Chapter 017: Fiery And Pure

Yan Lin didn’t expect the commotion from the Qingyuan Earl’s Mansion, and because Earl Qingyuan came to talk to him personally, he couldn’t get away until near dusk. He originally planned to go to Cengxiao Tower, but found the street blocked by soldiers. Upon inquiry, he learned that there had been an assassin targeting a court official at Cengxiao Tower, causing quite a panic.

He wanted to go in, but with Xie Wei inside, he didn’t dare to act rashly.

Fortunately, someone went to inform them, and Jiang Xuening was brought back.

“Ningning!” Seeing her come out, Yan Lin, in his anxiety, didn’t care if anyone was watching and grabbed her hand, looking her over from head to toe. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

Jiang Xuening, having just experienced a sudden and thrilling event, felt her legs a bit weak as she walked over, and couldn’t quite come to her senses upon seeing Yan Lin.

It wasn’t until he called her several times that she blinked and said, “I’m fine, just a scare.”

Although she appeared uninjured, her face was pale and her expression dazed, clearly showing she was frightened.

Yan Lin’s brows furrowed even tighter.

He held her hand, feeling how cold her fingers were, and his heart ached. He lowered his voice to comfort her, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here now. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have given face to those people at the Mansion, shouldn’t have let you wait for me at Cengxiao Tower, then you wouldn’t have encountered the assassin…”

Jiang Xuening wasn’t afraid of the assassin.

She was afraid of Xie Wei, the imperial tutor who seemed saintly to everyone else!

Recalling their earlier conversation full of hidden meanings, she realized that Xie Wei knew about her relationship with Yan Lin. When the report came, it only mentioned Yan Lin coming in, not a word about her. Yet Xie Wei directly looked at her and had Jian Shu escort her out.

She used to go out with Yan Lin disguised as a man, and it wasn’t widely known.

How did Xie Wei know?

Jiang Xuening thought of many possibilities, maybe from the Yongyi Marquis Mansion, or from her father Jiang Boyou. But to Xie Wei, it was clearly understood.

So, Xie Wei must have known in her previous life too.

Thus, his distant attitude towards her in the past life made sense: because she betrayed Yan Lin, indirectly harmed the Yongyi Marquis Mansion, and later even reused Zhou Yinzhi!

Feeling the warmth of Yan Lin’s palm, she seemed to sense his fiery heart. Looking up, she met his sincere and concerned eyes, and felt unworthy to look directly at him.

Because of her baseness.

Because of her hypocrisy.

Yan Lin was still worried about her: “You were frightened today, you should go home and rest early. Let’s skip the lantern festival. We’ll go together another time.”

He was about to lead her to the carriage.

Jiang Xuening felt a pang of bitterness, and instead pulled his hand, saying, “No, I want to go.”

She held back her tears, smiled at him to reassure him that she was fine.

Yan Lin just looked at her quietly.

After a long while, he smiled too: “As you wish!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward, wrapped his arm around her waist, and lifted her onto the horse!

Jiang Xuening couldn’t react in time.

Her eyes widened, and she couldn’t control herself, letting out a low exclamation, “Yan Lin!”

Yan Lin laughed heartily, not explaining anything. He helped her onto the saddle, sat behind her, grabbed the reins with one hand, and swung the whip with the other, half encircling her in his arms as they rode off!

The horse galloped away.

The cool autumn wind whipped against their faces and blew into their clothes. The sparse pedestrians and the buildings on both sides of the street quickly passed by in a blur.

Jiang Xuening’s back was tightly pressed against the broad chest of the young man. All she could hear was the wind and his joyful laughter behind her, her heart pounding even more fiercely than when she encountered the assassin and Xie Wei earlier.

It took her a while to recover.

She couldn’t help but say, “Are you crazy?”

Yan Lin’s laughter shook his entire chest, full of delight, “Yes, I am.”

Jiang Xuening was exasperated.

Yan Lin knew she was scared, but instead of slowing down, he urged the horse to go even faster, asking her, “Are you still scared now?”

