Chapter 36: The Wind and Rain Are Coming Tonight, Part 2 of 2

  Here is the translation: (Today's second update is presented)

  Qing Sang immersed his body in the warm water, closed his eyes and relaxed as much as possible.

  Today's events happened too suddenly, so she was still a bit stunned.

  The physical aches and pains told her she had transformed from a 'girl' into a 'woman'.

  Qing Sang let out a soft sigh and opened her eyes to gaze at the 'flower' petals floating on the surface of the water in the wooden bucket.

  In her previous life, she was thirty years old and had never experienced anything, often being teased by her best friend Ye Er as an "old virgin", so this time it was the first time for both lives.

  Qing Sang wasn't a woman of this era, after all, and she wouldn't die for her chastity. Moreover, she didn't blame Tong either, but only felt vaguely guilty towards the recently deceased Tong Hua. They were both being manipulated by someone, and Qing Sang had already suspected that person to be the Sixth Prince, Tong Ping.

  Tang Ping's arrival was too coincidental.

  On the way back, she took out the brocade pouch and asked Jingyu, only to find that the brocade pouch had been borrowed by Tongjun. Tongjun said he had already 'handed it over' to the palace's official in charge of orders, asking her to make another one just like it, but it hadn't been delivered yet, and somehow it ended up outside the palace again.

  Qing Sang felt a chill run down her spine as she listened, this palace's waters were indeed not ordinary. It must be that someone had taken advantage of the opportunity to bring the brocade pouch and deceive her.

  Tang Kun saw the brocade pouch in Qing Sang's hand, and his small brain thought that the 'female' officials of the Ministry of Works were embezzling and stealing, shouting to go back and punish them.

  Qing Sang originally wanted to persuade and comfort, but after some thought, he decided it was also good to let the eighth prince stir up trouble. At least by stirring up this muddy water, the fish hidden beneath could be made to surface.

  Qingsang returned the brocade pouch to Tongjun.

  Ge Yun'er had a gloomy face and didn't speak all the way. She wanted to question Qing Sang about what happened in the mansion, but with two children present, she couldn't bring herself to ask, and it was hard for her to bear the suffocation in her heart. On their wedding day, before the wine ceremony ended, news of the Crown Prince's death arrived, and her new husband rushed to mourn, not returning for several days. When he came back two days ago, he didn't even acknowledge her, sleeping in the study at night, leaving her alone in an empty room, already filled with resentment and grievances. Today, after receiving the Queen Mother of Qing Wang's instructions, she braved the heavy rain to rush to the south of the city, only to bump into her husband meeting another woman in secret, and her hatred for Qing Sang didn't need to be said, but she couldn't find an opportunity to vent, so she could only force herself to endure.

  Qingsang knew she was unhappy in her heart and didn't go to provoke her. The group of people arrived at the Pu Mansion like this.

  Tang Kun, Qing Yu got off the carriage with Ce. As soon as the three of them landed, the horse cart rushed away, and the flying dust choked the three of them into a fit of coughing, which also made Tang Kun complain for a few sentences.

  Entering the mansion, it was discovered that the interior had already been thrown into chaos.

  After a while, Xue Pen saw that Qing Sang had not returned to the mansion, thinking that Miss might have encountered danger, and hurriedly ran to report to Wang Shi.

  Wang heard that Qing Sang had gone missing and, because the old master was not at home, she lost her mainstay and hastily told Uncle Xiang to report it to the authorities.

  The governor of the mansion learned that the daughter of the Shangshu Ling's family had disappeared, and he immediately sent people to search everywhere. According to what Xue Pan said, Qing Sang should have used agate beads as a marker along the way. The yamen searched everywhere but only found two grains at the gate of the mansion, and nothing else was found, guessing that they had already been picked up by someone.

  Just when everyone was at a loss for what to do, Qing Sang returned.

  It turned out that the child who had entered the house with him was actually the Eighth Prince, and the Magistrate of the Prefecture was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed. The others in the Pu Mansion were relatively calm as they had seen many big shots in the imperial court over the years, and they also paid their respects in an orderly manner.

  The master of the mansion saw Qing Sang return safely and felt that he couldn't stay in the mansion any longer, so he bid farewell and left.

  Wang wanted to ask his daughter carefully, but since the eighth prince had come to the mansion, he could only make arrangements first. Besides, it had been a long time since he saw his son Xingyu, and he missed him so much that he didn't need to say anything, so he was busy accompanying his son first.

  Qing Sang can finally have some peace and quiet.

  Ming Xue prepared a bath, ready to take a good hot water bath and sort out her thoughts.

  After bathing, she changed into a clean set of clothes. Qing Sang felt drowsy and lay down on the couch to rest for a while.

  Unexpectedly, he fell asleep until evening. When he woke up, he saw that the candlelight in the room was emitting a dim glow, casting shadows all around.

