"Have they returned yet?"
Xu Hengyan emerged from his study late into the night.
Thinking of the two who had gone to Chunse Manyuan for dinner, he casually asked.
Xu Hengyan figured they should have been back at the manor long ago.
Unexpectedly, Guang Bai replied, "Not yet."
Xu Hengyan stopped abruptly, "They still haven't returned to the manor?"
Did they really intend to get drunk and linger in the arms of pleasure?
Just as Guang Bai was about to speak, Yu Jia hurried over, his expression peculiar as he reported.
"Young Master Xie and Third Young Master are back, and they've brought back several boxes of silver..."
Xu Hengyan frowned slightly and asked, "Is something amiss?"
One of the reasons Xie Jiang had gone to Chunse Manyuan tonight was to have the household servants prepare the silver to be returned to him. It was not strange for them to bring silver back from Chunse Manyuan.
Xu Hengyan didn't think there was anything wrong with the silver itself. His first thought was about what Xie Jiang and Xu Hengyi had done.
Yu Jia was also bewildered, "The silver was brought from the Zhang family, and the Zhang family escorted it all the way here..."
"Which Zhang family?"
Of the prominent Zhang families in the capital, Xu Hengyan immediately thought of a name, but how was it connected to Xie Jiang?
As expected, Yu Jia said, "The family of Zhang Ming, the Assistant Minister of Revenue."
Xu Hengyan turned to look at Guang Bai.
Hadn't they sent someone to follow them?
Guang Bai shook his head in confusion.
They were merely providing escort. When Young Master Xie and Third Young Master were dining and enjoying themselves, they wouldn't have people following them.
Xu Hengyan sighed helplessly and could only go to see what was happening.
It seemed their experience at Chunse Manyuan had been quite eventful.
As Xu Hengyan emerged from the Shi'an Courtyard, he saw his personal carriage approaching.
Recently, his personal carriage had been used by Xie Jiang.
Xu Hengyi rode his horse alongside.
Behind them, several unfamiliar faces followed a carriage.
"Second Brother."
Xu Hengyi dismounted, looking a little guilty.
"What's going on?" Xu Hengyan asked.
"Zhang family's sixth son got too drunk at Chunse Manyuan, spoke disrespectfully to Xie Jiang, and pestered him. So, the Zhang family compensated us with five thousand taels of silver."
The explanation Xu Hengyi had painstakingly concocted on the way finally came in handy.
The Zhang family steward following behind the carriage lowered his eyes, cast a glance at Xu Hengyi, and then stepped forward to salute Xu Hengyan.
Finally, he added a few words to supplement Xu Hengyi's account, "Our Sixth Young Master was beaten soundly by Marquis Ruan. When he was carried out, his right leg was fine, but when he was dragged back, it was dangling in his trouser leg..."
Xu Hengyan understood what had happened as soon as he heard it.
Xu Hengyi glanced at the Zhang family's steward as if he had seen a ghost.
Were stewards these days so eloquent?
Xu Hengyan said nothing.
Xie Jiang was not a member of the Xu family, and it was not his place to discipline him.
Moreover, the Zhang family's sixth son was in the wrong from the start. Even if Ruan Ziji had been a bit heavy-handed, and Xie Jiang's demand for money seemed strange, it was not an injustice to the sixth son of the Zhang family.
Ten boxes of silver were unloaded in the courtyard of Shi'an Courtyard.
The Zhang family did not linger.
Guang Bai stared blankly at the ten boxes of gleaming silver laid out before him.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen so much silver before; it was that he had never seen anyone acquire silver so adeptly.
Even the Duke of Qian would have praised her for her capabilities.
Xie Jiang was still in the carriage and had not come out.
"Is she asleep?" Xu Hengyi muttered softly.
As Xu Hengyan opened the carriage curtain, a head suddenly appeared before him. Her nose was almost touching his, and a wave of alcohol fumes washed over him.
"You were drinking too?" Hadn't they agreed to just eat dinner, maybe watch some singing and dancing at most? Why were they drinking!
Xu Hengyi was a little bewildered. They hadn't been drinking.
