Ch. 8 - Xiao Nong: You just stepped into the courtyard with your left foot first, right?
Reborn: I Found The Wrong BrotherThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
The carriage drove leisurely on the avenue. Through the thick curtain, Zhanrong could feel the distress of the people inside, and asked thoughtfully: "Master, do you want me to go down and beat the second young master?"
It's not that he had never been beaten before, but Xiao Wenlan had been a lazy and gluttonous person since he was young, and was deliberately raised to be a good-for-nothing who only cared about food and not beatings.
Xiao Nong rubbed his temples: "Tell someone to take care of him."
"Do you want to tell the second young master not to cause trouble?"
Xiao Nong's expression was cold: "I have to tell him not to mess with me."
"……yes."
Xiao Nong was sitting in a fixed wheelchair, with her eyes covered with gauze. It was not comfortable in the carriage, and he was too lazy to think about that bad thing.
Suddenly, the person kneeling next to Xiao Wenlan among the group of unlearned and unskilled people flashed through his mind.
His eyes hadn't fully recovered yet, and his vision was blurry through the gauze. He couldn't see clearly from a distance. He only felt that the child's hair was slightly messy and extra soft, which reminded him of the little bird that flew into Changliu Villa in the past few days.
The letter about the little bird was delivered to Xiao Nong's desk last night.
That day, he came with the carriage of Lord Anping's house. The investigating secret guards went to Lord Anping's house to investigate and found out that Lord Anping did have an adopted son named "Yuan Yuan". The family said that this adopted young master was born extremely beautiful, but is in poor health and rarely appears in public.
The Anping family has been getting worse and worse over the years, and there is no one who can speak to them in court. Before Xiao Nong returned to the capital, he sent a few beauties, but Zhan Rong sent them back.
Probably because he heard the rumor-mongering bastard saying that Xiao Nong liked men, Uncle An Ping sent his adopted son away again.
Pathetic fools.
His fingers knocked on the armrest of the wheelchair unconsciously, and Xiao Nong said: "Hurry up, finish your work and go back as soon as possible."
Zhan Rong has followed Xiao Nong for many years, and the prince has always done things neatly. He never gave such unnecessary instructions. The tips of his ears twitched and he asked smartly: "Master is in a hurry to go back, is it for the sake of the young master who is about to come?"
It seemed that it was almost time for the young master to come to the other courtyard.
Xiao Nong sneered coldly: "How is it possible to rush your carriage?"
Feeling bad, Zhanrong rubbed his nose and felt that he was overthinking.
Yes, how is it possible?
On the other side, as Xiao Nong's carriage drove away, a group of people breathed a sigh of relief, supported each other to stand up, and wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
Xiao Wenlan's hands and feet were especially weak, and his face was pale: "It's over, it's over, I'm dead... Everyone, I won't drink any more today, I'll take my leave first!"
The others sympathized with Xiao Wenlan and expressed their understanding: "Go home quickly, Brother Xiao."
"Oh, I'm so unlucky to bump into this evil god."
"Master Xiao, please go back in peace, we will take good care of Mr. Zhong!"
Zhong Yansheng saw that they were chatting lively. From the corner of his eye, he saw a carriage on the opposite side of the street. He looked at Yuncheng who didn't dare to come over. He hunched over and prepared to sneak away. Who knew that his was called after taking just two steps?
A group of people came over with bright eyes: "Where is the young master going?"
"Let's go and decide on the location of Jiuxiang Tower. Master Zhong, let's have a drink together."
"Fortunately, because of the incident where Young Master Zhong fell into the water, His Highness Prince Jing was fined and grounded. Otherwise, if he had come together, we would have been unable to talk to Young Master Zhong again."
"Haha, His Highness Prince Jing is often punished and grounded. After a while, he will be able to come out and enjoy himself with us."
Zhong Yansheng: "..."
No wonder, King Jing never showed up. It turned out that he was fined and grounded.
Some of these people looked familiar. They had met him when King Jing invited him to visit the garden. They were all young masters and nobles in the capital. Furthermore, they were usually pampered by the family. They were domineering and arrogant. To greet him so warmly, If you refuse, you will slap them in the face and offend them.
The Marquis of Huai'an had been away from Beijing for many years and had only returned less than a month ago. Zhong Yansheng did not want to cause trouble to the Marquis's family and offend others.
Especially after knowing that he is not the real heir apparent of the Huai'an Marquis Mansion.
Yesterday, he told Master Zhen that he would deliver snacks today, but Master Zhen didn't agree, so he probably wouldn't care even if he didn't go.
It's not good to say you're going but not go. If you don't keep your promise, even though it's a unilateral promise, there's nothing you can do about it.
