“The key is not to lie to yourself.”

Sang Yao pursed her lips, looking disheartened, and fell silent.

See, she said it’s so absurd. Even if she says it, her sister doesn’t believe her.

Although she also felt that this matter was unbelievable, it happened like this, and she wasn’t lying.

There was a hint of worry on Sang Shu’s face as well.

Originally, she wanted to take this opportunity to discuss her sister’s marriage with Sang Yao. However, now that her sister was so infatuated with Xie Yun, bringing up the topic of marrying someone else would only add fuel to the fire. She felt embarrassed to speak up.

But she only had this one sister. If her sister really became obsessed with Xie Yun and couldn’t let go, then as her older sister, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her sister love someone she couldn’t have.

The problem was, it was Xie Yun.

It seemed that this matter would take time to resolve. She would have to plan carefully.

Meanwhile, Sang Yao suddenly remembered something. The things in this manual were obviously meticulously recorded and carried with her. Now that Xie Yun had accidentally dropped it, would he be in a hurry to come back and pick it up?

The two sisters were lost in their own thoughts for a while, looking at each other in silence.

In fact, Sang Yao had guessed right, but it wasn’t Xie Yun who was in a hurry—it was Jing Lian, who was by his side.

After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Jing Lian followed his master back to the mansion.

Inside the spacious and stable carriage, Xie Yun, who had been busy with the recent case in Qingzhou and hadn’t slept for a long time, was resting with his eyes closed. A gentle breeze lifted the curtains, dispersing the lingering tea fragrance.

Jing Lian raised his hand and silently pressed down the corner of the curtain that was lifted by the wind.

“When I was discussing matters with Sang Yin, were you standing outside the door?” The man suddenly spoke, still with his eyes closed, his tone as cold as ever.

Jing Lian remained composed. Knowing that since Xie Yun asked this, he already had an idea of his whereabouts. He looked over and truthfully replied, “Master, I went to look for Miss Sang.”

After a pause, he added, “Miss Sang had been in the room for about half an hour. I didn’t know how much she heard, so I didn’t want to guess and just went to inform you.”

Xie Yun didn’t respond immediately. Just when Jing Lian thought the matter would pass like this, the man spoke slowly again, “Is that so.”

Jing Lian pursed his lips, his back slightly stiff.

“Master.”

Xie Yun lifted his eyelids to look at him, and Jing Lian lowered his head, not daring to say more.

It felt like waiting for judgment to come.

“This is not the first time.”

His palms were sweating, and the atmosphere was tense. He admitted in a low voice, “I won’t dare again.”

He didn’t know where he had gone wrong.

He was terrified. Over the years, he had always been cautious, never revealing his thoughts to others. The only thing left was that manual, but he always kept it with him, and it was impossible for others, especially his master, to see it. Yet even so, it had been discovered.

His master had always been cold-hearted and indifferent to matters of love. He had secretly imagined himself with a girl who was completely unrelated to him. This time, he was afraid that he would not escape punishment.

“Matters of love are the most boring. Instead of wasting time on that, you might as well think more about what I entrusted to you. If you neglect it because of this, then get out of here sooner.”

Jing Lian agreed and waited for his master to get angry, but it seemed that his master just let it go lightly.

He found that his master didn’t seem to be very angry. Could it be that a few words were enough?

He couldn’t help but continue to think happily,

Sure enough, his master had a special affection for Miss Sang. Look at him now, he was very sure. If it were another girl, he would definitely be in deep trouble today.

But his master didn’t seem angry at all.

What did this prove?

His master tacitly approved of his actions!

Wasn’t this clearly telling him that his master had feelings for Miss Sang?

“I was confused for a while. I will definitely…”

“I won’t do it again.”

Xie Yun absentmindedly grunted in agreement, then found it difficult to understand:

“Just a pretty fool, and she attracts you so much that you go to her repeatedly.”

Jing Lian was puzzled, “What do you mean, sir?”

“Even if you like her, this matter will have to wait three years to be discussed. If your feelings are mutual, we’ve been master and servant for many years.”

Xie Yun magnanimously said, “If she has an engagement in the next three years, I’ll take care of it for you.”

Jing Lian: “…”

He sat up straight, thinking this matter was extremely serious, and said earnestly, “Sir, you’ve misunderstood. I have no such intentions toward Miss Sang.”

“You don’t like her?”

Of course not, besides, Miss Sang likes you!

“I don’t like her.”

Xie Yun closed his eyes again, looking somewhat weary. He casually said, “Forget it, do as you wish.”

Jing Lian wanted to say more, but it seemed that his master didn’t want to discuss it anymore. The carriage returned to silence, and Jing Lian could only silently retreat, pursing his lips and sitting back in his seat.

It took him a while to recover from Xie Yun’s inexplicable speculation. He thought expressionlessly that it didn’t really matter. His master wasn’t one to meddle in such matters, and this kind of thing probably wasn’t as important to him as the weather today. In less than three days, his master would forget about it.

Thinking this, Jing Lian felt somewhat relieved.

It seemed that today had indeed been a false alarm. He was always cautious, and unless his master could read minds, there was no way he could have discovered their feelings.

As for the manual, it was even more impossible.

He cherished the manual dearly, habitually keeping it close to his chest every day. His joy and sense of security came from it. If it was accidentally seen on a normal day, he could easily pass it off as just some notes.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt something was wrong with his chest today, and subconsciously reached up to touch it.