Chapter 8

Li Xiuyuan stood outside the door, looking calm and dignified, like a gentleman.

Upon hearing Qi Yan’s words, his face couldn’t help but show a hint of panic, and he said in a deep voice, “Please open the door and return my sister-in-law to me!”

Su Mi’s expression was dim. After all the trouble she had gone through, she still ended up in Li Xiuyuan’s hands. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself. The man in front of her was a stranger. Why should he help her?

“Return?” Qin Yan’s voice was playful as he slightly lifted it, and watching the woman with a tilted head who seemed like she was about to cry, his mood inexplicably improved. “I can’t return her.”

“What did you say?” Li Xiuyuan couldn’t hold back and rushed in, followed by the anxious Su Xuan.

Only Su Mi seemed to have come back to life, staring at Qin Yan, who seemed to be lightly pushing another empty teacup on the table with his slender fingers.

“I threw her away because she was causing trouble.” “How dare you ask me for her?”

The crisp sound of the teacup falling to the ground made Su Mi shudder. After this sound, a dozen or so people suddenly entered from the stairs and windows, surrounding Li Xiuyuan and Su Xian in the middle.

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Nk Dkwuwyd’p qynl vwadle ryzl, yde bl valxczle yp bl pyke, “R jdso xu twkzv. R okzz zlyhl dso.”

Fw Dkyd blpkvyvle yde oydvle vs ypj oblal Fw Yk bye clld vbasod, cwv Nk Dkwuwyd eayttle bla esodpvykap.

Gv vbl pyxl vkxl, vbl plnsde qzssa, obknb oyp ralhkswpzu rynjle okvb rlsrzl, pweeldzu lxrvkle swv yp Nk Dkwuwyd zlqv. Mbspl rlsrzl pkzldvzu alvalyvle vs psxl eyaj nsadla.

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Rd vbl xkepv sq vbl nsxxsvksd, kv pllxle yp vbswtb pbl bye altykdle psxl pvaldtvb. Ebld pbl vwadle yaswde vs pvayktbvld swv bla nzsvblp, pbl alyzkgle fwpv bso ekpblhlzle pbl zssjle. Tla lyap nswzed’v blzr cwv vwad ale yp vbl czwpb nalrv wr bla qyka yde pzldela dlnj.

Fw Yk yefwpvle bla lmralppksd, vwadle bla blye, yde qswde blaplzq zssjkdt ekalnvzu yv Ckd Zyd.

“Mbydj usw qsa lyazkla,” pbl pyke nywvkswpzu, bszekdt vbl fyel bykarkd pbl bye fwpv vyjld swv kd bla bydep.

Thank him?  Ha, He just doesn’t find woman attractiveness appealing.

“And how do you plan to repay me?” Qin Yan lazily looked at her and casually asked with a smile.

“I have this jade hairpin.” Su Mi said carefully, holding the hairpin made from the green jade of a single piece of jade stone from Xinjiang that Su Mingde bought to carve into a Ruyi, as one of Su Xian’s dowries. Although the style couldn’t be too complex, the quality was excellent.

But more beautiful than the jade hairpin were Su Mi’s slender and white fingers as she held it. Her fingers were intertwined, slender and tender like green onions, and her fingertips were slightly raised, showing a hint of pink, like a delicate flower bud. The only unsightly thing was the wound on the palm of her right hand and the blood stains that covered it, which made it look painful to even look at.

Su Mi waited for a while with her hand outstretched, but Qin Yan didn’t come to take it. She looked up to find him looking back at her without any intention of getting up.

Oh, right. When you give a gift to someone, it’s not appropriate for them to come and take it from you.

Without changing her posture, Su Mi got off the bed and took small steps towards Qin Yan, who was less than three feet away, and handed him the hairpin.

Qin Yan looked at the woman in front of him, with fair skin and a slender wrist, her hair disheveled, her bun falling loose on her shoulders, and traces of blood on her clothes.

She looked so pitiful.

He seemed to take the hairpin away as if he were granting a favor. At the moment his fingers touched the hairpin, the slight chill on his fingertips unintentionally brushed against her palm, causing Su Mi’s heart to race like a drumbeat. She quickly withdrew her hand.

Now that he had taken the hairpin, he was sure to drive her away. But she was now stronger and should not be completely at the mercy of Li Xiuyuan.

Su Mi’s mind wandered as the aroma of the food on the table wafted into her nose.

