Chapter 67 Are you familiar with me?

In the elegant teahouse, Song Baoyuan pushed the account book aside and set out the tea set instead.

Liu An sat across from her, his elbows resting on the table, his face in his hands. "I knew you had something to ask me."

Song Baoyuan had a reason, "The princess is very busy, I don't dare to look for you if there is nothing wrong."

"Tsk." Liu An rolled his eyes at her. "That's not difficult. Tomorrow I'll invite Marquis Pingyuan to my house. He'll definitely give me this little favor."

Song Baoyuan nodded.

"What's with that expression on your face?" Liu An was dissatisfied. "Don't you trust me? If you don't trust me, why are you looking for me?"

"No," Song Baoyuan said in a low voice. "It's just that the thought of having to respect, coax, and serve someone like this makes me feel uncomfortable."

Liu An raised an eyebrow. "What else? He's in a high position, so it's not like he's breaking the law. If the matter gets out of hand, they could just accuse him of escaping a concubine or assassination, and your friend would be finished."

Song Baoyuan poured tea silently, unable to utter a word in rebuttal.

Liu An sighed and slumped back, "I can't help you much more."

Song Baoyuan paused and looked up at her silently.

"In half a month, I will leave the capital as an envoy."

"Your Majesty agrees?"

Liu An nodded, "Yes."

Song Baoyuan frowned slightly, "I thought it would be at least after the New Year."

"It would be better if you could settle it sooner rather than later." Liu An raised his lips, "Aren't you happy for me?"

"Congratulations." Song Baoyuan said seriously and pushed the teacup in front of her.

"You're so perfunctory." Liu An snorted, picking up the teacup and turning it in his hands. "Xian Xing should drink. You have to drink with me, the kind that won't leave until you're drunk."

Song Baoyuan shook her head and said, "That's a bit difficult."

"Why?" Liu An was unhappy when he heard it. "Are you reluctant to give up the wine, or can't you make time for me?"

"It's a little hard to get drunk."

Lu An: "..."

Although she was joking, Song Baoyuan became more serious as she spoke. "Is there anything I can prepare for you? This trip is far from home and the journey is long. Although you have the title of envoy, you will inevitably suffer hardships. It's better to prepare some things."

She thought for a moment, "For example, food. What if you're not used to the food out there? And clothes. I don't know what the customs are like out there, so it's better not to show off too much to avoid getting robbed. Besides, you're going north first, and I heard it's very cold, so you need to bring plenty of warm clothes."

Feeling Liu An's gaze, Song Baoyuan paused.

"However, the princess is not someone who would mistreat herself. My worries are probably unnecessary."

Liu An remained silent, looking dazed.

She put down her teacup and tightened her grip. "Since the palace rebellion, I've lost both my parents, and none of my brothers or sisters survived. Over the years, no one has worried about me anymore."

Song Baoyuan was slightly stunned.

Liu An sighed deeply, "So I don't care whether I leave before or after the New Year, because no one is waiting for me to reunite."

Song Baoyuan's heart tightened, and she suddenly smiled and said, "But I will wait for you to come back."

For a moment, Liu An's nose felt sore, but she still forced a smile.

If someone else said this, she would have to think over and over whether it was true or false. But the person in front of her did not arouse her suspicion at all.

She scoffed, "With your personality, it's really hard to trust me."

Song Baoyuan was disappointed when she heard this. "Yes, I haven't been able to become a reliable person like the princess."

"You'll never succeed in this life!" Liu An said mercilessly.

After a long moment, she turned her face away again and said in a low voice, "But it's not bad."

Song Baoyuan didn't hear clearly, "What did you say?"

"I say, please cherish every day I am still here!"

*

A carriage stopped opposite the teahouse.

Lu'an asked for the third time, "Sir, are you really not going there by yourself?"

Jiang Keyu opened the curtains and looked towards the door of the teahouse, frowning slightly. "Just go when I tell you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

Liu'an pouted and jumped off the carriage.

