Chapter 32 Drowsy "Xue Chan, do you have any sense of propriety or shame?..."

Xue Chan led her people away, and as soon as she walked down a few stone steps, she saw Cheng Huaizhu squatting to the side playing a game of grass fighting with Ming Xia, Ren Dong, and a few others.

"Oh, you're out?"

"I've been waiting for you inside for ages, but you've been having a blast here."

She scolded her at the time.

Xue Chan wouldn't have mentioned it if she hadn't, but as soon as Cheng Huaizhu did, her round eyes widened, her brows furrowed, and she immediately became jealous.

"I saw you two talking as soon as I went in. Why don't I leave? Are you going to stay here and get in my way?"

She wasn't satisfied with what she was saying, and even puffed out her cheeks, snorted, stood up, put her hands on her hips, and complained without any politeness.

"Who am I doing this for? It's all for you, you heartless bastard."

Xue Chan smiled, ignoring her complaints, and went straight up to Cheng Huaizhu, taking her arm as they walked downstairs.

"Alright, my dear lady. I know you've been good to me, so I'll apologize, okay?"

Cheng Huaizhu had just been coaxed by her two words when she realized she couldn't let her off so quickly, so she immediately suppressed her laughter: "I want to eat sugar pancakes tonight."

Xue Chan simply stroked his hair and said, "How about I have Chunniang make it for you when we get back tonight?"

“I don’t want it,” she said, lifting her chin and refusing outright. “Don’t think you can fool me with a sugar cake. I’m not happy. You’d better find a way to make me happy.”

No matter what she said, Xue Chan went along with her: "Alright, alright, then this time I'll use the osmanthus honey I pickled myself, and then I'll make sugar cakes for our Second Miss myself, how about that?"

Cheng Huaizhu raised her chin: "That's more like it."

She laughed again instantly and started grabbing Xue Chan's sleeve as she spoke.

"I saw a lot of butterflies there just now, but unfortunately I didn't catch any."

The two walked down the path, talking as they went, the sound of a flute drifting through the woods.

The music was no longer as melancholic as before; it had become more soothing and melodious on top of the original sense of bygone days.

Xue Chan paused, turned around, and saw that the mountains were very gentle and serene as evening approached.

She thought, if only things could always be this peaceful...

It seems pretty good.

Xue Chan suddenly felt that there was hope for her future.

The two chatted as they walked downstairs, and Cheng Huaizhu started gossiping again.

What did you two talk about?

She looked at the setting sun and smiled at Cheng Huaizhu, "Let's go back early. Miss Fang has sent an invitation to us to come and have fun on the Shangsi Festival."

Upon hearing "play," Cheng Huaizhu's eyes lit up immediately.

She immediately grabbed Xue Chan's hand and they ran in the sunlight.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go home! Let's go home!"

The next morning.

"I feel so awful..."

Cheng Huaizhu lay on the bed, her face flushed with grief.

"What's wrong?" Xue Chan asked, touching her burning forehead.

"That's exactly what happened last night."

Mingxia brought in the herbal medicine, sighed helplessly, and said with a resentful look, "I ate a full dinner and drank two bowls of soup. That's fine, that's fine too. But before going to bed, I said I was hungry and ate the whole bowl of sugar cake. That sugar cake is made of glutinous rice, which is very bloating."

Honeysuckle, who was wringing out a handkerchief for Cheng Huaizhu, added another sentence.

"Because I was eager to go out and have fun, I had nowhere to vent my restlessness. First, I took off my coat because I felt hot, and then I opened the window without thinking, making up an excuse that I wanted to admire the moon. People say that spring is still chilly, and this gust of wind made me sick."

Cheng Huaizhu curled up into a ball, snuggled against Xue Chan, and began to moan softly, her voice becoming somewhat hoarse.

"My body hurts so much."

Xue Chan: "Sigh... Judging from your appearance, you probably won't be able to go out."

Cheng Huaizhu opened her eyes, panting as she sat up: "How can that be? I still want to go out and play!"

Xue Chan pressed her hand back down: "With your condition, you can't even get out of bed, let alone go out. You'll probably faint before you even leave the hospital."

Cheng Huaizhu felt cold and aching all over, and her head was spinning. After struggling for a while, she collapsed back down.

Mingxia helped her swallow the medicine, and her face scrunched up as she swallowed the bitter pill.

After giving her the medicine, she carefully instructed Xuechan, "Although it's spring now, your health has never been very good, so you have to be careful. You can't be like my daughter who craves cold."

Cheng Huaizhu, still half asleep, nudged Xue Chan and said, "It's getting late, you should hurry up and go to your appointment."

“I can’t just leave you at home,” Xue Chan sighed, then after thinking for a while, she added, “I’ve already sent someone to deliver a letter to Miss Fang to resign.”

