Chapter 26.026 The Seductive Tactics of Reluctance and Welcome
Xie Huaiyuan lowered his eyelids and looked at the bright red skirt that was soaked through. Drops of water slowly slid down and fell to the floor, leaving marks.
As luck would have it, he had no intention of attending the banquet at the Prince of Ruyang's residence. Although he and the young marquis were not particularly close before the young marquis left the capital for the border, they were merely acquaintances.
However, because the emperor had instructed him to attend the banquet during court, he originally planned to just show his face at the banquet. But just now, he heard a maid whispering in the front hall asking if anyone had seen Miss Lin from the Su family.
There aren't many Su families in the capital, so it must be referring to the Su family of the teacher. They're actually looking for Lin Wan.
He caught a glimpse of the maidservant searching for someone in the front hall without success, and she hurriedly left. Before she could even leave the front hall, the young marquis approached her. After all, they had known each other before, and they left the front hall together, taking the same route that the maidservant had taken.
He thought that the people from the Su family had gotten separated from Lin Wan at the Ruyang Prince's Mansion, so he sent people to look for her. He never expected that the person looking for her was Princess Li.
We arrived at the lake almost one after the other.
To his surprise, he found that both Lin Wan and Princess Li had wet clothes.
Xie Huaiyuan frowned almost imperceptibly when he saw the vibrant red. Suddenly, a memory flashed in his eyes of that night when those red lips unexpectedly pressed against his, soft, moist, and possessing an indescribable, alluring ambiguity.
Then she saw the fair fingertips pinching the wet hem of her skirt, slightly bent, the slender and delicate skin damp with water. The way she pinched the hem of her skirt made it seem even more like the hand that had suddenly hooked around her neck that night. Like a fairy or enchantress from a storybook, her slender and white hand embraced the person who came, lingering and reluctant to let go.
For a moment, everything froze. Xie Huaiyuan snapped back to his senses, his brows furrowing even more deeply.
Upon receiving the order, the servant assumed it was due to his own negligence and hurriedly handed the clean handkerchief back to Lin Wan.
"Miss Lin, please wipe it with a handkerchief."
The people in the corridor included many noble ladies from prominent families in the capital. Although they were not familiar with Lin Wan, they paid close attention to Xie Huaiyuan's every word. In the past, anyone who could exchange a single word with Xie Huaiyuan would be the envy of others for a long time.
Lin Wan's reaction was unexpected; she did not readily accept the handkerchief as the onlookers had hoped.
Lin Wan smiled calmly: "Thank you for the handkerchief, Your Highness, but it's not necessary."
She not only publicly refused Xie Huaiyuan's handkerchief, but Princess Li, who was standing to the side holding the handkerchief and looking very happy and shy, was quite surprised.
Upon hearing the response, Xie Huaiyuan looked up and met a pair of eyes brimming with autumn water.
Lin Wan stared intently at him, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of anger and resentment.
Xie Huaiyuan's eyes suddenly darkened, and he pursed his thin lips, saying, "Since you don't need a handkerchief, then I won't force you. Young Marquis, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. Let's meet again another day."
Princess Li wanted to persuade him to stay, as this was a rare opportunity. However, she did not expect Xie Huaiyuan to leave so soon. She clutched her handkerchief tightly and said goodbye with great reluctance.
After saying that, he ignored everyone's reaction and strode away.
Before long, the young marquis followed closely behind and left.
"Brother Crown Prince..."
Princess Li stared at Lin Wan with resentment in her eyes, the handkerchief in her hand already crumpled beyond recognition.
The gentle and refined Xie Huaiyuan has left, and the lakeside corridor has returned to its former silence.
Lin Wan's skirt was wet and stuck to her legs, making her extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to go back and change her clothes as soon as possible.
Princess Li gestured to both sides, and the noble ladies who were with her surrounded them, completely blocking Lin Wan and the others' way out of the corridor.
Su Furong asked, puzzled, "Princess, what do you mean by this?"
Princess Li glanced at them and said calmly, "It means you're not allowed to leave."
"I heard about it at the Peach Blossom Banquet last time. Miss Lin is quite capable; she even managed to get the young master to stay with you in the peach grove."
"Looking at her innocent appearance, I never expected her to be so unrestrained, flirting with the prince in public."
"Hmph, she really is like a seductive vixen."
The noble ladies who had blocked the road were all criticizing Lin Wan, seemingly saying a lot of vicious things. They practically portrayed Lin Wan as less polite than a courtesan, and even described her earlier refusal to accept the handkerchief Xie Huaiyuan had sent as a seductive trick of feigned reluctance, something utterly unseemly.
"Fortunately, the young master is of noble character and disdains such flirtatious behavior as you. If it were someone else, you would probably have been reprimanded long ago."
"Yes, do you think you can covet the Crown Prince? Don't you even know your own status? How dare you dream of him?"
"You didn't see it, the young master's face was really frighteningly gloomy just now. Fortunately, the young master is a dignified gentleman and did not reprimand you to your face. If it were someone else, they would have humiliated themselves."
Su Furong, who was listening to these harsh words, became angrier and angrier. Even if Lin Wan really did seduce the prince as they said, no matter how she tried to win his heart, it was none of their business to condemn her.
