Chapter 54: Starting a Small Stove

Once, Jiang Xuening thought about the eighteen methods of Confucius sage; Now, she can't help but start pondering her eighteen ways of doing things.

In the strange look in her eyes that everyone had seen before, there was suddenly a hint of sympathy.

After all, jealousy leads to jealousy, and looking down upon oneself leads to looking down upon oneself. No one expected that even if one played the piano poorly, they would be detained by the teacher. No matter how gentle Mr. Xie may seem, for students, this kind of thing can be considered "bad news", which is quite frightening.

So, in the coming time

Everyone took Jiang Xuening as a lesson from the past, and even Shen Zhiyi, who had a relaxed demeanor before, put in a lot of effort to practice the piano seriously, fearing that the next one left by her husband would be herself.

Jiang Xuening remained silent.

For an entire hour, she sat in her seat and dared not touch the qin.

At the end of school, everyone stood up to bid farewell to Xie Wei.

Jiang Xuening couldn't help but turn her gaze to others.

Xiao Shu, who doesn't show off her beauty, just glanced at her.

It seems that someone like You Yue, who clearly has a relationship with her, let out a soft snort from her nose, which is quite a source of schadenfreude.

Fang Miao looked at her with all kinds of pity, giving her an helpless look.

Jiang Xuening knew that others were unreliable, but she still tried to catch the last straw. When Shen Zhiyi passed by, she shouted, "Your Highness, Princess Royal Highness Princess..."

Shen Zhiyi walked over and shook her hand, saying earnestly, "Mr. Xie is very kind, you need to work hard."

Jiang Xuening: "..."

Shen Zhiyi nodded at her with encouragement, clenched her fists, and then walked out of the hall.

A bit desperate.

Everyone has left clean.

Most of the palace attendants also dispersed.

The outside sky shone on the window paper, shining white.

Xie Wei put his Emei into his qin bag, held it diagonally in his arms, and walked down from the hall. He only glanced at her and said, "Follow me."

Jiang Xuening felt so cold in her heart that she had to keep up with her step.

But unexpectedly, Xie Wei's footsteps stopped just one step away.

His eyes drooped, and half of the light at the entrance of the palace fell into his eyelashes and pupils, making it appear darker and darker. He reminded her, "Qin."

Jiang Xuening finally realized and carefully picked up the Zhang Jiao'an that she had hardly touched today.

Xie Wei left the hall and headed straight towards the side hall.

After all, he is somewhat different from other gentlemen, and he has always presided over scripture banquets and lectures in the palace over the years. This time, the side hall of the Fengchen Hall was specially opened up for him to rest in the palace.

The closer Jiang Xuening got to the side hall, the more her eyelids twitched.

At the entrance of the Piandian Hall, there was a young eunuch leaning under the porch to serve. As soon as Xie Wei came over, he quickly stood up straight and approached with a smile on his face. "Young Master, have you worked hard? Is this the end of school? The Ministry of Internal Affairs has sent autumn tea from Fujian a while ago. Can I brew it for you?"

Xie Wei gave a faint "hmm".

The eunuch was about to go down to the neighboring tea room to brew tea, but as he retreated, he couldn't help but curiously glance at Jiang Xuening, as if wondering why Master Xie brought a girl here.

Xie Wei entered the side hall.

Jiang Xuening's footsteps stopped at the entrance of the palace, as if there were some kind of dragon pond or tiger's den inside, afraid to step in.

Xie Wei didn't turn his head back and said, "Come in."

===Kunning Section 68===

Jiang Xuening's heart sank, thinking that at least he was in the imperial palace now. Even if Xie Wei had the ability in secret, he wouldn't have killed anyone in broad daylight. So he stepped in.

A warm and harmonious breath immediately rushed towards me.

She couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

The side hall is much smaller than the main hall, and the layout is not as spacious. However, except for the open door and the window facing east, all other doors and windows are tightly closed, and there are also silver charcoal burners installed.

The originally cold floor tiles were covered with thick woolen blankets, and when stepped on, they were quiet and silent.

The high bookshelf serves as a partition.

Various ancient books are piled up on top.

