I was overjoyed and hugged Xie Yuancheng's neck to kiss him. He's the kind of person who'll climb the social ladder once he gets a good deal. When Xie Yuancheng carried me into the house, I smelled that scent again.
"Yuancheng~" I stopped him from bending down. Xie Yuancheng looked at me with displeasure, and his hands started to move around again. I quickly held them down.
"Slow down," I whispered in his ear. Something must be wrong in the room, because Xie Yuancheng's flushed face quickly returned to normal.
"Close your eyes and sniff carefully; you can easily smell it."
Xie Yuancheng did as he was told, but he stopped just as he was about to take a deep breath and coughed a few times. I tried to get out of bed to pour him some tea, but he stopped me from moving.
"Ying'er~ You've done something naughty~" Xie Yuancheng leaned on me and wouldn't let go, his clothes were all messed up, but he still didn't change his expression.
"Isn't it strange? I think so." I spoke close to his ear, just so we could hear.
"Madam, the problematic catalogs are all here. Please take a look," the butler called from outside. I straightened Xie Yuancheng's clothes before going out.
"My lord, I didn't know you were here." When the steward saw him come out, he put down the list on the table and stood on the other side.
Xie Yuancheng had a stern face, completely different from the gentle and delicate young man he had been just moments before. I even wondered if he was a completely different person.
"Steward Wang, go to Master Li's house and ask him to come to the manor."
Xie Yuancheng looked around and then told the steward to call for someone, and also told him not to send the musicians for the time being, to do it another day. Before I even understood what was going on, he had already made the arrangements.
"Tell me, what's the reason?" I was incredibly curious, but Xi Zhi and the others weren't in the manor, so I couldn't sneak out to see.
"Ying'er, it's not a big deal. I'm just guessing. We can follow the clues they gave us and dig deeper. Maybe we'll see something interesting."
"Really? I had a feeling you already knew, your expression changed super fast."
"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng came over with a smile again: "You have to forgive me. It's been twenty years. I've always been like this. I had to do a lot of things when I was only three or four years old."
"Hmph~ They used to say that children wet their pants at three years old, but now they say that children learn to change their expressions at three or four years old."
"That was more than ten years ago. Does that make it easier for you to accept?"
Xie Yuancheng looked up at me, and I pinched his cheek as I prepared to go inside. He could handle this; there was nothing for me to do. Just as I was about to go in, Bizhu arrived, also carrying something in her hand.
"My lord, my lady." Bizhu handed me a notebook, which I opened to find was full of chime bells.
"Ying'er, what are you two secretly doing again?" Xie Yuancheng came over to look. I held the notebook tightly, and with a flash of his eyes, he took the notebook away.
"Yuancheng~ Little Chengcheng, let me see it~" I ran over to grab it, but Xie Yuancheng had already tossed it around, finally throwing it into his other hand.
Bizhu was standing nearby. I gave her a look, and she went out, even telling everyone around her to keep a little distance. Xie Yuancheng finished flipping through it before showing it to me, and that's when I finally got my hands on it.
"Ying'er, if you want to ask about this kind of thing, just come to me, I'll tell you everything."
"How can you tell me this? I didn't even know where to start looking. This time, I found it inside the house, and you only just realized a little bit about it."
"These chime bells are easy to hide things in. Don't worry, you'll see when Master Li comes."
Xie Yuancheng closed his notebook and poured me some tea, but I smelled something off and refused to drink it. Xie Yuancheng said I was picky about food, and now I was picky about tea leaves too.
"It seems the tea in the manor is no longer usable; Ying'er doesn't like it. Once we're done with our business, I'll take you outside for a walk."
I thought about how some idle people would stop the carriage when we went out, so I disagreed: "Forget it, we'll just stay in the mansion."
“But you’re complaining about everything now, so of course I have to take you out for a walk. Otherwise, Ying’er will get very depressed if she stays with me for too long.”
"No way! We've been married for over three years, almost four, of course I wouldn't look down on you~"
“Ying’er~ You didn’t get enough rest when you gave birth to Yu’er, and also, in the manor.”
"Stop!" I interrupted him. He just wanted to find a way to make me drink. I held up the cup and smelled it again. "Yuancheng, the aroma of this tea is not right. I'll brew a new pot."
I'm a bit picky; I won't eat things that don't suit my taste. Last time in the Western Regions, I was starving, and those dried meats made my cheeks hurt.
"Isn't that right? I cooked this at Biyang Pavilion and brought it here."
"Biyang Pavilion? You're having a conversation at Biyang Pavilion today? Isn't that a bit too poetic?"
"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng smiled at me again: "We were born to have fun. This afternoon I will take you to visit every place in the mansion."
He picked up his teacup and stood up. His smiling face immediately fell. I leaned over and asked, "Yuancheng, you're still young. Don't always change your expression like that."
"Bizhu!" He smiled at me and called out. Bizhu ran in again: "Who touched the teapot?"
"No, when the maids brought it over, Lan Ge made a special check. We won't touch anything the Marquis gave to the Madam."
"The tea has been switched." Xie Yuancheng was remarkably calm; he spoke of such a thrilling incident with remarkable nonchalance.
I opened the teapot and poked it twice with a small spoon. A scream came out, which startled me so much that I fell into Xie Yuancheng's arms. He used force, and the table and teapot were both burned.
"You, you have a tinderbox in your sleeve?" What was that shout just now? It scared me to death.
"Ying'er, I will find out about this, don't be afraid."
Xie Yuancheng carried me to the other side, and I nestled in his arms, refusing to get up. His voice echoed in my ears, and I held on tightly, refusing to let go. The courtyard immediately became lively. Xie Yuancheng had me stand behind him and proceeded to arrange things in an orderly manner.
I held him tightly around the waist, and there wasn't a single day of peace in the manor: "What was that sound just now? My ears are still... I can still hear it."
"Ying'er, I'll treat you in a bit, don't be afraid." Xie Yuancheng's tone was very steady, and I believed him a little. I didn't care how many people were around, and just held onto him tightly.
Fortunately, everything turned out alright after that. After they all left, Master Li arrived. He spilled some things on the chime bells, and something was moving in his sleeve. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it, but it was probably some kind of crawling animal.
"Ying'er, let's go inside." Xie Yuancheng spoke in my ear. I was about to shake my head, but Papa had already poked his head out, so I decided to go inside instead.
As soon as I sat down, I looked around to make sure there were no strange things before I felt relieved. Xie Yuancheng came over carrying a very exquisite box, and when he opened it, there were silver needles inside.
"You really know medicine? I haven't seen you practice medicine much yet."
"Yes, I only treat Ying'er; everyone else has to step aside." Xie Yuancheng skillfully held the silver needles over the fire, and I felt pain for the acupoints just watching it.
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