The moment Chu Lian turned around, she saw the Eighth Miss, Miss Yuan, standing at the entrance to the courtyard, looking both flustered and exasperated.
However, Chu Lian's expression wasn't the calm mask hiding a trace of anger that Miss Yuan had expected. Not only that, but Chu Lian was even smiling generously at her. Actually, upon remembering how Miss Yuan was to marry a bastard of a husband in the future, Chu Lian was full of sympathy for her.
"Since Eighth Sister likes this courtyard so much, it must be fated for you. There are a few spots in this courtyard where it's nice to admire the scenery alone; Ill get Xiyan to point them out to you later."
Miss Yuan stared at her with an incredulous look, eyes wide, trying to see into Chu Lians thoughts. What was going on? That calm person before her was Sixth Miss? The same Sixth Miss who would start a fight with her over the smallest little things in the past?
All Sixth Miss had done in the few days they hadn't met was leave the House to get married. But in those past few days, it was like her entire aura had changed!
Miss Yuan glared hard. They were both legitimate daughters of the second branch. Back when they were both still living in their maiden home, it was this Eighth Miss who had interacted the most with Chu Lian. The two of them had often quarreled over minor matters. However, Eighth Miss had Second Madam to support her, so it was Chu Lian, of course, who lost every time.
During those years, the only thing that Chu Lian had to show off in front of Miss Yuan was this residence. For the sake of frustrating Chu Lian, the moment she had left the estate, Miss Yuan had begged her mother to let her have this residence. She wanted to see Chu Lian holding back her sadness as she returned to her maiden home, only to see that her place here had been taken already. However, Chu Lian didn't look the slightest bit moved right now, let alone upset over it. This was completely not what Miss Yuan had expected. How could she be happy with this outcome?
It was as if she had punched cotton; even though she had put all her might into the blow, even though she had struck so hard that she had broken out into a sweat, the person she was trying to provoke didn't care about what she had done at all.
"You! You!!" Miss Yuan pointed at Chu Lian with an ugly expression, but she couldn't seem to finish her sentence.
Madam Rong, who had rushed over just in time to see this, heaved a sigh of relief and glared fiercely at Eighth Miss. She then walked towards Chu Lian with a smile on her face. "Sixth Sister, come over to my residence instead. It's not too far from here. If Sixth Sister thinks it's too tiring, we can rest at the pavilion near He Court. I'll let the servants retrieve the cream."
Chu Lian thanked Madam Rong and brought Xiyan along with her as she followed Madam Rong to He Court.
The main branch of the Ying House lived in the east compound, and it was quite far away from the west compound. Chu Lian was afraid that she would encounter some unwanted trouble along the way, so she politely declined Madam Rong's offer to go to her own courtyard, and instead, they stopped at He Court.
He Court wasn't too far from Anxiang Court, and there was no one living there right now. It had been the previous residence of the matriarch of House Ying. After she had passed away, it had been left empty.
There was a pavilion in the begonia forest within He Court. The scenery here was beautiful, and the Ying ladies liked to take walks here and have a peaceful break.
Madam Rong seemed to be afraid that the ladies of the House would cause more trouble, so she didn't dare to let them follow along. Using the excuse of having a heart-to-heart talk with Sixth Miss, Madam Rong brought Chu Lian away and personally accompanied her as they walked and chatted.
Within a short while, they had already reached the pavilion outside He Court. Madam Rong's servants had already prepared some sweets for them.
"Sixth Sister, wait here for a moment." Qiner walks fast, so she'll be back shortly.
"Eldest Sister-in-Law, please rest easy. It's just a small red patch. It doesn't even hurt anymore."
Although it really didn't hurt anymore, Chu Lian had been born naturally fair. Her hands were white and smooth, and especially pretty. Now that there was this small patch of redness on the back of her hand, it was extremely noticeable.
Perhaps due to the burn, the outer layer of skin had started to swell. It looked like a blister.
However, this small burn wasn't much to Chu Lian. Now that she had finally left the bamboo forest, she no longer felt like she had a ticking time bomb strapped to her body. Chu Lian heaved a long sigh of relief.
