dog thief
The group chatted for a while longer, but Yao Su'an's illness hadn't been cured, and she started coughing again.
A maidservant promptly handed her a shawl and poured her a cup of steaming hot ginger tea.
Having lingered at the Duke's mansion for quite some time, Lin Xu also felt the urge to leave. Yao Suran kept saying she was tired, so she arranged for two maids to escort her out of the mansion. As they parted, Yao Su'an suppressed a cough and smiled slightly at Lin Xu, asking her when she would come again.
Two maids led the way as Lin Xu walked through the winding corridors. He hadn't realized it when he arrived, but the Duke's mansion was truly astonishingly luxurious.
As Lin Xu was about to leave the mansion, she noticed her wrist was bare and remembered that she had been chatting happily with the Yao sisters. She had left the jadeite and gold-threaded bracelet on her left wrist on the table. The bracelet was of excellent quality and was part of Liang Shuangyu's dowry. The intricate craftsmanship of Hecheng was a rare find in Mujing. Yao Suran found it intriguing and asked Lin Xu to take it off and admire it for a while.
Seeing that she had left something behind, one of the maids immediately turned back to look for it. Lin Xu had no choice but to wait at the corner of the corridor. A gentle evening breeze rippled the lotus pond beneath the corridor, accompanied by the sweet fragrance of lotus blossoms. Loud laughter and chatter came from a nearby courtyard.
Earlier, she had followed the Yao sisters into the mansion, chatting all the way, so she naturally hadn't noticed this place. Now, standing alone on the corridor, she could hear laughter coming from afar, as if four or five people were walking over together.
Thinking of Yao Sha, Lin Xu felt uneasy. Born the beloved grandson of the Duke of Xu, he had been the apple of Old Madam Yao's eye since childhood, undoubtedly receiving immense pampering from the entire Duke's mansion, which likely contributed to his wicked and wicked nature. Rumors circulated in Mujing that he had harassed many respectable women and committed numerous misdeeds, yet many dared not speak out due to the Duke's mansion's reputation and power.
Thinking of this, she feared that trouble would arise again like in her previous life, so she wanted to avoid it. But all she could see were empty corridors, and there was nowhere to hide for the time being.
Just as she was hesitating, the maid who had gone back to get the bracelet returned and walked quickly toward Lin Xu, saying in a crisp voice, "Miss Lin, your things have been found."
The sounds of their playful banter gradually faded away at the entrance of the side courtyard, and there was no further noise.
Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief, took the bracelet, and carefully slipped it back onto her wrist. Just as she was about to continue walking forward, the two maids beside her suddenly squatted down in the direction of the side courtyard and bowed respectfully to pay their respects.
"Greetings to the young master."
Is it something that can't be avoided no matter what? Lin Xu sighed inwardly and turned away.
A stone path led into the lush bamboo grove, where four or five young men stood at the entrance of a side courtyard. Perhaps noticing Lin Xu on the veranda, their earlier laughter and chatter ceased. The man in the lead wore a lake-blue silk robe, his arrogance subtly revealed.
She had seen the faces of the others before; there were only a few aristocratic scions who often hung out with Yao Sha, and now they were all there.
Yao Sha squinted, carefully examining the woman in front of him. She was slender and dressed in a typical light blue satin skirt with water patterns, worn by women from official families. A light purple ribbon tied around her waist fluttered softly in the wind, making her already thin figure appear even more graceful and charming.
Lin Xusheng was extremely beautiful, a beauty different from her two stunningly beautiful older sisters, possessing an unusual charm. Yao Sha looked at the aloof girl before him and suddenly became interested.
He has always been able to get whatever he wants.
Zhao Fuchang, standing behind Yao Sha, noticed a hint of amusement in Yao Sha's expression. He was a military officer from Mujing, who had secured a fifth-rank official position through family connections. Having grown up alongside Yao Sha, he naturally understood Yao Sha's unspoken intentions. Seeing that Lin Xu, though handsome, was dressed very modestly and simply, he assumed Lin Xu came from an ordinary official family. Therefore, he smiled and probed:
"Do you two ladies also have distinguished guests today?"
The maid who had retrieved the bracelet for Lin Xu earlier replied respectfully, "Young Master Zhao, the two young ladies invited Miss Lin, a classmate from Zhiqiong Hall, to our home for tea today. Miss Lin is about to leave the mansion now."
Since he had entered Zhiqiong Hall, his family background must be quite prestigious. Zhao Fuchang made up his mind and nodded to Lin Xu without changing his expression. Yao Sha, on the other hand, always had a smile on his fair face and slowly said:
"Since you are our honored guests, you should treat them well and not be negligent."
Lin Xu didn't want to get entangled with these people any longer, and seeing that Yao Sha was being quite polite today, he nodded slightly in acknowledgment, "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Yao."
She stood at the corner of the corridor, and as the evening breeze picked up, it blew the fine strands of hair around her forehead, making her feel a slight chill. She casually brushed her hair behind her ear, and when she looked up again, she saw a figure standing behind the towering bamboo grove, its deep green foliage concealing a human figure.
The lush green bamboo forest mostly concealed the man's tall figure. As the shadows shifted in the wind, one could vaguely discern that the man was wearing a long, osmanthus-green robe that blended seamlessly with the branches and leaves in front of him. No wonder Lin Xu hadn't seen him earlier.
For some reason, a bad premonition suddenly rose in Lin Xu's heart. He pretended to glance up at the man in the cinnamon green robe, but his heart skipped a beat when he finally saw the face clearly.
