Chapter 9: Jiangnan has nothing 3
In the days after Lin Yuxiao's death, Meng Fan moved from the Detective Department back to Dongyuan where he had previously worked, and they hardly spoke.
Zhou Zhenzhen was also upset, but she had suffered too much loss and knew that there was no other way but to accept the current situation. But Meng Fan had a smooth life since he was a child, and he probably had not experienced these things.
Cheng Jue asked her not to talk too much and let Meng Fan be alone.
She pursed her lips and walked back to the Detective Department. After this incident, she and Huo Chi were the only ones left here. She really missed the noisy and bustling place when Lin Yuxiao was here.
There was a handkerchief in sight. Zhou Zhenzhen was stunned for a moment, then she took it and wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "Thank you."
Huo Chi looked at the empty table in front of the window. Everything on it was the same as before, except for a plate of peeled chestnuts. Every day when Meng Fan came to work, he would bring a plate and take away yesterday's plate.
"Master Lin... wrote my letter home before he left, and gave Meng Fan some wine money. In fact, he also gave me some silver, saying it was a double gift money for you and Master Cheng to get married in the future... But at that time I didn't know he had this in mind. If I knew... If I knew, I probably wouldn't be able to keep him!" Huo Chi's eyes were red, and he cursed angrily, "What a bastard!"
But that bastard had never let anyone down in his life. He arranged everything before leaving, as if he didn't want to owe anyone in this world anything, but he wanted everyone in the world to remember him forever.
I remember he was Lin Yuxiao, who was once the youngest and most dazzling scholar in the imperial examination in Chang'an City.
Zhou Zhenzhen's eyes, which had just dried, became wet again. When Cheng Jue entered the room, he saw her crying sadly, and his heart ached. He deliberately concealed his emotions, walked to Huo Chi and said, "August 15th is a reunion festival. If there is nothing else, you can leave the office."
Huo Chi was very considerate, he bowed and walked out, he thought about it and went around to the East Garden. Meng Fan was walking out with his head down, Huo Chi grabbed him and said, "Let's go and have a drink."
"I have something else to do, go by yourself!"
Meng Fan frowned and tried to open his eyes, but Huo Chi grabbed his shoulders with his left hand and pushed him forward. With his right hand, he took out a rope with a buckle from his arms, wrapped it around his wrist a few times, and then carried Meng Fan away like a chick.
Meng Fan couldn't stand it any longer and yelled, "Huo Chi! Are you sick? Let me go, or I'll call for help..."
Huo Chi turned a deaf ear and walked out of the Dali Temple with Meng Fan in full view of everyone.
Zhou Zhenzhen from the Detective Division heard the noise and opened the window. She saw two people walking away. All kinds of feelings, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty, surged into her heart.
Suddenly, a hand stretched out from behind her and closed the window. Then, the hand did not retract, but wrapped around her waist, holding her in his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head, rubbing it gently, and said, "I used to think that the Dali Temple was cold and inhumane. It seems that since you came here, everything has changed."
Such an intimate gesture made Zhou Zhenzhen blush. She shook her head gently and, as always, took every opportunity to praise him, saying, "It's all thanks to Master Cheng's good teaching."
Cheng Jue tightened his grip on her waist, and his muffled laughter was so close that it made her ears numb. "I have always been curious about how you can flatter me so naturally."
Zhou Zhenzhen didn't know how to explain it to him. After a long while, she managed to say, "...I'm not flattering you. I said these words from my heart."
The two of them stood quietly by the window for a long time, enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.
Zhou Zhenzhen closed her eyes and involuntarily moved closer to his arms, closer and closer, wanting to touch him more, to tell herself that this was not a dream, and that her Cheng Daren would not hold her like this in a dream.
Cheng Jue noticed her subtle movements and hugged her tightly.
This autumn is destined not to be as bleak and cold as in previous years.
Wang Da and his wife took their children back to their hometown to celebrate the festival. Zhou Zhenzhen had no relatives in Chang'an City, so she could only rely on Cheng Jue to celebrate the festival together. After returning to the Manyue Teahouse, she took off her official uniform, changed her clothes, tied her hair into a peach heart bun, inserted the jade hairpin that Cheng Jue gave her diagonally, applied a little hair powder on her face, and went out.
Cheng Jue's residence was not far from the Dali Temple. Zhou Zhenzhen had already found out the route when she first came to Chang'an. She had walked there secretly countless times in such a long time. Soon she reached the street corner. She poked her head out for a while, picking her fingers to think about how to appear more reserved when she went to the door.
As she was thinking, the heavy door of Cheng Mansion opened, and Cheng Jue changed into a royal blue brocade robe and a headband of the same color. He was dressed like a romantic nobleman, but his cold temperament was too strong, forcing away the frivolousness, and he looked extremely noble.
Cheng Jue got on the carriage. Zhou Zhenzhen retracted her head and watched the carriage go away. She became anxious and no longer cared about being reserved. She grabbed her skirt and quickly chased after him.
