Chapter 64

  A loud rumble of thunder accompanied the big raindrops falling from the sky, lightning seemed to split open the heavens revealing a ferocious face. A thin, green glazed carriage was like a boat drifting in the ocean, swaying and lonely as it arrived at the gate of the mountain villa. The young servant girl got off the carriage and knocked on the door in the rain, getting soaked through in an instant. The door creaked open, revealing an old head: "It's raining so heavily, what's going on?!"

  The girl spoke in a pleasant and gentle tone: "My mistress went up the mountain to burn incense, but halfway there it started raining heavily. I think she wants to take shelter from the rain at your place."

  "How many of you are there?"

  "Along with his wife, three daughters and four servants."

  "Let's take shelter in the gatehouse for a while, and we'll leave when the rain stops!"

  Thank you so much, Ah Hei.

  The rain is too big and urgent to stand under the eaves, the continuous rain reflects a silver-white light. Hong Qian frowned slightly, knowing it would rain, but didn't expect such heavy rain. Following him, Wang Cheng said: "I didn't expect such heavy rain, even if it stops, I'm afraid this road won't be easy to walk on, we'll have to stay overnight at the Zhuangzi."

  "It's going to worry my mother again, I don't know if my sister will be scared, she has been timid since birth..."

  Wang Cheng couldn't help but sigh as he listened to Hong Qian's soft muttering, thinking that his own son was about the same age as Hong Qian and had already grown up enough to take on half of an adult's responsibilities. He still doted on Fu Jin and Ge Ge with all his heart, whereas his own child would cry and throw a tantrum at the slightest provocation. After all, he was a member of the imperial family, not some ordinary child who could be compared to others. As a result, Wang Cheng felt even more respect and affection for Hong Qian.

  A young servant came over and said, "There's a family hiding from the rain at the gate. They say they're relatives of the Suzhou governor. Their daughter says she's met you before and that if she mentions Baozhu, you'll know who it is. The girl got rained on and wants to come in to borrow a room to change her clothes."

  Hong Qian thought for a moment and then looked surprised. These past few days, while studying at the Provincial Governor's mansion, he had heard that the Provincial Governor's wife's sister was bringing her daughter Qinglian from Hangzhou to celebrate the Provincial Governor's wife's birthday. Baozhu was Qinglian's personal maid, and Hong Qian had indeed seen Qinglian and Baozhu playing in the garden with Ziwen a few times, even exchanging a few words. Since they were relatives of the Provincial Governor's family, it would be unreasonable to turn them away. So Hong Qian said: "Tell Lianqiao to bring them in, find a clean room for them to rest for a while, and I'll go visit them later." Lianqiao was Hong Qian's senior maid.

  The little servant hastily replied with an "yes".

  This young girl, Qinglian, looked like she was only seven or eight years old, but she already had a lovely face, a pair of lively eyes that seemed to speak, and a clear and pleasant voice. She called out "Lianqiao sister" with a smile, and Lianqiao's face also showed more smiles. When Qinglian mentioned Hongqian, Lianqiao said a few more words: "Among children of seven or eight years old, there are not many who are as sensible as our young master. Today is just the right day for school to be on holiday, so he specially came to the villa to inspect it, and helped our mistress with some tasks early."

  So even Madame Yu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "I don't know why, but the Fourth Mistress still hasn't returned to Beijing, always staying here?"

  Lian Qiao didn't feel very comfortable hearing this and argued, "The king of the capital has come to our manor several times to ask Madame Fu to return, but we were worried that our daughter was too weak for the long journey and might not be able to withstand it. That's why Madame Fu kept putting it off. Just you wait and see, within half a year, she will definitely have to go back!"

  The aunt then smiled and nodded in agreement.

  The rain was heavy and didn't stop until the second half of the night, so Qinglian and her mother naturally stayed at the Zhuangzi. The next morning, they heard that Hongqian was going to leave, so they hurriedly caught up with him. However, Hongqian rode a horse and was afraid that Quanpei would worry, so he couldn't help but hurry along. As soon as they entered the city, Qinglian and her mother fell behind.

