Chapter 81

The continuous rain brought a hint of earthy scent into the air.

That little booklet, hidden by Jing Lian day and night, accompanying him through countless storms and tempests, after being missing for half a year, ended up in the hands of his master.

His cold, cynical, and unsympathetic master.

Jing Lian felt numb.

He knew his fate was sealed.

The yellowed and worn-out pages looked extremely fragile in the man’s hands.

His fair and slender fingers silently turned one page after another.

Jing Lian was very familiar with his treasure, he even remembered the page his master looked at a bit longer, and what was written on it.

It was the result of his burst of inspiration, and he was very satisfied and excited when he wrote it.

He even remembered that it was a rainy day.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, where the master and Sang Yao finally met.

Amidst the bustling crowd, the master, unwilling to attract attention, entered the banquet through a side door.

Sang Yao stood there along the way.

She was dressed in a yellow and pink dress, her face fair, her black hair partially tied up, the palace lights shining on her, stunningly beautiful.

Although there was no one beside Sang Yao at the time, it was obvious that many people in the banquet were secretly looking at her.

Jing Lian was following behind Xie Yun, his eyes almost popping out.

But his wooden master remained unaffected, as if he hadn’t seen her at all.

When they reached Sang Yao’s side, and she blocked their way, his master impatiently said to this beautiful lady, “Excuse me.”

Sang Yao turned to look at his master, and the two of them had a rare eye contact.

The girl’s clear eyes were filled with surprise, while his master remained unchanged with his cold face.

No one understood his feelings.

He was so nervous at the time that he almost fainted, feeling like that eye contact was earth-shattering, wishing he could move a bed here! But the fact was, after a moment of daze, Sang Yao simply stepped aside and made way for Xie Yun.

His master walked past Sang Yao without glancing sideways.

That night, he stayed up late, passionately writing down this story of the drunken revelry at the banquet.

He firmly believed that behind his master’s icy demeanor, there must be a wild heart.

So he depicted a scene where the master drank too much and impulsively confessed to Sang Yao, and the two of them took the opportunity to express their love for each other and secretly decided to spend their lives together in the palace.

That day, he was so excited that he even drew two little people kissing behind.

The pages turned again.

Sang Yao was still sitting on the chair, looking up at Xie Yun’s handsome face, smiling, “Doesn’t it look familiar?” Xie Yun’s voice showed no emotion, “The handwriting does look familiar.”

Sang Yao stood up, she stood beside Xie Yun, naturally wrapped her arm around his, leaned her cheek against his, and together they looked at this shameless little booklet.

She pointed at the two little people kissing and said, “Xie Yun, your drawing skills are really bad.”

“You’ve made us look so ugly.”

Jing Lian’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat.

Xie Yun looked at Sang Yao and asked, “When did you get this?”

Seeing that Xie Yun wasn’t embarrassed at all, Sang Yao admired him even more in her heart.

She honestly replied, “A long time ago.”

“When you came to the Ministry of Justice.” She recalled the scene that day, the smile on her face faded a bit, and then she complained to him, “You were really fierce back then, I was almost scared to death.”

“You even told me to leave.”

“Since you like me, you shouldn’t have been so harsh on me. How could I have feelings for you then?”

Xie Yun said quietly, “I didn’t tell you to leave.”

Sang Yao snorted, “Anyway, no matter how harsh you were, I soon knew you secretly admired me. Xie Yun, you’re really good at pretending. If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have noticed at all.”

Xie Yun closed the booklet.

Everything suddenly became traceable.

The girl beside him was still very close, with a faint fragrance lingering around her.

After sorting out all this, many things became clearer.

Including why this girl, whom he had hardly seen before, suddenly glared at him at the palace banquet.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Sang Yao’s actions from the beginning until now did have an explanation.

Sneaking glances at him, coming to him for help, those seemingly affectionate behaviors were not because she was trying to seduce him, nor because she already liked him.

It was because of this worn-out booklet in his hands.

Xie Yun’s complexion was not looking good at all.

Sang Yao hadn’t noticed anything wrong yet, she said, “It’s okay, I won’t laugh at you.”

From the beginning until now, it had been more than half a year.

The girl’s wrist in his hand was smooth, her face was filled with a smile, if it were in the past, Xie Yun would have unhesitatingly told her that he couldn’t have written such things.

But now, he couldn’t say it anymore.

If it was a misunderstanding, then this misunderstanding had no room for reversal anymore, whether it was true or false didn’t matter.

Jing Lian didn’t know that his master had already made up his mind.

At this moment, time seemed to stretch infinitely in his eyes.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he couldn’t face his master and the young lady anymore, he wished he could slap himself right then and there.

He had no idea what pivotal role his little booklet played between these two people.

All he knew was that his habit of imagining his master as different characters in his mind from time to time had been discovered.

His foul language.

That alone would have been bad enough, but the booklet also contained many of his personal feelings.

Such as cursing Xie Yun as a despicable dog and inhuman.

He increasingly felt that Xie Yun’s gaze towards him was as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Jing Lian made up his mind and couldn’t bear it anymore.

Just as Xie Yun put down the booklet and was about to respond to the girl’s expectant gaze, Jing Lian suddenly knelt down on the steps.

Xie Yun furrowed his brows. Jing Lian, with lightning speed, spoke before Xie Yun could: “I wrote this booklet! I deserve to die! Please punish me, Master, Madam!”

Xie Yun:

He tightened his lips and said softly, “Did I ask you to speak?”

Actually, if Jing Lian had just looked up, based on his understanding of Xie Yun, he would have roughly understood what Xie Yun meant.

