Chapter 52 Chapter 52 I haven’t washed my face in days! …

For some unknown reason, Princess Jingxuan agreed.

She was not familiar with these people, Lu Jiayi always had a cold face, and the Chen brothers and sisters were not talkative. Although Xiaoman and He Ping tried hard to joke, there was still a sense of coldness between them.

Fortunately, the restaurant He Ping found was really good. Not only did they have fine wine and delicious food, but they also had cellared apples, fragrant pears, winter dates, bananas, and even out-of-season cucumbers!

The girls couldn't help but sit together, and with these juicy fruits as a change of pace, the atmosphere quickly became lively.

Xiaoman was momentarily excited. "Your Highness, I know who you were looking at on the bridge just now. I also know why you agreed to come drink with us."

Princess Jingxuan was startled and looked around subconsciously.

Chen Yanning was tired from walking and dozed off against her brother. He Ping stood by the window with a pot of wine, chattering to the moon. Jiayi was the only one by her side, and she understood everything she was thinking.

"Did you see him?" Jingxuan asked in a low voice.

Xiaoman nodded heavily, "I'm telling you, don't get involved with anyone from the Zhang family. You're such a precious person, how could you be so careless as to get involved with such bad luck!"

Jingxuan said, "I haven't had that thought in my mind for a long time. I just happened to see him and wanted to say a few words to encourage him. This should be the last time I see him."

Xiaoman waved her hands. "Impossible. Once you're stuck with them, you can't get rid of them. The Zhang family has lost its money and power, and his backbone has been broken along with it. He's been a rich and powerful young man for twenty years, hanging out with the children of noble families. How could he possibly stand his current downfall?"

Jingxuan was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but think of the look he had just exchanged with Zhang Bi.

He seemed to be different from before. I don’t know if it was an illusion, but his eyes were emitting a dark green light, like a starving dog.

Suddenly a chill ran up her back and she couldn't help shivering.

Lu Jiayi, who had been secretly watching her, couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Xiaoman saw this and raised his glass with a chuckle, "Miss Lu, if you look at it this way, my brother did a good thing by mistakenly stopping His Highness. You shouldn't hold it against him."

Lu Jiayi snorted and raised the wine glass in his hand slightly. The matter was over.

Xiaoman was so happy that she drank three or five cups and could not speak clearly.

He Ping prodded Chen Ling'an, "Have you ever seen Xiaoman get drunk and crazy?"

Chen Lingan shook his head.

"Then I'll let you see it today." He Ping smiled evilly and went over with the wine jug to refill Xiaoman's wine.

Xiaoman didn't need anyone to urge him to drink, he just raised his glass and drank, and the pot of wine was almost empty.

"Don't drink anymore." Chen Ling'an took her wine glass away. "If you get drunk, no one will take you home. Don't look at me like that. No matter how pitiful you act, I won't be soft-hearted."

Xiaoman hummed: "I know, we are not on the way."

"It's on the way." Chen Yanning woke up at some point. "I'm not going home. My teacher told me to go back to Linyuan, and my senior brother is also going back to Linyuan. Brother, you take Sister Xiaoman home."

Lin Garden? Lu Jiayi gasped. Is that Mr. Lin Ting's residence? Why did she use the word "return"? And what about teacher and senior brother? Who is this scoundrel?

Dengtuzi didn't notice her puzzled look, and laughed out loud, clapping his hands. "Wonderful, wonderful! Three rounds of wine, five dishes, the moon is at its zenith, and the accompanying palace maids have peeked in three times. Now it's time for us to go home."

When he went downstairs, the princess's ceremonial carriage was indeed waiting there, and the female official in charge gave He Ping a cold look.

Jingxuan suddenly felt guilty. If she ruined someone else's future because of her playfulness, she would be committing a great sin.

He Ping saw through her thoughts and immediately put on a boastful look, "This young master has someone above him, Your Highness, just wait for me to treat you to some rice dumplings with fermented glutinous rice."

Princess Jingxuan smiled and said, "I wish you to be the top of the high school list and get what you want."

The ceremonial carriage went away surrounded by palace servants, and He Ping was still waving his hands, as if the princess could see him through the carriage wall.

Xiaoman was trembling, but she still asked him with a thick tongue: "Do you like princesses?"

"right!"

It was so straightforward that the Chen brothers and sisters were all stunned.

"You must have planned this all along. Tell me, was it love at first sight?"

He Ping smiled proudly: "Hey, you are worthy of being my sister. We are like a family. We both like to be straightforward and don't hide anything. We are clean, neat and crisp!"

Xiaoman muttered, "Who's like you? I didn't knock Chen Ling'an into the lake."

"That was an accident, an accident! Is your brother that kind of person? No matter how much he likes her, he can't joke with a girl's life. He's like you, hugging her in public and not letting go."

"I am happy, and he is happy too. It's none of your business."

They kept bickering, seemingly forgetting that Chen Ling'an was right next to them, and naturally couldn't see the red tips of his ears.

Chen Yanning pursed her lips and smiled quietly, and finally managed to call He Ping away.

The river reflected the lights and lay there quietly.

The curfew was lifted tonight, but it was already too late and there were few pedestrians on the road. Only their carriage was moving slowly.

Chen Ling'an was a very good driver. The carriage was stable but also shook slightly. After a while, there was no movement in the carriage.

She must be asleep. Chen Ling'an breathed a sigh of relief. If he continued to let her talk nonsense, he really didn't know how to respond.

Just around the corner was the Jiang family. Chen Lingan stopped the carriage and prepared to wake her up.

When I opened the car curtain, I found her leaning against the car wall with her eyes half open. Her face was redder than a red lantern, her eyes were dazed, and she was smiling foolishly. It seemed that she was still drunk.