Su Furong did not want Lin Wan to have any private dealings with Xie Huaiyuan, but she also did not give Princess Li a kind look. When she saw Lin Wan beside her with her eyes downcast and silent, she assumed that Lin Wan was hurt by the harsh words of condemnation and remained silent. Even the most gentle and polite person could not help but speak up at this moment.
She strode forward and questioned, "Instead of talking about others like this, is the princess herself innocent? Doesn't she also try her best to flirt?"
"Fine, Su Furong, I am a princess, how dare you disrespect me and question me!"
Princess Li turned to leave, but Su Furong suddenly grabbed her arm. An angry look appeared on Princess Li's face, and she forcefully shook her off. In the struggle, someone's foot was caught, and they all tripped and fell. In the chaos, Princess Li fell into the lake with a splash. Before she could recover from the shock, Su Furong, who was about to fall into the lake on her back, was suddenly pulled back by the person next to her. With a push, she threw the other person into the lake instead.
Seeing the sudden turn of events, several ladies nearby panicked and cried out for help, alerting the people in the banquet hall.
"Help...help me..."
Princess Li couldn't swim and thrashed about like a landlubber, splashing water everywhere. Lin Wan, who had also fallen into the water, wanted to pretend she couldn't swim either and thrashed around a bit, but her clothes, which looked thin, became surprisingly heavy once wet, pulling her towards the bottom of the lake.
As they sank and floated, it became extremely difficult for Lin Wan to save herself. She was hit several times by Princess Li, who was thrashing around beside her. The two of them were sinking into the dark lake bottom as their bright red dresses sank.
In the midst of the chaos, some old women who could swim rushed over and jumped into the water to rescue people. The old women first went to rescue Princess Li, and only after they had rescued the soaking wet Princess Li did they go down to rescue Lin Wan, who had already been submerged and could no longer be seen.
After choking on some water, Lin Wan finally got someone to pull her up and swim her to the shore.
Lin Wan was rescued and pushed ashore by the old woman. Breathing fresh air again, she opened her eyes and looked at the crowd of onlookers, hoping to see Xie Huaiyuan among them, but she couldn't find him. Only then did she realize that Xie Huaiyuan had left before she fell into the water.
Su Furong looked at Lin Wan, who was soaking wet, with mixed feelings. She knew in her heart that if Lin Wan hadn't reached out and pulled her back in time, she would have been the one who fell into the water.
When the Prince of Ruyang learned of this in the banquet hall, he hurriedly sent someone over to check, and many people came to the covered walkway.
After a brief moment of shock, Su Furong thankfully remembered to quickly step forward and steady Lin Wan. Lin Wan's dazed eyes were half-closed as she leaned against Su Furong. Her soft and weak appearance only made her seem more alluring to onlookers, and her voluptuous figure, which was partially revealed, stirred their hearts.
Fortunately, an old woman quickly brought over an outer garment, which promptly covered the two people who were soaking wet.
On a path by the lake, Xie Huaiyuan stood silently, gazing at the chaotic corridor. His gaze slowly and silently swept over Lin Wan, who had just fallen into the water. Her wet hair was disheveled, and her soaked clothes could not hide her voluptuous figure. Water droplets slid down her cheeks, past the collar that had been pulled open at some point, and into her fair and alluring neck. The soft, wet patch revealed an extremely vibrant color, making one's heart skip a beat.
Xie Huaiyuan suddenly felt a lump in his throat. His gaze lingered on that vibrant color for a moment, then he abruptly looked away, turned around, and strode away without looking back.
When Prince Ruyang learned that his Princess Li had caused Lin Wan to fall into the lake, he could no longer force her to stay there and hurriedly sent someone to take Lin Wan and the others back to his residence.
Su Furong stayed with Lin Wan until she said she was tired and needed to rest before leaving.
Before leaving, Su Furong looked at her with mixed feelings and finally uttered, "Thank you for today...".
Lin Wan smiled. After Su Furong left, she was so tired and exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep with her still damp hair.
In the middle of the night, Lin Wan developed a fever and started talking nonsense in a daze.
Su Furong reluctantly agreed to take care of Lin Wan, staying by her bedside all night. Her gaze was ambiguous as she looked at Lin Wan, who was burning up and delirious with illness, muttering Xie Huaiyuan's name repeatedly...
She wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep or rest that night.
At midnight, the moon rose above the willow branches.
In a courtyard of the Prince of Xiangyang's mansion, the lamps were lit again, and Green Bamboo, who was on night watch, quietly led the maids and servants to bring cool water to the room, change clothes, and remake the bedding.
After taking a bath and changing his clothes, Xie Huaiyuan stood by the bed with pursed lips, frowning as he stared at the brand-new bedding without saying a word, before turning and walking towards the study.
After adding candles to the study, Green Bamboo pondered for a moment, then went to the kitchen to make tea in the darkness, quietly placing the brewed tea on one side of the desk.
Feeling agitated and restless, Xie Huaiyuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then stopped.
This is not the tea we usually drink; it's a specially brewed, cooled tea meant to calm the mind and relieve internal heat.
He raised his eyes, his gloomy gaze fixed on Green Bamboo, who stood to the side with her eyes lowered. He downed his tea in one gulp and uttered a low, hoarse voice, barely waking, with a hint of desire: "Don't make wild guesses. Get out."
A note from the author:
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