Chapter 5 You Start the Fire, You Have to Put It Out
There was silence inside the door for a moment, and then a deep voice came: "Come in."
Wen Ning pushed the door open and walked in. Xie Jinglan was leaning in an ebony armchair in front of the desk, reading a book. In the candlelight, he was wearing a green robe, his eyebrows were as sharp as a knife, and his eyes were narrow and long, which made him look even more cold and stern.
Wen Ning's heart trembled slightly. He quickly lowered his head and gently placed the medicine bowl on the table. He said respectfully, "The medicine has just been boiled. It is best for you to take it while it is hot."
She then placed the blue silk-covered booklet aside and explained, as the eldest lady had instructed, "This booklet was sent to me by the eldest lady, saying it was the old lady's intention. Your Majesty will understand after reading it."
Xie Jinglan raised his eyes and glanced at the desk, put down the book in his hand and picked up the booklet. His bony index finger lightly stroked along the spine of the book, and the contents of the book appeared before his eyes.
His dark brows suddenly frowned, and his eyes were as dark and unfathomable as a deep pool.
His grandmother did tell him about the maidservants, but he never cared much about it before. He didn't expect that she would be so concerned about it today.
He turned his gaze to the maid in front of him and was about to wave her away, but he saw that it was the woman who was scolded by Nanny Li in front of the kitchen that day. Xie Jinglan seemed to be interested.
Seeing that there were blood scabs on her knuckles from burns while she was holding the sandalwood tray, he couldn't help but frown as he knew that she must have been tending to the stove these days.
"What's your name?"
Wen Ning was slightly startled and replied, "My Lord, my name is Wen Ning."
Wen Ning wore a plain, coarse cloth dress, tied only with a simple ribbon at the waist, yet still managed to outline her slender waist and full bust. Her black hair, unable to be contained by the indigo headscarf, was scattered like a streak of ink, tumbling around her snow-white neck.
"Wen Ning? It's a nice name. Are you putting on makeup again today?" Xie Jinglan's tone seemed to contain some teasing and some questioning.
Wen Ning knelt down immediately after hearing this. She had never thought that she would be so unlucky to be remembered by Xie Jinglan. "I didn't, I dare not."
"Don't dare? Do you know what the consequences will be if you deceive me?" Seeing the body kneeling on the ground trembling obviously, he still couldn't help but want to tease her.
Wen Ning understood very well that if Xie Jinglan wanted her life, it would be like crushing an ant. Rather than being unjustly killed like this, it would be better to be poured with a basin of cold water to prove her innocence.
She boldly said, "If you don't believe it, you can verify it."
"Oh? Verify?" Xie Jinglan looked at the breathtaking face in front of him, which also looked a little angry. It was really interesting. He wanted to see if she was really as innocent as she said.
"good!"
Before Wen Ning could react, she suddenly felt a tightening around her waist. A large, hot hand had firmly grasped her slender waist. She felt dizzy and was lifted into the air, then slammed into a hard chest.
"Ah!" She screamed briefly, her whole body shaking with fear. She subconsciously tried to pry the hand away from her waist, but Xie Jinglan tightened his arm and pressed her whole body against him tightly.
They could feel each other's body temperature through the fabric of their clothes. Wen Ning wanted to move back, but found that every time she moved, she felt like she was rubbing against his arms.
"Don't you want to verify it? Then be honest, otherwise if you cause trouble, it will be beyond my control." Xie Jinglan's low voice came to her ears. Wen Ning naturally understood what he meant and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
Xie Jinglan pinched her small chin, forcing her to look up, and examined her face inch by inch, not missing any details.
The curve of her eyebrows was so perfect that it made her peach blossom eyes look even clearer and brighter. Xie Jinglan lowered his hand, dipped his fingertips in the medicine bowl, and then raised his hand to wipe her eyebrows.
Wen Ning suddenly felt a slight warmth and was so frightened by Xie Jinglan's action that she dared not move. She could only subconsciously close her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
Xie Jinglan narrowed his eyes slightly and set his gaze on her red lips again. His bony fingers slid to her lips and he stroked her soft and plump lips with his fingertips, making the originally pink and smooth color even more rosy.
There are no traces of blackheads or lip balm, only the warm touch of the skin itself.
With her beautiful eyebrows, delicate nose, fair skin, natural red lips and natural powder on her cheeks, it was no wonder that the nanny wronged her that day.
The bitter medicine left on the fingertips secretly sank into the mouth along the corner of the lips. Wen Ning frowned slightly, and a bit of her white teeth appeared between her lips, and then quickly disappeared between her red lips.
Xie Jinglan's eyes darkened, and he felt hot all over. He just wanted to cover those tempting lips and capture those naughty teeth that were playing hide-and-seek with him.
Wen Ning felt the danger approaching, and begged for mercy intermittently: "I have been married before, I am a... widow, I absolutely cannot..."
The lowered phoenix eyes attracted Han Tan, and it seemed as if a bit of rationality had been regained.
Wen Ning practically slid to her knees, ignoring her unsteady breathing. She timidly raised her head and tried to explain: "This servant... This servant was married before. After my husband died, my husband's elders sold me to the Marquis's mansion as a servant. This servant is just a worthless body. I dare not sully the Marquis's reputation, let alone deserve his pity."
The room was eerily quiet. After a while, Xie Jinglan sneered, "It's just like that..."
There was a hint of anger in his dark eyes, and his heart felt as if it had been hollowed out.
In this case, he could have expelled the woman in front of him from the Marquis's Mansion, but he didn't know what was wrong with him. As the Marquis of Anyuan, he could get any woman he wanted, but he wanted to get close to this married widow in front of him.
ridiculous.
He picked up the booklet on the table, knuckles whitening from rubbing it, as if finding an excuse to vent his unresolved anger. He spoke word by word, "Since you sent it, you started the fire, so you must put it out!"
He suddenly threw the booklet in front of Wen Ning, startling her so much that the candlelight trembled.
Wen Ning was filled with panic. When had she started the fire? It was clearly him who started it first...
She picked up the booklet lying on the ground, not knowing what was going on. When she saw the contents clearly, her cheeks instantly turned red, and even the tips of her ears were dyed a bright crimson.
This was by no means an ordinary reading material. It was filled with pictures of lovemaking on red curtains and soft couches, naked and with all kinds of postures depicted in great detail. There were also annotations in small regular script beside the pictures, with elegant handwriting but explicit words.
She felt that something must have gone wrong! This must be a misunderstanding!
Without waiting for her to explain, Xie Jinglan picked her up by the waist and put her directly on the desk.
A scream escaped her mouth again. She didn't have time to cover her mouth. In panic, she could only grab the front of his shirt tightly.
Xie Jinglan reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck, possessiveness surging in his dark skin, "Hasn't the teaching nanny taught you how to serve the master?"
A booklet? A teaching nanny?
Wen Ning seemed to understand that she was mistakenly mistaken for a maid by Xie Jinglan.
But not only was she married, she was a widow and pregnant with another man's child. How could she do such a thing with the Marquis now...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
