Chapter 9 009 A tug, then closer
Chapter Nine
Lin Wan opened her eyes and looked at him. In the dim sunlight, her eyes were glistening with tears, and her slightly tipsy eyes were tinged with a faint haze, as if she were drunk but not quite.
The surroundings fell silent. Xie Huaiyuan stopped and finally looked up at the woman who was tugging at his sleeve.
The pair of eyes, like autumn water, peeking out from behind the snow-white veil, stared intently, adding to the ambiguity.
The people around, those who were about to go up or down the stairs, were all so frightened that they fell silent and stared in disbelief.
The expressions of the two people following Xie Huaiyuan became even more meaningful. No woman had ever dared to pull Xie Huaiyuan in public before. She dared to directly block him, and with her face veiled, she seemed rather strange. Since Xie Huaiyuan hadn't spoken, they didn't dare to step forward to stop her, in case it really was…
Xie Huaiyuan's eyes were dark, and his expression was inscrutable as he looked at the hand that was holding his sleeve. The slender, white fingertips were weak and powerless, but they were tightly gripping the sleeve. He gave it a slight tug, but he could not easily break free from the woman's fingers.
Lin Wan drank two cups of osmanthus wine. The two were close together, and the faint aroma of the osmanthus wine wafted from her body, wafting into Xie Huaiyuan's nose.
His eyes showed impatience, and he forcefully pulled out his sleeve, intending to leave.
However, this time, the woman grabbed his hand directly!
Lin Wan looked at him with utmost seriousness and asked softly, "...Young Master Lu, is that you?"
...
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Huaiyuan's face turned icy, and his narrow phoenix eyes grew colder and colder: "Miss, I don't think we know each other."
Don't you recognize me?
Lin Wan pursed her lips, loosened her grip, and looked up at him with disbelief and disappointment in her eyes.
Xie Huaiyuan glanced down at the veiled woman, then decisively pulled his fingers away from her slender fingers, his voice cold: "Please have some self-respect, young lady."
Then, without saying a word, he walked past her and went downstairs to leave.
While waiting at the main entrance on the first floor, Shen Rong saw Xie Huaiyuan walk out with an icy expression, followed by people with strange expressions and suspicious looks looking down the stairs.
With just a glance, she spotted three people following closely behind at the bottom of the stairs; it was Lin Wan and her group.
Shen Rongshi immediately recognized the veiled woman, a hint of surprise flashing across her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.
He hurriedly turned around and followed Xie Huaiyuan, got into the carriage waiting at the door, and left together.
Shen Rongshi had looked at Xie Huaiyuan repeatedly, seemingly wanting to speak but then stopping himself. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "The woman on the stairs just now... do you know her?"
Xie Huaiyuan slightly raised his eyes, a hint of indifference appearing in them, and curled the corner of his lips: "Don't know him. Is there something you need?"
After a moment of silence, Shen Rongshi swallowed the words she was about to say: "No."
-
In the scorching flames, the inn was engulfed by fire, and countless screams echoed through the sky.
Lost in her nightmare, Lin Wan stared at the familiar scene, her heart filled with urgency. She wanted to shout, but the thick smoke choked her, preventing her from making a sound. She wanted to rush forward and pull the people trapped by the flames...
That person was him.
Lu Liangyu!
But no matter what she did, she couldn't rush forward to save him.
We could only watch helplessly...
Lin Wan was awakened by pomegranates.
When she opened her eyes, it was already Chen Shi (7-9 AM). Sunlight streamed through the sycamore trees and into the room, filling it with warmth.
Before the curtain, Shiliu looked at her with worried eyes: "Miss, are you awake?"
Lin Wan concealed her pounding heart and remained in a daze for a long time.
The scene just now was exactly the same as the fire at the inn half a year ago. She escaped, but he, Lu Liangyu, did not. In the nightmare, he was engulfed by flames and disappeared without a trace.
Her mind was filled with those desperate and painful eyes, and before she knew it, her eyes stung and filled with tears.
Shi Liu frowned, gently lifted the hanging curtain, and asked with concern, "Did you have a nightmare, young lady?"
Shi Liu's words slowly brought her back to her senses. She looked around and realized that she was in her maternal grandmother's house in the capital, not in Bianzhou, Jiangnan, the city she had visited last year.
The effects of the alcohol slowly surfaced, her forehead throbbing more and more. She gently rubbed her temples, trying to recall what had happened yesterday. Gradually, fragmented memories surfaced in her mind, and her expression grew increasingly confused.
Lin Wan patted her forehead and sighed, "I had a nightmare. It seems I shouldn't drink alcohol next time."
She dreamed of Lu Liangyu again. Since the fire last year, she had dreamed of him many times on and off, but never of the scene of the burning inn. The helplessness of watching the fire engulf the inn, the despair of not being able to find him after the fire was extinguished, and the indescribable sadness welled up in her heart.
But yesterday, she saw a man, a young man who looked exactly like Lu Liangyu.
The man was dressed in expensive clothes, but unlike others, he could see and claimed not to recognize himself.
After thinking it over, Lin Wan found it ridiculous that she had actually seen someone who resembled Lu Liangyu when she was drunk.
She couldn't help but think that her behavior while drunk was quite strange.
Looking at Lin Wan's pale face, Shi Liu asked softly, "Miss, would you like some hangover soup?"
"Yes, my head is throbbing," Lin Wan got up, went to the inner room, and washed her face with cooled water to wake herself up from her hangover.
By the time Lin Wan sat down at the dressing table, Shi Liu had already placed the hangover soup on the table.
Lin Wan lowered her head and drank the hangover soup, then slowly asked, "How did I get back yesterday?"
