Flute
It was already evening when we returned to the Duke's mansion from there.
Seeing Mo Qing from a distance, Jiang Nian was surprised: "I remember he was in Cang County, wasn't he?"
Xiao Yingzhu closed the door behind him. Usually, only people were sent to clean this mansion and no one lived there. Now that he was back, there was no sign of life anywhere.
"After Tao Yu and Meng Zheng reached a consensus, they returned here after dealing with the mine and the plague."
Jiang Nian glanced around as Xiao Yingzhu said this, and then nodded, "Yes, if things in Cang County are settled, there's nothing left to do."
In front, Mo Qing was still sweeping the fallen leaves under the tree with a broom. She glanced at Xiao Yingzhu and saw that Xiao Yingzhu agreed. Then Jiang Nian walked towards the place that looked like the study.
Hearing the sound of light footsteps in the distance, Mo Qing raised his eyes from the pile of fallen leaves on the ground with some doubt. Seeing that it was Jiang Nian, he was surprised for a moment, but then he thought it was not impossible, so he immediately put away his surprised expression and smiled at Jiang Nian:
"Miss, I didn't expect to see you here. Are you alright?"
Jiang Nian's gaze shifted from Mo Qing's unconscious gaze to the broom behind him, then to the pile of yellow autumn leaves in front of him. He smiled faintly and greeted him. Suddenly, he asked, "Well, because I saw you from afar, I wanted to say hello."
"You are now..."
Seeing Jiang Nian's eyes lingering on the pairs of fallen leaves in front of him, Mo Qing's smile paused for a moment before he said lightly, "Nothing, just some unfinished business from before that I need to continue to catch up."
Unfinished business?
Seeing Mo Qing's strange expression, and recalling how Mo Qing suddenly appeared at the Cang County State Guesthouse, Jiang Nian nodded, not quite understanding. "I see. So, after you finish cleaning up these fallen leaves, are you going to do the unfinished business?"
Seeing an opportunity, Mo Qing nodded and agreed immediately: "Yes, yes, so Miss——"
Knowing the meaning of Mo Qing's words, Jiang Nian came to say hello, and even after waving at him, he turned back to Xiao Yingzhu.
Just like what we saw in Pingzhou, the furnishings of the Duke's Mansion are exactly the same as those of the Qishan Mansion. It would be better to say that the furnishings of the Qishan Mansion are arranged completely according to the furnishings here.
After walking around the Duke's Mansion, Jiang Nian still hadn't recovered from the thought that he was running a drug store in the Duke's Mansion.
It was not until he saw the painting hanging on the wall of the side hall and heard Xiao Yingzhu's faint laughter that Jiang Nian came back to his senses and stared at him in confusion.
"What?"
As soon as he finished speaking, some fragmented memories suddenly popped up in his mind. Jiang Nian's expression paused, and he stared at Xiao Yingzhu speechlessly for a while. Without saying a word, he turned around, closed the door of the side hall, and walked towards the courtyard in front.
Outside the yellowing woods, the color of the sky gradually softened and dimmed. The sound of the wind that was about to bring a rainy mountain was covered by the cold moonlight, temporarily turning into a cirrus cloud that seemed to have no impression at all.
The starlight is obscured by it, but it cannot stop its faint twinkling.
Jiang Nian sat in Xiao Yingzhu's study with his chin in his hand. His desk was empty. It was the first time he saw such a tidy desk. He felt a little uncomfortable at first, but it was okay after staying there for a while.
Not until the shadows of the trees outside were completely etched into her memory and the candlelight beside her was about to disappear did she move her eyes away from the bright moon and look at Xiao Yingzhu who was lazily leaning against the table on the other side behind her.
He was flipping through a scroll in his hand, and seemed to notice the direction she was looking at from the desk, so he casually raised his eyes and looked at her.
"Worried about tomorrow?"
Jiang Nian was about to say something when Xiao Yingzhu's words left him speechless. He pursed his lips and looked away slightly: "Hmm."
"I feel like my nerves are on edge and it's hard to relax."
Xiao Yingzhu casually put the scroll in his hand aside. The candlelight beside him was dim, outlining his beautiful and charming profile. Most of the time, his face was extremely aggressive.
But with her, it is always gentle.
As if he had thought of something, Xiao Yingzhu suddenly relaxed his brows and raised his hand to beckon her.
"come over."
"?"
