Shocking Mountain Moon

Chapter 10 Chance Encounter
The young man in green was thin and tall, less handsome and more elegant than when he wore red.

It was Xue Han, the Imperial Envoy whom I had met yesterday.

He walked over leisurely, apparently strolling around.

Qiu Heng returned to normal in an instant and passed by him without even looking away.

The young man stopped and looked sideways at the girl wearing a veiled hat: "Miss Qiu Liu."

Qiu Heng's first reaction was to pretend she didn't hear it and walk away quickly, but her instinct after experiencing danger countless times allowed her to make a quick judgment.

The girl also stopped and lifted the veil covering her face, revealing just the right amount of doubt: "Master Xue?"

"Miss Qiuliu is alone?"

Qiu Heng felt that this question was asked with ill intention.

With her current status as the sixth young lady of the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion, when she goes out normally, she must have a group of servants and maids. It is obviously abnormal for her to appear on the street alone.

And just yesterday, the person in front of her came to her house specially to eliminate the suspicion of her being a spy, and did not care at all about offending Earl Yongqing.

If the excuse is not clever, it will definitely increase the suspicion of this person.

Thinking about this, Qiu Heng smiled shyly: "I am curious about the scene in the capital, but it is not as convenient to go out as in the countryside, so I sneaked out to take a look. I hope Master Xue will not tell anyone, otherwise the elders at home will scold me if they know."

After hearing this, the young man's eyes became thoughtful.

Qiu Heng calmly let him stare at her, secretly thinking that she was unlucky.

Looking around the capital, there were only a few people who had seen her, but she happened to meet this Lord Xue. It would have been fine if he had just met her, but he also recognized her at a glance even though she had changed her clothes and was wearing a veil.

Such coincidence and vision are puzzling.

The young man seemed to believe this explanation and changed the subject: "Did I cause a lot of trouble for Miss Qiu Liu when I went to your house yesterday?"

Qiu Heng: “…” What do you think?

After a subtle silence, Xue Han looked apologetic: "I was inconsiderate... Miss Qiu Liu, if you need help in the future, you can come to me."

Qiu Heng felt something was strange when she heard this.

Whether it was recorded in the book or in the confrontation with Yongqing Bo yesterday, Xue Han did not seem to be an enthusiastic person. But looking at his expression at this moment, he was very sincere.

Qiu Heng suddenly had an idea.

"If I'm in trouble, is Lord Xue really willing to help?"

The young man was slightly startled. He obviously didn't expect the help to come so quickly. His speech was a little unsmooth: "Yes, of course..."

"Not long ago, my adoptive father went to the city to find a doctor for my adoptive mother. On the way, he was hit and killed by a group of yamen who were riding back to the city... I want to know who hit and killed my adoptive father."

Xue Han's enthusiasm is really strange. Let's see if he is just being polite, or is really enthusiastic, or has other intentions.

"Miss Qiu Liu, please tell me in detail where you live and when the accident happened..."

"My home is in Yunfeng Village, Suiyun County..." Qiu Heng answered the questions one by one and felt something when he saw the boy listening attentively.

He seemed serious.

Suiyun County is not far from the capital, and the county officials are used to being domineering. They don't think it's a big deal to accidentally kill a mountain villager, so there's no need to keep it secret. In this case, with the ability of the Imperial City Bureau, it would be easy to find out that it was Han Wu's son Han Ziheng who killed his adoptive father.

Xue Han's adoptive father Xue Quan has always been at odds with Han Wu.

This was the reason why Qiu Heng had that sudden idea.

She wanted to see what Xue Quan would do now that he had evidence that Han Wu's son had killed innocent people.

If Xue Quan uses this to attack Han Wu, with the intervention of such a person, can the adoptive father get justice?

Although this fairness is not true fairness.

But if she can't even get this kind of justice, she can put away her unnecessary thoughts.

"I'll send someone to investigate. If I find anything, I'll let Miss Qiu Liu know." Qiu Heng bowed deeply, "Thank you, Master Xue."

"It's getting late, Miss Qiuliu, please go back early."

"Goodbye, Master Xue."

Qiu Heng took a few steps forward before the young man's voice came from behind her: "Goodbye."

In the dim night, the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion stood tall and brightly lit. Qiu Heng fell into the wall like a light swallow and returned to Lengxiangju.

"The girl is back." Fangzhou took the spices from Qiuheng and asked curiously, "Does the girl want to make incense again?"

Only Fangzhou knew that Qiuheng's daily visit to the mountain to guard the graves was an excuse for Wang Mama and the others. During that time, the girl made many incense pills, incense powders, and incense pendants that she had never seen before.

"Yes, I want to make a kind of incense, a calming incense."

The candlelight in the room was bright. Looking at Fangzhou who was tidying up the spices with her hands and feet, Qiu Heng asked softly, "Fangzhou, don't you think I have changed a lot?"

Since she returned home in the heavy rain, many things have obviously changed, but Fangzhou never asked.

Fangzhou paused, put down the incense, walked back to Qiuheng, and slowly took her arm.

"The girl was lost in the mountains for so long, she must have suffered a lot, it's normal for her to change."

She didn't dare to ask, for she was afraid that if she asked, the girl would disappear.

She was sure that the girl was still a girl, even if it was the girl's soul that came back, as long as it came back, it would be fine.

Whether it is a human or a ghost, whether it has changed or not, what does it matter?

"Fangzhou."

"Ai."

"I want to eat chestnut cake."

Fangzhou smiled brightly and said, "I'll make it for you tomorrow."

In the following days, Fangzhou made chestnut cakes, shortbread, square cakes, lotus cakes...

Yu Ma, who came to Lengxiangju to fish every morning, felt guilty and took the initiative to remind Qiuheng: "Sixth Miss has worked hard to learn the rules, don't forget to send some snacks to Qiansongtang to honor the old lady. The old lady recognizes Sixth Miss's filial piety, and Sixth Miss will be able to go out of the house to attend banquets like other girls in the future."

Nanny Yu was not saying this casually. Today, the four young ladies from the Bo Mansion went to the flower banquet held at the Changchun Marquis Mansion, but Qiu Heng was the only one left behind.

In Nanny Yu's opinion, the Sixth Miss was confined in the mansion and could not enter the circle of noble ladies. She had no chance to be seen by noble ladies, so her future was bleak.

The one who can decide all this is undoubtedly the old lady.

"Thank you for the reminder, Aunt Yu. Aunt Yu, try this Touhua Ci, it's freshly made in Fangzhou."

While Aunt Yu was enjoying the delicious snacks, Fangzhou couldn't help but worry about Qiuheng: "Miss, how about I go and find out what the old lady likes to eat."

"Need not."

Qiu Heng picked up a piece of dessert and ate it slowly.

In this world, the one who can truly decide the fate of a mansion is not the old lady, but Earl Yongqing.

If the old lady could decide these things, the one who would be sent to be a concubine and die in her prime would not be her favorite granddaughter, the fourth girl Qiu Fu.

And how could the shameless Earl of Yongqing, who was obsessed with fame and fortune, be moved by a few plates of snacks?

"Once the incense is ready, Fangzhou can go out with me."

……

At the Changchun Marquis's Mansion, a flower banquet was held in the garden. The two daughters of the Changchun Marquis's wife served as hosts and greeted the noble ladies who were invited.

Among them, the younger sister was named Feng Caixing. Upon hearing that the girls from the Qiu family were coming, she couldn't wait to greet them.

(End of this chapter)