On the second day after Madame Wei's birthday, before Jiang Miya went out in the morning, she received a message from Xue Rui, asking her to meet him at Wang Ji Tower.
Jiang Miya was puzzled. She had been in the capital for a long time, but this was the first time Xue Rui took the initiative to invite her. Before this, it could be said that he was avoiding her like the plague.
Even though she was confused, she still arrived at Wang Ji Tower on time. She walked through the front door, and Gui Qi, who was in charge of welcoming guests, led her to the back courtyard, which was off-limits to outsiders. Xue Rui was waiting in the tea room downstairs. The moment Jiang Miya entered, she habitually mocked him,
"What kind of wind is blowing on you today? You actually remembered me."
Xue Rui's expression was indifferent. He did not smile indifferently after receiving her sarcasm and not bicker with her.
"Sit, what tea do you want?"
Jiang Miya's nerves were thick, but she had eyes. She could see that Xue Rui's expression was not good. She hesitated for half a step, walked to the opposite side, and sat down. She frowned and asked, "Who are you showing that stern face for? If you don't want to see me, why did you invite me here?"
"Pu'er. It's dry in autumn, and it's easy to get inflamed," Xue Rui said to himself. Gui Ba, who was standing at the door, responded in a low voice and turned to prepare.
This time, Jiang Miya clearly felt that Xue Rui was neglecting her. She was baffled, "Xue Da Lang, what do you mean? If you have something to say, just say it. Don't beat around the bush! "
"What's the hurry?" Xue Rui looked at her coldly and said, "Don't you know what you've done? Yesterday, Old Madame's birthday banquet was obviously to choose a princess consort for your brother, but you invited Ah Shu. What are your intentions? "
Hearing that, Jiang Qiya finally understood why Xue Rui was angry. She did not feel guilty, but instead sneered, "You are so nosy. Do I need to specifically tell you why I invited her?"
After a pause, she immediately realized that Xue Rui would come to her to denounce her, most likely because Yu Shu had said something to him yesterday. Otherwise, she would have sent the invitation to Yu Shu in the morning, and Xue Rui would have known about it. Why didn't he say anything before but waited until after the event?
"What's wrong? Is she unhappy and complaining about me in front of you?" Jiang Miya furrowed her brows, not concealing the displeasure on her face at all. Mashiro said, "It's a good thing that others can only wish for, so what's there for her to feel aggrieved about? Could it be that my royal brother isn't worthy of her?"
Hearing the disdain at the end of her words, the tone of "I don't even think she's worthy of my big brother, so what's there for her to feel aggrieved about?", Xue Rui would become angry no matter how good his temper was. Originally, he wanted to be patient and reason with her, but he could not tolerate her. He immediately said coldly,
"Parents' orders and matchmakers' words. How can someone else's marriage be decided by your words so easily? Ah Shu regards you as a friend, and she treats you sincerely, but you hide it from her and push her into the teeth of the storm. Jiang Miya, you are too presumptuous. How do you know that one person's honey is another person's arsenic? Your so-called good thing might not even be something that others don't care about at all. "
Jiang Miya had a rough temper to begin with. After being coldly criticized by him, she no longer had the slightest bit of her previous gentleness and magnanimity. When she thought that he was doing this for a "younger sister" who popped out of nowhere, she instantly became furious. Under her thick eyebrows, a pair of phoenix eyes glared at him and said through gritted teeth,
"My good intentions, but in your mouth, it becomes that I want to harm her? Xue Dalang, who does that Yu Lianfang think she is? And what kind of friendship do we have? You actually indiscriminately scolded me for her sake! Did your head get kicked by a donkey?! "
At that time, when she found out that Xue Rui had acknowledged another adopted younger sister like this, she was very unhappy. She didn't like that little girl from the beginning, but because they had played together for a while, she realized that it was rare that Xue Rui wasn't a snobbish person and was rather capable, so she put down her prejudice and befriended Xue Rui. Who would have thought that Xue Rui was actually a two-faced person? She chatted and laughed with Xue Rui in front of Xue Rui, yet she stabbed Xue Rui in the back.
She was really infuriated!
She shouted so loudly that Gui Ba, who had brought the tea to the door, saw that the situation in the room was not right, so he shrank back and retreated.
Xue Rui was slightly surprised. He had intentionally wanted to provoke Jiang Qiya so that she would give up on the idea of looking for Yu Shu to make up the numbers. He did not expect that she would have such a huge reaction. It was as if someone had stepped on her tail.
He deliberated over his words just now. There was nothing wrong with it. Could it be that his tone was too heavy? No, his goal was to make her hate Yu Shu, not to make her bear a grudge against him.