Some people were just too dangerous to mix with. It was better to get as far away from them as possible.
However, Chu Lian had really underestimated how strongly the novel wanted the original events to play out along their predetermined path.
He Sanlang had his gaze fixed on her in secret, an unreadable expression on his face. Her every action had fallen into the depths of his eyes.
It was at this moment that a maidservant rushed in from afar and whispered something in Madam Rongs ears. Madam Rongs expression changed instantly. She hesitated for a moment before apologetically turning to Chu Lian and saying, "Sixth Sister, I have some urgent matters to attend to and I need to leave. It'll be lunch time in one more hour. Sixth Sister, why don't you head to the outer court and take a rest first?"
Chu Lian saw the anxiety in her face and agreed, letting Madam Rong off to attend to her urgent matters.
Right now, the only two left in the entire pavilion were Chu Lian and Xiyan.
Just as Chu Lian picked up the teacup before her and was about to take a sip, she heard a pair of light footsteps coming from behind her, and a man's low, magnetic voice followed. "Lianer."
Chu Lian froze on the spot. When she turned her head and saw the new arrivals appearance and dressing, she cursed fiercely in her heart. The novel wasn't going to let her off!
Wasn't this protagonist aura (1) way too strong!? She had already come all the way here just to hide, but Xiao Bojian had still found her!
If you're questioning how Chu Lian could identify the young man before her with just one look, it was because the author had described his appearance in great detail.
Xiao Bojian was born with good looks. However, in Chu Lians heart, He Sanlang was just that little bit more handsome than Xiao Bojian. Though, she couldn't deny that Xiao Bojian really was an outstanding specimen of a man.
How should she put it? He looked more metrosexual and had a slight hint of femininity to him; the kind of guy that was popular in the modern world. He Sanlang was more of a dignified and heroic kind of guy.
Xiao Bojian had a black tear-shaped mole under his left eye, which gave him a trace of captivating charm that was rarely seen on a man.
With this kind of appearance, if he had been born in the Wei or Jin dynasties, he would have definitely been seen as a homosexual.
Although the novel had described his appearance vividly, it couldn't be compared to seeing it with your own eyes.
Chu Lian felt a headache coming on. She hurriedly stood up to make her escape, but Xiao Bojian quickly strode over and blocked her retreat with his arms spread wide.
"Lianer, You don't want to see me anymore?"
Chu Lian inwardly cursed, hating that she couldn't just dump him on the spot. However, when she remembered the power this guy had in the future, Chu Lian bore with it patiently. She cast her gaze downwards and didn't speak. If this guy noticed that she wasn't the original Chu Lian anymore, she would be in huge trouble.
Xiao Bojian was a man with great ambition who used sneaky, underhanded methods; he was far from the traditional meaning of a good man.
Xiyan seemed to have realised how much her mistress didn't want to interact with the man before her, so she hurriedly blocked Xiao Bojian. "Mister Xiao, men should keep their distance from women. Furthermore, our mistress is already married, please conduct yourself with dignity!"
Xiao Bojian showed a pained expression as he clenched his fists. His upturned eyes looked upon Chu Lian with deep passion. No one would be able to doubt the depth of his feelings if they saw the look in his eyes.
He pressed his lips together, his face full of suppressed emotions. "Lianer, it's all my fault, I'm useless. Do you hate me so much that you won't even look at me now?"
Unseen behind Xiyan, Chu Lian nearly lost her calm to her inner turmoil.
What the heck! What kind of line was that?! Did he have to act like a Mary Sue? She hadn't given his lines much thought when she was reading the novel, and at the time, she had even thought he had come across as a little cool, like he wasn't a very affectionate person. But now that she had to experience this all firsthand, she could feel her brain cells dying by the minute.
Young man, you're so handsome that any woman would be ashamed of their own looks in front of you. Isn't it a little inappropriate to use those lines on a woman?!
-------
1.Protagonist aura – Refers to the way protagonists always attract special events to them