Chapter 14: Home-style Tofu (Part 14)
Jing Yi nodded earnestly, trying his best to appear obedient—even more obedient—hoping that after Leng Yue finished her instruction, she would mercifully remove the quilt tightly wrapped around him.
On these lingering hot days, being bundled up so tightly without a breath of air...
It was worse than being subjected to severe torture.
Leng Yue leisurely walked over to the screen in the corner, and Jing Yi hopped along after her.
Leng Yue reached out to straighten the official robe Jing Yi had casually draped over the screen. "You’re supposed to return to the Dali Temple to work tomorrow morning, aren’t you?"
Hearing this, Jing Yi’s mouth drooped, and his sweaty face immediately clouded with resentment. He glanced at the official robe and reluctantly grunted in agreement.
In Jing Yi’s view, being an official wasn’t so bad, and serving as a Vice Minister of the Dali Temple wasn’t so bad either. What was bad was the autumn judicial review—especially after Prince An took control of the judiciary, the autumn review had become even worse.
Rising at sunrise and resting at sunset?
That was the treatment reserved for prisoners.
Officials of the Three Judicial Departments considered themselves fortunate if they could lay their heads on a pillow to sleep even one day out of three.
He still remembered the moment he asked for leave—how the round face of Cheng Lai, the Minister of the Dali Temple, had stretched long like a donkey’s. If not for the respect owed to the Old Master of the Jing family, he wouldn’t have been granted three hours of leaveyat, let than three days.
He didn’t know how the prisoners awaiting execution felt, but recently, the mood among the officials working in the Three Judicial Departments was unanimous—life had become unbearable.
So, unless there was a remotely plausible reason, Jing Yi had no desire to return to the Dali Temple at this time.
"However..." Jing Yi did his utmost to put on a deeply regretful expression, "as you’ve seen, Zhang Lao Wu, at his age, turned against his own family in the name of justice, all just to see his grandson one more time. If I don’t find Zhang Chong, it would be unjust both emotionally and legally... What do you think, Madam?"
Leng Yue casually brushed a light layer of dust off the official robe and nodded.
Jing Yi’s spirits lifted. He straightened his back and said solemnly, "Therefore, until I find Zhang Chong, I have no face to put on this official robe and walk back into the Dali Temple."
Jing Yi had dignified features and an upright posture, bearing both the refinement of a scholar and the dignity of a court official. In theory, when he straightened his back and wore such a solemn expression, he ought to appear radiant and dazzling.
Unfortunately, at the moment, he was wrapped from neck to ankle in a quilt, tied up like a sausage freshly fished out of a steamer. His entire body looked soft and floppy. The only thing radiant was the silk quilt cover, and the only thing dazzling was the sweat beading all over his forehead.
Leng Yue looked at this righteously solemn sausage. "So you mean, you’ll only return to the Dali Temple once you’ve found Zhang Chong?"
The sausage nodded solemnly.
Leng Yue asked again, "Once you find him, you’ll go back?"
The sausage nodded solemnly once more.
"Alright then..." Leng Yue smoothed out Jing Yi’s official robe and sighed softly. "Since you’ve said so, if I don’t lend you a hand, I’d be unworthy of being addressed as Madam Jing by everyone inside and out."
Jing Yi was stunned.
These words...Though Leng Yue's words carried a resolute spirit of camaraderie, upon closer listening, they were imbued with a lingering tenderness akin to "In heaven, we shall be birds flying side by side; on earth, trees with branches intertwined."
Such heartfelt words truly didn't sound like they came from Leng Yue's mouth.
At the very least, Leng Yue had never spoken to him like this before.
However, those words she had pressed him against the courtyard wall and spoken outside the Linglong Porcelain Kilon—hadn't they also been something she had never said to him before?
Jing Yi's heart still warmed with a sweet flutter, skipping a few beats as he moved to face Leng Yue directly, gazing tenderly at the person before him. "What brilliant plan does my lady have? I'm all ears."
The Jing Yi before her exuded an innate, endearing charm, causing Leng Yue to hesitate over the words on the tip of her tongue. "It's not so much a brilliant plan as a blunt truth... It might not be pleasant to hear. Do you still want to listen?"
Jing Yi nodded without hesitation. "Please speak freely, my lady."
Leng Yue lowered her chin slightly, her red lips pursed, and her eyelashes fluttered like scissors.
Jing Yi watched her, his heart stirring.
If only he weren't wrapped in this damned quilt...
The only part of him that dared to move would probably still be this heart of his, invisible to anyone.
"Actually..." Leng Yue pondered for a moment before speaking calmly, "You met Zhang Chong today." As she spoke, she watched Jing Yi's stunned expression and slowly added, "Not only did you meet him, but you also touched him."
Jing Yi furrowed his brow, thinking hard.
Based on Zhang Lao Wu's description of the age and appearance...
And he had touched him...
Recalling the scene by the fishpond, Jing Yi was slightly startled and blurted out, "Are you saying Laba is Zhang Chong?"
"...I didn't say that."
Jing Yi looked blankly at Leng Yue, whose temples were turning faintly green from his interruption. "The only boy around ten years old, about Zhang Lao Wu's height, whom I met and touched today... was Laba."
"Think again," Leng Yue paused, unable to bring herself to spell it out directly. She awkwardly changed course and reminded him, "Besides the living beings you encountered today, there were also some... non-living ones."
This reminder was already as plain as spelling it out.
Jing Yi's tender, watery gaze suddenly turned rigid, and his entire body stiffened as if he were a sausage dried in the wind.
"Zhang Chong killed... Zhang Chong?"
Leng Yue felt that this sentence would only make sense to her, but from it, she could tell that Jing Yi had understood her meaning, and that was enough.
