Chongfei Manual [II]

Chapter 151.3

After returning home, Wei Luo asked the servants about Zhao Jie's whereabouts and found out that he wasn't home.

"Where did the prince go?" Wei Luo asked.

Steward Wang answered, "To respond to the princess consort, His Highness went to Shen Ji Barracks and won't be coming back until the evening."

Wei Luo nodded and didn't think too much about it. She returned to her room to rest for a bit, but she ended up sleeping until dusk. She drowsily woke up, asked Jin Lu, and found out that Zhao Jie hadn't returned yet.

Jin Lu said, "Miss, are you hungry? This servant can have dinner prepared."

When there weren't other people around, Jin Lu and Bai Lan were still more accustomed to calling Wei Luo, "Miss."

Wei Luo walked to the yellow rosewood gao mian pen jia and washed her face. She considered for a moment before she said, "Let's wait. I'm not hungry."

(T/N: Below is a picture of gao mia pen jia. It's a type of ancient furniture from the Qing Dynasty. It's a rack used to hold a basin of water and towels.)

She had felt stuffed after eating at Zhao Yang Hall at noon. Because Emperor Chong Zhen and Empress Chen didn't speak, she and Zhao Liuli had their heads down as they focused on eating. She wasn't careful and ended up eating too much. Even now, she wasn't the slightest bit hungry.

Wei Luo read a book for a while. When she looked up at the sky, she saw that night had fallen and the courtyard was completely dark. Zhao Jie still hadn't come back. She asked Jin Lu, What time is it?"

Jin Lu said, "Miss, it's around 8 PM.

Wei Luo got up from the bed, put on her shoes and a purplish pink wide-sleeve outer robe that was embroidered with white cranes and clouds, and walked outside. "Let's go to Shen Ji Barrack."

Jin Lu was startled for a moment, then she hurriedly tried to persuade, "Miss, it's so late at night. It's not safe for you to go outside by yourself."

Wei Luo thought her words were reasonable, so she had Steward Wang look for a few residence guards to escort her to Shen Ji Barracks.

Jin Lu saw that her mind was made up, so she stopped trying to persuade her and called Bai Lan over to go with them.

Shen Ji Barracks was located in the northwest part of the palace. Zhao Jie was currently in charge of the troops that lived in this barrack. The imperial court considered these troops to be their most important soldiers.

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Jin Lu and Bai Lan thought that Wei Luo would rush into the barracks, but she only had the carriage stop at Shen Ji Barracks' entrance. She didn't make any movements to step closer to the entrance.