Chapter 63: The King and Miss Xue

The King’s generosity made Xue Qingyin feel embarrassed.

“Actually, I used your name the day before yesterday,” she said in a delicate voice. “Otherwise, my father would have been so angry that he might have beaten me.”

“He beat you?” The King’s gaze shifted slightly.

He only seemed to have extracted those three words from her statement.

Xue Qingyin lazily replied, “Well, I ran away before he could hit me.”

Du Hongxue couldn’t help but chuckle outside, “You ran away well!”

Xue Qingyin asked, “Where are we going to meet Liu Xiuyuan?”

The King moved his lips, “Lingxiu Pavilion.”

“That name sounds familiar.”

Du Hongxue chimed in from outside, “How could it not be familiar? It’s a Xue family business, Miss Xue, don’t you remember?”

Xue Qingyin smiled, “So we’re going to take care of our family business.”

Du Hongxue said, “Why let the water flow outside the field?”

Xue Qingyin paused.

She thought to herself, it’s fine to say “outsider” to the servants, but why are you saying that too?

After asking where they were going, Xue Qingyin began to think about another problem, “I left in a hurry, I didn’t bring my veil, and I didn’t bring any servants. If people see me, they’ll probably gossip.”

Du Hongxue answered again, “It’s fine not to have servants, we can be your servants today.”

Xue Qingyin laughed, leaning against the car window, “Then I’ll be shameless and accept your offer.” She was indeed not polite at all.

Du Hongxue and the others usually stayed in the army, and they happened to like such straightforward people.

He smiled again, “It’s fine not to bring the veil.”

Xue Qingyin, “Hmm?”

The King casually opened a small box at his feet.

Xue Qingyin thought it was for stepping on.

As soon as the box opened, the contents inside were revealed.

It was a veil.

It had a jade-colored light gauze hanging below, a common style.

But when Xue Qingyin leaned down to pick it up, she heard the sound of jade clinking.

She looked at the veil carefully again.

It turned out that besides the light gauze, there were pearls and jade strung with gold thread on top.

The pearls were round and lustrous.

The jade was transparent, as white as fat.

It was both luxurious and not frivolous.

Xue Qingyin couldn’t help but say, “Amazing!”

“The people in the King’s palace are really thoughtful.” Xue Qingyin said as she picked up the veil and put it on her head.

“How could it be the people in the palace who are thoughtful?” Du Hongxue asked.

Xue Qingyin tilted her head, “Did the King prepare it himself?”

It didn’t seem reasonable for him to prepare such a small thing.

But then again, she thought… such a veil, covered with pearls and jade, with such a high value, if it wasn’t the King’s instruction, no one would dare to prepare something like this.

Before Du Hongxue could speak again, Xue Qingyin sighed softly, “I owe the King more and more.”

Then, she quickly said, “Today, I’ll treat the King to some fried oil cakes.”

“How can it be considered a treat if you treat the King at your own shop?” Du Hongxue said again.

“It’s not at my own shop.” Xue Qingyin raised the curtain.

The carriage was heading towards Dongshi at this time, and they could see many restaurants and shops along the way.

“Stop here,” Xue Qingyin said.

The carriage stopped as instructed.

Xue Qingyin thought to herself, the coachman of the King’s palace actually listens to her.

Then she touched the money pouch she carried with her.

She took out a few loose coins and handed them out of the window, “Two fried oil cakes.”

The person at the stall stared at Du Hongxue’s attire in fear, swallowed his saliva, and then picked up two fried oil cakes and wrapped them before handing them out.

“Be careful, sir, it’s hot.” He said, lowering his head to look at the outstretched hand.

It was snow-white, dazzling.

He didn’t dare to look at it for too long, carefully raised his eyes, and saw that the veil on the woman’s head had a faint glow from the gold thread.

And the person sitting beside her, he could only vaguely see their profile.

This made the stall owner vaguely recall the day when he saw the King returning from victory…

Could this be… the King?!

The owner thought in a daze.

He saw the woman take the fried oil cakes and quickly gave one to the “King” beside her.

“The crust is crispy, the inside is soft and sweet. Your Highness, please try it.” Xue Qingyin said.

The King lowered his head and actually took a bite.

He asked, “Is this your thanks?”

She bought two, and Miss Xue herself still had to take one.

“Yes.” Xue Qingyin asked, “Is it sweet?”

The King, “…Sweet.”

He didn’t like sweets.

Xue Qingyin said, “Your Highness lacks nothing. No matter what I give you as a gift, it’s just icing on the cake, it’s really bland.”

Was this her excuse for only sending flowers the last few times?

The King raised his eyebrows slightly without showing any emotion.

“But this sweetness is unique, so I’ll give this sweetness to Your Highness. May Your Highness have a sweet life every day, without any worries.” Xue Qingyin said, not blushing at all.

As she spoke, she lowered her head and took a bite of the fried oil cake, thinking to herself, it’s so delicious, I’ll have to recruit this owner to my manor.

Then she leaned out again, “I’ll send someone to invite the owner to my manor tomorrow.”

The owner widened his eyes, unable to believe it, and agreed repeatedly before watching them leave.

Du Hongxue asked, “What are you going to talk to this man about?”

“To talk about how much money it takes to invite him to the manor to make this fried oil cake.” Xue Qingyin paused and asked him, “Have you guys ever eaten this in the palace?”

