She turned around and saw him standing behind her with his eyes downcast.

Shu Yun carefully chose her words, afraid that Xie Fu would think she was mocking his taste, "The buildings in your courtyard are quite unique."

Xie Fu smiled, stared at her silently for a while, and found it quite amusing how cautious she was, afraid of hurting his feelings, so he didn't explain.

He responded softly, "Mm."

His voice was clean and slightly lower than others, but to Shu Yun's ears, it sounded pleasant.

Shu Yun stared blankly at his thin, pale neck and the Adam's apple bobbing up and down when he spoke.

Xie Fu raised an eyebrow, then helplessly covered her eyes, "Is this never going to end?"

After saying that, he couldn't resist his curiosity and asked, "What's so interesting about it?"

Shu Yun brushed his hand away and said with a smile, "No matter how beautiful other people are, they're not worth looking at. I just like looking at you."

She held his hand, her fingertips sliding across his palm, feeling its coolness.

Xie Fu curled his fingers slightly, feeling inexplicably good. He glanced in the direction she had been looking and asked, "Have you decided where you'll stay?"

Shu Yun shook her head. "I asked them to take me to your room, but they refused no matter what I said, so I'll just wait for you to come back here."

Xie Fu looked down at her, and when he heard her say that she wanted to go to his room, he showed an expression that said, "I knew it."

After saying that, she glanced at him quickly and added in a low voice, "I also heard about your romantic history."

"A romantic history..." Xie Fu curled his lips, noticing her gaze. The words he was about to say circled back, and he swallowed them back. He withdrew his hand and walked towards the courtyard. "Come on, I'll take you to see it."

The people in the courtyard walked into the inner courtyard one after another, while those outside the courtyard, who wished they had ears attached to the walls to eavesdrop, erupted in a commotion after the people left.

"Did you hear that?" someone asked, looking terrified.

"It was too far away, and the wall was so thick that my ears were practically embedded in it, so I couldn't hear anything."

"I think I heard the young master laugh."

"Right! You heard that too! I thought I was hallucinating!"

The sweeping servant sneaked over and joined the gossip group, saying, "You'd never guess! I just risked my life to peek, and you'd never guess that the young master actually touched that girl's face!"

"What?!"

The more composed servant, after careful consideration, concluded, "This time, the young master has finally found happiness. We'll probably have another mistress in our household from now on."

"So be it. We also owe a debt to this young lady. Otherwise, I never would have imagined that a woman would actually enter our inner courtyard, given how cold and aloof the young master is when he's holding a spear."

"You don't understand. Our young master is handsome, and even with his cold, handsome face, many girls like him. Look at those girls from the Dancing Sleeves Pavilion, aren't they..."

Shu Yun followed Xie Fu down the wooden corridor. Every so often, a blackout roller blind hung under the eaves, with cotton ropes for pulling it up hanging down beside it, and beige tassels dangling below. The design was simple but beautiful.

The warm rays of the setting sun, thanks to the blackout blinds, cast fragments of light on the two people's profiles, which were either handsome or aloof, creating a fleeting, ethereal effect.

"There are so many rooms, you can choose one yourself."

Xie Fu stopped and leaned lazily against a pillar in the corridor, raising his chin to indicate that she should choose for herself.

Shu Yun didn't look in the direction he was looking at, but instead asked him, "Where do you live?"

He said, "It's impossible for me to stay in my house."

Shu Yun said calmly, "You're overthinking it. I just want to choose the room next to yours."

"..."

Xie Fu scoffed inwardly, as if she wasn't the one who had just said she wanted to visit his room.

"Then you can stay here. Go through the stone table in the middle, and my room is behind it."

Shu Yun looked around and searched for the stone table he mentioned. On the other side of the house, there was a small pond under the eaves, and a stone table was next to the pond. Through the planted green bamboo behind the stone table, another house could be vaguely seen.

If the house across the street had the same layout, she could easily walk through to his house in just a few steps.

She was very satisfied. "This will do."

After receiving a message from his informant among the servants, the well-dressed steward immediately went to find Master Xie with the exact details.

He relayed the details of what had happened at Xie Fuwai Courtyard to the old master.

"Do you remember the servant who sweeps the outer courtyard, Young Master? Oh my, he just rushed over to me saying he had something important to report. When I heard that, I thought that although it was just gossip among servants, it was actually related to our Xie family, so I came over to report to the master right away."

Old Master Xie had just heard from the steward about what happened between the Xie family and Shu Yun at the Xie family gate. On the one hand, he was happy that the Xie family was not yet on the verge of extinction, but on the other hand, he was a little worried about Shu Yun's identity.

He was currently planning when to send someone to investigate Shu Yun again, and it would be best if the people he had planted in the Central Plains and the Southern Barbarians were also sorted out and put to use. He would start by investigating Shu Yun as a trial run.

Just then, the steward came to tell him that his grandson had touched the girl's face and even brought her to his private courtyard, which was off-limits to women.

After listening, Old Master Xie pondered for a moment and realized that the female doctor he had sent over had truly captured his grandson's heart.

We need to hurry and investigate Shu Yun's identity one last time.

Although Shu Yun's words to him were logical, well-founded, and sincere, he was willing to let her go and allow her to remain in Xiliang.

But Xie Fu brought people into the inner courtyard, so we had to be more careful. The Xie family had only one son for three generations, and Xie Fu was their only heir.

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