The results of the Gold Division were released on the twelfth of the fourth month, and the Twin Suns Gathering was about to end in a few days. However, the princes had already decided on the day of the results of the Great Calculation Division, and the ninth prince, Liu Tan, was the one who had the last laugh.
On the morning of the seventh day of the fourth month, the Imperial Edict first arrived at Qiongyu Lou, conferring Liu Tan the title of Prince Jing, ordering him to leave the palace and build his own mansion, skipping over the Imperial Prince's Mansion and directly building a Duke's Mansion. Liu Tan became the third among the many princes to be conferred the title of King, eight years earlier than the Fourth Prince Jia who was conferred the title at the age of twenty-four, and three years earlier than the Seventh Prince Ning who was conferred the title at the age of twenty.
Temporarily disregarding the turbulence on the River of Chun Lan, not long after Liu Tan was bestowed the title of Wang, another edict arrived at the Xia Jiang Bie Guesthouse in the North of the city — — the daughter of the head of the Xia Jiang family, Xia Jiang Min, was to be Jing Wang's zhufei, and a date was to be chosen for the wedding.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Xia Jiangmin got up from the ground with the help of a maid. She stepped forward and took the imperial edict from the eunuch's hand. Then she heard people congratulating her. She knew this day would come. She held the heavy gold foil scroll and stood under the sun. She was still absent-minded for a moment.
The position of Fourth Sister, who was supposed to be dead, was replaced by her.
Xia Jiang He Lang stepped forward to greet the people from the Palace. Seeing the crowd of onlookers outside the door, he waved his hand to signal the servants to send his daughter back to the backyard.
At the same time, Yu Shu, who was squeezed outside the door, saw Xia Jiangying turn around and leave with a crowd. With a complicated expression, she retreated to a tree across the street. When the crowd in front of Xia Jiang's guesthouse had died down, she quickly walked up before the door was closed.
Xia Jiang He Lang was talking to two stewards in the hall when he heard a servant report from outside.
"Reporting to Second Master, Miss Yu is outside and wants to see Fifth Young Miss."
Yu Shu had been to Xia Jiang's house a few times. There were people at the door who recognized her. Normally, they would have invited her in for tea, but today was different from the past.
When Xia Jiang Helang smelled that it was Yu Shu, he hesitated for a moment and then ordered, "Go and inform the young miss first. Take Miss Yu directly to the inner courtyard and don't neglect her."
"Yes."
After ten minutes. Yu Shu followed a maidservant to the backyard of the guesthouse and entered a boudoir. At first glance, she saw Xia Jiangmin sitting on a tea chair waiting for her. She had changed into a pink lotus dress with butterfly sleeves and beautiful hairpins. She was exceptionally beautiful today with a thin layer of powder on her face, but her eyes were a little dim and listless.
"Ming Ming."
Hearing the voice, Xia Jiangmin came back to her senses. When she saw Yu Shu walking in, she quickly got up to greet her.
"Ashu. You're here. "
Yu Shu saw that there was no joy on her face, so she didn't take the initiative to congratulate her. She put one hand on her shoulder, avoided the maids behind her, and asked in a low voice,
"I received a letter from you this morning. What happened?"
Xia Jiangmin's expression changed. She turned her head and delicately instructed the people outside, "I want to whisper something to Miss Yu. All of you guard the door. Don't serve the refreshments. Who dares to barge in? Be careful or I'll punish you severely. "
After saying that, she motioned for Yu Shu to go upstairs with her.
The second floor wasn't big. After walking through the stairs, there was a flower arrangement hall. Ancient vases, calligraphy, paintings, flowers, and silverware were all arranged according to feng shui.
Xia Jiangmin took Yu Shu to sit side by side on a chaise longue. Under Yu Shu's suspicious gaze, she bit her pink lips and nervously said,
"I took a nap yesterday and was haunted by a nightmare. In the dream, I dreamed of a dead person and saw a woman. She was pushed down from a tall building and fell to her death. This time, I saw her back clearly. That woman seemed to be wearing the regular clothes of a female student from your Taishi Library. I was afraid that something had happened to you, so I hurriedly sent someone to find you. "
Xia Jiangmin could dream of death, but there were no signs of it. She often dreamed of people she didn't know, but it was just a hazy scene, which was of no help at all. Therefore, even though she had such a strange talent, she was not valued by the Xia Jiang Clan, who had the legendary technique of 'sensing dreams'.
Just like this time, although she had a dream, she didn't know who it was. She could only judge that it was someone from Taishi Library from their clothes. Knowing that Yu Shu was now in Taishi Library, she hurriedly found her to discuss it.
Cao Youling had just died two days ago. When Yu Shu heard that Xia Jiangmin had dreamed of someone being killed in Taishi Library again, she was shocked and asked,
"Tell me in detail. When was the woman who fell from the building in your dream killed? Are there any other characteristics?"
Xia Jiangmin recalled and didn't look good, "It should have happened at night. It was upstairs, and there was a lamp hanging at the end of the corridor. I saw that the woman was wearing the same clothes as my Fourth Sister. They were both tailor-made clothes from Taishi Library. However, my Fourth Sister was wearing a light yellow shirt at that time, and that woman was wearing pink, so I couldn't see her face clearly. Oh, yes, she had a pink begonia on the back of her hair!"
Yu Shu looked suspicious and said, "Did you remember correctly? As far as I know, there seems to be no red or pink in the regular clothes of the female students of Taishi Library."
In the past few days, she walked around in the Academy and saw that most of the female students in the previous years liked to wear regular clothes to show their identity. There were light yellow clothes, pea green clothes, and even moon-white clothes, but she had never seen pink clothes.