“No.” Du Hongxue shook his head.

The King seemed to have seen through Xue Qingyin’s thoughts, so he said, “There isn’t any in the imperial palace either.”

“That’s good.” Xue Qingyin smiled contentedly.

Du Hongxue realized, “So Miss Xue has also done business along the way?”

Xue Qingyin asked, “Is that not allowed?”

“Of course it’s allowed.” It’s just… Du Hongxue thought to himself, he had never seen a woman who was with the King and still had the heart to think about these things.

That’s why Miss Xue is different from them.

Du Hongxue felt quite emotional.

“I just borrowed your name, thank you, Your Highness.” Xue Qingyin’s voice rang out again.

“Where did you borrow it?” Du Hongxue was puzzled.

Xue Qingyin said, “The people at the stall saw your attire, and vaguely saw the person sitting in the carriage, so they naturally guessed that your identity was either rich or noble. I invited him, and he naturally had no reason to refuse.”

Du Hongxue understood.

But this borrowing of the name was so casual, the person who was borrowed from would not have any displeasure, but would only find her clever and likable.

The balance in this… was really just right.

The carriage continued forward.

Xue Qingyin bought some snacks along the way.

She usually bought two, and then gave one to the King.

The King tasted them one by one, and he wouldn’t say whether they were good or not.

Du Hongxue couldn’t help but feel envious, “Miss Xue, how do you know so many delicious things?”

Xue Qingyin thought to herself, of course it’s because last time, I let that idiot He Songning buy me snacks all the way.

Next time I go to Xishi, I have to think of an excuse to let that idiot He Songning go with me.

It’s too much of a loss for me to pay myself, it’s more comfortable to fleece He Songning.

Thinking this in her heart, she said, “Oh, my brother likes to buy me these things, I’ve eaten a lot, so I naturally know where the best ones are.”

Du Hongxue was puzzled.

Is that so? It sounds like they have a good brother-sister relationship. But last time Fang Chengzhong said that he saw Miss Xue and her brother arguing at the manor.

Xue Qingyin thought to herself, I’m not going to leave any handles for He Songning outside.

He Songning is too vengeful.

It’s fine to scold him in front of him, but it’s too risky to scold him in front of others.

Over here, as they were eating and drinking, they finally arrived at Lingxiu Pavilion.

Xue Qingyin jumped out of the carriage first, and couldn’t help but burp softly.

The King hadn’t even gotten out yet, when they all heard a scolding voice.

“Get out!”

Two burly servants came out of Lingxiu Pavilion.

Under their pushing, a thin, disheveled man fell outside the threshold.

“No matter how much we persuade him, he won’t listen. Is this a place you should come to?” The servant scolded.

The man stood up, but his back was straight, “I told you, I have an appointment with someone here, why won’t you let me in?”

“Alright, why bother talking to him? The owner will be here soon. It’s unlucky to see these things at the door, isn’t it?” A man who looked like a shopkeeper came out with a gloomy face.

“How come I don’t know that the owner sent someone here?” Xue Qingyin interjected.

The shopkeeper didn’t recognize her, so he said, “May I ask who this noble person is?”

Before Xue Qingyin could answer.

Another carriage came close, driven by a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked familiar.

Isn’t this the Xue family’s steward?

Xue Qingyin raised her eyebrows and thought to herself.

The steward jumped out of the carriage, and the shopkeeper naturally saw him, his face instantly changed, and he said in a deep voice, “Quickly, quickly clean up, the owner is here!”

He saw the steward raising the carriage curtain, and a young girl came out from inside.

“This is our second Miss Xue.” The steward said before turning around.

Her father specially sent the steward to support her, Xue Qinghe’s anxiety dissipated a lot, even her headache was gone.

But when she got out, she saw… Xue Qingyin!

At this time, the steward naturally also noticed, the smile on his face froze instantly, his tone was strange, “…Big, Big Miss, why are you here too?”

“Also?” Xue Qingyin tilted her head, “That word is used very well.”

As she spoke, she didn’t look at them.

Instead, she turned her gaze to the man who looked disheveled and was being driven away, politely bowed and asked, “Are you Mr. Liu?”

“I am Liu Xiuyuan, do you know me?” The man was surprised, and he even raised his hand to brush his hair.

Liu Xiuyuan.

What a familiar name. The shopkeeper thought to himself.

Xue Qinghe read a lot of books, and she immediately realized, “The Book Saint Liu Xiuyuan?”

Hearing her address him so respectfully, the man’s face turned cold, “What Book Saint?”

Seeing that he dared to have such an attitude towards the owner’s family, the shopkeeper also turned cold, “Second Miss, take a good look, does he look like the so-called Book Saint you mentioned? He looks more like a beggar.”

Xue Qingyin glanced at the shopkeeper and said, “I have an appointment with Mr. Liu.”

The shopkeeper and the steward’s expressions became strange for a moment.

Xue Qingyin was speechless. Oh, she forgot, women can’t meet with men alone nowadays. That’s called a private meeting.

At this time, from the carriage behind her.

A man stretched out his hand, slowly rolled up the carriage curtain, his voice was cold, “It is this King and Miss Xue who have an appointment with him.”

The curtain was made of indigo-colored brocade.

The man’s fingers were bent, hooking the curtain, his knuckles were strong and noble.