Chapter 14 Chapter 14 (revised) Are you curious?
Occasionally, there were two or three palace maids walking on the palace road. Nan Xu didn't want to say much. Seeing that Li Zhan just frowned, she wanted to lead the two maids around from the side, but Li Zhan leaned forward to stop her.
"Whether you blame me or hate me, we've known each other for a while. Is it wrong for me to care about you?"
His voice was low, and there seemed to be a piece of charcoal fire suppressed in his throat. Nan Xu looked at him strangely, feeling a little puzzled.
"You think too much." She said lightly, and saw a few dark red marks on the inside of his half-covered collar with her peripheral vision, and her contempt grew in her heart.
What she hated most in her life was people who were eating from their bowls but looking at the pot.
"Li Zhan, you don't have to be so hypocritical here. I don't need you, your concern, or your kindness." She felt that some things needed to be made clear. "I made it very clear that night on Fengyu Bridge. You go your way, and I go mine. We owe nothing to each other, and we won't have any dealings with each other. You're a sensible person, so don't do anything foolish."
After saying that, Nan Xu no longer hesitated and turned around to leave. She was familiar with this palace, so if he wanted to stop her, let him stop her. She just had to not take this road!
She left without any regrets, but Li Zhan was a little panicked.
He hurriedly spoke to persuade her to stay, "The day before yesterday, my father sent a letter home, in which he mentioned things about Shu." Seeing Nan Xu slow down, Li Zhan was slightly pleased, "Ah Xu, you can ask me anything you want to know."
He stood there confident of victory, waiting for the woman who had stopped in front of him to turn around. If she came over, he would tell her everything he knew...
"hehe!"
The woman with her back to him sneered twice, then walked forward in his expectation, without even giving him a single unnecessary glance.
"Nanxu!"
His voice echoed for a long time within the towering palace walls around him, but no one responded.
He stood there, gazing blankly at the deserted palace passage, until someone approached and said, "Sir, the princess asked me to ask you, are you satisfied?"
Satisfied? She had someone tell him everything that happened in the Dowager's Palace, wasn't it just to get him to come find Nan Xu?
This was torturing him, making his heart be cut into pieces over and over again until he was completely disheartened.
*
"Madam, didn't you promise the Concubine Dowager to ask about His Royal Highness Prince Yi? Since Lord Li...the Prince Consort is willing to talk, why don't we listen?" Yuxiang almost bit her tongue in her haste to change the subject.
The new road was far from the palace gate and more remote. Seeing fewer and fewer people, Yuxiang could no longer bear it.
She was simple-minded and didn't notice that Nan Xu was unhappy.
Seeing that Nan Xu didn't want to talk, Yu Ming quickly pushed Yu Xiang and said, "You're too tactless. This is the palace. If someone hadn't told the Prince Consort, how would he know that our Madam is harboring feelings for His Royal Highness the Prince of Yi? Even if someone saw Madam and the Prince Consort meeting in private, who knows what rumors would spread."
Nan Xu looked at Yu Ming with admiration. This was indeed partly the reason.
More importantly, she didn't want to have too much to do with Li Zhan, let alone owe him a favor.
Besides, if she wanted to know about the affairs in Shu, she didn't have to ask only him. She could also ask her cheap husband Duan Huaizhou.
Huaizhou…
Alas-
Nan Xu clicked her tongue, feeling somewhat ashamed of her own pretentious behavior at the palace gate.
Nan Xu couldn't help but quicken her pace as she was thinking about something.
As they were about to leave the palace, the carriage of the Bo Mansion was right in front of them, but they were told that Duan Wenpei had been kept in Chongzheng Hall by the emperor and could not leave the palace for a while.
Liu Hui said that Duan Wenpei asked her to go back first, but Nan Xu declined.
It was getting late, and there was only one car to go out of the house today. She would have to wait until she returned to the uncle's house and ask someone to harness the car to come. She didn't know when they would arrive. Anyway, she had nothing to do, so it was okay for her to sit in the car and wait for him.
Liu Hui had no choice but to obey her, and he felt more and more respect for the new mistress of the Bo Mansion.
We waited until the lights came on and the night market was bustling.
Nan Xu was in a daze when she realized someone was looking at her. She suddenly opened her eyes and met the man's dark eyes.
