"So do you want to try it?"

The distance is a bit too close.

He Yan was startled at first, then dazed. When he crashed into the pool of autumn water, he felt his cheeks quickly getting hot. He wanted to retreat, but his shoulders were restrained, so he couldn't move. He could only raise his head from his arms and stammered in refusal: "...try what?"

"After seeing so much, don't you want to give it a try?" He raised his eyebrows, leaned closer, and his eyes fell on her lips, which shocked He Yan's heart to beat like a drum.

Compared to his bright and handsome appearance in his youth, the man's facial features are more refined and heroic, with a kind of cold and unrestrained. This kind of person is like a flower on a mountain range when he is usually quiet and indifferent, but when he curls his lips lazily and even his eyes become hot, he feels so tempting and irresistible.

He Yan said: "I don't want to."

"Oh?" He curled his lips and chuckled, his tone becoming more dangerous, "How do you know how good the painting is if you don't try it?"

"This... you don't have to try it," He Yan explained awkwardly, "In fact, you will understand it the more you look at it, it's the same thing. It's just a difference in details... and some of them are not suitable for ordinary people. They are all drawn for gimmicks and fun. There is really no need to try, just read it."

Xiao Jue: "Looking for fun?"

He Yan: "...some people may just be eager to learn."

Xiao Jue's eyebrows turned cold, and his smile became more playful. He said calmly: "Since you are so experienced, I must give it a try." He got closer and closer, forcing He Yan to retreat to the head of the bed. With no place to retreat, he tilted his head slightly and moved closer. His thin lips were about to fall on the corner of He Yan's lips.

He Yan screamed: "Husband!"

The shout of "husband" was so loud that it startled Xiao Jue. After a moment, he stopped, only a little distance away from He Yan, and raised his eyebrows: "What are you doing?"

"I'm still an unmarried girl," He Yan pleaded in a low voice, "I'll have to get married in the future, and it's not good for us to be like this."

"What's wrong with that?" Xiao Jue said calmly, "Anyway, you and I have already looked at the pictures together."

"Looking at the map is one thing, but actually doing it is another." He Yan begged, "The governor has forgiven me this time. I will never dare to ask the governor to look at the map with me again."

She thought, Xiao Jue's mind is really hard to figure out. He's just looking at a picture, but he's going to make it real? Who would dare to look at pictures with him in the future? Something bad will happen.

Xiao Jue looked at her with a half-smile: "Are you scared now?"

"I'm scared, I'm scared," He Yan said obediently, "I promise I will never ask the governor to look at pictures again."

"You mean," he said slowly, "you'll look for someone else?"

"I won't look for anyone else!" He Yan immediately said, "I won't look for myself either, really!"

Her grape-like pupils stared at him, clear and bright, as cautious as if she was a student caught by the teacher. Xiao Jue suddenly felt puzzled and felt that his behavior was incredible. What does He Yan like to watch have to do with him? Just because she called him dad, he had to worry about every detail like raising a daughter?

But then again, how did her father raise his daughter to produce such a weirdo who has no idea of ​​shame?

He suddenly released his hand that was pressing on He Yan and glanced at the painting on the wall. It was hard to believe that Cui Yuezhi had thought of all the interesting things that happened to his nephew overnight, but it was not really useful. He casually pulled the satin on the table to cover the painting on the wall, and then "whoosh" two silver needles were inserted into the wall to nail the satin firmly.

At this point, He Yan finally understood that Xiao Jue hated seeing this picture. Come to think of it, it made sense. The Second Young Master Xiao was a man of pure character and high standards. Such a dirty picture would surely pollute his eyes.

Really particular.

After he had done all this, he stood up and walked to one side of the room, found a mattress from a low yellow wooden cabinet, and spread it on the couch in front of the window.

The soft couch is for guests to sit in front of the window and enjoy the beautiful scenery outside, eat snacks and drink tea. Seeing this, He Yan was stunned for a moment and asked him: "Commander, are you sleeping here tonight?"

"otherwise?"

He Yan hesitated for a moment: "Actually, you can come up to the bed and sleep together."