Zhong Yansheng struggled in his heart for a while, and finally reluctantly waved his hand vaguely to Yun Cheng opposite, signaling him to stay away, then turned back and responded in a low voice: "Okay, but I don't drink."
The young man nearby had black hair and fair skin, and his eyes were naturally affectionate. He also spoke with a soft accent, like Si Gusu. Everyone was excited and just wanted to coax him to go with them. They kept nodding: "Okay, okay, just drink tea. Let none of us drink.”
Some people were dissatisfied: "How boring would it be to go to a restaurant without drinking?"
Xiao Wenlan had already returned home, and everyone surrounded Zhong Yansheng and headed to the restaurant noisily.
This street in Dongshi is the most prosperous. Jiuxiang Tower is at the end of the long street, facing the lake, and the location is quite good.
Obviously, this group of children from aristocratic families are regular visitors to Jiuxiang Tower. As soon as they entered the door, they were greeted attentively by a waiter, who ushered them into the most luxurious box upstairs with a bright smile. Behind the curtain, there were already violinists and singers waiting for them. Wine and delicacies were fragrant on the table. The windows were wide open. When you walked around the screen, you could see the forest of eaves on the other side, and many painted boats floating in the lake.
Zhong Yansheng looked over there curiously. Sensing his gaze, someone approached him and said, "Looking over there?"
On the way, everyone exchanged names with Zhong Yansheng. Zhong Yansheng remembered that this person was named Meng Qiping, the third young master of the Duke of Pei State.
Meng Qiping stared at Zhong Yansheng's face and smiled ambiguously: "Where does Mr. Zhong want to go?"
Hearing this, several people also laughed inexplicably.
Zhong Yansheng was keenly aware that this man was not very kind and tilted his head: "Can't we go there?"
The eyes that looked over were dark and bright, as moist and penetrating as a young deer.
Meng Qiping's heart skipped a beat, but before he could say anything, he was warned: "Meng San, don't scare people."
Zhong Yansheng is the son of the Marquis of Huai'an. His grandfather is the commander-in-chief of Taiyuan, and his father is the young minister of Dali Temple. Even if his family background is not as good as his, he is not a gadget that can be played with casually.
"Okay." Meng Qiping shrugged, still staring at Zhong Yansheng's face, his smile became brighter, "Opposite is the Qin Tower and the Chu Pavilion. If master Zhong wants to see it, he has to ask me to accompany him, because it's very dangerous for you over there.”
Zhong Yansheng did not show the fear he expected. He looked away without interest and nodded politely: "Oh, then I don't want to go, thank you."
"..."
Meng Qiping laughed inexplicably and couldn't help but feel itchy. He has a large group of warblers and swallows in his backyard, many of which are well-behaved and good-looking, but none of them are like Zhong Yansheng.
Zhong Yansheng has a beautiful face, it is as clean as a piece of white paper. It seems that one can smear any color on it at will and carve it into a look that is completely their own. It can easily arouse the worst desires in people's hearts.
Meng Qiping took a deep breath, and felt that the breath on his body was also refreshing. His fingers were numb with excitement, and he got closer and closer. He smiled and said, "I always call you Mr. Zhong. Do you have a nickname?"
He was too close, and his tone was frivolous. Zhong Yansheng felt uncomfortable and stepped back, shaking his head.
He told a little lie.
Yuanyuan is a nickname known only to those in the family. Only those close to him can call him. Zhong Yansheng didn't want to be called that by these people.
"Then, can I call you Yan Yan?" Meng Qiping said to himself as if he was very satisfied, "I will call you Yan Yan from now on."
Zhong Yansheng didn't recognize the name Yan Yan in his heart, so he didn't care and said perfunctorily, "Yeah."
The pianist behind the scenes played music, and everyone took their seats, changing glasses and chatting amidst the sound of silk and bamboo. As soon as they talked, they couldn't help but talk about Xiao Wenlan who left the show in a hurry, and they all sighed: "Brother Xiao is so miserable, having such a vicious cousin pressing down on his head."
"Haha, Xiao Wenlan is usually very proud, but when he saw Prince Ding, he turned into a coward."
"That's Prince Ding. Don't talk about Xiao Wenlan. I was so scared when I heard him speak across the carriage just now."
"That's right, you're also cowardly, and you keep shaking."
"I'm shaking because Xiao Wenlan kept poking me with his fan... I have to thank Mr. Zhong for saving my life."
The red-faced young man in Tsing Yi who argued was the one who had been stabbed by Xiao Wenlan's fan before. He had interrupted Meng Qiping's nonsense just now. Zhong Yansheng felt that he was the normal one among the people in front of him, so he smiled at him.
