44. Mask (2)
The coachman apologized and immediately jumped at the front of the carriage to drive it..
For some reason, the coachman felt that the carriage was much heavier than before.
Yu Qingjiaâs carriage was parked outside the second gate.
Prince Yingchuanâs banquet was not yet over around this time, and most of the guests were not out yet, so they were able to drive through the road unimpeded.
When they finally reached the gate, the guards guarding it looked at their seal, and eventually waved to let them pass.
Yin Zhu sat outside the carriage to watch the road, and only Yu Qingjia and Murong Yan were left inside.
Yu Qingjia was sitting in the carriage with her hands on her knees and the beaded flowers on her hair were shaking slightly along the wheels of the carriage.
Yu Qingjiaâs sitting posture was normal, and Murong Yan simply closed his eyes to recuperate.
It is strange to say, obviously Murong Yan did not make any sound, but Yu Qingjia always can not help but sneak a look at him.
The fox spiritâs sense of existence seems to be particularly strong today.
He is dressed in black, hidden in the darkness almost merging with the night.
It made her feel like there were invisible hands emerging in the darkness, even if she canât see it, she was still unable to relax.
Yu Qingjia sneaked a few glances at him again, and she can see Murong Yanâs eyelashes move.
Yu Qingjia just pretended as if nothing happened.
She also gave birth to a strange feeling, when she went out alone today she was a little uncomfortable because sheâs not used to it, and now she did not expect that she would actually return with another person.
Murong Yan finally caught her peeking, and she acted as if nothing happened and continued to sit upright.
The carriage went through another section of the road, and as if something was scratching her heart and lungs, she really couldnât hold back her curiosity.
She glanced outside the window, and saw that Yin Zhu and the coachman were talking.
Yu Qingjia took advantage of their inattention to immediately approach Murong Yan.
She tugged at his sleeve, lowered her voice and asked,
âDidnât you say you werenât going out today, how come youâre here?â
Murong Yan closed his eyes to recuperate but he canât, because of Yu Qingjia incessant harassment.
âIf sheâs going to peek at others, canât she still be even more obvious?â
Murong Yan originally thought that he would just ignore her, but somehow, before he could even realize it, his lips had already moved to reply,
âNothing, just dealing with some personal matters.â
âPersonal matters?â
Yu Qingjia blinked her eyes and suddenly understood.
The last time Murong Yan was seriously injured was because he snuck into Prince Yingchuanâs residence, right?
No wonder he didnât go out with everyone today, it was probably because he wanted to take advantage of the banquet to snuck into the royal residence again tonight.
Yu Qingjia guessed about it in her heart, and decided not to ask anymore questions in a sensible manner.
She felt that her behavior was very reasonable and understanding, and that she was simply acting as a caring little cotton-jacket.
That âLittle Cotton-Jacketâ took the opportunity to look at Murong Yanâs mask while he was talking.
She did not move for a while and just stared at it.
Then she finally couldnât help herself and secretly stretched out her hand to poke it.
Yu Qingjia thought her movements were light and fast, and Murong Yan certainly did not react.
She was just about to reach out her hand, but before she could touch the mask, her wrist was already clasped by Murong Yanâs Hand.
âWhat do you want?â
Yu Qingjia blinked and looked at him with a sincere and harmless expression,
âI just want to touch it.â
âNo.â
Murong Yan refused very simply.
Yu Qingjia tried to use her coquettish skills that she used to do in front of Yu Wenjun and Madam Yu.
She continued to raise her head slightly, and blinked innocently at him.
Yu Qingjia is good-looking, when she looks at someone with such dependent and focused eyes, few people can resist.
Yu Qingjia herself knew this, and she used to use this trick to soften the hearts of her parents.
But today Yu Qingjia encountered a crisis of dignity.
She looked at Murong Yan for a while with such wet and coquettish eyes, but Murong Yan didnât respond, and even glanced at her coldly,
âThis trick is useless to me, sit properly.â
Yu Qingjiaâs smile stiffened, she quickly put away her smile, and glared at Murong Yan,
âIf you donât want me to touch it, then fine, I donât care!â
Yu Qingjia just leaned over to Murong Yanâs side to talk, and now she was sitting upright again.
She stared at Murong Yan with her noble and cold gaze, making her attitude very clear.
However, no matter how Yu Qingjia tossed and acted in front of him, Murong Yan didnât even pay attention to it, and completely ignored it.
Yu Qingjia was discouraged,
âThis fox spirit was still the same, and his personality was still extremely annoying.â
Yu Qingjia sat with her lips pouted for a while, she then stretched out her fingers to poke Murong Yan,
âWhere did you find this mask? Is it made of real silver?â
Silver ores are extremely scarce, and smelting technology was just starting at that time.
Silver is far from being as popular as in modern times.
The rarity of silver was a little bit higher than gold around this time as well.
All the silver in the country had to be burned into ingots and tributed to the palace.
The ingots were then melted into vases, bowls, chopsticks, jewelry and other things.
After that the finished product will be given to the harem and the ministers.
So a family having silver decorations, and wares is a very honorable thing, because silver objects if not robbed from the court tribute, can only be a gift bestowed by the emperor.
This is obviously a manifestation of identity and status.
Murong Yan pursed his lips under the mask, and finally said in a cold voice,
âNo.â