Chapter 217 Wen Xingluo, You Played with My Feelings

The banana leaves swayed in the wind.

Wen Xingluo stared at the two people's clasped hands, then looked at Xie Guanlan.

After a long time, she slowly shifted her gaze elsewhere.

She remained silent for an unknown amount of time before she withdrew her hand. "I don't want to fabricate my identity, I don't want to be someone else. I don't want to change my parents, I don't want to fabricate my life story. Even though my father and brother hurt me deeply, that's still the path I came from. Wen Xingluo is Wen Xingluo. I'm willing to change to my mother's last name, but I don't want to bear a stranger's last name and be a stranger's daughter."

The moon is bright and quiet, and the fragrance of osmanthus in the air is becoming fainter.

The girl's face in the moonlight was so rational as to be almost cruel.

Xie Guanlan looked at her. "If it came to a point where her life was in danger, Ningning would definitely be willing to change her name and falsify her background. Ultimately, it's just that after weighing the pros and cons, you decided that marrying me wasn't important enough to make you give up your current identity."

Wen Xingluo was silent.

She has only just started her life for a dozen years. She still has a long way to go, many beautiful scenes she has not seen, and she even has very heavy responsibilities on her shoulders.

She lives not just to get married.

Although she liked Xie Guanlan, although she wanted to be close to him and possess him, and although she was moved by his sincerity in bringing her home in his previous life, as he said, he was indeed not important enough for her to give up everything.

She said, "Isn't it good to maintain this kind of relationship?"

"What kind of relationship is this now?" Xie Guanlan asked back.

Wen Xingluo pursed his lips wordlessly.

Xie Guanlan sneered, "I said before that we should continue to maintain the status quo, but it was you who was dissatisfied. Now I have proposed a solution, but you refuse it. Wen Ningning, you don't care about me at all. You don't want to marry me, you don't want me to be your legal husband, you..."

On her face, which was as beautiful as a demon, there was a hint of unwillingness of not being able to get what she wanted.

He complained hoarsely, "You're playing with my feelings."

Wen Xingluo drooped his eyelashes.

Xie Guanlan's tone was as if she was a heartless person.

She didn't want to talk about this anymore, so she whispered, "I'm sorry."

After saying that, he went straight into the boudoir.

The Begonia Aquarius lattice window gradually closed in the young man's eyes, leaving only a little candlelight shining through.

Now the moonlight in the courtyard is getting colder at night.

boudoir.

Wei Ying was drinking osmanthus tea when she saw Wen Xingluo enter. She said sternly, "What a trick of playing hard to get, cousin! You've manipulated the Zhou Kingdom's Southwestern Military Commander into a coherent act, making him completely devoted to you. Then, you've made him neglect his duties and cause chaos throughout the country. Your move is brilliant."

Wen Xingluo: "...I didn't play tricks on him, nor did I want to cause chaos in the world."

Wei Ying had an expression that said "I understand".

Wen Xingluo: “…”

Forget it, she couldn't communicate with her cousin.

Because of the quarrel tonight, Xie Guanlan stayed in the government office for several days in a row.

Wansong Courtyard.

Wen Xingluo held up his face and stared at the osmanthus flowers outside the window in a trance.

She suspected that Xie Guanlan was a stone lion at the gate of a government office in his previous life, otherwise why would he love to stay in the government office so much, as if the government office was his safe haven.

Xie Shian nibbled on the freshly baked osmanthus cake and asked, "Ningning, what are you daydreaming about?"

"I was wondering when my eldest brother would return home."

"What's wrong?" Xie Shian nudged the girl mischievously with his elbow. "Do you miss him?"

Wen Xingluo came back to his senses and quickly waved his hands, "No... no..."

"You must have improved your swordsmanship a lot recently, and you want to find an opportunity to attack him by surprise to avenge your previous humiliation, right?"

Wen Xingluo: "No!"

Xie Shian made a "tsk" sound.

Apart from this, he really couldn't think of what else Wen Ningning could have that required his brother to come back home.

After finishing his osmanthus cake, he said mysteriously, "By the way, isn't the provincial examination results announced the day after tomorrow? Wen Rufeng and the others are planning a banquet in the garden, and I heard they've invited quite a few officials and wealthy businessmen. How can he be so sure he got first place when he hasn't even seen his own ranking yet?"

Wen Xingluo smiled, "Who knows?"

"They also invited Grandma and Father, but they both said they were busy." Xie Shian picked up a pomegranate from the fruit bowl, tossed it up and caught it again, a mischievous look on his handsome face. "Sister, shall we go and see the fun the day after tomorrow?"

Wen Xingluo thought about it and nodded, "Okay."

Not long after the brother and sister left Wansongyuan, Xie Guanlan returned from the government office.

When they came to pay their respects to the old concubine, Nanny Chen said with a smile, "If the prince had come earlier, he would have run into the fourth young master and the young lady."

When mentioning Wen Xingluo, Xie Guanlan's eyes dimmed slightly.

"By the way," Nanny Chen held out a plate of cakes, "Young Miss recently made some sweet-scented osmanthus cakes herself. Would you like to try some, Young Master?"

Seeing Xie Guanlan's expression was off, Nanny Chen guessed that he was in a bad mood and blamed herself, "Look at this old servant's memory. I actually forgot that the prince doesn't like to eat cakes and sweets."

She was about to put away the osmanthus cake, but Xie Guanlan reached out and picked up a piece.

The osmanthus cake is sweet, fresh and not greasy. Perhaps to make it easier for my grandmother to chew and swallow, the cake is deliberately made very soft.

He lowered his eyelashes.

Wen Ningning...

She always managed to take good care of everyone in the house, but she just refused to be nice to him.

After paying his respects to the old empress dowager, Xie Guanlan was about to return to Canglang Pavilion when Fushan suddenly appeared.

He reported worriedly: "Master, something happened to the Second Young Master!"

Xie Yanchen has a separate courtyard in the Zhenbei Palace.

When Xie Guanlan arrived, Wen Xingluo and Xie Shian also came.

Because Xie Yanchen had a strange personality, there were no servants or maids serving him in the yard. He was hiding alone in a tree, as if he had been frightened by something.

Xie Guanlan raised his head, "Hate minister?"

Xie Yanchen held his head and ignored him.

Xie Shian said, "I heard from the steward that my second brother received a letter, and after reading it, he became like this. I thought it was no big deal, but I didn't expect my second brother to not come down from the tree all night last night. The steward found that the food that was delivered was untouched, and then he realized that something was wrong."

Wen Xingluo also looked at the tree worriedly, "Second brother?"

The old concubine and Xie Jing also rushed over.

Xie Jing called the steward and asked, "Where is that letter now?"

The steward shook his head.

Xie Jing was anxious, "Who sent it?"

The steward shook his head helplessly, "I only know that the four characters 'Thank you for receiving this, Mr. Xie' are written on the cover, and I don't know anything else."

Xie Guanlan asked, "Where did it come from?"

The steward was silent for a moment, then said honestly, "When the concierge woke up yesterday, this letter was already mixed in with other posts and letters. I think someone slipped it in there."

While everyone was thinking, Wen Xingluo had already climbed up the tree using his hands and feet.

The old concubine was shocked and held her cane with worry, "Ningning!"

Xie Guanlan didn't expect Wen Xingluo to suddenly climb up.

Looking at the frail girl hanging in the air, he couldn't help but secretly clench his hands and subconsciously leaned towards her.