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She sensed it; after he put his arm around her, he suddenly felt a surge of excitement in a certain area, though it was brief. But she wasn't a clueless, naive young girl.
However, she didn't know how to deal with it.
Just like his helpless reaction, what should she do? The two were destined to be siblings. Although they were not related by blood, the rules of the Namo Kingdom stipulated that those who shared the same surname and family could not marry.
She was to be married off from the Prime Minister's residence, to a noble family that was capable of stirring up trouble. Naturally, the Prime Minister's residence was also capable of stirring up trouble. But how could Xie Zhongxu tolerate her causing all sorts of trouble in his own residence?
This journey through life is but a short few decades. All feelings, whether real or not, will ultimately amount to nothing. There's no mission to worry about.
She caught up with Xie Sui'an, but seeing him walking forward with his head down, she pulled him back.
"Over here!"
She could only pretend not to know, link arms with him and continue acting. The two walked openly and furtively to the front of the house, only to find that there was an identical house in front of it!
Looking ahead, the two understood that this was probably the same as the rows of thatched huts they had seen before, only this one was more elaborately constructed. In the end, it was still a den of iniquity where no real business was conducted.
The two understood immediately and noticed a side window nearby, from which the melodious music flowed even more clearly.
The two hid by the window and peered through the crack, only to see the room filled with wisps of smoke and a rich fragrance.
In the center of the hall, a woman in white sat gracefully, playing the zither with her eyes lowered. A man, with his back to Qin Sang and the other woman, sat facing the woman at a low table, appreciating the music with his hand supporting his chin.
They initially thought it would just be another high-class sexual encounter, but when they took a closer look at the woman's face, both Xie Sui'an and Qin Sang were shocked.
"Sister Lan'er?" Xie Sui'an murmured.
Qin Sang frowned slightly, but only for a moment before regaining her composure: "She is not Su Lan'er, she just looks like her."
Su Lan'er is Su Yun'er's older sister. Back in the dungeon, she gave her younger sister the only hope of survival and did not escape. This is the face that Nan Yin remembers most vividly after regaining consciousness, besides the original owner's mother.
And even if she didn't die, even if she escaped, she wouldn't look the same as she did back then; she wouldn't still be so young...
As if hearing a noise, the man in front of the woman slowly turned around, and the two quickly hid to the side.
Seeing that no one was by the window, the man turned back, poured himself another cup of wine, and said to the woman playing the zither, "Lan'er, come, rest for a while, and have a drink with me."
Qin Sang: "..."
Xie Sui'an: "...??"
The woman named Lan'er pressed her fingers down on the zither, obediently and gently got up, and slowly walked to the man's side, where she knelt down.
The man handed her the wine, which she drank with a smile. He then took the glass from her hand, and with great tenderness, raised his hand to stroke her cheek: "Lan'er... I missed you so much..."
Seeing this, Xie Sui'an's eyes were already red with suppressed rage.
Qin Sang reached out and grabbed his clenched fist, whispering, "Don't be impulsive..."
Xie Sui'an looked at her with resentful red eyes. How could he not be impulsive? His mind was not clear, and he was hugging and kissing a substitute with a flushed face. It was his respected and beloved older brother, Xie Jingze!
I never imagined he would be so absurd!
The maidservant hidden in his mansion, whom he favored, also bore a striking resemblance to Su Lan'er. He had never forgotten her all these years.
When the incident happened, Xie Jingze and Su Lan'er were the ones who were cruelly separated by fate. At that time, they were already of marriageable age. However, when the imperial decree was issued, he did not even have the chance to leave the mansion to see her one last time. The Prime Minister's mansion had to protect itself and could not have any relationship with the Su family, otherwise they would be punished as accomplices.
At that time, his whole family watched over him, completely blocking his way out.
Later, in order to preserve the bloodline of the Su family and for the sake of his grandson who was contemplating suicide, Xie Xiang secretly saved Su Yun'er.
Actually, the person they really wanted to save at that time was Su Lan'er.
But why Su Lan'er would give up her chance to live to her own younger sister remains unknown.
At this moment, seeing that Xie Jingze had already picked up the woman and walked towards the inner room, Xie Sui'an could no longer bear it. He opened the side window and jumped in.
Xie Jingze was clearly not expected to see Xie Sui'an, but he didn't seem too surprised. His eyes darted around slowly, looking somewhat bewildered. After staring at Xie Sui'an for a while, he smiled and said, "Sui'an is here."
Xie Sui'an glanced quickly at the woman Xie Jingze was holding in his arms; the woman had already buried her face shyly in Xie Jingze's chest. Xie Sui'an then swiftly swung his knife, knocking her unconscious.
Xie Jingze sensed something amiss with the woman in his arms. He paused, then his expression changed drastically. He shouted in alarm and anger, "Guards! Guards... Ah..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was knocked unconscious by Qin Sang, who burst in from behind.
The two men helped the two unconscious people up and carefully placed them on the ground. Xie Sui'an then picked up the woman who looked just like Su Lan'er from Xie Jingze's arms and put her aside.
Then the two of them stared helplessly at Xie Jingze.
This Xie Jingze is almost a completely different person from the noble and gentle Xie Jingze that Qin Sang saw in the Prime Minister's residence.
If he hadn't recognized Xie Sui'an at a glance, Xie Sui'an would probably have suspected that this was just a puppet who looked a lot like his older brother.
At this moment, both Qin Sang and Xie Suian were filled with countless thoughts, and neither knew where to begin.
"Put him on the couch, the floor is cold," Qin Sang finally reminded him.
However, when Xie Sui'an bent down to pull Xie Sui'an, he felt his arm go numb. He looked sharply at the incense burner next to him: "There's something wrong with that incense."
