Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 276 Sima Yu Meets Song Shi'an

You must save my life.

Moreover, it was Xinyue she went to.

Song Shi'an quickly realized that this might not be 'harassment'.

Because it's so in line with human nature.

If my life is in danger, it must be someone who wants to kill me; it must be a very important person.

Who would dare offend such an important figure?

Therefore, you cannot contact me.

Go find Xinyue; that's the safest course of action.

Song Shi'an extended his hand.

Xinyue took out the note and placed it in his hand.

After reading it, he crumpled it into a ball and put it into his sleeve.

"I'll go back to the manor to change my clothes first. You wait outside for a while."

"it is good."

And so, Xinyue waited at the door.

Song Shi'an went back, quickly changed his clothes, and then went to the door.

The two of them walked side by side like that.

"Oh, did you just arrive or have you been to my house before?" Song Shi'an asked curiously.

“I went there once and saw your sister,” Xin Yue said, her expression somewhat grave.

"Did she tell you that I went to see the Duke of Li?" Song Shi'an asked tentatively.

"..." Upon hearing these three words, her expression became even more serious, but she didn't show it too obviously. She quickly regained her composure and nodded. "Yes, she said so."

“He asked me to go.” Since he was out and it was inconvenient to go into details, Song Shi’an said rather succinctly, “He wanted to give me a warning because of the land reclamation issue.”

"Hmm, are you alright?"

Although she took the initiative to strike up a conversation and asked a question, her attention was still very scattered, and she seemed particularly absent-minded.

At this moment, Song Shi'an grasped her hand. Looking ahead with a rather serious expression, he said, "He is very robust, showing no signs of fatigue or old age; he is quite healthy."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Xinyue gripped his hand tightly, her eyes shining.

I feel much more at ease now.

As long as I'm healthy, and I can live a long time, that's all that matters.

In this way, Xin Yue wouldn't have to worry about that guy dying before she could complete her revenge.

"Smile, you look even prettier when you smile." Seeing that she had relaxed a bit, Song Shi'an patted her head and teased her.

Xin Yue smiled faintly, then looked at him, and suddenly said after thinking of something, "Your sister told me that when you were in Yan, the young lady of the Sun family even spent money to bribe officials to arrest the person who insulted you, and she got her hand slapped by Minister Sun with blood on it."

“…” Song Shi’an was stunned.

"Smile," Xin Yue said, looking at him and jokingly comforting him. "You look even better when you smile."

"Why do you talk so sourly?"

"Stop messing around, what does this have to do with me?" Xin Yue snorted indifferently. "Being admired by a beautiful woman is what makes you proud."

"So..." Song Shi'an hesitated for a moment before asking, "Have you seen the person who was looking for you?"

They very cleverly and abruptly changed the subject.

Seeing his guilty look, Xin Yue didn't press the matter further and returned to the main point: "No, it was a maid who told me. He was about forty years old and looked like a servant from an official's family. He was very ordinary and nothing special."

This is right.

It's unrealistic to portray spies in spy movies as incredibly handsome.

Aside from special missions, they are generally very inconspicuous, just like ordinary people doing the work.

If you were to say that Andy Lau and Tony Leung were going undercover, wouldn't you take a second look?

"Then, is your maid reliable?" Song Shi'an asked again.

“There are only two people in the manor, a maid and a cook, both from the palace who previously served His Highness,” Xin Yue said. “They should be reliable. If you really think…”

"do not want!"

Song Shi'an interrupted him directly.

"I know, what are you yelling about?" Xin Yue pursed her lips, somewhat speechless. "I'm not that kind of cruel person."

"I know," Song Shi'an apologized, "You did it for my own good."

If someone really wants to kill me.

If that person really did risk their life to deliver intelligence.

Anyone who knows about this needs to be extra vigilant.

This includes the maids in Xinyue's household.

“It’s alright,” Xin Yue said again. “I reminded her that this matter must never be revealed. You know how people in the palace are; they may have big mouths, but they also have short lives.”

"That's true."

It was perfectly normal for palace maids to gossip among themselves.

But they also have their bottom lines.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; if it involves something that could cost them their heads, they can't possibly keep their mouths shut.

"So what do you think about this?" Song Shi'an asked.

"Didn't the Duke of Li just send you?"

“That’s not right,” Song Shi’an said. “They called me over to discuss business, but we haven’t reached a conclusion yet. At the same time, someone comes to see you. That doesn’t make sense.”

Is it possible that the Duke of Li is trying to win me over while simultaneously plotting to kill me?
“Indeed,” Xin Yue analyzed seriously, “If it’s not the Duke of Li, then it’s possible that it’s Sun Situ retaliating against you for bullying his daughter.”

"When did I bully his daughter?" Song Shi'an looked at Xin Yue with disdain.

"Then we can rule out both of them..."

At this point, Xinyue paused for a moment.

Song Shi'an's expression also turned serious.

It is known that someone wants to kill me.

It is also known that someone secretly came to deliver the message.

It is also known that he is neither the Duke of Li nor the Minister of Works Sun.

Conclusion: Then he must be a very powerful figure whose name cannot be mentioned other than the Duke of Li and Minister Sun. Damn it, narrowing the scope like this is making the topic very sensitive.

"It's about that time, let's go first."

Song Shi'an stopped guessing.

So the two of them went together to a market in the outer city, as indicated on the note.

