Chapter 37 Return to the original track

Young Master Lin glanced at Xiao Yuan and smiled, trying to smooth things over.

"Brother Li, if you want to drink, I will invite you to the wine shop in a few days. Today, Miss Shen is the host, so it is inconvenient to drink."

How would it look if word got out that a young girl was drinking at the same table with a bunch of grown men?

He raised his eyes and glanced at Xiao Yuan, and seeing that he was keeping his head down and silent, he knew that he had guessed right and breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking that the Fourth Prince seemed to have some special feelings for Miss Shen, the marriage between the Shen and Lin families should be re-examined. Later, he would tell his mother to settle it as soon as possible.

Li Huaiyan was a slow-witted person and only reacted now.

It was also because Shen Anan was too majestic that he often forgot her identity as a lady from a wealthy family.

Shen Anan pretended to be grateful and smiled at the young master of the Lin family.

Xiao Yuan exerted a little force on the chopsticks, and the chopsticks broke into two pieces in his hand.

A crisp sound.

The young master of the Lin family tilted his head to take a look, his heart was gripped, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, and turned into a wooden expression. He quickly lowered his head to eat, avoiding Shen Anan's friendly smile.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Li Huaiyan tilted his head and looked at the young master of the Lin family for a while, frowning and whispering, "I wish I were as smart as you and had a better eye for things."

Young Master Lin knew that Li Huaiyan was teasing him, so he tilted his head and smiled helplessly, with one hand on his forehead, as if he was avoiding some monster.

Shen Anan couldn't understand the little movements between them, and didn't want to guess.

After asking Mo Xiang to ask the waiter to bring some more snacks, he stood up and was about to say goodbye.

"Enjoy your meals and drinks. If you're not satisfied, you can order more and just put it on my account."

Li Huaiyan and Young Master Lin put down their chopsticks at the same time, smiled and said a few polite words, but did not even dare to raise their heads, for fear that Shen Anan would smile at them again.

Shen Anan didn't care about the sudden change of the young master of the Lin family, and before leaving, she didn't forget to glare at Li Huaiyan fiercely.

Li Huaiyan blinked gently.

Xiao Yuan, who had been silent all this time, put down his chopsticks and spoke in a slow and calm tone, as if he was just talking about a trivial matter.

"I send you."

Shen Anan's body stiffened instantly, thinking that she had heard it wrong.

She walked on.

His voice was chilly and low, and he repeated what he had just said.

"I send you."

Shen Anan paused, turned around, and stared at the man who was walking towards her step by step with her almond-shaped eyes.

Did he take the wrong medicine recently?

"The Fourth Prince is talking to me?"

He stood in front of her, looking down at her cold and impatient face, feeling the urge to tear apart all her dislikes.

"The capital has been unstable recently, and bandits are rampant in the suburbs. Safety is the top priority. I will send Miss Shen back home."

Shen Anan really wanted to say no, but she didn't want to continue staying in this private room and go through endless negotiations with them.

"That is truly the blessing that this subject has earned in two lifetimes. I am flattered."

Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and stared at her for a moment, without responding to her sarcasm, and walked out first.

Shen Anan gritted her teeth, nodded to the young master of the Lin family, and followed him.

In front of the restaurant, Uncle Zhong was waiting in a horse-drawn carriage.

When Shen Anan saw Xiao Yuan lifting up his robe and seemed to want to get on her carriage, she immediately stepped forward to stop him.

"It is better not to trouble the Fourth Prince's precious body. I can go back by myself."

Xiao Yuan's eyes could not help but fix on her red lips, and he sneered indifferently, "Just now in the private room, she was a servant, but now it's me. Miss Shen's speed of changing her expression is really amazing."

His eyes never left her red lips, his heart was beating faster and faster, and the restlessness that had been going on for days was once again surging in his chest.

Straight to the brain!

Shen Anan didn't want to talk to him anymore, so she pushed him away and stepped on the horse stool to get into the carriage. As if she thought of something, she poked her head out of the carriage again and looked at Xiao Yuan mockingly.

"Fourth Prince, you are standing here like a respectable person only because of my uncle Zhong's great martial arts and rescue. How dare you say you are escorting me? It's ridiculous!"

She heavily dropped the car curtain and told Uncle Zhong to drive.

He looked at the girl's arrogant little face, her lips raised in mockery, his fingertips tightly clasped in his palms, his face stern.

If he hadn't been outnumbered that day, he wouldn't have been in such a mess. This woman was looking down on him.

Shen Anan leaned on the soft pillow, feeling happy. As long as she could stimulate and anger Xiao Yuan, she would be very happy.

Thinking of the dark look on that bastard's face just now, her lips curled up and she laughed out loud.

Uncle Zhong drove away in the carriage. Mo Xiang handed her a candied fruit. She opened her mouth and took a bite. Before she could swallow, she saw a black shadow passing by quickly and the carriage sank.

