cold

Xiao Yingzhu was quite surprised by what Jiang Nian said before, but after hearing her last sentence, she was obviously aroused.

However, the hint of surprise on his face was so fleeting that Jiang Nian almost failed to catch it.

The sound of rain outside the window gradually died down, and a slight sound came from outside the screen at an inopportune moment.

It was the servant who had brought Jiang Nian here earlier.

He leaned down towards Xiao Yingzhu and whispered, "Sir, the people outside have been cleared out."

The attendant's voice was not deliberately suppressed, so the other two people present could hear it clearly.

Xiao Yingzhu didn't react to this. She gestured to him expressionlessly, then turned to Jiang Nian and said, "Let's talk somewhere else."

"......Um."

Jiang Nian turned her gaze away from the attendant, a different kind of doubt in her heart. It was indeed forbidden to talk too much outside of this place, so she nodded without asking any further questions and followed Xiao Yingzhu back to the house.

The route back to the room was different from the one coming in. Xiao Yingzhu chose another road with fewer people.

Although the road he led was remote, it was more luxurious than the roads outside in terms of decoration. From Jiang Nian's point of view, this road seemed to be specially set up for the guests coming to the State Guesthouse.

And Xiao Yingzhu was one of those guests.

Looking at the winding stairs and his black hair that flowed like a waterfall, Jiang Nian's eyes fell on the snow-green sleeves of his clothes. He was suddenly reminded of what the servant had said and asked:

"Meng Yao will stay here at night, so you deliberately avoided the path Meng Yao might take?"

Xiao Yingzhu paused as she was moving upwards, glanced back, and curled her lips slightly: "The reaction is not bad."

The smile at the end of his tone was exactly the same, which made Jiang Nian startled.

The silent corridor was filled with fresh air after the rain, and the sound of footsteps one after another was particularly obvious in the empty aisle.

The wooden steps made a dull sound as people walked on them, and the wind whistling past became more and more fierce as they approached the stairs.

The wide sleeves of her skirt let in the wind, and her whole body was filled with coldness.

She had just come out of a warm place, and the sudden cold made her shiver.

It's not even winter yet, but the weather changes in Cang County have become so obvious.

The afternoon was still quite hot.

It's so cold at night.

Although Jiang Nian didn't say much, he didn't make any obvious moves.

However, Xiao Yingzhu seemed to know that she could not resist the temperature, and used her body to block the wind that was rushing down from the stairs.

His movements were not very noticeable, so Jiang Nian only felt that the wind on the shop suddenly weakened a lot, as if it had suddenly stopped.

But when she raised her head and looked up in confusion, the wind blew again.

The biting cold blew her body into a suffocation. When she raised her hands to block the wind, a huge dark shadow instantly engulfed her sight. The majestic scenery made her stop and take shelter from the wind.

The lights in the distance flickered in the darkness, and the bright lights reflected her inky pupils.

The mountains almost reach the clouds, appearing even more massive in the thick clouds and light mist. In the dark night, they look more like a towering reef ship parked by the river, lying there quietly, silently watching the various aspects of human life at the foot of the mountain.

If you stare at it for a long time, you may even feel that it has its own spirit, passing through the broken moons of countless years, and is looking at you from afar with its eyes lowered.

The secrets hidden deep in the heart seemed to have nowhere to hide in front of this behemoth.

—

The wind was blowing so hard that my earlobes lost all feeling and became extremely red from the cold.

Jiang Nian looked at the nameless mountain in the distance, then turned his head away calmly and walked towards the aisle on the left.

Xiao Yingzhu was standing outside one of the rooms, waiting for her quietly.

Seeing that Jiang Nian had been standing in the viewing area outside the corridor for a long time, he didn't say anything, and didn't even show any expression. He waited for her to come in with a normal expression, and then opened the locked door.

I was immersed in cold air outside, and now I suddenly entered an enclosed space, and the cold air surrounding me dissipated instantly.

Jiang Nian subconsciously stroked his arm gently and glanced around.

"here it is......"

Xiao Yingzhu placed her slender fingertips on one of the books on the bookshelf, lowered her eyes to look at the bookshelf in front of her, and explained her question.

"This is where my late mother's books were collected."

"If you are looking for something, you can search it here."

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu never mentioned her family, so Jiang Nian always treated this topic as a taboo.

I never thought that he would take the initiative to bring me here today.

Not only did it provide her with a convenient place to look up information, but it was also a place related to his parents.

Thinking of the delicate and stalemate relationship between the two of them, Jiang Nian felt a little complicated.

So she didn't say anything directly.

After a moment of silence, she nodded and walked inside as Xiao Yingzhu instructed.

—

This room is much larger than it appears from the outside.

Even the layout seems different from traditional classical Chinese style.

The layout is somewhat modern.