Then, they found a large vegetable market.

Because Song Shi'an was also dressed in plain clothes, although he was somewhat handsome, he was too young and came to a place frequented by ordinary people from the lower classes, so he did not attract much attention.

Although he looks a bit like that big star Song Shi'an.

But who would expect a fourth-rank official to appear in a vegetable market?

"Young master, who are you looking for?" a waiter asked.

"I'm going to check on the vegetables in the backyard," Song Shi'an said.

"Okay, I'll take you to see it."

In ancient times, there were vegetable markets. However, Sheng'an was a wealthy and powerful city with hundreds of thousands of residents, most of whom did not have courtyards to grow their own vegetables and had to buy them. The situation was even more different for officials and nobles. With hundreds of people in their households, they needed to have large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to their residences every few days. Therefore, they would usually directly select certain vegetable vendors to deliver their produce.

Song Shi'an looked glamorous, so the waiter took him directly to the back warehouse, introduced him to the dishes, and enthusiastically promoted them.

"Hmm, not bad." Song Shi'an nodded, then took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it to him.

The waiter happily accepted the money, his eyes shining: "Thank you, young master. Are you ordering our dishes?"

"If you have this idea, I'll stay a little longer. I won't waste your time, will I?" Song Shi'an asked.

“It’s alright, you can stay here all day.” He just stood there.

Looking at the two of them, he continued to look around.

Xin Yue squatted on the ground, listlessly picked up a head of cabbage, and just stared at Song Shi'an beside her, pretending to pick out vegetables.

Why would they choose to meet in a place like this?

Were we tricked?

Just as she was thinking this, a voice suddenly came from the side gate of the courtyard: "The Sima family has sent a carriage!"

The two of them turned around at the same time.

At that moment, an empty flatbed cart was pushed in through the side door.

The vehicle was filled with large, empty bamboo baskets.

In the morning, vegetable vendors deliver vegetables to large-scale buyers, and then return the truck and baskets later in the day. Of course, this is the practice for those who purchase in large quantities.

They would usually deliver the goods to the gate of the mansion, unload them, and then pay.

The Song family is an example of the former.

And because of their good reputation, they usually pay the vegetable vendors once a month.

The servant pushing the cart greeted the shop assistant, saying, "The vegetable basket has been delivered to you, but I still need to pick out some vegetables to take back."

"Sure, sure, you can choose."

"We'll need to use your car later," the servant said with a smile.

"Just let me know, Lord Sima is one of our biggest customers." The waiter was very attentive.

"Settle last month's accounts." The servant took out a bag of silver and handed it to him. "Go and check with your master."

"Alright." The waiter took the money and then smiled at Song Shi'an and Xin Yue, saying, "Please wait a moment, young master, I'll be there in a bit."

“…Oh.” Song Shi’an nodded.

Then, I saw the guy take the money and leave.

No sooner had he left than the servant who had brought the carriage banged hard on an empty vegetable basket.

Immediately afterwards, he ran to the side to keep watch.

Song Shi'an and Xin Yue stared at the vegetable basket, puzzled.

Suddenly, it moved.

Suddenly, it pushed open the bamboo-woven vegetable cover, and a head popped out.

"Huh!" Song Shi'an was startled.

Xin Yue pulled out a small bamboo-handled knife from somewhere and held it in front of him, very wary.

Then, the two watched as an old man, his face still covered in vegetable leaves and smelling sour, crawled out of the empty basket: "Is that Shi An?"

"You, who are you?" Song Shi'an gestured for Xin Yue to step back, feeling that this person was somewhat familiar.

"I am Sima Yu," he said, trembling.

When the name Sima Yu was mentioned, Song Shi'an was taken aback for a moment. Xin Yue, who was standing next to him, explained, "Grand Diviner, a fourth-rank official."

Holy crap, who stuffed a fourth-rank official into a vegetable basket?!

His mother doesn't want him anymore, right?

"Ouch, please slow down."

Song Shi'an quickly stepped forward and helped him out.

He definitely knew this person, but he wasn't that familiar with him. After all, he was a minor official, but because the position was so unimportant, Song Shi'an didn't pay much attention to him.

The only time they met was when Sima Yu presided over a sacrificial ceremony on the general's platform during a campaign with Xiao Wei.

"Shi An, do you know that before you returned from Shuofeng, the emperor summoned the two princes of Jin and Wu?"

"It seems like that's true."

"And before summoning the two kings, His Majesty also secretly summoned me."

"Huh?!" He was surprised because no one had told Song Shi'an about this.

But it wasn't because he was surprised that no one told him.

Rather, how can someone who collects tortoise shells have so much prestige?
It's definitely related to this dream.

"Do you know that after that, the Sima family kept its gates tightly shut, stopped holding morning court sessions, and refused to see anyone?" Sima Yu asked again.

“I haven’t spent much time in Sheng’an this past year, I’ve been wandering around outside…” Song Shi’an explained while nervously asking, “Is it safe to talk here? Won’t they suddenly come from over there?”

"Reconciliation usually takes about 15 minutes," Sima Yu said.

"Oh, I see. Lord Sima is involved in a very serious matter."

Song Shi'an vaguely sensed the undercurrent of factional strife, but still asked, puzzled, "Then what do you mean by saying you can save my life?"

Upon hearing this, Sima Yu immediately knelt before him: "Shi An, it is you who can save my life."

(End of this chapter)