  Jiuer was delighted as soon as she saw Hongqian hurrying back, Hongqian smiled and hugged her, asking: "Were you scared at night? Did you cry?"

  "Not afraid at all, nor crying!"

  Along with Quan Pei, everyone in the house burst out laughing. Xiao Yue teased Jiu Er and asked: "Then who cried last night? Was it someone else's child?"

  Jiu'er immediately covered her face with her chubby hands: "It's Xiaoyue sister who cried!"

  Everyone laughed even harder.

  Quan Pei looked at Hong Qian and said, "Why didn't you wait a bit before coming back? The road wasn't easy to walk on, was it?"

  Hong Qian smiled and replied: "It's okay."

  Quan Ai gently patted Hong Qian's back, she had been through too much after the accident, and Hong Qian always had worries and concerns about her and Jiu Er in his heart, as if he was afraid that something big would happen again in places he couldn't see, and being so young, he had to bear the weight of an adult's heart.

  The governor's wife was celebrating her birthday, and Quan Pei naturally attended. The governor's wife, dressed in a bright red cheongsam, looked even more radiant with a smile, her eyebrows and eyes scrunched together: "You've gone to so much trouble to come!" Then, surrounded by the other officials' wives, Quan Pei was particularly enthusiastic, squeezing in beside him: "Why didn't I see Brother Hongqian?"

  The words of the aunt's husband made the face of the provincial governor's wife slightly embarrassed: "Hóng Qiān á Gē has arrived, but he didn't come to the women's quarters. He is with Zǐ Wén and a few others in front!"

  The lady covered her mouth and smiled: "Is that so? Didn't come after all? Then this matter is the same as telling Madame Fu."

  The stage was set up in the garden, and the seats were arranged in the corridor opposite. Before everyone sat down, Auntie hastily pulled out a jade pendant with a yellow-green cord and raised her voice slightly: "A few days ago, I went to burn incense, didn't I? On the way back, it rained heavily, and I met a villager who wanted to avoid the rain. Unexpectedly, I ran into Brother Hongqian, and I didn't know at first. When the two children were talking together, Brother Hongqian left this jade pendant for our Qinglian."

  She said proudly, pausing for a moment, and looked at everyone's gaze falling on her: "Qinglian doesn't know what's going on, the jade pendant was taken by me, today it will be returned to Brother Hongqian!"

  Hong Qian's good name was widely spread among the official circles in Suzhou, intelligent and studious, understanding and polite. At the age of seven, he could already take on family responsibilities like an adult. Auntie said that Hong Qian gave a Qinglian jade pendant, saying that if it was small, it was because the child didn't understand, but if it was big, it was private instruction. The seemingly perfect Hong Qian had a fatal flaw - at a young age, he already had a fondness for women, and all his other virtues were overshadowed by this.

  The lovely green lotus was gazed at by everyone, until it became shy and ran out of the corridor.

  Madam Quan didn't even look up, merely giving a faint order: "Call Hong Qian over."

  The aunt held a jade pendant in her hand, suspended in mid-air, with no one paying attention. The provincial governor's family had many grievances against the sister, but this time they couldn't bring themselves to say it out loud, and only smiled and exchanged pleasantries: "Everyone sit down quickly, the play is about to start!"

  Although everyone has sat down, who would still be in the mood to watch a play?

  Hong Qian, wearing a dark green robe with a straight and steady gait, exuding a sense of stability that was rare for someone of his age, greeted the crowd: "I don't know what Mother wants to see me about?"

  "Take out the jade pendant you usually wear and show it to Auntie."

  A piece of white jade with a yellow-green cord, almost identical to the jade pendant in Auntie's hand. Only then did Auntie change her expression: "How come Brother Hongqian brought another one?"

