Spring Courtyard Forbidden Pet

Coming out of Xiaobei Hall, Ye Zhen followed Li Xuan silently. He led them all the way to the small pond.

Compared to the lively time when Fang Jing was making things difficult for her and Liuxia, the scene seemed deserted at this moment.

Li Xuan stood still under the tree, with mottled light and shadows shining on his body, just like Ye Zhen's heart that had been hanging all the way, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

Li Xuan turned and looked at her, "Don't you like Qin Yu?"

Ye Zhen's heart skipped a beat. To others, Qin Yu had not offended her since they first met, but she knew that Liu An had set a trap in the peach forest, yet he still let Qin Yu pass by under the pretext of showing her the way.

The reasons she gave to Prince Yu could convince everyone except Li Xuan.

Ye Zhen clenched her fists as she smelled the rich sandalwood scent. She quickly made a choice between admitting and denying, "Second Master, why do you ask that? Miss Qin and I have never met before, so I can't say whether I like her or not."

Even when facing Prince Yu, she never felt guilty, but now her eyes stopped at Li Xuan'an's chest and she didn't dare to look up.

Thinking back to when he came out from Prince Yu's wet nurse's place, he was able to remind himself to take a detour in such a hurry. How could he not see her intention to kill someone with a borrowed knife?

After being reborn, Ye Zhen didn't care how others viewed her...but she just couldn't help but be considered by him as a vicious woman who was not worthy of his protection.

Li Xuan'an's eyes fell on the back of her neck where the medicine had been applied. Although it was not as red and swollen as before, it looked uncomfortable.

He suppressed his desire to touch the wound, and pursed his lips tightly, "Qin Yu met brother outside the manor. When brother learned that she was coming to perform a dance, he hurried to the Biqing Terrace."

"She has eyes like your eldest sister."

Ye Zhen didn't understand what he wanted to say, "Eldest sister is very calculating, but her eyes are not as attractive as hers."

She couldn't control herself and a hint of disgust appeared on her face.

"She didn't know your identity at first, and didn't intend to slander you. After the incident, my brother heard her description and realized it was you. A woman like Qin Yu is the best at observing people's expressions, and you and my brother just broke off the engagement..."

Not only was he not upset because Ye Zhen concealed the truth, he also patiently explained to her, "She wanted to take this opportunity to bite you, so as to repay her brother for saving the beauty, and also to leave a good impression in her brother's heart."

Ye Zhen sneered, "Birds of a feather."

Li Xuan laughed softly in his nose, and his face said "It's not that you don't like it".

He tilted his body slightly, trying to get a clear look at the back of her neck buried in her black hair, and found that a few strands of hair were stuck to her skin and refused to move.

The ointment was sticky and stained with hair, which would be more painful to clean. He reached out without thinking too much. His cool fingers touched Ye Zhen's slender neck, which was like a hot flame, and she turned pale with fright.

"Second Master..." Her voice trembled, "Respect yourself."

Li Xuan came back to his senses immediately, but only frowned slightly. His slender fingers were still calmly placed in front of her, and he even looked a little dissatisfied with her interruption.

"If your hair is stuck to the wound and you don't remove it in time, you may get another layer of skin peeled off."

"Come here." He called gently but firmly, but he leaned forward himself, his fingers touching her cheek and going around to the back of her neck.

Ye Zhen was like a little bug caught in a spider web, extremely nervous, yet she had to pretend to be calm.

The small jade stone on Li Xuan'an's collar was also stained with fresh sandalwood, and Ye Zhen shuddered when her forehead touched it.

Li Xuan tried his best not to touch her skin. He picked up the stuck hairs one by one. Two of them were stuck to the broken skin. His hot and moist breath sprinkled on the top of Ye Zhen's head. "I am abrupt. But there is no one here, don't worry."

The sudden politeness made Ye Zhen stunned for a moment. At this moment, she suddenly felt as if a bug was crawling across the wound, which caused a piercing pain for a moment, making her unable to care about other things.

"Alright." Li Xuan took two steps back, finally giving her some space to breathe again. "These two incidents at the Spring Festival Banquet have made both Prince Yu and his nurse lose interest. You need to return to the city as soon as possible to treat your wound."

