Chapter 101: A Single Line of Spiritual Connection

  Xu Ming'er laughed happily and said: "Haha, let me guess? He looks so stupid, one look and I know it's your bad idea."

  "What a stupid look on Ximen Qing's face?"

  Xia Jian couldn't believe his ears, but he turned his head and indeed, Ximen Qing had a "foolish" look on his face. To be precise, it was a stupid expression, as if he were a simple-minded and honest old man who couldn't even fart with three kicks.

  Xia Liu suddenly remembered that last night, Xu Ming'er had kindly sent them a blanket, and Ximen Qing seemed to have the same stupid expression. At the time, he thought Ximen Qing was so infatuated that he had no immunity even to such a young girl. Now it seems... Xia Liu glared at Ximen Qing, who was pretending to be foolish, turned his head, and sighed: "This... is indeed my idea. The young lady is truly wise... Alas! Because when I first saw the young lady, I thought she had an exceptional temperament and unparalleled beauty, and must be a person of great wealth and nobility. Thinking that with your noble status, you could definitely keep us safe, so... I let this pig kidnap the young lady."

  This flattery is quite skillful, although Xu Meng'er is young, she can still understand the nuances of the words. Her pink and tender lips curled up slightly, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face: "Hmph, I knew it, you're quite perceptive, I thought you'd think I'm too young to be taken seriously, but... Hehe! Since that's the case, my sister and brother-in-law have already decided to let you off easy, so I won't make things difficult for you either."

  She spoke magnanimously, with an air of generosity and tolerance.

  Xia Bian and Ximen Qing were both quick-witted, and they hastily expressed their gratitude: "Thank you, young mistress, thank you, young mistress. You are magnanimous and do not treat us like ordinary people. We are truly grateful. May we... take our leave now?"

  "Wait..."

  Xu Meng'er said slyly: "This knot, this young lady is generous and can let it go. However... shouldn't that last time thing be counted too?"

  Ximen Qing hastily chimed in, "Is the princess referring to that fox fur? That's easy, I'll have someone send my fox fur over right away."

  "Good, good," Xu Meng'er nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, only to realize that she had been a bit too expressive and couldn't help but blush: "I don't want it, I just wanted to ask clearly, if he doesn't want to sell then so be it, why did he have to make up excuses to deceive me!"

  "Xia Liu's face turned sour as he said, 'Young mistress, how could I possibly cheat you again?'"

  Xu Meng'er's eyes, like two shining beads, stared at him and said: "How could you not deceive me? That day in Xie's leather goods store, I hadn't thought it through clearly, but when I returned to the Wang mansion, I felt that something was off. You said that the fire fox fur was going to be given to the person you love most, but love is complex, with varying degrees of depth and shallowness. Just like my father, his favorite daughter is me. If you say it's for the person you love, then so be it, but since it's the one you love most, why are there two people? When you like someone, shouldn't there be varying degrees of affection? Since there are two people, who is the one you love most? You're still deceiving me!"

  "This..."

  Xia Yu hesitated for a moment, and Ximen Qing immediately jumped back a step, creating some distance between them, and put on an "I don't know you" expression. Xia Yu's eyes rolled, and he let out a long sigh: "The princess doesn't know the whole story... Alas, it would take too long to explain..."

  "It doesn't matter!"

  Mei'er's ponytail and willow eyebrows rose slightly as she walked lightly to one side. A guard immediately brought over a chair, hastily wiping it with his sleeve before Mei'er sat down. She said calmly, "You can speak slowly, I have plenty of time. Whenever I understand, you can leave."

  Xia Liu coughed softly and said in a low, deep tone: "Young mistress, the thing is...".

  The king of Yan's consort walked out from under the corridor and saw her son standing there very honestly, and couldn't help but curiously ask.

  "Oh, mother!"

  Zhu Gaogui turned his head to look, and hastily bowed: "Mother, Meng Niang has arrived. She says she has something to ask those two people, so I had my son wait outside."

  The king's consort changed color and exclaimed: "Ming'er... isn't going to abuse them privately, you're really like this, how can you be so honest and let a little maid take charge?"

  The king's wife scolded her son while hastily walking forward, just as she reached the gate of the great hall, it creaked open and Xu Meng'er walked out with tears in her eyes, saying faintly: "You can leave now."

  The King of Yan's consort was shocked and said: "Ming'er, what's wrong with you?"

  She also thought that the two guests of the Qi Wang's mansion were very bold and dared to bully her own sister, but when she saw that there were still six guards in the house, it didn't seem like it, so she swallowed back the words that had reached her lips.

  Xia Liu and Ximen Qing walked out, as soon as they saw the Princess of Yan, they hurriedly went forward to pay their respects. Xu Meier again said to Xia Liu: "You can leave now, since she is so good to you, in the future when you make money and become rich, you must treat her well, otherwise it would be a great shame, and heaven will strike you with lightning."

  The King of Yan's consort asked inexplicably: "Ming'er, what are you talking about? What happened?"

  Xu Ming'er wiped away her tears and said: "I'm fine."

  Zhu Gaogui was also full of doubts, but as soon as he saw his aunt open her mouth, he could finally let out a breath. He was born with obesity and it wasn't caused by overeating or drinking. Standing for too long was really unbearable. As soon as he heard his aunt speak up, he quickly led Xia Xian and Xi Menqing to leave.

  The king's consort ignored them and walked over to take little sister's hand, asking in a low voice: "Ming'er, why are you crying?"