Xiao Jue paused in tidying up the bed, looked at her, and said coldly: "I think you are very courageous."

"No, I know what you are worried about," He Yan said, "We only need to use two mattresses. When I was in Liangzhou before, I also lived in a big shop, and it was no big deal for more than ten people to sleep on one bed. Besides, I believe in the character of the governor, and he will not tarnish my reputation."

Xiao Jue sneered, "But I don't trust your character. I'm afraid you'll tarnish my reputation."

He Yan: “…”

She couldn't accept this.

After she saw Xiao Jue tidy up the bed, she lay down. After thinking for a while, she blew out the light and lay down too.

The only light in the room was a little moonlight from outside the window, shining through the gaps onto the floor in front of the table, casting a layer of silver frost on it.

When they were young in Xianchang Hall, they shared a room with two people, and they were quite far apart. Because He Yuanliang had specially informed the teacher, He Yan slept alone in a room.

Now that I am in the same room with Xiao Jue, some of the past memories come back to me.

She lay flat on her back, the mattress beneath her was soft and warm. He Yan asked, "Are you asleep?"

Xiao Jue didn't answer.

He Yan continued to talk to himself, "He should not be asleep yet, Master... let's talk."

Xiao Jue still ignored her.

"Why are we in Jiyang?"

She only knew that Lai Jiyang was accompanying Xiao Jue to do some work, but she didn't know what exactly he was doing.

In the dark night, Xiao Jue's voice came: "Looking for someone."

He Yan was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Xiao Jue to answer, so he asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Chai Anxi."

"Who is Chai Anxi?"

There was silence in the room for a while, and then Xiao Jue said, "My father's men."

Xiao Zhongwu's subordinates? He Yan was stunned. In the Mingshui battle, all of Xiao Zhongwu's closest confidants died in the battle. If he said he was a subordinate, judging from Xiao Jue's tone, he must be someone he trusted very much. Could this person still be alive and in Jiyang?

Jiyang was a vassal state, and few people from the Central Plains came here. Even if they did, they were just passing through and could not stay for long. Chai Anxi seemed to be hiding from someone in Jiyang. Could it be that he was hiding from Xiao Jue? But why would he hide from Xiao Jue? Xiao Jue was Xiao Zhongwu's son, and he should be loyal to him.

Perhaps the minds of generals are always particularly sensitive in this regard. He Yan immediately thought, could there be something wrong with Xiao Zhongwu's defeat and death that year?

After all, Xiao Zhongwu's defeat in the Mingshui battle was too tragic. People said that he was stubborn and self-righteous, and missed the opportunity to fight. However, looking at Xiao Zhongwu's past achievements, he was not a stubborn and self-righteous person.

Maybe... Xiao Jue came here just to talk about what happened back then. Everyone who knew about it is gone, but Chai Anxi is still alive, which is indeed suspicious.

He Yan thought about it and said, "We will definitely find this person."

In the darkness, I seemed to hear him chuckle. He asked, "Why did you come to Jiyang?"

"Me?" He Yan was puzzled. "Didn't you ask me to come?"

Xiao Jue snorted, "Even if I don't let you come, you will find a way to catch up, right?"

He Yan's heart skipped a beat. This person's perception was a little too sensitive. She really had other intentions and hoped to find Liu Buwang in Jiyang.

But she would never say this to Xiao Jue.

"You are too suspicious," He Yan said nonsense, "I came here purely because of you this time. As long as you need me, I will do anything for you, even if it means going through fire and water."

The other end was silent for a moment, then said, "Flattery."

He Yan: "Besides flattery, what else can you say?"

"Big words deceive people."

"What else?"

"The mouth fell from the ceiling."

"What else?"

"It is a lie."

He Yan: “…”

She said, "Young Master, do you know that you are really childish now?"

Xiao Jue: "Sleep."

Ignore her no more.

It was still chilly in the spring night. He Yan didn't know why, but maybe because someone was by his side tonight, he didn't feel cold. He happily crawled into the quilt. The mattress was warm, and he fell asleep in a moment.

…

The next day, when He Yan woke up, Xiao Jue was no longer in the room.