She had not eaten lunch, and, coupled with the exhaustion from climbing out the window and taking the aphrodisiac, she was now hungry and thirsty. But she had already given away her most valuable possession, the hairpin, and there was nothing else to exchange for food.

“Do you want to eat?” Qin Yan fiddled with the hairpin he had just received, looking at Su Mi.

“Mmm,” she answered truthfully, since she had already lost face earlier.

“Okay.”

Su Mi was pleased to hear this, but after a moment she realized that there was only one set of utensils on the table, probably the one Qin Yan had used.

Although the precautions between men and women were not so strict now, she could not use utensils that a stranger had used before.

Could she tell him to call for another set of utensils? That wouldn’t be appropriate; how could she trouble others again?

Qin Yan deliberately watched her hesitate and feel uncomfortable, as he had discovered that teasing her seemed to pique his interest.

“I haven’t used them,” he said.

Su Mi looked at him in confusion. She had ordered many dishes; why wasn’t he eating?”

Qin Yan slowly moved the bowl and chopsticks in front of her. “You were screaming so loudly earlier, how could I eat?”

Su Mi blushed at his words; her mind went blank, and she couldn’t think of a way to refuse. She immediately took the bowl and began to pick at the food, her profile facing Qin Yan. Her lashes flickered like a small brush, making people itch to touch them.

After eating greedily for a while, Su Mi finally felt a little full. She took a sip of tea from the cup next to her.

“I’m done.”

“Are you not leaving yet?” Qin Yan looked at the tea cup she had just drank from. She seemed to have forgotten that the things he hadn’t used yet were just a bowl and chopsticks, and not the tea cup.

“Oh, I’m leaving now.” Su Mi picked up the chopsticks she had used earlier. “Can I take these with me?”

Su Mi saw that he didn’t object and got up, feeling a little embarrassed. She straightened out her cloak, her hair falling out of the bun. Without a bronze mirror, she could only use her hands to fix her hair and move the stray strands to the side, revealing her slender and snowy-white neck.

She turned around and solemnly bowed to Qin Yan, saying the words she had said several times today.

“Thank you.”

Qin Yan rubbed the jade hairpin on his fingertips and didn’t look at her. “It’s just a transaction.”

“En…”Su Mi softly replied and carefully opened the door. She made sure Li Xiuyuan wasn’t in the hallway before walking out of the door.

With a creaking sound, the room suddenly became quiet.

Qin Yan looked at the closed door, his movements stopping, his eyes darkening.

Su Mi walked through the corridor and arrived at the stairs. She took off her hood and revealed her delicate features.

Su Mi walked from the corridor to the stairs. Now that she had taken off her veil, her delicate face was revealed. Despite the fact that the customs of the current dynasty are not very conservative and wearing a veil is not compulsory, a lot of women from small households go out without makeup, and there is no gossip about them.

However, Su Mi’s appearance can still cause a stir, but fortunately, it is only a short distance from the downstairs to the door.

Su Mi stood at the door, and unexpectedly, the carriage and guards who were supposed to be waiting there were still there. It seemed that she had disappeared suddenly, and Su Xian had not yet taken the next step.

“Second Miss, you have come down.”

“Zhang Yin, have you seen my sister?”

“The young miss said you had some wine and were a little drunk.” The guard named Zhang Yin scratched his head. “We have been waiting downstairs all the time, and she went to buy some hangover medicine for you.”

Su Mi understood, and then Su Xian would definitely say that she had disappeared and then bring the guards back to find her and Li Xiuyuan.

“Then, did you see Li Xiuyuan later?”

Zhang Yin thought for a while, “No, I have been at the door all the time and didn’t see the young master.”

They must have left through the back door.

“Let’s go back.”

“Second Miss, should we wait for Miss Su?”

“There is no need to wait; she is with Li Xiuyuan, and nothing will happen.”

Su Mi climbed into the carriage. As soon as she returned to the familiar place, the pain in the palm of her hand began to intensify. She opened her hand, and the wound on her palm was quite deep. She didn’t know if it would leave a scar.

And what about Chun Mei? She must have been intentionally diverted, and Su Mi didn’t know where she was now.

The carriage slowly moved, and Su Mi’s eyes were filled with sorrow as she recalled the scene this morning.

“Zhang Yin, please make the carriage go faster.” She wanted to return to her small courtyard as soon as possible.

“Okay, second miss.”