Little thoughts
Looking at the expression on Feng Wanqing's face, Xie Sili felt a deep sense of guilt. She never expected that Feng Wanqing would develop feelings for a stranger who had saved her by chance.
Is this what they call love at first sight?
Xie Sili was about to speak again when she heard Jun Qiyu's voice, "You have an older brother that I've never met?"
Xie Sili looked at Jun Qiyu and gave him a kind smile.
Jun Qiyu's gaze swept between the two of them, and he quickly figured out the reason. He sighed and reached out to rub An Ning's head. "An Ning, please accept my condolences."
“Princess, please come with me to retrieve the Buddha statue,” Faming said at the opportune moment.
After saying "Thank you for your trouble" to Fa Ming, Feng Wanqing turned and left with him.
After the two figures left, Xie Sili heard Jun Qiyu's voice, "Xie San, don't tell me that An Ning likes you when you're dressed as a man!"
Xie Sili glanced at Jun Qiyu but did not answer him.
"How did you end up having a relationship with An Ning? And why did she fall for you and become your lover?"
Xie Sili raised his hand to his forehead, "This is a long story."
"Then let's get to the point."
“I unintentionally saved Anning’s life when I was traveling, and I never expected that she would have such thoughts.”
She didn't give Jun Qiyu a chance to speak, and said directly, "I'm leaving first."
Back in his room, Xie Sili couldn't stop thinking about Feng Wanqing's face.
When she saved Feng Wanqing, she never imagined that she was the female protagonist in the book. Moreover, in the original novel's ending, she did indeed become Jun Qiyu's empress.
I should have read the extra chapters too!
After all, there is no character named "Si Ling" in the original work.
“Miss, it seems that Madam Huang was planning to harm the Princess that year. What do you think she was thinking? How dare she let Xie Siyu marry the Princess?” Yingyi’s voice rang out from outside the window. “Miss, should we take action against Madam Huang’s people?”
“How could Xie Siyu possibly be worthy of An Ning?” Xie Sili said, rubbing his temples.
Now she has even come to the conclusion that even Jun Qiyu is not good enough for Feng Wanqing.
Some things flashed through Xie Sili's mind, then she closed her eyes again.
She had just told Feng Wanqing that "Si Ling" was dead, so appearing as "Si Ling" didn't fit the character's persona, but she still had to maintain the "sickly" persona in front of Huang Shi.
After thinking for a moment, she turned her gaze to Yingyi. "Yingyi, find a way to lure Anning to my room."
If Huang wanted to harm Feng Wanqing, and the two of them were together, given Huang's personality, she would definitely drag Feng Wanqing down with her.
In this way, she was able to secretly execute Huang's people without affecting her public image.
Noticing Yingyi's gaze, Xie Sili whispered something in his ear, "Just tell these words to Princess Anning. I believe she will come."
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Xie Sili heard a knock on the door. When she opened the door, she saw Feng Wanqing standing at the door.
"Miss Xie," Feng Wanqing said, looking at her. "I wonder what important thing Miss Xie has to give me?"
“Princess, you can call me Ali.” Xie Sili looked at Feng Wanqing and handed the scroll in her hand to her. “This is a memento left by my elder brother.”
The moment Feng Wanqing took the scroll, she opened it. The scroll depicted the figure of a girl in green, a scene from their first meeting.
After separating from Feng Wanqing, she felt that the scene of their first meeting was very beautiful, so she painted the scene afterwards. She thought that she would never be able to give the painting away, but now it has come in handy.
“Princess, your brother wouldn’t want to see you like this either.” She patted Feng Wanqing’s shoulder as she spoke. “Princess, just keep this as a reminder of him.”
Feng Wanqing looked up at her, a smile in her eyes, "Thank you, Ali. You can call me Wanwan from now on. Can we be friends?"
Xie Sili looked up and met those slightly expectant eyes, then nodded at her, "Of course, but Wanwan, please don't mind that I'm not feeling well."
