care
The jewelry of the prefect's daughter?
Suddenly remembering some things that had been pushed to the back of his memory due to other things, Jiang Nian turned around and took out the accessory that he had never touched since throwing it into his bag.
"Is this what you're talking about?"
The prayer note appeared in her hand. Because it had been properly preserved, it was as clean as new and had not been damaged at all.
Jiang Nian placed the wooden piece with Xiao Yingzhu's name on it on the table.
"She wrote the name on the back."
Since she didn't want to miss Xiao Yingzhu's name at the moment, she just said it with a smile and looked up at him.
Xiao Yingzhu was caught off guard by the fact that someone who had nothing to do with this incident was mentioned. She seemed to have no reaction to the change that she had inexplicably become the focus of attention. She glanced at the piece of wood and nothing else.
Qin Lan looked at the piece of wood but didn't reach out to take it. He just smiled and said, "It seems that you had quite an influence during your time in the capital."
Yan seemed unaware of the situation. When Jiang Nian didn't notice him, he quickly glanced at her expression and then asked, "What influence?"
Qin Lan immediately added, "Ah, Yan hadn't come to the Intelligence Bureau yet, right? It's normal that he didn't know."
"At that time, Xiao had many rivals in the capital, and most of the things and people that needed to be investigated in the capital were related to brothels."
"Because Xiao didn't want to trouble me any more—" Qin Lan coughed, sensing Xiao Yingzhu's vague gaze, and continued, "Some things require going to the brothel to arrest people and investigate, so Xiao Zeng pretended to be a drunk and romantic young man in the brothel."
Yan looked a little surprised, then came to his senses and repeated the end of Qin Lan's words with great interest: "What? The drunk and romantic young man?"
Jiang Nianben didn't want to think about it too much. To be honest, she wouldn't find it strange even if someone liked Xiao Yingzhu.
After all, even if this person didn't speak or even glance at anyone, and just stood casually in a corner of the street, his handsome face would attract passers-by to look back.
If he were to put on a bit of pretense—for example, to make others feel that he was as elegant as the moon, a being from heaven, untouched by the mundane world, then all he needed to do was to curb his surliness and cynicism, his casualness, become gentle and refined, and then put on a pure white dress like snow, to add a little color...
That's another look.
It also attracted the admiration and love of another group of people.
To put it bluntly, this person will change his or her temperament for the purpose of the mission and wear corresponding clothing and attire.
Although they are all very simple, their inherent nobleness cannot be concealed.
But, as mentioned above, why does it seem more and more familiar to her the more she looks at it?
"Yeah, he's pretending."
Qin Lan didn't care that after he finished speaking, Xiao Yingzhu would threaten him in a place where Jiang Nian couldn't see him. He continued to output what he had wanted to input to Jiang Nian for a long time:
"After all, in the early years, he wasn't as omnipotent as he is now, and the people around him weren't completely trustworthy, so he had to do some things himself."
Halfway through his words, Qin Lan glanced at Xiao Yingzhu. For some reason, when he usually talked about this kind of topic, he would have been very close to the depths of Xiao Yingzhu's past, and he would have given him a cold warning to ask him to stop or changed the subject himself, but today he did nothing.
His brain raced, and Qin Lan glanced at Jiang Nian again with a quick glance.
She was a little distracted at this moment, and it was unknown what she was thinking about. Her pensive look made Qin Lan's heart tighten. No way, could it be that Miss Jiang really thought that Xiao was the kind of person who flirted with other men?
That's impossible.
This doesn't look like it at all?
From the time I met Xiao Yingzhu until now, to be honest, the woman who has had the most contact with Xiao Yingzhu over the years should be Miss Jiang.
Inexplicably, he had a suspicion that if he didn't explain himself clearly, his friend would really be labeled as a playboy. Qin Lan quickly said:
"Actually, that's not the case... At that time, we were short of manpower, so it seemed difficult to move forward. Later, he won the trust of Emperor Changde, and some people came to support him because of the history of the Duke's Mansion and after placing a bet with Xiao."
"He only went to the brothel for a very short time, purely for a mission! And he never liked others to get close to him or disturb him."
"So he was considered so amazing, purely because of his good looks." Qin Lan paused, distant memories coming back to him. He thought of something else, then continued, risking his life at the hands of Xiao Yingzhu. "At that time, some people thought he wasn't interested in women because—"
"Ah, I see."
Seeing Xiao Yingzhu's expression gradually fade away, Yan couldn't stand it anymore and said to withdraw first: "I understand, so there is such a past. It's really amazing."
Not understanding what he was saying, Yan kept smiling, changed direction where Xiao Yingzhu could not be seen, took out the book he had not finished reading from behind him and prepared to continue reading.
I know so much here this afternoon. I hope Duke Xiao won’t kill me.
"..." Jiang Nian smiled softly. If he couldn't understand the meaning of Qin Lan's words, he would be an idiot. "I understand."
But because Xiao Yingzhu was present, she couldn't show her embarrassment too obviously.
"I actually... don't really care about this kind of thing."
Everyone has a past, and she is just a latecomer and has no right to blame Xiao Yingzhu for what she did before.
What's more, things like socializing all depend on people's preferences.
No matter whether Xiao Yingzhu had had contact with any women before and for what purpose, it was all in the past.
There's no point in dwelling on this any longer.
It would also make her seem unreasonable.
Jiang Nian lowered his eyes and smiled again, "Let's not talk about this anymore. If Ruoyan meets Miss Yu later, just return this ornament to her."