Jiang Xuening thought she was about to die of fright and was about to retort.

But she paused.

Indeed.

The moment he lifted her onto the horse and they sped down the street, everything that had happened at Cengxiao Tower became a blank, completely forgotten. Jiang Xuening realized this and didn’t know whether to be touched or to continue scolding him.

But when she got off the horse, her legs almost gave out.

After he helped her stand, she saw him shrugging his shoulders and laughing secretly. In a fit of anger, she clenched her fist and punched him, “Still laughing? Try it again!”

As a girl, her punches didn’t hurt at all.

Yan Lin, who had spent most of his childhood in the military camp, was well-trained in martial arts and wasn’t afraid of her punches.

He just stood there, letting her hit him.

Then he clutched his chest, pretending to be in pain, “Ouch, ouch, it hurts, it really hurts!”

Jiang Xuening glared at him and decided not to hit him anymore.

Everyone knew he wasn’t hurt. The chest of a young martial artist was hard, and hitting him didn’t hurt him, but it hurt her hand.

She turned and walked towards the bustling lantern festival, saying, “I’m not bothering with you.”

Yan Lin didn’t mind and chased after her with a big smile, soon asking:

“Do you want some sugar figurines from over there?”

“Look, they’re releasing lanterns. Let’s release one too.”

“Ningning, look at the hair accessory they’re wearing. It’s so pretty. I’ll buy one for you.”

“Lanterns, lanterns!

“There’s a riddle contest. Come on, let’s go!”

Jiang Xuening, naturally playful, had not truly gone out since her rebirth. At first, she felt a bit out of place, but with Yan Lin’s constant questions, she soon found her youthful spirit again.

Walking through the crowd, she felt free and unrestrained.

This world was vast and open, unlike the confined Kunning Palace, allowing her to revel like a fish in water.

She remembered why she always liked being with Yan Lin when she was young—

She was a child from the countryside, and after returning to the capital, she had to learn all sorts of rules, worried about not being liked by her “new” parents and being mocked for not being as refined as her sister who grew up in the mansion. She couldn’t go out, and the people and things she saw were always the same, making her life oppressive and dull.

Yan Lin gave her the chance to break free from all that.

Though young, he had traveled many places with his elders, had extraordinary experiences, and not only let her be carefree in the capital but also told her about the magnificent landscapes and customs outside, opening a bright window to everything she was curious about.

And he gave her a love she had never received before.

Like the brightest color in a painting.

Such a good young man, how cold-hearted she must have been to say such cruel words to hurt him back then?

Yan Lin took her to guess riddles. The prizes for guessing the riddles were small trinkets, but since they were free, it felt like a windfall, making her happier than if she had bought them.

The streets were full of beautiful lanterns.

As night fell, they all lit up.

Walking among them felt like swimming in a sea of light.

Street vendors were also selling food.

Yan Lin saw someone selling a basket of gorgon fruit, calling out to passersby, and remembered Ningning loved it, so he pulled her over to buy some.

There were many buyers, and only a few were left.

The vendor, seeing his fine clothes, smiled and said, “These just arrived from Suzhou, top-quality purple-flowered gorgon fruit, very tasty. Would you like to try some?”

Gorgon fruit, also known as fox nuts, is usually grown in the south. It gets its name from its resemblance to a chicken’s head, but the edible part is the inside, similar to lotus seeds.

Yan Lin picked up a few and said, “The water conditions on the Cao River haven’t been good these past two days. How could these fresh gorgon fruits be from Suzhou? Even if they were as similar as lychees sent over 800 miles, they wouldn’t arrive this quickly. They must be from Shichahai, right?”

The vendor laughed awkwardly, “Yes, yes, you have sharp eyes. But the taste is just as good as those from Suzhou. Would you like to try some?”

Yan Lin broke one open, picked out a round seed, and held it to Jiang Xuening’s mouth.

Jiang Xuening instinctively opened her mouth.

Yan Lin asked, “Is it good?”

Jiang Xuening nodded.

