Chapter 49

That dark brocade robe especially showed his figure on him—broad shoulders above a narrow waist—and even before anyone drew near, an oppressive aura pressed forward.

Seeing him, Shen Shuangning was quite surprised, but only for a moment; she had no time to wonder why he wasn't at the Song residence but here.

Xiao Jingyuan saw her petite face pallid, her shoulders trembling slightly; seeing she was merely frightened and uninjured, he then turned his gaze to the white-clad young man.

Pei Zhi had already risen to his feet, one hand pinching the snake at its seventh inch, but the blood hole in his palm kept bleeding fresh blood, a sight somewhat shocking.

Pei Zhi looked at him and said, "I didn't know the young master had arrived; my remiss welcome."

Xiao Jingyuan said lightly, "Winter is over; warm weather brings snakes and insects out. Don't your Duke's residence servants know to scatter sulfur at the wall corners beforehand? How did you let such a large snake inside?"

Su Chen recognized the snake as a gold-thread snake and said, "Fortunately it's not venomous, otherwise Young Master Pei would be in trouble."

Soon, the servants of the Duke's residence rushed over and dealt with the snake.

Fearful of any missed snakes, they sent more people to scatter sulfur nearby; after all, the princess was present, and such an accident must not happen again.

Pei Qing also hurried over: "Third brother, why is your hand bleeding so much? Does it hurt?"

Shen Shuangning saw Pei Zhi's wound and felt uneasy; he had clearly been injured while saving her.

Under everyone's gaze, the answer she hadn't had time to ask earlier was now not something to press further.

Facing his sister's worried expression, Pei Zhi gave a light laugh: "It doesn't hurt; no need to worry."

Then Shen Shuangning apologized: "Fourth Miss, I meant no offense; the situation was urgent, the snake was on the flower rack, and I feared startling it, so I had no choice but to act thus."

Shen Shuangning furrowed her brows and urged: "I'm fine; go bandage your wound quickly."

Pei Zhi nodded, said nothing more, and left.

The young ladies, upon learning that snakes were about and had bitten someone, dared not run about wildly in the garden.

As Shen Shuangning turned, she saw Xiao Jingyuan nearby, paused, and asked: "When did the young master arrive?"

Xiao Jingyuan replied: "Just arrived not long ago."

Shen Shuangning knew the Yan princess consort had also come to the Duke's residence, but Xiao Jingyuan hadn't come with her, indicating he had gone elsewhere first.

"Did the young master return from the Song residence?" she asked.

Xiao Jingyuan glanced at her, speaking sparingly: "Yes."

Shen Shuangning gave an "oh," not surprised; she had asked merely to confirm her guess, with no other meaning.

She had no time to chat with him, and Shen Ling was still waiting for her, so she walked straight past him.

Who would have thought Xiao Jingyuan would suddenly grab her hand.

Shen Shuangning frowned, stopped, lifted her head, and looked at him puzzled: "Young master, do you have something?"

At the same time she tried to pull her hand free, but his grip was tight, and she couldn't break away immediately.

Shen Shuangning's brows furrowed even deeper; she even suspected Xiao Jingyuan had come to pick a fight.

"Since you like Xie Lin, you should keep your distance from other young masters when he's not around."

Having said that, he lowered his gaze; his chiseled brows and eyes held a hint of coldness, as if he were looking down on her from above.

Shen Shuangning disliked that look of his, and her face darkened as well.

"In what capacity are you speaking to me, young master?"

Others couldn't see Xiao Jingyuan holding Shen Shuangning's hand, but Su Chen saw it clearly.

Su Chen's eye twitched; he hadn't forgotten that Xiao Jingyuan had once been troubled by the so-called past-life dream.

Now Shen Shuangning is the person Xie Lin holds dearest, not an unclaimed beauty.

Although Su Chen believes that, given the young master's extraordinary mental fortitude, he would surely not be swayed by that dream into doing something immoral, feelings between men and women are hard to predict.

What if the young master merely restrains himself outwardly while his heart wavers?

Just thinking about it made Su Chen feel melodramatic. As the wisest strategist of the Yan prince's manor, he felt he must keep an eye on the young master and not let him go astray.

Thus Su Chen stood there silently, staring intently at the two people opposite each other.

"Mingyuan and I are like brothers; in his absence, I naturally ought to watch over things for him, lest you do something that would let him down."

Xiao Jingyuan appeared righteous and impartial, without a trace of selfish motive.

Upon hearing that, Shen Shuangning simply lifted the hand he held, then looked at him and asked: "Fine, but if the young marquis knew you were looking at me like this, what would he think?"

Or perhaps you actually have feelings for me and are using the young marquis as an excuse?

Hearing that, Xiao Jingyuan immediately jerked his hand away as if shocked, his expression grim.

"Fourth Miss, watch your words!"

Su Chen was startled by Shen Shuangning's words and quickly said: "The young master and the young marquis have grown up playing together; how could the young master possibly covet the young marquis's beloved?"

Shen Shuangning saying that was naturally meant to disgust him; who let him first disgust himself?

She and Pei Sanlang are pure and innocent; the earlier hug was provoked by circumstance, not her wish—how could it become, in his eyes, her deliberately approaching another man?

