Chapter 21 Thoughts

Shen Yan lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes hiding his embarrassment, and when he raised his eyes again, he was as clear and distant as usual.

He nodded slightly: "I saw it."

Ning Yuan didn't expect him to admit it so frankly, and all the accusations she had rehearsed in her mind were choked in her throat.

She was not a person who was good at quarreling, and what she hated most was that others did not play by the rules.

Now it's good.

She could have stood on the moral high ground, but now she couldn't say a word.

She could only stare at him fiercely, and was a little angry for a while.

He saw it like this?

If she met her true love in the future, she would cry every time she thought of tonight.

Shen Yan saw the girl's eyes were red for no reason, and hurriedly explained: "I only took a look, and didn't look carefully."

Ning Yuan suddenly widened her eyes and opened her mouth several times: "... You, you still don't think you are not careful enough?"

After that, her slightly red eyes were immediately filled with tears.

She knew that Shen Yan was a hypocritical pervert!

So annoying, she misunderstood again.

He really only took a look, not as long as in the dream.

But for some reason, the impact of this look was much greater than the dream.

She seemed to have passed through a layer of fuzzy and hazy light in the dream, like a dream.

But just now it was clearly visible.

He even remembered the small mole under her butterfly bone.

"...I have absolutely no such intention." He frowned and said, "Don't cry, don't worry, now that I have seen you, I will marry you."

Ning Yuan felt even more sad after hearing this.

Did he do everything just to make her marry him wholeheartedly?

She pursed her red lips tightly, and tears condensed on her thick eyelashes, "pa pa" hitting her soft white cheeks.

...Why did she cry even harder?

He didn't do anything to her, but he accidentally saw her body.

He had promised to be responsible for her, so why was she still crying?

Forget it, although it was not intentional, it was still his offense.

Coax her.

If you want to coax someone, you have to cater to their preferences, and Ning Yuan regards money as his life.

He considered: "Miss Ning, I can give you money."

Ning Yuan's tears stopped abruptly.

She took great effort to hold back her tears, raised her hand to wipe the tear marks on her face, and looked at him in surprise.

Seeing that this trick really worked, Shen Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that enough?"

Shen Yan took out a stack of banknotes and handed them over together with the five taels of silver he promised to ask for for her.

The girl's thin shoulders trembled, and her usually pure eyes were stained with a bit of anger.

She slammed the window, and her soft voice was stained with anger, burning through the window paper.

"Shen Yan, what do you take me for?!"

A prostitute who can be visited and played with at will for some silver?

The wind from the closed window blew away several banknotes. Shen Yan was stunned on the eaves, not wanting to care about them.

He always felt that the pleasures of luxury and debauchery came too easily, and he not only disdained them, but even hated them, so he had never set foot in any of the Qin and Chu mansions.

Although he somewhat disliked Ning Yuan, he would definitely not think of her like this.

"...I'm sorry." He whispered outside the window.

The girl in the room did not respond to his apology, but instead placed a wooden board across the diagonal of the window.

Such a cold and hard attitude seemed to urge him to leave.

Shen Yan was even more upset.

He regretted that he had just lost his mind and had not thought deeply about his words.

If he was a talkative person on weekdays, he would not have made her misunderstand him because of his simple words.

He even wondered, why couldn't she hear his voice?

He returned to the room with an unhappy look on his face, but saw a porcelain bowl on the desk.

It was slightly cool porridge.

Ming Jue came up with a playful smile.

"Sir, who do you think sent this?"

"I'll scare you to death if I tell you, it was sent by Miss Ning's personal maid, and Miss Ning cooked it herself! She said that drinking it can nourish the stomach!"

"...But when did you have stomach discomfort?"

Shen Yan ignored him, just sat in front of the desk and tasted her porridge in small sips.

The fine grains melted on his lips and tongue, with just the right taste, the heat and the proportions were all perfect, and it was obvious that it was not something that a noble lady who had never touched water could make.

It seemed that she did a lot of such chores on a daily basis.

