My wife has a secret

Chapter 11 Fishing
Xiaohuan couldn't hide her thoughts and stopped halfway through her introduction.

"Master, can we keep the Third Young Madam in Pu Garden? I heard from outsiders that Marquis Jingdong has been in love with the Third Young Madam for a long time, and he held the poetry meeting to please her and take this opportunity to get close to her..."

Halfway through her words, Xiaohuan realized that something was wrong and immediately shut up.

After all, Lu Wanhe is still one of his masters, and it is a serious crime to slander his master through rumors.

"Why? Are you worried that they might be having an affair?"

Xu Qing smiled faintly and closed the car curtain, with a hint of disdain in his tone.

"Marquis Jingdong gave the title deed of Pu Garden to Lu as an excuse to meet. If he wanted to meet so much, why didn't you let him meet?"

"what?"

Xiaohuan stood there in a daze, her eyes a little confused, not understanding what her young master was thinking.

"This third room has not met me for two years since she entered my Xu Mansion. What emotional basis can we have? Since there are rumors and possibilities that she has cheated, I must give her a try."

There was a strange coldness in Xu Qing's eyes.

The matter of poisoning has not been investigated yet. He doesn't want to die in such an unclear way in his next life.

So he wanted to take advantage of this incident to verify Lu and see if she had any motives to collude with outsiders and murder her husband.

If not, continue.

Xiaohuan looked at Xu Qing, who was different from usual, and shuddered unconsciously.

Would the young master think so much before falling into the water?
Now it seems that the young master is really different, as if he has become a different person in his bones.

……

As soon as Xu Qing returned to the Xu Mansion, he heard the news that Old Madam Xu was urging him to pay her respects.

Xiaohuan led the way to the courtyard, and the two of them ran into Hai Dafu, who was pacing back and forth in the courtyard with a sad look on his face.

"Oh my God! Master, you are finally back."

Hai Dafu checked Xu Qing's body and only felt relieved after confirming that he was safe and sound.

"When the old lady heard that you were still ill and had gone out again, she almost kicked me out. Why did you go to Pu Garden to join in the fun when you were fine?"

Xu Qing smiled and said, "I heard that the Puyuan Poetry Festival is very interesting, so I wanted to go and broaden my horizons."

"How can the Marquis of Jingdong, who organized the poetry gathering, be a good person? Besides, the young ladies in the backyard all have problems. How can you slack off at this critical juncture..."

Hai Dafu caught sight of the pretty Xiaohuan from the corner of his eye and quickly stopped talking.

The latter pricked up his ears and looked at him curiously.

Hai Dafu knew he couldn't go into details, so he changed the subject, "Forget it, let's not talk about this now that you're back. The old lady has been waiting for you for a long time, and I heard she got a message from the palace."

Seeing Hai Dafu's cautious look, Xu Qing felt a little curious.

Since he traveled through time, no one has mentioned his aunt's name. Who is this important figure in the palace that can make these servants so respectful to her?

"In the palace? Is it my aunt?"

"Yes."

Xu Qingjian asked doubtfully: "My aunt is from the palace..."

"Cough cough."

Hai Dafu coughed heavily twice, and his voice trembled slightly afterwards.

"Master, there are many people in the courtyard, and I dare not make any criticisms... Why don't you wait until late at night when everyone is asleep, and then ask the maid in the courtyard to tell you."

Xu Qing didn't expect Hai Dafu to be so reserved, so he didn't embarrass him anymore and nodded.

……

In the main hall of the backyard, Old Madam Xu was sitting on the main seat, concentrating on sipping her tea. The maids and servants standing beside her lowered their eyes, looking at the ground, and dared not speak.

Although there was a charcoal basin in the room for heating, the atmosphere was as cold as an ice cellar.

"Where's Qing'er?"

During the time it took to burn an incense stick, Old Lady Xu asked about Xu Qing's situation three times, which was enough to show how much the old lady loved and cherished her grandson.

The maid standing at the door bowed slightly and replied in a proper manner: "Madam, Chief Steward Hai has gone to the door to meet you."

"Ugh."

The old lady was silent for a moment and sighed softly.

"grandmother."

Before Xu Qingren arrived, a voice came from outside the house, lighting up the old lady's cloudy eyes.

The old lady smiled happily, "My dear grandson, I'm glad you're back."

Xu Qing walked into the room, picked a nearby chair and sat down.

"Grandma, I just went out to see the scenery. There's no need to be angry."

"Okay, okay, I'm not angry."