Walking around the bookshelf, one can see a bookshelf, a piano table, and a long wooden platform in the northeast corner. There are several long pieces of wood on top, as well as tools such as rope, ink, planer, and carving knife placed next to it.

Xie Wei hung up his qin and then turned to point at the empty qin table of Jiang Xuening. However, he sat down on the side of the warm kang by the window and lowered his gaze, saying, "I heard that Miss Ning Er saved a eunuch named Zheng Bao at the entrance of Kunning Palace yesterday."

Jiang Xuening had just put down her piano when she almost knelt down in fear upon hearing this.

She thought Xie Wei was really going to teach her how to play the piano when he left her alone, but she didn't expect that just as she entered the side hall, she would say something like this, and her hair would suddenly stand on end!

On that day, rescuing Zheng Baoben was already in front of everyone, and even if she wanted to deny it, she couldn't deny it, let alone now being asked in person by Xie Wei.

This is a person who will rebel in the future and must have their own ears and eyes in the palace.

If you pretend to be crazy and foolish in front of Xie Wei, it is seeking death.

Jiang Xuening forced herself to calm down and replied hesitantly, "Yes."

Xie Wei's thoughts floated up in his eyes and he said to her, "The eunuch Wang Xinyi, the palm seal eunuch of the Ministry of Rites, is a popular figure around the Holy One. Although Zheng Bao works in the harem, he is an inconspicuous eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace. However, Wang Xinyi has always had a keen eye on him in secret. He is considered half of Zheng Bao's master, and because Zheng Bao is loyal and filial, he has been looking for opportunities to promote him recently. Miss Ning Er's kindness is quite coincidental."

Jiang Xuening never expected that he would know.

The most secretive plan in her heart had not even been put up for a day, and the next day she was exposed by someone, which really made her tremble with fear.

She instinctively lies and denies.

I could lift my head and only look at Xie Wei's clear and clear gaze, as if I had seen through her completely. The courage that had just emerged was completely extinguished, and I felt my throat dry and speechless.

Xie Wei looked at her calmly and said, "Do you know this and intend to save him?"

Jiang Xuening dare not admit it.

After all, Xie Wei had already warned her the last time she entered the palace, asking her to stay obediently under his nose and not cause trouble, nor to make him angry.

But he dare not lie in front of Xie Wei.

Because lying leads to even worse consequences.

In an instant, Jiang Xuening's thoughts turned a thousand times. At a critical moment, she suddenly remembered the ultimate move she had used to deal with Xie Wei in the main hall of the Fengchen Palace. She then flattened her lips, lowered her eyebrows and eyes, and even buried her head with a pout.

There are too many sad things, just thinking about them can make you cry.

When she looked up again, her eyes turned red and tears welled up in her eyes. It was like a rising tide on a flat lake, about to overflow. She reluctantly said, "There are so many things in the palace. What about Wang Xinyi and Wang Jiuyi? I'm just one who has only been in the palace for a few days. How could I know so much?"

"..."

Xie Wei watched as she remained silent.

Jiang Xuening felt that his reaction was somewhat wrong, different from what he had previously thought, and his heart couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

But the play has already been performed, can we still retract it?

She forced herself to continue to cry: "What's more, at the beginning, I didn't want to save the little eunuch named Zheng Bao. When we passed back, we saw His Highness the King of Linzi standing in front of him as if to save him. But later, after interrupting, His Highness forgot about it. I saw that the little eunuch was pathetic, so I said a word to His Highness the Long Royal Highness Princess. It was His Highness the Long Royal Highness Princess who really said the word to save people. Mr. Xie repeatedly said he wanted to trust me last time, but now there are many things that seem like he wants to trust me? Deception! "

The young girl is in her prime, with a beautiful appearance and delicate and bright facial features, and even a bit cold and flashy. However, when crying, she lowered her eyebrows and eyes, with a low and small posture, pretending to be pitiful.

There is a bit of cunning and mischief ingrained in the bones.

Crying and pretending to look at him unintentionally, his black and white eyes were like moist glass, with a hint of seduction in between.

Xie Wei couldn't help but think: Does he look like someone who really likes this kind of thing?

At first, Jiang Xuening cried because she felt that Xie Wei had eaten this trick, thinking that maybe she could get by with it. Unexpectedly, Xie Wei looked at her with this thoughtful gaze, as if not moved.

