Chapter 322
Seeing Qiao Nian lowering his eyes and not speaking, Chu Zhiyi said, "Brother Huang probably wants to bring you and Xiao Heng together."
Hearing this, Qiao Nian suddenly raised his head and looked at Chu Zhiyi in surprise, "It's impossible, right? Xiao Heng asked for a marriage before, and the emperor specially made some manipulations in the imperial decree so that I didn't have to marry Xiao Heng."
It was precisely because of the emperor's imperial edict that she was given the opportunity to leave Xiao Heng.
Otherwise, she is probably still the second young lady of the Xiao family.
Chu Zhiyi frowned, "Maybe it's because he saw Xiao Heng going crazy for you that the emperor couldn't bear it!"
But in fact, he didn't quite understand how painful Xiao Heng's battles were to make the emperor who had experienced the Five Kings Rebellion sigh like that.
But no matter what, his suffering cannot offset the wrong he committed against Nian Nian.
Qiao Nian took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to have anything to do with Xiao Heng anymore."
"Okay." Chu Zhiyi responded lightly and said nothing more.
Two days later, the emperor made an appointment with Qiu Yanping for Chu Zhiyi.
Chu Zhiyi took Qiao Nian with him.
Sitting in the carriage, Qiao Nian would glance at Chu Zhiyi from time to time.
He said he wanted her to do a favor, but he didn't say what kind of favor it was.
The location was set at Zhuyuan outside Beijing.
This is the Qiu family's place.
It's hot in midsummer, but the lush branches and leaves in the bamboo garden provide a shade of its own. The sunlight was sifted through layers of bamboo leaves, turning into countless fine golden awns that danced and shimmered on the dirt floor, as if there was a layer of flowing gold.
The breeze blew by, the bamboo body swayed slightly, and the bamboo leaves rustled, and every sound was refreshing and cool.
Following a winding path, the servants of the Zhuyuan led Chu Zhiyi and Qiao Nian to a pavilion deep in the Zhuyuan. They saw Qiu Yanping already waiting in the pavilion.
Today she was wearing a moon-white skirt. The hem of the skirt hung naturally like flowing water. It was embroidered with pale pink begonia flowers. The silk threads shimmered slightly in the sunlight, like morning dew condensed on the petals.
Her eyebrows are gentle and charming.
Maybe he didn't expect that Qiao Nian would follow today. Qiu Yanping's eyes flashed with surprise, but she quickly returned to her gentle and generous appearance and saluted Chu Zhiyi and Qiao Nian.
"The civilian girl Qiu Yanping has met the prince and Miss Qiao."
Qiao Nian never thought that Qiu Yanping would salute her, so she hurriedly responded with a big salute, "I've met Miss Qiu!"
Qiu Yanping looked at Qiao Nian, with a hint of smile in her eyes, and pointed to the pavilion behind her, "Your Majesty, Miss Qiao, please."
"Miss Qiu, please." Chu Zhiyi finally agreed. The three of them went into the pavilion and sat down, and a servant brought tea.
Qiu Yanping looked at Chu Zhiyi and Qiao Nian with a vague look, and then said, "This is purple bamboo shoot tea. It is named because the buds are shaped like bamboo shoots, and the buds and leaves are tender and purple. It is a tribute from the previous dynasty. Tea, please taste it."
Qiao Nian glanced at the lovely tea leaves floating in the tea cup, and felt inexplicably like it. She picked it up and took a sip, feeling the fresh fragrance in her mouth.
He couldn't help but praise, "It's really good tea!"
Unexpectedly, Chu Zhiyi on the side picked up the drink and drank it in one gulp. There was no sign of tasting it at all.
Qiao Nian was also stunned, thinking that Chu Zhiyi was not so rude on weekdays, but now...
"Miss Qiu," Chu Zhiyi said suddenly, "Chu is a rough man who only knows how to hunt and kill. He lives in seclusion in the countryside and has been a hunter for eight years. He has also absorbed a lot of rural spirit. I'm afraid Not worthy of Miss Qiu’s elegance.”
As Chu Zhiyi said this, he stood up and bowed to Qiu Yanping, "Chu has no plans to get married in this life, so he doesn't dare to implicate Miss Qiu, and hopes that Miss Qiu will forgive her. Chu also has The first thing to do is to take the first step.”
Speaking of this, Chu Zhiyi glanced at Qiao Nian and said, "Please stay with Miss Qiu."
As soon as the words fell, Chu Zhiyi strode away.
Only Qiao Nian and Qiu Yanping were left looking at each other in the pavilion.
Qiao Nian finally knew what Chu Zhiyi meant by helping.
He was afraid that his refusal would be too straightforward and would make Qiu Yanping sad, so he asked her to stay so that he could give Qiu Yanping a few words of comfort.
Chu Zhiyi must have felt that it was always easier to talk between women.
But he didn't expect that Qiao Nian and Qiu Yanping only met once in the palace that day, and they didn't know each other at all. They were staring at each other, feeling embarrassed.
But she didn't know what she was thinking of, and Qiu Yanping suddenly laughed out loud, "Is he afraid that I will feel uncomfortable, so he left you here?"
Qiao Nian had no choice but to laugh along, "Actually, the prince has a good heart, but he is a bit more straightforward and doesn't know what to say in a roundabout way."
"I think it's pretty good. I refused decisively and saved the time of beating around the bush." Qiu Yanping smiled while pouring tea for Qiao Nian. "I was originally thinking about how to reject him. After all, this matter The emperor is holding the strings. I don’t know how to explain it to my grandfather!”
Now that Chu Zhiyi refused so simply, she could blame the whole matter on Chu Zhiyi.
Only then did Qiao Nian realize that Qiu Yanping had no intention of doing this.
Immediately, he breathed a sigh of relief, "I was worried that Sister Qiu would feel uncomfortable, but I didn't expect Sister Qiu to be so open-minded."
That's great!
That day Qiu Yanping stood up to testify for her. She was grateful and naturally didn't want Qiu Yanping to be sad.
Seeing Qiao Nian heaving a sigh of relief, Qiu Yanping's smile became even brighter, "Since you call me sister, then I will make friends with you. I have never thought about getting married!"
Hearing this, Qiao Nian was stunned. She didn't expect Qiu Yanping to have such thoughts.
But then she thought about it. Qiu Yanping was so beautiful, and she was also a famous talented woman in Beijing. She had the support of the entire Qiu family. With such good conditions, if she wanted to get married, what kind of gentleman could she not find?
She was still unmarried at this age, naturally not because she couldn't get married, but because she didn't want to!
Qiu Yanping smiled and met Qiao Nian's surprised eyes, and smiled softly, "I have never understood why a woman as outstanding as me must find a man to marry, give birth to children for him, and take care of all the affairs of the family for him. Maybe I will have to watch him take concubines in the future and waste my life."
"To be honest, this bamboo garden is mine. In addition to this, I have a lot of property under my name, so even if I leave the Qiu family in the future, I can still have food and clothing. I can live well by myself, why do I have to be trapped in that small house for a man?"
Qiu Yanping had already thought clearly about whether to get married or not.
Qiao Nian just stared at Qiu Yanping blankly, and in her eyes, she saw a light that she had never seen before.
In fact, Qiao Nian had never thought about getting married, but in the past, she felt that she would be alone to guard the green lamp and accompany the ancient Buddha.
But she never thought that she could live well as Qiu Yanping said!
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