She only vaguely remembered grabbing someone who looked exactly like Lu Liangyu, and then getting completely drunk and falling asleep on the carriage on the way back. She had no other memory of that.
After a long silence from Shiliu, I looked up and saw her with a strange expression and a troubled look on her face.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Shiliu: "Miss, the man you grabbed in public yesterday... is Xie Huaiyuan, the heir of the Xiangyang Prince's Mansion and the Imperial Censor of the current dynasty."
"ah???"
The one surnamed Xie? The Imperial Censor? The heir of the Prince of Xiangyang? ?
Every word here has nothing to do with Lu Liangyu. It seems she is really drunk, very drunk, and is randomly grabbing people and mistaking them for Lu Liangyu. I wonder if her aunt will be angry?
Lin Wan desperately wanted to turn back and knock out her own craving for more wine.
Look at the mess you've made.
Shiliu: "Madam Su just sent someone over, but you were still asleep at the time. She left a message for you to go to her after you wake up, saying that she has something to say."
...
Lin Wan was completely speechless, guessing that she must have lost her composure after drinking yesterday.
Shiliu carefully styled her hair and applied light makeup. Then, she opened a brocade box on the table, revealing a neatly folded veil inside, and asked, "Miss, which veil would you like to wear today?"
This box contains the items I bought with Lu Liangyu back then, but now...
She looked at the scar on her face in the mirror and said calmly, "No need for the veil anymore. Put the brocade box away. We haven't been out since we've been staying in the mansion, so we won't wear it. I remember we had a veil and hat prepared before, so take it out. We can use that when we go out from now on."
The Su residence was quite large. Lin Wan walked for quite a while in the sunlight before arriving at the Meng family's Youlan Garden.
Before even seeing the courtyard gate, one could faintly hear voices and laughter coming from inside.
It turned out to be Su Xuanhuai.
Meng smiled and said, "Lin Wan is here."
Looking up, Meng saw that Lin Wan was not wearing a veil. Without the cover of the snow-white veil, her beautiful appearance was revealed. Her fair and delicate face made the scars on her cheeks stand out even more. Meng paused for a moment and pulled her to sit down beside her.
“Xuanhuai went to the Imperial Medical Bureau and got a scar-removing and beautifying cream,” Meng said, moving a box on the table in front of Lin Wan. “Try it later and see if it works. I used to have scars on my arms, and I successfully removed them with this scar-removing and beautifying cream. It felt pretty good.”
Lin Wan accepted the gift, stood up, bowed, and said softly, "Thank you, cousin."
“No need for such formalities, cousin.” Su Xuanhuai looked at her face and said in a relaxed tone, “It’s just a small favor. If it can help, that’s fine.”
"Mother, I have other matters to attend to today, so I won't stay any longer. I've already retrieved the ointment, so I'll be leaving now."
"Hey, didn't you say today was a day off?"
"That was true, but now the young master has returned. He went to Jiangnan and took care of some business, but it involved a lot of accounts, so we need to reconcile them today."
Lin Wan heard that person's name again.
When I looked up at Su Xuanhuai, he had already quickly disappeared through the courtyard gate.
After watching Su Xuanhuai leave with a smile, Madam Meng gently asked her, "Does your head hurt today? Did you drink any hangover soup?"
Lin Wan hummed in agreement and said, "I drank it after I woke up, and my head doesn't hurt as much now."
Thinking back to yesterday's events, Lin Wan's mind raced, and she still hesitated before asking, "Yesterday... I drank too much and got drunk. I accidentally offended someone important. Will this implicate my uncle and aunt?"
Having lived in the capital for many years, Meng had seen countless women flocking to the Crown Prince to curry favor. However, as far as she knew, Lin Wan had never had any contact with the Crown Prince. The two were from different parts of the country, and perhaps she had simply mistaken him for someone else while drunk.
He said slowly, "How could that be? The young master is busy with official duties and is a person who does great things. How could he care about such small details?"
However… Madam Meng still tentatively asked, “Could it be that Lin Wan had seen him before?”
Lin Wan shook her head: "I am far away in Jiangnan, how could I have met the Crown Prince in the capital?"
"That's good. Don't think your aunt is being nosy. Many noble ladies in the capital are interested in the young master. He is someone unattainable. Besides, your uncle and cousin are both officials in the court, and their relationship with the young master is somewhat complicated," Meng said in detail.
Madam Meng looked at Lin Wan. There were many beauties in the capital, but none of them were as gentle and charming as Lin Wan, with a voluptuous figure. She had the kind of beauty that attracted attention and was loved. However, her only flaw was the scar on her cheek, which was particularly noticeable.
"Lin Wan understands, but she couldn't hold her liquor and drank too much."
She was not lying; she did not know the Crown Prince in the capital.
But if it were in Jiangnan...
For some reason, I suddenly felt uneasy, especially if I were in Jiangnan.
She recalled that more than one person had mentioned that the Crown Prince had traveled to Jiangnan for a period of time last year.
A thought was vaguely nagging at me.
After leaving the Meng family's courtyard, he quietly instructed Shiliu to inquire about Xie Huaiyuan, the heir apparent, in private.
In less than half a day, Shiliu returned.
"He did go to Jiangnan, but he disappeared for a month. Nobody knows where he went during that month."
"He is the heir of the Prince of Xiangyang's mansion, and his mother is the elder sister of the current emperor's most favored Consort Shu, a once famous and talented woman in the capital, Lu Zhenzhen."
"When he was the top scholar in the imperial examination, he rode a horse through the streets and amazed everyone. They all praised him, saying that Liang Yulang's beauty was unparalleled in the world."
Lu Zhenzhen.
Liang Yulang.
Lu, Liang, Yu!
A note from the author:
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