Chapter 31 031 His breathing grew increasingly heavy
Time flies, and night is falling.
The long street was already brightly lit, a bustling and prosperous scene.
Gu Qinghe suddenly took out an exquisite brocade box from his bosom, placed it in front of Lin Wan, and said with a smile, "My younger sister happened to come over today. She mentioned that she liked the gifts you picked out last time, and asked me to give you this small gift in return. I hope you will accept it, Miss Lin."
Upon hearing this, Lin Wan recalled the time she helped choose a gift. She gently opened the brocade box, and what came into view was a pearl bracelet with round and smooth pearls. It was small and exquisite, and felt cool and comfortable on her wrist. She smiled and said, "This bracelet is very nice. Please ask Mr. Gu to thank her for me."
As night deepened, Lin Wan also planned to return home. Although she remembered that she was supposed to keep an eye on Xie Huaiyuan as he came out of the brothel, she had something more on her mind. Before leaving, she said to Gu Qinghe again, "If Young Master Gu is on the mission of suppressing bandits in Licheng, would you be able to inform me of the progress of the case?"
"Miss Lin, are you also so concerned about this case? Could it be that you know someone involved in it?"
Lin Wan's eyes flickered slightly, and the smile in her eyes faded a little: "No, but this matter caused quite a stir back then. I've heard a little about it, and I'm just curious about it now."
“Alright,” Gu Qinghe didn’t ask any more questions, but said firmly, “If His Majesty really puts me in charge of the bandit suppression case in Licheng, I will definitely tell you everything I know, Miss Lin, please rest assured.”
At this moment, Shi Liu hurried over, slightly out of breath, and whispered in Lin Wan's ear, "Miss, the young master's carriage is waiting for you in front of the teahouse."
"What?"
Lin Wan looked up and saw a carriage waiting outside the teahouse. Although the exterior was not decorated, the workmanship and materials of the carriage were excellent, and the understated body exuded nobility.
It really was Xie Huaiyuan's carriage!
Lin Wan was filled with shock, but she still walked towards the carriage.
Inside the teahouse, Gu Qinghe opened his eyes. He recognized it as Xie Huaiyuan's carriage, and even Cui Yi beside him seemed to recognize it.
Cui Yi tentatively asked, "Could it be that the woman Brother Gu mentioned, whom he is so fond of, happens to have a close relationship with the Crown Prince?"
Gu Qinghe stared intently, his hand, hidden in his sleeve, clenched tightly, then slowly loosened again, and he sneered, "We just happen to know each other, how can you say we have a close relationship?"
"However, Princess Zhaoyang will be returning to the capital soon. If she finds out that someone has taken the opportunity to curry favor with the prince, things will probably get out of hand again. You... that Miss Lin will probably be put in a difficult position by Princess Zhaoyang."
"That's probably not the case."
He interrupted her directly, not giving Cui Yi a chance to continue.
Before he entered the capital, he had already heard about the entanglement between the Crown Prince and Princess Zhaoyi. To be precise, it was about how Princess Zhaoyi was harassing the Crown Prince. If it weren't for the fact that the Emperor did not listen to Princess Zhaoyi's wishes, the choice of the consort would probably have been decided long ago.
In the flickering lamplight, Lin Wan stopped in front of the carriage. Instead of getting on immediately, she tentatively asked, "Young Master?"
She had many doubts. She clearly hadn't seen this person come out of the brothel, so why was he now inviting her to ride in his carriage?
And he even knew that he was in the teahouse at that moment.
Lin Wan suddenly realized that he might have known all along that she was spying on his whereabouts.
"Get in the car."
Lin Wan had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree. She used Shi Liu's wrist for leverage and entered the carriage. When the curtain was lifted, a familiar cool scent wafted out. However, tonight, there was a faint hint of alcohol in the scent. Had he been drinking?
Lin Wan looked at Xie Huaiyuan, who was leaning against the soft cushion in the carriage, but closed her eyes and didn't look at her.
After Lin Wan sat down in the carriage, the space inside became considerably smaller. This wasn't the first time the two had ridden in the same carriage. She looked around carefully and whispered, "How did the young master happen to know I was here tonight?"
"Su Furong sent someone looking for you, and I happened to run into them, so I took you back with me." Xie Huaiyuan suddenly opened his eyes, his dark eyes flashing with coldness. "Could it be that Miss Lin, you're hoping Gu Qinghe will send you back?"
