A curtain, a candle, a couch, a pot of wine, a cup, and a full moon.
Yu Shu sat on the couch with one hand on her knee and the other picking up the cup on the incense table. She raised it in front of Xue Rui and did not look at his exposed chest and neck. "What wine are you drinking? Pour me a cup as well."
Xue Rui leaned his back against the painting frame. His eyes were slightly tipsy as he casually gathered his clothes and swirled the remaining half a pot of wine. He reached out his hand and poured it into her cup. Hearing the rustling sound of the wine, he was about to be filled when she used the cup to push against the mouth of the pot. His movements stopped and he retracted his wrist. He raised his head and opened his mouth to pour a mouthful of wine. With a soft sigh, he turned his head to look at Yu Shu and asked in a low voice, "Why can't you sleep?"
"My alcohol addiction is acting up and I can't sleep when I'm awake." Xue Rui lowered his head to sip the wine in her cup. It was especially spicy and the strong taste made her frown. She smacked her lips and asked in a low voice, "Why can't you sleep?"
"My alcohol addiction is acting up and I can't sleep when I'm awake." Xue Rui raised the tin pot in his hand to indicate to her.
Yu Shu took another small sip of the spicy wine. Now that they were drinking together under the moonlight, she was surprisingly honest, "I have something on my mind and can't sleep."
Xue Rui laughed slowly and his eyes flickered. He said, "What are you worried about? How about I guess? If I guess correctly, you will answer my question honestly. How about it? "
Yu Shu said disapprovingly, "Okay, say it." She did not believe that he could really guess it.
"Half a year ago, the Fourth Young Lady of the Xia Jiang Clan was murdered …" Xue Rui started the topic and paused for a moment. He stared at Yu Shu's changing expression and continued, "You also know about that murder case. Xia Jiangying and Ji Xingxuan exchanged rooms, which was why they were murdered. This is very thought-provoking. This time, the Young Lady of the Cao Clan was also murdered in the Imperial Historian's Library. There are many suspicious points, and it just so happened that Ji Xingxuan was involved. You must know some secrets and suspect that Ji Xingxuan is involved in these two murders. Even if she's not the murderer, she's at least an accomplice. You're wary of her. However, he couldn't tell anyone else, for fear of alerting the enemy. Am I right? "
"…" Yu Shu was shocked by his words. She raised her hand and took a big gulp of wine, coughed twice, and said in a depressed voice: "You guessed it. But if you want to know what secrets I know. Forgive me for not being able to tell you. "
Xue Rui heard this and unexpectedly laughed: "Haha, who said I wanted to ask you about this?"
He switched the wine pot to his left hand and left the railing behind him. He took a step forward, lifted his robe, and sat down in the empty space next to her. He turned his head to look at her, who was right in front of him. He softly called out: "Ah Shu."
Yu Shu tilted her head and saw that under the moonlight, his black hair was messy with a strand of it was tucked behind his ear. He revealed a pair of thick black eyebrows. That pair of eyes with a faint candlelight stared at her. This kind of gaze was too clingy, and she couldn't avoid it. She could only clench the wine cup in her hand and wait for him to continue.
"If you say that I can't sleep, not because I'm addicted to wine, but because I'm thinking about you, will you be angry?"
Hearing such explicit words for the first time, he felt a chill down his spine. Yu Shu's heart skipped a beat and she felt her face burning hot. But under his unwavering gaze, she pretended to be calm. Her apricot eyes widened as she stared at him. Her tone was not friendly as she asked: "If I'm not angry, then should I be happy?"
Xue Rui's eyes had a smile on them as he said in a low voice: "I naturally hope that you will be happy."
Yu Shu discovered that the person in front of her was even more thick-skinned than her. She was momentarily speechless. With a "heng" sound, she raised her hand and poured the rest of the wine into her mouth. She licked her lips and stood up. Just as she took a step forward, her wrist was grabbed by him.
"Where are you going?" Xue Rui raised his head to look at her. Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, his words and actions were not as restrained as they were during the day.
Being wrapped by his warm fingers, Yu Shu twisted her wrist uncomfortably and tried to pull her hand out. But after a few attempts, he only tightened his grip. Seeing that he was a little drunk, she pulled a long face and said to him: "Where do you think I'm going? Of course, I'm going to sleep."
Xue Rui smiled again and looked happy. Holding her hand, he exerted a little force and stood up from the couch. He flicked his sleeve and extinguished the candle on the incense table.
Yu Shu couldn't stop him in time. Her vision went dark as he pulled her hand and walked out.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Together. I'm also going to sleep."
"… Let go. I'll walk by myself."
"It's dark. You won't fall if you can't see the way."
"I can see."
"You can't see."
"I said I can see, so I can see. Let go."
"Don't."
As she listened to such an unreasonable conversation, Yu Shu suddenly could not help but laugh out of anger. As she walked along the dim passageway, she stared at the blurry yet tall figure in front of her and confirmed that Xue Rui was drunk. He had always been steady and reliable in front of her, so when had she ever seen him acting so childish?
"Big brother."
"Hmm?"
She was not angry.
Of course, she didn't think there was anything to be happy about.