"What about the new female students who were admitted this year? What style of clothes are they? "Xia Jiangmin asked.
"… They were measured on the day of admission, but they haven't been issued yet." Yu Shu frowned. After saying this, she and Xia Jiangmin were silent.
After a moment of silence, Xia Jiangmin looked at Yu Shu with a worried face and warned, "Anyway, you must be careful."
According to her dream, the woman who was pushed down the building was most likely a new student this year.
Yu Shu said in a low voice, "What about the murderer? What do you remember?"
Xia Jiangmin shook her head, "I only saw a black shadow reach out from behind and push her down."
After all, it was a dream. Xia Jiangmin's memory was limited, so Yu Shu couldn't ask more. She couldn't help but sigh.
Xia Jiangmin smiled bitterly and said, "It's all my fault for being useless —"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yu Shu interrupted her, "It's already amazing that you can predict this in advance. To tell you the truth, someone died in Taishi Library the night before."
"Ah?" Xia Jiangmin didn't expect to hear such bad news.
Yu Shu then told her about the murder that happened on the observatory. When she said that she and Xin Liu were the first to find the body at night, Xia Jiangmin couldn't help but clench her hand. She didn't say anything for a long time until Yu Shu finished.
Yu Shu found that her face was pale and thought that she was scared. She shook her and said,
"Mingming."
Xia Jiangmin took a deep breath and sniffed. She lowered her head sadly, "I think of my fourth sister again. Miss Cao is the same as my fourth sister. They are both poor people."
Xia Jiangying's death was indeed tragic. Yu Shu didn't know how to comfort her. She could only pull her hand out and pat her weak shoulder. She didn't deliberately mention that she was now living in the room where Xia Jiangying was killed.
The two sat quietly for a while with their own thoughts. After Xia Jiangmin calmed down, she wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and said to Yu Shu seriously,
"You also know about my fourth sister's death. You and I know how many strange and unjust things are buried in it. Seeing that something is going to happen in Taishi Library, you must be careful of those villains. "
Speaking of this, her expression changed and her eyebrows suddenly became firm.
"Today, the imperial edict has come down. My marriage with the ninth prince is a foregone conclusion. It will be more difficult for me to go out in the future, so I can't help you for a while. However, there is still a long way to go."
Yu Shu looked at Xia Jiangmin who spoke in a meaningful tone in front of her. She could still vaguely see the shadow of the arrogant and naive girl in the past, but she didn't know when it began to fade away.
***
At noon, Yu Shu declined Xia Jiangmin's kindness. She didn't stay in Xia Jiang's Guesthouse for lunch. She went out to find Lao Cui's carriage and rushed back to Taishi Library.
Xue Rui met several academicians and several students who had interacted with Cao Youling in the morning. After asking about some things, he met Yu Shu on the way back to the observatory.
"Shu." Xue Rui saw Yu Shu passing through the corridor from a distance. He quickly walked a few steps and called her.
Yu Shu was thinking while walking. Hearing Xue Rui's call, she turned around and saw him passing through the garden. She stopped and waited for him to come closer. She habitually called out,
"Brother."
Xue Rui waved his hand to dismiss the two bodyguards who followed behind him. He walked to the side of the corridor without an exit. Separated by a fence, he asked her, "How was it? Did you see academician Fang?"
"I didn't go this morning." Yu Shu saw Xue Rui's suspicious look. She hesitated and told him, "I went to Xia Jiang's Guesthouse."
Xue Rui then remembered that Yu Shu received a letter at the entrance of the library in the morning. He asked with concern, "Did something happen?"
Yu Shu shook her head and said, "It's not a big deal. Just a false alarm."
Yu Shu couldn't be blamed for hiding the truth from Xue Rui. Xia Jiangmin's innate talent of dreaming and living was a secret, and there weren't many people in the entire Xia Jiang Clan that knew about it. As someone who knew about it, it was even more impossible for Yu Shu to easily tell others about it without the permission of the person involved.
She lied without batting an eyelid. Xue Rui did not think much of it. "It's good that you're fine. You can go visit academician Fang tomorrow morning."
Visiting academician Fang was important. Most of the new students did not know the rules. If they went to visit academician Fang in the afternoon, it would be disrespectful.
Yu Shu agreed. She thought of another matter and changed the topic. She said, "Oh, that's right. When I went to Xia Jiang's Guesthouse, the palace issued an imperial edict. His Majesty has arranged a marriage between the Ninth Prince and the Fifth Miss of Xia Jiang. I heard that the Ninth Prince has been bestowed the title of Wangye. When did this happen?"
A prince being bestowed the title of Wangye was a big deal. Her performance at the Double Suns Gathering could be considered as a contributor to Liu Tan's promotion. Logically, such a big deal should have been heard of.
Xue Rui was not surprised when he heard this. He seemed to have expected it.
He said calmly, "It should be an edict issued today. You just happened to run into it. Presumably, the Ninth Prince will send a letter to inform you of this good news later."
The affairs of the world were impermanent. Some people cried and some people laughed. The body of the person died and the bones were not cold yet on the other side.
Yu Shu was sighing with emotion in her heart, yet in the blink of an eye, she saw Xue Rui pass a piece of paper made of wood to her.
"What is this?"
"The birth date of Miss Cao. Didn't you say you would help me investigate the case?"
Yu Shu raised her head and looked at Xue Rui's slightly playful expression. It was obvious that he didn't believe that she could do anything to this dead man's horoscope. She raised her eyebrows and caught that piece of paper with two fingers.
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