Chapter 349: Chapter 224: Enemies Often Cross Paths Chapter 349: Chapter 224: Enemies Often Cross Paths Yesterday, at the Longevity dical Hall, Ru Yu was struck by an arrow through her shoulder blade and lay sick in bed, while Huo Shuixian rarely settled down in Prince Mu’s Mansion’s Guest Garden. Even when Zhou Mu returned to the mansion at night, she did not go out to greet him.
Zhou Mu was very satisfied with this, and Yuan Bao was secretly delighted.
Early this morning, a little maid rushed over in a panic and whispered sothing into Huo Shuixian’s ear.
Huo Shuixian’s beautiful face flashed with surprise, and she asked incredulously, “Are you sure this news is true? His Highness Prince Bao has co to Liuzhou?”
The little maid nodded quickly, “The maid is certain. Indeed, soone claiming to be Prince Bao caused a commotion at the dical hall after Miss left yesterday.”
“He didn’t co out after entering?” Huo Shuixian’s face darkened when she said this, she and Ru Yu had entered the Longevity dical Hall but returned empty-handed; what about His Highness Prince Bao…
“He hasn’t co out, and the maid has already inquired in the County Prince’s Mansion—it turns out that His Highness Prince Bao did not visit the County Prince’s Mansion last night, so…” The little maid hesitated to continue, “So His Highness Prince Bao might have stayed at the Gu Residence?”
Upon hearing this, Huo Shuixian frowned deeply, pacing back and forth while biting her luscious red lips, “Impossible! With his noble and extraordinary status, why would His Highness Prince Bao stay at that lowly person’s ho for no reason? There must be sothing we have overlooked. Think again, did you miss anything!”
Seeing her mistress like this, the little maid furrowed her brows in deep thought before looking up and responding, “Miss, according to the sick patients at the clinic, His Highness Prince Bao seed to have gone to the dical hall to demand a person—a person nad Xiao Qiu!”
“Xiao Qiu… Xiao Qiu… Han Qiu?” Huo Shuixian paused, her beautiful eyes suddenly widening in shock, “His Highness Prince Bao made a huge fuss in the Capital City, turned Qiankun Hall upside down, all for the sake of redressing Han Jingye’s case! Xiao Qiu… must be the little girl His Highness swore to marry in his youth!”
“Now it all makes sense. Indeed, for that ice block, His Highness Prince Bao really might be willing to stay at that lowly person’s ho. But how could Han Qiu be related to that lowly person?”
“The maid will pay attention to this matter and have people inquire in detail,” the little maid nodded and bowed in agreent.
“Is there anything else? Did you find out when that lowly person will leave the residence?” A trace of ruthless intent flashed in Huo Shuixian’s eyes.
The little maid imdiately nodded, “Miss, the maid heard from a butcher that in the last two days, the Gu Residence ordered ten pieces of cured at as well as four sacrificial offerings. It is said that the lowly Gu Changsheng will visit a certain teacher today.”
Huo Shuixian brightened up upon hearing this, “Really?”
“It should be true.”
“A teacher… there is but one man in Liuzhou City who could be addressed as such! That lowly Gu Changsheng must have gone there!” A malicious curve ford on Huo Shuixian’s lips as she laughed silently.
“What does Miss intend?” The little maid lifted her head in confusion.
“We’ve been staying at Uncle Zhou’s for several days and we haven’t paid our respects yet, which is against propriety,” Huo Shuixian said with glints of brilliance in her eyes, instructing thodically, “Ru Ge, order the servants to prepare the gifts. We will go to Uncle Zhou’s to express our gratitude.”
“Yes!” The little maid nad Ru Ge quickly bowed and exited.
After Ru Ge left, Huo Shuixian stood by the window, her face cold and mocking, “Know yourself and your enemy, huh? Gu Changsheng, I’d like to see what you have to fight with!”
With a crisp “snap!” the window ledge Huo Shuixian was holding was forcefully broken off a corner.
…
Gu Changsheng, puffing with anger, brought Dong Lei out of the residence through the back door, striding down the street with a frown.
“Wife, you’re heading the wrong way; the teacher’s ho is in that direction,” Dong Lei helplessly reminded.
“This is infuriating! That Zhou Zongbao must be sent by the heavens to frustrate , right?” Gu Changsheng complained to Dong Lei while walking forward, “Damn it, causing to fall off the Plum Blossom Piles this morning is one thing, but just when I had built up the confidence to visit the teacher, it was instantly shattered by him!”
Hearing this, Dong Lei’s eyes widened, “Wife! If you don’t have confidence, why did you make a bet with His Highness Prince Bao?”
Gu Changsheng waved her hand nonchalantly as if it was none of her business, “What bet? I never said what would happen if I lose. Humph, Zhou Zongbao is just a fool who can’t take a tease. Whether I win or lose, I don’t lose anything—but the thrill of it!”
“Wife…” Dong Lei was dumbstruck.
Should she really be tricking His Highness Prince Bao like this? Even if His Highness didn’t put on airs, he was still a prince, wasn’t he?
“I might not lose anything, but if I really can’t persuade Mr. Ban Shan to co out of seclusion, I reckon I’ll lose face entirely…” Gu Changsheng thought of this outco and couldn’t help feeling a sunny sadness at thirty degrees. “If that happens, Zhou Zongbao will certainly mock …”
“What should we do, wife? You told to bring weapons—could it be that we are going to…” Dong Lei paused, his mouth twitching as he continued, “Wife, that’s the famous Wen Banshan, known as the scholar who can move half the kingdom with his literature. It wouldn’t be right, would it?”