She looked at the man who suddenly broke into the carriage, the candied fruit stuck in her mouth, and her face gradually became gloomy.

"Girl, spit it out quickly." Mo Xiang patted her back. Shen Anan spit out the preserved fruit with a handkerchief, coughed violently a few times, and her porcelain-white face turned red.

Xiao Yuan kept his eyes on her, and remained calm when meeting Shen Anan's angry eyes.

"What do you want to do?"

Shen Anan gritted his teeth.

Xiao Yuan sat upright in the carriage, not responding, but just looking at her, with some unknown emotion hidden in his eyes.

"Which scholar do you like?"

Shen Anan frowned and looked at Xiao Yuan with a strange look.

"What does it have to do with you? Isn't the Fourth Prince meddling too much?"

It has something to do with nature, Xiao Yuan thought. The pair of gentle almond eyes that appeared in his dreams countless times were only possessed by her, and only she could repeatedly evoke that dream that seemed to have really existed.

In the dream, those eyes were looking at him, they belonged to him.

"You haven't answered my last question directly. What am I like in your dream?"

Shen Anan frowned, not understanding what he was so stubborn about. It was just a dream, but he had to dig deep into the matter.

"Isn't my attitude towards His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince obvious enough?"

Xiao Yuan didn't say anything. He suddenly closed his eyes and stared at the car board, wondering what he was thinking.

"For Miss Chen, is a dream enough to determine a person's character and future?"

"What else?" Shen Anan raised her eyes and glanced at him.

"There are so many men in the capital, why don't I dream about others, but the Fourth Prince? Maybe everything in the world is predetermined. Maybe you and I really had a grudge in our previous lives."

Xiao Yuan seemed to really believe her words, his black eyes stared deeply, his emotions churning faintly, and his heavy gaze made Shen An'an feel uncomfortable all over.

He curled his lips and smiled meaningfully, "Does Miss Shen really think so?"

"nature."

Shen Anan tilted her head to look out the window, but did not see the obsession that flashed across Xiao Yuan's eyes.

He laughed softly, his voice unusually gentle, and said to Shen Anan.

"You're right. Why can't it be someone else? It shows that the cause of the previous life is the result of this life. The fate has already been traced. Whoever it is, should return to the original track. An An, don't you think so?"

Shen Anan shuddered all over, her pupils widened in disbelief, staring at Xiao Yuan.

There seemed to be something surging in the man's eyes. She couldn't see it clearly or understand it at the moment. She just felt suddenly a little creepy.

It seemed as if there was a whirlpool that was sucking her away bit by bit, bottomless like an abyss.

At this time, Uncle Zhong's voice sounded outside, "Miss, the Fourth Prince has arrived."

Shen Anan felt panic for no reason, cursed "madman" and quickly got off the carriage.

"Chen An'an." Xiao Yuan's voice suddenly came from the carriage, laced with sarcasm.

"That Jinshi may not be as noble as you think. When poverty and prosperity blend together, how many people can keep their original aspirations?"

Shen Anan paused for just a moment, then quickened his pace and stepped into the mansion, his cold voice transmitted with the wind.

"I am not familiar with the Fourth Prince. Next time we meet, please address me as Miss Shen. Of course, I would prefer not to meet you."

Xiao Yuan raised a corner of his lips, with sneer hidden in his calm eyes. After watching the woman disappear, he withdrew his gaze indifferently.

He said in a deep voice, "Ask Ling Chenyi to come to the mansion."

Qingfeng took the order and rode quickly towards the direction of Yongning Marquis' Mansion.

When Xiao Yuan's carriage arrived at the prince's mansion, Ling Chenyi's carriage also arrived.

He jumped off the carriage, first sized up Xiao Yuan's expression before asking with a smile, "Didn't you go to the restaurant with Li Huaiyan? Why did you call me over in such a hurry?"

Xiao Yuan glanced at him, his heavy gaze revealed a bit of oppression. Ling Chenyi immediately pursed his lips and suppressed his smile.

"Let's talk in the study."

Ling Chenyi nodded, and very tactfully followed Xiao Yuan to the study.

Qingfeng served tea and closed the study door from the outside.

Xiao Yuan sat behind his desk, his wrist resting casually on the edge of the table, his face calm.

Ling Chenyi felt a gust of cold wind in the room.

"What happened?"

Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and asked in a nonchalant tone, "When did he leave?"

"Who?" Ling Chenyi's brain froze for a moment, but when he saw Xiao Yuan's indifferent gaze, he suddenly came back to his senses.

"Oh, you mean the scholar? He will take office in two months, so he should..."

"Within three days."

Xiao Yuan said this suddenly, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Ling Chenyi swallowed the rest of his words back into his stomach.

"Jiangnan is still more than a month away from the capital, so we should leave in the next two days."