The topic was changed. Qin Lan was stunned for a moment, then continued, "Okay, but she was persuaded by her subordinates to return home. I will have them deliver these to her tomorrow."
"As for Princess Qingping——"
Jiang Nian turned his eyes away thoughtfully and asked tentatively, "Do you need to tell Miss Yu?"
Not understanding where Jiang Nian's concern for both Princess Qingping and Miss Yu came from, Qin Lan thought he was just being overly suspicious. "Well, let's keep it a secret for now, otherwise it will be troublesome if he goes out to look for Princess Qingping."
Having come to this point, no one wanted to continue the conversation.
The tasks these days are too many and too heavy. Everyone seems to have lost the right to chat and communicate, and all they talk about is Donglan and Wu Mizhong.
Jiang Nian watched Yan put away Miss Yu's ornaments, then stood up and gestured slightly: "If there is nothing else, I'm sorry to bother you today."
"We need to sort out the necessary supplies when we get back. It's almost dinner time, so everyone should go to bed early."
In such an urgent situation, everyone was in a state of tension and it was impossible for them to rest so early.
Qin Lan still looked at her with a smile and nodded, "Thank you for the reminder. Take care, Miss Jiang."
When he turned around, he saw Xiao Yingzhu's face. Although he had not talked to him in the afternoon, he felt inexplicably tired because he had just expressed his thoughts in front of him. Jiang Nian smiled slightly and left this place.
—
Seeing Jiang Nian leave the courtyard, Qin Lan walked back slowly and leaned against the wall.
Yan didn't want to face their conversation anymore, so he simply covered his face with the unfinished book and leaned back in his chair, pretending to sleep.
Without a short conversation to kill time, Ai Ziran returned to his desk, with a look of deep resentment and indifference on his face, and laid out the unfinished rough paper again.
The room fell silent for a moment. Qin Lan stood up and smiled at him, "Xiao, shall we go out for a walk?"
The dusk dyed the sky clear. After walking out of the study for a while, I arrived at the fish pond where I had just talked with Jiang Nian.
The goldfish in the fish pond was still floating swayingly in the distance. Qin Lan squatted down, reached into the fish pond, and flicked the fat goldfish's head.
The person behind him stopped not far from the fish pond and turned to look at the horizon.
Not far from the mansion is the river, and on the other side of the river is Chimen.
So when you look there, you can see everything at a glance.
"It's been a while since I've been out with you. Time flies so fast."
The goldfish in the fish pond has a memory of seven seconds. Not long after touching Qin Lan, it mistook his finger for food and took a bite.
Xiao Yingzhu turned away and replied calmly, "Yeah."
This refreshing and quiet atmosphere was truly rare. Qin Lan looked at the goldfish for a long time before continuing, "Aren't you going to tell her that?"
"Those things—about your parents, and everything after the Battle of Shenjiang."
"Once an impression is made, it's hard to change her mind later."
Xiao Yingzhu gently closed her eyes, and opened them again the next moment: "She is right."
"That's true, but if we keep going like this—" Qin Lan straightened up, stretched his limbs, and sighed and laughed, "Until this Donglan incident is over, your relationship will end here, right?"
“…”
After a moment of silence, Qin Lan turned around and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
Breaking free from the memories that bound him, Xiao Yingzhu's expression was calm, as if nothing was wrong. "Not really."
"Then why not go and give her a hint? If you really think she's special."
Qin Lan turned around, one hand on his waist, and raised his hand to smooth down his wind-blown hair. "You always strive for what you want, leaving no room for failure. Why are you hesitant this time?"
That's not like you.
Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes slightly, hiding the thoughts in her heart: "I have no right to interfere with her thoughts."
"......What?"
The distance between them was quite far. Qin Lan thought he had misheard and took a few steps towards him: "What? Why - is this considered interference?"
Let’s just talk about the past, and besides, the past is not embarrassing.
Even to Xiao Yingzhu, it was just a painless scar.
The other party did not answer, but just shook his head slightly: "The relationship is good now."
"She thinks she's the chess piece and I'm the chess player."
Xiao Yingzhu said calmly, "That's actually the case."
Qin Lan frowned, not understanding what Xiao Yingzhu meant. "Did she change you? Being so docile isn't your style."
"You could have just told Jiang Nian directly. If you're too obviously partial and her identity becomes known to too many people, His Majesty will definitely use her, and then things will be difficult—this also has to do with our mission this time. If Emperor Changde wants to use her as bait, our plan will fail, and she might even be killed."
It was rare for Qin Lan to feel such hatred towards Xiao Yingzhu that it was absurd. He held his forehead with his hand and sighed helplessly, then continued, "If you don't say it clearly, there must be a gap between you two. Are you willing to let this happen?"
Xiao Yingzhu didn't respond. She looked up at the sky with empty eyes.
There was nothing I could say to make Xiao Yingzhu change her mind. There was nothing I could say before, and there was nothing I could say now.
Qin Lan paused, frowned again and said, "You're not a predictor either. Setting up the network in Pingzhou since May is completely according to plan. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"
"If you had explained it clearly to her, I don't think Jiang Nian is the kind of stubborn and hysterical woman, right?"
Qin Lan couldn't understand why such a fuss was made when it could be explained in one sentence.
Xiao Yingzhu didn't want to dwell on this topic any further, so she changed the subject herself: "We'll talk about this again when we have some free time. How's your investigation going?"
"The goddess's fragrant pill may become her backup plan."
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