  "What do you mean? I don't understand."

  Auntie smiled and said softly: "Didn't brother give the jade pendant to Qinglian? He said Qinglian is pretty and can be a daughter-in-law in the future."

  Hong Qian took a step back: "Auntie, aren't you feeling unwell? Although I'm young, I still know what's right and wrong. How could I do such a thing? The jade pendant has been with me all along, when did I ever give it to Qinglian Gege? It was Auntie who saw my jade pendant before. What does Auntie mean by saying this?"

  In the face of such a thing, Hong Kuan still spoke clearly and logically, without even changing his tone.

  The wife of Tongzhi sat closer and smiled, "Auntie's jade pendant is Lantian jade, isn't it? And Brother Hongqian's one is a high-quality Hetian jade!"

  Everyone's face suddenly showed a look of realization: "Isn't this aunt clearly framing someone?"

  Aunt's face turned red with anger, her voice shrill: "You're so young and yet you dare to speak such vicious words, how can you be so reckless!"

  Hong Qian furrowed his brow, but didn't quarrel with Auntie. He took a step back towards Quan Pei and asked: "Is there anything else, Mother?"

  Hong Qian got into an argument with his aunt, but instead of getting angry, he took a step back and ignored her unreasonable behavior. This showed that Hong Qian was extraordinary, and everyone present praised him. They all wondered why people were so fond of this young man, saying that he wasn't like other children. Just by looking at the aunt's sour face, it was clear that she wasn't someone who did good deeds.

  "It's been half an hour, let's head back."

  "Yes."

  The governor's wife followed closely: "Are you going to sit for a while? The play has just started, it's a famous theater troupe in Suzhou."

  "Hong Qianming hasn't been coming here to study since he was a child, so there's no need to reserve a seat for him."

  The provincial governor's wife couldn't help but smile, and now she had thoroughly offended the Fourth Lady. She hastily apologized: "Don't be angry, it's all because my younger sister doesn't understand things, there must be some misunderstanding in between, let's sit down and talk slowly..."

  The governor's mansion followed all the way, Quan Pei supported Hong Qian's hand onto the carriage, without even turning his head back once.

  The aunt's wife came up and looked around: "It was obviously done by Hongqian Gege, but he didn't admit it!"

  The provincial governor slapped his sister: "Shameless thing! How dare you speak! Get out!"

  The aunt covered her face and was stunned for a long time, coldly saying: "You don't have to fawn on people like that!" She turned around and left.

  The prefect's wife had a good birthday banquet, but because of Quan Pei's sudden departure, more than half of the guests left. The remaining ones were close relatives who couldn't leave immediately, and there was simply no atmosphere.

  The carriage creaked as it moved, outside was Hong Qian riding a horse, and he heard the sound of conversation coming from inside the carriage: "......tell Jiang Yang to handle this matter......"

  Jiang Yang was the leader of the remaining dark guards, and his mother was indeed angered by that aunt, even he himself was not very happy, kindly called to avoid the rain, but lost his jade pendant, it turned out that it was picked up by that aunt, in front of so many people, she randomly slandered him, he didn't even remember what the Qinglian girl looked like, fortunately, his mother gave him another identical jade pendant, otherwise, he might not be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

  Xiao Yue poked her head out of the horse carriage: "Big brother, Fu Jin is calling for you."

  Wen He's gentle voice gradually calmed Hong Qian's heart, analyzing the aunt's motives: "......She said it in front of so many people, just to make a big deal out of it. Making a big deal out of it is not good for me or her daughter, why do it like this..."

  "Qinglian and her aunt were fundamentally different, it seemed that she was just a adopted daughter raised by her own mother, without much emotional connection."

  Quan Pei's words made Hong Qian's face reveal a sudden realization: "This makes sense, Auntie doesn't care about Qinglian's life or death at all, she just wants to achieve her goal of slandering me. But then again why..."

  "Wait and see what news can be found..."