Ji Xiu tightened his grip around the hairpin in his palm.
The hairpin was not expensive. It was merely a plain and elegant Qionghua silver hairpin. The surrounding petals were small and delicate, the material light and thin, not worth much money. Only the flower core was made of crushed jade, clear and translucent, occasionally catching the sunlight with a faint shimmer. It could be considered ingeniously designed.
When he passed by earlier, the glint of sunlight had caught his eye. He stopped to look and felt it suited Xie Rouniang very well, so he bought it, intending to give it to her when he got home.
Now, being stopped by Princess Dongzhu…
Ji Xiu frowned slightly and, without showing any emotion, slipped the hairpin into his sleeve.
He had just been wondering why Princess Dongzhu had left the palace. It turned out she had come here specifically to block him. If she noticed the hairpin, there would surely be more trouble.
He glanced at the nervous, flustered little eunuch, then at the princess’s carriage blocking the alley completely. Calm and composed, his expression unchanged, he said, “Then I will trouble Eunuch to lead the way.”
The little eunuch did not expect Ji Xiu to agree so readily. It felt like surviving a desperate situation. He took a deep breath, his eyes showing gratitude, and gestured with his arm. “Top Scholar, this way please.”
The two walked one after the other to the princess’s carriage. The curtain was half drawn. The person inside sensed Ji Xiu’s arrival and happily lifted the curtain, calling out in a soft, coquettish voice, “Top Scholar, you’ve come~”
It was Princess Dongzhu, unseen for several days, adorned head to toe in pearls and jade.
Objectively speaking, Princess Dongzhu was indeed a beauty. Her looks were striking, and her status was noble.
If it were an ordinary scholar, newly ranked first in the examinations, being courted again and again so proactively by Princess Dongzhu, he would long have been so pleased he would not know his place, likely wishing to divorce his wife and remarry.
Reverence for imperial authority and yearning for power could sometimes drive scholars chasing fame and status to do things ordinary people could hardly imagine.
Princess Dongzhu’s confidence came precisely from this.
However, Ji Xiu’s reaction was destined to disappoint her. Upon seeing her, Ji Xiu frowned, cupped his hands in greeting, neither servile nor overbearing, but also neither warm nor cold. It was clear that he did not welcome her.
Princess Dongzhu immediately grew angry.
These past few days, she had been unable to leave the palace because six guards had inexplicably died earlier. She had been busy replenishing their numbers so as not to alert the Emperor, lest he thoroughly investigate that day’s events and take out his anger on Ji Xiu.
Yet after all that effort, the Top Scholar still did not appreciate it. This was truly欺人太甚, intolerable!
Princess Dongzhu harbored resentment. Her gaze fell on Ji Xiu’s face, and she froze. That surge of anger dissipated like mist blown away by the wind.
The Top Scholar was so handsome that she truly could not bring herself to stay angry.
“Top Scholar, why must you be so cold? This palace admires your talent and wishes to grow closer to you. Is that also not allowed?” Princess Dongzhu softened her voice again, speaking gently as she looked at Ji Xiu.
The palace maids and eunuchs attending on both sides were so shocked their eyes nearly fell out. Afraid of being noticed, they quickly lowered their heads deeply.
What kind of temperament Princess Dongzhu had, they, as close attendants, knew best.
Even before, when the Top Scholar had not yet passed the examinations, though the princess had drawn close to him, she had never lowered herself this much. Had the sun risen from the west today? Otherwise, why did she seem like a completely different person?
Ji Xiu frowned slightly as well, noticing the change.
In his previous life’s timeline, after the original body married the princess, the Emperor built a Princess Manor for her. Within that manor, however, the original body’s status was not high.
Princess Dongzhu lusted after the original body’s looks. Once she had him, she no longer cherished him. She even carried on affairs outside, setting her sights on the next year’s Tanhua, pestering and coaxing him daily to spend nights at the Princess Manor.
Only after Princess Dongzhu became pregnant and could no longer act recklessly did she quiet down, staying in the manor to nurture the pregnancy.
Later, she gave birth to Princess Yunshan. She doted on this daughter, gradually went out less, and the Princess Manor slowly became peaceful, returning to the appearance of marital harmony seen at the beginning of the world line.
But Ji Xiu possessed the original body’s memories. He knew best how Princess Dongzhu and the original body had truly gotten along in the previous life.
In short, it was absolutely nothing like this.
Was it because of his arrival that the storyline had changed again?
