Chapter 482 Contest (One)
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Mingzhu looked triumphant, lifted her feet onto the couch, leaned back against Yuwen Chu, and began peeling nuts. Yuwen Chu thought she should have peeled the nuts to make amends and please him, but after waiting for a long time, he didn’t see a single nut. He said, “I knew you’d just eat them yourself!”
Mingzhu smiled and stretched her hand out in front of him. Her snowy white palm was filled with finely peeled nut kernels. She generously said, “These are for Your Highness. Only my parents and the Great Empress Dowager have eaten nuts peeled by me. You’re the fourth.”
“Consider yourself sensible.” Yuwen Chu ate the nuts from her hand and licked her palm.
The two looked into each other’s eyes and saw affection in each other’s eyes. Mingzhu looked around mischievously and saw that Zheng Momo and the others were chatting and tidying up things in the outer room. She pursed her lips and pointed to her lips.
Yuwen Chu smiled and quickly kissed her.
“Wangfei, the banquet is ready. Are you going?” Su Jin lifted the curtain and came in, just catching this scene. She immediately lowered her eyes, pretending not to have seen anything, and said calmly, “There’s one more thing. Last night, the new fur coat and boots you had sent over, Teacher Lin didn’t wear them. He’s still wearing his own clothes and shoes.”
What bad luck! She was caught stealing a kiss again. Mingzhu shamelessly pretended nothing had happened, calmly stood up to tidy her clothes, and said, “Your Highness, I’m going.”
Yuwen Chu remained calm. “Go ahead, take Donghui with you.”
Mingzhu replied in a drawn-out voice, “Got it, wherever I go, Donghui goes.”
Yuwen Chu glared at her, and she just smiled back. Yuwen Chu couldn’t do anything about her, so he turned away and ignored her.
In the guest dining hall, after checking the food arrangement, Teacher Lin arrived. She greeted him with an apology, “Our Highness is recuperating and cannot entertain Teacher Lin. Please forgive us.”
Teacher Lin didn’t show any signs of anger or disappointment. He politely expressed his understanding and gratitude and started talking to Mingzhu about other things, reminiscing about the past and sharing his experiences over the years. He was eloquent and leisurely, and Mingzhu listened with great pleasure.
Halfway through the banquet, Teacher Lin became slightly intoxicated and laughed, “Speaking of which, I am also half a master to the Wusun Princess. I taught her to play the flute, but she wanted to learn the pipa. Unfortunately, my hands were disabled, and she wasn’t suited for it either.”
Mingzhu was slightly surprised. “Teacher Lin, you’ve been to Wusun?”
“I’ve stayed in Wusun for a few days. Your teacher’s wife wanted to visit the grasslands, so I took her…” Teacher Lin’s eyes reddened slightly. “But what’s the point? It’s just me blabbering alone. She can’t hear or see anything. So, Wangfei, remember, cherish the people in front of you.”
Mingzhu felt some emotion. Teacher Lin also knew about her past entanglement with Yuwen You. At that time, everyone in the family opposed it. She had asked Teacher Lin for his opinion on the matter, and he had said to her, “If it’s just one person objecting, they might be blind; if everyone is against it, you might be blind.”
She had been angry at the time, but now she realized the truth in his words! Mingzhu toasted Teacher Lin solemnly with tea instead of wine. “Teacher Lin, please accept this toast. You once advised me, but I didn’t understand it then. Now that I’m enlightened, I realize it was profound wisdom.”
Teacher Lin laughed heartily, drank the wine in his cup, and bid farewell to her. “Thank you, Wangfei, for your hospitality. Ah Niu’s life has been saved, so I should take my leave.”
He’s leaving now? Mingzhu was very surprised, unable to detain him. She felt somewhat guilty—although she had warmly received Teacher Lin, she had been wary of him all along. However, the reality was that Teacher Lin had no intention of staying longer, and there was no probing in his conversation. This made her feel petty and suspicious. Feeling remorseful, she asked Su Jin to bring out the New Year’s gifts that had been prepared early: “Originally, I should have sent New Year’s greetings and gifts to Teacher Lin every year. Since Teacher Lin is not in the capital, I couldn’t find you, which was very neglectful. This is a gift for you, hoping you won’t dislike it.”
Teacher Lin glanced at the tray, seeing the new clothes and boots sent to him, along with a fur coat, as well as some precious herbs and gold ingots. He smiled and said, ‘Wangfei, you are still as kind-hearted and enthusiastic as when you were young.” He took the new clothes and boots but firmly refused anything else. “Consider these clothes as your filial gift to me, and let go of the rest.”
After saying this, he truly bid farewell and left. Mingzhu couldn’t keep him, so she could only accompany him to the door. Seeing that Teacher Lin and the servant were only riding a donkey, she asked someone to prepare a carriage to send them back to the capital. Only after Teacher Lin’s figure disappeared from sight did she turn back.
Yuwen Chu had already had lunch and was leaning on the couch, listening to Tang Chunlai reporting about Wang Ah Niu being bitten by a wolf. When Mingzhu came in, he gestured for her to sit and listen.
Mingzhu sat down next to him. She noticed that the thin blanket covering his legs had slipped down and picked it up to cover him properly. She listened carefully as Tang Chunlai spoke, ‘… They say such incidents have never happened in the village before, so everyone was very relaxed. The wolf was killed, it was a skinny female wolf with cubs, seemed to have been driven out by the pack, hungry. Their house is right at the village entrance, so the wolf would have to pass by their house to enter the village. At that time, the child was alone feeding the chickens at the door. The wolf wanted to grab a chicken, and the child probably didn’t understand it was a wolf, just thought it was a dog, and went forward to drive it away, but ended up being attacked.
Thanks to Teacher Lin hearing the commotion and realizing something was wrong, he quickly shouted loudly and rushed over with a door latch, which saved the child’s life in time. Teacher Lin also suffered some minor injuries. They are not hunters, and they have never encountered wolves while gathering mountain treasures or firewood, so there’s no grudge. The dead female wolf is still locked in their woodshed. They plan to skin it and use the fur to treat the child’s injuries.’
It sounded like just an accident, reasonable, with no suspicious elements. Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief. While she was cautious, she didn’t want to suspect every familiar person around her. That would be too scary.
But then Yuwen Chu’s slender fingers tapped lightly on the table a few times, and he said slowly, “Since it’s a female wolf with cubs, where are the wolf cubs? Were they captured, killed, or not found?”
Tang Chunlai wasn’t a professional at this and hadn’t thought it through, so he blushed slightly. “I didn’t ask about that.”
“Immediately have Zhang Huan take a few men and follow the Wang family to find the female wolf’s body and the wolf cubs. Whether dead or alive, they must be found and brought back for me to inspect personally.” Yuwen Chu finished arranging this before asking Mingzhu, “What about Teacher Lin?’”
“He left.” Mingzhu recounted what had happened to him. “I didn’t hear him mention that he was also injured. He also said he had a half-teacher friendship with the Wusun Princess. I think he’s quite straightforward. He couldn’t really have a problem, could he?”
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