"Master Cheng! Master Cheng!" After shouting a few times, the carriage continued to move forward, and it seemed to be going faster and faster. Zhou Zhenzhen put her hands on her waist and shouted with full energy, "Cheng Jue!!"
When passers-by heard this, they couldn't help but take a second look at this crazy little girl who dared to call Mr. Cheng by his name.
Although she lost someone, the carriage stopped as she wished. She ran over and Cheng Jue lifted the curtain: "Why are you here?" He thought he was hallucinating.
More and more people gathered around, Zhou Zhenzhen bit her lower lip and squeezed in regardless. The curtain blocked the gaze of people outside, and she felt more at ease, but when she met Cheng Jue's deep eyes, she felt even more nervous.
"I...I want to go find Master Cheng..."
"Oh? What do you want me for?"
"Master Cheng...how are we going to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival tonight?"
Cheng Jue's eyes moved, and he suppressed the joy in his voice, and said casually, "Of course it's the same as before, drinking and watching the moon with a few colleagues."
"Oh..." Zhou Zhenzhen was a little frustrated. She pinched the back of her right hand with her left hand until it turned red before she smiled. "I originally wanted to discuss a case with you, sir. Since you are busy, let the driver drop me off at the intersection ahead!"
Cheng Jue raised his hand, and with his slender fingers he smoothed down the corners of Zhou Zhenzhen's upturned mouth: "Your insincere smile is not pretty at all."
He raised his voice and said, "Lao He, keep going!"
"Master Cheng..."
"Prince Min has found a few acquaintances to play polo at his Kuailv Manor on the outskirts of the city. I was originally planning to pick you up at the Manyue Teahouse, but I didn't expect you to come here first." Cheng Jue pinched her face, narrowed his eyes, and said dangerously, "Next time you lie to me, I'll show you how I'll deal with you."
"I won't dare again. I won't dare again." Zhou Zhenzhen smiled ingratiatingly, revealing her pointed little fangs. Her cheeks were red from running fast, and beads of sweat oozed out of the hair on her forehead, making her look even younger than usual.
Cheng Jue withdrew his hand and asked, "When is your birthday?"
"September 13th."
September 13th...
Cheng Jue thought to himself that since he was almost eighteen years old, he was not young anymore, so it would be just right to marry her now.
Several people have gathered in Prince Min's mansion. In addition to Prince Min Song Huaishi, there are also Prince Xin Song Ji, several princes' sons from old princes' families, sons of familiar court officials, plus their own attendants, so there are quite a lot of people in the group.
Cheng Jue got off the car first. Just as everyone reached the door, Song Huaishi came up to them with a smile and said, "I saw that you hadn't come yet at this hour, and I thought that you had finally agreed to go out with me. If you regret it, it won't work. I was thinking of coming to your house to arrest you in person!"
"We were delayed on the road for a while. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
Cheng Jue nodded to everyone, then lifted the car curtain and extended his hand. Song Huaishi then realized that there was someone inside. Zhou Zhenzhen seemed embarrassed and hesitated for a while before putting her hand in Cheng Jue's palm and got out of the car.
"Meet His Royal Highness Prince Miner and His Royal Highness Prince Xin."
Song Huaishi's eyes flashed with surprise, and he turned his head to look at the crowd. Zheng Yan, the prince of Zheng'an, who was standing on the far left, pursed his lips. Song Huaishi coughed lightly and said, "Today is a festival, we are good friends and we are going out to play together. Lord Zhou does not need to talk about these etiquettes."
"Weiqing, it will be inconvenient for Lord Zhou to be alone when we play later. It just so happens that the younger sister of Prince Zheng'an is here too. She can keep Lord Zhou company when we get to the villa."
Cheng Jue glanced at Zheng Yan and indeed saw a girl. He nodded: "Okay."
He didn't have much reaction, but Zhou Zhenzhen felt that the girl looked very familiar. When she and Cheng Jue got back into the carriage and set off, she suddenly remembered, wasn't this the lady who was scared by Cheng Jue to leave the Dali Temple and go to the Ministry of Justice to work?
It turned out that she was Zheng Xiangrui, the daughter of King Zheng'an.
King Zheng'an fought on the battlefield with Princess Fengjue and Duke Youhu of Qing. He was also the first king of a different surname in Dayu. Zhou Zhenzhen had heard of King Zheng'an's daughter before. She was born after King Zheng'an fell in love with a woman from the border region of Western Qiang during the war. The Western Qiang woman didn't know who King Zheng'an was. When she found out that he was from Dayu, she left cruelly. A few years later, the woman passed away and sent her helpless daughter back to Chang'an.
Now the Western Qiang have surrendered to Dayu for many years. King Zheng'an treats his daughter like a pearl. Zheng Yan also loves this younger sister very much. However, Zheng Xiangru seldom goes out and few people have seen her.
It is no wonder that after Zheng Xiangru could no longer stay in the Dali Temple, His Majesty immediately transferred her to the Ministry of Justice. I think it was also for the sake of Prince Zheng'an.
