Chapter 30 Xiao Yuan, Are You Crazy?
Xiao Yuan also looked straight into the woman's eyes which were as cold as an ancient well, and his heart suddenly seemed to be hit hard by something.
That strange yet familiar feeling came over me again, overwhelming me and stirring every nerve.
He looked calm and took a few steps forward.
Shen Anan looked at the man's tall figure that suddenly approached, and stepped back subconsciously, with a slightly knitted brow.
"What are you doing?"
Xiao Yuan said nothing, and showed no intention of stopping.
Shen Anan's face was as dark as water, and her voice seemed to be covered with frost, "Stop."
Her disgust and resistance were too obvious. Xiao Yuan paused, and the strange feeling disappeared like a tide.
No, those bright eyes shouldn't be looking at him with such emotion, but what should it be like?
His head suddenly ached badly, as if thousands of ants were slowly gnawing at him. In a trance, a pair of eyes exactly like Shen Anan's quickly flashed into his mind, looking at him tenderly and expectantly.
Xiao Yuan shook his head and raised his eyes, but what caught his eyes was Shen Anan's cold and disdainful gaze.
No, it's wrong, there must be something wrong.
Shen Anan frowned and looked at his increasingly gloomy and pale face. She staggered a little and asked coldly, "What's wrong with you?"
Xiao Yuan didn't say anything.
Shen Anan tilted her head and glanced at the palace maids and eunuchs who were looking over here, and had to endure the annoyance and walk towards Xiao Yuan.
"I didn't do anything to you, don't..."
Before she could finish her words, her wrist was suddenly clamped by an extremely powerful hand. The pain made her subconsciously try to hide, but she couldn't struggle free.
"You're crazy. This is the palace. What on earth do you want to do?"
Xiao Yuan's eyes were deep and bottomless, and he stared at Shen Anan with an aggressive gaze. He turned his wrist and pushed the person against the pillar.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
He had asked the same question when he was distributing porridge at Nanhua Street.
Shen Anan turned her wrist that was pinched so hard that it hurt, her eyes turned cold, "If the Fourth Prince wants to go crazy, please go somewhere else. I am a girl from the Shen family, and you can't just touch me casually."
Xiao Yuan seemed not to hear her words, his finger bones turned blue due to the force.
"Let me ask you again, have we ever known each other?"
Shen Anan's eyes changed for a moment, and her fingers curled up unconsciously and pinched into her palm.
"It's ridiculous what the Fourth Prince asked." Shen Anan glanced at the postures of the two and said coldly, "Do you think we know each other?"
"That's not what I'm talking about."
Xiao Yuan frowned. The inexplicable emotions that popped up from time to time kept pulling and controlling his emotions, making him very annoyed.
"Who is that? Is the Fourth Prince so angry that he has gone insane, or is he unhappy and is deliberately looking for a minister to vent his anger on?"
Xiao Yuan leaned over and looked at the woman's almond eyes that were glaring at him angrily.
The two were very close, so close that they could just lower their heads to cover each other's lips, breathing passionately.
He suddenly had an urge to cover her red lips, tear out the impatience in her eyes, and replace them with the gentle and clear eyes in his mind.
As if possessed by some mysterious force, he tilted his head and stared at the red lips that were trembling slightly due to anger, and slowly leaned over...
Shen Anan opened her eyes wide in disbelief.
The handsome face that was so close to her slowly enlarged, and a warm and cool breath slowly merged with the air in her mouth.
Something seemed to explode in her brain with a deafening sound!
Xiao Yuan half-closed his eyes, trying hard to find that familiar feeling.
Shen Anan didn't know where she got the strength from, she fiercely opened her mouth and bit the thin lips that were rolling on her lips, and suddenly pushed her knees upward with force.
Xiao Yuan sensed her intention and quickly stepped back to avoid it, but before he could stand firm, a slap with a whistling sound hit his face.
With a crisp "pop" sound, the corridor suddenly became quiet and you could hear a pin drop.
Xiao Yuan narrowed his eyes, and a violent look of impending storm surged in his eyes. He tilted his head to look at Shen Anan, his eyes were deep and cold.
At this moment, Shen Anan seemed to see Xiao Yuan from his previous life again, the noble prince who was high above everyone else and looked down upon the world.
She curled her fingers slightly and suppressed the chill deep in her heart.
"If the Fourth Prince is in need of a woman, there are plenty of women in and outside the palace ready to take his place. Don't go crazy in front of me."
The corners of her lips were red, and her lip balm was all over the place because of someone's brutality just now, announcing Xiao Yuan's guilt.
His gaze paused on her lips, his rationality slowly returned, and his hostility quickly receded like the tide, leaving only coldness and disgust.
