A traitor

When he came to the study, he saw Mei Liusheng standing in the room, the three of them faced each other, it was a little awkward.

The steward at the side said: "My lord, Mr. Mei said earlier that he needed to find you, so the villain let him in first."

Su Qinglang didn't say anything, and walked in with Li Saisai. Mei Liusheng put down the book in his hand, and saluted Li Saisai: "See Princess."

Li Saisai hummed, and didn't exchange any more greetings. Seeing Su Qinglang rummaging through the desk for a while, he took out the book she wanted.

Handed it to Li Saidao: "The previous one was lost, so I asked someone to find another one. It lacks some annotations, but it looks similar."

Li Saisai didn't want any books at all, he just wanted to send Su Qinglang back when he said that, and he just made up an excuse.

That being the case, naturally he didn't care too much, took the book and thanked Su Qinglang, seeing that there were other guests in his study, he took his leave and left.

Su Qinglang sent her outside the door, thinking that Mei Liusheng was still in the room, afraid that he would see the list of concubines selected for the crown prince, so he hurried back.

At that time, Mei Liusheng had already left his bookshelf and was sitting at the wooden table in the room. Seeing him coming in, he quickly got up and saluted: "Brother Su..."

Su Qinglang didn't care much about Mei Liusheng's deliberate alienation. He nodded, motioned him to sit down, and heard Mei Liusheng say: "Before staying here was boring, so I found a book to read. I agree, and I hope to forgive you."

Hearing this, Su Qinglang took a look at the book case, and saw that the rosters were still neatly placed there. Presumably Mei Liusheng hadn't flipped them over, so he smiled and said, "It's just a book, Brother Mei, you don't have to be so polite, it's just a book. I was a bit late in the palace and made Brother Mei wait for a long time."

He paused, and seeing that Mei Liusheng was still staring at the direction Li Saisai left intentionally or unintentionally, he explained: "The princess said he wanted to read the books in my mansion, so he sent me back along the way."

Mei Liusheng casually hummed, and they all knew the real purpose of the random excuse.

He said lightly: "I have asked Chengying to send him out of the city for the person entrusted by Brother Su. There is a friend of mine in the village outside the city. He will take care of that brother."

Su Qinglang cupped his hands in thanks, thinking of the current relationship between the two, it was really inappropriate to bother Mei Liusheng again, so he coughed lightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Said: "That...Brother Mei, about today's matter..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard Mei Liusheng say: "Maybe this matter is related to the princess. If brother Su finds it difficult, you don't need to tell me."

He paused, and then said: "I came here to tell Brother Su that that person is already safe, Brother Su doesn't need to worry anymore, since I have seen Brother Su, I should leave."

"Brother Mei..."

Seeing him leave, Su Qinglang subconsciously stopped him, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Thank you for today's matter, and I will definitely repay you tomorrow."

Mei Liusheng's side face was facing him. Hearing this, he lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I do these things willingly, as long as I can help Brother Su."

Before Su Qinglang could reply, he saw him stepping over the threshold, leaving Su Qinglang staring at the empty door in a daze.

At this time, Xiaoxi walked in, seeing that there were no plums and willows in the room, she wondered: "My lord, why did Master Mei leave?"

Su Qinglang came back to his senses, and gave him a blank look: "It's getting late now, so it's time to go. Why, do you still want to keep him overnight?"

Xiaoxi smiled, scratched her head and said, "I just find it strange that Mrs. Mei used to come to our mansion often, but recently, he hasn't come much."

"Adults, children should take care of themselves..."

Su Qinglang walked over, stuffed the two books in his hands into his arms, and said: "If you have the leisure, you might as well copy this book."

When Mei Liusheng left Shangshu Mansion, he saw Chengying waiting outside. He walked over and asked, "What's the matter?"

Chengying saluted him first, looked at the guards outside Shangshu's mansion, and then approached Mei Liusheng and said, "My lord, someone is looking for your identity."

Mei Liusheng's expression froze, and he frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Chengying replied: "Today, my subordinates sent that man to Brother Yang's residence, and I heard someone report that someone in Huaiyang was looking for the trace of that former scholar."

On the way to the border town that day, other than them, there was only one Su Qinglang who had met the "fellow countryman" scholar.

If someone finds out that the scholar died on the road before returning to his hometown, with Su Qinglang's intelligence, he would definitely think that they silenced him.

Mei Liusheng lowered his voice: "Do you know who they belong to?"

Chengying said: "According to what they said, it seems that that person is an old friend of Mr. Sun's friend. He came to participate in the scientific examination, but there was no news. Mr. Sun's friend was very worried, so he entrusted Mr. Sun to investigate the matter, and Mr. Sun My lord has found Mr. Sun again."

Sure enough, it was still Su Qinglang.

Mei Liusheng asked, "Did they find anything?"

Hearing this, Chengying lowered his head: "Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates have followed the previous lord's instructions, imitating the scholar's handwriting, and sending letters home every month, saying that the scholar's imperial examination failed his name, so he was discouraged." Leng went to other places to do business, and they haven't found anything yet."