"How can that be!" Cheng Huaizhu jumped up immediately. "We rarely get to go out, how can you stay at home?"

"It's okay, I often stay at home anyway," Xue Chan comforted her.

Cheng Huaizhu hurriedly told someone to leave: "Quickly, quickly, bring the letter back."

Xue Chan said, "Huai Zhu"

Cheng Huaizhu said seriously, "If you don't go out, who will bring me back delicious food and fun things?"

What do you want?

Whether it was due to feeling unwell or the effects of the medicine, Cheng Huaizhu closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"I've heard things haven't been very peaceful these past few days, so please be careful."

Someone outside was urging them to leave. Mingxia covered Cheng Huaizhu with a blanket and reminded her again.

Xue Chan smiled gently; "I will be careful."

As she left, she glanced back at Cheng Huaizhu, who was hugging a blanket with her eyes closed, muttering in a hoarse voice.

"I want to eat Ningcuilou's peach blossom pastries... Xiangfu Shop's sweet osmanthus lotus root... Chen's shepherd's purse wontons from Mingyue Bridge..."

On the third day of the third lunar month, known as Shangsi Festival, many people go out and stroll the streets, both men and women wearing flowers and powder.

The carriages and horses circled around Caomen Street and entered Ping'an Lane, before stopping in front of Ningcui Tower after a while.

Yun Sheng helped Xue Chan down from the carriage, and Xue Chan saw a figure and took a few steps forward to call out.

"Senior Brother"

Li Wu turned around upon hearing the sound, and smiled when he saw her.

What are you doing here?

Xue Chan: "I have an appointment with someone. Where is my senior brother?"

Li Wu smiled gently, as if she understood, "I also arranged to meet a friend here."

She said, "What a coincidence."

The two exchanged only a few pleasantries before Zheng Shaoyu and Jiang Ce emerged from the bookstore across the alley.

"Finally, it's worth it. It wasn't for nothing that I climbed over the wall before dawn today." Zheng Shaoyu muttered to himself, holding his newly published copy of *The Jade Box Chronicles*.

Jiang Ce walked straight out: "Let's go to the Marquis of Mingyi's residence—"

He was just about to ask Zheng Shaoyu if he wanted to go to Xiao Huaiting to celebrate the Shangsi Festival when his gaze swept over a few people not far away.

It looked somewhat familiar, so he looked at it more closely.

That's right, it's Xue Chan.

The girl turned her head slightly, her smile tinged with shyness and gentleness.

Jiang Ce's expression changed, and he instinctively shifted his gaze to the person beside her. In that instant, he remembered that day at the examination hall—could it be that he went to see this person?

He gritted his teeth, and the book in his hand was squeezed so tightly that it became deformed.

Damn it!

"What did you say?" Zheng Shaoyu didn't hear clearly, but he watched as Jiang Ce squeezed his precious book until it was deformed.

He then stepped forward and patted Jiang Ce's hand: "I just asked you to help me carry it for a while, what are you doing to my books!"

Jiang Ce held on tightly, and he couldn't pull his hand away for a moment, so he simply hit Jiang Ce's hand.

"Let go! Let go! Let go of me!"

Jiang Ce suddenly let go, stuffed the book into his arms, and strode forward.

After checking the book and confirming that it was just wrinkled, Zheng Shaoyu breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Jiang Ce, who was striding forward angrily.

What's wrong?

After exchanging pleasantries, Xue Chan prepared to enter the building. Just as she lifted her foot, her body was pulled aside so quickly that she only saw a section of her light blue sleeve.

She was suddenly struck by a faint, arrogant voice descending from above.

"Who are you! Pulling and tugging in broad daylight!"

After Jiang Ce finished speaking, he looked down at Xue Chan and saw her peeking out, so he simply pressed her head back down with one hand.

Xue Chan: "......"

When did this person appear?

She leaned out and saw that Li Wu had been pushed back a few steps and staggered to her feet only after grabbing the carriage shaft.

Xue Chan immediately stepped forward to support him, anxiously asking, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Li Wu steadied himself, smiled slightly, and nodded to indicate that he was alright.

Xue Chan turned and glanced at Jiang Ce, her displeasure undisguised.

Jiang Ce was initially shocked that Xue Chan had managed to break free and rush out, but now she was glaring at him for the sake of an outsider.

He narrowed his eyes and lit a flame.

He had never seen Xue Chan so considerate and gentle.

Jiang Ce was speechless, and even felt a bit resentful towards Xue Chan.

He knew Xue Chan's taste was always terrible!

Jiang Ce stretched out his long arm and pulled Xue Chan back behind him: "You're a young lady, and you're being so intimate with another man in public. Can't you be a little more discreet?"

