spoiled brat

Chapter 158, Section 157: Startling Frost (Part 7)

Xie Xiaoqing squatted down in front of the little girl, blocking her view into the shed, and said fiercely, "You're not allowed to look."

The little girl tiptoed, trying to get over his shoulder. Xie Xiaoqing pressed her back down: "I already have someone I like!"

The little girl was innocent, but she knew it wasn't appropriate to look at someone else's husband, so she tilted her head and asked, "Are they married?"

"No." Xie Xiaoqing shook his head.

Even if a prince and a maid spend every day together, they are still completely unrelated when it comes to discussing marriage.

"What's so unbearable about that?" The little girl appeared naive, but was shrewd. "He's dressed so well, yet he's huddled here with you; his sweetheart must not like him—"

Xie Xiaoqing covered her mouth, afraid that her words would be whispered into the wind.

He stepped aside, allowing her to take a few more glances, and then asked, "Is he really that good-looking?"

Seeing the little girl nod repeatedly, Xie Xiaoqing pointed to himself and asked, "Am I pretty?"

That's a bit of a dilemma.

Xie Xiaoqing was hit with a stick a few days ago. His face was still bruised and swollen, and he looked sickly. What does that have to do with being good-looking?
But remembering that he would come to distribute porridge as soon as it was light, the little girl nodded against her conscience.

"What if..." Xie Xiaoqing said shyly, "What if you had to choose between me and that brother in white?"

The little girl vaguely sensed that there was something else behind those words, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond.

Xie Xiaoqing, assuming the person in front of him wasn't a complete stranger, shamelessly added, "And what if he can't marry you, but I'm willing to do anything for you?"

The little girl had seen this coy look on the faces of her older sisters before, and she blurted out a scolding phrase her mother used: "Are you in love?"

"No!"

Xie Xiaoqing's face flushed red, and he jumped up abruptly: "How can you know so much at such a young age!" Just as he was about to add a few words, he saw Li Qingwen standing nearby, looking at him with a sneer and cold eyes.

"Thank you, young master." Li Qingwen smiled. "These past few days, with you gone, all the work has fallen on my shoulders, and I've been exhausted. It's so good that you're back."

He remained calm and composed. If Xie Xiaoqing hadn't been on the verge of death several times, he might have wondered who was behind the assassination.

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Li." Xie Xiaoqing said coldly, "I escaped death and have returned to share your burdens."

The two men were in tacit agreement, but tensions were running high.

Li Qingwen, however, still had to put on an act, offering a few sincere words of concern, sighing like a seasoned veteran of officialdom:

"What we did was a charitable act of caring for the weak and needy, but we did share in the profits of the stables. Those eunuchs, what sense of righteousness do they have? They even tried to harm you because of this. They are, after all, people of the palace, and cannot be investigated by outsiders. You must be even more careful from now on—"

This man is truly shameless; he even fabricated the cause of his death. Xie Xiaoqing was about to curse him when he suddenly heard a clear voice in his ear: "Lord Li."

Li Qingwen was startled by the voice, turned his head and met Xiu Yi's cold eyes, and quickly bowed and saluted, trying not to hide the surprise on his face: "Young Master".

For a long time, there was no sound from Xiuyi above.

Li Qingwen remained in the bowing posture, his gaze fixed on the boots in front of him, his temples throbbing.

"Your presence here is truly esteemed..."

First, that bitch's daughter caused trouble, and now Xiu Yi and Xie Xiaoqing have appeared together. What is their purpose? Could it be—

"Come see him off."

Xiu Yi stood with his arms crossed, glancing at Xie Xiaoqing.

“My friend is new to the capital and is unaware of the dangers. He was tricked by thieves and almost lost his life. Just now, I heard you two talking so intimately. From now on, I will trouble Lord Li to take care of him for me.”

That fool is truly lucky. After arriving in the capital, he escaped death several times and even managed to make connections with members of the imperial family.

"You're too kind, Your Highness."

Li Qingwen nodded, "Young Master Xie is young and naive, and I should have taken better care of him. It was absolutely wrong of me to let him fall into danger this time. If something like this happens again in the future, even if you and my teacher don't blame me, I will still be guilty even if I die a thousand deaths."

Xie Xiaoqing felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.

"Thank you very much."

Xiu Yi mounted his horse. Xie Xiaoqing insisted on seeing him off, leading the horse slowly from the soup kitchen to the outside of the martial arts arena, turning his head back at least a dozen times.

Seeing his hesitant expression, Xiu Yi knew he had something to say, and asked before leaving, "Young Master Xie, what do you think of Li Qingwen?"