  For some reason, Qing Sang suddenly felt a little scared and shouted several times for Xue Yan, but there was no echo.

  Put on outer garment and opened the door of the house, outside was already a pitch black.

  As they walked out of the room, they stumbled forward in the dark and suddenly bumped into a figure carrying a lantern, causing both to let out a loud shriek at the same time.

  "Miss, you're awake. Are you alright?" Xue Pen asked hastily, borrowing the faint light of the lantern to see that it was indeed the miss who had collided with him.

  "It's nothing, just a fright. Where did you go?" Qing Sang asked.

  Xue Pan supported Qing Sang with one hand and held a lantern with the other, accompanying her as they walked towards the house. As they walked, he said: "Master has secretly sent Jimo to deliver a message, asking Madame to take Old Lady, Third Madam, Miss, and Young Master to the countryside to avoid danger."

  "What's going on?" Qing Sang asked nervously. Had something unexpected happened in the court? Thinking this, Qing Sang felt a sense of fear.

  Xue Pen said in a low voice: "Xi Mo only said that Master told Da Niang to take everyone to her mother's house to avoid it for the time being."

  Qingsang saw Xuepan lower her head, her voice even softer, and her heart stirred as she said: "You little ghost, still hiding from me, quickly tell me, what did Jimo say to you in private?"

  Her face turned red, and she said: "I was curious, so I secretly asked Jimu, he said that the palace had a plague, and 50 or 60 people have already died. The emperor has let the empress take all the ladies of the palace and the princes and princesses to the Ximing Mountain Palace. Master is afraid that the plague will spread out of the palace, so he secretly sent Jimu back."

  Qing Sang nodded, and indeed a plague broke out in the palace. He asked again: "Can Ji Mo say why the Emperor allowed Father to enter the palace?"

  Xue Pen shook her head and said, "I didn't ask."

  Qing Sang smoothed out her hanging green silk and suddenly thought of Jing Yu, asking: "Where are the Eighth Prince and Gongzi?"

  "The eighth prince had already received the order to return to the palace, because he also wanted to go to Siming Palace, so Gongzi didn't go with him and stayed in the mansion." Xuepan replied.

  Qing Sang finally felt at ease. Jing Yu was now at home, Qing He had returned to the Clear Water Temple for cultivation, and apart from his father, everyone else in the household was temporarily safe.

  The next day, Wang was just ordering people to pack up their luggage when suddenly the gatekeeper reported that the King of Qing had arrived.

  Out of the 'door', a luxurious and majestic carriage was seen parked at the gate.

  An old man quickly took the car stool and placed it beside the carriage, lifted up the curtain. Then he saw King Qing's concubine Tang walking down, closely followed by Queen Qing Ge Yun'er.

  After what happened yesterday, Qing saw Tong again, and she felt uneasy all over, her face burning hot, and her hands and feet were at a loss.

  Tang looked at Qing Sang, and all he could see was that her originally delicate and pretty face had lost its youthful innocence due to becoming a 'woman', revealing a hint of allure that left him suddenly losing his soul.

  The two stood there for a while until the people around them knelt down and paid their respects, before they came back to their senses.

  Qing Sang Zheng was about to kneel down when Tong hastily spoke up and spared him.

  Tang'er and Ge Yun'er entered the mansion, but before they could sit down, Ge Yun'er asked Wang Shi to take her for a walk in the backyard. Wang Shi saw that Qing Wangfei had spoken up, although she felt it was improper to leave Qing Sang and Tang'er behind, she didn't dare neglect Ge Yun'er's request, so she accompanied her to the backyard.

  The hall was left with only Táng and Qing Sang.

  Qingsang only felt his heart and liver 'chaotic' collision, nervously pinching and rubbing the cuff.

  Yu Li, she couldn't be alone with Tong, but she knew that Ge Yun'er was doing this on purpose. She just couldn't figure out why Yun'er would be so brazen, or if this was Tong's intention.

  Just as she was indulging in wild fancies, Tong Nian suddenly said to her: "Today Yun'er suggested that I accompany her to the Pu manor, and I agreed."

  Qing Sang looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her, her face turned red, and she lowered her head again, her heart beating uncontrollably.

  Qing Sang scolded herself: It's really too shameful, isn't it just because of that one relationship? Do you need to be so tense? Can't you just pretend nothing happened? You're from the 21st century, after all.

  On one side, Qing Sang was scolding herself in her heart, while on the other side, Tong Yan continued to say: "Although I know that Yun Er's trip is to please me, but because I can see you, I also feel pleased."

  Qing Sang had slowly calmed down by this time, and upon hearing his words, couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Yun'er. He then said: "As a wife, having to use another woman to please one's husband, Your Highness, do you know the bitterness of this?"

  Tang smiled wryly and said: "In my heart, there is only you, I really can't put other women in my heart, so I don't care about those things."

  Qingsang listened and looked deeply at Tong'er, with waves of ripples rising in her heart.