Xiao Yuan said "hmm", picked up the document on the side and began to handle official business. Qing'an hurried forward to serve him with pen and ink.

Seeing that he was silent, Ling Chenyi's face twitched a few times, and he called him over in a hurry. Was he anxious to drive the scholar away?

"He's just a scholar. Are you taking him too seriously?"

He didn't think that the scholar had the qualifications to compete with Xiao Yuan, and even comparing them was a bit ridiculous.

Xiao Yuan's hand holding the pen paused, leaving a smudge of ink on the document. He applied a little force with his thumb, and his fingertips turned white.

Ling Chenyi felt that Xiao Yuan's concern for that scholar seemed to be beyond his imagination.

Nowadays, I can't even bear to hear this name.

After a while, Xiao Yuan calmed down, put the pen back on the inkstone, looked up at Ling Chenyi who was standing still, and said in a cold tone, "Do you have anything else to say?"

“…”

Ling Chenyi was silent for a moment, then suddenly said very seriously, "If you have decided, act as soon as possible. The Shen family has considerable influence in the court, so as to avoid any more trouble."

Xiao Yuan frowned.

"It has nothing to do with the Shen family."

He never took the Shen family into consideration in any of his decisions.

"Yeah." Ling Chenyi nodded perfunctorily. Anyway, whether it was for the power of the Shen Mansion or not, Shen Anan represented the Shen Mansion.

"My mother is going to the temple to burn incense the day after tomorrow. Do you want to come with her?"

Xiao Yuan seemed to pause for a moment, then refused, "No, please help me burn some incense for her."

Ling Chenyi nodded without any surprise, "Don't worry, my mother always goes to see Concubine Shu first."

"Yeah." Xiao Yuan restrained his expression, lowered his head and began to handle official business. There was endless darkness hidden in his seemingly calm eyes.

——

The next day.

Mrs. Lin unexpectedly visited the Shen Mansion, accompanied by the girl from the Lin family, Lin Yurou.

Shen Anan was called to talk to Lin Yurou.

Sitting at the table, Mrs. Shen and Mrs. Lin chatted animatedly about everything under the sun, and unsurprisingly, the topic finally shifted to their children's marriages.

Lin Yurou was talking to Shen Anan when her face turned red and she lowered her head.

When she lowered her eyes, Shen Anan looked at her seriously for a few breaths. In terms of appearance alone, the girl from the Lin family was beautiful, with a quiet and scholarly aura. One could tell at a glance that she was well-read.

She has a slender and graceful figure, and her behavior is very proper and polite. She is the kind of lady from a noble family who has received a strict education and is a role model. No wonder her mother said that the girl from the Lin family is no worse than Duan San.

What my mother likes is her elegant temperament of being well-read and well-read. After all, all the people in the Shen family are military generals.

Madam Lin seemed to be very satisfied with this marriage, and she seemed to be urging the marriage proposal. Shen Anan raised her eyes and glanced at Madam Lin, who was smiling at her, and was somewhat puzzled by her urgency.

Mrs. Shen was also satisfied with the marriage, so she naturally promised to pick a date and settle the engagement as soon as possible.

When Mrs. Lin got the confirmation, she glanced at her shy daughter sitting below her with joy.

"Miss Lin, have you ever met my elder brother?" Shen Anan lowered her voice and asked playfully.

Lin Yurou's face turned even redder, and she lowered her head and said "hmm" in a voice as light as a mosquito.

What else did Shen Anan not understand? It seemed that Miss Lin was also fond of her eldest brother.

She tilted her head a few times and peeked outside secretly.

Shen Anan knew that she was looking forward to Shen Changhe, waiting for him to come.

Logically, his eldest brother was about to get engaged to the Lin family, and Mrs. Lin was coming with Miss Lin. Out of courtesy, he should come forward to say hello.

But I don’t know if it was because I was too busy with official duties or what, but I couldn’t see him for a long time.

Madam Shen signaled to the maid several times to ask her to go and invite him, but the maid returned in vain and just shook her head helplessly at her.

Mrs. Shen couldn't ask what happened in front of Mrs. Lin, so she had to smile and smooth things over, "He'er has been busy with official duties these days, and often doesn't come back until late at night. Don't blame me for not being able to greet Mrs. Lin."

Madam Lin smiled and praised, "Madam Shen, what are you talking about? Young Master Shen is the commander of the imperial guards at such a young age. He is in charge of all matters in the capital, so his official duties are naturally busy. Looking around the capital, which boy can achieve such achievements at his age? In my opinion, you are lucky."

Mrs. Shen was naturally happy that her son was praised, as her children were her pride.

She looked at the quiet girl who was twirling her handkerchief below her with great joy, and said with a meaningful smile, "It will be our blessing from now on."

Mrs. Lin glanced at her daughter and smiled with her hands covering her lips. Lin Yurou was so shy that she wanted to hang her head to the ground.