Xie Shizi's shameless daily life

At night, Zhao Shu arrived as promised, and Zhang Yijing was waiting for her at the gate of the courtyard.

Zhao Shu looked around. The yard was very quiet. There was no one else around except the two of them.

He let Zhang Yijing take his hand and walk into the inner room.

There was no one else in the room. There was a table full of food, a pot of sake, and two wine bottles.

Zhao Shu sat down opposite Zhang Yijing. Zhang Yijing tilted her head and looked out the window. The bright moon was hanging in the sky, round and bright.

"People are really like the moon, sometimes crescent and sometimes full. But no matter whether the moon is crescent or full, it is always bright, but people may not be the same."

Zhao Shu looked at Zhang Yijing's expressionless face and said, "Whether it is bright or not is ultimately a personal choice."

Zhang Yijing paused, then turned around and said with a smile: "I am stupid."

Zhang Yijing picked up a piece of stir-fried beef with water celery and put it on Zhao Shu's plate, but Zhao Shu didn't move.

Zhang Yijing picked up the wine cup and poured a full glass of wine into Zhao Shu's and her own cup.

Zhang Yijing smiled and raised her glass, but Zhao Shu remained motionless and just looked at her quietly.

She could no longer maintain the smile on her face and put down her wine glass in dismay.

She turned her head to look out the window and spoke slowly, "When I was young, my mother often told me that I was the eldest daughter of the Zhang family and that I had to behave like an eldest daughter. I always kept my mother's words in mind and took them as a warning."

"When I was six years old, I went to the temple with my mother to fulfill a vow. I met the wife of the prefect and my nine-year-old brother Shi Qing. That was the first time I met my brother Shi Qing."

"Later, because I was well behaved, the prefect's wife liked me very much and often took me to her house to play."

After saying this, Zhang Yijing turned around, took the wine glass on the table, and took a sip.

The moonlight fell on her face, making the crystal drop of water in the corner of her eye look even brighter.

Zhao Shu looked at her silently and listened to her talk.

"There were no girls my age in the Lu residence, so the prefect's wife often asked Brother Shiqing to accompany me. I was still young at that time, so there were no taboos about the distinction between men and women."

Zhang Yijing looked at the bright moon, her eyes seemed sad and nostalgic: "Brother Shiqing was so gentle at that time, he spoke gently, acted gently, and never blamed servants who did something wrong. I thought that my secret love in my youth would end in vain, but who would have thought that on my fourteenth birthday, Brother Shiqing pulled me under the locust tree, gently placed his lips on my forehead, and told me that he admired me."

Zhang Yijing suddenly turned her head and looked at Zhao Shu, her eyes shining brightly: "You know, I was really stupid at that time, so happy that I was stupid." Her cheeks were flushed: "I never thought that he would admire me, and I never dared to think about it."

"During that period, I felt like I was living in a fog. It was so unreal."

"Just two years ago, I got engaged to Brother Shi Qing. I looked forward to it day and night, looking forward to it with great joy."

"Cousin Shu'er, how can a person's heart be so big that it can accommodate two people?" Zhang Yijing's face was full of confusion.

Zhao Shu couldn't answer her question because for her, being healthy and having three meals a day was enough.

Zhao Shu didn't say anything, just looked at her silently. Zhang Yijing smiled self-deprecatingly: "Yes, my cousin, with such a family background, why would she worry about this."

"Do you know how I found out?"

"Father, mother, and maid, you all learned about them from those letters, but I didn't."

"I knew about them three months ago."

"I remember that day, it was snowing heavily, I was embroidering my wedding dress under the window, the servants in the mansion came to tell me that the third young lady left the mansion in a hurry, without even a thick coat. I was anxious, so I took my coat, put on the carriage and chased after her."

Zhang Yijing smiled, but tears welled up in her eyes. "You know, on that white street, I saw Brother Shiqing holding Yi Ning's waist while she was quarreling with him, and whispering something in her ear. Yi Ning changed her previous awkwardness and got into the carriage with Brother Shiqing with a blushing face. As we watched their carriage drive away, I really felt that winter was so cold, so cold."

"Maybe it was too cold that day, I couldn't cry. I lowered the curtains and told the driver to follow me."

"The carriage stopped in front of the largest inn in Jiangnan. I watched them walk into a room hand in hand, and then the door was closed."

"I gave the innkeeper a few ingots of silver, and he ignored me. I arrived at their door. The funny thing was that the door of such a large inn had no good sound insulation at all. I stood there for an hour or two, until the noise inside stopped, and then I left."

"On the way back, I looked at the coat and realized that I was the most ridiculous person in the world."

Zhao Shu looked at her and felt a little bit reluctant.

"After that, every time Yi Ning left the house, I would follow her. I saw Brother Shi Qing being as gentle as ever, and Yi Ning's eyes full of emotion. I saw them enter the same inn. Just when I thought life would continue like this, an accident occurred, an accident that should never have happened!"

Tears flowed down Zhang Yijing's eyes and onto her curved lips: "Yining is pregnant. I don't mind her taking Brother Shiqing away, but she can't be too greedy. She wants everything. What about me?

