Seeing the slight shift in Xie Yunian’s expression, Jiang Ying continued, “Then, Master Xie, please go and find Yao’er. If a young lady like Yao’er were to get lost…”
Xie Yunian pressed his lips together, but ultimately did not refuse again.
She has her maid with her. What could possibly happen?
Despite his thoughts, he truly didn’t want to stay and listen to the two of them speak in circles, so he stood up and left the pavilion.
“Master, I don’t think Miss Jiang’s expression was fake,” Yuan Zheng (元正) scratched his head as he followed Xie Yunian.
“She had a high fever recently?” Xie Yunian asked.
Yuan Zheng was stunned for a moment before realizing the master was asking about the Third Miss Jiang.
“Yes. The scout reported that the Third Miss Jiang burned with a fever all night and only slowly recovered by daybreak.”
Xie Yunian narrowed his eyes, his tone tinged with sarcasm. “Did it burn her brain out?”
“…Huh?” Yuan Zheng’s expression was blank for a moment.
It’s not right to talk about a young lady like that…
“But the Third Miss Jiang’s behavior seems completely normal. She doesn’t seem… simple,” Yuan Zheng quietly defended Jiang Yao.
Xie Yunian stopped, looking at the pink figure squatting by the lake not far away.
If she wasn’t brain-damaged from the fever, then…
Yuan Zheng followed his master’s gaze and muttered softly, “Could the Third Miss Jiang just like you too much, and now she can’t distinguish between dreams and reality, which is why…”
Yuan Zheng didn’t finish his sentence, but Xie Yunian could guess what he intended to say next.
Mistaking delusion for truth?
Or is she plotting something?
A cold laugh echoed in Xie Yunian’s heart, but his eyes remained fixed on the figure by the lake.
Jiang Yao was squatting by the lake, holding a small stone and gently tossing it into the water.
“Plop.”
The stone fell into the water, creating a ripple.
Her mind wasn’t on the lake’s surface.
Before coming here, she had asked Chunlan to check the surroundings for anything suspicious. She had also walked along the lake herself for a while, finding nothing.
She had been suspicious of the original male lead.
Although Prince Jin was currently far from the court and uninvolved in politics, he was still the male lead—a figure who would be able to contend with the Regent within a mere year.
Jiang Yao feared that her sister’s impending fall into the water wasn’t simple. Now, however, it truly looked like it might be an accident.
She let out a sigh of relief and continued to squat by the lake, watching the fish.
“Plop.”
Jiang Yao threw another stone into the lake.
Xie Yunian stood not far away, his hands clasped behind his back, his fingertips gently tapping. His gaze, laced with scrutiny, rested on Jiang Yao’s lowered head.
Jiang Yao suddenly looked up, and their eyes unexpectedly met.
“Miss Jiang, would you mind telling me some things about the past?” Xie Yunian asked coolly.
He wanted to see how far this young woman’s delusions would go.
Jiang Yao had anticipated this question. She lowered her head, looking utterly wronged. “We met during the Lantern Festival last year. You rode past on your horse, and the snowflakes you splashed wet my skirt…”
Yuan Zheng lowered his head, trying to recall. His master did go out that Lantern Festival and did ride a horse, but it was apparently to chase a deserter from the military camp. As for wetting someone’s skirt, in the dark, who would notice that?
Xie Yunian raised an eyebrow, continuing to probe. “Then why did no one else know about our relationship?”
She adopted the full guise of a shy young lady, looking up at Xie Yunian with a hint of timidity. She lowered her voice. “Master Xie, you said that a secret relationship (私相授受 – sī xiāng shòu shòu) was improper, and that you would personally come to the Jiang manor to propose once you had achieved success…”
Her story was so detailed and earnest, it sounded real.
Xie Yunian raised an eyebrow. “A secret relationship is improper, yet I also with you…”
Jiang Yao quickly interrupted. “Master Xie and I mostly corresponded by letter. On the rare occasions we met, we were always careful to avoid everyone.”
“Where are the letters?”
“Master Xie said that letters were not good to be seen, and must be burned immediately after reading.” Jiang Yao blinked, her tone carrying a hint of grievance.
Xie Yunian pressed his tongue against his cheek and let out a light sneer.
A perfect excuse: burned immediately after reading.
Xie Yunian stopped asking. He was now certain that the mind of the woman before him had been muddled by the fever.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t mistake the delusions in her mind for reality.
The thought filled Xie Yunian with a sense of the absurd.
He had always been uninterested in romance, yet now, suddenly, a girl appeared claiming to have “shared everything” with him and insisting on a relationship.
And to top it off, he was currently “suffering” from amnesia.
Seeing that Xie Yunian had fallen silent, Jiang Yao’s eyes subtly flickered. She had to make their relationship publicly known and solidify their engagement before the Emperor died.
That way, even if the Regent became fierce and tyrannical after taking power, he wouldn’t interfere with the Earl’s family affairs. After all, the Earl Chengbo currently commanded great military power, and the Regent would be eager to win him over.
“Master Xie, you wouldn’t use amnesia as an excuse to deny our past, would you?” Jiang Yao’s eyes darted around, and when she looked up again, she was utterly pitiful.
Xie Yunian’s face darkened, and he squeezed a phrase through gritted teeth: “Of course not.”
Jiang Yao smiled radiantly. “I knew it! Master Xie is the best!”
With that, she reached out to Xie Yunian, opening her round, apricot eyes in feigned innocence. “I’ve been squatting for too long, I can’t quite get up…”
Xie Yunian raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his gaze, which slowly fell upon Jiang Yao’s outstretched hand.
The hand was slender and fair, the fingers slightly curved, as if waiting for something.
Xie Yunian did not move.
Jiang Yao didn’t seem to mind. She casually patted her knees with both hands, preparing to stand up.
But before she could fully steady herself, she suddenly felt the stone beneath her foot shift!
Jiang Yao’s eyes widened. Before she could react, her body uncontrollably tilted backward. Following a loud “Plop,” she fell straight into the lake.
Water splashed everywhere. Although it was summer, the lake water was still bitterly cold.
Jiang Yao’s ears were filled with the sound of the water impact and her own heart beating, a ringing echoing around her.
Did someone absolutely have to fall into this lake today?
She thought bitterly, desperately flailing her arms.
The water resistance blurred her vision, and the impact prevented her eyes from adjusting immediately. She could only see a chaotic, murky green and the vague outline of the shore.
Xie Yunian stood by the lake, watching coldly, not moving an inch.
“M-Master, we should…” Yuan Zheng was flustered by the sight.
“Amateur.”
Xie Yunian stared at the figure struggling fiercely in the lake.
It’s too deliberate. Only someone whose brain was fried could come up with this.
He glanced around, guessing that as soon as he jumped in to save her, someone would rush over to witness it, and she would then insist on marrying him to repay the life debt.
She had the audacity to try such a scheme on him.
“M-Master! Third Miss Jiang really looks like she can’t swim!” Yuan Zheng stared at the figure that was almost completely submerged.
“How is that possible?”
If she couldn’t swim, how dare she jump in…
Where is she?
Jiang Yao only felt a rush of dizziness, as if countless stars were swirling before her eyes. The feeling rapidly spread through her body, and her limbs grew heavy.
In the hazy distance, she thought she saw a pair of eyes filled with dark, surging currents.