Chapter 196:
Thinking of that night, Xie Wanning’s smile faded somewhat. Lu Ziyan told her that Pei Yuxuan and Pei Lin were both fine, but Pei Er had died.
He also told her that Pei Lin herself had been involved in the matter.
Xie Wanning could not forget the scene of those maidservants being raped, and she hated even more the mastermind behind it all.
She withdrew her thoughts and asked the person beside her, “By the way, were your injuries serious that night?”
Ming Feng paused, then answered: “Minor injury only.”
Minor injury?
“Really?” They had just reached the courtyard entrance. Xie Wanning stopped and tilted her head to look at him, smiling: “I saw that those Jin People’s martial arts were all very high.”
She remembered that day on the boat, he seemed to be somewhat exhausted, giving Jin Wuji the opportunity to escape.
Ming Feng did not reply again, merely giving a soft hum.
He seemed extremely taciturn.
They had already reached the door, but Xie Wanning showed no intention of going in. Instead, she stood at the main courtyard entrance, looking up at him.
As a trusted general who had followed Lu Ziyan since childhood, Ming Feng’s temperament was very much like his—equally aloof, equally terse, and even their appearances had some similarities upon close inspection.
After thinking for a moment, she said: “That night you protected me with your life. I should thank you.”
Her sudden thanks clearly startled Ming Feng, and his gaze turned toward her.
Meeting his gaze, Xie Wanning continued: “If not for you, I might have also ended up as…”
“No,” Ming Feng interrupted: “You were not harmed.”
Though still terse, Xie Wanning understood his words.
Her eyebrows lifted slightly. Just as she was about to say something more, she saw the man before her raise his eyes to look straight ahead, his posture instantly straightening: “Greetings, Prince!”
Lu Ziyan did not know when he had appeared at the study door, gazing over from across the long courtyard.
The distance was too great; with Xie Wanning’s eyesight, she could not make out the expression on his face, but the person beside her was different.
Ming Feng unobtrusively stepped back two paces to the side, handing the item in his hand to the approaching maidservant, then bowed and took his leave.
Xie Wanning blinked, seemingly oblivious to the frozen atmosphere around them, and calmly stepped into the courtyard.
Ignoring the stiffly standing man, she headed straight back to her room. As she brushed past him, her wrist was firmly seized.
“What do you mean?” Lu Ziyan lifted her chin, asking, “What does Wanwan want to do?”
He could tell she was deliberately putting on this show in front of him.
“What could I want to do?” Xie Wanning pursed her lips and smiled: “I just find him quite interesting.”
“Oh?” He leaned in closer, seemingly extremely curious: “Where is he interesting?”
The servants in the courtyard had vanished at some point, nightfall gradually descending, cold winds blowing relentlessly against them. They stood under the eaves, eyes locked.
She did not answer for a long time. His slender fingers involuntarily tightened. Lu Ziyan asked in a low voice, “Tell me, where is he interesting?”
Xie Wanning stopped smiling. With a stern face, she said: “Don’t you think Ming Feng and Ming Jian resemble Er Qing and Er Xia from my past life?”
Hearing those long-forgotten names mentioned again, Lu Ziyan’s expression froze for a moment.
“Didn’t you say you’d do everything according to my wishes?” Xie Wanning continued: “Then let Ming Feng follow me as my personal guard. How about that?”
“No!” Without thinking, he flatly refused, scooping her up horizontally in his arms and entering the study.
“Why not?” Xie Wanning nestled in his arms, persistently saying: “These past two days with him by my side, I’ve found him quite handy.”
Lu Ziyan sat her on his lap, looking at her with a grim face: “You don’t need a personal guard.”
“But Ming Feng has strong martial arts and is reliable. That night he protected me and we escaped Hot Spring Mountain… mmph…”
Her lips were kissed, the rest of her words silenced. She could only glare at him with her eyes.
After kissing for a while, Lu Ziyan continued ravaging her lips while mumbling indistinctly: “If you dare provoke me again, we’ll continue right here.”
Xie Wanning had achieved her goal and very sensibly stopped while ahead.
But though she stopped speaking, Lu Ziyan was unrelenting. Forehead to forehead, eyes to eyes, he reminded her word by word: “He saved you on my orders. The reliable one is me.”
