Chapter 39 039 An enticing aroma
The Prince of Xiangyang's residence is not peaceful tonight.
The princess remained frozen for a long time, looking at Xie Huaiyuan in front of her. Finally, she sighed, opened her mouth as if to say something more, but in the end, she didn't say anything.
He left behind the words: "Even if it wasn't Princess Zhaoyi, it couldn't possibly be her!"
After speaking, the princess turned around and, supported by her maid, walked out of the house, her figure gradually disappearing into the dark night.
Xie Huaiyuan did not try to persuade her to stay or make any further explanations, and watched the princess leave.
The gates of the Prince of Xiangyang's mansion suddenly opened and then closed again, and a carriage slowly traveled through the quiet street.
"Your Highness, where are you headed?"
Sitting in the carriage, Xie Huaiyuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Go to the house in Pear Blossom Lane."
The coachman was ordered to drive to the villa in Pear Blossom Lane on the outskirts of the city. He encountered almost no one on the street along the way. As curfew approached, he occasionally encountered the city guards on patrol, but they did not dare to stop his carriage.
As they passed the rear wall of the Su residence, Xie Huaiyuan had the driver stop the carriage. He lifted the curtain and looked out. The wall of the Su residence was almost hidden in the night, with the outlines of the houses inside layer upon layer, nestled among tall trees.
Lin Wan had already returned with Su Furong and the others before he returned to the manor. Perhaps, one of the places reflected in the dark night sky was her residence.
The carriage only stopped briefly before continuing into the pitch-black night.
Meanwhile, at the Su residence.
Lin Wan lifted her dress and stepped over the threshold of her maternal grandmother's courtyard.
When she returned earlier, she came to visit her maternal grandmother. In such a large city as the capital, the moment she returned, she suddenly longed to be nestled in the arms of her loved ones. She had had such a miserable time these past two days; even going to banquets in the palace, she was drugged. If she hadn't met him, the consequences would have been unimaginable...
Thinking about all this, Lin Wan felt a great sense of injustice and couldn't help but cry when she saw her grandmother.
As night fell, the Su residence gradually quieted down.
When Su Shaohua saw that she had returned safely, he comforted her. Meng Shi even hugged her and said she would stand up for her, but in the end Su Xuanhuai persuaded her to stay.
After all, she is a distant relative, so we should be more careful in everything we do. Now that she is temporarily staying at our residence, we should give her more consideration.
When the people in the courtyard learned that she had returned, they had prepared hot water for her bath in advance, so Lin Wan could wash up as soon as she returned to the courtyard and wash away all the bad luck.
Lin Wan was exhausted by this point and let Shi Liu remove her clothes.
Shiliu felt guilty for not being able to accompany her, which led to her suffering. She was already extremely remorseful, but when she was about to bathe and wipe Lin Wan's body, she easily sensed that something was wrong.
The delicate skin between her legs was noticeably flushed, a reminder of the marks still lingering on her underwear that she had just removed.
Not to mention the marks hidden under her clothes, Shiliu felt ashamed and angry, wishing she could tear the person responsible for the crime to pieces.
Lin Wan glanced at the dress she had changed out of and placed aside, her cheeks slightly flushed, but she didn't want to tell Shi Liu about what had happened to her, so she closed her eyes and refused to look.
But a moment later, Lin Wan suddenly opened her eyes, stood up from the bathtub with a splash, and rushed forward to carefully examine the clothes she had changed out of without bothering to dry herself.
The more I looked, the more anxious I became, but I couldn't find anything else even after searching through all the clothes.
Lin Wan: "Pomegranate, have you seen the purse I tied around my waist?"
Shiliu thought for a moment: "I haven't seen the purse, but you always carry that small floral purse with you?"
"Yes," Lin Wan said in a muffled voice, her hands still repeatedly turning over the dress, but she couldn't find it.
Gone?
Lin Wan was slightly stunned, her mind blank. She remembered that she had brought the floral pattern with her before leaving the house. Could it be that she left it at Hua Yisheng's Muyunxuan?
Perhaps it was the undisguised anxiety in Lin Wan's eyes that Shi Liu noticed.
Shiliu had seen this floral purse when she was tidying up before. Inside was a jade pendant, which she had been carrying with her since last year and cared about very much.
The autumn night was chilly. Shiliu barely suppressed her shock and hurriedly dried Lin Wan's body to prevent her from catching a cold.
After helping her put on her clothes, Shiliu replied, "Don't worry, it probably fell off when you were walking in a hurry. Let me look carefully when I turn back, and I'll definitely find it for you."
Lin Wan was still worried, so she decided to search carefully again herself. But even though she searched the Su residence countless times that night, she still couldn't find the missing floral purse.
Standing there in silence for a long time, Lin Wan realized that she had overlooked two crucial places. If it wasn't lost after returning to the Su residence, then it must be in Hua Yisheng's Muyun Pavilion. The worst-case scenario was that even that couldn't be found, so it was probably lost in the palace. That forbidden area of the palace was not something she could enter at will.
Because of this, she tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep.
The next day, Lin Wan went to Hua Yisheng's Muyunxuan early in the morning, but unexpectedly ran into Hua Yisheng, who was about to leave early, at the gate.
Hua Yisheng asked in surprise, "Miss Lin, you came so early, could it be that you are still feeling unwell?"
