Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 151 The miserable mandarin duck
When we left Hongfu Casino, it started raining again.

The summer rain was very heavy. Raindrops like silver beads hit the bluestone road, splashing fine mist and shrouding the capital city in a hazy mist.

Wen Jia approached the donkey cart.

Dong Xu hurriedly shook out the towel and wiped the couch.

After the princess sat down, Dong Xu swung the reins and prepared to drive back to the palace.

When the donkey cart reached Tianshui Lane near the city gate, a dark blue figure suddenly appeared from the rain. The man was holding a bamboo umbrella with the brim pressed down very low. All that could be seen was his black boots crushing the puddles and he stood in front of the donkey cart.

"Whoa--" Dong Xu pulled the reins hurriedly and shouted in dissatisfaction.

"How do you walk..."

The edge of the umbrella was slightly raised, revealing Lu Youan's handsome face.

Dong Xu exclaimed, "Mr. Lu...Mr. Lu?"

The splashing water quietly wet the corner of Lu Youan's robe.

His voice, wrapped in rain and mist, floated softly into the car.

"Please move, Princess."

He gestured sideways and saw a carriage parked at the side of the alley. The windows were covered with green gauze, and the tassels on the four corners trembled gently in the wind and rain.

Wen Jia lifted the curtain slightly, and his fingernails pinched the damp cloth unconsciously, so that he could remain calm.

"Mr. Lu, do you want to have a private exchange with this princess?"

Seeing her mocking expression, Lu Youan handed the umbrella closer to her, his eyes darker than the rain.

"The princess's carriage has been tampered with. I'm afraid she won't be able to get back to the palace..."

Wen Jia's face changed.

She looked at Lu Youan for a moment and nodded slowly.

Dong Xu hurriedly jumped off the shaft of the cart and helped her down.

Through the rain curtain, Wen Jia saw that Lu Youan's shoulders were wet from the rain, but he stubbornly held the umbrella towards himself.

She suddenly felt a tightness in her throat. "Thank you, Master Lu, for warning me. But how did you know about this?"

Lu Youan covered the carriage curtain with his umbrella and gave her a helping hand. After Wen Jia got on the carriage and sat down, he slowly said, "I came back from the academy today. I saw the princess entering the city by the moat. I also saw two servants from Pingle Mansion. They followed the princess and tampered with the axle..."

He was once Pingle's consort, so he was familiar with the people in her house.

Wen Jia didn't expect that Pingle was under house arrest and someone could be sent to follow her. He couldn't help but smile sadly.

"What a dirty trick."

Dong Xu quickly found an old car mechanic from the car dealership.

The old rickshaw maker's gray goat beard was stained with rain. He grinned and pointed at the cracks under the axle joints. He said to Dong Xu: "Luckily, the girl found it early. If we had taken the mountain road, the car would have fallen apart. That would have been a disaster!"

On the way back to the palace, there are several rugged and steep slopes. If the car body is shaken, it is very likely to fall into the cliff of the mountain stream.

Wen Jia and Lu Youan looked at each other, and no one spoke.

The carriage was repaired and Wen Jia got off.

Lu Youan stepped forward again and held the bamboo umbrella over her head: "Princess, when you travel in the future, you should bring more followers with you to ensure your safety..."

Wen Jia stood under the umbrella, watching the raindrops falling from the edge of the umbrella into a string of silver lines, and smiled faintly.

"I am not as good as His Highness Pingle, who has so many followers and so many chores to do..."

Lu Youan knew what was on her mind, so he said nothing more and quietly put the umbrella handle into her palm.

Fingertips touching.

The warmth was fleeting, burning my heart and making it tremble slightly.

"Lu asked Ruan Ze to escort the princess back."

Lu Youan stepped back two steps and stood under the eaves, bowing to her. His posture was upright but also somewhat lonely, like a crane with broken wings.
Wen Jia looked at the thin man under the rain curtain, his fingers turned white from pinching, but he didn't say another word in the end.

The green curtain was closed and the donkey cart gradually went away.

Lu Youan stood in the rain and fog for a long time before turning around and leaving.

On the second floor of Wangjiang Pavilion across the street, Princess Pingle, dressed as a maid and wearing a straw hat, stood by the window. She was so jealous that she almost broke the silk ribbon around her waist.

"What a pair of star-crossed lovers."

A street away, and the sound of rain obscured her voice, so she couldn't hear what Lu Youan and Wen Jia said, but Lu Youan's gentleness and thoughtfulness were something she had never seen before...

This made her jealous and almost crazy.

"No wonder he insisted on divorcing me, it turns out he had been hooking up with that bitch for a long time!"

"Your Highness's body is precious. Why do you have to lower yourself to argue with villains?" Gu Jie stood behind Ping Le, looking at her face distorted by anger, and inexplicably felt a sense of pleasure.

Xue Liu's move was truly ingenious.

What could be more satisfying than letting a poisonous snake devour your jealousy?
What could be more painful than letting Pingle see Lu Youan trying to please Wen Jia with his own eyes?
"The rain is getting heavier. Princess, you'd better go back earlier to avoid exposing your whereabouts and causing unnecessary trouble..."

After saying this, Gu Jie pretended to be anxious and was about to walk away, but Ping Le grabbed him by the collar.

"Who do you think is prettier, me or Wen Jia?" Pingle's eyes were bloodshot, and the look was like a bloodthirsty beast.

Gu Jie sensed his jealousy and complimented him, "Of course it's you, Your Highness..."

Before he could finish his words, Ping Le put his hands on his shoulders, suddenly pounced on him, and bit his Adam's apple hard.