Mei Liusheng hummed, and said again: "Over there, you should find someone to keep an eye on it all the time, Sun Zizhong is thoughtful, he is not an ordinary person, and his grandfather is even more cunning and cunning.

If you don't deal with it carefully, I'm afraid they will really find out something. When the matter has reached this point, if a scholar breaks a major event, the gain will not be worth the loss. "

Cheng Ying said yes, he looked up at Mei Liusheng, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "My lord, Miss Pei is here, she is in the residence."

Hearing this, Mei Liusheng immediately gave him a sideways glance, and then heard Chengying hurriedly said: "It was Miss Pei who said that she had stewed the tonic and wanted you to taste it, this subordinate... dare not stop her."

Mei Liusheng snorted, and said in a lukewarm way: "I don't know, when did you become so timid?"

As he spoke, his tone became more and more cold: "This king brought you here to protect himself. If you can't even stop a woman, you don't have to follow me anymore."

Chengying immediately knelt down, lowered her head and said, "This subordinate knows his mistake, please punish me, my lord."

Mei Liusheng raised his hands and said with a downcast face: "Remember, this king has never said that he wants to marry her. Even if he wants to marry, she hasn't been married yet, so she can't be regarded as my king's wife. It's just a decoration, your master, from the beginning to the end, is the only one, you only need to obey the orders of the king."

Cheng Ying said yes, then hesitated: "Then... Miss Pei..."

"You just say, my lord has been very angry recently, and I can't eat supplements. Her kindness, my lord's heart, and..."

He paused, then walked away, leaving only one sentence: "The Hanlin Academy has a lot of business today, so I won't go back home."

Looking at the back of Mei Liusheng leaving, Chengying turned his head to look at the Shangshu Mansion behind him, thinking of the man in the mansion, he couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.

Mei Liusheng sat in the Imperial Academy for a long time, seeing that it was getting late, and it was almost three o'clock, and the books he found were similar, and it was not yet dawn.

When he went out, he saw a bright moon in the sky, and the cold wind was blowing in early winter. He was still a little cold without his outer robe.

Having nothing to do, he walked along the long street. Fortunately, he didn't meet any patrolling officers and soldiers. As he walked, he returned outside Su Qinglang's mansion.

He couldn't help smiling wryly, thinking that Su Qinglang was already asleep now, it would be better if he sneaked in to see him, so he jumped over the high wall and fell into the backyard of the Su residence.

In the dead of night, the nurses had gone back to their rooms to rest, he walked all the way to Su Qinglang's room, pushed the door lightly to enter, and saw Su Qinglang sitting up suddenly.

Mei Liusheng was taken aback by him, but then he was extremely embarrassed. This trip was just to sneak a look at him, but now he woke up the person, what should I do?

Just thinking about whether to turn around and run away, Su Qinglang said, "Is it Brother Mei?"

Mei Liusheng stopped in his tracks, remained silent for a moment, and let out a muffled hum.

Hearing Su Qinglang breathed a sigh of relief again, he said: "I still think I am a hero who assassinates, the outside is more exposed, come in quickly."

Mei Liusheng couldn't help it, so he could only walk back, thought for a while, and said: "The guards in your mansion are too relaxed. I told you to add more guards, but I didn't listen."

Su Qinglang smiled: "Brother Mei, with your martial arts, even if you have transferred all the people from the patrol battalion, it is easy to sneak in, not to mention that you have lived here before, so you can find me so easily. A stranger, I'm afraid he would have passed out in the garden long ago."

This sentence is true, but Mei Liusheng still felt embarrassed when he thought of running to find Su Qinglang in the middle of the night: "I..."

He paused, and explained: "I was reading in the Hanlin Academy before, but I didn't realize it was getting late. When I wanted to go back home, I was walking, but I came to you. I wanted to see if Brother Su was sleeping peacefully. It was my fault that I did not intend to wake you up."

Su Qinglang said indifferently: "I've always been a light sleeper, at this hour, it's almost time to wake up, it has nothing to do with you."

Given the current situation of him and Mei Liusheng, it is really not suitable for them to sleep together anymore, but now it is late at night, it is better not to mobilize people to prepare bedding for him, so as not to embarrass Mei Liusheng and alienate him even more in the future.

After thinking for a while, he said: "It is still some time before dawn, if Brother Mei doesn't mind, you can rest here with me, and we will go to court together tomorrow."

Mei Liusheng was silent for a moment, then took off his clothes slowly, and was about to climb into bed, but paused, and said: "I was blowing the wind outside, and my body was a bit cold, you should sleep in, don't bring the cold air to you. you."

Su Qinglang let out a muffled groan, and moved in. Seeing this, Mei Liusheng got into the bed and leaned over to lie down.

The place under his body lingered with residual warmth from Su Qinglang's body. He lay flat, feeling the breath of the people around him, and after a long silence, he said, "Qinglang, I actually came to see you today."