Jiaochu

Chapter 531 Leaving the City
Yan Fei first sent Ye Lingxi to the previous residence of his uncle and aunt. No one lived there now. In the past two years, his aunt's senior brother Mo Huitou occasionally came to visit, but he has not come in the past year. He didn't know if he had left the capital. He left four dragon shadow guards and repeatedly told her not to run around and wait for him to come back. Ye Lingxi nodded repeatedly and sent him to the door. She waited until his figure disappeared at the end of the alley before she closed the door.

The room was tidy, the tables, chairs and benches were spotless, and the bedding and pillows were new.

There are two big blue carps in the big water tank in the yard. Before, there was a big cat lying on the wall to bask in the sun. When it saw a stranger coming, it disappeared in a flash. After Yan Fei left, it slipped out from somewhere and continued to lie on the wall, staring at the water tank with a sneaky look.

When she came out of the house, the big cat disappeared again. After a while, it peeked at her from behind the roof. She also saw the pair of sparkling cat eyes and called it to come down to play. Seeing that she had no ill intentions, the big cat gradually let down its guard, slowly jumped from the roof to the wall, and returned to its old place to bask in the sun.

It was already evening when Yan Fei came back, holding a lunch box in his hand. When he entered the room, he saw Ye Lingxi leaning on a recliner in the yard with her eyes closed as if she was taking a nap. His expression was obviously relaxed, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He walked over with light steps and gently opened the lid of the lunch box, hoping to wake her up with the smell of the food.

After two seconds, the effect came into play. She moved her nose and sniffed, then opened her eyes and saw his face first. He was bent over, and she put her arms around his neck. She didn't ask him to hold her, saying that her feet were numb from sleeping. He held her up with one hand, and with the other hand holding the lunch box, he placed it under her knees, and walked steadily into the house holding her.

The food in the lunch box was still warm, freshly bought from Jufulou. She went to the kitchen to get two sets of bowls and chopsticks and ate with Yanfei. He specially bought her favorite steamed yogurt with sugar. After taking a bite, she knew that the master chef of Jufulou had changed, but it was not much different. It was still delicious. It was strange why she felt so different in her previous life. She glanced at the face opposite her and had the answer in her heart.

……

After dinner, it was getting dark, and Yan Fei went out again, telling her to go to bed early before leaving. After he left, she went to the yard to look at the big black fish in the tank for a while, and then looked for the big cat along the wall, but couldn't find it. After looking at the stars for a while, she went into the house to rest.

When Yan Fei came back, he saw the light was still on in the east room. Thinking she was still awake, he walked to the window and looked in. Then he entered the room and gently parted the door curtain. Seeing that she had fallen asleep, he stood at the door for a while, then turned around and left. He went to the yard to wash up with cold water, went to the west room to change into clean clothes, and went to see her again.

Seeing that she was sleeping in the bed and there was more than half an empty space outside as if it was reserved for him, he stood by the bed for a while, then turned and left, went to put out the oil lamp on the table, and returned to the bed in the dark. He sat down very quietly, took off his shoes, opened the quilt and lay down on the bed. He tucked the quilt for her, and she turned over and rolled into his arms.

Yan Fei went out before daybreak, and came back at daybreak with a food box containing two bowls of steaming wontons and hot buns wrapped in oil paper.

When the two were having breakfast together, Ye Lingxi said that she was also going out today and asked him to send two people to protect her. He didn't ask her where she was going, but just told her to be careful and not to be recognized, and to come back before dark.

A dragon shadow guard drove the carriage, and another dragon shadow guard followed beside it. The wheels slowly turned and drove out of the alley and into the bustling streets. She sat in the carriage, opened a corner of the curtain and looked at the familiar scene outside, expecting to see one or two familiar faces, but afraid of being recognized.

When passing a tea stall, the word Xiyan came into her ears. She asked Long Yingwei to stop the carriage and listen to what the man said next.

"I heard that the Northern Territory and Western Yan went to war this time, and Western Yan's Master Shang was shot dead by our King Zhenbei with one arrow."

Another person said: "He was not shot to death by an arrow, but was killed by a sword."

The two of them started arguing, one was certain that he was shot to death by an arrow, the other was certain that he was stabbed to death by a sword, and they argued until their faces turned red and their necks became thick. She didn't listen to the two of them finish arguing, and said, "Let's go," and the Dragon Shadow Guard continued to drive the carriage towards the city gate.