Shen Anan wiped the corners of her lips fiercely, but her hands in her sleeves trembled nervously, and she quickly prepared to leave.
“Miss Shen.”
Xiao Yuan called her indifferently, and then he continued, "I lost my composure just now. If Miss Shen is willing, I can take responsibility."
"Not really." Shen Anan didn't even turn her head. Now, she just wanted to leave quickly, and it would be best if she and Xiao Yuan never saw each other again.
Xiao Yuan stared at the slender figure of the woman as she hurried away, his brows furrowed.
He himself didn't know why he said those words just now, and he knew she would refuse, but he couldn't help saying it.
There was a dull pain on his lips and a faint smell of blood in his mouth. He lowered his eyes and stared at the pillar that the two of them had just pressed against, wondering what he was thinking.
——
Shen Anan turned around the corridor and walked for a long distance before she saw Aunt Yu who said she would wait for her.
She raised her hand, wiped the corner of her mouth subconsciously, and walked forward with a cold face.
"Cousin, why are you here? It's hard for me to find you."
Shen Anan's eyes turned cold, "Where did Aunt Yu go to find me? Tell me."
Aunt Yu choked up and said dryly, "I just felt sick in my stomach and left for a while. When I came back, I couldn't see my cousin anymore. I looked for her for a long time."
Shen Anan sneered and said nothing.
She wondered what Concubine Shen was up to. It turned out that she knew Xiao Yuan was in the imperial study and was deliberately trying to bring them together.
Aunt Yu looked at Shen Anan's face imperceptibly, trying to see something from it.
"Let's go, the food boxes have been delivered. Don't keep the Imperial Concubine waiting for too long."
"yes."
A quarter of an hour later, the two returned to Zhaoyang Palace.
Mrs. Shen saw that Shen Anan was safe and sound, breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately stood up to say goodbye.
Concubine Shen glanced at Aunt Yu, and without stopping her, she personally escorted her to the palace gate, "An An."
Shen An'an stopped and turned to look at her, her eyes indescribably indifferent, "What else do you want, Madam?"
"This child, why are you so distant with your own aunt? Your aunt wants you to come to the palace more often and accompany your aunt."
Madam Shen and Shen Changhe were both there. Shen Anan didn't want to reveal any flaws and make them worry, so she bowed perfunctorily and said, "Yes."
Soon, the mother and her two children left Zhaoyang Palace.
Concubine Shen turned back and entered the palace, "How was it, did you meet?"
Aunt Yu immediately stepped forward and handed over a cup of tea. "I saw them, but Qingfeng, who was beside the Fourth Prince, stopped us. I don't know what they said."
Concubine Shen took the cup and drank slowly, "Don't worry, there is a long way to go. We need the Fourth Prince as a backer, and he also needs the help of the Shen Mansion. Mutual benefit will lead to a win-win situation."
——
The Shen family's carriage left the palace gate and slowly disappeared on the official road.
On the city wall, a tall figure stood with his hands behind his back, his robe fluttering in the breeze, his dark eyes staring coldly at the end of the official road, his thin lips pursed, cold and sharp.
Qingfeng stood far away and didn't dare to go forward. Every time his master went up to the city wall, he must be in a bad mood.
Time passed slowly, until the afterglow of the sun began to shine, Xiao Yuan finally moved, suppressing the unspeakable restlessness in his heart.
The cold wind blew on his slightly pursed thin lips, and the bitten wound felt a slight sting. Xiao Yuan frowned and raised his hand to touch his lips.
Perhaps it was because she was too different from those women that he wanted to conquer her.
Xiao Yuan thought, not knowing whether he was trying to convince himself or was unwilling to admit the madness of that moment.
But those eyes, like a spell, shuttled back and forth in his dreams, sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, sometimes loving, and sometimes disgusted.
He felt like he was in two worlds, torn between two extreme emotions. Even when he woke up, the feeling of fullness and loss seemed so real that it lingered for a long time.
——
Shen Anan did not mention what happened in the palace that day, but that night, she, who had long since stopped having nightmares, once again dreamed of the past events that she most did not want to recall.
From getting married with joy to being a lonely widow, she seemed to have experienced that deep despair all over again.
When she woke up, she was covered in cold sweat and shivering slightly.
She raised her eyes and saw the sunlight shining through the window into the room, dispelling the gloom in her heart.
Today is Mid-Autumn Festival. All the servants in the mansion received rewards and looked very happy.
All the civil and military officials were at home on their days off to accompany their wives, children and parents. Shen Wen was no exception, but the only person he was with was Madam Shen.
On weekdays, he was busy with official duties and went out early and came back late every day. He could only see Mrs. Chen for a while at night. Sometimes he was not seen for ten days or half a month.
Today was a rare opportunity, so naturally the two of them had to talk about their innermost feelings.