Xie Wanning: “…”
“Did you hear me?”
Xie Wanning gave a soft hum.
Lu Ziyan’s expression softened somewhat, and he added: “Don’t provoke me again.”
Xie Wanning fell silent, then nodded again before his gaze could darken.
“Er Xia…” Mentioning this name, Lu Ziyan’s voice immediately grew hoarse: “I was wrong about Er Xia, but I never found her interesting. And you shouldn’t find Ming Feng interesting either.”
Xie Wanning’s lip corner twitched, gaining a deeper understanding of this man’s jealousy.
After thinking, she asked him: “Is Ming Feng married?”
Then, the face of the man before her visibly darkened: “Showing curiosity about another man right in front of me—what exactly are you trying to do, Wanwan?”
“I don’t want to do anything. Don’t misunderstand,” Xie Wanning sighed lightly, alluding meaningfully: “I’m not like you, gnawing at the grass by the nest, taking your wife’s maidservant as a concubine.”
Hearing this, Lu Ziyan’s already ashen face stiffened, looking even more unsightly.
In the dream, he had personally seen this young lady standing outside that door, the affection in her eyes dissipating bit by bit.
He tightened his arms, holding the girl in his embrace closer, and said in a low voice: “I’m sorry.”
Perhaps her mindset had changed. He had apologized so many times before without her reaction, but this time she was stunned for a moment.
“For hurting your heart, I’m sorry,” Lu Ziyan said in a low voice. “We’ll be good from now on. I promise I won’t look at another woman, only you, lifetime after lifetime.”
Xie Wanning’s lip corner twitched sharply; for a moment, she found these sweet words too frightening.
She could not escape in this lifetime, let alone lifetime after lifetime…
But she could not say such words.
In fact, these past few days, she had not dared mention Pei Yuqing again.
She also knew that his idea of “being good” presupposed Pei Yuqing’s complete disappearance.
This was a dead end.
Perhaps only her leaving could break the deadlock.
………..
The next day, when Xie Wanning went out again, Ming Feng was indeed gone. Even Ming Jian did not come; only a few guards followed behind.
Another day passed like this. Xie Wanning’s plans had gradually taken shape. Calculating the days, to avoid prolonged delays, it was best to leave sooner rather than later.
That afternoon, she returned a bit early and happened to run into Lu Ziyan, who had finished his official duties and come looking for her.
Seeing her return, he first glanced at the sky, then smiled at her: “Rare for you not to stay out until dark today.”
With that, he took her wrist and headed straight for the stables: “I’ll take you somewhere.”
Xie Wanning was pulled along by him, asking curiously: “Where to?”
“There’s a natural hot spring in the back mountain. A few days ago when you came, I had someone build a pool. It’s already done.”
With the current cold weather, even bathing required haste to avoid the water cooling. Soaking in a hot spring had no such worry.
He lifted her onto the horse and wrapped her tightly in a cloak. The horse’s hooves trampled the early winter snow, galloping out of the residence.
The two rode swiftly through the long street, onto the mountain forest path, and across the desolate wilderness.
Finally, as dusk fell, they stopped.
Xie Wanning had been held securely in his arms the whole way, feeling warm all over and not cold at all. After dismounting, she stomped her feet.
Before them was a somewhat crude hot spring pool—no jade steps, no inlaid pearls, yet warm as spring with immortal mists swirling. The surroundings were merely stacked with a few stone bricks; it was even open-air, with hardly any man-made traces.
Xie Wanning found it very novel and trotted toward the hot spring billowing with steam.
She looked around and asked the person behind her: “No one will come, right?”
“The area within ten li is all my private land,” Lu Ziyan said: “No one will come without my permission.”
He pointed to the tent set up not far away and smiled: “How about we sleep here tonight?”
As he spoke, he reached out to undo her cape.
At this point, Xie Wanning still had not realized his intentions until his hand went to her waist and quickly removed her outer garment. Startled, she covered her chest with both hands and retreated two steps: “What are you doing!”
“Why so alarmed, Wanwan?” Lu Ziyan tilted his head and smiled at her, saying slowly: “What could I possibly do to you.”
His smile was extremely charming, seemingly harmless, but Xie Wanning understood his meaning. Her face instantly flushed red, and she said loudly: “No! This is not a place for fooling around!”
