The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 26 Is She Your Wife?
"It's raining so hard."

Shang Bingjiu carried a basket of goods and stepped into a dilapidated temple in the garden. There were already people taking shelter from the rain inside.

The young man was eight feet tall, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. He put his hands in his sleeves, smiled and nodded slightly at Shang Bingjiu, lamenting the torrential rain in midsummer.

Shang Bingjiu put down the basket and smiled with his fox eyes: "Yes, it's raining really hard."

"I'm afraid this rain won't stop for a while." The young man looked at Shang Bingjiu curiously as he took Xiao Baojing out of the box. "My name is Xiao Qian. May I know your name? And who is this person?"

"My name is Shang Bingjiu, and this is my beloved wife."

Shang Bingjiu spread a layer of brocade cloth on the box and then put Xiao Baojing on it.

Before going out this morning, he helped Xiao Baojing dress up again.

The girl's thick, silky black hair was braided into two loose pigtails, and her hair was decorated with many hibiscus flowers and jade beads. She wore a cardamom purple narrow-sleeved top with a light yellow folded skirt, and carried a red and green brocade bag with a persimmon string. Her eyebrows and eyes were emerald, her skin was as white as snow, and she looked very bright and lively.

The light yellow round-necked Taoist robe he was wearing was also newly cut, revealing a bit of the snow-white collar and sleeves. The snow-white fox face mask hanging at his waist had the eyes outlined with pink oil paint. He stood there with his sleeves covered, his pointed chin, charming figure, and youthful charm.

Xiao Qian couldn't help but praise: "You two are really a perfect couple! But my sister-in-law looks silly, doesn't she look like a local?"

Xiao Baojing: This man is also blind.

In broad daylight, can't you tell that she's just a puppet?
She is a puppet, of course she is not a local!

Xiao Qian stared at Xiao Baojing, then suddenly took a few steps closer to take a closer look: "Why do I feel like my sister-in-law looks familiar?"

Shang Bingjiu raised his wide sleeves with a half-smile and covered Xiao Baojing's face.

Like protecting food.

Xiao Qian came back to his senses, coughed awkwardly, and explained with a red face: "Don't get me wrong, little brother, I'm just taking a look, I don't mean anything else. Xiao is only 21 years old, and my family has a wife and children..."

His words were dense.

Shang Bingjiu yawned, gathered his sleeves and looked at the rain outside the dilapidated temple.

Xiao Qian seemed to have not spoken to anyone for a long time, and he kept talking: "Where are you from, little brother? Where are you going? I came from the north, but when I got here I forgot where I was going. I planned to leave when I remembered my destination, so I took a nap here.

"But when I woke up in the morning, I still couldn't remember where I was going. What's even more strange is that I only stayed here for a day or two, but there was only half a piece of bread left in my bag. But I clearly remember that I brought enough dry food for five or six days... There is no one else in this dilapidated temple. Little brother, can you help me analyze it? Did the rats steal my dry food?"

Shang Bingjiu seemed to be offended by his previous behavior of looking at Xiao Baojing, and still ignored him.

While the two of them were standing in front of the temple watching the rain, Xiao Baojing quietly looked around the dilapidated temple.

The statue enshrined in the temple has collapsed and the head is missing, but one can vaguely see that it is a young man in Taoist robes.

She remembered the dilapidated temple near the county magistrate's mansion, which seemed to be dedicated to this person.

The rain pattered.

The rain didn't stop until dusk. The moist rain mist filled the dilapidated temple, and everything outside was wet and unclear.

A servant in green shorts suddenly came in from outside, smiled and bowed to Shang Bingjiu and Xiao Qian, "My young lady is getting married tonight. Please move to the back garden at 15:30, and have a drink with me."

Xiao Baojing: There are actually people living in this dilapidated garden?
However, she had heard that in ancient times there were many impoverished gentry who squandered all their properties but retained only their ancestral inheritance. Perhaps this loquat garden was one of them.

Xiao Qian said happily: "Although this little brother and I have never met the young lady, we are grateful for her care and shelter in your house. Please tell the young lady that we will definitely attend her wedding banquet."

The servant looked at Shang Bingjiu again.

Shang Bingjiu did not comment, but just smiled with his sleeves folded.

It was already dark at 15:30. Xiao Qian tidied up his clothes, took Shang Bingjiu with him, and went to the banquet happily.

Xiao Baojing was not idle either.

She took out the Analects from her bag and asked, "Ji Zhengyan, are you still alive?"

Ji Zhengyan turned into green smoke and floated out of the book.

After this period of recuperation, his complexion has returned to normal, and the small fish-lantern crown on his bun emits a warm light.

He bowed deeply to Xiao Baojing and said, "Miss Xiao, you have taken the trouble to bring me back to my hometown. I am very grateful. Please take me to Yuhua Lane in the east of the city to find a girl named Yunniang."

He paused, a barely perceptible shyness appeared on his cheeks, and even the roots of his eyelashes turned red under the candlelight: "Yun Niang is very easy to recognize, she is only 28 years old, fair and pretty, and likes to wear emerald silk skirts. I made an agreement with her that when we meet again, I will give her a flower."

Xiao Baojing put the Analects in his pocket and left the temple: "Is she your wife?"

Ji Zhengyan followed her closely, speaking in a joyful tone, "We are not married yet. Yunniang and I have known each other since we were young, and we have been childhood sweethearts. We agreed that when I pass the imperial examination, I will allow her to marry with three matchmakers and six engagements, a phoenix crown and a gorgeous bridal robe, and a sedan chair carried by eight people, in a grand ceremony."

The new moon is clear and the loquat garden is deep and winding.

The loquat leaves on the branches are green and slender, surrounded by clusters of green and yellow small fruits. These loquats will be ripe in a few days.

Xiao Baojing wandered in the garden for a while before he found the way out.

When she was about to step out of the loquat garden, she suddenly stopped.

Behind her, the loquat trees swayed gently in the night wind, casting ghostly shadows.

She was suddenly confused: "What was I going to do?"

The scholar in wide-brimmed clothes stood behind her, looking around in confusion as well. He then waved his sleeves in anger: "How can a girl go out at will in the middle of the night? Miss Xiao is really disgracing the manners!"

Xiao Baojing returned to the dilapidated temple in embarrassment.

Shang Bingjiu and Xiao Qian had not returned from drinking, so the temple was deserted.

She looked at the candlelight on the altar and suddenly said, "Ji Zhengyan, I remember what we were going to do. You asked me to bring you to Rongcheng, and asked me to take you to see Yunniang in Yuhua Lane. You said Yunniang was your unmarried wife, and that she was 28 years old, fair and pretty, and liked to wear emerald silk skirts."

"Yes!" Ji Zhengyan slapped his thigh fiercely, "Miss Xiao, let's go see Yunniang quickly!"

Xiao Baojing didn't move.

Not right.

There was something wrong with this deserted and dilapidated garden.

She is young and smart, how could she be so forgetful that she forgot what she was going to do as soon as she reached the door.

What's more, even if she forgot, Ji Zhengyan shouldn't forget it.

She thought of what Xiao Qian had said during the day:
——I only stayed here for a day or two, but inexplicably there was only half a piece of bread left in my bag, but I clearly remembered that I brought enough dry food for five or six days.

Maybe it wasn't the mice that stole his dry food.

He had finished eating it himself, but he had forgotten about it.

He forgot that he stayed in this garden for more than just one or two days!

(End of this chapter)