"How could that be? I am truly delighted to have you personally escort me back, Your Highness." Lin Wan couldn't help but chuckle. She had originally intended to stake out Xie Huaiyuan's movements in and out of the brothel, but unexpectedly, she was caught by him instead.
"What's there to be happy about?" Xie Huaiyuan stared at her for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the pearl bracelet on Lin Wan's wrist. His voice was slightly cold. "This pearl bracelet doesn't suit you."
She lowered her eyes to look at the pearl bracelet she was wearing. She was about to explain, but the words she said changed her mind and she said, "I don't think so. I just like pearl bracelets. They're so pretty."
"Gu Qinghe gave it to you?"
Lin Wan casually replied, "So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?"
She thought about how she had spent most of the day in the teahouse waiting for him to come out of the brothel, and now she felt that her behavior was increasingly ridiculous.
My own wishful thinking seemed so ridiculous and went unnoticed.
Xie Huaiyuan said coldly, "Gu Qinghe is not as simple as he seems. You should not associate with him too much."
Lin Wan thought for a moment, then looked directly at him with her eyes raised, and asked in return, "If I don't associate with Gu Qinghe, then who should I associate with, Your Highness?"
At this moment, Xie Huaiyuan opened his eyes and looked over with an extremely serious expression. Even his posture while leaning back on the cushion was upright and spotless, like the cold moon in the night sky.
Perhaps because the room was cramped, when he shifted his position slightly, Lin Wan immediately smelled not only the scent of wine on him, but also a very faint scent of perfume mixed in. This was something she had never smelled before. A hint of displeasure flashed in Lin Wan's eyes. For the first time, she felt a little curious about why he would appear in such a place of pleasure. He should have been such an upright person, yet he had inevitably become tainted by such things.
What kind of stunningly beautiful woman could get close to him and make him smell of perfume?
Lin Wan followed his gaze, but the sudden scent of perfume made her voice turn cold. She said indifferently, "It's just a pearl bracelet. What does it have to do with what kind of person Gu Qinghe is? Getting to know someone doesn't mean you have to think about their background. Besides, Gu Qinghe is from my aunt's family, and his character is praised by my aunt. I don't think there's anything wrong with him."
Seeing that she wouldn't listen to his advice and kept praising him, Xie Huaiyuan felt the effects of the alcohol he had drunk that night suddenly rise to his head. He said in a deep voice, "He's not someone you can fool so easily. Give me the bracelet."
"I won't." Lin Wan smiled deeply, her eyes glistening with tears, and retorted, "What bracelet I wear and who I associate with doesn't seem to concern you, Your Highness. Why do you have the right to tell me what to do? Do you need my permission to associate with whomever you want? Besides, why do you think I'm fooling others? Why don't you mention that you're fooling me?"
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Xie Huaiyuan suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, and in the blink of an eye, the bracelet slipped from her wrist and fell into his thick palm.
Lin Wan was completely taken aback, watching helplessly as the pearl bracelet that had been on her wrist was snatched away by him: "You...you're being unreasonable!"
After Xie Huaiyuan took off the bracelet, he released her hand and said coldly, "I will send someone to deliver an even better one to you tomorrow."
"But I don't want to, I insist on having this." Lin Wan reached out again, thinking of taking the bracelet back when he wasn't paying attention.
Just as she touched the bracelet that Xie Huaiyuan had taken, he didn't let go. In the struggle, with a "snap," the pearls fell and scattered all over the carriage, and the pearl bracelet was broken.
Lin Wan didn't react in time and lost her balance, falling straight into his arms. The cool fragrance instantly filled her nostrils.
Xie Huaiyuan was also surprised that she would suddenly lean over to take back the bracelet. After breaking the bracelet, she fell into his arms. With her soft fragrance in his arms, he was so distracted that he forgot to push her away in time.
The attendant driving the carriage, seeing the sudden commotion inside, worried that something might have happened and asked with concern, "Your Highness, is something amiss?"
Xie Huaiyuan emphasized in a deep voice: "No."
The attendant outside the carriage seemed somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this, but he didn't ask any further questions, and the carriage continued its journey.
Lin Wan fell into his arms, and hearing his forced composure in response, she couldn't help but want to laugh.
She sized up the young master before her, a man whose appearance was probably unknown to most. He was none of his usual dignified and polite demeanor, and was standing so intimately close to a woman. In the shifting lamplight, Lin Wan could clearly see the slightly reddened tips of his ears, and she found that this vibrant color extremely alluring, causing her heart to flutter for no reason.
