Gift
Jiang Nian looked up at Xiao Yingzhu and said softly, "Haven't you made up your mind yet?"
A few nights ago, by the lotus pond, it was she who retreated timidly.
It was she who took the initiative today.
No matter if it was a trap planned by Xiao Yingzhu, or if he took the tangerine on his own initiative - a sign of willing degradation, once he took this step, it could no longer be undone.
Jiang Nian thought very clearly and calculated very clearly.
Since I missed an opportunity before, I will never miss it again this time.
All the hesitations in the past can be resolved right here.
After this, it's a brand new, wide road that no one has ever walked on.
—
Meng Zheng returned to his original resting place in the Princess's mansion and put back the diary volumes that he had shown to Jiang Nian.
The servants who had been serving him followed him closely, fearing that this pampered young master would get too angry and faint on the ground.
The bright moon at night was obscured by thick clouds. The rustling of falling leaves echoed on the treetops for a while, and then stopped after the birds stopped singing.
There was no light in the room. The candlelight in the servant's hand flickered, illuminating the dusty bookcase.
The diary was placed on the counter, raising fine dust. The discomfort of being unable to see or touch it made Meng Zheng frown.
"Why hasn't this place been cleaned?"
When he came to get it earlier, he instructed his servants to clean the place.
I didn't expect that it would still be like this when I came here a few days later.
He took the eldest princess's diaries back and read them for a few days, and only gave them to Jiang Nian after confirming that they were correct.
I didn't expect that before I could even finish the question, Xiao Yingzhu would come over and interfere...
"master."
"......master?"
The servant beside him called him softly and carefully. Meng Zheng came back to his senses and looked back sideways.
"explain."
Seeing that Meng Zheng was ready to listen, the attendant did not dare to neglect him.
"The emperor has decreed that the cleaning of this place is to be entrusted to the person personally appointed by the emperor. No one else is allowed to interfere."
Meng Zheng restrained his expression and paused for a moment at the attendant's expression. Noticing any falsehood, he asked half-doubtfully, "My father never told me about this. How did you know about this?"
The attendant bowed his head and said respectfully, "My Lord, this matter was conveyed by the chief steward of the palace in accordance with the decree of the Emperor. I dare not make any mistake."
The unpleasant dust in the air had not yet dissipated when Meng Zheng waved his hand and walked straight towards the door of the room.
Normally, the servants would not be replaced, and I couldn't sense any lies at this moment, so I guess it was what my father said.
Halfway through his walk, he turned around and asked, "Why didn't you tell me this directly?"
The attendant was ashamed: "I originally planned to report to the master in the afternoon, but I didn't expect that the master was not in the room."
Yes, when I went to find Jiang Nian in the afternoon, I didn’t expect Xiao Yingzhu to interfere, so it was delayed for a long time.
Meng Zheng remained silent, which was considered as his acceptance of the answer.
As the heavy pressure dissipated, the attendant hurriedly breathed a sigh of relief where Meng Zheng couldn't see him. Thinking of what Meng Zheng had asked him to check earlier, he hurried forward and asked:
"Master, what about Duke Xiao..."
If Duke Xiao was planning to rebel or add another wrinkle to this chaotic situation, they must immediately send someone back to the capital to report.
But the most bizarre thing is this. Yu He, who is always hard to fool and who wants to see the person alive or dead, actually took the initiative to let the unidentified Xi Zhen stay with him before finding out Xiao Yingzhu's background.
After several days of conversation, Meng Zheng didn't figure out much. As time passed, more and more new questions arose from the problems that had been solved before.
Worried that his master's intelligence lagged behind others, and seeing that his master was taking his time doing things, the servants naturally became anxious because they were concerned about these things.
Meng Zheng continued walking towards the rest area. When he heard the servant's words, his expression became slightly indifferent. After a moment, he replied, "It'll be fine."
His tone was firm and unyielding, as if he had received a certificate of trustworthiness and did not hesitate at all.
The servant was startled by this decisive answer and subconsciously asked, "Master, why?"
Realizing his own slip of the tongue, he quickly shut his mouth.
But Meng Zheng was thinking about his own affairs at the moment and did not dwell on these questions. He simply replied: "This king does not trust Xiao Yingzhu, but only trusts his management of benefits."
"He would never do something like this, killing one thousand enemies and injuring eight hundred of his own."
Otherwise, the resentful young man would not have endured humiliation and made various efforts to prove himself in front of Emperor Changde, in order to consolidate the status of the Xiao family's Duke's Mansion.
When the servant heard Meng Zheng's reply, he was speechless for a moment.
He was Meng Zheng's follower who had followed him throughout his life, so he naturally knew what happened after the Shenjiang Battle.
In all the conspiracy disputes and entanglements, he was a bystander and also a helper of Meng Zheng's side. Naturally, he knew much more information than others.
Because he knew very well how difficult it had been for Meng Zheng to get to this point, it was impossible for him to betray Meng Zheng.
Xiao Yingzhu and Meng Zheng have always been in a state of opposition, and he must prevent the Duke from making moves on Meng Zheng in secret.
Meng Zheng seemed to know what the servant was thinking. Before he pushed open the door, he reminded him: "We shouldn't get involved lightly in matters that have nothing to do with us, lest we get burned."
The attendant was startled when his thoughts were seen through, and cold sweat broke out on his back. After a while, he whispered, "Yes. Thank you for your reminder, Your Highness. I will definitely follow it and stay out of trouble."
“…”
Meng Zheng glanced at him, said nothing more, pushed open the door and walked into the house.
—
State Guesthouse.