“What do you an, right or wrong?” Gu Changsheng glared, “Losing face is not an option. Xiao Leizi, you might not care with your thick skin, but your wife here has thin skin—I can’t afford to lose face!”
“But we can’t just…”
“There is no can or can’t!” Gu Changsheng interrupted Dong Lei before he could finish, “There’s no set rule in the world—who decides how to invite soone?”
“I can’t bother with troubleso things like repeated visits; I’m too busy. I’d rather use that ti to wash up and sleep.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a black cat or a white cat; a good cat is one that catches mice. We’ll begin with courtesy and then move to force, depending on whether Mr. Ban Shan cooperates or not…”
“Humph!” Gu Changsheng said while giving a couple of disapproving snorts, “If the old man cooperates, we all rejoice, but if he doesn’t… then we’ll have to resolve it by force!”
“That doesn’t seem right…” Dong Lei muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“There’s nothing right or wrong about it; that’s settled then. Today, even if I have to tie him up, I will bring Mr. Ban Shan back to the residence!” Gu Changsheng declared definitively.
“Uh…” Dong Lei looked helplessly at the two boys carrying gifts, speechless.
Would soone please manage his fearless wife!
To use force with Mr. Ban Shan—if word got out, wouldn’t they be drowned in the saliva of all the scholars?
Isn’t Commandery Prince Mu always clinging tightly to his lady? They are usually inseparable, so why didn’t he accompany her this ti?
Is it really okay to let his lady act so recklessly according to her temper?
Wu…
Mr. Ban Shan chose to live in seclusion by the bank of Hengtang Lake in Liuzhou, in a simple and unremarkable two-section courtyard.
Gu Changsheng stood in front of Mr. Ban Shan’s door, watching people washing clothes by the lake, as well as the endless stream of passersby at the door, with peddlers hawking their wares and tea stalls boiling hot tea.
Could such a bustling place really be where Mr. Ban Shan chose to live in seclusion?
“Truly a master hides in the most public place!” Gu Changsheng couldn’t help but exclaim with emotion.
Although Dong Lei didn’t quite understand, whatever the missus said was always right, and she just nodded along.
“Eh? Another beautiful young lady has arrived!” One of the washerwon with sharp eyes looked over this way.
“Hey, are you also here to find Teacher Zhou?” Another washerwoman asked loudly while beating laundry with a wooden club in her hand.
Gu Changsheng turned her head when she heard the voice, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, and she uttered a yes.
Again? How intriguing this word is used…
“Young lady, you are truly beautiful, and that bright red outfit really resembles the dicine God’s attire from the rumors,” the washerwoman said with a naïve smile on her face while busy laundering clothes.
“Cough cough!” Gu Changsheng covered her mouth at the comnt.
What do you an ‘resemble’? She was the genuine article, a real deal beyond imitation!
But at this mont, Gu Changsheng preferred not to draw attention and kept quiet.
“What are you doing standing at the door, young lady? Why not go inside?”
Gu Changsheng pointed at the ordinary door; she had wanted to go in indeed, but knocking for a while yielded no response. “No one answered when I knocked; I haven’t yet handed in my visiting card.”
“Visiting card?”
Upon hearing this, the several laundering wives exchanged glances, then all burst into laughter.
Gu Changsheng watched them chuckling with shaking flower-like branches, utterly innocent.
What joke did she tell? She was talking about serious matters!
“Us commoners don’t need those kinds of visiting cards. If no one answered the door, it must be the Attendant Student busy with sothing else and not hearing you. Just push the door and go in yourself!” The kind-hearted washerwoman suggested as she raised her wooden club and pointed at the door.
Gu Changsheng’s eyes widened. Just barge in like that?
Damn it! Why didn’t she say so earlier!
“Well, what are you waiting for? Want to be laughed at? Go on in!” Gu Changsheng called out to Dong Lei, who had frozen in place, and stepped towards the door.
She gently pushed with her hand and indeed, the doors opened in response.
Hell! To think they had politely knocked for so long, waiting for half a day, and it turned out the door wasn’t even locked.
Damn, Mr. Ban Shan must be quite the character, too. It seems like he gets along well with the neighbors, given how those clothes-washing wives seem quite familiar with his household.
What was this, integrating with the grassroots, experiencing the vicissitudes of life?
Retiring from the world truly is an art.
Tsk tsk… Full of energy!
Upon entering the gate, she saw the courtyard was filled with more than a dozen large wooden racks with freshly sized paper still dripping water…
An Attendant Student hurriedly ran from the back courtyard, holding a long sheet of sized paper in both hands, pausing in surprise upon seeing Gu Changsheng and her party.
“You should wait in the main hall; my master is busy making paper and will be occupied for a while longer.”
Gu Changsheng watched the Attendant Student who, after speaking, ran to hang the sized paper on an empty rack and blinked, then looked towards the main hall.
Two individuals dressed as house servants stood on either side of the main hall entrance.
Gu Changsheng’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinized their clothes, her gaze darkening.
Damn it, why such luck?
How could she run into those people?
“Gu Changsheng, we et again.”
Before Gu Changsheng had ti to lant, a crisp and pleasant voice ca from inside the hall, tinged with undisguised disdain and contempt.
Gu Changsheng looked heavenward with sorrow and muttered, “Yes, we et again! It’s a narrow road for enemies, not even needing an alley to bump into each other, huh!”
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