Why was he looking at her like that? Nan Xu was still a little dazed when she woke up. She saw that he was only looking at her face. Could there be something on her face?
She reached out and touched her cheek, but there was nothing there. She continued to touch her nose, upper lip, and corner of her mouth. Her hand suddenly stopped, and Nan Xu hurriedly raised her arms to cover her face.
Why is she drooling!
Nan Xu felt very depressed because he always saw her when she was not so decent.
Duan Wenpei looked at the furry hair moving back and forth in front of his eyes like a chicken pecking at rice, and the corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably.
The light in the carriage was not very good, and he couldn't see what the crystal was at first. When he wanted to take a closer look, Nan Xu had already started to tidy up.
The more she cleaned up, the messier it became. Nan Xu could feel the person next to her looking at her again. She raised her head reluctantly and glared back.
Look, look, she didn't believe that he didn't drool while sleeping.
The light and shadow swayed with the carriage, and the woman's stubborn eyes swayed with it, adding a bit of cuteness to her brightness.
It just happened to ignite the desolate wilderness deep in his heart. Duan Wenpei restrained himself and turned his head, looking out the window absentmindedly. "I told you to go back, why are you waiting in the car?"
Nan Xu followed suit, lifted the carriage curtain and peeked out, answering nonchalantly, "On the first day of my wedding, if I go back alone, Nanny Jiang will nag me again."
Duan Wenpei thought for a moment before remembering Nanny Jiang. He couldn't help but laugh, "You dare to shoot me with the crossbow given by the emperor, and you're still afraid of Nanny's nagging?"
Nan Xu retorted, "How can that be the same? Mammy was just nagging me for my own good, and I shot you just to protect myself."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Nan Xu felt a little regretful, secretly annoyed at herself for speaking too quickly and saying everything she was thinking.
It would have been better if he hadn't said it. After he said it, Duan Wenpei felt a tingling sensation on his shoulder blade, and the arrow wound that had already healed began to ache slightly.
He hummed softly, unable to tell whether he was happy or angry.
Nan Xu knew she had spoken out of turn and awkwardly changed the subject, "Your Majesty, did you keep Lord Bo in the palace for so long? Was it because of the last assassination attempt?"
As he spoke, he did not forget to pay attention to the changes in the expression of the person beside him, hoping to get a glimpse of it. However, the person's deep face did not fluctuate at all, and he hummed lightly as if in a trance.
Nan Xu was a little depressed. Why did he become so taciturn again?
If he didn't ask for clarification, he would always be worried. Nan Xu could only support his chin and continue, "Do you have any conclusion? Are those assassins really sent from Shu? How does His Majesty plan to deal with them?"
Her slender fingers tapped her cheeks intermittently. She tried her best to make her questions seem reasonable and not too purposeful.
Duan Wenpei saw it all, but pretended not to know. After a while, he asked, "Are you curious?"
Nan Xu nodded hurriedly. She was more than just curious. She wanted to know whether the situation was as serious as the Concubine Dowager worried. If something really happened, the Marquis' Mansion and the Concubine Dowager could think of some countermeasures in advance.
"After all, my uncle and I are husband and wife. We share our success and failure. How can I feel at ease when it comes to my uncle's safety?" These words had been spinning in my mind for a long time, and I said them without any burden. She looked at me with her bright eyes, her face full of sincerity. The evening breeze lifted the curtains of the car, and the lights of thousands of houses added a bit of hazy beauty.
Duan Wenpei was momentarily distracted. It was rare to hear such affectionate words, even if they were not true.
He retracted his gaze and spoke in a slower tone, "There's no conclusion to be drawn. The clues were lost before entering Shu. Li Junji's journey west is doomed to be in vain. Your Majesty kept me here for other matters."
Nan Xu raised her eyebrows, somewhat unconvinced, "Really?" Where did Li Zhan get the confidence to block her on the palace road in broad daylight and tell her that she could ask him anything she wanted to know.
"If you don't believe me, why are you asking me?" Perhaps it was because he had been meditating for too long during the day and the carriage was a bit stuffy, Duan Wenpei stretched out his long legs, changed into a comfortable position, leaned back in the carriage, closed his eyes and dozed off, a few short words squeezed out of his throat, low and hoarse.
