Wen LiLi bit her nails in distress as she thought about the counter measures that she could take to make a comeback. She already knew that her actions were limited since she was locked in her courtyard and couldn't send her closest maids out. Then she thought of a person and quickly ran to her bedside cabinet. She pulled the drawer out and then picked out the private letters which she had been sent. She removed all the old letters that had been sent years ago and found the most recent ones.
Wen Lili had hidden those letters so far down because she didn't want Long Aotian to find them. It was not that she replied to the letters but the man sent them to her and she couldn't refuse. What's worse, the man also tried to keep meeting her but she felt that it would be dangerous for a married woman to meet an unmarried man.
Still, without much of a choice, Wen Lili spread out the last letter that was sent to her and read it softly.
'To Wen Lili
I know that you have rejected my requests many time. Wen Lili, l still want you! Even if you are a married woman, l still want to be with you. I'll be waiting for you next week beside the lotus pond where we first met!
Please come and meet me there! I'll bring your favourite Osmanthus cakes and plum wine.
I have to tell you this: my parents want to arrange for me a marriage. She is the second daughter of the Minster for Works and l have seen her before. She's not as good as you! Wen Lili, if you come back to me, we can elope together to the plains!
I already made all the plans and l'll tell you everything when we meet.
Regards,
Qing Li'
Wen Lili folded the letter back and then hid it under the large pile of letters that had been sent in the past. She brought some paper, a brush and some ink from under her work desk and then wrote a reply letter back.
At her desk, she racked her brains to write something that wouldn't sound so sentimental but still worked well in evoking all the feeling back within his heart, making him fall even deeply so that he could accede to her request. 'This fool won't know what hit him. He WILL follow my plans and let me out of here! Whatever foolish things l did before, msang-gong will forget about it! I know he loves me!'
She dipped her brush in ink and wrote a short letter saying that she couldn't go to the meeting because she was being confined by her husband.
Wen Lili folded the letter into a smaller shape and then stuffed into a small sachet filled with herbs. She gave the sachet to one of her outer maids stealthily and made sure to hide the sachet under a piece of uncut cloth that was to be sent to the tailor. Her excuse for this was that the mid-autumn festival was approaching and she needed new clothes to look good.
The maids moved the cloth out of the room and then put the big padlock back on the door of the courtyard. Wen Lili was once again locked out of the outside well and she paced up and down waiting for a reply back.
A few days passed and Wen Lili received a reply back from Qing Li saying that he would find a way for her to get out of confinement.
When the runner boy delivered the letter to Qing Li, he asked about Wen Lili's real situation in Long Aotian's mansion and it was revealed that it was Bai Lianhua's arrival that led to Wen Lili feeling threatened as well as the fact that Wen Lili tried to make Li Zhenzhen miscarry using musk. Qing Li didn't really care that Wen Lili was so vicious because vicious women were just women who cared too much.
Qing Li even wanted to help her scheme within the mansion but Wen Lili refused countless times.
In his mind, the only way that he could help her was to distract this newcomer Bai Lianhua by courting her seriously. He couldn't do it too obviously because Bai Lianhua was already a married woman but he could still send her love notes secretly. Love notes could still act as evidence if it was found. Qing Li didn't care about his reputation anyway – he was a 25 year old man who was unmarried. At this age, most men would already be married and have more than two children. But, he still had no one.
His parents were so worried about him that they decided to just find him a wife for the continuation of the family line. It didn't matter whether or not he liked her.
In the end, his main goal was to ruin Bai Lianhua's reputation. At least, this would reduce the focus on Wen Lili's actions and push everything to Bai Lianhua that way Wen Lili could get out of confinement as soon as possible.
Qing Li didn't send a letter back but sent a piece of porcelain with special ink. He drew symbols on the porcelain that both he and Wen Lili had developed in their childhood. After a day, the ink would fade and would not remain on the porcelain anymore. Qing Li went to the most popular teahouse in the capital to buy some sweet pastries for Wen Lili, then passed by another tea place to buy some higher quality tea for Bai Lianhua.
He secretly sent the pastries to Wen Lili's outer maid but then openly sent the tea to Bai Lianhua's dowry maid through a delivery boy.
So, as you must guess, Bai Lianhua was very surprised when she received a package of tea from another random man. 'Where do these men pop up from? Seriously, for one second, l actually thought that l was the main character in a novel.' Bai Lianhua examined the package from side to side and still couldn't fathom who had sent this to her.
'Maybe it's the empress?' Bai Lianhua thought and then dismissed the thoughts quickly. Such tea wouldn't be drunk anyways. She quickly handed the tea to the dowry maid and instructed her to hand it back to the delivery boy. She didn't want to be too dismissive of it – it may be bringing her problems later.
In any case, she returned the tea right back to Qing Li and concentrated on enjoying the rest of her day.
Unknown to her, Long Aotian met the delivery boy of the tea right outside the front of the mansion and he was curious as to who was receiving a parcel. Normally, all the concubines or women in the mansion would have to ask him for some permission before they could receive parcels. No one had asked him anything yet so he didn't know who was so disobedient as to blatantly go against the rules.
So once he reached the gate of the mansion, he motioned for one of his guards to stop the delivery boy. He pushed the curtain of the sedan to the side and asked: "Who were you sending this parcel to today?"
The delivery boy bowed and then replied: "Replying respectfully to the official, this servant was sending the parcel to Concubine Fang. She was sent a parcel of tea."
Long Aotian asked for the tea and the boy gave it to him. "Ok, you're free to go. And if anyone else asks you about this, just say that Concubine Fang received the tea." The delivery boy nodded and then left. Long Aotian put his hand on his chin and thought about this strange situation.
'Hey system, what does this mean? Why would she receive tea from some random man, and then send it back to the man? Was it not the tea she wanted? Were they having an affair?'
The system wanted to facepalm but unfortunately, it didn't have a face at that moment so it could only sigh. 'This is not modern times, it's ancient times. Do you think people would be so stupid as to have affairs in broad daylight?' Long Aotian agreed but he still felt slightly annoyed that so many of his women were being suspected of unfaithfulness. If he were seated in his study, he would have smashed a teacup by now.
He knocked slightly at the front of the sedan and the sedan carriers continued moving into the house, their backs slightly hunched from having walked so far to the emperor's palace and then back to the mansion. The delivery boy went back and reported to Qing Li about everything that had happened. Of course, he left out what Long Aotian wanted him to leave out. An official had more power and status than someone who had just passed the imperial examinations.
Still, since Qing Li had paid him so much, he left a few hints.