What's It to You?
Seeing her like this, Zhao Ruxi knew that Xiao Lingyan must have sent someone to deliver the message.
Previously, she and Qingfeng would spend their days traveling around Beining in a carriage, Xiao Lingyan's subordinates would easily slip letters into Qingfeng's hands.
Now that she's holed up in the mansion and not going anywhere, this is the only way Xiao Lingyan can send her a message.
She opened the envelope and, sure enough, found a letter in German.
In his letter, Xiao Lingyan requested to meet her at a secluded courtyard in the south of the city.
Zhao Ruxi frowned.
What important thing could this guy possibly have to talk about?
With the Lunar New Year approaching, many people are coming to Beijing for work reports or returning from other places to celebrate the holiday; families in Beijing are also going out to buy New Year's goods. In short, there are more than twice as many people on the streets as usual.
Others might see it as lively, but Zhao Ruxi saw it as crowded and chaotic. There were many more pickpockets and kidnappers on the street.
She's currently in the limelight, and Princess Pingyang secretly hates her to the core, so she's unwilling to go out.
She wrote a reply to Qingfeng, "Put it on your desk in your room."
Qingfeng visibly flinched, clearly unhappy that someone had appeared in her room in the middle of the night.
Zhao Ruxi smiled and said, "I've already told them about this and asked them to pick up the letter from the study next time. After you put the letter on the table, make do on the soft couch in my room for now. If they pick up the letter tonight, you can go back to your room to sleep tomorrow night."
Young ladies from noble families usually have maids on night duty in their rooms. These maids typically sleep on the bed so they can get up and serve their mistresses if needed at night.
Zhao Ruxi is a modern person at heart. She is not used to being served and values her privacy, so she naturally does not need a maid to stand guard at night.
She decorated her bedroom and study herself. In addition to the bed, there was a soft couch in the bedroom, which she usually used as a sofa.
Qingfeng didn't want to go back to his own room to rest, and it would be difficult to explain the reason to others, so he decided to spend the night in Zhao Ruxi's room.
Qingfeng hesitated for a moment, but still agreed to Zhao Ruxi's suggestion.
The next day, Zhao Ruxi's reply was placed on Xiao Lingyan's desk.
Because Xiao Lingyan was not married, he could not establish his own residence outside the palace and still lived in the palace. Although his subordinates were highly skilled in martial arts and could enter and leave the Earl of Suiping's Residence without being detected, there were countless experts in the palace, so he dared not enter or leave the palace. Therefore, he did not dare to enter the palace last night and waited until today to deliver the letter to Xiao Lingyan after court.
Xiao Lingyan was just about to change his clothes to meet Zhao Ruxi when he read the letter and couldn't help but smile wryly.
Zhao Ruxi said it wasn't safe, and if it wasn't necessary, they shouldn't meet again until she returned to Beining. They could discuss anything over a letter.
Xiao Lingyan sighed, leaned back, and stared blankly at the coffered ceiling on the roof.
Could he have clearly expressed what he wanted to say in a letter?
People say that enemies are destined to meet. In his past life, he and Zhao Ruxi were enemies, always bickering whenever they met. But he didn't know when it started, he fell in love with this nemesis.
He finally managed to get someone to help him arrange a blind date with Zhao Ruxi's aunt, so that he could finally break the ice and change their relationship from enemies to lovers.
Who knew that the moment they met, before his sincere smile could even fully bloom, Zhao Ruxi turned and left, bringing him along to this ancient era—and with that damned, cheesy, sweet romance novel.
Fortunately, the two were still of similar age and appearance when they arrived here. However, given his cannon fodder fate, it was not a good time for him to fall in love, so he kept his feelings hidden.
She thought she could change her fate first, and then slowly express her feelings. Who knew that Zhao Ruxi, a mere fourteen-year-old junior high school student, could attract so many unwanted suitors? How could they do such a thing to a minor?
Although he knew perfectly well that Zhao Ruxi hadn't wanted to date or get married even in her late twenties in her past life, and certainly wouldn't marry a stranger while still a minor in this one, he couldn't shake this sense of crisis. What could he do?
Once the two brothers seize power and ascend to the highest position, he will definitely implement nine-year compulsory education and stipulate that women can only marry at the age of twenty and men at the age of twenty-two!
After thinking about it for a while, he finally resigned himself to his fate, unfolded the letter paper, and wrote down what he wanted to say.
Of course, he dared not reveal his wolfish ambitions, fearing that he would not even have the chance to communicate with Zhao Ruxi in person.
He simply analyzed for her the pros and cons of marriage in ancient times, such as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships, the issue of concubines, and the saying "entering a noble family is like entering a deep sea," almost as if he were adding the heartbreaking line "from then on, Xiao Lang is a stranger."
He didn't say it explicitly, but the deeper meaning conveyed between the lines is quite thought-provoking.
After finishing the letter, he summoned his subordinates and said, "This letter should be sent during the day. I want to receive a reply today."
Although the request was a bit excessive, the highly skilled subordinate said it was no problem.
In the eyes of these experts, the guards of the Earl of Suiping's Residence were practically non-existent.
Qingfeng slept in Zhao Ruxi's room last night, but didn't sleep well. After working half a day, Zhao Ruxi told her to go and rest, so she went back to her room.
She had just entered the house and closed the door when there was a sudden knock on the window behind her.
She looked up at the sound and was immediately startled. There stood a handsome man holding a letter in his hand.
Before she could react, the man placed the letter on the table by the window and disappeared.
Qingfeng clutched his chest, took a couple of breaths, walked to the window, stuffed the letter into his pocket, and then turned and went out the door.
She had seen that young man before when she was at the Court of Judicial Review; his name seemed to be Wang Tong. Later, he repeatedly slipped her letters from various places in Beining. She was quite familiar with him.
She never expected this person to be so bold as to come to the girl's courtyard in broad daylight to deliver a letter to her.
Joining Qingfeng and Dianjiang on duty were Matron Yuan and Yicui.
Seeing Qingfeng return, Matron Yuan smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Didn't the young lady tell you to go and rest?"
Qingfeng smiled at her without speaking, then turned to Zhao Ruxi and said, "Miss, I have something to report to you privately."
Judging from her expression, Zhao Ruxi knew that Xiao Lingyan had caused trouble again.
She turned to Matron Yuan and the other woman and said, "You two can leave now." After they left, she asked, "What happened?"
Qingfeng took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Zhao Ruxi.
Zhao Ruxi took it, frowned, and asked, "How was it delivered?"
Qingfeng recounted what had just happened, and Zhao Ruxi's brows furrowed even more.
She took out the letter and looked at it for a while. She frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed. She picked up her pen and wrote a reply, then put it in the same envelope as before and handed it to Qingfeng: "Go ahead, just put it on the windowsill. You don't need to look away, just watch him take it."
Qingfeng accepted the order and left.
When Xiao Lingyan received the reply and opened it, he found only four words: "What business is it of yours?"