Shang Shen is dead? This question still lingers in her mind after she leaves the city. It would be better if the person is really dead. She is afraid that it is a fake death, which will cause endless troubles.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the carriage went up the winding path. The road was narrow, with more than enough space for one carriage to pass through, but two carriages could not make way. Fortunately, they did not meet any carriages going down the mountain on the road, otherwise the two carriages would have collided and neither would have been able to pass.

The wheels turned slowly for more than an hour and finally stopped outside the gate of Baohua Temple.

She pulled aside the carriage curtain and looked out. A young monk came over to greet her, asking for information. She asked if there were any empty rooms in the temple, as she wanted to rest after burning incense. The young monk replied that there were, and after she got off the carriage, he led her and two Dragon Shadow Guards through the gate to the main hall for burning incense.

On the way, she asked the young monk if a noble from the palace was practicing in seclusion here. The young monk answered yes. She didn't ask anything else. After arriving at the main hall, she first burned incense and worshiped Buddha, and then followed the young monk to the rest room in the back. She said she heard the sound of bamboo leaves rustling on the road just now, and asked if there was a bamboo forest nearby. The young monk replied that there was a bamboo forest on the back mountain, but the forest was deep and it was easy to get lost. He could lead the way. She said she would go over and take a look after resting for a while, and just walk around the edge of the forest, and she wouldn't go far.

After the little monk left, she asked two Dragon Shadow Guards to find out where the person was meditating. A quarter of an hour later, the two Dragon Shadow Guards came back and led her to a courtyard in the north.

The gate to the courtyard was closed, so she went over and knocked on the door. After waiting for a while, someone came and opened the door.

When she saw her, Lu Yu was slightly surprised, but then she returned to normal, bowed to her and invited her in. She asked the two Dragon Shadow Guards to stay outside and went into the yard alone.

Directly in front of us is a Buddhist building with its gate open.

Lu Yu led her in. In the center was a golden Buddha statue. A person was kneeling on a cushion in front of him. He was wearing plain clothes and had a simple bun. From behind, he looked like a pure-hearted person with no desires or requests. Concubine Xiao clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and asked, "Who's here?"

Luyu replied: "It's the third princess."

Hearing the last three words, Concubine Xiao's expression changed, as if the long-calm water surface was suddenly broken by a huge rock. In an instant, she was shocked, confused, resentful, and unwilling...all kinds of things surged into her mind, "What are you doing here, are you here to see me make fun of myself?" Ye Lingxi said calmly, "I saw my second brother."

Concubine Xiao's expression changed again. She stretched out her hand and Luyu came over to help her up. She turned around and saw Ye Lingxi. His icy eyes looked her up and down, and finally returned to the bright flower on her forehead. He sneered disdainfully, turned around and sat down on a chair beside her. Luyu poured a cup of tea and placed it on the table next to her, and poured another cup of tea and placed it opposite her. She invited Ye Lingxi to sit over, and then she took her leave. After coming out, she closed the door of the Buddhist building and stood guard outside the door.

Concubine Xiao picked up the teacup and scraped it twice, then glanced at the person sitting on the chair opposite and said, "Ling'er is gone a long time ago. When did you see him?" Ye Lingxi said calmly, "I know everything about my second brother's life experience." Concubine Xiao's hand that was scraping the tea suddenly stopped, raised her eyes and stared coldly into her eyes and said, "What do you know?" Ye Lingxi said, "My second brother is not of my father's bloodline, but the fourth prince of Xiyan."

Concubine Xiao was shocked. Her hand loosened and the teacup fell to the ground with a clang. She suddenly stood up and rushed over. She pinched Ye Lingxi's shoulders with both hands, and her nails dug into the flesh of her shoulder blades through her clothes. "Are you telling the truth?"

Ye Lingxi saw the surprise and madness in her eyes, and suddenly realized that she didn't know he was the fourth prince of Xiyan. He asked uncertainly, "You don't know?" Concubine Xiao sneered and laughed. She let go of Ye Lingxi's shoulders and said to herself, "So that's how it is. You lied to me, you lied to me..." She repeated these three words, and her mumbling gradually became hysterical. She staggered and fell on the mat in front of the Buddha. She looked up and saw the Buddha's face without sadness or joy. It was as if a bright light struck her, and the dusty memories suddenly opened the floodgates and poured in like a flood. She hugged her head in pain and curled up on the mat, muttering something intermittently. Ye Lingxi heard the four words "Crown Prince Brother" and another sentence, "Why did you lie to me?"