At the same time, he also understood why he still ran into Ning Yuan who was applying medicine alone after calculating the time.

She thought he was more important than herself.

He pursed his lips, feeling a little guilty.

He was definitely not a lustful person.

Most of the girls from noble families were pampered, and there were many with fair skin and beautiful looks. Although Ning Yuan was born exceptionally outstanding, he did not judge people by appearance, and naturally would not like her just because she was beautiful.

He also didn't understand why he was embarrassed because of her again and again.

Maybe he could hear her voice, so he felt her shame, and he would also be at a loss.

Mingjue watched his master drink a whole bowl of porridge expressionlessly.

You know, his master is quite self-disciplined and never adds extra food casually.

His wife thought of her son's hard work and often sent him some food late at night. He never touched it and gave it all to him.

Now he was waiting by the side because he thought the master would give him food as usual.

After all, when the porridge was brought, the fragrance went straight into his nose.

But now the bowl was empty, not a drop left.

*

It suddenly rained heavily at night. Ning Yuan was still angry. She tossed and turned on the bed while listening to the sound of rain. She

didn't know why, but she always felt that something was missing from the bed, but she couldn't remember what it was.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but she was woken up by the maid beside Ming Wei.

"Miss, the lady wants you to go to her place."

She glanced at the window, and it was still dark outside.

"Why are you looking for me so late? Wait until tomorrow."

The maid was still pushing her.

"Miss, it's already noon, but it's especially dark because of the rain."

Ning Yuan suddenly opened her eyes.

Is it already noon?

According to etiquette, she should get up.

Otherwise, Mingwei would go to her father to make trouble, crying and shouting that she was disrespectful to her mother.

Ning Yuan was too sleepy, so she simply dressed up and followed the maid to Mingwei's room.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw a room full of people.

Some were sitting, some were kneeling, it was so lively.

What was going on...

Ning Yuan's confused mind became a little clearer, and he felt that the newcomers were not friendly.

"Ning Yuan, why don't you kneel down!" A sharp scolding came from the seat.

Mingwei changed her usual timidity in front of her father, holding a handkerchief and pointing at her.

"My daughter doesn't know what she did wrong, why should she kneel?"

Compared with her harsh words, Ning Yuan's voice was as soft as ever, but neither humble nor arrogant.

Her clear eyes swept around.

Duke Ning and Ning Ze followed His Majesty to the countryside to visit the people, leaving only the female family members and Pei Zixing, Shen Yan and others who were investigating the theater case in the guest inn.

Except for Ning Li and Ming Wei, those standing in the house were all servants who had signed death indentures, and a few servants from the guest inn.

One of them had been beaten with a stick, and her hair was disheveled, so she couldn't see her face.

With such a big fight, I'm afraid Ming Wei is well prepared today and vowed to have a big fight with her.

Let's meet her moves... She took a deep breath.

Ming Wei snorted coldly: "Don't you know what's wrong? You had an affair with a man outside, ruined the family reputation, and lost your father's face, and you actually said you don't know what's wrong?"

... Having an affair?

Ning Yuan frowned.

She had been getting closer to Shen Yan these days, but it was far from being an affair!

"I didn't!"

She was about to explain, but she couldn't help but think of the humiliation she had in front of Shen Yan.

Self-proof is useless.

She clenched her palms and said calmly: "Everything must be based on evidence. Mother, please don't just talk about me. Who is the one who had an affair with me? Do you have any evidence?"

Mingwei looked to the side and saw a maid with a strange face saying: "Madam, I accidentally saw the young lady and the inn boy pulling and tugging, and they were very intimate. It should be... him."

She pointed at the boy who had been beaten and was dying.

It was simply ridiculous.

Ning Yuan pursed her lips and said in a steady voice: "Absolutely not! If mother believes the slander of others, then I should go to father and tell him that you have already been in love with someone else, and you are staying in the mansion now just for the protection of the title!"

"You!" Ming Wei rarely saw her sharp-tongued, "I think you will not give up until you reach the Yellow River!"

"Show her the evidence!"

