An Jing saw that Shang Xingjian was still not coming out of the room, so he didn't dare to knock on the door to ask.

He kept lying on the door of his room, listening to the noise outside with his ears pricked up.

He has been practicing martial arts since he was young, and his hearing is much sharper than that of ordinary people. Just now, Su Wanti deliberately lowered her voice when talking to Zhang, but those words still fell into his ears word for word.

When An Jing saw Miss Su had packed up and walked out of the room, he went to knock on Shang Xingjian's door.

"Sir, are you up?"

The door opened with a creak.

Shang Xingjian, dressed in dark cloth, stood at the door with a stern expression.

His eyes were slightly drooping, his lips were tightly pursed, and there was no expression on his face.

An Jing was stunned, feeling that the young master seemed to be in a bad mood...

Since yesterday, the young master has been in a bad mood. He has been silent and sighs from time to time. It seems that after a night, his boredom has not been relieved.

An Jing really wanted to know what had happened that had troubled the young master for so long.

"Sir, we will be in Luzhou this afternoon. I have sent a letter to my mother, asking her to pick us up at Ru'an Mansion."

The Luzhou An family is one of the big families in Daning.

The An family has a large population, numerous branches, strict family precepts, and many talented people.

The An family attached great importance to education, and the private school at home was open not only to boys but also to girls.

Men studied to take the imperial examinations and pursue careers in government, while women studied poetry, calligraphy, painting, history, and music, earning the reputation of being talented women.

An Jing's father, Minister An, came from the An family in Luzhou.

The head of the An family in Luzhou, the eldest master of the An family, is Minister An’s elder brother.

After Minister An was promoted to Minister of Revenue, he took his mother, Mrs. An, to the capital to live out her retirement.

Mrs. An lived in the capital for several years. Because she was not used to the local customs and climate of the capital, she returned to Luzhou two months ago.

An Jing's mother was worried about her mother-in-law traveling alone, and to show her filial piety, she personally escorted her mother-in-law back to the old house in Luzhou.

Now, An Jing's grandmother and mother live in the An family in Luzhou, so Shang Xingjian and An Jing decided to hide in the back house of the An family after arriving in Luzhou.

"Yeah." Shang Xingjian nodded and walked out calmly.

An Jing added, "Miss Su is also going to the An family."

"Hmm?" Shang Xingjian stopped.

Seeing that the young master was interested, An Jing told him everything he had just overheard.

"Sir, the An family is offering a reward for a magical medicine to cure my grandmother's headache."

"My grandmother's headaches have been getting worse and worse. When they come, they feel like an axe splitting herb. The imperial physician wrote a prescription for her, saying it can cure her headaches. All the ingredients listed in the prescription are available, except for the Resurrection Herb. So, our An family has posted notices everywhere, offering a reward of 10,000 taels for anyone who can obtain the Resurrection Herb."

When Shang Xingjian heard that Su Wanti was going to the An family to deliver the resurrection grass, he was slightly moved.

However, he thought of the cold and heartless words the woman had just said, and his throbbing heart turned a little colder.

He snorted coldly, "Let her go, what does it have to do with us?"

He lowered his eyes slightly, and his dim gaze fell on the window. Outside the window was the backyard of the inn. The carriage they rented was parked there. Su Wanti was busy loading the luggage onto the carriage with her younger brother and sister.

The woman was wearing a light yellow vertical collared double-breasted blouse and a bud green pleated skirt today. She looked as lively and graceful as the new buds on a willow branch.

Perhaps because it was hot, a thin layer of sweat appeared on the woman's forehead. She rolled up her thin sleeves, revealing her fair and slender arms.

The early summer morning sun was bright and scorching, and the bright white sunlight shone on the woman's bare arms, making them dazzlingly white.

The woman occasionally raised her hand and wiped the thin sweat on her neck with a handkerchief. The small vertical collar that fit her neck was pressed down by her fingers, and the fine cotton handkerchief wiped the skin under the collar with a thin layer of sweat.

A small purple mark under the collar suddenly caught Shang Xingjian's eyes.

This is what he left this morning.

Shang Xingjian's eyes were deep and his Adam's apple rolled.

His chest felt stuffy, and an indescribable emotion was churning inside him. The place where the woman's fingertips had just touched was burning hot.

Suddenly, a strange thought flashed through his mind.

Why did he feel that this woman was taking advantage of him...

Shang Xingjian shook his head, thinking that he was just imagining things.

He sighed softly, feeling guilty about his narrow-mindedness.

Just because the woman rejected his proposal, he thought the worst of her, thinking that she was staying with him just to take advantage of him?

Miss Su didn't know his identity and didn't want to ask him for a formal status. How could she use him?

Shang Xingjian's eyes were dark, he clenched his fists, and the words Miss Su had just said echoed in his ears.

"I will never get married in my life", "...Don't think too much about it, and don't take it to heart."

They embraced each other tenderly...how could he not take it to heart?

"Am I someone you can use and discard as you please?" These words were squeezed out from Shang Xingjian's chest, low and silent.

"What?" An Jing asked with a frown. He only saw the young master's mouth moving, but no sound was heard.

Shang Xingjian's eyes turned slightly, and he regained his calm expression. "Nothing, let's go, it's time to set off."

He put his hands behind his back, his back straight, his steps steady, his plain clothes unable to conceal his elegance.

An Jing followed behind him.

The two walked to the backyard of the inn to meet up with the Su family.

As soon as I walked out of the inn, I saw two men with unfriendly faces wandering around Miss Su.

The two men looked ruffians, staring at Su Wanti like flies seeing meat. It was obvious that they were not decent people.

Shang Xingjian's face darkened and his eyes turned cold.

He walked forward quickly, using his broad, straight shoulders to block the unfriendly gazes from those around him.

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