The old lady of the Xu family looked at her grandson and liked him more and more. She had long forgotten the unhappiness of today.

After a long time, the old lady finally remembered the important matter and pointed to the letter on the desk.

"My family has sent a report of recent events to the capital. After your aunt learned that you had lost your memory, she sent a courier to deliver this letter back."

Xu Qing reached out to take the envelope and found a piece of yellowish letter paper with unclear paper texture inside.

The handwriting on the letter was graceful and beautiful, as if it was written by a woman.

My husband:

There are many things going on in the capital. I have already understood the situation at home and will be going to the south of the Yangtze River soon.

Frost sequence.

Xu Qing stared at this sentence for a long time, and asked in confusion: "Is this written by my aunt? Why does it start with the address of my husband?"

"Ahem... Master."

Hai Dafu took a step forward and explained Xu Qing's confusion, "This letter was written by the eldest young lady Shen, which means that she is about to leave for home."

The eldest lady?

Xu Qing frowned and thought for a moment before he remembered that he had a first wife, who was the daughter of the current prime minister and had a high status.

"Okay, now that Shuangxu is back, I feel relieved... Qing'er, stay here and drink some tea. Ping'er, help me back to my room."

"Yes."

After Xu Qing finished his greetings, he watched the old lady leave.

As soon as the old lady disappeared, Hai Dafu came over and reminded her cautiously, "Master, although you have lost your memory, I still suggest that you act properly recently and don't make any mistakes."

"why?"

Xu Qingman looked at Hai Dafu in confusion.

Wasn't he a famous playboy in Suzhou City?

How could this fearless street urchin be persuaded to control his temper and be a good person?
"Master, you have lost your memory, so you may not have any memory of the eldest young lady's affairs."

Hai Dafu cleared his throat, as if he was afraid that Xu Qing couldn't hear clearly, and said word by word: "The eldest young lady is not an ordinary person. If she comes back, everything in the backyard must be approved by her."

"The legal wife is so arrogant?"

Hai Dafu shook his head like a rattle, "The Shen family is the boss. That's something the old lady and your aunt agree on. You'll know when you see her... The eldest young lady is so suffocating just by standing there."

"Is it that exaggerated?"

Xu Qing felt that Hai Dafu was deceiving her. Was it because Shen Shuangxu had been too strict with the Xu family before, and everyone had the sequelae of being afraid of Shen?
However, Hai Dafu's words did arouse his thoughts. If Shen had the ability to manage the family, didn't it mean that no one knew the situation in the backyard better than her?

"How many days will it take for her to come back?"

"The capital is far away from Suzhou. If we set out tomorrow, at a speed of 100 miles a day, it will take at least ten days to reach Suzhou."

Ten days later?

Xu Qing looked at the scenery in the yard and fell into deep thought.

Now that the eldest young lady has returned home, the other concubines must have also received the news. So in these ten days, will the guy who tried to murder her take new actions?
……

When Xu Qing returned to his courtyard, he saw Xiaohuan busying around in the yard, sweeping up fallen leaves.

She changed into an orange silk dress, tied a ribbon around her waist, and wore a pair of white soft-soled cotton shoes.

Because Hai Dafu intercepted her halfway, he didn't let her go to the compound with him.

"Master, are you back?"

Xiaohuan revealed two shallow dimples and looked at her master nervously.

For some reason, her heart beat faster and her breathing became faster whenever she saw Xu Qing.

"Ah."

"You didn't eat in the courtyard, did you? I went to the kitchen to get the roast chicken... By the way, Master, the Third Young Mistress came to the courtyard just now. When she saw that you were not there, she left the land deed documents of Pu Garden on the table."

Xu Qing nodded, "What else did she say?"

"The Third Young Madam also asked about the young master's daily life, and asked me if you read books, write poems, or study in private... But I just came to the courtyard yesterday, and I don't know what the young master is like, so I didn't dare to say anything."

"I see."

Xu Qing pushed open the door and saw the land deed on the table at a glance.

However, he didn't care how much "meat" he could cut from Marquis Jingdong. What was important was whether the Lu family had joined forces with the other party to fool him.

Now it seems that the fact that Lu was able to honestly hand over the land deed shows that her actions are consistent with her words and she is indeed a person with a dull temperament.

If the rumors outside were true, and Lu had some selfish motives and personal feelings, he would not have been able to obtain the land deed so easily.

Xu Qing walked to the table, put the deed to Puyuan in the drawer, and started grinding ink with the inkstone.

After dipping the tip of the pen into ink, he lightly touched the paper.

