Chapter 51

When they went to the capital, there were plenty of opportunities for these two to get together, including the last time she met Ming Rong and Rong Yan at the Broken Jade Pavilion.

Now that she thinks about it, they must have had the same intentions that time too.

Sang Yao really couldn’t understand. There were so many opportunities for them both inside the imperial city, so why did they only catch on to the sacrificial activities? Didn’t they just make space for them yesterday evening?

Sang Yao really didn’t want to go out. She whispered, “…Can I really say I don’t want to go?”

Ming Rong said, “You can, but I have something to do tonight, what should I do?”

Something to do?

No, didn’t Ming Rong just not care about her? To actually say it so bluntly, Sang Yao didn’t go and ask what it was, she was really in pain.

Yesterday was one thing, but did she have to go and find Xie Yun again today?

This time, because the time for the sacrifice was different from usual, it would start tomorrow morning, and the Ministry of Rites had been busy all day.

Although Xie Yun was not from the Ministry of Rites, she also had supervisory duties, so how could she have the time to bother with her? She couldn’t just go and sleep with her father, could she?

She continued to struggle, “But I really feel like I can’t remember it well… How about I go tomorrow night?”

Let her rest, and let Ming Rong rest too. Ming Rong looked at her quietly, and after a while, said, “Then whatever.”

She turned away and stopped talking to her.

Sang Yao silently breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn’t have to go out to sleep, she started to worry that she had refused Ming Rong, would Ming Rong resent her?

Really annoying! It would have been better not to know about this. When she returned to the capital, she never wanted to see Ming Rong again in her life.

As evening approached, Ming Rong went out alone, and Sang Yao didn’t know what she was going out for, but after she was the only one left in the room, she felt much more comfortable.

About half an hour later, Sang Yao finished her dinner and planned to go out for a walk. Just as she walked out the door, she saw a tall man coming out from the side.

It was Rong Yan.

The place where Sang Yao and Ming Rong lived was somewhat remote.

They were on the right side of the palace wall, and behind them were layers of greenery. Besides the palace maids who came to deliver meals, basically no one would come to this place.

Anyone who could come over must have come to find her or Ming Rong.

Obviously, Rong Yan was not likely to have come to find her. Sang Yao was really speechless.

She didn’t understand why this pair of men and women didn’t have the slightest appearance of an affair.

It seemed like they didn’t care about her at all.

This was the case once or twice. Could it really be because of her low status that they weren’t worried about being discovered by her?

Thinking like this in her heart, she didn’t dare to show it on her face. Without much thought, she reminded him directly, “Young Master Hou, Miss Ming just went out.”

As soon as the words fell, Sang Yao suddenly realized what she had said, and choked up.

She regretted it very much, but the words had already been spoken, so she could only pray that Rong Yan wouldn’t think too much about it.

The tall man walked out from the side, looking very strong and tall.

Sang Yao felt that if this man wanted to silence her, he could do it with just one hand.

Rong Yan looked surprised, and he slowly approached her, his gaze fixed on her.

He asked, “Hmm? Miss Sang, how did you know I came to find Ming Rong?”

Sang Yao took a step back and explained, “…This place is remote, so I guessed you must not be here to find me, it must be to find Miss Ming.”

This answer was almost faultless, and Sang Yao silently praised herself for a long time in her heart.

Rong Yan replied, “Hmm,” and then asked, “Where does Miss Sang plan to go?”

Sang Yao said, “…I have nothing to do, I’ve been staying in the room all the time, feeling bored, so I thought I’d go out for a walk.”

Rong Yan asked, “Is that so?”

He looked down at the young girl in her prime in front of him. In fact, he had heard of Sang Yao a long time ago.

Forget who told him, he only remembered that the person used “gathering snow in the moonlight, drunken begonias in the sun” to describe her.

In the current prevailing austere and cold atmosphere of the capital, she was like a unique flower.

Although she always wrapped herself up tightly and didn’t like to wear clothes that were too restrictive, you could still see that she had a very graceful figure.

With fleshiness, not exaggerated, just right, it was tempting in a subtle way.

Different from the blatant desires in the embroidery workshop, there was also a contradiction in her that was almost pure and clean, obedient, gentle, and lovely.

