Chapter 174 Feeling Jealous
Jiang Mi, who had been very sleepy, became much more energetic after seeing Huo Ran. She was no longer sleepy and listened to the sound of horses' hooves outside. She imagined Huo Ran walking beside the carriage, personally escorting her, and her heart was filled with sweetness.
"If you're sleepy, take a nap. Don't worry, I'm here for you."
Huo Ran's deep voice came from outside, which reassured Jiang Mi a lot.
"You must be tired after traveling for so long. It's late and the dew is heavy outside. Why don't you come in and rest for a while?" Jiang Mi wasn't being coy, but if her mother knew, she would probably get scolded. However, at the moment, she was only worried about Huo Ran's health and didn't think about anything else.
"Isn't this against the rules?" Huo Ran said hesitantly, but he was very tempted. It wasn't because he was tired or cold outside, but because he wanted to see the girl he hadn't seen in a long time.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mi said no more. She quietly opened the carriage curtain and glanced outside. The man's resolute face was close at hand. Perhaps because of the cold wind, Huo Ran's nose was slightly red. As if he had noticed something, he suddenly turned his head to look inside the carriage.
Jiang Mi was so startled that she quickly pulled down the curtain and sat back down guiltily. Her heart was pounding. Had Huo Ran noticed her peeking at him? He shouldn't have, right?
A soft laugh came from outside, and Jiang Mi's face flushed instantly. Had the person outside discovered her?
So what if he found out? She's shameless and doesn't care if he laughs at her. He just secretly looked at her, so what can he do to her?
The carriage traveled for a while before stopping. Jiang Mi curiously lifted the curtain and peeked out, only to see Huo Ran dismount. Across the street was an inn. It turned out that they had arrived in their town. It was still a short distance from her restaurant, and she could return early the next morning.
"Miss Jiang, come down. We've arrived. Are you satisfied with this place?"
Huo Ran personally called her to get off the carriage, and Jiang Mi jumped down easily. It was really cold outside. Although it wasn't very warm inside either, Zhao Decai had prepared thick blankets in the carriage, so Jiang Mi was quite warm sitting inside. However, as soon as she came out, she was shivering from the cold.
"I'm satisfied, thank you for coming to see me off, Young Master Huo. Are you going home tonight? Or will you stay at the inn with me?"
Jiang Mi asked about Huo Ran's house in Hongyang Village. She had never been there before, only seen it from afar, and had no idea what it looked like inside.
"No, I'll stay here too. The journey hasn't been peaceful. After all, the end of the year is approaching, and I don't know how many of those bandits have escaped. What will you, a weak woman, do if they come looking for you?"
Huo Ran had thought things through thoroughly and had several rooms booked. His room was next to Jiang Mi's, so he could hear any noise from Jiang Mi's side.
It was already past midnight, and Jiang Mi was too lazy to wash up. She went straight to bed and fell asleep. She had been on edge all day and was exhausted.
Hearing the even breathing sounds coming from the room, Huo Ran felt relieved and returned to the room next door.
Inside the room stood several of his bodyguards who had been left to protect Jiang Mi.
"How have you been, Miss Jiang? Has anything happened while I was away?"
The two exchanged a glance and said, "Nothing's wrong. The Jiang family has been staying at the restaurant and hasn't gone far. They haven't even had time to go back to their hometown. Apart from the government searching for the escaped bandits, the whole of Shushan County is quite peaceful."
Huo Ran nodded and continued watching them.
The two looked puzzled. They had said everything they needed to say, but their master was still staring at them, and they had no idea what it meant.
Liu Min, who was behind Huo Ran, coughed and said, "Is that all? For example, what did Miss Jiang do, or who did she get close to, how many customers were in the restaurant, etc. Tell us everything you can."
The two men exchanged bewildered glances. Had they gone to such lengths? They were only concerned with protecting Miss Jiang's safety; they wouldn't have paid attention to such details. To even inquire about how many customers were coming to the restaurant—was this really protecting someone? Was this spying on them?
However, seeing their master's serious expression, they naturally dared not question him and could only obediently answer, "Well... the weather has been getting colder lately, and there are fewer customers coming to eat than before, but there are still quite a few poor families coming to warm themselves. Everyone is very grateful to Jiang Family Restaurant, and the restaurant's wine sales have been good recently, so Miss Jiang has also earned a lot of money..."
When the two of them said these words, they both felt something was off. They were clearly highly skilled bodyguards, but now they sounded like gossipy women, which was really too strange.
"Anything else?" Huo Ran took a sip of water and asked casually.
"Anything else?" Disbelief was evident in both of their eyes. They'd even mentioned cats and dogs; what else could it be? What exactly did their master want to hear?
Liu Min lowered his voice and reminded her, "Um... didn't the restaurant recently hire a young man who brews wine? How's he doing at the restaurant? Is he diligent? Has he displeased Miss Jiang?"
Upon hearing this, the two men looked puzzled. They had always been focused on Miss Jiang; who would care about a young man brewing wine? Fortunately, having served as bodyguards for a long time, they were used to being observant and had some information.
"He is quite a diligent young man. He rarely speaks, but he works hard. The wine he brews is also very good. Many customers in the restaurant like to drink it. He has never offended Miss Jiang. On the contrary, he is very much favored by Miss Jiang."
Huo Ran's face turned pale upon hearing this, showing no sign of the joy they had expected. The two men panicked, wondering if they had said something wrong. But they were telling the truth, and all of this proved that Miss Jiang was doing well. Why was their master unhappy?
"Is that so?" Huo Ran sneered, his eyes darting around as if he were thinking something, but it was clear he wasn't up to any good.
Liu Min gave a wink, signaling the two men to leave. Seeing that Huo Ran looked unwell, Liu Min carefully poured him some tea and said, "Master, if you really like this Miss Jiang, why don't you just take her into your household? Why bother coming here every few days? Besides, the Emperor has many things for you to do, and you don't have that much time to travel back and forth."
Huo Ran's expression turned serious: "No, do you think she's the kind of person who would be willing to be someone's concubine?"
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