Chapter 87 Chapter 87 "Well, my Captain Xue." ...
In the bedroom of the Zhanyun Courtyard of the Zhang Mansion, two people were lying on the bed in an overlapping position. One of Xue Yuanyin's legs was hanging outside, trapped under him, with no way to retreat.
She was forced into the soft quilt, with his hot breath above her. Next to her was a window that looked out onto the courtyard... Her cheeks flushed crimson, and even her neck was a bit crimson. She began to struggle against his grip on her hands, and bent her legs in an attempt to resist.
"You, you let me go! In broad daylight... How can this be disgraceful!"
"I have an injury on my back. If you resist, I won't be able to support myself and the wound will split open."
Zhang Jingxuan's back ached slightly, but he remained calm, even chuckling at her. "If you're still looking for an excuse, at least find a plausible one... The top student in the Imperial College couldn't understand a love letter. Do you believe it?"
Xue Yuanyin didn't dare to move anymore. She saw the wounds on his back, crisscrossed and even red and swollen. She turned her head to the side and said with a sly argument:
"How can I tell if it's a love note or something else? You wrote it so subtly, who could possibly tell what it meant?"
"Now you see?"
Zhang Jingxuan turned her face, the movement causing the wound to slightly open, but his expression remained unchanged, his words steady and clear as he spoke:
"It doesn't matter if you can't tell. I'll tell you..."
Xue Yuanyin was worried that he would actually say those corny words, so she interrupted him hastily:
"No need! I get it! You...just do your job well in the capital. Calm down before you say this. What if you just acted on impulse and regretted it later? You still have a bright future ahead of you, just like the daughter of the Prime Minister..."
"Xue Yuanyin."
Zhang Jingxuan called her name calmly, wanting to repeat the words of his confession, but he looked down at her expression, which was evasive, and even had a hint of fear in her eyes...
He paused and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Never mind. Since she's unwilling, I won't force her.
But he was also reluctant to let her go this time. He had finally caught her, how could he just bring up the topic so easily?
Zhang Jingxuan let go of her hand, and Xue Yuanyin immediately got up from the bed, pretending to be calm and adjusting her skirt. Her movements were so swift that there was a hint of escape in them.
He looked at her, curled his lips and said, "Are you hiding from me?"
Xue Yuanyin was hit in the heart and denied it easily: "I didn't!"
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly, "Bring me seven days' worth of medicine... Where do you want to go after seven days?"
Xue Yuanyin didn't want to be stared at like this. She felt as if he could see through her. She avoided his gaze and raised her voice to prove her confidence:
"I just suddenly got used to staying in the capital. I want to see the world and travel around. It's not like I won't be back."
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her quietly without saying a word.
Xue Yuanyin also looked back pretending to be calm, but her heart was beating fast.
Traveling around was a poor excuse. Zhang Jingxuan was so smart that he must have guessed that she was lying.
But unexpectedly, Zhang Jingxuan did not expose the truth, but casually mentioned another matter:
"You haven't returned all my things yet, and I still have something else with you.
Xue Yuanyin was stunned: "They are all here, only those two." What else could she accept from him?
Zhang Jingxuan's eyes were filled with an almost imperceptible gloom as he spoke slowly, "My nude painting."
Xue Yuanyin paused for a few breaths: "You...that painting, didn't you give it to me?"
Zhang Jingxuan stared at her and said, "You're looking for a marriage partner with someone else, and then you agree to another man's proposal, while at the same time hiding nude paintings of me in your house. Do you think this is appropriate? Do you think you're a person with flawed morals?"
After a pause, as if that wasn't enough, he added calmly, "Besides, it was a nude painting that other men reacted to."
Xue Yuanyin's voice faltered slightly. Even though he was just making wild guesses, she seemed to have done so. After a while, he couldn't figure out how to refute her, and finally managed to say:
"I didn't ask you to react."
She regretted it the moment she said it, it would have been better if she hadn't said it.