He had already been knocked down and fallen onto the soft cushions inside the room, but he still insisted that there was nothing wrong with it. She really didn't expect that the dignified prince could lie without blushing at all. This suddenly gave her the urge to do something absurd, and she recalled that absurd time in the bookstore.
The carriage had barely started moving when the attendant knocked on the door again, hesitatingly saying, "Your Highness, the stone arch bridge back to the Su residence is broken. We can only take a detour now."
Lin Wan and Xie Huaiyuan exchanged a glance, neither of them mentioning the awkward situation they were in.
"Your Highness, shall we take a detour?"
The servant dared not forcefully lift the curtain, but asked again in a low voice.
"Hmm... let's take a detour."
"...Your Highness?"
"It's nothing... let's take a detour."
It's no wonder the servants outside the carriage were puzzled. This prince, who was always upright and polite, suddenly spoke in a slightly hoarse and trembling voice.
The carriage started gently, swayed slightly, turned around, and headed to another part of the street.
Shiliu, who was following outside the carriage, was no less shocked than that night. She noticed that the voice coming from the carriage was different from usual, and was very similar to the voice of the prince who seemed to be confused and infatuated that night.
Shi Liu had anticipated this. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the carriage. It had clearly shaken just now; could it be…?
Is the Crown Prince such a lustful person?
Inside the carriage.
Lin Wan collapsed into his arms, her head resting on his chest. The room was silent, the rapid beating of her heart deafening. Lin Wan looked up at him with her eyes brimming with autumn water and teased, "Your Highness, your heart is beating so fast."
As she spoke, her slender, white fingertips never stopped, gently caressing him as if playing a zither, slowly probing from her chest to his Adam's apple. Meeting his lowered gaze, she did not flinch, lightly tracing the movement of his Adam's apple.
"stand up."
Xie Huaiyuan was shocked by her audacity, and a surge of anger mixed with the effects of alcohol seeped into his heart, making it hard for him to breathe. He felt increasingly stuffy and hot in the carriage, and a faint urge to lose control began to rise within him. He tried his best to suppress his panting and said, "Let go."
But Lin Wan, having finally gotten close enough, wasn't about to let go easily. Instead of retreating, her fingers continued to move forward. Her hands, like those of a snake demon, slipped inside Xie Huaiyuan's collar while he wasn't looking, slowly hooking at his neck, as if about to slide further down. She wanted to vent all the frustration she had accumulated waiting for him today on this spot, and she was sure it would leave several red marks...
However, Lin Wan's thoughts were interrupted. He suddenly reached out and used all his strength to press down on the fingertips that were moving around inside her clothes, stopping Lin Wan's hand from continuing to tease her wantonly.
The streetlights shone through the curtains onto Xie Huaiyuan's gradually flushed cheeks. His eyes welled up with tears, and he was filled with shock and anger. His breathing became heavier and heavier: "Do you think it's fun to fool me?"
"Then why do you care who I associate with, Your Highness?" Lin Wan watched his expression change, then suddenly stopped, pulling her finger away from his. As she slowly sat up, the wicked smile in her eyes was blatantly obvious. "Your Highness, what right do you have to make demands of me! And why do you think I'm fooling you? Do you really think I'm so unimportant?"
Lin Wan watched his cheeks gradually flush red and felt his increasingly heavy breathing. As she sat up, her fingertips slid down to his waist, feeling his sudden stiffness.
Since everyone was saying she was fooling him, Lin Wan decided to make sure he actually was fooling her.
Taking advantage of Xie Huaiyuan's inattention, Lin Wan's slender, white fingertips lifted the hem of his shirt at his waist, slipping inside to touch his thick, taut abdomen. She caressed and teased him without restraint, tracing the lines of his waistline with each stroke, gently stroking and kneading...
The cramped carriage grew increasingly stuffy and scorching. Xie Huaiyuan's breathing became heavier and heavier, and his breath gradually became hotter than the skin beneath her fingertips.
Lin Wan stared straight at him. Wasn't she accused of fooling people? Well, she wanted to see if he would still be so calm and proper in this situation.
The soft, boneless fingertips slid across his waist and abdomen, slowly moving downwards, reaching the tightly bound waistband of his trousers, and gently hooking it up...
Xie Huaiyuan was completely flustered by her teasing, his usually cold eyes now filled with a dazed look. He restrained her fidgeting hands, firmly holding them in his palm, and his slightly hoarse voice squeezed out from his throat: "What exactly do you want to do!"
Lin Wan's fingertips curled up and stopped; her flailing hand was now immobilized.
However, she didn't stop there. Instead, she raised her other hand and moved it down the path...
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