"I'll ask Yun Zhui to bring you the medicine."

Ye Zhen wanted to say no, but then he continued, "By the way, bring some soothing things for your brother."

Ye Zhen swallowed her refusal.

Li Xu'an saw his eyelashes trembling slightly, and his lips were pursed into a straight line but he hesitated to speak, so he asked, "What's the matter?"

Ye Zhen twisted the handkerchief tightly between her fingers, "Second Master has taken good care of me. I know I shouldn't ask for anything more, but..."

She was a little embarrassed. "But could you please not always do this in public... with me..."

Li Xuan smiled warmly, the teardrop mole at the corner of his eyes was a sign of his preference for her, "What do you think about it?"

Isn’t this asking knowingly?

Li Xuan took out the handkerchief made by Xiao Yi from his bosom, wiped the sweat off his forehead calmly, and said suddenly, "Oh, Second Miss, are you referring to the time when I taught you how to draw lots?"

Ye Zhen's forced calmness immediately collapsed. Even though she knew there was no one around, she still turned her head and looked around, and urged in a low voice, "Quick, put it away!"

Li Xuan'an seemed to have not heard anything and continued the previous topic as if it was a matter of course, "Second Miss, you rarely go to the temple, right? Many people chase after the temple priest to ask for a good fortune and want him to teach them step by step."

Ye Zhen didn't believe it at first, but his serious look made her believe it.

Li Xuan continued to comfort her, "Second Miss, now that you have learned how to shake the lot, you won't need anyone to teach you next time."

Ye Zhen felt that he didn't understand what she meant, "But that was in the temple."

If you do this in front of so many young ladies today, the whole capital will be gossiping about it tomorrow.

Li Xuan'an raised his eyelids slightly, "Second Miss, you mean it's not appropriate to be on the farm, but more appropriate to be in the temple?"

Ye Zhen always felt that there was something wrong with this statement. Before she could speak, he nodded and said, "I understand."

Ye Zhen: What do you understand?

*

With Yun Zhui's help, Liu An really found the maid who delivered the letter to him. He originally thought that she was a servant girl on the farm because he remembered that the maid was wearing the uniform white skirt with pink flowers worn by the servants in Prince Yu's Mansion. However, he couldn't find her after searching for a while.

When Yun followed Liu An out, Li Xuan had already calculated the exact location. He took Liu An to the inner hall where the female family members rested. Liu An recognized the maid beside Fang Jing at a glance.

Fang Jing would naturally not admit it, and accused Liu An of helping Ye Zhen to avenge her. As time went by, the fact that Liu An set a trap to humiliate Ye Zhen and implicated Qin Yu was revealed again, and the female family members were horrified.

In the end, Liu An was taken into custody by Prince Yu, and the Minister of the Dali Temple was notified to come and pick up his son.

Everything was related to Ye Zhen. With a worried look on her face, Cui took Ye Zhen to apologize to Ruan. Fortunately, Ruan was not angry and even comforted Ye Zhen with a few words.

When they left, the palace maid helped Princess Pingyang Meng Qianru to go first. She glanced at Ye Zhen calmly and said, "The Second Master will protect you. Be careful with your words and actions in the future and don't bring trouble to the Second Master."

Ye Zhen bowed his head and knelt on the ground, "I will remember the county lord's teachings."

The hem of Meng Qianru's skirt stopped in front of Ye Zhen's forehead. The faint scent of crabapple made her inexplicably think of the crabapple tree behind Baoyue Tower in the west courtyard of the Marquis' Mansion.

"What's the use of writing it down? It's better if you can do it."

"It's not easy for the Second Master to practice, and he is very popular in the Great Zhou. He is very strict in his actions and words. It would be unfair if he was implicated by others."

Ye Zhen was speechless.

In front of so many people, Meng Qianru didn't even give her any face and was obviously very dissatisfied with what happened on the farm.

"This princess knows that the Second Miss is helpless, and what happened was not what you wanted." She stared down at Ye Zhen, her tone was the stern oppression of a superior, "But it is the Marquisate that owes you, not the Second Master."