Gu Jie subconsciously reached out to push her away...

But the pain in his neck spread to his brain like a burning sensation, reminding him of Xue Yueying's pregnant belly, and the smug laugh on Li Yan's face when he was riding on a horse and looking down at him.

"Princess..." He breathed slightly.

"Don't be impulsive."

Ping Le's eyes were red, his voice was trembling, his emotions were out of control and crazy, "Why should you and I suffer grievances and depression and remain chaste for unfaithful people?... Let them die, all of them die..." Thunder broke the sky outside the window.

As if responding to her anger.

It also instantly boosted Gu Jie's courage.

"Princess, you have a point. She is the one who is dirty, not me..."

Gu Jie took advantage of the situation and put his arm around Ping Le's waist, holding her sideways, letting her veil fall down and her skirt sweep across the tea sets on the table...

Amid the sound of pouring rain, the creaking of the wooden table and the rapid breathing intertwined with the sounds of strings, shouts, songs, and clinking glasses and laughter in the bustling market...

The whole room is filled with madness.

Just like this out-of-control rainy night.
-
On the other side of the rain, Xue Yueying was staring at the clock in a trance.

The Marquis of Jingyuan Mansion compromised to protect the family's reputation and the future of their descendants, but they would not care about her reputation and honor...

Since being confined to her house, she has never stepped out of the courtyard.

With a bloated belly, haggard and worn-out appearance, the once most beautiful woman in the capital now dares not even look at herself in the mirror.

The Marquis' Mansion did not treat her harshly, they just ignored her. But once she gave birth to the baby in her belly, would the Queen Mother want to kill the mother and keep the child? And how would the Marquis' Mansion of Jingyuan deal with this daughter-in-law with bad conduct?
It is not impossible to fake his death and marry a new wife...

Xue Yueying couldn't help but shiver.

She suddenly felt a dull pain in her abdomen and reached out to grab the pregnancy-preserving medicine on the table, but the celadon bowl fell to the ground with a thud.

"Qinghong..."

She called softly, holding her bulging belly.

"Has Master Wu returned home?"

It was already three o'clock in the morning, and Gu Jie still hadn't returned.

Qinghong said cautiously: "Young Madam, I just went to check. Fifth Master, he hasn't returned yet..."

Gu Jie didn't touch her during this period, but in order to maintain the superficial harmony between husband and wife, they still lived in the guest room of Wutong Courtyard. They lived in separate rooms but not in separate courtyards, which showed that they were already estranged from each other...

Xue Yueying's eyes were red and she wiped them gently with a handkerchief.

When it was almost dawn, the maid Qingzhu came to report.

"Madam, the Fifth Master is back, but, but..."

Xue Yueying asked: "Just what?"

Qingzhu stammered and couldn't speak.

Xue Yueying's face suddenly changed, she lifted her skirt and rushed out.

"Young Madam!" Qinghong hurriedly tried to help her, but was pushed away by her.

Xue Yueying staggered towards the west wing and ran into Gu Jie who had just returned. His collar was half open, and a strange fragrance mixed with the smell of rouge hit her face, and the teeth marks on his throat were glaringly red.

"Where did you stay last night?"

Gu Jie looked a little strange.

Tired, but also excited. There was a sense of revenge in the look he gave her.

"Don't worry about my affairs."

Xue Yueying walked closer in the puddles. The anger and resentment that she had suppressed for so long suddenly burst out. She rushed forward with her big belly and grabbed him.

"Did you go to a brothel and hang out with those prostitutes?"

Gu Jie threw away his sleeves and sneered, "How dare you question me? When you were having fun with Li Yan, did you ever think about me?"

"Get out of the way!"

Princess Pingle was passionate and demanding, like an insatiable beast. He was tired after a night of sleep and needed to catch up on some sleep...

Unexpectedly, Xue Yueying became furious and blocked his way at the door, grabbing his sleeve tightly and preventing him from entering.

"You must make it clear. If you don't make it clear today, we won't be able to live like this..."

Gu Jie pushed her impatiently. Xue Yueying rushed over and cried, her voice was sharp, and she pulled repeatedly.

"Gu Lang, why are you so cruel? Didn't you say that you would never leave me and would stay with me through thick and thin? The vows we made are still ringing in my ears, but you have forgotten them so quickly..."

She hammered and hit.

Gu Jie flicked his sleeves, sneered, and grabbed her wrist.

"Are you sure you want to listen?"

Xue Yueying's face was covered with tears, her body was shaking, and she was screaming, "Tell me, which vixen has bewitched you... If she is really from a good family, I will have nothing to say if you want to marry her as a concubine. If she is a prostitute, I will tell my mother that there is no such rule in Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion."

"Hehehe... rules. Are you qualified to mention rules? Ridiculous!"

Gu Jie raised his chin slightly, and pinched her jaw with a cold look, almost crushing her bones. Then he said two words in the lightest tone and the cruelest expression.

"Ping, Le..."

Xue Yueying was struck by lightning.

The whole person collapsed instantly and almost fainted.

Qingzhu rushed over and supported her, tears in her eyes.

Gu Jie, however, acted as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring her sadness and embarrassment. He yawned, walked straight into the room and asked the servant to serve him.

"Prepare some water. I need to take a shower. I'm tired..."

The door slammed.

Xue Yueying slumped down on the wet blue bricks.

The accumulated water soaked her thin skirt, and the coldness went straight from the soles of her feet to her heart. At this moment, she finally saw her situation clearly - she was a poor creature abandoned by everyone.

Why did you get involved in this situation?
Who should she turn to for help?