But those people never liked to mention her beauty openly, they would only sneak a few glances at her when the girl wasn’t paying attention.

Just like him now.

He continued, “I happen to have nothing to do, so why not accompany the young lady for a walk?”

Sang Yao:

What is this person doing? Why does he want to accompany her for a walk? What does it mean for the two of them to walk together? Sang Yao felt a little embarrassed and politely declined, “It’s better not to.”

Rong Yan took a few steps closer to her again and asked, “What’s wrong? Does the young lady have any concerns?”

As the distance between them narrowed, Sang Yao looked up and saw the man’s broad chest, which made her very resistant in her heart.

She took a few steps back again, thinking about how to escape, when suddenly a displeased voice came from ahead.

“What are you doing?”

Sang Yao looked up and saw Ming Rong. She didn’t know when Ming Rong had already come back from outside, but at this moment, she was frowning, her face was very bad, and her gaze was fixed on her and Rong Yan.

No way, why did Ming Rong seem to think she had something with Rong Yan?

Sang Yao quickly moved aside and distanced herself from Rong Yan. She hurriedly said, “Miss… Miss Ming, please don’t misunderstand! I have something to do, I’ll leave first, you two can chat.”

After saying that, she walked past Ming Rong with her skirt in hand, feeling more and more absurd about this situation.

Weren’t they having an affair? Why was Ming Rong openly jealous?

When Sang Yao’s figure disappeared from their sight, Ming Rong walked over with a cold face and stood beside Rong Yan, questioning, “Why were you so close to her?”

“Do you like her?”

Rong Yan took Ming Rong’s wrist and led her into the room, then closed the door. He raised his hand to hold Ming Rong’s chin, kissed her lips, and then said, “Can’t I like her?”

Ming Rong pushed him away and said, “What? Do you think she would be as easygoing as me, sleeping with you all day and helping you hide it?”

“Don’t you see how close she is to Yang Wenchuan? Yang Wenchuan is different from Lu Li.”

Although Yang Wenchuan was currently just a junior official in the Hanlin Academy, his future was limitless, known throughout the court.

Although he was gentle, he was by no means weak. If Sang Yao really had any relationship with Yang Wenchuan, things would not end well.

Rong Yan didn’t care, deliberately teasing her, “Just a woman, you’re thinking too much.”

Ming Rong glanced at him and said, “Stop talking nonsense, have you figured out anything?”

Rong Yan didn’t say much, but asked, “What does Rong Rong think?”

Ming Rong said, “She should know something. These past few days, she’s always been inexplicably nervous when she sees me.”

“I told her to leave, and she didn’t ask why, as if she already knew.”

In fact, she had felt something strange since the last time at the Broken Jade Pavilion.

She was nervous. Although she tried to conceal it, she still seemed a bit uncomfortable.

This time was even more so.

She would leave when asked, without asking why, or considering where she would go at night after leaving, as if she just didn’t want to stay with her any longer.

Rong Yan leaned on the desk next to Ming Rong, nodded at her words, and said softly, “She should indeed know.” Ming Rong squeezed her palm.

Instead of worrying about how to deal with Sang Yao, she was more concerned about how Sang Yao had found out.

Rong Yan was silent for a moment, then said, “Didn’t you say you saw her at the Princess’s Mansion last time?” Ming Rong pursed her lips and remained silent.

She wasn’t worried that Sang Yao would talk, firstly because she had no evidence, and secondly, that girl didn’t seem like someone who would dare to.

But even so, she was a potential threat.

Ming Rong looked up and said, “What are you going to do?”

Rong Yan smiled, his hands resting on Ming Rong’s shoulders, gently kneading them. He bent down, his voice low, “She can’t stay.”

Ming Rong was a little surprised. She raised her head and smiled, “What? Weren’t you just saying you liked her?”

Rong Yan said, “Rong Rong, this doesn’t conflict.”

“I promise, she won’t appear in front of you again,” after all, she would only appear in her room.

A faint smile froze on Ming Rong’s face.

In fact, Ming Rong knew what kind of person Rong Yan was.

Even though they had been together frequently over the past year, Rong Yan would still occasionally go to other people.

But she didn’t mind. Her relationship with Rong Yan was purely physical, sleeping once or twice was just sleeping, it was better to find some fun for herself.