His body stretched out, his pomegranate-red clothes perfectly outlining his broad shoulders and muscular waist. Nan Xu recalled the feeling of his skin, tight as her fingertips had touched it last night, and her face flushed involuntarily. She asked, "If I don't ask my own husband, should I ask someone else?"
She spoke with confidence, as if she was not the one who had just doubted the truthfulness of Duan Wenpei's words.
The carriage turned past Yuzhenfang and left the busy city. What responded to her was not only the silence outside, but also the silence of the people around her.
After waiting for a long time without any response from him, Nan Xu felt bored and simply assumed that he was asleep. Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, she opened the car curtain and leaned against the window to look out.
The weeping willows by the Yu River swayed their waists, gently caressing the stone railings with various carvings. The river breeze blew on her face, and suddenly all the dryness disappeared, and Nan Xu breathed freely.
Sure enough, I can be more relaxed when I'm not with him.
Until the not-so-familiar building came into view, Liu Hui's voice came, and we arrived at the Bo Mansion.
Nan Xu lowered the curtain, turned around and sat up straight, waiting for Duan Wenpei, the lord of a prefecture, to get off the car first. Unexpectedly, he remained motionless, even his breathing did not change.
She tugged at his sleeve and said, "Uncle, get off the car."
No one answered him, so Nan Xu leaned forward and said, "Duan Wenpei, wake up!"
Just as she was about to continue shouting, a faint light flashed through the darkness, and when she looked up, her eyes met his.
Nan Xu was slightly startled and quickly stood up to keep some distance. She was busy tidying up her hair that was messed up by the wind. The person next to her had already elegantly straightened the corner of his wrinkled clothes and was ready to get off the car.
The figure in front of her swayed, and Nan Xu was about to stand up when he heard his low voice in her ear, "You can also ask Li Zhan."
The curtains were drooping, and the small carriage seemed a little empty because there was no one inside.
Nan Xu looked at the outstretched hand and didn't react for a long time. Was this a response to what she had just said?
Does it also mean that the news of Li Zhan stopping her on the palace road has reached his ears?
Through the curtain of the car, the tall figure disappeared into the mansion gate, with no intention of waiting for her, as if the words just now had never happened.
Nan Xu shook her head. Why think so much? Now that she knew King Yi was fine, she no longer needed to worry about Duan Wenpei's feelings.
He helped Yuming get out of the car, and asked the servants who came to serve him to take in the rewards from the palace. Nan Xu and Duan Wenpei went in opposite directions and returned to the westernmost courtyard.
*
A strong wind blew at night, blowing the bamboo outside the window all over the place. The howling wind and the rustling of bamboo leaves were scary.
Nan Xu woke up with a start and saw the bamboo shadows twisting wildly, the candlelight swaying gently, and a half-opened book at hand. She had actually fallen asleep while reading.
Just then, Nanny Jiang came in and brought a half-grown maid to answer the question.
It is said that Liu Hui sent someone to apologize, and Duan Wenpei is staying in the study tonight and will not come.
The candle had burned halfway, Nan Xu covered her lips with her hand and yawned, indicating that she understood, and asked someone to extinguish the candle and go to bed.
She hadn't been waiting for him, but she couldn't resist Nanny Jiang's repeated persuasion. It was still early, so she took a book and pretended to be waiting.
Now that no one is coming, it suits her just fine.
After sending the maid away, Yuming and Yuxiang came forward to serve, and Nanny Jiang also came forward leisurely to help.
"Madam, this is only the second day of our wedding. If this gets out..."
"Mammy!" Nan Xu interrupted her, somewhat helplessly. "This is the Earl's Mansion. Who dares to criticize the master? Besides, didn't you hear me say that he had some business to attend to and didn't want to disturb my sleep by coming too late, so he slept in the study. This is also a consideration for his newlywed wife."
After saying this, she blushed at the right moment and added awkwardly, "My uncle treated me very well last night. Madam, you've been through this before, so you should let me rest for a while."
These words really worked. Nanny Jiang had no choice but to smile and shut up. Before leaving, she did not forget to tuck in the corner of Nan Xu's quilt.
After closing the door and watching the candlelight in the inner room gradually go out, Nanny Jiang glanced to the east and turned to go to the kitchen.
During the day, she took advantage of her free time to inquire about her brother-in-law's preferences.
At this time, she has to help the lady win over the heart of her son-in-law!
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