The more you cry, the more uncertain your heart becomes.

At this moment, there was a light tap outside the door, and the young eunuch brought in tea and said, "Young Master, tea."

Her choking voice stopped for a moment.

The little eunuch brought two cups of tea, one placed on the kang table next to Xie Wei's hand, and the other placed next to the qin table in front of Jiang Xuening. He didn't know if he had heard what had happened in this side hall before, nor did he look up again. After placing the tea cups, he bowed and walked out.

Xie Wei picked up the tea cup, lifted the tea lid, and listened to the crying stop. He only raised his eyebrows and said, "Stop crying?"

Jiang Xuening: "..."

At this point, it's really foolish to see that Xie Wei doesn't actually take this approach.

She was honest and said, "I suddenly feel like I'm not that sad either."

Xie Wei let out an "oh" sound and took a sip of tea with a contented posture. He looked at her with a smile on his face and said, "I can't tell. Learning to play the piano is not very good, but pretending to cry is quite strong."

Jiang Xuening was sullen and said, "Aren't you afraid of punishment?"

Xie Wei said, "Even if you don't do anything wrong, you're afraid of ghosts knocking on your door?"

Jiang Xuening muttered in a low voice, "Do we not allow ghosts to walk through the wrong door?"

Xie Wei remained silent and looked at her.

Jiang Xuening immediately buried her head and dared not raise any further objections, saying, "Mr. Xie is right. How powerful is being a ghost? How could you not know the door?"

Xie Wei: "..."

He put down the tea cup and asked her again, "Why did you save Zheng Bao?"

Jiang Xuening appeared obedient on the surface, but her mind had already started spinning rapidly.

To be honest, one must be stubborn.

If you have to tell all the lies, I'm afraid Xie Wei won't believe it.

So she immediately had a compromise idea, and forced her resistance and defense down, making herself look more vulnerable and sincere at the moment. She said: "Xue Ning was helpless when she first came to the palace. My husband and Yan Lin, together with the eldest Royal Highness Princess, wanted me to enter the palace and make a show of themselves. Other accompanying readers naturally regarded me as enemies. If there was no personal care, if there was something in the palace, it would be dangerous, and I would not know how to die someday. I was afraid, so when I came back from Kunning Palace, I thought that if I could save the next eunuch, it might be useful in the future."

Xie Wei fell silent upon hearing the words.

Jiang Xuening's voice softened as she defended herself, "My mind is impure, but no one else has given me the opportunity to be a good person. The gentleman only blames me when he sees what I have done, but never puts himself in my shoes."

No one knows better than Xie Wei what happened in the Cining Palace and how much involvement there was afterwards.

At this moment, when Jiang Xuening mentioned it, his gaze changed.

Finally, he asked her, "Are you feeling wronged in your heart?"

Jiang Xuening nodded and said, "I feel wronged."

Xie Wei remained silent again.

Jiang Xuening's heart was pounding wildly. When she looked up, she was slightly afraid, but she still harbored some hope. She tentatively asked, "So, Zheng Baozhen is really so powerful. Will he be promoted by that Wang Xinyi in the future?"

This looks like I didn't know Zheng Baobao was so powerful, but I just learned from him just now.

Xie Wei couldn't help but want to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Just lifting her eyelids, she saw her hands resting on her knees and sitting obediently behind the piano table, her thick and dark eyelashes moistened, and her snow-white cheeks still had tears that had not been wiped dry before. Finally, she turned her mind and said, "It's okay."

He said to her, "Wang Xinyi just has this plan, but things in the palace are also changing rapidly. If you are optimistic about one person today, you may suffer a complete defeat tomorrow. Some business operations in the palace are not bad, but if you accidentally get involved in a fight, it may not necessarily harm yourself. I have been entrusted by Yan Lin and requested by my father, so I will give you some advice. Be careful of your actions and don't make mistakes."

The four words "line difference and wrong step" have profound meanings.

Jiang Xuening knew that he was not referring to simply offering favors to Zheng Bao for someone to take care of him in the palace. He was probably warning himself not to report his rebellious intentions through Zheng Bao. How could he dare not behave?

