Xu Hengyan found Xie Jiang dozing on a crooked-neck tree.
"You're so fast?" Xie Jiang looked at him in surprise, then glanced behind him, "Where's Miss Shen?"
Xu Hengyan's expression was still a bit sour, "She went to the teahouse to find my third sister and the others."
Xie Jiang jumped down, seeking praise, "How was it? Am I loyal enough?"
"What nonsense has Xu Hengyi been telling you!"
"He said you've been single for so many years at your age, it's too sinful, that Madam Xu and the Duchess of Wei are impatient, and that Miss Shen is likely to be your future second sister-in-law."
"Although my marriage has been delayed, my grandmother and mother have their own arrangements. What are you two worrying about? And what you did today is disrespectful to Miss Shen."
"If you two get together, it's a case of mutual affection. What's with the disrespect? Why are you so old-fashioned?"
"As long as the marriage isn't settled, there's always a possibility of change. Most importantly, even if Miss Shen and I were engaged, such abruptness and recklessness would not be permissible."
Xu Hengyan lectured with a stern face.
Xie Jiang looked at the path he chose, which was not the direction they came from, "Can we go this way too?"
"Yes."
Xu Hengyan continued to stare at her with a stern expression.
Changing the subject was useless.
She had to deeply recognize her mistake.
Xie Jiang, looking wronged, surrendered, "Alright, I know. I won't do it again."
"And you should not treat women so casually in the future," Xu Hengyan frowned, wondering if no one in the Xie family had taught him these things.
Xie Jiang eagerly asked, "Then can I treat men like this?"
Xu Hengyan choked. What kind of talk was that!
He then looked at Xie Jiang with great concern, wondering if she had no concept of gender.
As far as he knew, there were quite a few people in the capital with abnormal preferences.
Princess Yuning and the son of Marquis An Yuan, the young marquis Ruan Ziji, was famously fond of men.
Could Xie Jiang also be...
Thinking back to when he asked her what kind of person she liked, and she said she liked someone like him...
Xu Hengyan took a deep breath.
He spent the rest of the way chasing Xie Jiang, lecturing her for a long time about Yin and Yang harmony.
Xie Jiang stopped, looking at him with a confused expression.
Xu Hengyan felt extremely troubled, thinking that given her personality, she was very likely to go astray.
Just as he was thinking about how to guide her back, he heard a strange sound from ahead.
Xie Jiang heard it too.
Curiously, she tiptoed, her steps light and agile, moving towards the source of the sound.
Xu Hengyan couldn't stop her even if he wanted to.
What good could come from making such a noise while hiding in the woods? Why was this child so curious?
He didn't know what Xie Jiang saw, but she crouched behind a tree, looking stunned and foolish, her eyes fixed on the scene.
Xu Hengyan immediately had a bad feeling and quickened his pace to go over.
Xu Hengyan reached Xie Jiang's side, using the thick tree trunk to conceal himself, and then followed her gaze.
Upon seeing it, his face turned ashen.
He saw a young woman, her clothes half-open, leaning against a tree trunk and feeding.
Nursing was a human instinct and a great maternal love.
But the person the young woman held in her arms was an adult man.
And he was making some stupid and disgusting sounds.
It was simply unbearable to look at! Mad!
Xu Hengyan instantly withdrew his gaze, covered Xie Jiang's eyes, scooped her up with one arm, and quickly left the indecent place.
A few teenagers who had come to the woods for a stroll looked up and saw a man, half-carrying and half-hugging a boy, emerging from the nearby bushes.
Upon closer inspection, the man was very familiar.
"Xu... Xu... Young Master..."
Soon, someone recognized Xu Hengyan, and then their eyes widened. What was Young Master Xu doing holding this boy?
Although the entangled posture obscured the boy's full face, a mere side profile instantly made one feel as if they were witnessing a divine revelation. Most importantly, both of their expressions were intriguing.
Someone clever let out a gasp, thinking they had understood something momentous, and quickly nudged their companion. The group of five or six people turned around and fled quickly!
This was why Young Master Xu had not yet arranged a marriage!
Ah! It was truly fatal!
They had the misfortune of stumbling upon Young Master Xu's great secret!
What to do?
Xu Hengyan didn't care what unrelated people were fantasizing about.
He just wanted to dig out Xie Jiang's eyes!
Where did all this curiosity come from! What dared she look at!
Wasn't she afraid of soiling her eyes!
He only let her down after they had gone a long distance, his face ashen as he dragged Xie Jiang by the arm and walked away quickly.
Xie Jiang looked at him, her expression strange, "Yin, Yin and Yang harmony?"
Xu Hengyan: 凸(艹皿艹)!
"The lives of you people in the capital are truly colorful!" Xie Jiang exclaimed with an expression of 'today was truly eye-opening.'
Xu Hengyan was so choked he couldn't speak. On one hand, there was Lu Baofang, who wore human skin and acted inhumanely. Today, he encountered someone utterly depraved. He wanted to defend the people of the capital but couldn't even open his mouth.
"At his age, his son must be weaned. How is it that he hasn't been weaned yet?" Xie Jiang clicked her tongue in amazement.
"Since ancient times, prosperous regions have produced more degenerate individuals," Xu Hengyan glared at her fiercely. Could she please stop mentioning those two words!
Not to mention the Grand Ancestor Emperor and the Second Emperor, even the current Emperor, who cultivated immortality, had grown up on horseback.
In just a few decades, Da Yu had not truly stabilized, and the noble families had become like this.
It was also the good example set by the current Emperor. He could cultivate immortality and ignore state affairs, so naturally, others could be utterly vile.