him, but Feng Zhaomiao suggested that she go to Xue Rui. In the end, Yu Shu didn't go there.
"I'm sorry. If you said that you didn't plan to find Brother Rui that day, I would have taken you directly to Prince Xiang's Mansion. I didn't delay your business, did I?"
The Young Master of the Feng Family was a temperamental person. If he was pleasing to the eye, he would do anything. If he was not pleasing to the eye, he wouldn't even say a word. Yu Shu sneaked into the treasure house of Taishi Shu Garden with him. When she heard that Feng Zhaomiao inadvertently mentioned his worries, she casually comforted him and solved the knot in his heart. Because of this, Yu Shu entered his eyes.
When Yu Shu heard Feng Zhaomiao apologizing to her for that inexplicable matter, she had a better impression of him. She shook her head and imitated him to answer in a low voice: "No, later Xue Dage took me to see Xiang Wangye."
"How was your answer in that subject?"
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