The maid hurried to her with a tray.

Ning Yuan took a closer look and found that it was the clothes of the waiter in the inn that she borrowed that day and some small change.

... No wonder she always felt that something was missing last night.

It turned out that someone sneaked into her room while she was away and took away these clothes.

"The boy has confessed the truth. You seduced him with your body and then gave him money to keep his mouth shut. This piece of clothing was found in your room! It is covered with dust and grass. I guess you two must have made love in some secluded grass field. And there are water stains on the sleeves... Tsk, Ning Yuan, you are really very capable now!"

Ning Yuan really admired Ming Wei's imagination.

She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to explain.

If she told him everything that Shen Yan had brought her to see and hear, she would misunderstand his important events in the previous dynasty.

But if she said nothing... would she have to take the blame?

She pursed her lips and said firmly, "I am the daughter of the Duke's Mansion after all, and my fiancé is a rare talent. Even if I have an affair, I should find someone who is more handsome and talented than my fiancé?"

"Why would I take such a big risk and have an affair with an unknown person?"

The hall was silent for a while, and Ming Wei was speechless.

Unexpectedly, the servant who had cheated her of five taels of silver stood out tremblingly.

"This lady may have done this more than once or twice... Some days ago, someone stepped on her window frame and some paint was removed. Look at the footprints, it was a man. I found them when I was sweeping the house, and he even used silver to gag me."

"If you don't believe me, you can go to this lady's room and see if there are any traces of repainting..."

After a while, the person who investigated came back and said in ecstasy: "Even the newly repainted paint was rubbed off! No wonder the second lady heard something vaguely last night... Whether she saw it or not, whether she gave money or not."

Ning Yuan narrowed her eyes slightly.

The clues seemed to weave an invisible web, coherent and tight. She didn't know when she stepped into this false lie specially woven for her.

But she happened to have a witness.

Pei Zixing stood at her door last night without taking a step forward.

He witnessed Shen Yan coming through the window and damaging the paint on her window frame.

She and Shen Yan had already made an engagement, so it was understandable for them to meet in private. With his testimony, the rumors would be self-defeating.

She calmed herself down and said, "The one who met me in private was not some inn servant, but Lord Shen. General Pei can testify to this. If mother doesn't believe me, please ask them both to come over and we'll know after asking them."

Shen Yan was stubborn and might not admit it.

But Pei Zixing is an upright and good man, he will not let others wrong him.

Who knew Ming Wei only sneered: "For such a scandal, you still want to invite two adults? Aren't you afraid that you are embarrassed enough?"

"According to the family law of our ancestors, you should be drowned in a pond!"

"Come on, tie her up for me!"

Ning Yuan stared at Ming Wei and suddenly realized something.

She didn't care whether she had an affair with someone or not, she just wanted to find a proper excuse to get rid of this thorn in her side!

"Who dares! If you deal with me so easily, aren't you afraid that my father will come back and call you to account!"

The person who wanted to come up hesitated for a moment.

"What are you doing? Get started! Don't you know how the master treats her in the mansion? I'll take care of everything!"

Everyone woke up as if from a dream, and then rushed forward.

At the same time, Shen Yan, who was sleeping, suddenly woke up in a panic.

This time, he still had a dream about Ning Yuan.

But it was a nightmare.

It seemed to be... Chenshi in the dream.

"Mingjue, what time is it?" he asked hoarsely.

"My lord, it's only Yinshi, it's still early for dawn."

Was it a predictive dream?

He felt uneasy and got off the bed, intending to remind Ning Yuan to be careful of her stepmother making trouble in broad daylight.

Who knew that when he walked to Ning Yuan's room, he saw the door wide open.

His tall figure flashed barely noticeable, and he ignored the formalities, bypassed the outer room, and went straight to her bedroom.

Still no one was there.

He understood immediately.

The so-called "Chen Shi" that woke Ning Yuan up in the dream was just a trick to trick her into going over.

They just wanted to deal with her before dawn.

His dream was not a prediction, but a voice in his heart, everything that had already happened.