Seeing Xiao Jingyuan's cold silence, Su Chen quickly pushed him with his arm, urging: "Young master, say something—do you think I'm right or wrong?"

Then Xiao Jingyuan gave a cold chuckle, looked at the woman, and said: "Fourth Miss, you once said I am not the type of man you like; I now tell you, you are not the type of woman I favor. I don't know what Mingyuan sees in you, but I will forever hold the fourth miss at a respectful distance."

The young master's ideal woman is naturally like Song Xizhi—dignified, virtuous, and accomplished—whereas Shen Shuangning likes to flaunt herself and stir up trouble everywhere, which he naturally dislikes.

Shen Shuangning smiled: "That's fine then."

Keeping a respectful distance, with well water not interfering with river water, is exactly what she hopes for.

Shen Shuangning stepped away, little knowing Xiao Jingyuan would not let it rest.

"Shen Shuangning, do you remember what I just said?"

Shen Shuangning suddenly halted, turned, and the wind from her skirt lifted the garden's fallen petals into a swirl; her face was cold as ice.

She could bear it no longer: "Young Master Xiao, do you view all women with a threefold bias, or do you alone find me displeasing? Are your eyes blind or dirty, so that you see everything through your own notions? That's not pleasant to hear—then I'll say something even less pleasant!"

"I and the young marquis have neither marriage contract nor exchanged birth characters; even chatting and laughing with a street beggar is my freedom, unrelated to you—don't meddle in my affairs, each to their own, and stop worrying about me!"

Before the last words had even settled, she turned and flicked her sleeve; the moon-white hem trailed a decisive arc across the blue bricks.

After a long while, Su Chen finally caught his breath.

Good heavens, did the Fourth Miss just scold the Heir?

Indeed, with her temper flaring, she dares to openly rebuke Minister Song in front of Emperor Xuanwen; mocking Xiao Jingyuan a bit is hardly surprising.

Looking at Xiao Jingyuan's complexion, the darkness in his eyes was so deep it seemed to drip water, and even the surrounding air froze.

Su Chen swore he had never seen the Heir's face look so awful; the vicious aura welling up in his eyes almost burst forth.

But the Fourth Miss is now the Young Marquis's sweetheart, acting fearlessly; no matter how angry Xiao Jingyuan gets, he cannot tear her apart.

Su Chen urged: "The Heir is broad‑minded; don't quarrel with that little girl."

Finally, Xiao Jingyuan withdrew his gaze with a cold expression, then flicked his sleeve and left.

The air still retained a strong smell of gunpowder.

"Ah, why did you provoke her?" Su Chen sighed and followed after her.

Later, the Zhen'guo Duke's residence held a banquet at Yunhua Pavilion to entertain the honored guests.

Shen Shuangning thought Xiao Jingyuan had already left, but to her surprise she still saw him at the banquet.

Their gazes did not meet in the slightest.

Seeing Pei Zhi, Shen Shuangning walked over to him and asked anxiously, "How serious is the Third Young Master's injury?"

Pei Zhi's hands were wrapped in white gauze; the few fingers exposed were long and slender, pleasing to the eye like warm jade.

At a glance, these are the hands of a civil official, not the rough hands of a military officer.

Pei Zhi's brows and eyes seemed to perpetually hold a smile; he spoke gently, "It's just a minor injury, nothing to worry about, Fourth Miss, you needn't fret."

Saying that, he produced an oil‑paper parcel from somewhere and held it before her.

"Pastries from Li's Shop. I offended you today, so I feel somewhat guilty."

Shen Shuangning noticed someone's gaze in her peripheral vision; perhaps to deliberately anger him, she reached out and took it, smiling sweetly: "How do you know I like the pastries from Li's Shop?"

That remark was also a probe.

Pei Zhi only said: "All the shops in that part of Fu'an Street belong to the Zhen'guo Duke's residence."

Upon hearing this, Shen Shuangning's face showed surprise.

Pei Zhi explained: "Before, I was indisposed, so those shops, including Li's Shop, were managed by others; the proprietor of Li's Shop had mentioned you to me, so I knew."

"So that's how it is..." Shen Shuangning felt a renewed sense of wariness.

When I previously dealt with Xiao Jingyuan, I had Li's Shop's people help out; I never expected that little Li's Shop was actually a property of the Zhen'guo Duke's residence. Doesn't that mean Pei Zhi also knows about this?

No, that shouldn't be; she merely asked Aunt Liu of Li's Shop to help deliver things twice.

Regarding her private dealings with Xiao Jingyuan, Shen Shuangning still did not want others to know; moreover, Pei Zhi appeared gentle and refined but was actually unfathomable, making her even less willing to let him discover these matters.

Shen Shuangning suppressed her unease and quietly returned to her seat.

Here, men and women were still seated separately.

Xiao Jingyuan glanced at that Third Lord Pei and said coldly, "It's just a snake bite, not a sword cut to the hand—why so much bandaging?"

Su Chen also didn't know how Third Pei had offended Xiao Jingyuan; he raised his cup of fine wine and took a sip, saying, "They're not like you, brandishing blades and practicing martial arts, so naturally they're more delicate."

Xiao Jingyuan glanced at him again: "Did I say something to you?"

Su Chen wore an expression of resigned acceptance: "Fine, fine, fine—was it okay for me to mutter to myself?"