She was stunned for a moment, and she estimated that it was only a short while after dawn. Xiao Jue actually got up earlier than her? He Yan stood up, washed up quickly, and put on a coat. At a glance, she saw Xiao Jue sitting on a stone bench in the yard. A dirty wild cat was lying on the stone table in front of him, eating something in his hand in small bites.

He Yan walked closer and saw that he had brought a plate of cakes from somewhere and was pinching them into small pieces to feed the wild cat in front of him. When the wild cat saw someone coming, its fur stood up. It seemed that it had rolled through some pond and its fur was stained with dirty water, clumping into pieces.

"Why is there a cat here?" He Yan asked, and wanted to touch it. The cat immediately bared its teeth. He Yan retracted his hand and said, "It's quite fierce."

Xiao Jue glanced at her and said, "I picked it up."

The young man had slender fingertips and was extremely patient as he broke the cake into pieces bit by bit. The cat was probably also a looker, as it treated Xiao Jue very gently, calling "Mimi" softly while he ate.

Not to mention, it looks pretty.

He Yan couldn't help but ask, "Master, don't you love cleanliness the most?" Oh, he was so disgusted when he was with her, and would even pull his sleeves to brush off the dust. How come he became so generous with a dirty wild cat?

"It depends on the situation." Xiao Jue said slowly.

He Yan thought, what does it mean to be circumstantial? Does it mean that she is worse than a cat?

Just as he was thinking about it, Xiao Jue had already fed the last piece of meat and patted the cat on the head. The cat was also smart. It arched its body, jumped onto the wall, and disappeared in a flash.

He Yan was stunned.

At this time, Cui Jiao's voice rang out from outside: "Master, Madam, breakfast has been delivered from the small kitchen."

He Yan felt hungry: "Let's go and eat something."

Xiao Jue washed his hands and followed He Yan into the house. He was watching Lin Shuanghe taking the silver needles out of the food and said, "Eat it. I've tried it and it's not poisonous." He then sighed in a low voice, "The difference between people is so huge. Why can't we eat such rich food?"

Now that he was the "Lin Steward", he could not eat with Xiao Jue and He Yan, but had to eat with Chi Wu Fei Nu. He was not even allowed to take a bite, so as to avoid being noticed.

Xiao Jue: "Get lost."

Lin Shuanghe rolled away.

Hong Qiao stood behind He Yan, and He Yan waved his hand: "You guys should go and have dinner with Chi Wu and the others. The young master and I don't like to be served, so I'll take care of the serving of food."

Cuijiao and Hongqiao were stunned, then looked at Xiaojue. Seeing that Xiaojue didn't say anything, Cuijiao said, "I understand." Then she took Hongqiao and left.

When they got out of the door, Hong Qiao asked hesitantly, "Cui Jiao, is it not good for us to leave like this? Why don't the young mistress and the young master usually want us to serve them? Are they dissatisfied with us?"

"Not really," Cui Jiao was clever, and said, "Maybe people from the capital are different from those in Jiyang. Besides, I heard that the young mistress and the young master were newly married not long ago, so she probably wants to serve the young master herself. This is called... this is called interest."

At this time, the young mistress, who was said to be "personally serving" the young master at mealtime, was eating a plum blossom bun with gusto.

The last time I ate so well was when I pretended to be Xiao Jue's nephew and went to Liangzhou City. But the food at that time was just a signature dish in the inn. This time was different. Cui Yuezhi had a high status in Jiyang, and he was a nephew whom he hadn't seen for a long time, so he treated him with extra care. Look at what's on the table early in the morning: assorted fire-baked dishes, Xishi breast milk, pheasant slice soup, fish maw stewed ham, bird's nest chicken soup...

"This morning's meal is a bit too greasy." He Yan said as he took a bite of the eight-treasure wild duck.

Xiao Jue tried to hold back, but finally couldn't help it and said, "Did I not feed you enough?"

He Yan's mouth was bulging: "Ah?"

He looked away in disgust: "You eat like a starving ghost."

"But don't you think it's delicious?" He Yan tried desperately to swallow the food in his mouth.