"Do you even know you're engaged? Do you even remember who your fiancé is?"

He talked a lot in one breath, and no one could get a word in edgewise.

Yun Sheng and Chu Tao looked at each other in bewilderment, while Zheng Shaoyu, who had run over from the bookstore, stood there, his mouth agape for a long time.

After Jiang Ce finished speaking about Xue Chan, he put his hands on his hips, pointed at Li Wu, and began to reprimand him.

"You're the most important person!"

His voice was urgent and rapid, filled with anger, and his mouth opened and closed like beads being poured out, making a crackling sound.

"She's a perfectly good young lady, usually confined to her room, pure-hearted and rarely sees outsiders. It's understandable if she doesn't understand these things. But you, a grown man, don't you know you should keep your distance when talking to a young lady? Do you even know how to write the word 'avoid suspicion'? Do you know what it means for rumors to be like knives? If this gets out, with all the gossip and whispers, will she still be able to live her life?"

Jiang Ce crossed his arms and walked around Li Wu, looking him up and down.

Fair-skinned and delicate, with a scholarly air. Scholars are the most eloquent and the most adept at deception.

He's still a good-looking, gentle and approachable scholar!

I never expected Xue Chan to like someone like this. She really has terrible taste! She's not satisfied with such a good fiancé, and she actually likes someone like this. If word gets out, he'll be a laughing stock!

Xue Chan couldn't get a word in edgewise for a while. Taking advantage of a brief pause in his speech, she tried to explain, "Um, he is..."

Jiang Ce thought she was going to try to excuse him at this point, and with a dark fire in his eyes, he said irritably, "Shut up, you're not allowed to speak!"

"......"

Xue Chan was so angered by his shout that she wanted to slap him twice.

Jiang Ce sneered, speaking slowly with a hint of mockery: "Look at you, dressed like this. You're supposed to be a scholar, so where have all your Confucian classics gone?"

Li Wu was still a little dazed when he was suddenly pushed away, but Jiang Ce's barrage of accusations hit him even harder, making him feel even more dizzy.

He lowered his head to calm himself, then looked up at the tall, handsome young man, and then at Xue Chan before realizing what was happening.

Even when faced with Jiang Ce's reprimand, he showed no anger, but instead smiled knowingly.

"There are too many people and too much attention here, how about we go somewhere else?"

Jiang Ce noticed out of the corner of his eye that some people in the crowd were casting curious glances at them.

Zheng Shaoyu immediately stepped forward with a smile and tried to smooth things over: "Oh dear, there must be some misunderstanding. Let's talk it out, it'll be fine once it's all out."

He suggested, "Let's go to Ningcui Tower. It would be perfect for drinking tea and listening to music."

Jiang Ce remained silent, which was taken as agreement.

Zheng Shaoyu walked towards Li Wu, extended his hand and smiled brightly: "Hehe, please, brother."

Jiang Ce lowered his head and raised an eyebrow: "Let's go, Miss Xue."

Xue Chan walked forward, and Jiang Ce followed slowly beside her with his arms crossed.

As soon as I entered, a waitress came forward.

"Go up to the second floor"

"yes"

The waitress led them upstairs, with Zheng Shaoyu walking ahead and chatting enthusiastically with Li Wu.

Jiang Ce and Xue Chan walked together. Xue Chan wanted to avoid him, so she stepped over a few stairs.

Jiang Ce stretched out his long legs and took three steps in one, and was back beside Xue Chan.

Are you close to him? Why are you so concerned about him?

Xue Chan naturally knew who he was talking about, but she was too lazy to pay attention to him and didn't say anything.

"Are you some kind of gourd spirit with a sawed-off mouth? Why aren't you answering my question? What? Are you angry because I'm interfering with your good time?"

"Xue Chan, do you have any sense of propriety or shame?"

"Say something, say it, say it!"

"......"

Xue Chan really couldn't understand why someone with such a flamboyant face would also have an extra mouth.

They talk too much and it's really annoying.

It must have been the dazzling light of the blue waves that evening that blinded her. She completely forgot that this person was a loose tongue, and even thought he wasn't so bad after all, starting to look forward to the days to come.

Xue Chan: "My senior brother and I have known each other since childhood, so we are naturally familiar with each other."

After she finished speaking, she added, "I know it much better than you do."

Jiang Ce raised an eyebrow; this person had finally spoken.

They turned out to be fellow students.

"That won't do either," Jiang Ce interrupted her immediately. "I don't care whether you've known each other for a long time or not, I still have to avoid suspicion, let alone him?"

Xue Chan ignored him and quickened her pace to distance herself from him.

If she spends any more time with this person, she'll be furious.