Chapter 274 There is only one Xiao Haitang, no one can replace her
The carriage swayed gently as it moved forward. Tang Ning nestled beside Xiao Yan, holding his palm and whispering to him about things in the academy. When there was a commotion outside, she vaguely sensed that something was wrong. Curiously, she lifted the curtain and saw that the carriage had arrived at the city gate.
It was still early in the morning and there was a constant stream of people coming in and out of the city gate. When they saw a carriage with an official license plate coming, they all gave way.
Tang Ning turned his head and asked, "Brother, where are we going?"
Xiao Yan said softly, "I'll take you to see someone."
The carriage moved faster after leaving the city. There were fewer and fewer pedestrians in the suburbs, and the roadside gradually became denser from wide.
It was hot in the middle of summer and the carriage curtain was lifted. Tang Ning leaned against the window, looking at the lush greenery. Suddenly, she remembered the trance she felt when she just came back from the mountain. Once upon a time, she was trapped in that small, dilapidated courtyard without seeing the sun. She never thought that she would have the chance to do it again.
"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Yan suddenly spoke.
Tang Ning turned around and asked: "Did I look very embarrassed in front of my brother that day when we were thinking about the mountain?"
She rested her arms on the edge of the car window, her cheek against it, and when she turned her head, a trace of tender white flesh was revealed. That look made Xiao Yan want to poke it with his fingers.
"It was quite embarrassing." Xiao Yan's eyelashes drooped slightly, and a smile appeared on his face. "He cried loudly and unreasonably, with snot and tears mixed together, and his body was covered in blood and water. He looked like a rolling clay pot, and he still cried loudly..."
"Brother!"
Tang Ning immediately regretted asking him, as she knew that he must be very ugly.
Xiao Yan blocked her hand that was about to hit him, grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his side: "She's quite cute."
"fraud."
"I didn't lie to you."
Xiao Yan held the little girl in his arms and said softly, "At first I thought you might be an assassin sent by someone, but then I realized assassins wouldn't be so foolish."
Those were not derogatory words, but a voice tinged with laughter, as if recalling the events of that day.
"At the time, I was wondering whose cat was lost? It was cold, hungry, and trembling with fear, but it still stretched out its claws and looked fierce..."
Cowardly, yet pitiful.
At that moment, even if he hadn't seen the dragon-patterned pendant, he probably wouldn't have taken her life.
The sudden silence in his arms made Xiao Yan lower his head: "What's wrong, are you angry?"
Tang Ning's voice was a little dull: "No."
As if she could sense Xiao Yan's gaze on her, Tang Ning leaned against his chest and nudged him gently. "Brother, if I hadn't met you that day, I would have fallen off the cliff and had my face and legs broken. The Song family incident wouldn't have gotten out of hand, and the dragon pattern pendant would have been taken away by someone else. Would you have been as kind to others as you are to me now?"
Xiao Yan said flatly: "No."
He didn't know why, but when he heard the girl in his arms say this, he felt a dull pain in his heart. Even though he knew it was just a casual remark, his heart still felt like it was being gripped by something, and he couldn't help but tighten his grip.
"The dragon-patterned pendant only represents Aunt Xue's old friend. You are you, and that's different."
Back then, Madam Rong found him with a dragon-patterned pendant and saved his life. When he saw someone holding a dragon-patterned pendant, he would naturally protect them, but that was all.
He is no longer the boy who had never seen darkness and was full of sincerity. If it weren't for the child he met in his youth, if that person wasn't Tang Ning.
He will never pour his emotions into it, will not indulge himself in it, and will not turn his back on it, willingly letting it become his weakness, allowing his heart to collapse without saving himself.
Xiao Yan's voice was faint: "We only have one little Haitang."
Even if she didn't have the dragon-patterned pendant, he would recognize her sooner or later, no matter what she looked like.
Tang Ning's eyes felt sore, and she suddenly remembered the dream she had once had. In the dream, there was a figure striding towards her under the bright moonlight, and the voice of "Little Haitang" rang in her ears when she was on the verge of death.
Tang Ning hugged his waist tightly and buried her head in his arms.
Xiao Yan noticed that she was in a bad mood and lowered his head: "What's wrong?"
Tang Ning said in a deep voice: "Why didn't I meet my brother earlier?"
Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh: "How do you know we haven't met? Maybe we've met a long time ago."
Tang Ning just thought he was comforting her, and buried her head deeper while mumbling.
Xiao Yan rarely saw her acting so coquettishly. He stretched out his arms, pulled the little girl into his arms, and stroked her hair.
He didn't know why Tang Ning was uneasy, nor did he know what she was worried about, but he vaguely felt that she seemed to be particularly obsessed with "what would happen if the dragon-patterned pendant fell into the hands of others."
It was something that had clearly never happened, but she kept mentioning it.
She had asked him once in Prince Cheng's mansion, and now she asked him again.
Xiao Yan lowered his eyelids slightly, as if thinking about something.
…
The carriage went further and further towards the outskirts of the city. When it passed through a large forest and stopped in front of a farm, Tang Ning recognized that this was the place where Xiao Yan had stayed overnight when he rescued her.
She had calmed down by now, and was just a little surprised as to why Xiao Yan brought her here.
Not long after the two entered the farm, they saw Madam Qin coming to greet them.
"Sister Qin?" Tang Ning was surprised.
Madam Qin smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for a few days. Tang Ning looks beautiful again."
Tang Ning glanced at the manor and then at Madam Qin. Madam Qin was always in a hurry when she went to Jiyun Lane several times before, and she left directly after examining her aunt every time. When asked, she just said that she was going to examine other people. Could it be that the patient that Sister Qin mentioned lived in Xiao Yan's manor?
Tang Ning followed the two of them inside in a daze.
Xiao Yan asked Madam Qin, "Is the old lady feeling better?"
"I'm getting better now. I can eat and sleep, and I can talk to people a few words. But I still can't recognize people or remember things." Madam Qin glanced at Tang Ning and said, "But the old lady likes pretty girls. She will definitely be happy to see Tang Ning."
When I got to the main courtyard, before I even entered, I heard someone coaxing me softly inside.
"Old Madam, it's time for you to take your medicine. Today's medicine is all used up. You can have some Poria cocos cake instead."
“If you don’t take medicine, it’s bitter!”
"Good medicine tastes bitter..."
“No medicine, no medicine!!”
A voice filled with resistance and old age came from inside: "I hate you, go away, I want to go to Yan, where is my Yan'er?"
When Xiao Yan and the others entered, they saw an old woman in brocade clothes glaring unhappily, and standing in front of her was Ayane, whom they had not seen for a long time.
Ayane lost her usual coolness. Holding the medicine bowl in her hand, she looked at the crying old woman, at a loss. Turning her head, she saw the person coming in from outside and hurriedly said, "Superintendent."
Xiao Yan walked past Ling Yin and walked a few steps to the old woman's side: "Grandma, are you looking for me?"
The old woman stared at Xiao Yan blankly, her cloudy eyes full of unfamiliarity and a hint of resistance.
Xiao Yan lifted up her sleeves to reveal the red rope hanging on her wrist. There was a small golden gourd on the rope. The old lady grinned as if she recognized the thing on the rope.
"Shangyan, you're here?"
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