Ji Xiu thought rapidly, recalling the world line. When he came back to himself, he noticed Princess Dongzhu still looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response. He spoke coldly. “Princess, please conduct yourself with propriety. This minister already has a wife and children and should not associate closely with other women.”
Princess Dongzhu felt jealous. Seeing Ji Xiu so stubborn, she was so angry her heart ached. Gritting her teeth, she said, “You can’t bear to part with her, can you? You… fine then, I will allow her to stay as a concubine.”
She felt she had made a tremendous sacrifice. Her expression was ugly with anger, and deep in her eyes flashed resentment and killing intent.
Ji Xiu found it absurd. “Princess, this minister has no feelings for you. Why should I demote my beloved wife to a concubine just to welcome you through the door?”
Princess Dongzhu widened her eyes. “I am a princess.”
Ji Xiu did not speak. He looked at her, his gaze clearly saying, “So what if you are?” The corner of his lips even held a trace of mockery.
The anger Princess Dongzhu had accumulated over two months exploded at once. “Lord Ji, what do you mean by this!”
The guards on both sides heard the commotion and immediately gathered, surrounding Ji Xiu.
Among them, the guard who had crossed paths with Ji Xiu before recognized him. His expression changed slightly, a trace of vengeful pleasure appearing in his eyes.
Ji Xiu, however, was not afraid. He swept his gaze around and said calmly, “Princess, though this minister’s status is lowly, I am still a proper court official. It is said that the inner palace must not interfere in politics. You reside in the inner palace and likely have no authority to deal with this minister.”
Princess Dongzhu stared at him, her jaw tense, her eyes full of murderous intent.
Ji Xiu remained indifferent, even having the leisure to adjust his sleeve cuff.
The scene fell into a stalemate. After a long while, Princess Dongzhu let out a cold laugh in fury. “Good, good. Lord Ji truly is no ordinary man.”
She sat back into the carriage with a vicious expression and said coldly, “Return to the palace! This palace will go see Father Emperor and see whether this palace’s words are of any use at all.”
The grand procession moved off, leaving the alley.
Ji Xiu watched them depart, his expression calm. He even had the leisure to touch the hairpin hidden in his sleeve, guessing what reaction he would get after giving the gift.
As for the princess, let her come.
Even if the Emperor was enraged, he could not behead him. At most, he would find an excuse to demote him. Now that he was already tied to the Crown Prince, he truly did not care whether he was demoted or not.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the Emperor really wanted to take his head, at worst he could leave the capital and retreat into the mountains.
The population of this dynasty was less than fifteen million, with vast stretches of undeveloped forests.
Once a person truly let go of everything, there was really nothing left that could restrain him.
Ji Xiu clasped his hands behind his back and leisurely returned home.
Seeing the gift, Xie Rouniang was indeed delighted. Her clear brows curved as she took the hairpin to examine it, then stuffed it back into Ji Xiu’s hand and said softly, “Husband, help me put it on.”
Ji Xiu complied. He removed the wooden hairpin from her head, watching her black hair fall loose. He tidied it, then used the silver jade hairpin to coil it into a bun, adjusting the strands falling at her temples. He smiled gently. “It looks very nice.”
Xie Rouniang immediately smiled again. She glanced around the courtyard and asked as if casually, “I heard that Princess Dongzhu’s carriage stopped at the alley entrance and blocked the road. Many people couldn’t get in or out and didn’t dare say anything, so they detoured back another way. Husband just returned from outside. Did you see the princess?”
Ji Xiu nodded. “I did. We parted on bad terms. For the short term, she likely won’t come again.”
A trace of satisfaction and surprise surfaced in Xie Rouniang’s eyes. Her whole body relaxed. She said nothing more to Ji Xiu, touched the hairpin on her head, and happily turned to the kitchen to cook.
Ji Yue Sheng and Ji An Shu were playing cuju in the courtyard, running and jumping about.
Seeing this, Ji Yue Sheng’s eyes rolled. She slipped over to Ji Xiu and called out sweetly, “Daddy.”
Ji Xiu looked at her in surprise.
The original body had been busy with the imperial examinations and was not very close with his family.
Thus, when he returned to Xunyang County, the two children were young and did not hold grudges. They accepted him easily, but were still closer to Xie Rouniang. Usually they did not disturb him and went to Xie Rouniang for things.
Ji Xiu had been busy contacting the Crown Prince, busy writing storybooks, busy with his career, and had not put much effort into communicating with the children.
This was the first time she had come to him on her own initiative.
