For a while, no weight fell on Chu Yuan; instead, her palms felt itchy.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that the boy had a sword between his legs and had broken off a branch from somewhere. It had dry leaves on it and was scratching her palms with it.
Chu Yuan paused, then withdrew her hand. "I was worried about you for nothing!"
"You Yue, you don't think I'm going to commit suicide, do you?"
The pain in Yanling's eyes faded, and she returned to her usual sunny and cheerful self, at least on the surface, making it impossible for anyone to tell anything amiss.
"A real man can lose his head and shed his blood. Rather than commit suicide, he would rather go to the battlefield and fight a battle. At least he can die a worthy death."
The difficulty lies in the fact that the Yan family is under suspicion, so even if he wanted to go to the battlefield, he wouldn't have the opportunity.
Suddenly, a soft, delicate body pressed against his chest.
Yan Ling froze, and the sword that had been between his legs clattered to the ground. He seemed oblivious, as if all his senses rushed to his chest. The woman's faint body temperature felt unusually hot through her clothes.
With his hands raised to his sides, he felt utterly helpless, overwhelmed by a completely unfamiliar feeling that leaped up and mercilessly swallowed him up.
Yanling was completely dumbfounded.
Chu Yuan leaned against his strong, muscular chest, her hands involuntarily wrapping around his lean waist, and murmured, "Yan Ling, I know you're a real man, upright and strong, and you would never do something so foolish. But please, when you're feeling vulnerable, find someone to lean on, don't force yourself to be strong, okay?"
Just one sentence was enough to make Yanling feel a bitter taste in her mouth.
She can understand him.
In the past, he protected Ningning, spoiled and indulged her, letting her do whatever she wanted, without caring whether she liked him as much as he liked her. But at this moment, he suddenly realized what it felt like to be cared for by someone...
Yanling's heart, little by little, involuntarily sank into it.
Just as the sword-wielding hand slowly descended towards Chu Yuan's shoulder, at the crucial moment, he suddenly jolted, pushed Chu Yuan away, and lowered his head, not daring to look into Chu Yuan's eyes. "I'm sorry, I came to the palace to see Mr. Xie. I... I should go."
His voice trembled, a mixture of nervousness and apprehension.
Because he was afraid that Chu Yuan would misunderstand, he didn't actually mean to blame her at all. However, in the past twenty years, he had never been so close to a woman, including Ning Ning. For a moment, he was completely at a loss as to how to face her and couldn't help but feel flustered.
Chu Yuan understood, naturally released him, raised her head, and smiled slightly, "Okay, it's getting late, go and come back soon."
Unexpectedly, she didn't seem uncomfortable at all, and her voice was exceptionally clear and pleasant. Yan Ling's heart skipped a beat. She pursed her lips and secretly glanced at Chu Yuan. "You Yue, is there anything else you want to say? Oh, I mean, is there anything I can tell Mr. Xie that I can pass on for you?"
Chu Yuan almost burst out laughing.
If we don't add that last sentence, nothing will happen. But adding it makes it seem like we're trying to cover something up.
Little Yanling is so cute!
Chu Yuan shook her head. Yan Ling instantly picked up the sword from the ground, and rushed out like a calf with her head down. She probably walked about ten zhang away, but then suddenly turned back. Under Chu Yuan's puzzled look, she muttered, "Mr. Xie's Wenzhao Pavilion is over here."
Chu Yuan couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.
By this time, Yan Ling had walked about five zhang further. Chu Yuan didn't know if he had heard her, but the boy's thin and straight back seemed to straighten even more.
Their steps became even faster and more disordered.
Xie Mansion.
After Xie Wei met Yan Ling at Wenzhao Pavilion, he already knew what Zhou Yanzhi had done.
He pretended to get close to Yan Ling, but it was all at Xue Yuan's behest. His purpose was to obtain Yan Mu's notes and seal, and, if he couldn't find any other dirt on the Yan family, to frame them for colluding with rebels.
The Yan family army has always been loyal and united, obeying only Yan Mu's orders.
Throughout history, military strength has always been paramount.
Therefore, it wasn't just Xue Yuan who was eyeing this lucrative opportunity; even the emperor was eager to reclaim the Yan family's military power, bring the invincible Yan family army under his control, and consolidate his imperial authority.
I just regret that I haven't been able to find the right opportunity.
Zhou Yanzhi —
Xie Wei wrote three large characters on the paper with vigorous strokes.
He wondered whether Zhou Yanzhi was a genuine defector or just pretending.
The next day, Xie Wei returned from the palace and was tuning his zither behind the music shop when he heard Lü Xian sighing all the way back. When he saw Xie Wei, Lü Xian acted as if he didn't see him. Feeling angry and frustrated, he downed a cup of cold tea on the table and then gulped down several more cups, until he had finished the whole pot of cold tea. He then slammed the teapot down on the table with a displeased expression.
"What kind of madness is this?" Xie Wei glanced at him sideways.
Lu Xianqing's handsome face was framed by a pair of cunning and shrewd merchant eyes. "Xie Ju'an, haven't you heard? The Xue family's silk transport ship capsized. Don't you know what that means?"
Xie Wei didn't respond at all, his hands still tuning the piano.
Lu Xian choked, but clearly dared not confront Xie Wei directly. He answered his own question, "The New Year is coming soon, which means the silk business will be booming. The Xue family previously almost monopolized the silk trade in the capital, from small silk handkerchiefs to large gauze curtains and brocade quilts. Now that they've capsized, Xue Yuan's losses will definitely be considerable."
However, this will inevitably cause the suppressed silk prices in the capital to rebound, and may even be three to five times higher than before.
I recently heard about a businessman named Xu Wenyi who specializes in raw silk and has a large number of silkworm farmers.
And he happened to have a batch of raw silk that he urgently needed to sell some time ago.
Upon hearing about the Xue family's situation today, I couldn't wait to go find him, and guess what? Xie Ju'an, you'd never guess!
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