"Wake up from your nap. Be careful not to catch a cold in the cold wind." Chen Ling'an said as he was about to lower the curtain.

But she grabbed his arm and pulled him back hard.

Chen Ling'an sat sideways on the shaft of the cart, his feet off the ground and his waist unsupported. He had no way to exert any strength and fell involuntarily towards the carriage.

The carriage was covered with a thick, soft mattress. It was soft behind me, and in front of me, too...

Chen Ling'an looked at Xiaoman who was pressing on him in shock.

"You're so handsome." Xiaoman gently stroked his face, her fingers sliding over his eyebrows, eyes, and nose...

Chen Ling'an tilted her head sharply, and her fingers fell on the mattress.

"Don't move!" Xiaoman stared at him with dazed eyes. She simply clamped his face with both hands and straightened it. "Don't run. Be good."

She closed her eyes and slowly moved closer.

He should have pushed her away, but his limbs were stiff, his mind was blank, and even his heart stopped beating at that moment.

Her body suddenly softened, her lips brushed his cheek, and she fell on top of him.

An indescribable feeling surged in my heart. My wooden body quickly softened, swelled, and became hot like charcoal. My head felt dizzy, and my hands rose uncontrollably.

Her soft snoring sounded in my ears.

Chen Ling'an was stunned. He dropped his hands, covered his eyes, and let out a long sigh.

It's just... a joke!

-

When Xiaoman woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

Mrs. Jiang fed her hangover soup and scolded her for drinking so much. "You were so drunk that you couldn't even stand. Fortunately, Chen Ling'an was kind enough to wrap you up in a blanket and bring you in. Otherwise, you would have caught a cold."

The wine was very good. I didn't have a headache after the hangover, just some dizziness.

He hugged her! Xiaoman's heart was beating fast, her hands were shaking with panic, but she pretended to be fine.

Mrs. Jiang was also worried about another thing, "You were so drunk, did he take advantage of you..."

Xiaoman took a moment to digest what her mother had said. "What are you thinking? With his stubborn personality, how could it be possible?"

She was almost taking advantage of him.

As soon as this thought came to her mind, a picture flashed through her mind, so fast that she couldn't remember what it was no matter how hard she tried.

Xiaoman scratched his head and said, forget it, if I can’t remember, then don’t think about it. I’ll just eat, drink and sleep.

As the days passed, the Spring Examination was approaching. The first one would be on the ninth day of the second lunar month. Xiaoman wanted to encourage He Ping and asked Chen Lingan to go together.

The first time she saw Chen Ling'an, she couldn't help but exclaimed, "What's wrong with you? You haven't slept for days!"

His face was swollen, there was a purple spot under his eyes, his eyes were dull, and he looked indescribably haggard and tired.

Chen Ling'an narrowed his eyes and looked at her carefully, then gave a half-hearted smile, "You seem to be doing quite well."

Xiaoman was confused, "What do you mean by that? Do you want me to have a bad life?"

"It's nothing."

"What do you mean by 'nothing'? I came to see you happily, but you treated me like this!"

Chen Lingan took a deep breath and tried to suppress his irritation. "What do you want from me?"

Xiaoman: "Let's go and cheer He Ping up."

Chen Ling'an stared at her in silence, then suddenly laughed out loud, "Ha, you came to me just for him?"

Xiaoman was startled by him, "Why are you going crazy for no reason?"

"Crazy? Yes, I am going crazy. You have nothing else to say except this? You know this is the first time we have met since that incident, and you don't want to say anything about it?"

"What's going on? You've got me confused."

"I'm the one who's about to faint!" Chen Ling'an stood up suddenly, walked around the room, pointed at Xiaoman and said "you" for a long time, but couldn't say a word.

"You forgot, you actually forgot. You're pretending, aren't you? You're deliberately trying to upset me, right? You want me to have a taste of how you felt back then."

Xiaoman was annoyed. "Can you please explain yourself clearly? If you keep making trouble, I'll leave!"

"I, I..." Chen Ling'an's eyes turned red from holding his breath, and his face showed an expression of grievance, sadness, and anger. Xiaoman couldn't help but cover her mouth and raised her eyebrows slightly.

Chen Lingan exploded. "You're doing this again! I haven't washed my face in days."

Face? The blurry picture gradually became clear, and Xiaoman gasped: It's over, she actually took advantage of me!

"Well, it was a misunderstanding. I was drunk and passed out. It was really a misunderstanding. I didn't mean it."

"Misunderstanding? You actually said misunderstanding? You mean you took advantage of your drunken stupor to molest me, an official appointed by the imperial court. Do you know the magnitude of your crime? Ever since that day, I've been nervous, agitated, and conflicted. I've been thinking and pondering over it over and over again. I can't do anything, whether I open my eyes or close them... But you acted as if nothing happened and told me it was a misunderstanding!"

Chen Ling'an laughed angrily, "Zhang Xiaoman, you're amazing! I really want to throw you into the Imperial Prison right now."

Xiaoman's face seemed to be on fire, and a rosy blush burned from her face to her neck and spread to under her collar.

She lowered her head, stepped on the ground with her little feet, and just bit her lips. She didn't say anything else, and she didn't know what to say.

The spring breeze with the fragrance of flowers blows gently. The aftermath of winter is still there, but it cannot stop the arrival of spring.

She said, "Are those things you just said true?"

Chen Ling'an snorted coldly.

Can I understand that you like me?

These words lingered on Xiaoman's lips for a long time, but he still didn't ask them out loud.

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes, "Chen Ling'an."

"Um?"

"Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?"

Chen Ling slowly looked over, and when he met her gaze, his heart skipped a beat.

Hold on to me, don't let go!