One mountain, two mountains.

The mountains are far away, the sky is high, the smoke is cold, and the water is cold. I miss the red maple leaves.

Xu Qing stopped writing halfway through and called Xiaohuan from the yard, "Xiaohuan, please help me deliver the new writing to the third room. When you come back, boil some hot water. It's cold and I want to take a hot bath."

"it is good."

Xiaohuan did not dare to delay and rushed towards the third courtyard with the rice paper.

By the time she came back and boiled the water, it was already the evening before 11:00 p.m. and the night was dark.

The bathtub was very large, and Xu Qing had to help carry it into the main house.

The physical effort of surviving this ordeal had made Xu Qingre sweat profusely and gasp for breath.

"Master, are there too few servants in our yard? Would you like me to ask Steward Hai tomorrow to ask for two more maids to come to the yard to work?"

Xu Qing also wanted to live the extravagant life of a wealthy family, where a maid would feed him fruit while he was taking a bath, another would rub his back, another would massage him, and another would sing him songs...

But the current conditions do not allow it. There is a time bomb hidden in the backyard, and who knows who is trustworthy.

At the moment, it seems that Xiaohuan is the only one who can be considered as one of us.

"You are enough. I am not used to others."

When Xiaohuan heard this, her face turned red and she felt as happy as if she had eaten honey.

Hot steam rose up, filling the whole room with smoke from time to time.

After Xu Qing took off his clothes behind the screen and got into the bathtub, Xiaohuan slowly walked forward and helped him massage the key parts of his body.

All the fatigue from a day's work is relieved at this moment.

"Xiaohuan."

There was a gleam in Xiaohuan's eyes, her body was trembling slightly, and the blush on her cheeks was even stronger than before.

She had heard from Wang Po a long time ago that young masters from noble families liked to bathe with their personal maids who were good-looking and had delicate skin, as one of the pleasures in the bedroom.

Is the young master also such a person?

"What about people?"

Xiao Huan suddenly woke up from her fantasy when she heard Xu Qing's call, and replied uneasily: "Yes... yes, Master..."

"Who is my aunt in the palace?"

These words scared Xiaohuan awake.

She held her breath, afraid that she might say any wrong word.

"Master, your aunt is the current queen mother."

"My Queen Mother..."

Xu Qing nodded thoughtfully.

Before the little girl started talking, he already had some guesses in his mind.

There are very few women who can achieve something in the palace, and those palace maids and female officials can never do that.

After much thought, only the empress dowager and the queen, or a very favored concubine, have this ability.

"What kind of person is she? How does she treat me... Do you know all this?"

Xiaohuan bit her lower lip lightly, feeling relieved when she thought that there was no outsider in the yard.

"Your aunt treats you very well. I heard from an experienced old servant in the palace that she brought you up after your parents passed away. I'm saying something I shouldn't say... I heard that the young emperor who ascended the throne two years ago was only 27 years old, and all the affairs in the court were handled by your aunt..."

Xiaohuan didn't dare to go into more details after this.

However, Xu Qing also understood the general idea. He knew that the current Great Qi was ruled by relatives from outside the family, and his aunt was extremely powerful and sat on the top chair in the palace.

With external relatives meddling in politics and the addition of playboys, this script doesn't seem right. Why do I always feel like I'm going to follow in someone's footsteps?
"Boom, boom."

There was a gentle knock on the door, and then a soft, light voice came into the room through the door frame.

"Husband."

Xiaohuan had sharp ears and recognized the voice as that of the Third Young Lady. She hurriedly prepared to open the door for her, but Xu Qing stopped her.

Lu Wanhe's visit was within his expectations and came faster than he expected.

He knew in his heart that compared to the magnificent and heavenly famous poems of the Tang Dynasty, the graceful, delicate, gentle and affectionate Song Dynasty poems of his previous life were more lethal to these women who delved into poetry.

The words Xu Qing wrote to Lu Wanhe were only the first half of A Layer of Mountains.

If she wanted to know what the second half of the song meant, she could only visit him and ask for help.

"Madam is here."

"I have been thinking about this poem for a long time, but I still can't figure it out. Please give me some advice, my husband."

Xu Qing said calmly: "I heard that Madam is ill. Come in and talk."

Xiaohuan hurried to open the door.

Lu Wanhe, who was standing outside the house, was wearing a simple white long cotton coat. She had a beautiful face, picturesque features, and her pearly teeth could be vaguely seen between her rosy and shiny lips.

(End of this chapter)