He Cong turned pale with shock.
"Why is he here?? How does he know you're here?!"
Xia Xun was also very surprised. He obviously sneaked out, but Qi Yan found out that he was gone so quickly? Can you guess right away that he is in He Cong's mansion
He asked He Cong:
"Will Qi Yan have official business to discuss with you? Otherwise - I didn't tell him my whereabouts at all."
He Cong's face was ugly.
"No, since you faked your death, let alone coming to my house, he would never even look at me when he met me. For so many years, he would never say a word to me unless it was absolutely necessary. He must have come to look for me. yours."
He puts on his official hat:
"I'm going to meet him right now! If you want to run, run! I'll stop him! I don't believe it, he dared to break into the residence of the imperial court official!"
He rushed out aggressively, Xia Xun followed behind, and hurriedly said:
"I can't go, so don't you either! You still have a wife and children, and you still have to be an official in the court, so you can't offend him!"
He Cong didn't even look back:
"If you can't offend, you've offended me too many times! What are you afraid of?! Even if you can't leave, I will go out and support you! Don't let him think that no one can protect you!"
He pointed at Xia Xun to his servants.
"Stop him! Don't let him leave the house!"
Qi Yan didn't get out of the car, and didn't even show his face, only his personal bodyguard, Qi Hui, stood beside the car with his back straight.
He Cong was furious, pointed at the carriage and reprimanded:
"Qi Yan! You have forgotten all the etiquette passed down by your ancestors?! When you come to visit me, come down obediently and salute respectfully! Who will you show me?!"
There was no sound.
Qi Hui cupped his hands to him, but Qi Yan didn't respond at all.
He Cong became even more angry, and slammed on the carriage door.
The wooden door was slammed by him, and if it went on like this, it would be broken by him.
The servants strictly obeyed He Cong's orders and stood in front of Xia Xun.
Xia Xun said to him:
"Let me go, your family will suffer."
The servant was puzzled, looked back and forth a few times, hesitated again and again, and gave way.
With a sullen face, Xia Xun stepped over the threshold and walked slowly to the carriage.
He Cong was so angry that he scolded him:
"Who asked you to come out?! You're useless!!"
Xia Xun smiled helplessly.
The door of the carriage was opened a crack, and Qi Yan's hand stretched out from inside, with the palm facing up, to help Xia Xun into the carriage.
Xia Xun avoided his palm, leaned over and got into the car.
The wheels moved forward immediately, he couldn't hear what He Cong was cursing outside.
Ever since he got in the car, Qi Yan's gaze has been attached to him, watching his every expression.
Xia Xun didn't want to be stared at by him, so she sat down at the farthest place from him and turned her face away.
The carriage is so big, even if you try your best to avoid it, you are still within his sphere of influence.
As long as he stretched out his hand, he could catch Xia Xun.
Xia Xun was very alert, folded her hands in her sleeves, pretended to look ahead, and watched Qi Yan's every move from the corner of her eye.
Qi Yan was wearing an official uniform. He must have heard that Xia Xun had disappeared as soon as he returned to the mansion. Before he had time to change his clothes, he came out to look for him.
His right hand was wrapped with a circle of gauze, and it was still bleeding after a night, showing that the wound was not shallow.
He raised his hand towards Xia Xun, stayed in the air for a moment, and slowly placed it on his knee.
He seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated several times.
After a while, Xia Xun still couldn't hold back:
"Not long after I came out, Lord Zhongshu knew that I was missing? Can you still accurately guess that I am in the He residence? My lord is really clever, I feel ashamed."
Qi Yan's hands on his knees were suddenly clenched.
"Don't call me Sir..." After a while, he slowly let go of his hand, "Don't call me Sir, I will tell you how I found you."
Xia Xun said coldly:
"Then I don't know what to call you."
"... In the past..." Qi Yan paused, his eyes vaguely revealing eagerness: "In the past, didn't you always call me by my name?"
Xia Xun expressed her reluctance with silence.
The atmosphere cooled down rapidly.
