end
The potted plants in the room have already sprouted new buds for several days.
Jiang Nian hasn't seen Xiao Yingzhu these days.
But as Jiang Nian was already regarded as the hostess of the Duke's Mansion, she naturally toured the entire mansion without any hesitation.
These places should have been seen a long time ago.
Jiang Nian stood up from the ground, fiddling with the green leaves of the potted plants with her fingertips, patted the invisible dust on her skirt, turned around and glanced at the maid who had just stepped into the door and tried to say something to her, but was speechless when her eyes met hers.
"?"
Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, turned around, and lifted up her loose black hair.
"What can I do for you?"
Jiang Nian was not familiar with the people here and was not the type to like chatting with them. She could spend the day browsing through some books of interest in Xiao Yingzhu's library.
Therefore, these days, apart from meals and necessary daily conversations, Jiang Nian hardly spoke to the maids here.
...It would be better to say that she was a little annoyed by the maids in Zuihualou.
It is better to have less trouble than more. Jiang Nianben adhered to the principle of not asking unnecessary questions. It was not until now that he officially started talking to the maid here.
The maid seemed to be hearing Jiang Nian speak to her for the first time. She was slightly surprised and happy for a moment, then quickly replied, "I saw you reading a book in the garden earlier. The flowers in the garden have just bloomed, and I wanted to tell you something."
Flowers in the garden?
Jiang Nian was puzzled for a moment, then seemed to have thought of something, and replied with a smile: "Well, thank you for the reminder."
It was the first time she saw a girl smile at her.
The maid cleaning the courtyard was lost in a fantasy of a Beijing novel. Suddenly, she thought of establishing a good relationship with the ladies of the noble mansions, so that she would never have to worry about food and drink in the future...
Jiang Nian didn't care what the maid who came to tell her was thinking. She hurriedly stepped out of the room and walked towards the back garden of the mansion.
—
The flowers in that courtyard bloomed in response to the spring, dotted with light pink.
Jiang Nian caught a glimpse of the figure from afar, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. He quickened his pace and walked lightly towards him, but stopped when he saw that he seemed to be indifferent to the surroundings and was just leisurely drinking tea.
A teasing light flashed across her eyes, and she restrained her smile. With a hint of probing intent, she took a few slow steps forward and chuckled softly:
"You weren't so cold when you saved me before, but who are you pretending to be like this now, Xiao?"
The person next to her seemed to have heard something unusual, put down the teacup in his hand, and looked at her with his eyelids raised.
When she glanced at Jiang Nian and saw him smiling and pointing at the corner of her eye, she paused slightly. Instead of looking away like before, she met her teasing gaze.
"So now that you know what I'm thinking, why don't you come over?"
“…”
Jiang Nian's smile instantly turned cold, but he continued walking forward without stopping at all.
"Really? I don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you say it again in person here?"
As if to confirm her words, Jiang Nian stopped suddenly when she was a few steps away from the stone steps outside the pavilion, spread out her hands, and tilted her head towards him.
Xiao Yingzhu seemed to have anticipated Jiang Nian's reaction. She glanced at the back of Jiang Nian, raised her lips meaningfully, and smiled, "Really?"
"Anything is fine?"
“…”
Jiang Nian had a bad feeling and was startled by Xiao Yingzhu's suddenly aggressive gaze. She hesitated for a moment, but the person in front of her did not give her a chance to react. She even put the teacup in her hand on the stone table, stood up and walked towards her.
The waterfall-like black hair was pinned with a hairpin, and the extremely long black hair spread out behind Xiao Yingzhu. He seemed to like letting his hair down like this. In the spring light, Jiang Nian was dazzled by the black hair that was like a smudge of ink. The next moment, Xiao Yingzhu stopped in front of her.
His chin was supported calmly by him, and Jiang Nian looked back obediently following the slightly upward force, and met his dark eyes.
The bright and thorough sunlight cast a layer of golden light on his drooping hair. When their lips and tongues touched, Jiang Nian's heart palpitated for a moment. He subconsciously wanted to escape as if he had been electrocuted, but Xiao Yingzhu held his waist tightly.
There was a huge disparity in strength, and Jiang Nian's breathing became disordered due to her frightened heart. She could only stare at the other person with her eyes open. Even though the trembling caused by the touch of her lips almost made her lose her strength and she was about to fall. She raised her hand and half-wrapped it on Xiao Yingzhu's shoulder, but she still didn't come to her senses.
It seemed that intimate contact could not overcome the months of not seeing each other. Jiang Nian even felt that this was not enough, far from enough.
