Chapter 625 Who Does Shao Yanru Call for Aid!
“It’s the Third Young Master Wen!” Qu Le hesitated for a moment and said discontentedly, “I’m wondering what makes the Third Young Master Wen mix up with the First Miss. I thought him quite smart. But now he seems to be a fool deceived by the First Miss.”
“It’s Lord Wen!” Shao Wanru corrected her with a smile. Although it was unexpected, she was not quite surprised. Shao Yanru had to maintain her relations.h.i.+p with Qiu Yu for interests, but she should be on good terms with Wen Xichi!
The Wen’s Mansion and Duke Xing’s Mansion were neighbors, so the kids of the two mansions had known each other and played together since their childhood. Afterward, they grew up and couldn’t meet at will, so it became inconvenient for them to get along in the old way.
In the last life, Shao Wanru married Wen Xichi. Once, after Wen Xichi took some medicine and went to sleep, she wandered around the Wen’s Mansion. Nevertheless, she didn’t dare to go too far, so she just had a walk nearby. She saw a blocked small door on a wall and it was supposed to allow people to go through.
On the other side of the wall was Duke Xing’s Mansion. It showed that the two mansions had been very close at the beginning so that there was even a small side door between the two mansions making it convenient for the kids of the two mansions to play together. Shao Yanru and Wen Xichi could be considered playmates in childhood.
In the last life, she only lived cautiously and did not dare to meddle in anything. After seeing it, she didn’t ask about it, but just had some speculations and had even been panic-stricken for a period after that.
Because of Qin Yuru, she didn’t have a good impression of Duke Xing’s Mansion in the last life. Meanwhile, she considered Duke Xing’s Mansion wealthy, powerful and overbearing. If the side door was opened up one day, which enabled Qin Yuru to come over, she didn’t know what Qin Yuru would do to torture her!
Every time she thought of this, she was so scared that she even had no appet.i.te. Later, Wen Xichi, who was sensitive, realized her bad mood. After asking her for a long while, he learned that her bad mood was caused by the side door. He burst into laughter and then comforted her that the side door was opened up in their childhood to make it convenient for them to play together. When they grew up and could no longer meet each other at will, the door was blocked.
Since it was blocked, it certainly wouldn’t be opened up again. So he told her to rest a.s.sured.
Thinking of what had happened in the last life, she didn’t feel strange about the connection between Shao Yanru and Wen Xichi. Qiu Yu and Shao Yanru had no connection, while Shao Yanru and Wen Xichi had been friends since childhood. Even if he helped Shao Yanru, others would not feel strange about it!
“The chest has been sent here?” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows and asked, stopping thinking about the relations.h.i.+p between Wen Xichi and Shao Yanru. In the last life, Wen Xichi should have got sick at this time. In this life, she reminded him to escape from it, which could be her repaying of his kindness in the last life.
“Yes, it’s the chest. I have seen it. Sister Yujie said that the chest didn’t belong to you. However, the nuns sent by the Yuhui Nunnery insisted that it was found in the silence room where you lived for a long period before, so it couldn’t belong to anyone else!”
Qu Le said calmly. All these maids knew that the chest had been placed in the silence room by Shao Yanru long before, so they didn’t panic at it being exposed at this time.
“Are there plenty of onlookers? Isn’t our courtyard far from the residences of other pilgrims?” Shao Wanru said unhurriedly. She had just woken up lazily with her long hair disheveled which made her palm-sized little face look like a fascinating painting with every twinkle and smile full of charm.
“They have made a big scene. The two nuns from the Yuhui Nunnery and the two old maids from Duke Xing’s Mansion seem to have been noisy along the way and have attracted some people to come with them. Besides, Lord Wen and his two subordinates also come with them. It’s obvious that something serious has happened, so a group of people is naturally attracted here to watch the fun!”
Qu Le said and curled her lip. The First Miss Shao really managed to make use of everything, even the nuns from the Yuhui Nunnery. It was surprising that nuns showed up in a temple. Hearing them arguing about something, plenty of people were attracted to watch the fun. At this time, their courtyard had been surrounded by a crowd of people!
If it weren’t for the fact that ordinary people weren’t allowed to enter this courtyard, there would have been some unruly pilgrims rus.h.i.+ng in!
“Miss, you should rest for a while and leave them out there arguing!” Qu Le said. They were really not afraid of making a big deal out of it.
“No, go and ask Lord Wen to come over. I want to ask him what’s going on!” Shao Wanru thought for a while and gave an order lightly.
“Why should we do that? Since he comes with the old maids from Duke Xing’s Mansion, he’s naturally on their side. Miss, you can just ignore them. Anyway, you are in poor health now and it’s inconvenient for you to meet others.” Qu Le said in disapproval. She had a good impression of Lord Wen before, but now she thought that he was too stupid to be the top scholar because he couldn’t even see through the First Miss’s hypocritical and vicious mask.