Qi Yan refused to let go, and looked at him directly, as if if she didn't hear her name from him, she would never let it go.
In the end, Xia Xun gave in.
"Then call you, now you—"
Qi Yan's expression became even colder, and Xia Xun had to change her words:
"You are in a high position now, and it is really inappropriate to call him by his first name. Forgive me for not following my orders."
Qi Yan sighed, and gradually relaxed his tense posture.
Xia Xun asked: "Please also answer the doubts in my heart."
Qi Yan took a long breath, slowly stretched his body, and leaned against the car window, a playful smile gradually appeared on his face.
Xia Xun looked at his face, slightly dazed.
There are complicated grievances and entanglements between them, and there are many years that cannot be traced back.
But even so, he had to admit that Qi Yan was indeed handsome, and his movements and gestures, his eyes flying, and his eagerness to fly, made people forget his heartbreak.
At that time, Xia Xun was fascinated by appearance and sensuality, and fell in love with him almost effortlessly.
Now, Qi Yan opened his mouth softly and said to him:
"Because you called me Master Zhongshu."
Xia Xun was taken aback for a moment: "Why did you bring it up again—"
Qi Yan twisted his cuffs and looked sideways at him:
"I was promoted to be the Minister of Zhongshu three months ago. It will take several months for the news to reach Douzhou. Yesterday was your first day in the capital. You didn't meet any outsiders. When you saw me, you could tell me exactly Calling out my latest official position means that someone in the capital must have exchanged news with you."
Xia Xun was dumbfounded:
"Then... how do you know that it was He Cong who communicated with me?!"
Qi Yan took his time and said slowly:
"In the past, you didn't like to socialize. Among the nobles in the capital, only He Cong was acquainted with you."
Surprised, Xia Xun regretted it.
He let his guard down anyway.
In front of Qi Yan, no amount of flaws could escape his eyes.
After a moment of silence, Qi Yan suddenly asked:
"You've always been in contact with He Cong? Did he... know you're not dead from the very beginning?"
Xia Xun gritted her teeth and admitted: "... yes!"
Qi Yan's expression suddenly dimmed, and the light in his pupils receded like a tide.
As if he didn't feel any pain in his hands, he slowly clenched his hands until his knuckles turned white.
His tone was heavy, and it was very laborious to speak: "Why... I don't know..."
He lowered his head, closed his eyes tightly, and looked discouraged.
Xia Xun stopped looking at him, and looked sideways out of the window. The bustling crowd on the street showed vague shadows through the window screen.
He said to Qi Yan:
"He Cong learned of my death and wanted to bury my bones. His father said that if he got involved with the Xia family again, he would sever the father-son relationship with him, but he still came. As soon as he came, he found Yes. You are much sharper than him, if you come, you will also find... unfortunately... "
Xia Xun's expression was calm and her tone was gloomy:
"Presumably, you didn't have such skills at that time... What were you doing at that time? I guess, when you overthrew the Xia family, you should have been promoted to a noble position, proud of the spring breeze, and the limelight in the court. You have probably forgotten it. And Xia Xun, right?"
Qi Yan raised her head suddenly, wanting to explain to him, but hesitated again and again, and didn't know where to start, struggled for a long time, and finally responded without words.
The sleeve covered his hand, so Xia Xun didn't see it. Qi Yan's fingertips were embedded in his palm. The wound he cut last night opened, and blood gushed out from the gap in the bandage, covering his hand.
The carriage was busy, rounded the corner, and drove into a quiet street.
There are only two families on this street, passing the dilapidated Xia Zhai is the main entrance of Qi Mansion.
Xia Xun couldn't bear the dull atmosphere in the car, so she jumped off before the car came to a complete stop.
Qi Yan wanted to help him, so she hurriedly stretched out her hand and brushed past Xia Xun's sleeve.
Qi Hui couldn't go back to help Xia Xun, so he stepped forward a few steps, carefully holding Qi Yan's arm, and let him get out of the car safely without shaking at all.
