Jiang Huaifu raised his head, his cold eyes falling on the handsome man dressed in a jade-green robe.
"who is he?"
Song He'er was stunned for a long time, unable to recall where she had met this man before.
"I...do not know him."
Jiang Huaifu stared at the man for a long time before finally asking, "Young master, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
The handsome young man didn't take Jiang Huaifu's words to heart. Instead, he bypassed the group and walked directly to Song He'er's side, asking again, "Are you from the Central Plains, young lady?"
Upon hearing this, Song He'er couldn't help but shiver, and then immediately pulled off her hood to cover her face.
"Young master, you have no manners. How dare you inquire about other people's backgrounds so abruptly?"
The handsome man didn't seem to be letting it go, and moved even closer to Song He'er. "I have no ill intentions. The people around me are my confidants. These few words won't reach other people's ears."
Jiang Huaifu had clearly reached his limit. Seeing that the man was going too far, he took a folding fan, stood up, and quickly wrapped the fan handle around the man's waist, pressing it against his back.
"What exactly do you want? People like us are not people you can just approach."
"Young master, please don't be impatient. I mean no harm. I just feel that this girl looks very familiar. If you doubt me, you can ask the girl beside you to take a closer look. She will definitely remember me."
Song He'er held her breath and slowly raised her head. From a distance, she hadn't been able to see the man's face clearly, but now that she was closer, he did look somewhat familiar...
After thinking for a while, Song He'er suddenly remembered that she had once saved a man who had been swept down the mountain by a flash flood at the foot of the Huaihe Mountains in the Central Plains.
The man was also handsome, dressed in a simple long robe, looking like an innocent scholar. However, although the man in front of her looked similar to him, he was different in his aura. Song He'er could never have imagined that he was the poor scholar who had collapsed at the foot of the mountain that day.
"I do not know you, young master; perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else."
Song He'er naturally dared not tell the truth. After all, he had personally witnessed her being escorted away by the guards that day. Now, instead of staying peacefully in the place of exile, she had run off to Nanzhao to enjoy herself. If he was up to no good and handed her over to the local government, wouldn't that just cause her unnecessary trouble?
“Don’t worry, young lady. I won’t say a word more. If you’re still worried, we can talk outside.”
"Do you need something from me? We don't know each other, so it seems like we don't have anything to talk about."
“Of course I have important business to attend to, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the liberty of disturbing you, young lady. I was originally planning to go to Xinzhou myself, but meeting you here is fate.”
He openly mentioned Xinzhou in front of her, which made people think he was threatening her... that if she refused to go out and talk to him today, he would expose her background to the public.
Jiang Huaifu's face turned cold, and he was about to start a fight right there in the hall.
Song He'er reacted quickly and pulled him behind her.
"We've come this far thanks to God's blessing. We can't withstand any more storms. Wait for me here, I'll be right back."
"No, who knows what that kid is up to?"
Upon hearing this, the man beside him laughed, "Does that mean I'm going to kill someone?"
Song He'er breathed a sigh of relief, instructed A'lu behind her to persuade Jiang Huaifu to wait here and not to act impulsively, and then she followed the handsome man away from Qionglou.
On the long street of Jiangning, horse-drawn carriages were running everywhere. The only quiet and secluded place was a dilapidated teahouse in a corner passageway.
Song He'er was naturally not afraid of what he might do to her, but she was worried that being alone with a man in a secret room would ruin their reputation.
"Ruan Wenxiao, say what you have to say quickly, I don't have that much time."
The man called Ruan Wenxiao smiled faintly, a slight curl of his lips. "You still remember my name."
"I do remember, but there were too many people in the hall just now, and we really shouldn't have spoken, let alone mentioned names. You're a scholar, how come you don't even know these rules?"
"This isn't the Central Plains, why do you care about those ridiculous rules?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Song He'er was clearly losing patience.
"That day, I was entrusted with a book to take away from the capital to visit relatives. On the way, something happened, and the book was taken by the girl. I thought it was no big deal, just that I had messed up the task entrusted to me and would not get the money back. But when I arrived in Nanzhao and met my aunt, I learned that the book was a treasure. The girl said that it was an heirloom of your maternal grandfather's family. Now it seems that what the girl said was half true and half false. What if you lied to me that day? Wouldn't I have lost a priceless treasure?"
Upon hearing this, Song He'er couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. So, all the trouble he went to intimidate her into coming out was for that book!
It seems that what my maternal grandfather left behind is truly a world-renowned treasure!
"Whether I'm lying or not, that book isn't with you anymore, and you'll never get it back in this lifetime. Of course, if you want to use it to blackmail me or hand me over to the local authorities, I'm not afraid. But you should understand, what is a woman who has experienced life and death afraid of? If it really comes to that, I will fight you to the death."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Wenxiao suddenly smiled, a very gentle smile.
Ruan Wenxiao was fair-skinned and even more handsome than Jiang Huaifu, a man from Xizhou. He also had two shallow dimples when he smiled, and he looked like a refined scholar who had stepped out of a painting.
"why are you laughing?"
“I was just joking with you, you don’t need to be afraid. Besides, most of the businesses in Jiangning belong to my aunt, so that book is probably useless to me now. I know much more about business than you do.”
"Your aunt?"
“Yes, Qionglou belongs to my aunt,” Ruan Wenxiao replied calmly.
"If you have such a wealthy aunt, why are you still delivering messages for others in the Central Plains?"
“I remember telling you that day that I was a man in distress, and I had to go far away to find my relatives. If I hadn’t found my aunt, I would still be that poor scholar. Firstly, I am grateful for the blessing of heaven, and secondly, I am grateful to you for saving my life that day.”
"No need for thanks. Since you have no intention of taking the book back, let's pretend we don't know each other and never see each other again..."
After saying that, Song He'er turned to leave, but she was stopped by someone behind her after taking only one step.
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