“Since he’s sent here by the Ministry of Justice, I should meet him!” Shao Wanru shook her head and said, disagreeing with Qu Le’s preventing her from meeting Wen Xichi in a fit of pique.
Wen Xichi was supposed to come here for something, she just wondered if his visit at this time was just a coincidence or he had to come with them or he volunteered to help them.
The last one was the least possible. But in any case, since Wen Xichi was still here, he must come for something important. Despite her poor health, she had met a few people before.
Hearing Shao Wanru’s words, Qu Le pouted and didn’t dare to disobey Shao Wanru’s order. She put a cus.h.i.+on behind Shao Wanru’s back to make Shao Wanru feel more comfortable, and then let down the gauze curtain and placed a screen in front of the bed. After that, she went out to invite Wen Xichi here.
Shao Wanru leaned against the cus.h.i.+on and closed her eyes slightly, listening to them arguing outside. She didn’t hear it clearly, probably because others were too noisy.
Then there came some footsteps. The person seemed to have paused upon arrival at the door and then walked in slowly.
“Your Excellency, please have a seat!” Qu Le said. She had placed a chair and a tea table on the other side of the screen. After asking Wen Xichi to sit down, she served him a cup of tea, and then stood beside the screen and vigilantly watched Wen Xichi leisurely pick up the teacup, put the tea foam aside with the lid, and take a sip of tea.
“Your Excellency, forgive me for not being able to get up and greet you!” Behind the screen, there came Shao Wanru’s soft and weak voice which showed that she was in poor health.
“You’re over courteous, Fifth Miss. How are you?” Wen Xichi put down the teacup in his hand with a smile, asked softly, and stared at the screen with his pretty eyes. On the gauze screen, there was a painting of beauties of four seasons. He couldn’t see through it, so there must be something else blocking his sight.
“It’s nothing serious now.” Shao Wanru said in a low voice.
Although she said that it was nothing serious, she didn’t seem to be fine.
“Fifth Miss, can I ask you something?” Wen Xichi said strictly.
“What is it?” Behind the screen, Shao Wanru paused for a long while and then asked in a low voice.
“Fifth Miss, have you bred enmity with anyone before?” Wen Xichi asked smoothly as if he were asking about the weather rather than a serious issue.
“Enmity? Why do you say that?” Despite her low voice, Shao Wanru sounded a little surprised.
Wen Xichi fell silent for a moment and still stared at the screen with a painting of beauties of four seasons. There seemed to be something flas.h.i.+ng through his mind, but he failed to grasp it at the moment. He frowned, stopped beating around the bush, and said bluntly, “When you were in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, you were on bad terms with the First Miss and Madam Di of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, as well as had issues with the son and daughter of the magistrate of Jiangzhou. After reclaiming your ident.i.ty, you didn’t get along well with the members of Duke Xing’s Mansion. Fifth Miss, do you agree with what I said?”
“Your Excellency, what do you mean?” Shao Wanru still said in a calm voice, as if Wen Xichi was talking about a pa.s.serby rather than her.
“Fifth Miss, as a weak Miss, don’t you think that you have too many enemies?” Wen Xichi said. After saying that, he clenched his fist on his thigh hard with a trace of discomfort across his eyes. The last question even made him feel uncomfortable as if he were blaming Shao Wanru for everything that had happened.
However, he had made some investigations and discovered that Shao Wanru was actually a poor victim in these things, a poor girl whose life had almost been ruined several times.
“Your Excellency, what do you mean?” Despite her weak voice, there was a hint of anger in it.
This reminded Wen Xichi of the little girl who had shone his eyes at the very beginning. He felt a little uncomfortable for some reason.
He reached out to rub the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows, managed to suppress the inexplicable feeling in his heart, and explained scrupulously, “I just want to find out the one intending to hurt you. I don’t mean to blame you. Please tell me bluntly. There may be some secrets behind what happened before!”
His words were very official, so they were naturally vague.
The case seemed to have been settled, but it actually had been handed over to Wen Xichi in secret because the Changxing Gra.s.s could have something to do with plenty of people. The minister of Ministry of Justice advised him to start with inquiring Shao Wanru privately. Anyway, the incident was targeted at Shao Wanru.
There was a moment of silence on the screen. With her long eyelashes fluttering, Shao Wanru slowly opened her fluid eyes and showed a trace of gloom. As she expected, the case was still under investigation. Chu Liuchen had told her before and asked her to make concessions to avoid trouble. No matter who was behind it, she should just say that she didn’t care about who was to blame since it was an accident!
She just needed to show a generous att.i.tude!
No matter what the Ministry of Justice was going to do, Chu Liuchen told Shao Wanru not to get involved in it and warned her that if she took the risk to intervene in it with her current ident.i.ty, she would get killed even before knowing what had happened.
But now Wen Xichi asked her about the case. It seemed that he intended to open a breach from her. No matter what he would find out, if he opened a breach from her, she would get involved in it. It was not a good thing for her.
In this case, what should she say now?