Zhang Jingxuan remained calm after hearing this, but his voice was a little cold:
"What are the backgrounds of those people you're looking at? What are their achievements? What are their talents? What are their looks? Are they as good as me?"
Xue Yuanyin couldn't help but retort, "I didn't agree! Besides, your family has matchmakers all the time, but you won't allow my friends to introduce me to a marriage? What are you doing? Only officials are allowed to set fires, but ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps..."
Halfway through the conversation, she felt a strong hint of resentment, so she swallowed her words back and said stubbornly:
"I just had a sudden thought and decided to leave Beijing and see the world."
She didn't want to admit that she was afraid, afraid that he would blame her, after all, Xue Chang had hurt him so much.
She didn't dare to admit that she was just looking for an excuse. She actually wanted to say goodbye to Xue Chang for the last time.
Zhang Jingxuan looked at her quietly, his expression difficult to discern. She also raised her chin slightly, refusing to speak first.
The air fell into a silent hushed state, with a hint of stalemate.
After a while, Zhang Jingxuan rubbed his forehead and sighed.
That's all.
Forcing her to do something like this, knowing that she is not ready yet.
In the final analysis, he was a little impatient.
Zhang Jingxuan raised his eyes and asked, "When?"
"Ah?" Xue Yuanyin was slightly stunned, and said subconsciously, "June 20th... the day you took office."
Zhang Jingxuan nodded slightly: "I understand."
Xue Yuanyin didn't understand what he knew. It was getting dark outside. Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Zhang were coming back soon. She didn't stay any longer. After he changed the medicine, he folded the letter and quickly put it into his sleeve, then said goodbye and left.
Before leaving, she said that she would come to bring him medicine tomorrow.
As soon as she left, Zhang Jingxuan called Huaizhou and said, "Undress."
Huai Zhou said worriedly, "Sir, you should just lie on the bed with this injury. If you go out again, it will probably split open again!"
Zhang Jingxuan endured the pain in his back and stood up. His face was expressionless, and he said in a tone that brooked no argument:
"Prepare the carriage. I want to go to the palace to see the emperor."
-
For the next seven days, Xue Yuanyin asked Huaizhou to bring the best medicine from her home to Zhang Jingxuan at the corner gate, but she did not see him again. It was not good to sneak into other people's homes frequently.
Soon, seven days later, on the 20th day of the sixth lunar month, the eunuchs escorted Xue Chang out of the Ministry of Justice prison. Wei Shu packed his bags and rushed to the border with Xue Chang.
After Xue Yuanyin delivered the last dose of medicine to Zhang Jingxuan, she thought for a while and asked Huaizhou to pass in a message, "I wish Mr. Zhang great success in the future." She then went home, picked up her simple luggage, and set off alone in the carriage.
In addition to the eunuchs, there were also several runners from the Ministry of Justice who were escorting Xue Chang, and Wei Shu followed closely behind.
Xue Yuanyin waited until they had walked a distance and could only vaguely see their tail before she quietly followed behind them.
Originally, no outsiders were allowed to follow behind the team escorting prisoners, but as Xue Chang's biological daughter, she used the excuse of "going out for a trip" to secretly escort her father for a distance, which was tacitly approved by the emperor. Therefore, the escort convoy in front did not say anything when they saw her, and just turned a blind eye.
Xue Yuanyin followed the escort convoy to the city gate and lined up to wait for the exit of the city. The team was a bit slow.
She suddenly heard someone knocking on the carriage's outer wall. She lifted the curtain and froze in her tracks when she saw who was knocking.
Zhang Jingxuan was standing outside the carriage, dressed in low-key clothes, and asked softly:
"I wonder if there's room for an extra person in Miss Xue's carriage?"
Xue Yuanyin stared at him through the carriage window, her heart churning with emotions. After a while, she said:
"Zhang Jingxuan, what do you mean?"
Zhang Jingxuan said slowly: "I want to go out for a walk with you."
Xue Yuanyin asked, "But don't you want to stay in the capital?"
