Ink Burns

Chapter 122 Seven or Eight Year Old Parrot
Shanyue bowed deeply, and she looked very different from the previous two times they met. Her black hair had been tied up into a woman's bun, and her hair was lush and cloud-like. When she lowered her head, the silver tassels of the hairpin on her hair brushed gently and slowly against her slender neck.

On the silver tassel is the betrothal gift sent by the Xue family.

That priceless pair of gold, jade, aquamarine and emerald plum blossom hairpins.

In the slightest detail, Xue Xiao's pupils dilated, but he avoided his eyes as if they were burning.

She is not a person who likes complicated and luxurious things.

I heard from the kitchen that she only needed two dishes for each meal, regardless of the taste and ingredients, and she ate them all up; the main house of the South Mansion now only had a bed, a brass mirror, and a cabinet made of fine materials but with old carvings. The entire South Mansion was empty, with no people and no smell of life, as simple as a temporary house, but she didn't say a word; I met her several times in the mansion, and she was always clean and simple, never wearing any luxury.
I guess this pair of plum blossom hairpins was specially worn by the new daughter-in-law today when she kneeled down to worship at the ancestral temple and meet her mother-in-law.

She thought it was given to her by the Xue family.

The tall and upright Censor fell silent.

After a moment, Xue Xiao dodged the gift and talked about another matter: "Although I was prepared to move to the South Mansion, I didn't expect it to be so smooth. We are a little short of manpower. Now it is not appropriate for you and I to live in separate houses. If we are followed by Zhu's secret agents, it will be very strange."

After moving to the Nan Mansion after marriage, she felt comfortable living in the side hall of the main courtyard and gave the main house to Xue Xiao.

Xue Xiao, however, has always lived by the water.

Shan Yue said, "I tried it today, but she didn't have time to put down the nail."

Xue Xiao nodded: "Of course, there are only thirteen people in the Nan Mansion now, all of them are loyal servants left by the Su family. The people guarding the waterside are from the Qingyue Temple, so she can't interfere."

Xue Xiao turned the topic around: "But in the next two days, twenty people will enter the mansion, all of whom have been verified innocent by Luo Feng. I will go to court tomorrow, so please help Madam to take care of things."

He then led the conversation back to the beginning: "Although we have traced it back, after all, there are many people watching, so we should still be cautious. If Madam doesn't mind, there are two side rooms in the main courtyard. Living in separate rooms is more common than living in separate courtyards."

Shan Yue:? It was originally reserved for you! I thought Xue Xiao never went to the main courtyard because he was on guard against the new wife!
Shan Yue nodded naturally and said, "Then I will settle the new servants at home tomorrow and have someone clean up the east wing again."

Xue Xiao curled the corners of his lips and lowered his head slightly, as if he was looking for something on the neat and clean table.

Shan Yue thought about it. She had always acted openly. Since she and Xue Xiao were going to form an alliance this time, she had to say something: "I shouldn't have taken your wife's position. You married me to find out about Qing Feng. You and I both have our own selfish motives. If we go against the marriage oath, then this union will naturally not be true."

Xue Xiao raised his head, pursed his brows and looked at Shan Yue, as if waiting for Shan Yue to continue speaking.

Shan Yue continued, "Once we work together and get our revenge, then we will naturally return to dust and ashes, and I will return to where I belong. I will never covet the position of your wife, the censor, for wealth and glory, and take over your place - you can rest assured!"

Shanyue had figured these out long ago.

I had never thought that the unfilial bird was so human, so I didn't bring it up for discussion.

Now it seems that Xue Xiao is not unreasonable. The negotiations for the alliance are going very smoothly. After he makes everything clear, everyone feels at ease.

Xue Xiao pursed his lips tightly, but his mind suddenly thought of the divine doctor Cheng who saved Songjiang Prefecture from danger. With his hands behind his back, his eyes looked away from the pair of plum blossom hairpins on Shan Yue's horse bun. After a long pause, he spoke in a low voice, "Did you guys agree on this?"