Lin Wan said, "I think I lost a floral purse here yesterday, so I came here to look for it."
Lin Wan had searched the room in Muyunxuan many times, but no matter how hard she looked, the purse had vanished without a trace.
Lin Wan faced the reality helplessly, never expecting that she would still lose it in the end, and smiled bitterly with her eyes down.
A few days later, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival.
Su Furong heard that Lin Wan hadn't left the house for several days, so she took advantage of the good weather to go and find her.
Just as I entered the courtyard, I saw Lin Wan under the sycamore tree, with Shi Liu standing beside her, bowing her head and serving tea.
"I heard my cousin hasn't left the house for several days, but is she still feeling unwell?"
Lin Wan paused slightly in her teacup, took a small sip of tea, and said, "It's just that people get lazy as autumn gets cooler."
Su Furong glanced at her but didn't ask any more questions. She smiled and said, "Cousin, you haven't been out in town for a long time, so you probably don't know how lively it is."
Lin Wan was feeling down because she had lost her purse and jade pendant, but she still mustered her spirits and asked, "Is there some kind of banquet being held near the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"It's not a banquet, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival!"
Lin Wan: "Wasn't this a banquet that was just held in the palace?"
“This Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival is different from the one in the palace,” Su Furong said with anticipation. “There is a street in the capital called Lantern Street, where lanterns are lit for half a month to welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival. Moreover, it is said that if lovers carry a pair of identical lanterns together on the night of the full moon, they will be loving and devoted to each other until they grow old together.”
Will we stroll hand in hand with lanterns, growing old together?
Lin Wan lowered her eyes slightly as she thought about it.
The tea in the teacup on the table wasn't anything special; she just tasted it anyway.
Not knowing exactly what was going on, upon hearing Su Furong's words, her fingertips lightly touched the teacup, but her thoughts drifted elsewhere...
"Tomorrow is a day off. I wonder if my brother, the young master, is free? Cousin, why don't you ask him? It would be fun to go to the lantern festival with more people."
Lin Wan paused slightly, even more surprised that Su Furong would suggest inviting Xie Huaiyuan to enjoy the lanterns together.
She didn't look up, but you could tell from her words that she was looking for an excuse to invite Xie Huaiyuan out.
He simply hummed in agreement, taking it as tacit consent to Su Furong's suggestion.
After saying this, Su Furong sent someone to the Prince of Xiangyang's residence, and the person returned quickly.
The prince replied that he was unavailable tomorrow and could not accept the invitation to visit the lantern festival.
Lin Wan nearly spilled the tea from her teacup. Although she was disappointed, she dared not show it.
After the messenger left, she paused, forced a faint smile, and said, "The young master has many things to attend to, and I'm afraid he can't leave either."
After the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet at the palace, and the loss of Xie Huaiyuan's jade pendant, Lin Wan was really unsure how to face him. Only when she heard that he was busy did she relax a little.
Su Furong did not suspect anything upon hearing this.
The next day, when the sun set, Su Furong still dragged her out to the street to admire the lanterns.
As dusk settles and the full moon hangs in the sky, the streets teem with people, young and old, all dressed in their finest attire. Couples stroll hand in hand, and amidst the dreamlike scene, all that comes into view are various kinds of lanterns.
Su Furong preferred to pull her into the crowd, claiming that she also needed to carry a lantern to mark the festival.
So, the two of them each chose a lantern. Su Furong carried a revolving lantern, while Lin Wan carried a moon-accompanying jade rabbit lantern.
Suddenly, a deafening sound of gongs and drums came from afar, followed by a surge of people pushing and shoving towards the sound. Lin Wan lost her footing and was separated from Su Furong by the crowd.
When they came to their senses, they had no idea where Su Furong was.
Then fireworks went off, bursting into bloom in the night sky and making the entire night sky colorful and exceptionally beautiful.
Unbeknownst to Lin Wan, she was walking forward with the crowd. When she came to her senses, she had already arrived at a stall of Western Region merchants selling strange goods.
A woman dressed in Western Region clothing greeted her with a smile, "Miss, would you like to take a look?"
The various strange bottles and jars of different sizes on the bustling stalls caught Lin Wan's eye. She spotted a small magnolia-carved brocade box in the corner of the stall, picked it up, and was immediately greeted by an enticing fragrance that made her want to see what was inside.
“Young lady, you have excellent taste. This is a unique aphrodisiac pill from our Western Regions,” the woman said, opening the brocade box. The exotic fragrance became even stronger. Inside the box were two delicate little pills neatly arranged. “Just one of these aphrodisiac pills is enough to make your lovemaking even more enjoyable.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Wan felt an unusual heat even while still holding the box. This was clearly a female eyebrow remedy! Startled, she hurriedly put the brocade box back and fled the stall in a panic.
As the crowd grew closer to the river, Lin Wan suddenly looked up and saw the stone arch bridge over the river in front of her. There stood Xie Huaiyuan, who had been making excuses about being busy, and a woman close beside him—Princess Zhaoyi!
So that's why he's always so busy!
Lin Wan felt really bad and didn't want to look at it anymore, so she turned around and walked back the way she came.
We passed by the Western Region Lady's stall again.
This time, she stopped in front of the stall, staring intently at the magnolia-carved brocade box. In the end, she bought it and held it tightly in her hand.
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