Chapter 170: Must Not Tarnish Your
Translator: 549690339
“Mm, good,” Wei Ruo agreed, a bright smile on her face.
Looking at this smile, Wei Jinyi couldn’t help but soften his gaze.
Soon after, Wei Jinyi asked Wei Ruo, “Can we return a bit later today?”
Wei Ruo nodded.
Seeing this, the sprightly Xiaobei hurriedly said, “Then I’ll go and prepare some food, our courtyard may be small, but our kitchen is not!”
The few of them hadn’t sat down for a meal together in a long time.
Hearing this, Xiumei hurriedly said, “Your cooking is so bad, even good ingredients are wasted by you. Let me do it instead.”
“Yes, yes, Lady Xiumei is right,” Xiaobei said with a smile.
The two of them then went into the kitchen together.
Before Wei Ruo and Wei Jinyi could mention having a meal together, Xiaobei and Xiumei had already started preparing.
Wei Ruo and Wei Jinyi looked at each other, Wei Ruo laughed, “It seems that my Meimei wants to stay more than I do.”
As Xiumei and Xiaobei were busy in the kitchen, Wei Ruo prepared to sit in the main room with Wei Jinyi.
Wei Jinyi stopped her, “I’ll bring the table and chairs out.”
Wei Ruo asked, “Why?”
Wei Jinyi, “Men and women should act differently.”
Wei Ruo laughed, “You still held my hand just now even though men and women should act differently?”
Hearing this, Wei Jinyi was somewhat embarrassed and didn’t know how to respond.
Wei Ruo continued, “We’re siblings. We don’t need to care so much about certain rules.”
Wei Ruo, with a modern soul inside her, believed that men and women needed to maintain a certain distance. But it wasn’t so strict that they couldn’t be in the same room, especially when the other party was her own blood-related elder brother.
“I won’t ruin your reputation.”
After Wei Jinyi answered, he moved the tables and chairs to the courtyard.
Wei Ruo couldn’t help but wonder if he always avoided being under the same roof with her. Remembering his past habit of reading and painting in the pavilion and also dining there, she thought maybe it was not that he liked to do things in the pavilion, but to avoid sharing a room with her.
Wei Jinyi insisted, so Wei Ruo did not say anything else.
She then sat in the chair he brought and started to chat with him.
They chatted like old times, as if nothing had changed despite the long time they had not seen each other.
Lady Xiumei and Xiaobei then brought the prepared food.
Xiumei expressed to Wei Ruo how the kitchen here was bigger and more convenient than the one in their old house.
Xiaobei couldn’t help but praise Xiumei’s culinary skills: “Lady Xiumei is amazing. We have the same ingredients, but what I cook is dull and uninteresting, while what you cook is mouthwatering and irresistible.”
Xiumei laughed, “Xiaobei, did you use all the idioms you learned from your young master on this?”
Xiaobei embarrassedly laughed, scratching his head as he replied, “Miss, don’t make fun of me. I’m not good at studying, so I can’t compare to the young master. Don’t tell others that I learned from him, I don’t want to embarrass my young master.”
Xiumei laughed, “You better keep learning cooking from me, or be careful that your young master will fire you.”
Xiaobei quickly agreed, “I’m doing it, I’m doing it. As long as Lady Xiumei can spare the time to teach me, I guarantee that I’ll study hard to master a skill as soon as possible, so I won’t be sold by my young master!”
Wei Ruo and Xiumei both burst into laughter at Xiaobei’s words, and a warm smile silently appeared on Wei Jinyi’s face.
Afterward, the four of them had dinner together in this light-hearted and joyous atmosphere.
After dinner, it was already late.
“It’s getting late, I should go home now,” Wei Ruo sincerely intended to leave this time.
“Mm.”
Wei Jinyi accompanied Wei Ruo to the door, and then watched her leave the alley.
Wei Ruo returned to her carriage and headed back to the Military Prefecture.
“Miss, those people just now didn’t seem simple. That woman named Lin Fang, she looks alluring but I feel she’s trained too. When I first tried to squeeze into the door, she seemed a bit taken aback, but once she reacted, her strength and speed were impressive.”
Even with the brief scuffle, Xiumei, being a martial artist, was keen enough to notice something unusual about the other party.
“Mm, I felt it too.” Although Wei Ruo was not a martial artist, she was still able to pick up on certain things.
“Miss, what is the second young master really doing now? It feels very complicated!” Xiumei said with some curiosity and worry.
“Don’t think too much about it. There are some things we can’t control, and thinking about it is useless,” Wei Ruo replied.
Wei Ruo was not totally without suspicion, but her suspicions were also useless.
The original story did not include these scenes, so even knowing the original plot, she couldn’t guess what Wei Jinyi was doing.
“That’s true, as long as the second young master treats you well and doesn’t harm the second Miss, whatever he wants to do, I won’t worry.” Xiumei said.
###
After Wei Ruo and Xiumei left, a few figures jumped over the wall and came to Wei Jinyi’s side.
Among them were Ke Chongshan and Lin Fang, the couple that Wei Ruo had seen earlier.
They were all there to protect Wei Jinyi, so naturally they wouldn’t go too far away.
They had just withdrawn to avoid Wei Ruo to give her and their master some privacy.
“My lord, the maid by the young lady’s side is not ordinary. She is not like a maid from a regular family.” Lin Fang reported to Wei Jinyi.
“I know. You don’t need to be suspicious of them.” Wei Jinyi said.
Wei Jinyi’s answer directly dissolved their suspicions about Wei Ruo and her maid.
“My lord, about our plan to infiltrate the Prefecture’s Office…”
“Proceed as planned.” Wei Jinyi answered.
The Prefecture’s office had something very important to them, but it was also the most heavily guarded place in the whole of Taizhou Prefecture.
The Yuan Family was an old and esteemed family, with many servants who had been trained from a young age and had impressive skills.
Moreover, Madam Yuan was Princess Jingmin, who had always had skilled bodyguards from Wang Residence around her.
To successfully retrieve the item from the Prefecture’s office required careful planning.
“Understood.” The group responded.
###
The next morning, Mrs. Yun called Wei Ruo to her room to discuss the official visit to Madam Yuan.
“Your father has been promoted to the sixth rank and transferred to the city. We should pay a visit to the wife of the Magistrate; moreover, Ruo, you have received much care from Madam Yuan in the city. As your mother, I should visit her to express our gratitude,” Mrs. Yun told Wei Ruo.
“Mother can make the decision on this matter,” Wei Ruo replied.
Wei Ruo knew that Mrs. Yun’s proposal was reasonable, as long as she didn’t have any other requests or motives.
“I have prepared some modest gifts. Ruo, take a look. If there are no problems, then follow me to the Prefecture’s Office later,” Mrs. Yun said..