"Yan Yan—"
Xie Jiang directly hooked her arms around Xu Hengyan's neck and leaped into his embrace.
Fearing she might fall and injure herself, Xu Hengyan instinctively reached out to catch her.
By then, it was too late for Xu Hengyan to let go.
Xie Jiang seemed to have latched onto him, her arms around his neck. She tilted her head back, looking at him and smiling foolishly, "Yan Yan, Yan Yan..."
The strong scent of alcohol mixed with her own fragrance. Perhaps it was due to the alcohol, but it was more potent than usual, filling his nostrils.
Looking at her soft pink lips, which opened and closed before his eyes, Xu Hengyan's Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed.
Then he was quickly startled by his own reaction.
Indeed, alcohol and beauty could cloud one's mind.
Just smelling the alcohol made his head spin.
Xu Hengyan carried the giggling Xie Jiang towards the side chambers.
Xu Hengyi's mouth was agape, wide enough to fit his fist.
They hadn't touched a drop of alcohol at Chunse Manyuan!
What was this nonsense about Xie Jiang being drunk!
Xu Hengyi suddenly remembered that before leaving Chunse Manyuan, Xie Jiang had casually pocketed a pot of wine.
But Xie Jiang had never drunk it, and the pot of wine had remained in the carriage. When they reached the Zhang family, Xie Jiang was still sober and had no smell of alcohol on her.
Could it be that to celebrate the success of their extortion, she had drunk alone in the carriage?
She had planned to celebrate after leaving Chunse Manyuan?
Xie Jiang was so perverted.
She drank alone in the carriage and didn't even call him!
"I'm going back to sleep," Xu Hengyi said, bidding farewell to Guang Bai, and left shaking his head.
The two maids sent by Qianqiu and Yi Yanguan to serve Xie Jiang saw Xie Jiang clinging to Xu Hengyan, their six eyes poised to fall out at any moment.
"Young Master Xu, let us handle her."
The two maids rushed forward, intending to pry Xie Jiang off Xu Hengyan.
"I want Yan Yan, I want Yan Yan..."
From an angle Xu Hengyan couldn't see, Xie Jiang's gaze towards the two maids was as cold as frost arrows.
The hands of the two maids, which had been reaching out, froze.
Qianqiu's eyelids twitched violently.
"Bad people! All bad people! They all want me to die..."
As if recalling something terrifying, Xie Jiang's expression changed drastically. She shrunk into a ball in Xu Hengyan's arms, her legs tightening their grip around him.
"Yan Yan, I want Yan Yan..."
Xu Hengyan couldn't help but frown slightly, recalling the incident in the Dali Temple prison.
She had been delirious with fever, also crying that someone wanted to kill her. She had said the same thing twice.
It turned out that the life of the young master of the Lan Yong Xie clan was not all smooth sailing.
"Yan Yan, Yan Yan..."
Xie Jiang's voice was filled with fear.
Xu Hengyan had originally intended to take her and put her directly onto the bed. But seeing her pitiful state now, he felt a pang of sympathy.
"I'll take care of her," Xu Hengyan said to the two maids.
Given Xie Jiang's clear resistance, there was no need to hand her over to them.
Normally, she was someone who carried herself with immense pride. Even in her delirious or drunken state, she could be so frightened that she trembled. It was likely due to deeply buried fears.
If he were to disregard her feelings and hand her over to someone who frightened her, even if it was only someone she feared when drunk, it might reopen a wound in her fearful memories.
Since she had already caused him trouble all day, what was a little more now?
Qianqiu couldn't bear to watch and had already left.
The two maids exchanged glances, brought in a basin of hot water, and dared not stay in the room any longer.
Xu Hengyan wanted to place her on the bed, but Xie Jiang refused to let go, shaking her head at him pitifully.
Her eyes, shimmering with a faint moisture, held immeasurable fear and pity, softening anyone's heart.
"Go to sleep, and you won't be afraid of anything..."
Xu Hengyan awkwardly patted the back of her head, his coaxing voice as soft and gentle as possible.