"I personally cooked a bowl of Luozi soup and sent it to her courtyard. You have no idea how wonderful her expression was when she found out it was a bowl of Luozi soup." Zhang Yijing looked at Zhao Shu with a smile, as if she was telling a joke. "What do you think, was she angry? Shocked? Or guilty? Or all three?"

"I told her that I would allow her to enter the Lu Mansion with me, but the child could not stay. The Zhang Mansion could not afford to lose this person, and neither could I."

"But she insisted on competing with me for my affection, for men, and finally the child in her belly would compete with my future child for status. You see, if I still had a bit of temper, I would not let this happen." "I watched her pour the medicine into the potted plants. I didn't react much and turned around and left."

Zhang Yijing showed a strange smile, and Zhao Shu looked at her, secretly frightened.

"A few days later, I imitated Brother Shiqing's handwriting and asked her to meet me at a cabin outside the city," he smiled and said, "Do you think she has become stupid because of her pregnancy? That cabin was originally a secret between us. How could Lu Shiqing know that place, and how could he have asked her to meet there?"

"I lit a magic incense in the cabin in advance and took the antidote beforehand. When Yi Ning came and saw that I was the one waiting for her, her face changed immediately and she turned around to leave. But how could I let her go? I spent a lot of effort to get her to agree to stay for a quarter of an hour. As I showed weakness, I saw her eyelids gradually drooping. I knew that the magic incense was working. I waited patiently until she fell to the ground with a "pop" sound."

"I was so excited that I took out the Luozi soup I had prepared and poured it into her mouth spoonful by spoonful. But I didn't expect that she woke up halfway through the feeding."

Zhang Yijing suddenly grabbed Zhao Shu's hand and squeezed it tightly. Zhao Shu gritted her teeth and endured it. Seeing her ferocious expression, she said, "I didn't want to do it. I really didn't want to do it! I just wanted to knock her out and force the medicine down her throat." She shook her head vigorously and murmured, "But after just a few hits, just a few hits, she was out of breath and dead!"

Zhao Shu looked at Zhang Yijing who had fallen into madness, her hands clutching her skirt in vain.

She always thought that Zhang Yining had just escaped, but she never thought that she was dead!

"Her forehead was bleeding and she couldn't stop it. Later, her lower body also started bleeding. Soon her whole body was covered in blood."

Zhang Yijing said this with an indescribable excitement in her eyes: "A half-palm-sized amount of liquid flowed out of her lower body. I knew it was Lv Shiqing and her child. At that moment, I was very happy. I gathered the lump of flesh with trembling hands, carefully placed it in the box, and turned to get a hoe from the yard."

"Even if Yi Ning had wronged me, I couldn't treat her badly. After all, she was Brother Shi Qing's concubine, so I dug a hole under her favorite oleander tree and buried her in it. Oh, I also gave her the hairpins and rings that Brother Shi Qing had given me before. You see, I treated her well enough, didn't I?"

"After returning to the mansion, I used a kitchen knife to chop their flesh and bones into small pieces in the yard, and then poured it into the fish feed to make bait."

"I watched the fish eat up all the bait, and I felt excited and relieved. Oh, that was the day you came to see me."

Zhao Shu's eyes tightened. She also fed the fish that day!
He looked at Zhang Yijing, whose expression was frighteningly indifferent, and his brows tightened slightly.

Zhang Yijing looked at Zhao Shu's expression and smiled at her: "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't worry, everything has its cause and effect. I will take the initiative to confess to my father and the others."

"After all, I'm tired after acting for so long."

"After all I've said, I'm sure you won't dare eat anything from my place anymore. Well, I won't keep you here. Go away."

Zhao Shu stood up as she was told, bowed to Zhang Yijing, and turned to walk out.

"Cousin Shuer."

Zhao Shu turned around and looked at Yiren, who was standing in the circle of light from the candle and smiling gracefully. Zhang Yijing slowly said, "I'm sorry."

Zhao Shu just looked at her quietly without saying anything, then turned and left.

She understood why she said "sorry" out of nowhere, and she accepted it.

Zhao Shu walked silently with her head down on the path half lit by the moonlight. She walked slower and slower, and finally stopped.

Zhao Shu turned around helplessly and looked at the tall figure behind her: "Prince, is there anything wrong?"

I couldn't see his expression in the darkness, I just heard him say, "Nothing."

Zhao Shu sighed, looked at him and said, "Okay."

Zhao Shu turned around and walked quietly. In the darkness, the sound of footsteps coming and going was particularly obvious.

Zhao Shu pursed her lips and turned back: "My Lord, why are you following me?"

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight. I'll enjoy the moon along this path." Xie Jin said.

"Oh, then you can enjoy it slowly."

The winding path, the golden moon, the overlapping footsteps, everything seems so quiet.

She pushed open the gate, turned around, put her hand on the bolt, looked at the figure in the distance, restrained her expression, and slowly closed the door.

Xie Jin looked at the dark red door with an unclear expression in his eyes. He stood quietly for a while, until the cold wind seeped into his sleeves, then he turned and left.

(End of this chapter)