After crossing the stone lion beside the gate of Qi Mansion, the gate of Xia Mansion is clearly visible.
The wooden beams at the gate of Xia's house were cracked and covered with cobwebs.
There was a seal on the door, and the ink was completely faded, so nothing could be seen written on it.
Xia Xun looked at the gate of her house and asked Qi Yan:
"I heard that His Majesty gave you a new house, so why do you still live here? My house is in such a state of decay, aren't you afraid of affecting the feng shui of your house?"
Qi Yan froze.
Xia Xun asked again: "Or, looking at the deserted Xia Mansion every day, can you reminisce about the achievements you made in the past?"
Before Qi Yan could speak, Qi Hui couldn't hold back anymore.
"My lord, you are blaming my lord wrong! You don't know! How did your lord get through these years—"
Qi Yan raised his hand, not allowing him to say anything more.
Xia Xun withdrew her gaze: "No matter how difficult the life in the capital is, can it be more difficult than the life in the exile?"
Qi Hui wanted to say something, but was held down by Qi Yan.
He didn't want to argue with Xia Xun and walked up the steps.
Xia Xun turned around and looked at the Qi family's mansion which was no different from seven years ago, she didn't want to go in no matter what.
Seeing him not moving, Qi Yan stopped at the top of the steps and said to him:
"You should know that He Cong is now an official in the court, and he has reached the sixth-rank official position. He is married and has a son and a daughter."
Xia Xun didn't understand what he meant: "And then?"
Qi Yan told him: "If you want him to have a peaceful life, don't meet him again, and don't go out of the house."
As dull as Xia Xun, she could tell that this was a threat.
He snorted coldly, walked away with a flick of his sleeves, walked around Qi Yan and walked into the Qi Mansion with big strides.
Early the next morning, someone knocked on his door, it was yesterday's maid.
Yesterday, Xia Xun had an excuse to transfer her away, so she had the chance to leave. I don't know if it caused her to be punished by Qi Yan.
He thought for a while and asked, "What's your name?"
She smiled and replied:
"The servant girl's name is Zhi Gui, and she was specially sent by the lord to serve the young master."
Zhigui came for breakfast.
As each dish was prepared, Xia Xun became more and more irritable.
He ate a few extra mouthfuls of dishes yesterday, and they are still there today. He didn't move at all, and now he can't see any of them.
Zhi Gui had a panoramic view of his actions, sitting and lying, and she was always observing his likes and dislikes, always trying to figure out the intention behind his actions.
This is her duty as a servant, presumably... also Qi Yan's order.
Her name is serving, but she is actually monitoring.
All the results of her observations will be reported to Qi Yan.
Xia Xun's mood suddenly became very bad, and she put down the chopsticks she had picked up.
"Being stared at me makes me unable to eat."
He tried to control his tone, not to be too aggressive, he knew he was venting anger.
Zhigui was just following orders, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Hearing his words, she immediately apologized and retreated outside the house.
It's just that this time she stopped at the door and refused to go further.
On the table, lentil porridge exudes an attractive luster.
Xia Xun scooped up a spoonful and put it into her mouth, chewing it with little interest.
He was so full of thoughts that he couldn't taste it at all. It was a waste of food.
I think he and his eldest brother worked hard in the rice fields for several months under the scorching sun in Lingnan before they could grow a handful of rice.
Both of them were reluctant to eat, so they put them all in rice jars.
Unexpectedly, the climate in Douzhou was too humid, and it became moldy within a few days.
Looking at the long white hair growing out of Mili, the two brothers dared not eat anything, and even threw away the jar together.
Right now, he can eat good polished rice, but he finds it tasteless.
Xia Xun laughed at herself and shook her head.
Suddenly there was a lively commotion outside the courtyard, and before he had time to look up, he heard the sweet laughter of the woman.
He asked Zhigui: "Is there any female relatives in the mansion?"
Zhi Gui was taken aback, and said to him:
"No, there is no female family member in your lord's house except for the servant girl. The person who came here is the fifth lady of the Zhangning County government, whose name is Chen Jingyin."