Jiang Nian was confused and wanted to ask "Why didn't you come over?", but he might have thought about it because he had treated Xiao Yingzhu as his boss for a while.
The rules that were set thousands of years ago are now deeply engraved on Jiang Nian, who is now an ancient man. Jiang Nian paused for a moment, and finally stood up reluctantly and walked towards Xiao Yingzhu.
The study was only a few steps away, but Jiang Nian walked slowly and it took him a while to move in front of Xiao Yingzhu. He lowered his eyes to see what he was going to do, but Xiao Yingzhu supported his head and casually stretched out a hand. Jiang Nian's body tilted and fell directly into his arms.
The other person was leaning on the back of a chair. The chair was quite wide and could accommodate two people.
But Jiang Nian still felt a little bit unable to accept the fact that he fell on Xiao Yingzhu unexpectedly - it was not that he was reluctant, but he just felt a little weird and embarrassed.
There is clearly no one else here but them.
Why is she still a little shy?
Jiang Nian remained rigidly seated on Xiao Yingzhu, his hands resting on his shoulders, half leaning against his neck. After a long moment, he slowly shifted his posture and muttered, "I remember there should be another Mo Qing here, right?"
"Um."
As Jiang Nian recovered and began to adjust his posture, Xiao Yingzhu held the scroll in his hand without moving at all. He even calmly folded the scroll so that he could see the next side.
"He won't come here."
After changing to a more comfortable position, Jiang Nian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Xiao Yingzhu smile sullenly for a moment, she raised her head with some dissatisfaction: "Then it's still here, right?"
"Are you afraid of being seen by him?"
Looking up at Xiao Yingzhu's interested gaze, Jiang Nian was silent for a moment, then said speechlessly, "Only someone as thick-skinned as you wouldn't mind, right?"
Xiao Yingzhu didn't care that Jiang Nian was harping on the issue of winning or losing. It was as if everything depended on her. After a moment, she continued, "Well, we still need to practice."
“…”
I feel like if I continue talking to Xiao Yingzhu, all the words will be meaningless.
Jiang Nian turned his head speechlessly and looked down at the scroll in his hand.
The content on the scroll was still boring and incomprehensible. Jiang Nian felt tired after reading it for a while.
After holding the same position for a long time, Jiang Nian wanted to move again. She looked up and saw Xiao Yingzhu reading intently. She pointed at the scroll and asked sincerely, "What's on it? Aren't you tired?"
Xiao Yingzhu's eyes moved away from the lines of vertical text and fell on Jiang Nian's sincere eyes. She smiled softly: "Yeah. Not sleepy."
"?"
Jiang Nian kept pointing his fingertips at the scroll, looking at the really unattractive text with a bit of disbelief, then raised his eyes to look at Xiao Yingzhu's eyes which were slowly filled with a smile, and his slow brain suddenly started to work.
"!Who are you--"
......
She just said that she was too nervous to sleep, so Xiao Yingzhu saw her getting sleepy while reading in the carriage and wanted to use this method to make her fall asleep?
It's outrageous. But it's not impossible.
Jiang Nian, feeling that she had been seen through again, became a little unhappy for a moment. She turned away from his hand holding the scroll and raised her foot to reach the stone floor, but a hand came around her waist and rested on her body lightly.
Although he didn't use much strength, Jiang Nian still leaned back under the shoulder of the person behind him and sat there with his body hunched over.
Her whole body was surrounded by the faint fragrance from him. Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment before realizing that Xiao Yingzhu had finished washing up at some point, but she still had the clothes she brought back from outside.
She was about to open her mouth to explain, but Xiao Yingzhu seemed to have anticipated what she would say and said directly: "It's okay, I don't mind."
"?"
The words he was about to say were blocked in his mouth. Jiang Nian closed his mouth with a bit of disinterest, relaxed his slightly tense nerves, leaned completely on Xiao Yingzhu, and played with his black hair that fell in front of his shoulders.
The moonlight outside the window became more and more obvious, while the candlelight next to it became dimmer.
The cold fingers that touched my cheek in the afternoon had warmed up at some point, and my whole body was warm.
The candlelight softened the colors in the room. Jiang Nian closed her eyes gently, listening to the white noise of the rustling treetops coming in from outside the window. She rested her head on the shoulder behind her, which made her feel relaxed, and listened to the beating heart of someone she didn't know, and her tense heartstrings completely relaxed.