“Let’s not make a big deal out of this,” she cautioned.

But in reality, it couldn’t be blown out of proportion.

Given Sang Yao’s background, only her father and eldest sister had some influence at home, but that was it.

As long as they were discreet, they wouldn’t be able to thoroughly investigate this matter.

Ming Rong asked again, “Let’s wait until she returns to the capital before deciding.”

Rong Yan’s hand gradually moved down. He said lightly, “After she returns to the capital, will you have a chance?”

The Imperial North Palace was very large, and since everyone was busy, Sang Yao didn’t dare to wander too far.

She walked around the nearby palace paths by herself, and by the time the sky was completely dark, she started to consider going back.

Because of the lush vegetation around, there were too many mosquitoes, and tiny insects would crawl on her every now and then.

She had been swatting mosquitoes for a long time, thinking that she had been out for almost an hour, and those two should be done.

On the way back, even if she went to find her father, she wouldn’t stay with Ming Rong anymore.

Because there were too many insects, Sang Yao eventually couldn’t bear to go far. She changed to a wider palace path, but halfway through, she bumped into Xie Yun who had just walked out of a nearby hall.

At this moment, the palace path was empty, with only the two of them.

When they met, Sang Yao slowed down and looked at him.

Now obviously wasn’t the time for pleasantries. Of course, she wasn’t that familiar with Xie Yun, but Sang Yao’s habit of being entangled in small problems had resurfaced.

She was wondering if she should greet Xie Yun since he had helped her so many times?

But he looked so busy, as if he didn’t have time to bother with her.

Should she smile at him to greet him?

Just as she was thinking, Xie Yun raised his eyes and paused on her for a moment.

There was no emotion, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to her.

Sang Yao was about to smile, but Xie Yun looked away, then strode past her.

The smile on Sang Yao’s face faded.

What was that? If he had looked a little longer, she would have finished smiling.

She lowered her head, feeling dejected, and thought, both of them came to attend the ritual, but Xie Yun seemed to be very busy, while she had been circling around for half an hour.

She also had to consider whether the couple had finished their business.

However, Xie Yun was indeed very busy.

Originally, he didn’t need to be like this. In previous years, these were all his father’s responsibilities, but this year, Xie Huan probably thought he was a bit idle, so he entrusted some of them to him.

The Ministry of Rites had started preparations several days in advance, with rehearsals. However, the overall coordination of various aspects and personnel arrangements were still somewhat chaotic.

To ensure that nothing went wrong, in addition to checking the ceremony positions, Xie Yun also needed to inspect the main hall and the two wings with the Minister of Rites.

From noon until now, he had hardly had any rest.

When he separated from the two officials just now, Xie Yun finally slowed down.

Looking at Xie Yun’s obviously tired look, he kindly said, “Young Master, why don’t you go back and have a meal first?” Xie Yun did not answer him.

He was thinking about the lonely figure on the palace path just now. It was already getting dark, why was she still outside?

After a while, Xie Yun spoke again, “Has the register for accommodation from Qiyu Temple to the Imperial North Palace been unchanged?”

Net Clean didn’t know why Xie Yun suddenly asked this, but he still nodded and said, “I heard from eunuch Li that it hasn’t changed.”

Xie Yun turned the corner and ordered, “Go and let Eunuch Li come to Liuchun Hall to see me.”

Eunuch Li was the chief eunuch by the emperor’s side, in charge of the Frugal Money Bureau.

He was responsible for the accommodation arrangements.

Following the order, Net Clean was about to leave when Xie Yun stopped him.

It seemed that going back and forth like this was a waste of time, so he directly said, “Forget it, you go directly to Eunuch Li and tell him to send someone to find Ming Rong and transfer her accommodation to the side room next to Changyi Palace, saying it’s the Crown Prince’s intention.”

Servant bowed and said, “Yes.”

What was he thinking? Sang Yao and Ming Rong were living together, and now Ming Rong was being transferred.

It seemed that the master wanted Sang Yao to be alone. Jinglian thought with tears in his eyes, really, in the midst of all this busyness, he could still think of these things, he was indeed the master.

As for Yang Wenchuan, could he do the same? He was probably unaware that Sang Yao didn’t like Ming Rong.