"This banquet is so boring. Why don't you come with me to the animal park to see the lions that Yuezhi sent over? I heard they're quite ferocious."
Xie Xuan tapped her forehead with her folding fan. "Young lady, can't you be a little more ladylike?"
"Ouch~" Hengzhi Yan complained, deliberately tightening her grip on his arm and pinching it, saying angrily, "It hurts so much."
"Alright, I'm going to my second brother's courtyard. You go by yourself."
"West Garden? What are you going there for?"
Just as Xie Xuan was about to continue speaking, Wang Wan gently interrupted the two of them.
"I'll go myself."
He paused slightly, his alluring peach blossom eyes casually glancing over at her.
The young master of the Xie family of Chenjun was handsome, with exquisitely beautiful features that flowed seamlessly, like the waters of mountains and rivers, or the moon soaring through the clouds.
Dressed in red, with his black hair tied up high, he was dashing and debonair. The light from the horizon shone on him, dimming even his own brilliance.
Wang Wan glanced at the girl clinging to him, felt a sharp pain in her heart, immediately avoided his gaze, nodded in acknowledgment, and walked past the two of them to the front.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Hengzhiyan quickly stopped her and asked, "Is sister-in-law going to the West Garden?"
Wang Wan didn't turn around, but simply hummed in agreement.
"Let's go together then, I haven't met my second brother yet."
Xie An was the man that all the noble ladies of the North dreamed of marrying back then. She had never even met this legendary figure who had repelled an enemy army of 800,000 with only 80,000 northern soldiers in the Southern Yan.
"Brother Ah-Xuan, take me there."
As Xie Xuan was being swayed back and forth by her, a barely perceptible dark light flashed in his eyes, too fast to be seen.
Wang Wan caught a glimpse of the two people's intimate actions out of the corner of her eye. A metallic taste suddenly welled up in her throat, and she clenched her handkerchief to cover her mouth, forcibly suppressing it.
"Didn't you want to see the lions?"
Hengzhi Yanjiao smiled and said, "If we go around from the West Garden, we'll reach the Animal Viewing Garden. We can visit your second brother first, and then go see it."
Xie Xuan raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Then you have to see if your sister-in-law is willing."
Wang Wan froze, subconsciously said "Whatever," and then walked forward.
Hengzhiyan immediately smiled and urged him forward, "Your sister-in-law has agreed, let's go."
Sunlight bathed the earth, a cool breeze caressed our faces, and the fragrance of lotus flowers wafted through the air, mingled with the occasional laughter and chatter of the two people behind us.
The woman's coquettish laughter was like the cry of a phoenix, and every glance and smile was as clean and bright as sunlight.
Wang Wan walked ahead, listening to their voices, and quietly poured a pill from the porcelain bottle in her purse, put it in her mouth and swallowed it.
Such a bright and radiant young girl is worthy of the young master of the Xie family of Chenjun, that proud and unrestrained boy on the battlefield.
The chattering sounds around her faded away like clouds, and she suddenly remembered the cat in the house, her thoughts drifting away.
"I told you the other day that I'd go to the temple with you, are you coming or not?"
Xie Xuan walked slowly behind, and upon hearing the girl's words, he snapped open his folding fan and gently fanned himself.
"I'm busy."
Hengzhiyan glared at him with displeasure, "You don't need to go to Jiankang to take up your post recently, so what could possibly happen?"
He didn't speak. She followed his gaze suspiciously and saw that sickly figure.
A feeling of unease flashed through my mind, but when I glanced at him again, I saw him looking at the scenery outside the corridor with a nonchalant expression, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
Hengzhi felt a vague unease in her heart, but deliberately ignored the feeling. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the person next to her suddenly rush out.
"Are you looking for death?!"
Suddenly pulled by his arm, Wang Wan snapped out of her daze and turned around to meet his angry face.
A gentle breeze carried the moisture from the lakebed, and the two locked eyes, their warm breaths mingling. He stared at her, a dark current surging in the depths of his dark eyes.
Her breath seemed to catch in her throat for a moment. She froze, looked around, and realized that she had been lost in thought and almost fell down the stone steps.
From afar, Hengzhiyan watched the two bodies pressed tightly together, and the discomfort in her heart was amplified.
She squinted at the people who had almost fallen from the sky, and could only suppress her discomfort as she walked towards them.
"Sister-in-law."
A slightly cold voice sounded beside them. Wang Wan snapped out of her daze, quickly broke free from his embrace around her waist, and straightened up.
In an instant, Xie Xuan regained his composure and calmly patted his robe.
Hengzhiyan approached, wrapped her arm around his, and smiled as she spoke to the person opposite her.
Are you alright?
Wang Wan lowered her eyes and said, "It's nothing, thank you."
Hengzhiyan's eyes flickered slightly, and she tiptoed to kiss Xie Xuan on the cheek, praising him with a smile.
"Brother Ah Xuan's lightness skill is so fast."
With a snap, it felt as if a tiny crack had opened in her chest. Wang Wan felt a sharp pain in her breath and quickly lowered her eyes to hide the suppressed emotions in them.
Xie Xuan was also taken aback for a moment by her bold action and glanced at her sideways.
Hengzhiyan deliberately rubbed her ample breasts against his arm and asked innocently, "What's wrong?"
In today's open society, she comes from a prestigious family in the north where there is no strict separation between men and women, so there are not many rules.
Xie Xuan glanced at the indifferent person beside him and remained silent.
Hengzhi Yan sneered inwardly, pretending to feel unwell as she leaned against him and mumbled, "We're not going to the West Garden. Take me back to the manor. I feel a bit nauseous."
"Have your maid escort you back."
"No, I feel really uncomfortable right now."
Xie Xuan remained unmoved, only smiling faintly, "Why are you upset for no reason?"
"I don't know either, I feel a little dizzy."
As she spoke, she pressed her body tightly against him, even excessively pressing her entire body weight onto him.
Wang Wan noticed her movements and interrupted the two of them, "You two go ahead with your work, I'm leaving now."
Upon hearing this, Hengzhi Yan rubbed her forehead and said apologetically.
Wang Wan shook her head to indicate that she was unharmed.
"Then take care, sister-in-law."
The chattering behind her gradually dissipated like clouds. Wang Wan turned the corner of the corridor, leaned against the wall, clutched her chest, and took a deep breath.
She reached into her purse, took out a porcelain bottle, took the medicine, and closed her eyes to calm herself down for a while.
A slightly warm breeze brushed her cheeks and rang the copper bells under the eaves. The pain in her heart gradually subsided, and she regained her senses with a pale face, opening her eyes.
The Xie family's ancestral home covers a vast area, and Wang Wan had never been to the West Garden before. Every time she came to the Xie family to attend a banquet, she would go to pay her respects to Madam Xie. Therefore, she did not know where the West Garden was.
She walked through the covered walkway and found the bustling crowd ahead, where she finally found a maid to ask for directions.
"Please follow me, miss."
The maid led her westward, and they walked into an increasingly remote area.
"Does the Second Young Master live so far away?"
The maidservant replied respectfully, "Young master doesn't like to be disturbed, so his residence is far from the main courtyard."
Wang Wan thought of that person, who always had a calm and composed demeanor, with the elegance of a refined scholar. It was hard to imagine that such a person could have been so brave and accomplished such unparalleled feats of war.
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