Xie Xiaoqing stopped in his tracks, his palms sweating as he gripped the reins.

How to describe his feelings at this moment? He wanted to tell the whole story and ask Xiu Yi to make a decision for him and Zhao Zhao.

He was afraid to speak out, fearing that even if Xiu Yi knew, he would not challenge Li Qingwen based on this unsubstantiated accusation.

"Lord Li is a good official, but as for his character..." Xie Xiaoqing mumbled, "I don't know."

On horseback, Xiu Yi lowered his eyes and glanced down: "She dislikes Li Qingwen?"

"Huh?" Xie Xiaoqing paused for a moment, his words sounding like a casual question, yet also like he knew everything. "...Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

A thousand and ten thousand words were crammed onto Xie Xiaoqing's lips, wanting to burst out, but Zhao Zhao had only told him about her grudges. If the person in front of her was trustworthy and reliable, she would tell him herself.

"...You see each other every day, wouldn't it be better to just ask her directly?"

Xiu Yi fell silent.

If she were willing to tell me, why go through all this trouble?

Xie Xiaoqing secretly regretted saying the wrong thing.

The current situation is very much like a wife who can't find her husband at home and has no choice but to condescend to inquire with her lover...

It's almost pitiful that the imperial family has fallen to such a low level.

After seeing Xiu Yi off, Xie Xiaoqing returned to the porridge stall. Li Qingwen was nowhere to be found, leaving only the little girl who was sucking her thumb sitting under the tree, playing chess with herself using pebbles.

"Little girl," Xie Xiaoqing squatted down, "Did you see where Lord Li went?"

Looking at the sky, it was almost noon. Given Li Qingwen's reputation-seeking nature, he should be tidying up his clothes at the soup kitchen, preparing to put on a show of being a righteous official.

"I saw it." The little girl raised her innocent face. "If you give me two bowls of porridge at noon, I'll tell you."

Xie Xiaoqing agreed.

The little maid pointed west and said, "As soon as you left, someone came looking for you and asked Lord Li to go over there."

Xie Xiaoqing followed the gaze and saw that the tall grass concealed the scattered granaries. He hurriedly asked, "What were those people wearing? Were they officials?"

"I can't tell." The little girl shook her head. "I only heard that person speak in a soft, high-pitched voice."

Eunuch!

It must be a eunuch who's been in cahoots with Li Qingwen who's come looking for us.

Xie Xiaoqing's eyelids twitched, and an idea came to him.

-

As night fell, a few sparks dotted the pitch-black grassland, circling around the barn area.

The night patrol leader was a fat man, holding a torch in one hand and covering his mouth with the other while yawning.

Sleepiness spread like ripples on water, and yawns rose and fell behind me. Someone said, "Boss, shall we go to sleep?"

The squad leader glanced at the sky and said wearily, "It's only the third watch of the night. Lord Li told us to keep watch until dawn, so we mustn't be robbed."

"Boss, that heavy iron lock is bigger than my head. What kind of thief could pry it open?" a soldier muttered.

Another soldier said, "When we were conscripted, it was agreed that we would receive 100 coins and 2 shi of grain per month, and be sent from 3 PM to 1 AM. But Lord Li wants us to stay until dawn. Why? He's not giving us any extra money or grain, and he's even delaying my trip home to be with my wife!"

Their complaints were quite loud, and Xie Xiaoqing, hiding in the woodpile, heard them clearly. He thought to himself: Yes, yes, that's it. You all hurry home so I can sneak in and check the grain.

The squad leader was quite embarrassed. He lowered the torch, paced around a few times, and kicked the woodpile: "Damn it, Lord Li only told us to work, he didn't say anything about extra pay!"

The soldiers added fuel to the fire with a few more words, and the platoon leader, filled with resentment and frustration, finally waved his hand and said, "I'm not going to defend anymore, everyone go home!"

The footsteps faded into the distance, and all around was quiet, with only the sound of the wind and the chirping of summer insects.

Xie Xiaoqing huddled in the woodpile, his vision blurring from the pain. The sergeant's kick had landed in the wrong place, and it took him a long time to recover.

Just as he was about to push aside the pile of firewood to go out, he saw a nimble and graceful figure in the dim night, tall, thin and strong, like a hunting leopard.

Xie Xiaoqing vaguely felt that the person looked familiar. When he got closer, he could see the person's face clearly by the moonlight, and his eyes widened suddenly.

It's a little more.

He walked silently to the outside of the warehouse, took out a key from his waist, and inserted it into the heavy iron lock with a very soft click.

The door opened.