To prevent himself from making a fool of himself, he softened his tone and said,
"I am not scolding you, I am telling you the truth. Your Wang Xiong and I are brothers, so I can barely be considered as half an elder brother to you. Logically speaking, you should call me Second Brother. Ah Shu isn't anyone else. She's my sister that I've officially acknowledged. How can I watch you lie to your own family? I'm telling you clearly that she already has someone she likes. She won't be happy to be your sister-in-law. You'd better give up on this absurd idea. Don't ruin your marriage. You won't be able to be friends, but you'll become enemies. "
Xue Rui's tone was a little gentler, but his words were unyielding. Even if he knew that Yu Shu could not be the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, he still wanted to nip this little thing in the bud.
Shu was his woman. He would not give her to any man. Not Jing Chen, not even Prince of Dongjing.
"Good, good!" Jiang Ya was so angry that she laughed. She clenched her fists and resisted the urge to quarrel with him. She nodded stiffly and said, "I am blind to have taken a fancy to her. Don't worry, I will not have any ideas about her from now on. This kind of trash, hehe, is not worthy of my Wang Xiong."
She described Yu Shu in an unbearable manner. Xue Rui's eyes became gloomy. He tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair and said in a low voice,
"In that case, I thank you very much. I still have something to do, so you can go back. Gui Ba, send the princess out from the front door."
Jiang Ya's eyes widened. He, he, he, he is driving me out?
Xue Rui did not look at her expression as if she had seen a ghost. He got up and walked out.
Jiang Ya did not even have a sip of water since she entered the door. She waited until he was out of sight. She still could not believe that Xue Dalang, who had a good temper, would not be angry even if she whipped him, but because of such a small matter, he fell out with her.
How could she know that it would be strange if Xue Rui was able to endure her actions of forcefully trying to poach someone from his side?
The Celestial Commissioner Office had three departments and two bureaus, each with their own authority. Therefore, the files and documents were classified separately and not stored in a unified way. They often exchanged information and borrowed books from each other. To prevent a mess, every department had to do a thorough cleaning every three months. At the same time, they would check the stacks to prevent mistakes and omissions in the files of the headquarters.
After Madame Wei's birthday, Yu Shu received a notice from her superiors. They wanted her to check the stacks of the Celestial Commissioner Office before the tenth month. She thought that it was better to do it sooner than later, so she gathered a group of subordinates and assigned them tasks on the same day.
Early the next morning, she asked Lu Hong to take her seal and went to the Taicheng Department to borrow a few strong servants to move the books. Under her leadership, the people of the Celestial Commissioner Office started working in full swing.
She was so busy for three to five days that she temporarily forgot about Jiang Miya's matter. One afternoon, when Yu Shu came out of the Directorate of Astronomy with a face full of dirt, someone called out to her.
"Lotus Room!"
Yu Shu looked up and saw Xin Liu jumping down from a carriage opposite and waving at her.
She walked over with Lu Hong and Xu Qing, only to find that Xin Liu did not come alone. Situ Qinglan also got off the carriage with her. Seeing her looking over, she smiled and said,
"Fortunately, we came in time, or you would have left."
Yu Shu wondered why these two people came to the yamen to find her on a whim. She asked, "Don't you have classes today?"
Xin Liu interrupted, "I have nothing to do in the afternoon, so I came to play with you. Lotus Room, let's go for a drink later."
Situ Qinglan was more considerate than Yu Shu. She could see that Yu Shu was tired, so she said softly, "If you are tired, we can do it another day."
Yu Shu shook her head with a smile. She was happy that they remembered her as their little friend. She patted Xin Liu who was pouting and said, "Come back with me to change. I'll treat you guys tonight. What do you guys want to eat?"
The library had accumulated a lot of dust for three months. These days, she did not slack off. She had been taking the lead in tidying up the library. After a day, she was sweaty and dusty. Even if she was a little sore, she did not mind walking with them.
.....
The three girls did not go to the Wangji Tower. Instead, they found a gaily-painted boat rented by a merchant by the Jade Lion Lake. They booked a private room on the second floor to eat freshwater seafood and enjoy the night view.
The crabs in September were very fat. The yellow was full of oil. They were simply steamed with ginger and white vinegar. There was no need to add any seasonings. When they were peeled, it was so fragrant that people swallowed their tongues.
Yu Shu loved to eat crabs in her previous life. She was good at peeling the shells. She took the crab legs and picked out the crab roe. She ate two or three crabs quickly. Xin Liu was so anxious that she could not even open the crab shell. She kept pestering Yu Shu to help her.
Yu Shu always indulged Xin Liu. She scolded her for being stupid, but she washed her hands and quickly helped her to peel the crab. She was not in a hurry to eat.