Ai stood in front of Jiang Nian's door and knocked a few times, but heard no movement from inside.
She tilted her head in confusion and was about to put down the gift Qin Lan had prepared, but she heard a rustling sound not far behind her.
The dark figure paused for a moment, and was about to slip away silently, but the sharp edge reached where he wanted to go before he moved.
The hair was cut by the sharp blade and blown away by the strong wind in the corridor.
He saw his masked shadow on the sharp blade blocking his way.
Ai held the task assigned to her by Qin Lan in one hand, while hooking the sharp blade back, flashing behind him extremely quickly, and raised her hand to slash down fiercely.
All the movements were completed in just a few seconds. The man's speed and reaction were not as fast as hers, so he was at a disadvantage. When he came to his senses, he felt his vision was blurred, his vision went black, and he fainted on the floor.
As soon as a dull sound fell, Ai quickly pressed his toes against the man's abdomen to prevent any further noise and avoid attracting attention.
There was no one else around her, which reduced her task of killing and silencing the witness. Ai silently took out the rope she always carried with her and tied the man up, then turned around and jumped into the endless darkness.
—
Jiang Nian was still standing there waiting for Xiao Yingzhu's reply, but saw his expression suddenly change for a moment.
"?"
The cold look Xiao Yingzhu gave him in the afternoon had not yet resolved, so Jiang Nian naturally didn't want to let this person go. Seeing that he wanted to turn around and leave, he immediately blocked his way.
"where are you going?"
As if amused by Jiang Nian's slightly puzzled expression, he raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, laughed lightly, and reached out to gently hold her wrist.
"Someone just came. I just wanted to go and see the door."
...Unexpectedly easy to talk to.
Jiang Nian put his hand down and said softly, "I see. Is someone here to inquire?"
Their whereabouts were not revealed to outsiders. Even the manager who arranged the rooms did not know their identities and was only following the orders of the prefect.
Therefore, if you want to find out where they are, you can only search layer by layer.
But Xiao Yingzhu's mother's library is really remote, and few people come here on weekdays.
So once someone comes here, even a master will find it difficult to hide his figure and will easily be noticed by Xiao Yingzhu.
Jiang Nian remembered that he had covered up his traces when he came in, so he was not too worried that people outside the room would notice them.
She couldn't make out anything between the thick walls and the cracks in the door, and she didn't know how these martial artists could sense that someone was nearby.
Not knowing whether she should speak out at this moment, she had to observe Xiao Yingzhu's expression to analyze what was happening outside the house.
The surroundings were silent, as if Xiao Yingzhu had covered up their presence.
Although she knew that there were people with bad intentions outside the house, Jiang Nian always felt at ease because he subconsciously raised his hand to pull her closer to him.
It seemed that as long as Xiao Yingzhu was there, she would not be in any danger.
The jade pendant that I saw in Pingzhou before came into view again.
Jiang Nian remembered that Xiao Yingzhu was now hiding her real identity, so she reached out and touched it out of curiosity.
Because I was standing so close, I could smell the sharp fragrance of his clothes.
When her fingertips touched the warm jade pendant, the imagined delicate and cool feeling came along with the fragrance, making her hand retract involuntarily.
Feeling the change in the atmosphere around her, Jiang Nian suppressed her brief curiosity. Just as she was concentrating her attention to notice the movement, she looked up and met the eyes of Xiao Yingzhu, who was a head taller than her.
Xiao Yingzhu's gaze was as cold as usual, leaving little room for glimpsing his emotions, but in this brief eye contact, she noticed that his attitude seemed to soften.
With this kind of reaction, the person outside left.
Jiang Nian took a few steps back and put some distance between himself and Xiao Yingzhu.
She didn't ask who the person outside was, but directly avoided this life-threatening question and continued to ask for the answer she wanted to know.
"Xiao Yingzhu, have you made up your mind?"
The coolness she felt just now still lingered on her fingertips and hadn't faded away until now, becoming more and more obvious along with her increasingly rapid heartbeat.
Xiao Yingzhu's expression was indifferent, but his gaze became more profound.
He is weighing the pros and cons.
Compared to his urgency that night in the pavilion by the lotus pond, he now restrained the pressure he put on her and was gradually calculating the bargaining chips between both parties before cooperating in this "alliance".
If a favorable value is obtained, then even if the feelings between the "allies" are no longer so pure, have changed, become more ambiguous, and will break all the roads paved before, he is willing to join the game.
Jiang Nian's eyes were blazing, bright, and fell on his face with incredible clarity.
In this Huandu, few women who knew Xiao Yingzhu's identity dared to look at him so blatantly.
Those weak women would hide in the arms of the gentle and charming young man and act coquettishly, or use their looks to get some easy-to-get wealth.
Most of them sell their skills, but some also sell their bodies.
There were also those who were well-read and were teachers, famous teachers in the capital, or historians.
But few women are willing to give up everything they have and negotiate with those in power, trying to win a higher position and overturn the game.
Jiang Nian's thinking and behavior are completely different from those of the women in Huandu.
She simply exposed her special qualities unscrupulously, without any fear of being hurt by him. She could even find out what he was thinking and then use her sharp perspective to find a path for herself to pass and gain a better and more advantageous position for herself.
In the eyes of others, it is like a moth flying into a flame.
But if you know the strange thoughts and knowledge in her mind, you will know that all of this is what she has thought about and firmly chosen, and it will not harm her own path at all.
Only she can walk this path.
Now she was taking off all the masks, looking at him frankly, waiting for the ambiguous decision that would lead both of them into an unknown place.
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