Chapter 65 Even a secluded house can shelter you from the wind and rain
"Young Miss." He stepped forward, hesitating to speak.
Jiang Zhi stepped back, saying, "Lord Shen, please have some self-respect."
Her voice remained cold, and even her way of addressing her had changed, as if they were two complete strangers.
A sudden, inexplicable panic rose in Shen Ci'an's heart. "Why have you been avoiding me?"
Jiang Zhi merely gave a self-deprecating smile. "It was Lord Shen who said not to contact you again, so naturally I dare not cling to you anymore, lest you think I have ulterior motives towards you and want to climb the social ladder."
"I have never thought of you that way. You helped me a lot back in the Jiang family. How could I be such an ungrateful person?"
Jiang Zhi asked, "What brings Lord Shen to my Chuntang Garden?"
Seeing that she was completely unyielding, Shen Ci'an couldn't help but sigh with a headache, and took out a key from his sleeve and handed it to her.
"This is the key to the Shen Mansion that His Majesty bestowed upon me. If Miss Jiang ever finds herself without a place in the Jiang family in the future, the Shen Mansion can still provide you with shelter from the wind and rain."
He excused himself to go back to Zhizhixuan to retrieve some items, but he came here specifically to give this item to her.
Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes.
Long, slender, and fair fingers gripped a brass key; the knuckles were slightly white, devoid of any color.
Jiang Zhi simply shook her head. "I have no relation to Lord Shen, and it would be improper for me to do so. Please take it back."
After saying that, he ignored Shen Ci'an's expression and turned to close the courtyard gate.
Shen Ci'an's outstretched hand remained outstretched for a long time.
"Miss, it seems that Lord Shen has been standing outside for a long time," Qingxing said worriedly, glancing out the window.
“He can stand if he wants; he doesn’t need to report to me.”
"Miss, it seems to be raining outside," Qingxing said after a while.
Jiang Zhi glared at Qing Xing. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Qingxing smiled and said, "Young Master has no parents. If he goes back like this, he will surely catch a cold. Miss, have you forgotten how you brought down his fever when he had a high fever and fell into a coma?"
Jiang Zhi naturally remembered.
But that's precisely why she can't swallow her anger.
She was just using calligraphy as an excuse to get close to him, wasn't she? Why say such things about her?
She had never put so much effort into a man before, and her attempt to win him over was a huge disappointment.
"Miss, the rain is getting heavier."
Jiang Zhi was annoyed and irritable by Qing Xing.
"Alright, go and call in the two men guarding outside."
A moment later, the door was knocked open, and two women in black entered respectfully. "What are your orders, Miss?"
"I remember you two are called Ruying and Anyue? I ask you, besides sending you to protect me, has the Crown Prince given you any other orders?"
Ruying and Anyue exchanged a glance and shook their heads. "No."
"Then will you report my daily whereabouts and what I do to him?" Jiang Zhi asked again.
Ru Ying said, "No, the Crown Prince instructed that as long as it does not endanger Miss Jiang's life, we can decide for ourselves whether or not to report it."
Jiang Zhi tilted her head and smiled, "Then you won't tell anyone about what happened today, will you?"
"This..." The two hesitated.
The Crown Prince clearly values Miss Jiang highly. Other matters are not important, but how can we not report to the Crown Prince that a man is loitering outside Miss Jiang's door late at night?
Seeing their expressions, Jiang Zhi's face immediately turned cold.
“I don’t need spies to monitor me day and night. If you insist on doing so, you don’t need to come here tomorrow.”
She still felt she needed to bring things to the forefront.
Otherwise, with so much to do in the future, how can I possibly hide from them every single day?
Ruying and Anyue were startled and knelt down repeatedly. "The duty of the guards is to protect our master. If our master doesn't need us, then we have no reason to live."
“Your master is the Crown Prince, not me,” Jiang Zhi insisted. “If you don’t go back, I will go to the Crown Prince myself.”
"No, no, no, the Crown Prince said that we follow you, so you are our master."
Seeing their worried expressions, Jiang Zhi softened her tone, "We're in a cooperative relationship. You protect me, and I won't run around and add to your workload. I just want you to be selective in what you report. Turning a blind eye to some things is better for everyone."
While the two guards were still hesitating, Jiang Zhi's face darkened. "If you insist on reporting this, I won't make things difficult for you. But from now on, I'll have to be wary of you and avoid doing anything with you."
The two recalled that when they went out during the day, Miss Jiang disappeared from the silk shop in the blink of an eye. They searched anxiously for a long time and almost had to go back to the East Palace to confess their dereliction of duty to the Crown Prince.
In the end, it was Miss Jiang herself who showed up from Shuyu Tower, which saved their lives.
If this happens a few more times, they'll be scared to death before the Crown Prince even takes their lives.
Dark Moon was the first to speak, "Yes, we will definitely consult you first in the future, and we will report to the Crown Prince only after you give your approval."
Ruying was still hesitating when An Yue glanced at her and advised, "The Crown Prince has already told us to treat Miss Jiang as our master. A bodyguard who doesn't gain his master's trust is no different from a dead man. What are you still hesitating about?"
Ruying bit her lip and hesitated for a long time before finally giving in as if she had made up her mind. "Alright, I will follow Miss Jiang's orders from now on, just like An Yue."
Jiang Zhi then smiled with narrowed eyes, helped the two up, and had Qingxing give each of them a bowl of prepared ginger soup before they went out to continue guarding.
Jiang Zhi took the oil-paper umbrella, pushed open the door, and walked out of the courtyard. She saw that Shen Ci'an was indeed still standing under the same tree.
She couldn't help but sigh.
“If you fall into a coma again with a high fever, I will not save you like I did last time.”
Shen Ci'an's clothes were soaked through, the thin fabric clinging to his body and outlining his slender frame, like a green bamboo that had been through the rain, with a strong and resilient spirit.
"I know." His voice was as soft as a sigh. Rain dripped from between his dark eyelashes, but he didn't look disheveled. Instead, he looked like a fragile piece of jade.
“If you catch a cold at my doorstep, Father will blame me again,” Jiang Zhi complained. “Never mind, Master, you should come in to avoid the rain and have some ginger soup.”
After saying that, he opened his umbrella and went back to the courtyard.
Shen Ci'an squeezed the key he had been holding in his hand and followed.
Even after entering the courtyard, Shen Ci'an remained politely standing under the eaves outside the house and did not go inside.
Jiang Zhi asked Qing Xing to get him a clean cloth to wipe the water droplets from his face, and then gave him some prepared ginger soup to drink.
"If you catch a cold again, don't blame me," Jiang Zhi said.
Shen Ci'an coughed lightly a few times, pressing his fist to his lips. "It's nothing, just a little rain."
Jiang Zhi frowned.
You're coughing and you still say it's nothing?
"Qingxing, go and fetch some charcoal so that Lord Shen can dry his outer garment before he leaves," she instructed.
Qingxing accepted the order and went to carry it out.
Shen Ci'an subtly curled his lips without revealing his true feelings.
"Thank you for your trouble, Miss."
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