She closed her eyes and said, "Yes, Mr. Xie, please give me some advice."

Xie Wei said, "Qin, please try again and let me see."

Jiang Xuening was full of thoughts and was still engaged in a "intellectual battle" with Xie Wei. Unexpectedly, he didn't even change his tone and directly talked about the qin. Therefore, he was stunned for a while before realizing it——

After making a fuss for a long time, we still need to open a small stove for her.

She thought she would let go of Zheng Bao if she mentioned it!

Jiao'an is placed on the piano table.

Jiang Xuening wants to die.

Xie Wei frowned lightly as he saw her motionless and said, "I'm fine this afternoon too. If you don't play, you'll just waste it here."

Who wants to waste time with you here!

It's more terrifying than staying with the Prince of Yan!

After weighing the two, Jiang Xuening finally realized that her desire for survival was overwhelming her limited backbone. She took a deep breath, sat up straight, landed on her fingerstrings, and stumbled and played a short section of Xie Weijiao's "Immortal Cao".

This song, also known as "Tiao Xian Chu Nong", is a commonly known finger opening melody for beginners of the piano, mainly used for practicing finger techniques.

Although Jiang Xuening did not touch the qin in the hall, he deliberately wrote down this small piece of music.

At this moment, although the harmonic fingering is not accurate, there is actually no major mistake.

Xie Wei looked at her finger and said, "Keep playing."

Jiang Xuening didn't dare to say anything more. She held it in her heart in one breath, and when her fingers were lifted again, it became even tighter.

This time I just pointed down, and the first adjustment was heavy.

Xie Wei got up and walked over to her piano table to take a closer look.

But the more he looked, the more mistakes Jiang Xuening made, and he couldn't even play the first time.

Xie Wei knew she was afraid of herself, but this was also an unsolvable matter, and he always focused on one of the qin matters. He said, "This song corresponds throughout, and the end of each sentence is a scattered press. If you press the strings too tightly, you need to release them more loosely when playing."

Jiang Xuening tried to relax and played again.

Xie Wei only said "rotten wood is difficult to carve." Seeing that although her right hand seemed to be loose, her left five fingers were still curled up and her fingering was not correct, she frowned and leaned forward slightly, extending her hand.

Jiang Xuening's fingers are as thin as scallions, and there is a faint powder under her transparent nails. Even if her fingering is not accurate, it looks really beautiful when pressed against the strings.

When learning to play the piano, both the jade bracelet and bracelet were taken off.

Xie Wei was supposed to teach her the correct fingering technique, but as she lowered her gaze, she saw a thin, white wrist exposed. The scar she had used to draw blood from before was like an old thorn, crawling on her snow-white skin.

Although it has faded, it still looks a bit fierce and glaring.

His fingers, which had just been poked out, froze for a moment.

===Kunning Section 69===

Jiang Xuening just finished playing it over and realized that she was much better than the first time. She was thinking that she had made progress and deserved praise, but she didn't expect Xie Wei to hit her back with a "rotten wood is hard to carve" sentence. She didn't expect him to suddenly extend his hand towards her.

At this moment, my entire scalp was numb.

Looking at Xie Wei's gaze again, it landed on the scar between her wrist without bias. For some reason, she suddenly became so scared that she was afraid of being touched by him. In a hurry, she quickly stood up!

"Bang Dang!"

She was originally sitting at the piano table, but suddenly got up and became anxious. She bumped against the edge of the table in front, tripped over the brocade stool behind her, and suddenly the table tilted a few times, causing her whole body to scream and tilt back.

Xie Wei immediately reached out his hand upon seeing it——

His sky blue crane cloak, with wide sleeves and robes, swept past Jiang Xuening's eyes like the wind.

And then

Holding onto the Jiao'an Guqin steadily.

With a loud thud, the piano table fell down, and the brocade stool also fell down. Jiang Xuening fell into the thick velvet blanket, feeling a bit painful and her eyes glazed.

The banana temple landed safely in Xie Wei's palm.

He stood holding the piano and also looked at her.

Quiet.

Besides being quiet, it's still quiet.

Xie Wei: "..."

What seems to be wrong?

Jiang Xuening: "..."

No, there doesn't seem to be any problem.