Behind the layers of bookshelves is a large area.

There were several cushioned tables and chairs for reading, and the tables were still in the same condition as when the owner had left them.

Even the opened book and the withered yellow leaves between the books had not been touched by anyone.

Jiang Nian stood in front of the open space and looked around - decorations were placed at the edge of the open space.

It's something like green plants.

Perhaps she had not yet fully integrated into this era, and she vaguely felt that it would be appropriate to put a piano here.

It turns out that I didn’t get enough rest.

Jiang Nian shifted his gaze, walked forward a few steps, and lowered his eyes to look at the open books on the desk.

The books were still there, but not covered with thick dust.

There was only a thin layer of dust covering it.

It looked like it was cleaned regularly.

Jiang Nian stood up, turned to Xiao Yingzhu and asked, "Did you have someone clean this place?"

"Um."

Xiao Yingzhu responded casually and put the book in his hand back.

Compared to the hardcover books I saw when I first entered the room, the books at the back were obviously from this era.

"Then the books here..."

When I was arguing with Xiao Yingzhu just now, I accidentally mentioned Shou Zan. There is no point in trying to hide it now, so it is better to show it openly.

Jiang Nian shifted his gaze from the scroll in Xiao Yingzhu's hand and asked uncertainly, "Is it related to Shou Zan?"

Xiao Yingzhu said calmly, "Yeah."

The topic was talked about to death.

Jiang Nian didn't intend to embarrass himself in front of him.

Even though the reason why he and Xiao Yingzhu were able to stay here today was all because of him, Jiang Nian still believed that they were still in a cold war.

It's not an ambiguous cold war.

It would be more accurate to say that a rift had arisen between the allies.

The gap between the two people is expanding infinitely, but even though the people involved can see it clearly, they choose to remain indifferent.

Jiang Nian turned around boredly and walked past the table, stopping in front of one of the bookshelves.

This bookshelf is filled with hardcover editions that are not in line with this era.

The same book Tao Yu gave her.

They are all bound like modern ones, and even the reading order is from left to right.

All the books on this row of bookshelves revolve around a theme.

That is the plague.

“…”

Jiang Nian's eyes swept across the neatly arranged books, and finally stopped on one of them.

The packaging of this book is different from the others. It looks very new, as if it has never been read.

Jiang Nian is also familiar with this book.

She saw this book in modern times.

The footsteps on the other side were getting closer and closer. Jiang Nian took a step back, stopped looking at the book that particularly attracted her, and turned to walk aside.

"Isn't there what you're looking for?"

Xiao Yingzhu's voice interrupted, blocking Jiang Nian's sight as he was about to continue reading other books.

She was silent for a moment, neither admitting nor denying, but only asked a question that seemed unrelated to his question.

"Are these books Shouzan's?"

As if locking onto a certain range, Jiang Nian continued to ask:

"Is this the one he read when he founded the sect?"

A person whose profession is not medicine can develop a medicine in a short period of time. If he is not a genius, then he must have external help.

Xiao Yingzhu didn't give a quick answer. His eyes fell on the book that Jiang Nian had just stopped reading. After a moment, he replied, "Not sure."

His eyebrows and eyes were light, and his expression was dim and unclear in the flickering candlelight.

"My mother passed away before she could tell me. I didn't hear the whole story, I only know the general idea."

Jiang Nian stopped taking one of the books and turned his head to look sideways.

Xiao Yingzhu's eyes were still beautiful and charming, but in the soft candlelight, there was a barely perceptible sense of helplessness.

Like through fog.

She couldn't see clearly.

That look quickly disappeared from his face. When he raised his eyes, the fragile and hazy feeling he had just given Jiang Nian had completely faded away, and his usual indifference reappeared on his face.

"What did Miss Jiang find here?"

"I'm not familiar with this place, so I'll bring you here."

——If you can find the answer I want here, then it can be used as a bargaining chip for further negotiations.

The implication of his words was very clear.

Almost naked.

But from these casual and spontaneous words, Jiang Nian actually felt that he heard something, which was only Xiao Yingzhu's submission.

If he really doesn't want to pay attention to me, doesn't agree with me, only acts according to his own plans, and doesn't care about the feelings of others.

How could he invite her to dinner during the cold war between them, and even let her go through a special passage and bring her to a room unknown to outsiders?

Why bother responding to her questions?

To the outside world, Xiao Yingzhu is a Duke who is unkind, unpredictable, decisive and cruel.

But in front of her, almost everything looked the same.

It was like showing her the whole inside.

Even if there is still a part that is hidden now, it is an important part of the sense of security that a person needs.

Is she being too harsh?

Besides, she had some more important questions that concerned the relationship between them that she hadn't asked him.

Just ignore everything and get to the heart of the matter.

Is this another form of "inequality"?