Wanruo's heartbeat was fast, like a cold light on her back.
There were so many things she had hidden from him that she didn't know which one he was referring to.
She forced herself to remain calm: "No, what's wrong?"
His eyes became even colder, and he tapped the table beside him twice with his knuckles.
She then noticed that his hand was wrapped in a brocade handkerchief, faintly stained with bright red blood. She hurriedly asked, "Are you hurt?"
"I was giving a lecture at the clan academy today and met a candidate named Lin Han." His voice was as calm as the surface of a lake before a storm.
Wanruo's eyebrows twitched and her palms were sweating.
Yanjing City is so big, and Lin Han is still an official. His status and position are very different from Xie Xianyu's. She never thought that they would run into each other.
He stared at her gloomily: "He also has this sachet. Did you give it to him?"
Only then did she notice that next to his hand was the sachet she had given him.
Wanruo's face was slightly stiff, and her throat was dry and hoarse: "Yes."
She hurriedly said, "This isn't a sachet, it's a medicine sachet. I gave him this just to thank him. He covered me with a coat by the lake that day, saving me from embarrassing myself in front of others. I wanted to thank him, and since he was a scholar, I gave him this medicine sachet to refresh his mind."
Xie Xianyu's expression didn't soften at all. He stood up and walked towards her.
"But he said it was a gift from his sweetheart and he treasured it very much. After the results are announced, he will ask to marry you."
Wanruo's face turned pale, but she still shook her head. "Maybe he thought I was just an orphan living in the mansion, so he misunderstood me. I'll go and explain things to him tomorrow."
"What do you mean?"
Wan Ruo's throat choked, and she said stiffly, "Say I won't marry him."
He pinched her chin and stared at her: "Lin Han's thoughts are written on his face. I don't believe you can't see it. You gave him a sachet, and he threatened to marry you. Now you use this excuse to fool me, Xu Wanruo, do you really think I'm lying?"
Wanruo was sweating all over and had difficulty breathing because of the violent energy emanating from him.
Her eyes unconsciously turned red, and fear spread in her heart. She didn't know whether she was afraid that Xie Xianyu would get angry and punish her, or she was afraid that all her carefully planned plans would be in vain.
"I didn't..." Her voice was hoarse. "Lin Han is just a candidate who went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He wasn't sure if he could pass the exam. He came from a poor family. I went through so much trouble to enter the Xie Mansion. How could I give up the Xie family to marry him?"
"I really only gave him that medicine bag as a thank you. I didn't think too much about it. My cousin knows that I'm good at pharmacology. Many people in the mansion have asked me for it, even Qing'an and Cuizhu."
"Back then, my cousin took me and my brother in as a child, saving us from being sold out by my stepfather. I'll always remember this kindness in my heart and will never forget it. Now that I can thank my family for such a stable life, and my cousin still dotes on me, I'm already very satisfied. How could I dare to have any other thoughts?"
"Besides, how can Lin Han compare to my cousin?"
Her eyes were red and she argued with a trembling voice.
He looked at her with deep eyes, making it impossible to tell his emotion.
She trembled in her heart, not knowing whether he believed it or not. Her mind was in turmoil and she stared blankly.
He looked at the fear that could not be hidden in her eyes, and his heart seemed to be pulled.
He was silent for a moment, and finally said: "So it seems like I have wronged you?"
She shook her head: "I didn't think it through. I'll go and explain it to Lin Han right away..."
"No need."
She looked up in shock, a little bewildered, not understanding what he meant.
A whisper came from outside Cuizhu's door: "Sir, Su Yue came to tell me that the old lady asked my cousin to go to Shou'an Hall."
Xie Xianyu said calmly, "Go ahead."
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