The others suddenly became jealous and thought about how to behave in front of Zhong Yansheng.
Then Zhong Yansheng asked curiously: "Do you know King Ding? What does he look like?"
The atmosphere in the box fell silent for an instant, and even the pianist behind the scenes twitched his fingertips and played two wrong notes.
When King Ding was mentioned, everyone looked at each other and their appetites were not very good. After a long while, Meng Qiping slapped his hands with an unlucky look on his face: "Why should Yan Yan be curious about that evil god?"
The young man in green touched his chin and answered the question seriously: "His Royal Highness Prince Ding... My family used to have some connection with the Xiao family, and they knew each other a little bit. The Xiao family volunteered to guard the border from generation to generation. The old King Ding married a foreign woman at that time. His Royal Highness Prince Ding is half foreign blood, and his eyes are said to be dark blue. "
"Huh, blue eyes? Like a monster."
Zhong Yansheng didn't agree with this statement and thought about it carefully.
Dark blue, those must be very beautiful eyes.
Anyway, Prince Ding was not present. When others saw that Zhong Yansheng was interested in this topic, they added one after another: "I heard that Prince Ding was very handsome. My sister said at home every day that she wanted to marry Prince Ding. She is such a short temper girl. I advised her not to do it. Forget about listening to me, she doesn't even want her life.”
"Haha, that kind of person wouldn't like to care for others. Your sister should just give up. He's not as good as me..."
"Bah, that's a nice thought. Even if you kill me, I won't let my sister marry you."
"How come I heard that King Ding is ugly and ferocious? Those barbarians call him Living Yama."
"I eavesdropped on my father's conversation a few days ago. It seems that King Ding had been back to Beijing a few days ago. Because he was poisoned by barbarians outside the border, he had difficulty in moving. He had been recuperating in a separate courtyard outside Beijing those days. It's scary, my father also doesn't know why he suddenly came to Beijing today.”
"I know this too. My dad was still thinking of sending something away. As soon as he arrived outside the other courtyard, King Ding said he couldn't see any outsiders. Everyone who went there was kicked back, without inviting them inside. Hey, he didn't take us seriously at all."
Everyone was talking a lot. Zhong Yansheng held a tea cup and sipped the tea while listening, enjoying the sound.
Meng Qiping saw that he didn't even look at him, but was rather interested in the evil spirit. He felt unhappy and poured cold water on him: "Don't be curious about such a dangerous person, let alone provoke him. If you are not careful, your head will be lost."
Zhong Yansheng felt that he had said something nonsense and nodded: "Yeah."
It's not like he's too idle and in a good mood, so why bother provoking King Ding.
Because Zhong Yansheng was there, and he had promised not to mess around beforehand, everyone was not having too much fun.
This group of people all have an elder brother who can take care of things, and the family does not expect them to do anything. Thank God for not causing serious troubles. They have nothing to do on weekdays. They just delve into matters of eating, drinking and having fun. They are quite proficient.
After playing with them for a long time, a smile gradually appeared on his face.
It was getting late outside, unconsciously.
Zhong Yansheng was happy being teased, but Xiao Nong was not in a good mood all day long.
The whole yard was quiet, even the sound of the wind had stopped. All the subordinates were silently hiding in the shadows to avoid being seen, picking out the bones and being scolded.
Xiao Nong had a book spread out on his knees, but he never turned the page. His knuckles were tapping the armrests of the wheelchair, and he suddenly said: "Zhan Rong."
Zhan Rong, who was guarding outside the courtyard, secretly cursed his bad luck and walked in with heavy steps: "Master, what important orders do you have?"
Xiao Nong: "What time is it?"
"Return to the master," Zhan Rong carefully replied, "it's a quarter of an hour."
"At the moment of Xu." Xiao Nong nodded slowly and repeated, "At the moment of Xu."
[Xu = 7 to 9 P.M.]
When the young master left yesterday, he said he would come to deliver snacks today, but he didn't show up until a quarter of an hour.
Zhan Rong's cold face was not very tense, so he gritted his teeth and said, "That young master may have been delayed by something on the road..."
"Did I mention him?"
Xiao Nong crossed his legs, leaned back, and said coldly: "What are you speculating on?"
Zhan Rong was speechless: "I know my mistake."
Seeing that Xiao Nong became quiet again and lowered his head to turn the pages of the book, Zhan Rong felt relieved and thought he had escaped.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Xiao Nong suddenly raised his head, as if he remembered something, and said in a serious tone: "You just stepped into the courtyard with your left foot first, right?"
Zhan Rong: "...!"
Zhan Rong: "…………!!!"