"Of course not, because you are his sister." A gentle smile appeared in Feng Wanqing's eyes.
In the slightly chilly room, Xie Sili learned from Feng Wanqing about the little secrets she had hidden in her heart, and also told her personally why she liked "Si Ling".
The appearance of "Si Ling" filled a void in her life, a life she had longed for—carefree, unrestrained, and spontaneous. She had never seen such a sunny and cheerful young man before.
The appearance of "Si Ling" was like a ray of light illuminating Feng Wanqing's originally routine life. It was also because of the appearance of "Si Ling" that Feng Wanqing made up her mind to continue on her own path.
It was also "Si Ling" who told her that she should live freely and enjoy life.
She remembers every word Si Ling once said clearly, and perhaps now, Si Ling's existence is the motivation for her to live.
With such thoughts in mind, how could Feng Wanqing not become the female protagonist of the book?
As she finished speaking, Feng Wanqing looked up at her, and through the light streaming through the window, she could vaguely see the misty tears welling up in her eyes.
Would you laugh at me for falling for a stranger?
Hearing Feng Wanqing's voice, Xie Sili shook his head, "Of course not. Wanwan is very brave in my heart. It is I who am not worthy of your kind affection."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "Wanwan, you are a very good person. No matter who you are with in the future, your brother will wish you well."
Feng Wanqing turned around and hugged her, bursting into tears as if venting years of grievances and surging love.
Xie Sili put his arm around her shoulders and gently patted her back.
Everything will pass, and they will all have a better future.
After Feng Wanqing's emotions gradually stabilized, Xie Sili took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to her, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "You are the first princess of our dynasty, you can't cry."
Perhaps amused by her words, Feng Wanqing gave her a helpless expression.
“I heard from my fourth brother that you’re sickly.” Feng Wanqing looked at her with a hint of heartache in her eyes. “My fourth brother is a good person in every way, except for his temper. Don’t be fooled by his carefree appearance; he’s actually a very gentle and kind person.”
Xie Sili glanced at Feng Wanqing, took her hand, and said, "You must be exhausted after crying for so long." She then stood up and said, "I'll take you to eat barbecue."
She didn't give Feng Wanqing a chance to speak, and directly led her to an open space in the backyard of the temple. It was a forbidden area of the temple, and few people came there, but there were already people waiting there.
“Ah Li, you…we…” Feng Wanqing was almost speechless with shock, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"This is a forbidden area of Xiangguo Temple," Xie Sili explained with a smile to Feng Wanqing. "Hurry up, they've probably already roasted the mutton."
Despite being called a forbidden area of Xiangguo Temple, it doesn't actually look like part of the temple from the outside. It's an independent courtyard where, occasionally, some greedy young monks would come to steal food.
“Miss, Princess.” Si Yi, who was standing by roasting mutton, turned the mutton in her hand. “Miss, quite a lot of the mutton has been roasted and is being kept warm. It should be ready to eat.”
Listening to Si Yi's words, Xie Sili pulled Feng Wanqing to sit down on the small stool next to them, picked up the mutton placed aside, and asked, "Wanwan, can you eat spicy food?"
"Not bad." Feng Wanqing's gaze fell on Xie Sili.
Xie Sili sprinkled some chili powder on the mutton and handed it to her. "Try it. Let me tell you, Siyi's cooking is pretty good. Every winter, we eat roasted whole lamb made by Siyi."
Watching her eat the mutton in small bites, her eyes lit up, and she smiled, "Ah Li, Si Yi's cooking is really good, it's so delicious. I've never eaten such delicious mutton before."
As Xie Sili spoke, he patted Feng Wanqing's head and placed several skewers of lamb sprinkled with chili powder onto the plate in front of her.
“Wanwan, if you don’t mind, come to my manor during the New Year, and I’ll celebrate the New Year with you. I’ll tell you that our New Year celebrations are very interesting and something you’ve never experienced before.”
Feng Wanqing ate her mutton, looked at her and nodded, "Okay."