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly: "But aren't you about to set off?"
At this time, the team in front started to move, and she made room for an empty seat. Zhang Jingxuan bowed and got into the carriage. Only then did she see that he had even brought his luggage, so he was fully prepared.
The sudden, faint scent of pinewood was too strong to ignore. Xue Yuanyin then realized that Zhang Jingxuan would be staying in the same carriage with her for nearly a month. She belatedly said,
"You already knew what I wanted to do?"
Zhang Jingxuan was looking at the scenery passing slowly outside. Upon hearing this, he glanced at her and said calmly:
"Don't you just want to secretly escort the Marquis of Qing'an and see him leave the capital safely? Why don't you tell me the truth?"
Xue Yuanyin didn't expect him to see through her at a glance. She felt a little uncomfortable and asked, "You guessed it a long time ago?"
Zhang Jingxuan said calmly, "I won't take my anger out on you."
Xue Yuanyin remained silent, her hands tangled in the hem of her skirt.
Zhang Jingxuan sighed softly, took her hand, inserted his five fingers into hers, and said:
"I don't want you to go alone this time, so I postponed my appointment and will accompany you to see off Marquis Qing'an before returning."
Xue Yuanyin opened his mouth, but was speechless.
It turns out that Zhang Jingxuan already knew that I had secretly been to Sanhe Pass for a year?
She curled her fingers slightly, but Zhang Jingxuan held them tighter. She didn't want him to see that she was forcing herself, so she suppressed the dryness in her throat and said deliberately:
"Who wants you to accompany me? I'm Captain Xue, appointed personally by the Emperor! You have to bow when you see me!"
Zhang Jingxuan slightly curved the corners of his eyes, moved his fingertips, and her fingers also moved slightly, as if flirting, he said softly and gently:
"Yes, my Captain Xue."
Xue Yuanyin wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but her throat was blocked and she couldn't speak at all.
She had to admit that when she saw him really catching up with her, she was overwhelmed with a huge sense of surprise.
The loneliness and grievances of more than two years surged up like a tide at this moment, filling her heart. Her eyelashes and nose were sore, but she didn't want to appear weak in front of Zhang Jingxuan. She was holding back tears when Zhang Jingxuan suddenly sighed, opened his arms and hugged her, whispering:
"I'm sorry for making my Captain Xue wait for me for more than two years. Please forgive me."
The tears that Xue Yuanyin had held back with great difficulty burst out. He held her tightly in his arms, and she leaned on his shoulder, tears streaming down her face. She was choked with sobs and couldn't speak.
She felt Zhang Jingxuan's palm on her back, patting it soothingly. She clutched the hem of his shirt, trying to hold back her emotions, at least to hold back her tears, to get over this terrible look... But his comforting gesture was too gentle, and her tears fell harder and harder, and finally she simply buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed.
While crying, she thought that she looked so miserable now, so she better not raise her head, otherwise Zhang Jingxuan would definitely see her face full of tears and snot.
"You, you're just a bastard!"
Xue Yuanyin rarely lost control of her emotions. She sobbed and complained intermittently, "You touched my breasts, my waist, my buttocks and thighs, and finally took my body and walked away... You are the most irresponsible and heartless person in the whole capital!"
She heard him whisper in her ear: "I'm sorry, I won't do this again."
Xue Yuanyin cried silently without saying a word.
She didn't want his apology, she just wanted time to go back to three years ago, when he stood in front of A Shi Yanfeng, she should have stopped him in time.
This way she wouldn't have to spend the past two years living with endless regret.
Zhang Jingxuan let her lean on his shoulder, her tears soaking a piece of his clothes. After she finished scolding him and her crying subsided, he calmly lifted the car curtain and, taking advantage of her not being able to see, handed her a note.
Huaizhou, who had been following quietly outside, quickly caught the note, stopped, walked to the side of the road, opened the note and read it.
There are only four simple and straightforward words on it:
"Go back home and prepare for the wedding."
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