Shen Zhou was still in a daze.
Ye Xi didn't care about him anymore. Leading the people behind her and Ling Yan, who still looked vigilant, she went downstairs and returned to the mansion.
"Sir," Shen Zhou's guard Sheng Yu asked, "Shall we follow Miss Xiaoxi?"
"No need," Shen Zhou half - lowered his eyelids, his voice showing no hint of emotion. "The two bodyguards beside her are extremely skilled. You alone will surely expose your tracks."
Moreover, didn't she say that she would come when the red silk was hung?
"Yes. Then... what should we do about the Immortal Maiden Manping?"
Letting out a long breath, Shen Zhou paced to the railing of the corridor and asked, "Is it confirmed that she is Junior Sister Hunyuan?"
"Yes." Sheng Yu quickly replied, "My men have investigated. There was indeed a little girl beside Hunyuan when he was young. She traveled with him and Master Qingyi. A few years later, the girl's family came to look for her, and she separated from Hunyuan and the others. No one knows where she went later."
"If so, she is most likely from Prince Yu'an's side. No wonder she didn't want to get involved with me before. It's a pity..."
Brushing off the dust that had somehow gotten on his hand, Shen Zhou said regretfully, "Kill those who can't be used by me."
In Ye Xi's garden—
Yi Yuan's face was as dark as water. With a "snap", he crushed the teacup in his hand.
"First Cao Sheng and then Shen Zhou. So many things happened just because I was away for a day?"
"Sai Xing, next time when you go out, style your young lady's hair like a married woman's. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Sai Xing winked at Ye Xi and replied in agreement, but silently and exaggeratedly mouthed to Ye Xi, "The vinegar jar is overturned!"
"Pfft..." Ye Xi couldn't help laughing out loud because Sai Xing's expression was so exaggerated.
"Is it funny?" Yi Yuan's voice was cold. He slapped the round red - painted rosewood carved table with a "bang". The teapot and teacups on the table jingled.
"The medicine is applied!" Sai Xing was so startled that she quickly put away the ointment in her hand and turned to slip away. "Ling Yan and Yan Gui haven't had their medicine applied after their punishment. I'll go and help." Before her voice faded, she was out of sight.
Ye Xi: …
Yi Yuan had already flashed to her side. Ye Xi's newly - medicated leg was still bare. It was slender and straight, with skin as fair as jade. It was clearly in Yi Yuan's sight, making his heart flutter, his mouth go dry, and his heart itch.
Feeling Yi Yuan's suddenly intense gaze, Ye Xi felt her heart pounding wildly. In the huge room, only she and Yi Yuan were left. She couldn't cover her leg just after applying the medicine. She unconsciously wrinkled the silk cushion on the couch under her hand.
"Th - that..." Ye Xi wracked her brains to find a topic to distract Yi Yuan's attention. "On the way back, I thought it over carefully. Shen Zhou said, um..."
The rest of her words were blocked by Yi Yuan's suddenly - pressed lips.
Ye Xi's fair cheeks blushed brightly. Her mind went blank with a loud noise, only the faint and cold fragrance of lotus leaves on Yi Yuan's body lingering around her nose.
The kiss went on and on, through the skin and into the bone marrow. Gently and delicately, it got into the bottom of her heart.
Perhaps it was a moment, or perhaps it was half a day. Yi Yuan finally reluctantly left Ye Xi's soft and smooth lips.
Seeing the pink on her nose tip and the red at the corners of her eyes, with glistening tears in her eyes, half - shy and half - angry, she looked so pitiful.
Yi Yuan smiled contentedly. He changed his posture and embraced Ye Xi from behind. "I know what you want to say. After investigating your background for so long, we haven't found any clues. The person who sent you to the Ye family back then has also disappeared without a trace. If Shen Zhou really knows you, it might be a clue."
[How dare Shen Zhou know you first? It's so annoying.]
[Humph - so what if he knew you first? You're already my fiancée. It'll piss him off.]
Although Yi Yuan was speaking seriously and officially, Ye Xi could hear all his little thoughts in her heart.
Ye Xi looked up at Yi Yuan amusingly and pretended not to know. "Yes, so I want you to investigate his past life to see if we can find some information."
Yi Yuan suddenly fell silent. He thought to himself, [I've already investigated Shen Zhou's background when he saved you in the Qiwantang. I thought he had ill intentions back then. Sure enough, he's not a good guy.]
Ye Xi opened her eyes in surprise, but heard Yi Yuan say, "I do know something about Shen Zhou's background. He was originally the son of a concubine of Shen Juhan, the eldest branch of the Shen family. Because he was weak and sickly when he was young, it was said that he needed to be nursed in a place close to the ancestral mansion to be blessed by the ancestors and grow up healthily. So he had been living in the ancestral mansion of the Shen family. His health improved two years ago, and then he was brought back to the capital."
After he finished speaking, Ye Xi didn't respond for a long time.
Yi Yuan looked down in confusion and saw Ye Xi looking at him playfully. For some reason, Yi Yuan felt that Ye Xi had seen through his little thoughts. He felt a little embarrassed and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Er... nothing, nothing." Ye Xi blinked her eyes and suppressed the smile on her face. "Then let's investigate Shen Zhou's ancestral mansion."
Afraid that Yi Yuan would keep asking, Ye Xi changed the topic. "By the way, after talking for so long, how about the account books you retrieved from Hengfeng City?"
Rubbing his chin on Ye Xi's head, Yi Yuan put away his smile. "The account books do record the officials who embezzled military funds and the specific amounts. But there is a very large amount in it that doesn't match the silver allocated by the Ministry of Revenue. I've discussed it with Xie Huaiyue. The account books must be real. Since there is a discrepancy in the amount, there must have been a problem when the funds were distributed. I've investigated. The person in charge of distributing the military funds on the south - western border is Yan Yifan, the principal of the Treasury Department under the Ministry of War. The specific facts and the whereabouts of the stolen money..." Yi Yuan kissed Ye Xi's cheek, where the heat had just subsided, and his voice was tinged with a hint of smile. "I still need Xiaoxi's help to find out."
Just then, Steward Chen suddenly knocked on the door outside and reported, "Your Highness, Miss Xi, the matter of inspecting the cloth workshop that you previously instructed has been arranged. May I ask when the young lady would like to go?"
"So soon?" Ye Xi quickly broke free from Yi Yuan's embrace and exclaimed in admiration, "Sure enough, Steward Chen is efficient in handling things."
"However, my leg is scalded now. It's inconvenient for me to move recently. I'll go and have a look after my injury gets better in a few days."
"Okay." Steward Chen replied respectfully and then asked, "I wonder if the young lady has come up with a name for this garden? I'll send someone to make the plaque."
"This..." Ye Xi pondered, "We never know where life will lead us, just like wild geese leaving their footprints on the snow. No matter what happened before, I'm living a brand - new life now. Although the snow - marks remain, the geese must fly. The road ahead is long, and there's no turning back. Let's name this garden 'Zhi Hong'."
"What a determination not to turn back. My Xiaoxi is truly the most enlightened person in the world." Yi Yuan held Ye Xi's slender hand and smiled softly. "Uncle Chen, go and handle it right away."
Then his gaze fell back on Ye Xi's blushing leg, and he said in a deep voice, "Do you really not want me to interfere in the matter of the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"
"Really no need," Ye Xi said with a sly smile. "They themselves said that they shouldn't argue with children."
"Yaofeng has been at home for so long. It's time to go out and make friends."