Yan Lin said, “I’ll take the rest of these.”

He handed over a piece of silver, not bothering with change, and took the remaining gorgon fruits. Jiang Xuening ate as they walked, and when they finally got tired, Yan Lin led her to sit on the steps in front of Baiguo Temple to rest.

The temple was surrounded by ginkgo trees.

By this late autumn, the leaves had all turned yellow and fallen, covering the ground.

The monks had finished their evening prayers, and while the distant streets were bustling, the nearby area was quiet, with the evening bell ringing peacefully.

Yan Lin sat next to Jiang Xuening.

He had heard about some recent events at the Jiang Mansion and felt she had changed, seeming different from before.

He wanted to ask her about it.

But when he turned to look at her, he saw her sitting on the steps, focused on eating the last gorgon fruit. While others would pick out the seeds to eat, she sometimes liked to nibble them directly, like a little chick pecking at grains.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

What was different? She was still his Ningning.

Yan Lin, feeling a bit tired, lay down on the steps beside her, looking up at the starry night sky, and said with a smile, “Ningning, I’ll be coming of age soon.”

Jiang Xuening paused, silent.

She didn’t want to discuss what he really wanted to talk about, so she said, “I have someone I want to recommend to you.”

Yan Lin was curious, “Who?”

Jiang Xuening said, “His name is Zhou Yinzhi. He was originally a servant in my family, then worked with my father, who got him a position in the Jinyiwei. Recently, there was some issue with a Commander Zhou in the court, and he came to me, hoping to get this position through you.”

Yan Lin had heard of him.

Without asking much, he said, “Then have him bring his name card to me another day.”

Yan Lin always fulfilled her requests as long as he could. His response was almost identical to the previous life.

Jiang Xuening thought of Zhou Yinzhi: she wanted to prevent the Yongyi Marquis Mansion from repeating the mistakes of the past and to save Yan Lin. But now, she was nobody, and Zhou Yinzhi was the only person she could use. She wasn’t even confident in how much she could achieve with her current efforts.

She slowly lowered her hand.

Holding a fresh gorgon fruit between her fingers, her eyelashes trembled slightly as she suddenly asked, “Yan Lin, why do you like me so much?”

Although she was beautiful, other noble ladies in the capital were just as attractive.

As for her personality, she was more spoiled and willful than others.

Her knowledge and manners were mediocre at best, as her mother would say, “not presentable.”

Yet Yan Lin liked her.

Yan Lin thought she was being silly and said matter-of-factly, “From the first time I saw you, I knew you were different from the girls in the capital. Your eyes are genuine when you look at people, without any pretense. If you want something, you go for it; if you’re unhappy, you don’t show anyone a good face. When you’re happy, you can make people feel sweet inside, but when you’re hurt, you hide away to cry. I thought, this is someone who deserves to be cherished. If I could make her think of me every day, look at me with those expectant eyes, and cherish me, it would be a very happy thing.”

Jiang Xuening felt a sting in her eyes, “But no one else likes me. Wanniang doesn’t like me, my mother doesn’t like me, the servants in the mansion don’t like me, and neither do the people in the capital. Haven’t you ever thought that maybe you like the wrong person?”

Yan Lin, do you know—

I won’t always be the little girl satisfied with being held in your hands.

I will grow up, and I will change.

Yan Lin finally noticed the sob in her voice. He slowly sat up from the steps, gazing at her red eyes, feeling a tightness in his chest.

He reached out to touch her head.

But he smiled, “Nonsense. Think about it, your Wanniang didn’t have to let the mansion know you and your sister were switched. As long as she didn’t say anything, your sister would always be the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family. If she passed away, the secret would be buried with her. But before she died, even with her own child there, she took the risk of sending you back to the mansion. How can you say she didn’t love you?”

Tears rolled down Jiang Xuening’s cheeks.

She thought of Wanniang.

And the bracelet Wanniang had given her to pass on to Jiang Xuehui before she died.

For some reason, the more she tried to stop her tears, the harder she cried.