Chapter 40: The branding gift is like a brand, swearing an oath for Wen Ying...
The sky was dark, with layers of grayish-white clouds, and the sun could hardly penetrate the stagnant cold wind.
The match rubbed across the friction surface, and Wen Ying lit the candle, adding some light to the dim sky. Then she looked at Yan Jing cautiously, observing his emotional state.
She had just explained to Yan Jing that it was a misunderstanding, saying that she had accidentally fallen and knocked down Anle, and nothing had happened between them.
I don’t know if Yan Jingxin believed it.
The orange-red candlelight cast a dark green shadow on Yan Jing's handsome face. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Sensing the probing gaze, he sighed and said sideways:
"Miss, I came here today on purpose. I don't know why you came here. Please speak frankly."
Judging from Yan Jing's expression, he didn't seem to want to get angry about Anle's incident.
In that case, she had something more important to tell him.
Thinking of this, Wen Ying no longer hesitated, leaned over to Yan Jing, and said seriously: "Sir Yan, I came here because of that absurd nursery rhyme."
The girl's bare hand habitually touched the back of Yan Jing's hand, and a faint fragrance like orchid and musk wafted over. Yan Jing fixed his eyes on the place where the light shone, and the cool and white touch penetrated into his blood and spread to every part of his body.
Anle was forcibly taken away by the tactful Geng You, and he would probably not be seen wandering around outside in the short term.
Now the two of them were alone in a room, with only charcoal fire and candlelight for company.
He blinked lightly, his eyelashes brushing against the darkness, and said in a light and gentle voice: "I'm sorry to have worried you, young lady. It's just the idle chatter of the common people, don't worry about it."
"Chatting and entertainment? This is something that will destroy your reputation, how can you just let it go so easily?" Wen Ying raised her head and frowned, then moved forward slightly and hugged Yan Jing's arm.
The deliberately guided increase in physical contact worked, and Wen Ying didn't even notice how close she was to him when she was concentrating on thinking.
Yan Jing turned his head and raised his hand to wipe his lips, hiding the corners of his lips that were about to rise, and said softly: "The innocent will be innocent. Even if you present ironclad evidence, you can't immediately stop the gossip. It's better to wait for a long time and it will dissipate with the wind."
"If it disappears with the wind, it will melt into the wind. One day, someone will capture it and make a fuss about it." Wen Ying frowned in dissatisfaction and pressed the back of the man's hand with her fingertips, as if with a punishment.
Where is Yan Jing's usual cleverness? Why does he not care about his own reputation?
Yan Jing's eyes darkened, and he gently closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had gotten rid of all the unnecessary emotions and just smiled gently, "Then in your opinion, what should I do?"
"Of course, we should find out the source of the rumor, eradicate it, and then make the truth known to the world!"
This was not a difficult task for Yan Jing, and Wen Ying didn't understand what he was hesitating about.
"This is the responsibility of the Dali Temple. How can I interfere?"
"Then let the Dali Temple investigate. We can't let them live happily while we have to bear the blame. What's the logic behind this?" Wen Ying blurted out naturally without giving it too much thought.
Yan Jing curved his dark eyes and curled his lips in a smile: "'We'?"
"What am I to you, young lady?"
Wen Ying was stunned for a moment before she realized what she had said.
"I..." She loosened her grip and slipped off Yan Jing's arm, but was gently caught by him.
"As it happens, your majesty has sent the Dali Temple Minister Wei to investigate the assassination case. I will tell him when he comes to your house tomorrow."
This sentence gave Wen Ying a promise. Yan Jing lowered his eyes, pulled Wen Ying's hands to the table, and murmured to himself, "Why is it so cold?"
The warm palm wrapped around her hand, making her unable to move.
I don't want to escape either.
"Okay..." Wen Ying felt the warmth rising to her cheeks, lowered her head, not knowing what to say, "As long as Lord Yan has a plan in mind."
Yan Jing's eyes were as gentle as water, and he smiled and said, "Thank you, Miss, for taking me to heart."
The man's voice touched her heart. Wen Ying glanced around and suddenly noticed the agate ring on Yan Jing's thumb. Then she remembered the excuse she had for coming here in the first place.
"Master Yan, I'm here to deliver something."
"Hmm?" Yan Jing looked at the girl who stretched out one hand towards his neck, only to see her hooking out a red rope with a ring hanging on it.
"This ring has been with me for too long. It's time to return it to its original owner." Wen Ying untied the rope and wanted to hand it to Yan Jing, but was stopped.
"Miss Liu, you don't want to wear the bracelet I gave you, and you don't want to keep this ring for me?" Yan Jing's smile faded a little.
Yan Jing's voice was flat, but Wen Ying felt that he was aggrieved and hurriedly explained, "No, this..."
Seeing the curve of Yan Jing's mouth getting lower and lower, Wen Ying's heart skipped a beat and she lifted up her sleeves, revealing the same emerald green color as the ring.
The dark eyes suddenly sparkled, Yan Jing lowered his eyes and suppressed his emotions, gently curled his thumb inward, and inserted it into the girl's palm.