But the girl's kiss back is always immature, like a silent and loving sacrifice offered to the one she loves.
As their lips and tongues intertwined, most of her breath was taken away. With her eyes blurred, she tried hard to breathe and respond to the hot sucking.
The wet sound was still ringing in her ears. Xiao Yingzhu took away Jiang Nian's breath, but brought back the fragrance of the tea she had just drunk.
His refreshing scent is everywhere in my sight and in the air.
The sun was shining brightly and the fragrance of flowers was everywhere, but it was completely blocked by his breath.
Until I heard footsteps behind me, and the robe swept across the edge of the grass, as if it had hesitated outside for a long time, or as if it had just arrived and was hesitating whether to move forward.
Glancing at Xiao Yingzhu's indifferent gaze and Jiang Nian's slightly red cheeks leaning against Xiao Yingzhu's chest, it was self-evident what had just happened.
Qin Lan was secretly amazed at the great change in his brother from being ruthless to being affectionate. He took advantage of the fact that Jiang Nian had his head down and was not looking at him to point and criticize him. It was not until he saw Jiang Nian raised his hand that was gently pulling Xiao Yingzhu's clothes and pinched him that he started to laugh.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing in broad daylight?!"
With the pedantic air of an old teacher in the school, Qin Lan pretended to take a few steps, coughed, and lingered between Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu for a moment, until he was frightened by Xiao Yingzhu's increasingly cold look, then he put away his rebellious thoughts and placed the two letters in his hands on the stone table.
"Two letters, one from Pingzhou, one from Meng Zheng—"
Qin Lan was halfway through his words when he suddenly started to ponder: "Logically, this crow should have been sent directly to your Duke's Mansion. How could it be sent to my residence?"
As if it heard someone reading it, the fat crow that delivered the letter fluttered down to Qin Lan's head and cried out proudly.
Crushed by the weight of the fat crow, the renowned Intelligence Pavilion Master, already considered frail by everyone, could not tolerate a mere crow wreaking havoc on his head. He quickly shook his head, taking advantage of the crow's instability, and threw it down.
"You didn't feed him?"
Xiao Yingzhu looked at the crow for a moment, then met Qin Lan's puzzled eyes without saying a word.
"? I really didn't feed you."
"You're so fat, what should I feed you?"
Feeling a little bored by Qin Lan's accusing gaze, Xiao Yingzhu sparingly uttered a few words casually.
"?"
“???”
"Then I will pay for the crow's meals?"
Seeing that Qin Lan was about to fly away in anger, Xiao Yingzhu replied calmly: "Those who are willing will do it."
“? Ahhhhhhhhh Xiao Yingzhu, I’m going to explode with you——!”
Seeing that Qin Lan was about to explode, Jiang Nianren smiled and interrupted: "Let's not talk about this matter for now, let's talk about the more important things first."
"......you?"
It was hard to believe that Jiang Nian would stand on Xiao Yingzhu's side instead of being neutral. Qin Lan then remembered that Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu were already together, and they were showing their affection as if no one was around. He also remembered the hard times when he was beaten repeatedly by Tao Yu, and he became even angrier.
He said "you you you you" several times in a row, but didn't say a complete sentence.
Jiang Nian didn't care. He smiled and opened the envelope in front of him, reading it word by word.
Meng Zheng's letter was as brief as ever, and Jiang Nian finished reading it quickly.
But no matter how you look back, it is difficult to see what he is thinking.
This is just an ordinary letter expressing polite concern, nothing more.
Jiang Nian knew very well that he could not know everyone's escape route, but meeting each other because of a chess game was fate.
She just wants to know everyone's ending is happy.
But things are unpredictable, let alone in this era of constant conflict.
The peaceful scene before us is as beautiful as a cluster of flowers, but they will eventually wither.
And before that day in the future comes, she just wants to protect all of this safely.
Qin Lan beside him said something to Xiao Yingzhu again, and soon he stopped intending to disturb them and walked out of the garden. Jiang Nian sat at the stone table, his eyes fell on the letter about Pingzhou, and his breathing became slightly faster.
She was a little worried. The letter came from the pharmacy, from the warehouse... but not from the Jiang Mansion.
That home that I haven't had time to explain again.
The matter concerning the original owner has not been resolved yet.
Jiang Nian calmed down her suddenly restless mood, raised her hand again, and held the envelope in her hand. Although it was light and thin, it felt heavy to her.
He closed his eyes, but a slender hand fell on his shoulder, and the weight of comfort instantly brushed across his heart. Jiang Nian suddenly raised his eyes, and after meeting Xiao Yingzhu's gaze, he slightly curved his eyes. His nervous mood relaxed a little, and then he took out the paper in front of him and read it carefully.