Situ Qinglan looked at them and was very envious. She could not learn Xin Liu's skill of being coquettish and clingy. Although she wanted to be close to Yu Shu, she could only do it from another side.
"Since you stopped coming to the Taishi Library, several academicians have asked about you. They are concerned that you have not finished your studies and you have no time to study. I thought about it. Feifei and I are almost the same as the academicians you have studied. We combined the important parts of the courses we have learned in the past two months and made a copy for you. You can read it when you are not busy. You can more or less benefit from it."
Hearing this, Yu Shu naturally thanked the two of them for their kindness. She put down the half-peeled crab, wiped her hands clean, picked up the pot, and poured them a cup of chrysanthemum wine with a mild flavor.
Situ Qinglan drank it happily. Xin Liu rubbed her greasy fingers and stuck out her tongue at Yu Shu. "Don't thank me. Just thank her. I am not so considerate."
Yu Shu smiled at Situ Qinglan and also drank up.
Situ Qinglan drank a few cups of wine and plucked up her courage. She stared at Yu Shu and said, "There is something I don't understand. It has been bothering me for a long time. I don't know how to tell you."
Yu Shu was confused. "What is it hard to say?"
Xin Liu hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of crab roe. "It's just …"
Situ Qinglan grabbed a piece of date cake and stuffed it into her mouth to stop her from interrupting. In Yu Shu's puzzled eyes, she said bitterly, "Since you mention it, I will just say it. I invited you to my birthday celebration in July. Why, why didn't you come? "
Yu Shu was stunned. Then she quickly recalled what had happened in July — her appointment, the Aquatic and Land Conference, Zhan Xueyuan's murder, one after another. Situ Qinglan's birthday was mixed among so many troublesome things. She only had a vague impression that she was the one who gave her the invitation.
After remembering it, Yu Shu looked apologetic. She couldn't find an excuse after thinking for a long time, so she apologized to Situ Qinglan, "It's my fault. I forgot about it. I'm sorry."
Sure enough, Situ Qinglan had already guessed that Yu Shu forgot about her. It was not that she was delayed by other things. But she felt better to tell her frankly than to make up an excuse to deceive her.
Situ Qinglan wanted to smile at Yu Shu and tell her generously that it was okay. But when things came to the point, she found that she couldn't even smile. She didn't want to be hypocritical to her. When the words came to her mouth, they became complaints.
"I waited for you for a long time that day."
When the dishes were cold and the people were gone, she still didn't give up. She thought that Yu Shu would be late.
Looking at her sad look, Yu Shu felt very guilty. She had a good relationship with Situ Qinglan. Although it was not as good as Xin Liu, she was one of the few girls who could get along well with her. Thinking about it, she felt that she had to make up for it no matter what. So she said,
"Situ, don't be angry with me. I apologize to you. I will give you a birthday gift later. Next time, I will be the first one to be there."
Xin Liu, who was listening anxiously at the side, finally swallowed the piece of date cake and could help to say, "That's right, that's right. Don't be angry at Lotus Room. Just tell her what gift you want. Just extort her fiercely. Lotus Room is rich now. It's a piece of cake to take out a thousand or eight hundred taels."
Yu Shu turned her head and stared at her, "Don't make trouble. I don't have money. What thousand or eight hundred taels? Do you think silver is a stone?" Then she turned to Situ Qinglan and smiled apologetically, "Don't listen to her. The gift must be valuable or good."
"Stingy, Lanlan. I think you should continue to be angry with her." Xin Liu turned his head and began to drag Yu Shu down.
"…" Yu Shu looked constipated.
"Pfft." Situ Qinglan burst out laughing. She wasn't faking it. She really wanted to laugh. Although she had some complaints about Yu Shu previously, she couldn't bring herself to complain when she saw Yu Shu begging for mercy.
Based on Yu Shu's current identity and reputation, if she didn't really treat her as a friend, why did she have to lower her head and apologize to her? How could she not understand such a simple truth? Why did she have to worry about nothing because of a moment of anger?
A cool breeze blew in from outside the window and woke Situ Qinglan up. She began to feel ashamed of the idea of using Yu Shu to get close to Jiang Miya.
She really shouldn't have.
"Then I will forgive you this time. If it happens again, I will ignore you no matter what." She picked up the wine pot and filled Yu Shu's cup. She pretended to be angry and said,
"One cup as punishment. Don't do it again."
You drink once and I drink once. Then we are even.
Yu Shu laughed and agreed. She didn't realize that tonight, because of her confession, she had saved a friendship that was on the verge of destruction.
Maybe many years later, when the two met again, only Situ Qinglan would remember tonight. At that time, she would be extremely grateful for the choice she made tonight.
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