The Liu family made their fortune from jade, and was founded by her. It is impossible for her not to know the meaning of jade from the same origin.
In other words…
"Lord Yan is used to the weight of jadeite, so he should not be used to the light agate, right?" Wen Ying did not notice Yan Jing's little action, but just put the ring into his palm and gently closed it, "I have this bracelet, so I will return this ring to you."
In fact, she also had selfish motives.
Even though her face now belongs to "Liu Qing", the jade of the same origin is on her wrist, so this jade bond belongs to her.
Even though she knew that a relationship fostered by deception would not have a happy ending, she still wanted to deceive herself and refused to let go.
With his wrist turned outward, the ring slid to his fingertips, and Yan Jing put the ring on his index finger with one hand. The rope slid down with his movement, drawing Wen Ying's attention.
However, the moment she lowered her head, Yan Jing grabbed her chin and forcibly lifted her face up.
Wen Ying opened her almond-shaped eyes wide and met the man's smiling phoenix eyes. The starlight and the bright moon were flowing, throwing her consciousness into the sky.
She had never been a womanizer, and even thought that everyone had similar faces.
But after meeting Yan Jing, he began to lose consciousness frequently, and felt that even if he did nothing for the rest of his life, he could survive just by looking at this face.
"I was not able to receive the young lady right away. I am sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."
Yan Jing's voice brought Wen Ying back to her senses. She waved her hand and said, "It wasn't long. Your Excellency, don't mind."
Why did we bring up this topic again? Will she be punished again?
"That's great." Yan Jing pulled his hand away from Wen Ying's palm, reached into the interlayer of his chest, and took out a small brocade box. "When the young lady gave it to me, I had already thought of what I wanted to make, but I just finished it today and brought it here."
As the feeling of the object in her palm disappeared, Wen Ying realized that he had hidden his thumb in her palm at some point, leaving a red mark when he left.
She stretched out her five fingers, looked at the brocade box, and asked curiously, "What did Your Highness do?"
Wen Ying knew that Yan Jing was talking about the peace locket given at the Riding and Shooting Banquet.
The Prime Minister comes from a prominent family, so even top-quality white jade is not a rare item for him, so it is understandable that he wants to process and carve it again.
Yan Jing smiled slightly and reached out to open the brocade box.
Wen Ying then looked and saw that her peace locket was intact without any other processing. Even the red rope she had casually woven retained its original texture.
It was simply further woven into a more complicated knot, shortened overall and decorated with thin tassels at the bottom.
The most notable change is the golden hook at one end, which complements the bright red color and adds a touch of luxury.
Yan Jing changed the peace locket bracelet into earrings?
Should I return it to her...?
Wen Ying touched her earlobe, watched Yan Jing slowly pick up the earring, and asked with a little doubt: "Sir, I don't have my ears pierced... Sir Yan?!"
After a muffled groan, blood immediately flowed out from the red skin. Yan Jing actually pierced his earlobe with the golden hook and hung the peace locket on his ear!
Wen Ying immediately pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve and pressed it on Yan Jing's wound without saying a word.
The blue handkerchief embroidered with willow trees and a pond was instantly stained with blood red, and the man's pure white clothes and black hair, which had always been spotless, were soaked in red.
Women who want to pierce their ears usually have to ask a specialized old lady to help rub their ears red, then use a silver needle as a medium and burn it with fire before piercing the ears.
How can such a sloppy and crude approach be possible?
"What are you doing? Are you acting on impulse? Where is your usual caution and thoroughness, Lord Yan?" Wen Ying still remembered her disguise, but couldn't help but raise her voice to reproach, "Why don't you take care of yourself at all?"
"What's wrong with a bracelet? If I had known you were going to wear the earrings like this, I should have gone straight to your study and smashed the brocade box when I entered the mansion that day."
Wen Ying watched the bleeding gradually stop and breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Yan Jing's expression.
Her skin, as white as snow, matched the large area of red. Her cold and unparalleled face looked at the anxious girl with a slight smile, revealing a somewhat enchanting beauty.
The gorgeous visual impact made Wen Ying feel a little dry in the mouth and she swallowed her saliva involuntarily.
She had seen the blood of many people, but never had she felt such a turbulent moment.
Wen Ying sometimes even wondered if Yan Jing knew that she was good-looking, so he spared no effort to seduce her with his appearance.
Who is using the beauty trap?
Yan Jing laughed out loud when he saw this, as if he didn't feel any pain, and just said, "As long as the lady likes it."
No matter what, she couldn't let him hurt her like this again. Wen Ying bit her lip and said, "I...how do you know I like it? I don't like it."
Yan Jing lowered his eyes, took Wen Ying's other hand, and said softly: "I just want everyone to see it."
The hand was slowly raised and covered the half of the cheek that was not stained with blood. It was not until the soft touch came from the fingertips that Wen Ying realized belatedly -
Yan Jing would place all the gifts she gave him so far on the side of his face so that everyone would notice them when they saw him for the first time.
It was like a brand, a brand that declared Wen Ying’s sovereignty.
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