Ji Xiu was very patient. “What is it, Yue Sheng?”
Ji Yue Sheng secretly glanced toward the kitchen, leaned close to Ji Xiu’s ear, and whispered, “Daddy, Mother just went to the alley entrance to see the princess.”
“She went over there?”
Ji Yue Sheng nodded, looking innocent as she gestured at her eyes. “When Mother came back, her eyes were all shiny.”
Ji Xiu was surprised. He had not expected Xie Rouniang to be so bold, daring to go watch right under Princess Dongzhu’s nose.
Fortunately, he had held firm to his bottom line and rejected her face to face.
Xie Rouniang had watched from the shadows, not daring to step forward. She could see the scene but could not hear the words. Still, she noticed his attitude, which was why she was so happy.
As for her asking again just now, it was probably testing his future intentions.
Ji Xiu came back to himself, rubbed his daughter’s head, and took out the gift he had prepared for her as well. It was a red hair tie.
In this era, red dye was rare, so the color red was expensive and seldom seen.
Ji Yue Sheng’s eyes lit up. She took it and sweetly called out, “Thank you, Daddy.”
She did not leave, instead clinging to Ji Xiu. “What about little brother’s gift?”
Ji Xiu chuckled. “There isn’t one. Little brother is still small. I couldn’t find a suitable gift.”
Surprise appeared on Ji Yue Sheng’s fair face. “Little brother will be sad.”
Ji Xiu was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “I’ll go look again tomorrow and make it up to him?”
Only then was Ji Yue Sheng satisfied. She took the red hair tie and went to the kitchen to show it off to Xie Rouniang.
Ji Xiu stood in the courtyard, listening to the cheerful laughter coming from the kitchen. He also smiled and silently made a decision.
No matter what, he had to protect these family members behind him.
Xie Rouniang and Ji An Shu must not die violently at an inn. Ji Yue Sheng must not be sold off to serve as someone else’s maid, enduring sixteen years of hardship only to end up in ruin.
All the disasters of the previous life, he would erase them.
As for his rejection of Princess Dongzhu and how the female lead would be born in the future, that could only depend on changes in the world line.
In any case, he would not take responsibility for that.
……
While waiting for Princess Dongzhu to lodge her complaint and for the Emperor’s anger to descend, Ji Xiu focused on writing storybooks at home.
For the first volume, he planned to write around thirty thousand characters.
In ancient times, thirty thousand characters was already considered a fairly long length. In the first five thousand characters, he had already written the male and female leads’ meeting, the budding of love, the male lead planning to inform his parents and ask them to arrange a proposal, only for his parents to select another young lady for him instead and express dissatisfaction with the female lead.
Next, Ji Xiu planned to unleash the angst.
Throughout history, the more tragic a story, the more heart wrenching and unforgettable it was.
If he wanted to become a master storybook writer, he absolutely could not go easy!
With a bold stroke, Ji Xiu wrote the male lead to death.
The devoted male lead begged his parents to propose marriage. His parents refused, locked him at home, forbidding him from seeing the female lead again, and even, under the banner of “parental command and matchmaker’s words,” began preparing another suitable woman to be his wife.
The male lead attempted to escape in the middle of the night. He was discovered by the household servants and, during the chase, fell into a river in the city, disappearing without a trace.
The male lead’s parents were filled with regret, kneeling by the riverbank and weeping. Upon hearing the news, the female lead also came to mourn by the river. She fell gravely ill, unable to eat, wasting away to skin and bone.
This was a key scene. Ji Xiu exhausted all his learning, continuously describing the pain of the three, determined to make readers feel it deeply and immerse themselves.
Xie Rouniang came in from outside and saw the manuscript on the table. Curious, she picked it up and glanced at it.
Ji Xiu remembered that Xie Rouniang was also literate. It was a good opportunity to let her help see whether it worked, so he took out the first version of the earlier five thousand characters and handed it to her. “Rouniang, this is the storybook I wrote. Start from this and see whether it’s any good.”
Xie Rouniang’s eyes lit up.
Though she was gentle and understanding, if she had no shared topics with her husband, she would eventually be abandoned. With the princess watching covetously from the side, she could not afford to slack off.
Now that her husband asked her to help read the storybook, it was the perfect chance to grow closer.
“Alright, I’ll take a look.” Xie Rouniang accepted it.
Three hours later, Xie Rouniang lay by the bed, tears streaming down, eyes blurry with tears as she looked at the manuscript. “Wuwuwu, they’re too miserable…”
Ji Xiu: “……”