The black ink was reflected like a pupil, and a fragmented and bright halo fell on the place where his fingertips touched the letter paper. Jiang Nian subconsciously looked at the signature, and when he saw that it was the familiar Jiang Mansion seal, he suddenly felt relieved.
Even though they are not his blood relatives, Jiang Nian has already developed feelings for them after spending several months together.
Although they were skeptical about their meticulous care before the showdown, their feelings were real and she could feel it.
Regarding this...
Jiang Nian couldn't explain her feelings. Whether Jiang's parents decided to reject her, or agreed but kept their distance, she could accept it.
After all, no parent who loves their child would accept that their child's inner core was replaced with an air conditioner.
Jiang Nian drooped his eyelashes and quickly read a few lines of text. When he came to the last word, his eyes suddenly widened, and he raised his head in confusion, and his eyes met with Xiao Yingzhu who was standing aside waiting.
"you……"
She wanted to ask why Xiao Yingzhu knew what happened in her dream, but then she remembered that Xiao Yingzhu had talked to Lan before.
The doubts were barely put away, and the subject changed.
"Has Lan been here?"
"Well, before you wake up."
“…”
Jiang Nian blinked, recalling that they had started talking before entering the door in Cang County.
How did Xiao Yingzhu call Lan back?
Was it something that Lan gave him?
Jiang Nian's intuition has always been sharp, but Xiao Yingzhu also saw the fleeting thought in her mind and spoke before she asked:
"You're in good health, yet you've been in a long sleep. I'm worried there might be something wrong with you, so I summoned him back."
“…”
A faint sense of unease rose in Jiang Nian's heart. He frowned and asked, "What did Na Lan originally leave you? He told you at the time - in what circumstances was it used?"
She still remembered what Lan said to her when he turned around and was about to leave.
The time of goodbye may be when disaster strikes.
This must be the talisman for bringing reinforcements when Huandu faces danger!
As if seeing through the worries rising in Jiang Nian's heart, Xiao Yingzhu relaxed her brows and smiled: "I'm not worried, why are you worried?"
Jiang Nian subconsciously frowned and glared at him, but his brows were gently smoothed. The rare gentleness made her stunned for a moment, and then she heard Xiao Yingzhu say: "Today's business is done today, tomorrow's business..."
"Forever and ever."
The wind in the garden gradually spread, bringing the fragrance of flowers, which diffused in Jiang Nian's nostrils, and the light-colored petals fell on the line of words on the letter paper on the stone table.
[We know where your daughter is... We long for your return. We all see your hard work.]
—
The thirty-fifth year of the Restoration.
Emperor Changde honored Jiang Nian, a woman from Pyeongju, with the title of "Ambassador of Good Seeds" for her contribution to the spread of food supplies by setting fire to enemy camps during the war. He announced this to the world and bestowed upon her a gift of high-quality products. He also promoted the insect repellent recipe developed by Liangdu Good Seeds Master to benefit the people.
When people heard about this woman, they all sighed that she was a goddess who prayed for mercy to the people and came down to earth in person to solve their problems.
It was also said that he had taken a man from the Xiao family back to seclusion, temporarily concealing his identity and traveling around the world. This matter spread far and wide, and many people were talking about it.
The common people all hoped to meet this girl one day to express their gratitude.
The thirty-sixth year of the Restoration.
Meng Hao, a famous general of Huandu, pacified the world, formed an alliance with the Donglan Kingdom, and wiped out the evil cult of Wumi. The world was prosperous and the people praised him.
The thirty-eighth year of the Restoration.
The past of the Duke's Mansion, which had been vacant for many years, was brought up again. Emperor Changde remembered Duke Xiao's past deeds and made them public to the world to clear his name.
When men and women in the capital heard about this, they all praised his loyalty and righteousness. Countless people secretly admired him, but because of the huge difference in status, they had to hide their feelings.
Later, word spread that the man the goddess Jiang Nian was carrying was actually Duke Xiao. Everyone was shocked, and teahouses all over the world rushed to spread the story, composing poems and storybooks to spread it far and wide.
—
Forty years of the Restoration.
A passerby said that outside a bamboo forest B&B in Shanshui, a woman who looked like Jiang Nian was seen with a man beside her. Although she looked seductive, she had an extraordinary demeanor and was gentle and indifferent.
The two of them brewed tea and drank it together, greeted visitors with a smile, answered questions, or gave wine, all in a calm and composed manner.
Everyone who heard it sighed——
May we never be apart until we are old.
【end】
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