Madam Qian nodded hurriedly. "Yes, I've been to see him. He's getting used to it gradually. It's really troubling you, sir, to have taken so much trouble to make arrangements for him."
Lord Qian didn't notice anything amiss with her. He just pursed his lips and smiled. "I didn't want you to work so hard, madam."
By then, Helian Duo had already dressed neatly and sat back in his original place to read a book. In fact, his mind was in a complete mess, and so was Cheng Xiran. Thinking back on what had just happened, the two of them found it quite an interesting experience.
Anyway, Cheng Xiran was completely flustered. She babbled something even she didn't understand, probably asking Helian Duo's opinion on the matter. Although Helian Duo found her words rather hard to follow, he patiently analyzed it with her. "I think Lord Qian must have suspected my identity."
Cheng Xiran pretended to respond casually with an "oh", then randomly grabbed a palm - leaf fan beside her and started fanning herself. It took a while before she felt her emotions gradually calming down, and she stopped acting coy.
Helian Duo's expression also returned to normal. "Since he's suspicious, he'll dig deeper until he gets to the bottom of it. So we need to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Otherwise, the longer it drags on, the worse it will be for us."
Cheng Xiran simply echoed him. In fact, she really wanted to go out and get some fresh air, but according to the development of the situation, they should still be sleeping at this moment.
Seeing that Helian Duo had no intention of going to sleep, Cheng Xiran tentatively said, "You can continue reading. I'll go and take a nap. I'm a bit sleepy."
After getting his approval, Cheng Xiran lay down on the couch fully dressed. For some reason, she consciously moved a bit towards the inside and didn't take up the whole bed.
This was her way of keeping things in check. What if Lord Qian or Madam Qian made another surprise visit?
She was just making excuses for herself. She knew perfectly well that she had left the outer half of the bed for Helian Duo.
With this little thought in mind, she fell asleep peacefully. When she woke up again, she noticed someone beside her.
As soon as she moved slightly, she heard Helian Duo's deep voice from above. "I'm tired. Let me lie down for a while. Don't move."
Taking a quick look around, she found that it was already dark. She had slept for more than two hours.
Cheng Xiran had slept enough and lying there was just boring. Besides, with Helian Duo lying beside her, she was afraid that she would fall into endless daydreams again. So she had to find an excuse. "Um, I'm hungry..."
But Helian Duo counter - questioned her. "Cheng Xiran, I'm not going to eat you. Why are you so scared of me?"
Just as Cheng Xiran was about to look up at him, she found that her head had just touched Helian Duo's chin.
She was a bit confused, a bit shy, and mostly filled with indescribable excitement. But on the surface, she still pretended to be serious. "A man and a woman should keep a proper distance. Even if you're a prince, you can't blatantly flirt with a weak woman like me, can you?"
There came the even sound of breathing from above.
Was this guy already asleep?
But why did he act like this?
Cheng Xiran couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she thought. She just couldn't believe that he liked her, so she assumed that he was just feeling lonely for the moment.
Thinking like this, she got a bit angry. But she didn't want to make a fuss and disturb his rest.
So the two of them just lay there for more than an hour until they were woken up by the maid outside.
"Master He and Madam He, dinner is ready. Please move to the front hall."
Helian Duo opened his sleepy eyes. When he realized that he was hugging Cheng Xiran, he couldn't help being stunned. He felt as if this girl had seen all his softness.
After gently letting her go, Helian Duo sat up. After answering the maid, he was about to get off the couch when he suddenly stared at his slightly loose robe and stopped.
As soon as Cheng Xiran sat up, he pressed her back down.
"What do you want to do?"
Almost instinctively, she covered her chest with both hands.
But Helian Duo twitched the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were filled with a bit of ambiguity. "Cheng Xiran, did you take off my clothes while I was sleeping?"
Cheng Xiran blushed. She shook her head and stammered in reply. "No... Why would I take off your clothes?"
"To peek. Don't you like my body...?" Helian Duo's smile deepened in his eyes. He slowly leaned down and tempted her with interest. "How about I let you sleep with me to fulfill your wish?"
"I just tidied up your clothes because they were in a mess. Who wants to sleep with you? How boring!"
Cheng Xiran pushed him away randomly with her hands and quickly got off the couch. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that as long as she left the couch, she was like a person released from a seal.
The two of them walked into the front hall chatting and laughing, but Lord Qian and Madam Qian were nowhere to be seen.
As the maid served the dishes, she explained. "Master He, Lord Qian and Madam Qian have gone to his brother - in - law's house for dinner. It was a last - minute decision, so Lord Qian asked me to tell you not to be polite. Just treat this place like your own home and don't be constrained."
Helian Duo smiled and nodded at her, then asked some basic questions about the Qian Mansion in a roundabout way. Helian Duo knew his limits. He knew very well what to ask and what not to ask. So with him around, Cheng Xiran basically didn't need to worry about making mistakes. She just needed to eat obediently and occasionally cooperate with him by saying some sweet words.
After dinner, Cheng Xiran proposed to go for a stroll on the street. One reason was that she was too full, and the other was that she wanted to take the opportunity to look for some trendy things to take back for Zhuque and the others to play with.
But Helian Duo didn't seem very interested.
"I'd rather stay in the room and read a book than go out. You'd better not go out either. It's dangerous at night, and we're not familiar with this place."
Just as he turned the next page, he caught a glimpse of Cheng Xiran sighing slightly from the corner of his eye.
Cheng Xiran thought there was no hope, so she was about to find some fun in the room by herself. But then she saw Helian Duo put down the book in his hand and said seriously. "Xue Lianyu asked me to buy some interesting things and take them back to the capital to help him win over girls."
With that, he walked out first. But before he stepped out of the door, he turned back.
Cheng Xiran saw that his face was gloomy. She thought he had changed his mind, but unexpectedly he went to get a cloak for her.
"It's cold."
Although it was just two words, it was enough to warm her heart.
She held back the smile that was about to overflow from her eyes and followed him out of the door.
Fenzhou was naturally not as prosperous as the capital, but it was still quite lively at night. Moreover, Fenzhou was famous for all kinds of folk arts. So they hadn't walked very far on the long street when they saw all kinds of things like magic shows, sword - fighting, poetry recitation and painting, breaking stones on the chest, shadow puppetry, puppet shows and so on. Cheng Xiran was dazzled by all these.