The seductive princess is no longer being pursued; the aloof prime minister is facing a crematorium.

Chapter 292 It turns out
Jiang Jinshuang would lose track of time when she got busy. If she counted on her fingers, it seemed like she hadn't seen Pei Du for seven or eight days.

"Your Highness? What are you doing here?"

Upon seeing Jiang Jinshuang, Jingmo seemed quite surprised.

Jingmo glanced at the tiger-head hat in Jiang Jinshuang's hand again and silently understood.

"Just taking a stroll. There must be a lot of affairs in the court lately. Why haven't I seen your master?"

Jiang Jinshuang casually asked while picking up the tiger-head hat.

Jingmo squatted down in front of the stall with Jiang Jinshuang.

“My master has been claiming to be ill these past few days and has not been to court.”

I got sick?
Jiang Jinshuang paused in her picking out things, then nodded: "Then he should take good care of himself. There will be times when the new emperor takes the throne and we will need his help."

Jingmo poked the imposing little tiger head on the hat with his index finger, his voice deep and muffled: "My master is actually not sick. He has been staying in the study reading and has not come out."

"Reading?" Jiang Jinshuang asked curiously, putting down her hat and looking relaxed. "What kind of book in the world could keep Prime Minister Pei reading for so long?"

Jingmo lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "A book about raising children."

"Hmm?" Jiang Jinshuang frowned. "What?"

Jingmo sighed, then said in a defiant tone, "My master had his men buy all the books on caring for newborns up to ten years old, and they're reading them in their room right now."

Jiang Jinshuang couldn't help but chuckle: "When did Pei Du become so interested in raising children?"

Jingmo glanced at Jiang Jinshuang with a complicated expression, and seeing that she really didn't understand, he sighed again.

"More than that, Your Highness, you really should go and see the Master's study. You would never imagine."

Intrigued by Jingmo's words, Jiang Jinshuang decided to chat with him: "Since your master is determined to pursue an official career, he must have read books on all kinds of subjects."

Upon hearing this, Jingmo blinked and looked at Jiang Jinshuang with some surprise: "Your Highness, don't you know? Since you left the capital three years ago, the Lord has kept his favorite rare books on a high shelf and hasn't taken them out since."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jinshuang raised an eyebrow slightly: "You mean those rare collections of writings that he searched for so long back then? Didn't he cherish them like his own life? Why are they all hidden away?"

Jingmo's eyes widened: "Your Highness, do you really not know?"

Jiang Jinshuang shook her head, looking completely bewildered.

"As soon as the decree for His Highness's demotion to Baiyujing was issued, the official stored away all those rare books and packed his luggage, waiting to go to Baiyujing with His Highness."

A slight buzzing sound seemed to pass through my ears.

Jiang Jinshuang blinked somewhat slowly, still looking at Jingmo: "You mean... back then he wanted to go to Baiyujing with me?"

“Yes,” Jingmo nodded, “That night, the master even paid a special visit to several of his mentors who had helped him a lot in his studies, including the Grand Tutor at the time.”

"However, the Grand Tutor must have felt it was a pity, so he prepared a simple feast in the palace and invited my master to have a few drinks."

what.

It turned out to be the case.

Back then, Jiang Jinshuang's informant sent word that something might have happened to Pei Du. Despite the bruises on her legs, Jiang Jinshuang brought him away from the Grand Tutor's banquet.

—It was the medicine prescribed by the Grand Tutor.

They wanted to use this as leverage to keep Pei Du in the capital.

The Grand Tutor cherished talent, so he resorted to any means necessary.

Unexpectedly, Princess Zhaoming would suddenly appear and take Pei Du away. The rest is history.

Pei Du had a very low alcohol tolerance, but he offered a cup of wine to express his gratitude to his teacher.

He couldn't remember what happened that night, so he always thought that she was the one who put the drug in his mouth.

Jiang Jinshuang has never clarified this.

It turned out to be the case.

“So,” Jiang Jinshuang said again, only then realizing her voice was a little dry, “Pei Du studied hard for more than ten years, just because I was no longer in the capital, did he almost give up his official career?”

Jingmo nodded, but looked at Jiang Jinshuang with a complicated expression: "But Your Highness, you left that night without taking the Grand Secretary with you."

He also left a farewell letter containing only the word "terrible".

Thinking about it carefully, if Jiang Jinshuang were Pei Du, she would probably be furious if she saw that letter when she woke up in the morning.

"Actually, at that time, you had not yet entered officialdom, and I was not by your side. You never told me these things; I guessed them little by little."

After a pause, Jingmo scratched his head and said, "I also saw that you asked your mentor in the capital to write a letter of introduction, which seems to be addressed to the private tutor in Baiyujing."

"I guess it's because you feel that after going to Baiyujing with His Highness, you can't always rely on His Highness, so you want to become a teacher to help support His Highness."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jinshuang gave a wry smile: "Baiyujing is wealthy, and I have no need for him to be a teacher to supplement the family income."

Upon hearing this, Jingmo touched his nose with some difficulty: "Your Highness, the Lord has been learning to read and write since childhood. Apart from entering officialdom, he doesn't seem to know any other way to help you."

Pei Du was a scholar, and that was all he had studied.

Jiang Jinshuang lowered her head and, imitating Jingmo, poked at the tiger head on the hat, without saying another word.

Seeing this, Jingmo only muttered softly, "Your Highness has experienced so much in Baiyujing, yet the adults seem unaware of it."

—Refers to that child.

Jiang Jinshuang didn't connect that to anything, and just smiled: "He's not in Baiyujing, so naturally he doesn't know anything."

"The master has already gone there," Jingmo hurriedly replied.

"What?" Jiang Jinshuang raised her eyes and looked at Jingmo in confusion.

Jingmo said seriously, "After you became the top scholar, you would go to Baiyujing every now and then. There are many bandits and assassins on the way to Baiyujing. The ordinary ones are fine, but you have also encountered assassins who really wanted to kill you."

After a pause, Jingmo said, "At that time, the lord was also poisoned by their cold poison. His body was ice cold and he almost lost his life."

Jiang Jinshuang pursed her lips slightly, a hint of murderous intent flashing in her eyes: "And then?"

"Later, the lord returned to the capital. Although he was cured of the poison, the remaining poison in his body was not cleared. Every once in a while, he would suffer from unbearable chest pain. At the worst time, the lord would not sleep all night, and the edges of the table were covered with his scratches."

"It was only after Your Highness invited Mr. He that the remaining poison in the man's body was completely cleared."

Jiang Jinshuang's words then returned to what she had just said: "You said he had been to Baiyujing, but why did I never know that?"

Jingmo said in a low voice, "Every time the master goes there, he only stands on the side of the street for a while and listens to what the people of Baiyujing say about you."

"I heard from them that Your Highness is always very busy, so the adults always help the people and do whatever little things they can to make things easier for you."

"Oh, the noodle stall on South Street in Chang'an City, because the owner's daughter married far away to Baiyujing, the family was worried about her, so the adults paid for the noodle stall owner's family to move to Baiyujing to live permanently."

"Before the noodle shop owner left, the gentleman learned how to make shredded pork noodles. The gentleman said that if you can't eat shredded pork noodles after you return to the capital, you will be unhappy."