*
*
*
The next day, Wangji Restaurant did not sell breakfast. It usually opened after nine o 'clock in the morning. So early in the morning, there were no idle customers in the restaurant.
Yu Shu and Xue Rui sat in the hall of the front building and had breakfast. They occupied this square table. There were two trays of crystal steamed dumplings, a stir-fried shredded golden bamboo shoots, two bowls of pearl porridge, and a cup of sobering tea on the table. These were specially ordered by the kitchen by Yu Shu, who woke up the earliest.
Xue Rui drank the sobering tea and cleared his throat. When he saw that Yu Shu was only focused on eating with her head lowered and did not pay any attention to him, he had no choice but to find something to talk about, "Did you sleep well last night?"
Yu Shu looked up at him and said: "Not bad. What about you? Don't you have a headache after drinking too much? "
Xue Rui shook his head: "Just a little dry throat."
"Well, let's drink more tea today."
After last night, facing Yu Shu's indifferent attitude, Xue Rui inevitably felt a little disappointed, but he was not discouraged. At least she was still in front of him and did not avoid him.
After dinner, they took the same carriage and went to Taishi Shuyuan together.
On the way, Xue Rui asked about Yu Shu's apprenticeship. He knew that she had not been able to be apprenticed to an academician until now. It was not difficult to guess that it was because she had offended Han Wenguang.
Xue Rui gave her an idea: "Han Wenguang has been prestigious for a long time, and his words are very important in Taishi Shuyuan. Many academicians are on good terms with him, so it is not surprising that he refused you. However, Taishi Shuyuan is not dominated by him. As far as I heard, academician Fang Zijing of the Department of Eccentric Arts has a bad relationship with him. They have been enemies for a long time. Since you are the second place of this year's Department of Eccentric Arts, why not go directly to him? I think he will be very willing to teach you as a student. "
"Fang Zijing?" Yu Shu remembered the name and asked him: "How do you know so much about Taishi Shuyuan?"
"How many things in Anling City are there that I don't know?" Xue Rui asked rhetorically. He did not take credit for it, saying that he had inquired about it for her earlier.
The carriage stopped at the door of Taishi Shuyuan, and the two got off one after another. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they heard someone call behind them, "Miss Yu."
Yu Shu turned her head and saw a familiar-looking maidservant trot over and stood outside the door. The maidservant took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to Yu Shu. "This is what our Young Miss told me to give to you."
When she got closer, Yu Shu recognized that it was Xia Mingming's servant. She took the letter and saw that the seal was covered with wax, so she was not in a hurry to open it in person. She said to the maid, "Go back and tell your young miss that I will visit her in two days."
After the maid left, Xue Rui asked curiously, "Whose letter is it?"
Yu Shu motioned for him to go to the inner courtyard. As she put the letter away, she told him, "It's the fifth miss of the Xia Jiang family, Xia Jiangmin."
Xue Rui knew who Xia Mingming was and was not interested in the affairs of the girl's family, so he did not ask more.
Yu Shu was concerned about the progress of the case, so she was not in a hurry to find Academician Fang. She first followed Xue Rui to the observatory. As soon as they entered the courtyard, an official ran forward to report, "Reporting to Your Excellency, we were on duty last night and did not find any suspicious people. We also searched the observatory inside and out, but did not find any suspicious traces. "
Yu Shu was not surprised by this situation. Seeing that there was nothing to stay here, she said to Xue Rui, "I will go back to the female dormitory and bring a gift to visit Academician Fang."
The two agreed to meet at noon, so Yu Shu left alone. After returning to the female dormitory, the first thing she did was to take out Xia Mingming's letter. She tore off the seal and took out the only piece of paper inside. She lowered her head and glanced at it.
Even though she guessed that there must be something important in the letter that Xia Mingming specially sealed with wax, she was still shocked by the content of the letter. The letter said, "Ashu, I had a nightmare the day before yesterday. It's not convenient for me to write. Come and see me quickly."
Xia Mingming's handwriting was sloppy. If this letter was seen by others, it must be difficult to understand the meaning. It was just a nightmare, why was he so flustered? However, Yu Shu knew that Xia Mingming had the strange ability to "dream life and death". After seeing the two short sentences in the letter, her face sank.
Yu Shu made a prompt decision. She felt that it was more important to see Xia Mingming. She crushed the letter and soaked it in tea. She locked the door and hurriedly left the female dormitory.
In the morning, it was Lao Chui who drove the carriage. When Yu Shu went out, Xue Rui's carriage was still parked on the opposite side of the road. She didn't have to run for a while.
Yu Shu pointed out the location of Xia Jiang's house and asked Lao Chui to take her there.
When they were about to arrive at Xia Mingming's house, the road was blocked by carriages in front of them. Yu Shu heard the sound of gongs and drums outside. She thought that something had happened. She lifted the curtain and heard Lao Chui said in surprise, "Miss, it seems that there is an imperial edict!"
Yu Shu looked at the bustling scene not far away and realized something. She jumped out of the carriage and hurried to Xia Jiang's house with some neighbors who heard the news and came out to see what was going on. Through the guards outside the door, she saw several rows of Xia Jiang's servants kneeling in front of the gate.
"Bang!"
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