Qin Sang looked around, then picked up the teapot on the table and poured it into the incense burner, extinguishing the incense.
She put down the teapot and sighed softly, "This incense has a mind-altering effect. Let's help him over first, and ask him questions when he wakes up."
So the two of them together lifted Xie Jingze onto the bed.
Xie Sui'an then got up and carefully examined the room. He suddenly realized that the room's layout was exactly the same as Xie Jingze's main house, Ziwei Pavilion, in the mansion!
Is he insane?!
In another place, he created a dream for himself? In this dream, his mistress was Su Lan'er, who had long since passed away?
“No wonder my sister-in-law is so suspicious all the time.” He sighed helplessly. “What my brother did was really too much.”
“Perhaps it’s not entirely your brother’s fault.” Qin Sang stared at the fake “Su Lan’er” on the ground and said, “This is Worry-Free Island. Perhaps your brother was just tempted by someone and lured into this dream.”
As she spoke, she walked towards the incense burner, lifted the lid and looked inside: "If it weren't for this captivating fragrance, your elder brother wouldn't be so unable to distinguish between dreams and reality."
Xie Sui'an admitted that Qin Sang was right, but who could know about the private affairs of the young couple back then, secrets that even the adults hadn't told them? And how could they possibly use this to trap the eldest grandson of the Right Chancellor here?
Even if Xie Jingze and Su Lan'er were in love back then, Xie Jingze has always been a calm and composed person. How could he have become so obsessed with the past and lost his sense of propriety?
Xie Sui'an was still staring at Xie Jingze and sighing when Qin Sang suddenly found a basin of water. Before she could stop her, a basin of cold water was poured over Xie Jingze's head.
Xie Sui'an looked at Qin Sang in disbelief, after all, the one lying there was his elder brother, Yuan Qingyu Jie!
Qin Sang, carrying the empty basin, went over to look and saw Xie Jingze's eyes move and his head move. She said, "He's awake."
Xie Jingze, his face still wet, slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the two faces in front of him, he sat up, clutching his head. "Sui'an, Qin Sang, why are you here so early..."
Qin Sang pursed her lips and smiled slightly: "It's an honor that you recognized me at a glance, brother."
Xie Jingze, however, bowed deeply and watched Xie Jingze's every move with concern, tentatively asking, "Brother, do you know where you are right now?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Jingze looked around and then looked at Xie Sui'an with a puzzled expression.
He laughed and said, "I'm at home. I drank too much last night and I'm a little disoriented today. What time is it?"
Qin Sang moved the basin aside, and Xie Sui'an, his face grim, asked, "Do you know about Worry-Free Island?"
Xie Jingze was taken aback: "What?"
Xie Jingze then stepped aside, revealing the woman lying on the ground to him.
"We're on Worry-Free Island now, brother. Who brought you here? You've been drugged, you know? The woman lying on the ground, she's not Sister Lan'er at all. What... what are you doing here??"
Xie Jingze's face drained of all color in an instant. He wiped the water droplets from his face and then realized that his clothes were completely soaked.
But he couldn't care less about any of that. He stood up and rushed towards the woman on the ground. Seeing that her eyes were closed and her face was pale, he immediately turned around and questioned Xie Sui'an: "What did you do to her?!"
Xie Jingze rarely looked at him with such a fierce expression, so much so that Xie Sui'an was stunned by his outburst.
“She’s not dead, she just fainted.” At this moment, Qin Sang walked over and stood next to Xie Suian. She said, “But this woman is not my sister, Brother Jingze, you’ve mistaken her for someone else.”
Suddenly, Xie Jingze's eyes turned red, and his head slowly drooped down. His pitiful and painful appearance was truly heartbreaking to see.
He turned around, carefully helped the woman up from the ground, and then without saying a word, carried her to the bed, covered her with a blanket, and carefully tucked her in before turning away.
After this series of actions, he seemed to have completely transformed back into the gentle and refined Xie Jingze of the manor, his expression calm and composed: "Let me change my clothes, then I will take you off the island."
With that, he turned and went behind the screen.
Xie Sui'an: "..."
He left his clothes here!
It is clear that he often stayed here overnight.
Xie Sui'an couldn't help but ask, "Brother, who brought you to this Worry-Free Island? You wouldn't happen to be the owner of this Worry-Free Island, would you?!"
On the other side of the screen, Xie Jingze's voice was completely calm: "I don't have that much ability. You overestimate me."
"Then...when did you start coming here?"
"I can't remember."
"Do you know who owns this island?"
"I don't know."
Xie Sui'an: "..."
Qin Sang also had many questions in her mind, but seeing Xie Jingze's state, she knew he wouldn't say anything even if he knew, so she simply didn't ask.
After he changed his clothes and came out, he coldly ordered, "Follow behind me and don't make a sound. I'll take you out."
Xie Sui'an: "Brother, aren't you going to ask us how we got in?"
Xie Jingze walked straight out of the house: "I don't want to ask, but seeing how disheveled you are, I suppose it wasn't your own choice."
The two glanced at each other. Qin Sang's skirt was torn to shreds, and Xie Sui'an had a few withered branches and leaves hanging from his head...
The two silently straightened their clothes and then went out the door together.
Xie Jingze stood under the eaves and tugged on a red rope next to a pillar. The rope triggered a bell somewhere, and by the time it returned, it was very faint.
Soon, a two-seater sedan chair emerged from the deep forest. The chair had a clear copper bell on it, which jingled pleasantly as it moved.
The newcomer looked puzzled when he saw that Xie Jingze was followed by two other people.
Xie Jingze said, "My two immature younger siblings came looking for me. It's alright, I'll take them away."
The sedan bearers lowered their eyes and asked no more questions.
Xie Jingze added, "Call another sedan chair; my younger sister is frail."
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