Xiao Jue mocked, "Is this all your vision?"

"You are a prince and a governor, you have been pampered and have seen the world, so you think it's nothing. We are just soldiers, we are lucky to have enough to eat on weekdays, not to mention eating well." He Yan muttered, "You are a full man who doesn't know the hunger of a hungry man."

He choked, gave up trying to reason with He Yan, and said lazily, "It's up to you."

He Yan ate while looking at Xiao Jue, in his heart he was amazed at his elegant eating manner. It stands to reason that those who have been in the military camp for many years, no matter if they were young masters or young masters before, would not care about these details in the end. When He Yan was the "He Dagongzi", he did pay attention to his manners, but when the battle really started, he would finish a cake in three or two bites and then get up to work. Who would care about their manners?

He Yan didn't believe that Xiao Jue had never done this before, but after going through such a mess, he could seamlessly return to being the second son of Xiao. This was something that not everyone could do. At least she had long forgotten how to be a "sir".

After dinner, Cui Jiao and Hong Qiao came over to help He Yan dress up. Cui Yuezhi was going to hold a banquet in his mansion at noon today, and he also invited famous nobles in Jiyang City, just to make Xiao Jue proud. So he couldn't be careless.

Xiao Jue went out to look for Lin Shuanghe. He Yan sat in front of the dressing mirror. Hong Qiao took out the "Mermaid Silk Gauze" from the box and asked He Yan, "Madam, will you wear this today?"

He Yan thought about it for a while. There were many people coming today, so it would be safer to wear the most expensive one. He nodded and said, "Okay."

The two girls started to get busy.

He Yan was usually the one who was most impatient to do these things. Sometimes she even felt that it was much more tiring for women to do these delicate tasks than for men. Just combing her hair, putting on makeup, choosing jewelry and shoes, and even tucking her hair into a cute shape was not an easy task. While combing her hair, she fell asleep.

He Yan was woken up by Hong Qiao, who asked, "Madam?"

He Yan opened his eyes and asked dazedly, "Alright?"

"Okay." Cui Jiao smiled, with amazement in her eyes, "Madam, you are so beautiful."

He Yan: "Thank you."

She looked up at herself in the mirror and was stunned for a moment. Her previous female clothing was still elegant and simple, but this "mermaid silk gauze" was charming and gorgeous. Cui Jiao and Hong Qiao must have put a lot of effort today, and they didn't want to make any mistakes even on their makeup. He Yan looked at the unfamiliar self in the mirror and was slightly absent-minded.

Now, she doesn’t even look like the real Miss He.

Cui Jiao smiled and pushed the door open, saying, "Young Master is next door. I will ask him to come over and take a look."

He Yan: "No..."

Before she finished saying the word "must", Cui Jiao went out happily.

He Yan stood up and suddenly hesitated. She was still thinking about how to face Xiao Jue in a more natural way, when she heard someone's nonchalant voice behind her: "Alright?"

He Yan looked back.

The girl didn't know what she was thinking. There was a little confusion in her clear pupils, which made her expression a little hazy. She was born beautiful and charming. The heroic spirit between her eyebrows was deliberately concealed by makeup, which made her look purely moving. Her face was pretty, and her black hair was simply tied up and hung on her shoulders. She looked thin and petite, and was outlined by the pale white embroidered skirt. The skirt hid a very light dark pattern. When the sunlight shone through, it looked like mermaid scales, with a faint blue, purple and gold powder. She was surrounded by a layer of gorgeous colors, as if she was a legendary mermaid who had just climbed onto the shore and had just arrived in the world.

Xiao Jue's eyes paused slightly.

Lin Shuanghe's voice came from behind: "I want to see what it looks like to wear a dress worth one hundred gold coins. Let me see, let me see!"

His noise disappeared instantly when he looked at He Yan, and only surprise remained in his eyes.

Chiwu and Feinu who came over soon also saw it. Feinu was fine, but Chiwu seemed to have suffered a huge shock. This guy... How could he be so beautiful even in women's clothing?

You can't tell it's a man at all, it's so scary!