"Yes, the person Zhang Lao Wu thought was killed by Zhang Chong was actually Zhang Chong." Leng Yue sighed softly. "The facial features were unrecognizable, but the height and age matched, especially the missing canine tooth in the charred corpse's mouth. What are the odds of such a coincidence?"
Jing Yi stood frozen for a long moment. Leng Yue smiled faintly, her smile carrying a hint of mystery. "Others might not know, but I do—you've always been a man of your word, right?"
Jing Yi was taken aback.
No wonder Leng Yue had kept interrupting him in the porcelain kiln—she was afraid he would promise Zhang Lao Wu, only to end up showing him a charred corpse burned beyond recognition, causing him heartache.
He had never known she possessed such delicate, thoughtful consideration for him.In the dim, soft light of dusk, the bedroom's ambiance blurred Leng Yue's usual icy aura, rendering her exceptionally alluring and delicate. Jing Yi wanted to kiss her, but as soon as he lowered his head, she reached out and ruffled his hair into a messy tangle.
"Since Zhang Chong has been found, you'll obediently return to the Dali Temple to work tomorrow."
"...It wasn't until just before dinner that Leng Yue untied the quilt binding Jing Yi. His white robe was soaked through with sweat, clinging to his fair, flushed skin like a freshly steamed crystal dumpling.
Watching this translucent dumpling slowly peel off his semi-transparent outer layer, Leng Yue couldn't help entertaining some rather inappropriate thoughts for broad daylight.
As luck would have it, a maid urgently knocked on the door just as Leng Yue's imagination was running wild.
Without a word, Leng Yue sprang forward, pushed Jing Yi onto the bed...
Pulled the quilt over him again and wrapped him up tightly.
"Close your eyes. Don't move."
Jing Yi silently recited "Buddha be merciful" in his heart and resignedly shut his eyes.
He couldn't reason with Leng Yue right now—he needed to save his mental energy to figure out how to explain to his superiors and colleagues at the Dali Temple tomorrow, should he appear with a neck full of heat rash, what exactly had happened during his three-day leave.
After swiftly bundling Jing Yi up securely, Leng Yue sat calmly on the edge of the bed and said coolly toward the door, "Come in."
The moment the maid entered, she couldn't shake the feeling that Leng Yue's expression seemed off.
This usually poised and straightforward madam...
Why did her gaze look as if she wanted to devour someone whole?
The maid bowed even more respectfully, keeping her eyes downcast. "Madam, someone from the Crown Prince Manor delivered a note."
Jing Yi had been dutifully pretending to sleep, but at the words "Crown Prince Manor," he tensed and snapped his eyes open like a corpse resurrected. Only when Leng Yue shot him a glare did he obediently close them again.
Leng Yue then turned back to the maid, who was still staring at her own toes. "Just leave it here. I'll show it to him when he wakes up."
The maid produced a neatly folded square from her sleeve and presented it with both hands. "Madam, the messenger said this note is for you."
Leng Yue was taken aback. She glanced down at Jing Yi, who lay as still as a corpse, showing no reaction at all.
She was puzzled.
Before joining the Dali Temple, Jing Yi had served as the Crown Prince's study companion and was as close as brothers with the Crown Prince. It was normal for the Crown Prince Manor to send him notes, but Leng Yue had never even seen the Crown Prince's face—why would they deliver a note to her?
Taking the small square from the maid, Leng Yue carefully unfolded it. With one glance at the handwriting, she gasped softly.
She had almost forgotten—while she'd never dealt with the Crown Prince, she did indeed have an acquaintance in the Crown Prince Manor.
Tucking the note into her robes, Leng Yue rose from the bedside.
"I'm going out to take care of something... No one is to enter this room before he wakes up."
"Yes, Madam."
Not long after Leng Yue left, the weather turned. A few claps of thunder later, rain began pouring down.
Jing Yi finished washing up and changing clothes, even drying his hair completely, but Leng Yue still hadn't returned.
Dinnertime came and went, and Leng Yue still hadn't returned.Night fell, first watch, second watch, third watch...
Jing Yi had finished copying the Biographies of Exemplary Women seven times, but Leng Yue still hadn't returned.
Leng Yue had always been half a wanderer of the martial world—coming and going without a trace was perfectly normal for her. Jing Yi had witnessed it before: while dining out with her, a note would be delivered, and without a word, she'd drop her chopsticks and leave immediately.
But the past was the past, and the present was the present.
Now she was his rightful wife.
Which meant he had every right to worry about her.
Just as Jing Yi was considering whether to take a few men for a stroll around the Crown Prince Manor, a maid came to report that the lady had returned.
Jing Yi's heart relaxed, and he let out a slow, relieved sigh, stifling a light yawn. "It's good that she's back... Have the kitchen bring a bowl of chicken soup. Make it warm, but not too hot. The lady is impatient—we mustn't let it burn her."
Remembering how Leng Yue, from childhood to adulthood, had repeatedly burned her tongue from drinking soup too hastily, Jing Yi couldn't help but let a smile creep into the corners of his eyes and lips.
His wife was truly the most beautiful woman in the world.
Even when she stuck out her tongue like a little dog, she was beautiful.
"Young master..."
The maid, Ji Qiu, remained standing in place. She had just hesitantly begun to speak but timidly trailed off.
Jing Yi was slightly taken aback.
Ji Qiu was a maid who had followed him from the Jing family mansion. She had served by his side for many years and was often informal with him, rarely this hesitant.
"What's wrong?"
"The lady..." Ji Qiu lowered her head further, bit her lip, and finally whispered softly, "It seems... something has happened."
OpenNovel