Shan Yue didn’t understand: “Huh?”

What was agreed upon? What does it mean?
Xue Xiao lowered his eyes, shook his head gently, and lowered his voice even lower than usual: "Nothing."

After a pause, Xue Xiao added, "Okay."

The Jade Parrot was jumping around on Xue Xiao's shoulder in a panic, making a "squeaky" sound, and no one knew what it was anxious about.

Xue Xiao reached out and touched the furry top of the Jade Parrot as if to soothe it.

"It" Shanyue smiled: "It's like a little kid, with a bad temper, but also very smart."

He even rolled his eyes at Qiu Tao before!

Xue Xiao's eyes were gentle. "Its name is Xuetuan. It is the parrot my master left to me. It is just seven years old this year, which is the age when children are naughty and playful."

Shanyue has never been familiar with the knowledge of animals with fur and horns: when she was a child, she did spend some time with furry animals under the overpass, mostly monkeys, cats, and dogs, but she didn't have a good impression of them. The monkeys wanted to steal her food, and the dogs fought with the cats all day long, howling when they won and howling when they lost. The dog's cage was next to her bed, and it howled all night long, keeping her awake.
"Seven years old? Still considered a child? If a dog is over seven years old, it will be considered an old dog, and the circus troupe will kick it out and not let it eat for free." Shanyue spoke unconsciously.

Juggling troupe?

Isn’t she a painter from Shantang Street in Suzhou?
How come you've been in a circus?

Why did she have such hatred? How could she be related to the Cheng family, the Zhu family, and even the Grand Princess Jing'an?
Xue Xiao wanted to ask, but he was silent and did not speak: he had a hunch that Shan Yue would not tell him at this time.

Do you know that little miracle doctor from the Cheng family?
Xue Xiao couldn't help but think about it, but he felt that he was being extremely absurd.

"Parrots are different. Parrots like Xuetuan can live up to fifty or sixty years. Seven years old is really the age of a child for him."

Birds are safer.

Xue Xiao continued to speak along with Shan Yue's words, but his hand unconsciously took the Hetian jade plum blossom paperweight on the table and rubbed it in his palm: "If Madam doesn't like the snowball, just leave it by the water."

"Oh, no, no." Shan Yue hurriedly shook her head: The unfilial bird master treated this parrot a thousand times more tenderly and considerately than he treated his father! She had no right to say whether she liked it or not!

"It's okay, it's okay!" Shan Yue said with a smile, "It's just that I read in a book before that parrots can learn to talk, so the palace maids dare not complain in front of them. I just feel a little curious."

Xue Xiao smiled and said, "Xuetuan can talk, but he is very tight-lipped and usually doesn't speak."

This is the first time I heard someone use the term "tight-lipped" to describe a parrot.
Shanyue smiled again, and unconsciously curved her dark eyes. The smile splashed under her eyes, condensing into a small vortex, washing away a lot of the cold air that had been deposited for a long time.

Xue Xiao bowed his head again. Perhaps because he had figured out Zhu's origins and fate, Shan Yue relaxed a lot. He followed Xue Xiao's gaze to the plum blossom paperweight in his hand, then to the two ink plum blossom paintings under the plaque "Jing Jing Qi Shu" behind him, and the plum blossom stone scene on the antique shelf next to it.

Next to the plum and rock scene, lacquer boxes for tea and tea cakes of various sizes are arranged in an orderly manner at different heights.

There are plum blossoms and tea leaves everywhere.

Shan Yue smiled again: "There are so many plum blossoms and tea. Do you love plum blossoms and tea?"

"My mother loves it very much." Xue Xiao lowered his eyes: "I heard from Mother Su that the original yard was full of plum blossoms, but when Zhu married in, they pulled them all out and burned them, and set up another warm farm to plant jasmine. Although my uncle's family has been settled in the capital for many years, they can't change the Hakka people's habit of drinking tea."