He Yan was at a loss as to what to do when being stared at by them. He felt as if he had become a monkey on the stage for everyone to watch. He tugged at the corner of his clothes and said pitifully, "...isn't it... a bit too much?"

Isn't it just a banquet? Why dress up like this? Isn't it too grand?

It would have been fine if she didn't make that expression. But once she did, her brows seemed to be half-knitted, and she looked pitiful. Xiao Jue couldn't explain it, and said, "...Don't talk with that expression."

"But, but!" Lin Shuanghe was excited. "That's great, just right! This one hundred gold dress is really one hundred gold dress, it's really extraordinary, the money is worth it!"

Cui Jiao was delighted: "Isn't that right, Madam? I told you it's really beautiful!"

When He Yan was a man, he was often praised for being "mighty and brave, handsome and handsome", but he had never experienced being praised for his appearance as a woman. He felt a little shy and didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he cupped his hands and said loudly, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."

Xiao Jue: “…”

Lin Shuanghe: “…”

The rest: “…”

Lin Shuanghe said: "...She is beautiful, but Madam, sometimes you don't have to be too generous."

Xiao Jue sneered: "You'd better speak with the same expression as before, otherwise I might forget that you are a woman."

He Yan: “…”

Okay, I got carried away for a moment.

…

At noon, the Cui Mansion became bustling with activity.

Carriages kept stopping at the gate of Cui's mansion, and ladies, young ladies, gentlemen and masters came in one after another.

Jiyang is a vassal state. The current princess Mu Hongjin grew up with Cui Yuezhi, who is Mu Hongjin's confidant and also a senior cavalryman in Jiyang. Everyone has to give him face. When they heard that Cui Yuezhi had found his long-lost nephew and specially held a banquet for his return, everyone wanted to take a look.

The Cui Mansion is very large, with a lake behind it. Jiyang has a lot of water, and the water is gentle. There is a long pavilion in the middle of the lake. Today's banquet will be held in the pavilion.

In the pavilion, servants had prepared a few long and short tables early in the morning. The banquet was rich, and some distinguished guests had already sat down. The host, Cui Yuezhi, had not yet left the palace, and he had no wife, only four concubines, so the only one who helped to entertain the guests was the old butler Zhong Fu.

Next to a woman on the right side of the pavilion sat a girl in pink. She was pretty and charming, with a slightly dark complexion. She had put on more makeup, which made her look less wild and more gloomy and old. She had a hint of impatience between her brows and asked, "It's already this late, why haven't Mr. Qiao and his wife arrived yet?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?" The woman beside her, probably her mother, smiled and consoled her. "Hasn't the banquet started yet? Besides, Master Cui hasn't arrived yet, so how can Master Qiao show up first? Min'er is hungry, isn't she?"

Yan Min'er, the pink-dressed girl, frowned and said, "I'm not hungry. It's natural for us to wait for Cui Zhongqi. But I heard that Cui Zhongqi's nephew was adopted by a merchant after he was stranded outside Jiyang City. Now he is just a merchant. How can a merchant who stinks of copper deserve our waiting? Do you really think you are a big shot?"

After all, the nobles in Jiyang all knew that Qiao Xinqing was a businessman. Although they came to the banquet today, it was also for Cui Yuezhi's sake. They looked down on Qiao Xinqing privately. They just wouldn't say it out loud like Yan Min'er did.

"Hmph..." Madam Yan quickly covered her mouth, "Don't talk nonsense. After all, he is still the nephew of Master Cui. I think he spoiled you too much, which is why you are so lawless. Didn't you see that Master Cui held a banquet today to welcome this Master Qiao? If you say that Master Qiao is not good, wouldn't Master Cui be happy?"

"So what?" Yan Min'er said disdainfully, "Lord Cui and my father are friends, and he won't blame me."

"You." Mrs. Yan wanted to stop her daughter from speaking without restraint, but she couldn't bear to really scold her.

Yan Min'er's beautiful eyes turned, and after thinking for a while, she said disapprovingly: "I think, maybe he has never seen a big scene before, and he is hiding somewhere and dare not come out, waiting for Cui Zhongqi to come and help lead the way."