  Xu Meng'er said sorrowfully: "Sister, this Xia Xun is really pitiful. He lives in the mountains on the other side of Qingzhou, and there's a little sister next door named Xiao Di, who has been with him since childhood. Once, Xia Xun fell seriously ill, and Xiao Di was so anxious that she went to invite a doctor for him. As a result, because it had just rained in the mountains, the floodwaters surged, and the cold pierced her bones. The little girl waded through the water, but when she reached the middle of the river, she couldn't move anymore, and both legs were frozen stiff."

  The mountain village had few residents, and there was no one around. She couldn't move her legs, and there was no one to save her, so she could only stand there, her two legs frozen numb. It wasn't until after a long time that someone passed by and pulled her out of the water. However, from then on, she had a chronic illness in her leg, which would ache and throb regardless of whether it was windy or rainy, or during the harsh winter. The pain was unbearable at times, and her lips would be bitten until they bled. How pitiful! In their village, there was another girl named Xiaofang, who was even more pitiful than Xiaodi...

  Xu Meng'er retold the heartbreaking, pitiful and tear-jerking love story that Xia Xun had told her to her sister, and said emotionally: "No wonder he refused to sell that fur even when offered ten times the price. If he were really a person who only cared about money and not about relationships, I would have dealt with him by now. He's like this, it's great!"

  The princess of Yan's face was expressionless, and she slowly said: "As far as I know, he is a scholar from Qingzhou, his family is very rich, one of the top ten richest people in Qingzhou, not some poor person who lives in a mountain hut and often needs help from neighbors."

  "Huh?" Xu Ming'er blinked her eyes, suddenly reacting: "Sister, have I been deceived?"

  The King of Yan's consort suppressed her smile and said: "What do you think?"

  Zhu Gaojie saw Xia Bian and Ximen Qing off at the Yanwang Mansion, then had two eunuchs support him as he walked back, panting and out of breath. Just as they were approaching a side hall, he heard a shrill voice like that of an angry little rooster, shouting loudly to awaken the dawn: "Don't let me see you again! Don't let me see you again! Otherwise I'll never forgive you! Xia Bian, you scoundrel!"

  "My silly sister, her real name is Yang Xu!"

  "Ah! Even the name is fake? Even the name is fake? Xia Yu, you big liar!"

  As soon as Zhu Gaogui heard the angry cry, he shivered with fear and hastily urged the palace attendant: "Hurry up, hurry up, don't let her see!"

  Xia Bian and Ximen Qing left the Yiwang Mansion, stood on the street for a while, and then Ximen Qing said with his head down: "Alas, we've been caught for three days. Those carters can't find us, and now they're probably in chaos. We've lost contact with Xie Chuanzhong, and he's probably worried sick too. Let's go to the horse rental place and rent two horses. First, let's go to Xie Chuanzhong's place to send a message, then hurry back on horseback. Hopefully, nothing else goes wrong."

  Xia Fu responded with a sound, and the two of them rushed to the carriage and horse station. After walking for a while, they were about to arrive at the carriage and horse station when Xia Fu suddenly said in a low voice: "Someone is following us!"

  Ximen Qing said: "It can't be, Yan Wang has already let us off, which immortal is playing tricks again?"

  Xia Liu grabbed his arm and whispered, "Don't look back, I'll go left and you go right, quickly enter the alley and lure him out!"

  Ximen Qing was not a fool and immediately understood his intention. The two of them quickly separated, quickened their pace, and hastily slipped out of the crowd in the alley. Peng Zhiyuan quietly followed behind, thinking about how to meet Xia Jun and what to say if he asked about his intentions. Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly saw the two men separate and disappear into the crowd. His heart racing, he hurriedly quickened his pace to catch up.

  Xia Jun's counter-surveillance and tracking skills were excellent. After circling around several times, she hid behind Peng Zhiyuan and suddenly appeared, lightly patting his shoulder and smiling: "Brother, are you looking for me?"

  Peng Ziqi suddenly turned around, and both of them were stunned. Xia Xun hadn't expected to see her here, she hadn't thought of a good reason yet, but it was in this way that she met Xia Xun again.

  Ximen Qing also emerged from the crowd, took a look at Peng Zhiyuan's appearance, and then looked at the expressions of the two people. He said very cleverly: "Hmmm... I'll go rent some horses. Three horses?"

  Xia Liu and Peng Ziqi both remained silent, still gazing at each other. Ximen Qing muttered to himself: "Understood, I'll leave now!"

  "Miss Peng, how did you come here?"

  Xia Liu already knew she was a woman. When Peng Zi Qi left the Yang residence, he intentionally revealed his true identity, and this layer of window paper was finally broken. Because of this, Xia Liu didn't utter a word of farewell, which made Peng Zi Qi even more resentful.

  Peng Ziqi's eyelids drooped slightly, and he said in a low voice: "I... came to find you..."

  "Looking for me?"

  Peng Ziqi gently lifted her eyelids, and her eyes were filled with tenderness. She didn't say another word, but a faint blush crept up her cheeks, making her face as beautiful as a peach blossom that had just begun to bloom.

  Xia Liu looked at that beautiful face, and didn't say another word. Suddenly, he understood everything, as if water had flowed into a canal, the melon was ripe and fell off the vine, the clouds parted to reveal the moon, naturally and effortlessly. He suddenly understood Peng Ziyu's feelings and courage, and all that was left in his chest was a warm and happy feeling.

  A single thread of connection sparked off a train of thoughts.

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