Oh.

Shan Yue paused, as if remembering something, and after hesitating, he frowned and said, "Your mother's death"

Xue Xiao was silent: "There is no evidence."

Of course he had doubts.

The death of his grandfather was not simple enough, let alone the death of his mother who directly blocked Zhu's path.

He spent a lot of effort to investigate: the midwife who delivered the baby had long disappeared, the doctor who saw him was the director of the Imperial Hospital invited by his uncle who took a token and broke into it at night, the medicine was sent by the Su family and was prepared by Su's mother, so there was nothing wrong.

In fact, under the effect of Yuan Zheng's prescription, the mother who was originally bleeding heavily stopped bleeding after taking the medicine. It was not until the third day after giving birth to him that she suddenly had a heavy hemorrhage and passed away.

These records can be clearly traced in the prescriptions written by the hospital chief.

He held the director of the hospital at knifepoint and questioned him to see if there were any clues.

The director was shaking with fear and shook his head, "Your mother had a difficult birth. Others' heads would come out first, but you, the devil, had your feet come out first! Giving birth is a life-or-death situation for women. Some die on the spot, some die two or three days later, and some suffer from physical damage only to develop an illness six months later. The King of Hell was very kind to take your mother to the underworld three days later!"

He also hoped that it was someone else who did it.

In this way, he did not kill his mother.
Speaking of his grandfather, Xue Xiao was angry.

Speaking of his mother, Xue Xiao was filled with silence and loneliness, and felt only sadness.

"Mother-mother-mother-"

The snow parrot was on a wooden shelf, stretching its neck, jumping around and chirping.

Even dogs are not good for children of seven or eight years old, and parrots of seven or eight years old are not good stuff either.

Xue Xiao threw a pen over, hitting the parrot and making its feathers fly everywhere.

Shan Yue pursed her lips, and the smile and swirl in her eyes disappeared in an instant: "My condolences."

Xue Xiao shook his head and stood up straight: "It's getting late. I'll ask Luo Feng to take you back to the main courtyard. I'll ask you to just pretend to be nice to Zhu's family. I'll also try harder with He Wuma - she keeps her mouth shut and never really speaks."

He Wuma would definitely not say a word - Shanyue had already expected this.

She is not only He Wu's mother now, but also the wife of Baishun. She has two sons and a daughter, and she relies on Zhu's family for her living.

This is also the reason why the pawnbrokers and buyers involved with Lin kept silent, and why Zhu was willing to send He Wuma to the Censorate.

Shan Yue nodded: "After the court session tomorrow, you will move back to the main courtyard, right?"

It sounds a bit like an urgent invitation.

Shan Yue added: "What I mean is that it would be better if you moved back sooner rather than later, so that we can talk more easily. There are some things that require mutual communication in order to accomplish things."

Xue Xiao curled his lips silently: "I know, we'll move tomorrow. I'll live in the east wing, and you'll be in the west wing?"

"Correct."

The two rooms are very close to each other, facing each other and can be reached within a short walk.

Do you think we are too close?
Shan Yue explained: "I just moved to the main courtyard. Apart from Qinghe Hall, these two wings are the largest. If you need it, it won't be difficult to clean up another wing a little further away tomorrow."

After all, you are living in someone else's house now, and you need to take into account their likes and dislikes.

Xue Xiao shook his head silently: "No need to worry about this anymore."

Yes, there are many other areas where we need to work hard.

What’s so particular about food, accommodation and transportation?
Give her a ladder and she can even sleep on the beam.

Shanyue nodded, and followed Luofeng out to the waterside. Just as they walked out of the winding corridor, Shanyue paused, tilted his cheek slightly, and reached out to touch the hairpin that was fastened to her fallen horse bun.

That pair of gold, jade, aquamarine and emerald plum blossom hairpins.

Plum blossom
Plum blossom hairpin?
　What about the fat chapter?

　　(End of this chapter)