Just as they were enjoying their meal, they saw Jun Qiyu, Abbot Faming, and Abbot Faneng walking towards them.
Abbot Faneng spoke directly, "Young friend, how dare you drink and eat meat in the temple again! This is a great disrespect to Buddhism!" Abbot Faneng looked at Xie Sili and sighed, "Although the Buddha saves all sentient beings, how can you be so presumptuous?"
Xie Sili glanced at the three people standing in front of her and handed another plate of lamb skewers to Jun Qiyu. "Want some?"
Jun Qiyu accepted the plate without hesitation. "Of course I want it. This is lamb roasted by Si Yi. I've been craving it for a year, and now I can finally eat it." He then sat down on a small stool next to him.
"Fourth Brother was Ah Li a long time ago?" Feng Wanqing's mood improved significantly.
"I met Xie San in Yuzhou City," Jun Qiyu said with a smile while eating mutton. "Si Yi, tell me, how much silver would it take for you to come to my residence and grill mutton for me?"
“Your Highness is too kind. We are by the young lady’s side, how could we be easily bribed by others? If Your Highness likes it, from today onwards, send a sheep to Si Garden every day. I will send a leg of lamb to Your Highness as soon as I have roasted it.” Si Yi said, continuing to turn the whole roasted lamb in front of him.
Jun Qiyu burst into laughter upon hearing this, "Xie San, your subordinates really like you very much."
Xie Sili turned her gaze to Jun Qiyu, then glanced at Si Yi standing not far away, and said almost without thinking, "That's right, they are all people I personally trained, so naturally they are all loyal to me."
She sat with her knees bent, one hand resting on her knee. "Shadow One, Si One, Dark One, they have never been guards to me, but family. Look how well I have taken care of Mei, Lan, Zhu, Ju, and Lv Zhu in our family."
Xie Sili is indeed quite skilled at managing people. Not only those around her, but anyone she has trained is basically loyal and would never betray their master easily.
After a delicious meal, everyone was in high spirits. Xie Sili's gaze fell on Feng Wanqing. "Wanwan, why don't you come with me to the private room tonight?"
Feng Wanqing looked at her and nodded with a smile, "Okay, that's exactly what I was thinking too."
After the two left the forbidden area, Xie Sili took Feng Wanqing for a stroll around the temple. On their way back to their room, they ran into Huang Shi, Xie Siyu, and Xie Siyao, who had probably scouted the place beforehand.
Xie Siyu's gaze remained fixed on Feng Wanqing.
"Greetings, Princess." Xie Siyu stepped forward and said, "The night is beautiful. May I invite you to enjoy the moon with me?"
"No need for moon-gazing," Xie Sili scoffed. "You think you can get your hands on Wanwan?" She retorted without hesitation, "Don't be so arrogant."
“Li’er, no matter what, Yu’er is still your brother. How could you say such a thing?” Madam Huang frowned, but her gaze fell on Feng Wanqing. “Princess, please don’t take what A-Li said to heart. Our Yu’er…”
Feng Wanqing raised her eyes to meet Madam Huang's gaze and spoke calmly, "Madam Xie, do you have some misunderstanding about me? I am the only princess in the current dynasty. Are you questioning my choice of friends?"
Her tone was somewhat cold, yet left no room for argument, "Madam Xie, the current Empress is my aunt, and my grandfather was a Grand Tutor who served three dynasties. How dare a mere son of a Left Chancellor presume to marry me?"
She didn't give Huang a chance to speak and continued, "I'm telling you now, I don't like Xie Siyu and I won't marry him!"
Xie Sili looked at Feng Wanqing standing beside her. She had gained a new kind of resilience that was previously unseen. It seemed that she was growing upwards with unwavering tenacity in places unseen.
Indeed, no one is worthy of Feng Wanqing. She should grow towards the sun, not be trapped in the cage of the palace.
Xie Sili put his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Wanwan, do you want to come to Yuzhou City and hang out with me?"
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