The carriage was a little bumpy when it reached the mountain road. Zhou Zhenzhen opened the curtain and saw that the carriage from Prince Zheng'an's Mansion behind had stopped. Zheng Yan helped Zheng Xiangru get down and patted her back gently to relieve her discomfort on the road.
Zheng Xiangrui was still wearing the plum blossom hairpin that she wore when Zhou Zhenzhen saw her last time. Zhou Zhenzhen also noticed that Zheng Yan was not wearing a jade pendant around her waist, but a necklace with a plum blossom-shaped button woven in the middle.
"It's great to have a brother..."
Cheng Jue heard her muttering and couldn't help asking, "What's good about it?"
"When I was a kid, Qiu'er, who lived next door to my family, had a brother who was a few years older than her. They always fought and quarreled with each other, and fought over everything. But once someone bullied Qiu'er, her brother would rush over immediately. I envied Qiu'er since I was a kid, and I always asked grandma to find me a brother..."
"Then what?"
She shook her head. "There was no more. Afterwards, there was a plague in the village. Qiu'er got sick, and the village chief wanted to throw her out of the village to prevent her from infecting others. Her brother rushed out and hugged Qiu'er. In the end, both of them were thrown into the mountains and never came out again."
In fact, it happened many years ago and her memory has long been blurred. If she hadn't met the Zheng brothers and sisters today, she probably wouldn't remember this past.
Cheng Jue pinched the corner of her eyes, fortunately, she didn't cry.
"If you want a brother, isn't there one ready in front of you?"
Zhou Zhenzhen blinked: "Master Cheng, are you talking about... yourself?"
"how?"
Zhou Zhenzhen didn't want him to be her brother. She shook her head and found an excuse: "I want a brother who is only four or five years older than me. Cheng Daren is much older than me."
Cheng Jue's face immediately darkened: "Do you think I'm old?"
Zhou Zhenzhen shrank her neck and said, "Master Cheng is in his prime, mature, steady, and charming. How can he be old?"
Her natural flattery calmed Cheng Jue down a lot, but he also kept the incident in mind.
The carriage traveled for an hour before arriving at Kuailv Manor, which was bought by Song Huaishi Xingwu in his early years. He built a manor for military training and archery. When he was in Chang'an, he would come here and live for two months every year.
Song Huaishi was not a person who particularly liked crowds, so he built this private villa in a very secluded place, on the flat and open area behind Cuiwei Mountain.
After taking a short rest at the place, the men could not help but get restless and started to play.
In Chang'an, even the nobles who had everything they wanted were always bound by various rules, but here they could let go and have fun. Zhou Zhenzhen rarely saw Cheng Jue like this, riding on a horse with a heroic look, his mouth raised, and a glow on his body, which was completely different from him bending over the desk to read files day and night, but each of them made her heart beat.
The crowd was divided into two teams, holding balls and rode on horses. The Qibao ball was passed back and forth, and the game was extremely stalemate. Zhou Zhenzhen was so nervous that she clenched her fists. When Chengjue rushed forward to take the ball back and hooked it into the opponent's goal, she couldn't help but cheer happily.
Cheng Jue turned around and smiled at her from a distance.
Someone on the side started to make a noise, "I used to think our Master Cheng was a real iron-faced man. I've never seen him smile before. But now, no matter how hard he tries, he has become soft as silk."
Zhou Zhenzhen's face suddenly turned red with embarrassment.
Zheng Xiangrui was sitting next to Zhou Zhenzhen, her face was even redder than Zhou Zhenzhen's, her hands were on her knees and her body was shaking slightly. Zhou Zhenzhen remembered that the female boss was so scared when she saw Cheng Jue, and she really couldn't bear to let her stay any longer.
"I've seen enough. It's not interesting. Lord Zheng, let's go for a walk first!"
Zheng Xiangrui nodded gratefully , and Zhou Zhenzhen pulled her up and walked out of the carriage. Before leaving, she looked at Cheng Jue reluctantly.
"Master Zhou, why don't you stay here..."
Zhou Zhenzhen shook her head and said with a smile: "Nothing, let's go!"
Cheng Jue scored another goal, and when he looked into the distance, Zhou Zhenzhen was no longer there.
He frowned, and Song Huaishi said, "Those two girls must be feeling bored and wandering around. Weiqing doesn't need to worry."
"Yeah." Without Zhou Zhenzhen, Cheng Jue's play was not as aggressive as before. He had problems with several dribbles and was frequently snatched away by the opponent. Zheng Yan lamented: "Master Cheng, can we please be more careful?"
"cannot."
Cheng Jue rode his horse past Zheng Yan, his body almost parallel to the ground, and he put his staff on the ball one step ahead of his opponent, changing the angle.
"Ah--" Suddenly, a scream rang out from the mountain. The force of the bat lost its accuracy, and the ball flew over the goal and bounced straight into a big tree. The birds that were resting on the withered tree were startled and flew away with a "wow" sound.
Song Huaishi and Song Ji looked at each other. Cheng Jue had already taken the lead and ran towards the source of the voice.
The one who made that sound... was his Zhenzhen.