But before she took two steps, she heard her husband's urgent "Wait!"

A familiar figure suddenly appeared in Jiang Keyu's field of vision, causing him to squint slightly.

I saw a man in a moon-white robe walking around the entrance of the teahouse twice. It was Xie Yuchao, whom I had seen yesterday.

What is he here for?

Jiang Keyu suppressed the urge to investigate personally and told Liu'an, "Keep an eye on him."

"oh."

Liu'an responded indifferently and immediately ran towards the teahouse.

As soon as Xie Yu stepped into the teahouse, Liu'an followed, even rushing ahead of him.

Qiao Yue, who happened to be walking down the stairs, saw the person coming and was slightly surprised, "Thank you, sir!"

She trotted over to greet him, and seemed to feel that he was in the way, so she pushed away Lu'an who was blocking half of her view.

Liuan: “?”

"Why is Mr. Xie here? Are you here to see my young lady?"

Xie Yuchao smiled and said, "I have nothing to do today. I remembered that Madam Song mentioned this place before, so I came to take a look."

"Welcome!" Qiao Yue said warmly, "But my lady is meeting an important guest, so you may have to wait a while."

"No problem." Xie Yuchao said hurriedly, "There's no need to disturb your young lady. Just treat me as an ordinary guest."

"Then please sit down first. I'll make you some tea."

After Qiao Yue arranged for him to sit down, she hurried to the kitchen but was intercepted by Liu'an.

"Can't you see me?" Liu'an asked dissatisfiedly.

Qiao Yue was forced to stop and rudely slapped his arm away, asking angrily, "You saw it, what's wrong?"

"Then why don't you welcome me?" Liu'an tilted his head, "Our friendship is definitely better than that of outsiders."

He emphasized the word "outsider" so that Xie Yuchao could hear it clearly.

Qiao Yue rolled her eyes and asked directly, "Why you? Where's my husband?"

Liu'an shrugged, "She's sulking outside. Let me pick up the young lady."

"The young lady is roasting sweet potatoes in the kitchen now. Go find her." Qiao Yue said as she continued walking towards the kitchen.

But Liu'an still stopped her, "Didn't you hear the first half of my sentence?"

Qiao Yue put her hands on her hips, her face clearly showing impatience. "So what if I heard it? Do you still expect me to tell the young lady and then ask her to coax you?"

"No?"

"No!" Qiao Yue said arrogantly.

Under her aura, Liu An felt inferior.

"I'm telling you, Miss is kind-hearted, but I can't help but care! Over the years, when Miss was wronged and sad, did he ever comfort her? I'm afraid he didn't even notice!"

The more Qiao Yue thought about it, the angrier she became. "It was already a sign of my lady's magnanimity that she allowed him to enter the old house. How could he have the nerve to be angry with my lady?"

"How can you say that?" Liu'an took a half step back. "He's my husband after all."

"I only have one master, the young lady!"

Qiao Yue clenched her fist and waved it in front of him. "It's better if he doesn't come! After picking up the young lady, leave immediately. Don't show your face in front of her or say anything too much. Do you understand?"

Liu'an: "..."

Qiao Yue pushed him away fiercely, her eyes full of warnings.

Xie Yuchao sat by the window, listened to their conversation, and looked across the street at the carriage parked opposite.

At this distance, neither of them could see each other's expressions, but he and Jiang Keyu seemed to be able to feel each other's gaze.

Jiang Keyu didn't look away until there was a knock on the window from the other side of the carriage.

"My dear, the person you are looking for has been found."

A male voice sounded from behind the curtains. After handing over the envelope, both the man and the voice disappeared without a trace.

Jiang Keyu tore open the envelope, unfolded the paper, and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

This neighbor is indeed no ordinary person.

Xie's only son.

He lost his mother at birth. His father was the chief minister of the cabinet and the head of a prominent family, Xie Mingru.