But at this moment, he was deeply enveloped in shame and self-loathing, his mind was blank, and he kept his head down.

Not only did he not look up, he didn’t even hear Xie Yun’s implicit meaning.

He continued to explain to Sang Yao, “Madam, I wrote this little booklet during my leisure time, thinking that you and Master are a perfect match, just to pass the time.”

“When I went to the Ministry of Justice last time, I don’t know how it got left there. But rest assured, Madam, Master had absolutely no improper thoughts about you at that time. It was all my mistake!”

Sang Yao was stunned, looking at Jing Lian who was kneeling straight in front of her, her expression somewhat blank.

She looked at Xie Yun again, but Xie Yun, still holding her hand, didn’t let go.

Xie Yun didn’t want to lower his head and look at the guy who caused more harm than good.

He had never argued for someone else’s crime in his life, such arguments were just humiliating for himself.

Moreover, Sang Yao would definitely suspect something, and arguing back and forth was pointless.

But in this situation, he still said softly, “I wrote it.”

There was a hint of threat in his tone, but Jing Lian’s head was hot at the moment, and he didn’t realize it at all.

He naturally thought that Xie Yun was still being cryptic with him.

Feeling even more desperate, he gritted his teeth and continued to keep his head down, “Master, please punish me!”

“Madam, I wrote this booklet! Once you verify the handwriting, you’ll know that the content inside is all my speculation. Master has been completely innocent towards you, not only that…”

Jing Lian clenched his fists, knowing that things had come to this point, he had to show sincerity, admit his mistake, and prioritize saving his own life.

He continued, “And… there are two more books!” Xie Yun pressed his lips together, looking at Jing Lian in silence.

After Jing Lian finished speaking, he stole a glance at Xie Yun.

Ha ha, just say it.

This time it’s really over.

The way his master was looking at him now was no different from how he would look at dead people in the past.

It turned out admitting mistakes so quickly was useless.

Actually, he had a total of eight such booklets.

The one Xie Yun was holding was his favorite.

Now that he admitted it, he lost three treasures in one go, and he was still doomed.

His life was really bitter.

Sang Yao didn’t react as quickly as Xie Yun.

She was a bit confused by Jing Lian now because she had never encountered other comics in the Flower Street Embroidery Studio where Xie Yun was the protagonist, so she had never considered the possibility that someone else wrote this thing.

She blinked her eyes and, before she could sort everything out, reached a conclusion.

The booklet wasn’t written by Xie Yun.

So Xie Yun didn’t like her.

She looked at Jing Lian kneeling on the ground, hesitating several times.

In fact, Jing Lian had already made it clear, she just felt a bit strange.

Like it was a joke.

So after being stunned for a while, she just said, “Get up quickly.”

Xie Yun said, “Let him kneel.”

He would come to deal with this waste later.

And Jing Lian remained silent, bowing his head.

He was still seething with hatred.

He truly was at fault.

He shouldn’t have speculated randomly about Master and Madam and even turned it into a booklet.

But subconsciously, he still thought to himself, how could his kind-hearted and ethereal Madam fall for his master, this cold and indifferent person?

“Thank you for your concern, Madam. Let me continue kneeling.”

Xie Yun said, “The rain is getting heavier. Let’s go inside first.”

Xie Yun wrapped his arm around Sang Yao’s shoulder and pushed open the door with her.

Sang Yao looked back at Jing Lian, grabbed Xie Yun’s sleeve, and despite her chaotic thoughts, said, “Let him go.”

Only then did Xie Yun turn to look at Jing Lian. His voice sounded especially cold amidst the rain: “Didn’t you hear?”

Jing Lian, who had calmed down somewhat by now, dared not resist and slowly stood up, saying nervously, “… Thank you, Madam.”

“Thank you, Master.”

After Jing Lian left nervously, the door of the room creaked shut.

Xie Yun still held her waist, and the two were very close to each other.

Xie Yun didn’t seem to consider this a big deal. He casually tossed the booklet aside and asked her, “Does it still hurt?”

Sang Yao shook her head. “No.”

Because Xie Yun had intentionally taken care of her, her injury wasn’t very serious to begin with.

After he applied the medicine, the morning passed, and apart from feeling a bit sore in her leg, there was nothing unusual.

Xie Yun looked at the pile of account books on the table, pulled Sang Yao into his arms, kissed her lips passionately, and then casually asked her, “Are you looking at the shops on your street?”

Sang Yao murmured in agreement.

There were actually a few places she didn’t quite understand, and she originally wanted to ask Xie Yun about them, but now she couldn’t bring it up.

Xie Yun licked her lips as she spoke, and soon her rosy lips were glistening with moisture.

Sang Yao’s hand was around Xie Yun’s neck, responding skillfully to his kisses. But she couldn’t be as natural as before.

If what Jing Lian said was true.

That meant, from start to finish, all of this was just a misunderstanding.

So she must have made a lot of jokes in front of Xie Yun.

A lot.

Even until just now, she had embarrassed herself in front of him.

Sang Yao couldn’t laugh because she knew it wasn’t just that. If it was a misunderstanding, then all her assumptions about Xie Yun liking her before couldn’t stand.

That meant, when Xie Yun said he married her because of pressure from his family, it wasn’t an excuse, it was true.

She was already used to Xie Yun’s kisses and remembered how he used to love □ her tongue when kissing.

Sang Yao was a clingy person herself, but Xie Yun seemed to crave physical contact even more than her. Before, she thought it was normal because Xie Yun liked her.

But now.

Why was that?

Sang Yao didn’t know. In fact, compared to embarrassing herself in front of Xie Yun several times, what she cared more about was that Xie Yun’s liking her turned out to be fake.