In the darkness, he would still feel a little worried occasionally, but when he opened his eyes, he saw Xiao Yingzhu still maintaining the same posture, looking at the obscure scroll, and he felt relieved instantly. He just wanted to keep this moment forever.
Sometimes, Jiang Nian would think of one thing.
That is, Xiao Yingzhu knows what she needs.
No matter when, where, or at what moment, they clearly have nothing that can closely connect them, but they can sense each other's thoughts and synchronize each other's heartbeats.
Whenever she felt a little bored and anxious, Xiao Yingzhu would use his own unique method to resolve her tangled emotions, pull out the threads, and clearly unfold the difficult-to-solve answers in her heart in front of her, giving her a dose of reassurance.
very nice.
I can meet Xiao Yingzhu.
These heart-pounding feelings, these feelings of security, were things she had never felt before when she traveled to this era.
Although they seem to be unrelated people, they can always resonate with each other at certain moments.
How strange.
Jiang Nian twirled Xiao Yingzhu's beautifully groomed black hair in his hands, lost in thought.
Although they did not express their feelings through many words, nor did they do all kinds of sticky actions like other couples, they could sense each other's deepest thoughts, and they seemed to be in perfect harmony with each other and filled each other's gaps.
“…”
Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes and looked at Jiang Nian for a moment, then asked calmly, "What are you laughing at?"
Jiang Nian shook his head slightly and asked another question.
"How long will it take to deal with the matter that will be faced later?"
How long will we be apart?
Even though this matter hasn't even started yet, she is already thinking about the next time they meet.
Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes and looked at Jiang Nian's fair face for a moment, without answering directly. After a moment, he said, "It depends on the will of His Majesty."
"..." Jiang Nian pulled his black hair out of his fingertips, smoothed out the slightly curled hair, and said with a smile: "Even the Duke can't guess the emperor's thoughts?"
The other party put the scroll down and said calmly, "Well, that counts."
"Does it count?"
This time, Jiang Nian really didn't understand what Xiao Yingzhu meant by this reply. She turned her head and accidentally brushed her lips against his chin. Subconsciously, she raised her hand and pressed it on her lips. Then, she embarrassedly turned away from Xiao Yingzhu and said sullenly, "I don't understand what you mean."
"Whatever you call it."
The other party looked at her for a while, as if he was choosing his words, and seemed to be hesitating whether he should say this. Under Jiang Nian's silent urging, he looked away and explained:
"As for you...I can't make a clear estimate."
"After all, there are too many things I want to think about, and it's hard to calm down and make a judgment."
The moonlight cast by the window onto the table was shattered by the swaying of the treetops, revealing star-like points of light. Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, and inexplicably felt his cheeks getting hot.
Emotion leads to chaos.
Is this what you mean?
But Xiao Yingzhu broke it down so much that she didn't react at all and didn't know how to respond.
Jiang Nian closed her eyes, unable to think of any suitable reply - at this moment, the words she was always good at speaking were all frozen and difficult to use, so she had to prove herself with actions.
All these chaotic thoughts were gone in just one second. Jiang Nian suddenly relaxed his brows, smiled lightly, put his arm around Xiao Yingzhu's neck, raised his head, and kissed him on the cheek.
Feeling the body beneath him getting hot, Jiang Nian launched a sneak attack and quickly broke free from his arms. He stood in front of Xiao Yingzhu, waved his hand hurriedly, and ran out of the study.
—
My heart is beating a little too fast.
It obviously didn't take long to walk from the desk to the study door, but when Jiang Nianlai opened the door and stepped onto the corridor, he suddenly realized that his heart was beating too fast.
He paused, looked back at the study shrouded in moonlight, and then looked at the swaying shadows of the trees in front.
Xiao Yingzhu did not follow.
Obviously, he is younger in age, but he always behaves like an older man.
Jiang Nian raised his hand absentmindedly and rubbed his slightly hot cheek, then he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk along the corridor outside the study.
The autumn wind in the capital is warm, not as strong as that in Cang County, nor as wet as that in Pingzhou.
The beating of his heart in his chest gradually calmed down. Jiang Nian put down his hand on his chest and turned around to look at the study over there again.
“…”
If possible, I still hope that the future journey will be smooth.
She didn't want anything to go wrong midway.
Calming down the turmoil under the chess game has consumed too much of her energy.
After finishing this series of things, it would be better to find a place to rest.
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