Xie Yuchao in the teahouse also looked away, and suddenly felt a shadow in front of him, so he looked up and stared at Gao Luoshu who had come over at some point.

Qiao Yue came back with tea.

Gao Luoshu asked directly, "Who is this person? Why do you have to personally entertain him? And when he comes, do you have to tell your young lady specifically?"

"Because he's a distinguished guest."

"How much?"

Qiao Yue said seriously, "This Mr. Xie is our neighbor and has helped us before."

"Thank you, Master?" Gao Luoshu muttered softly and looked at the man.

Xie Yuchao calmly poured himself some tea and ignored him.

Feeling ignored, Gao Luoshu became increasingly unhappy. "Where are you from? What does your family do? How old are you?"

"What?"

Without waiting for Xie Yuchao to respond, Qiao Yue stepped forward righteously and spoke in his defense, "Why are you asking so many questions? Mr. Xie is a guest, not a prisoner."

"Ask what's wrong." Gao Luoshu disagreed.

Qiao Yue pushed him away dissatisfiedly, turned around and apologized, "I'm sorry, Master Xie."

She pointed at Gao Luoshu and whispered, "This is the son of the Imperial Censor's family. He is a natural born young master, but he lacks politeness."

"I understand." Xie Yuchao smiled, very tolerant and generous.

"You haven't answered me yet." Gao Luoshu kept asking.

Qiao Yue couldn't bear it any longer and tried to pull the person away with brute force, but her strength was not strong enough and she couldn't pull him away.

"Mr. Xie is a scholar!"

"Scholar?" Gao Luoshu couldn't hide his doubts. "These days, people with no status or skills like to call themselves scholars."

Qiao Yue was shocked, "What are you talking about!"

She was completely stunned. Normally, Mr. Gao was quite normal. What had happened to him today?

"Thank you..." She wanted to explain to Xie Yuchao, but the latter raised his hand to interrupt her without a trace of anger.

Xie Yuchao stood up and walked calmly past Gao Luoshu. He stopped at the counter and politely said to Xu Pingsheng who was calculating the bill, "Excuse me, can you lend me a pen?"

Xu Pingsheng hesitated for a moment and handed him the pen.

Then Xie Yuchao walked up to the platform and, in full view of everyone, wrote a half-line of poetry that no one could finish.

The pen moves like a dragon, and the writing is completed in one go.

"Wonderful! This poem is so well connected!"

The guests present came forward in droves and praised the chef generously.

Someone wanted to get a closer look, but walked too fast and accidentally bumped into Gao Luoshu who was blocking the way.

"Just now there was a young master with great talent. I didn't expect there would be someone who could rival him! May I ask his name?"

"How did you come up with such a beautiful sentence, young master?"

“…”

Gao Luoshu: “?”

He squeezed in in despair, but was pushed out again by the swarm of guests.

The sudden noise downstairs caught Song Baoyuan's attention and gave her a sense of déjà vu.

Liu An also heard the noise and walked out curiously, "Why is it so lively?"

As soon as I went out, I ran into Qiao Yue who was jogging towards me.

"Miss! Someone picked up the poem downstairs again!" She was a little excited. "Guess who it is?"

Song Baoyuan was a little surprised. She walked to the railing and looked down.

I saw a white figure surrounded by people.

The person, who was like the moon surrounded by stars, had an elegant temperament, was dignified and polite, and was chatting with everyone.

Just as he was about to turn around, Song Baoyuan's heart skipped a beat.

The cute raccoon mask appeared in my mind.

The next moment, she saw a handsome and familiar face with a smile.

Song Baoyuan was stunned.

In the crowd, that person looked at her alone, with a smile that was a little proud, and the slightly upturned corners of his eyes seemed to be asking: Am I good enough?

Their eyes met.

Song Baoyuan suddenly smiled.

Thinking of last night, the first time we met, and his cat servant.

A spring rain began to fall in her heart without her noticing.