Shen Anan stayed in the Begonia Garden tactfully without disturbing anyone until the evening, when the nanny beside Mrs. Shen came to call her to the main hall for the reunion dinner.
Shen Anan was dressed very simply today, with her hair tied up with a brocade ribbon, so that she could go out for a walk later.
When we arrived at the yard, the sky was already getting dark. Sporadic fireworks exploded in the air from time to time, scattering sparks that fell in all directions.
I wonder if my grandmother is also in the yard listening to the firecrackers and fireworks.
She would definitely be very bored if she was alone. She was most afraid of being bored. She didn't know if people would scold her for being heartless.
As she stepped into the main courtyard, she saw firecrackers circling and overlapping on the ground. Shen Wen and Shen Changhe were holding fire starters in their hands, obviously waiting for her.
“An’an, come quickly.” Madam Shen stood on the steps of the veranda and waved at her.
"Mom." Shen Anan walked over.
Shen Changhe and Shen Wen bent down one after another and lit the fire bamboo. At the same time, Mrs. Shen's gentle palms covered her ears, blocking some of the sound for her.
Shen Anan was wondering why she was so blinded by greed in her previous life and destroyed such a happy family step by step.
Amid the crackling sound, Mrs. Shen took Shen Anan's hand and went to sit at the table that had been set up.
"Why is An An dressed like this today? Are you planning to go out?"
Shen Anan raised her head and glanced at Shen Changhe.
Shen Changhe said, "I was thinking that An An will spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing for the first time. It happens to be my day off, so I can take her out for a walk."
Mrs. Shen hesitated, "Although the Mid-Autumn Festival is lively, there are too many people..."
Before she finished speaking, Shen Wen held her hand and interrupted her, "With Chang He, the commander of the Imperial Guard, accompanying you, why are you worried? Nothing will happen."
Mrs. Shen, "I'm not saying that I won't let her go, I just thought that since we have to go out anyway, why not..."
"Madam, please try your favorite fried chicken and see how it tastes."
Shen Wen hurriedly picked up a piece of chicken and interrupted Mrs. Shen's words.
As a couple for decades, how could Mrs. Shen not understand what he meant? She glared at him, lowered her head shyly, and ate in silence.
Shen Changhe and Shen Anan looked at each other and curled their lips together.
They did not expose their parents' little thoughts. After the meal, they said goodbye and left the house.
Mrs. Shen complained a little, "We are going out anyway, isn't it good for the family to go together? An An is a girl, what if Chang He is careless and loses her? There are so many people on the street."
Shen Wen gently coaxed his wife, "An An is already an adult, she is not a child anymore, she has a mouth under her nose, she will ask if she gets lost, Chang He loves his sister as much as you do, he will not lose her."
"It would be boring if we took them with us when we go out to play. When they get married, they won't take you with them. So, you and I are the closest to us."
——
In the carriage, Shen Changhe glanced at the scroll held in Shen Anan's hand, a little puzzled, "What are you doing with a painting?"
Shen Anan lifted her eyelids and tightened her grip on the scroll, "Exchange for silver."
"Then put it down. If you break it later, you won't be able to sell it for a good price."
Shen Anan lowered her eyes and loosened her fingers.
Shen Changhe recognized the painting; it was the theme of the Chrysanthemum Banquet, painted by the Fourth Prince himself.
But he just glanced at it and looked away without saying anything.
It was not too late yet, and the long street was already busy with traffic and people. The vendors were carrying baskets filled with colorful lanterns of various kinds, which dazzled the onlookers.
The children followed the adults, each holding a lantern with happy smiles on their faces. The lanterns hung high in the taverns and teahouses were particularly bright.
Overhead structures have been erected in some open spaces, and the lantern riddle guessing game has begun.
Shen Changhe asked Uncle Zhong to park the carriage in the alley and led Shen Anan into the bustling city on foot.
Mo Xiang hugged the scroll tightly and followed closely.
On the elevated platform, the eloquent old gentleman introduced the rules of the game. Shen Anan stood on the stage for a while, then followed Shen Changhe inside.
"There will be fireworks in the direction of the palace later, and many dignitaries have booked private rooms in restaurants with good locations to watch."
Shen Anan raised her eyes and glanced at the wine shops and tea houses on both sides. They were brightly lit and probably crowded tonight.
As they were talking, the two arrived at the door of a restaurant.
"This is the largest restaurant in the capital. Standing on the third floor, you can see the entire street. I'll take you upstairs to have a look."
"Okay." Shen Anan followed Shen Changhe's steps and went up to the third floor.
A surprised voice suddenly sounded from the right.
“Miss Shen, you are finally here.”
After sending so many letters but receiving no response, he thought she would never come.
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