A pair of deep, dark eyebrows, with eyes that arched upwards at the corners, hinted at a flirtatious, almost drunken allure. The emerald bamboo leaves swayed in the wind, further accentuating the serene and elegant air emanating from the peach-blossom face behind her.
The man glanced at her like the other young masters from prominent families, his eyes filled with the usual faint smile, which immediately made her wary.
"You scoundrel!" Lin Xu cursed inwardly.
How could she have forgotten that since they were both notorious playboys in Mujing, it wasn't surprising that they were birds of a feather. It was her wandering around the ornate and decorated Duke's mansion that was truly strange.
Dou Yanxun watched her from afar through the bamboo grove, his gaze full of amusement, as if he were looking at a piece of meat on a plate, ready to be slaughtered.
For a fleeting moment, Lin Xu wanted to pull out the dagger hidden in his inner shirt, rush up, and gouge out the man's eyes.
She simply couldn't stand Dou Yanxun's gaze. It was filled with scrutiny, flirtatiousness, tenderness, and unrestrainedness, but utterly devoid of warmth.
Lin Xu suppressed her inner resentment and gave the man a gentle, delicate smile. She hadn't forgotten her boastful words; in front of him, she needed to play the role of a lovelorn woman who longed for this playboy but couldn't have him and desperately wanted to marry him.
Thinking of this, she tried to meet Dou Yanxun's gaze, her soft, gentle smile becoming even more innocent and tender.
.
Yao Suran reclined on the soft couch, with grapes peeled by her maid beside her. Each grape was crystal clear, all freshly transported from Nanling, much sweeter than those produced in Mujing.
Feng Ying, the maid who had escorted Lin Xu out of the manor, had returned and recounted everything she had seen to the Second Miss. Yao Suran, who had been half-asleep with her eyes half-closed, suddenly perked up and stared at Feng Ying, asking:
"Is that really true? Was your younger brother's eye fixed on Lin Xu the whole time?"
Feng Ying nodded.
Yao Suran scoffed coldly: "He's always acting irrationally. He takes a fancy to anyone with a bit of looks. Didn't he take a liking to Miss Zhang from the Marquis of Wencheng's mansion a while ago? Then what happened? He turned cold after she started flirting with him. He's making things difficult for me among the aristocratic sisters."
Feng Ying whispered, "That's just how the young master is. But what I saw today was that Miss Lin might not be completely uninterested in him... After the young master greeted her, Miss Lin smiled at him softly for quite a while."
Yao Suran looked at the grapes in the crystal bowl, each one glistening with moisture, and immediately let out a cold laugh:
"Turns out she's got some schemes up her sleeve. I thought she was a steady and reliable person, but she just seized the opportunity to try and get close to me. I doubt she forgot about the bracelet; she's probably been hoping for a chance encounter all along!"
Feng Ying agreed wholeheartedly and, after thinking for a moment, said, "Since Miss Lin has such intentions, she will probably come to the manor often in the future. If you are unhappy about it, it is not unreasonable to cut it off in advance."
Yao Suran raised her eyebrows, her exquisitely drawn eyebrows revealing a hint of sharpness:
“Sever ties? Don’t I know what kind of person my brother is? He’ll play with me and then throw me aside. Since Lin Xu is someone who wants to climb the social ladder, he has to grit his teeth and endure the suffering.”
She picked up a soft, juicy grape and put it in her mouth. With a gentle bite, her mouth was filled with sweet, overflowing juice. She half-closed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips, and said:
"Since they are mutually attracted, as their older sister, I naturally have to lend a hand."
.
As soon as Lin Xu stepped off the sedan chair from the Duke's mansion, Qingwu and several old women who had been waiting in front of the mansion came to greet him.
Qingwu looked at Lin Xu with concern. Seeing that her young mistress's expression was somewhat cold, she asked cautiously, "Is everything alright, Miss?"
The two sisters from the Duke's mansion were quite famous in Mujing, known for their countless arrogant and willful acts. Qingwu was worried that Lin Xu had been mistreated there, so she returned first and was on tenterhooks. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Lin Xu had returned unharmed.
Lin Xu's eyes and brows showed a hint of weariness, and he said with a cool expression, "Let's go inside and talk."
She was actually somewhat dissatisfied with herself.
Why can't I act normally every time I unexpectedly run into Dou Yanxun? Lin Xu thought about her extremely ingratiating smile just now, wondering how much of her thoughts behind that smile had been seen through by that person.
The Dou family and the Lin family are sworn enemies. If she wants to personally kill her enemy, she must be more calm and composed.
Lin Xu walked back to her backyard in frustration, lost in thought, her steps hurried. Qingwu knew Lin Xu was preoccupied and worried that she might have been upset by the Yao sisters, so she quickened her pace and followed behind Lin Xu.
Normally, she would have dinner with Lin Fu and Liang Zhengyuan in the main hall every day, but because she returned late today, she had already asked Qingwu to inform her father in advance. Zhiyuan was worried that she would be hungry, so she instructed the kitchen to prepare several kinds of snacks: soft and sweet osmanthus cake, golden chestnut cake, and sugar-coated jade peaks that left a lingering fragrance after one bite. These were all the tea snacks that Lin Xu usually liked to eat.
The young maidservant poured Lin Xu a cup of Xishan Bailu tea and placed it in front of her. Lin Xu looked at the table full of snacks but had no appetite. After a while, she raised her head and lightly tapped the edge of the table with her fingertips.
"Who visited Luoya Residence while I was away?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
