Guanshan Muyu

chapter 5

Chen Jingyin was sixteen years old this year.

At a banquet a few months ago, she met Qi Yan and fell in love with him at first sight.

Zhi Gui said: "Since then, Miss Chen comes to the mansion from time to time. She never comes empty-handed and brings something she made with her own hands every time."

Xia Xun asked casually:

"Doesn't an unmarried lady need to avoid suspicion?"

Zhi Gui hesitated:

"Miss Chen's words and actions are indeed...... bold. Since Duke Chen does not intervene to stop her, I am afraid that outsiders can't have a say in it. Those noble ladies, on the contrary, often talk about her, and what they say is mostly inappropriate, so this slave will not repeat it to Young Master."

Xia Xun looked out to the courtyard in the distance.

In the dazzling sunlight, Chen Jingyin's dress was glittering so brightly that it stung Xia Xun's eyes and he couldn't see her face.

He looked away, picked up the bowl, scraped the rice from the walls of the bowl with a spoon and put it in his mouth.

As Zhi Gui's expression changed a little, Xia Xun said quickly:

"I don't like to eat this stuff, don't bring it here in the future."

He was afraid that she would see him eating it cleanly, think that he liked it and ask someone to cook it for him every day.

Zhi Gui nodded obediently: "This slave understands."

Chen Jingyin disappeared in a blink of an eye, led elsewhere by the maidservants of the mansion.

Xia Xun had no interest in her. Zhi Gui put away the dishes and left, and he sat in front of the window in a daze.

Many years ago, the courtyard of Qi Mansion was deserted.

The pond in the courtyard was so dry that there was not even a drop of water. The bottom of the pond was exposed, cracked and covered with weeds for a long time.

The grass was growing wildly, reaching extraordinary heights.

At that time, Xia Xun often climbed over the wall and hid in the grass.

At the beginning, the house was uninhabited. One day, he sneaked in as usual and sat in the grass. Suddenly, there were footsteps behind him.

Xia Xun looked at the sound and the man met his gaze and walked up to him, asking him what his name was and why he was here alone.

Xia Xun asked who he was.

He told him that he had just bought this house not long ago.

Xia Xun said, "There are so many good houses in the capital, why did you buy this one? It's so broken, you must have been deceived."

The man told Xia Xun that he was originally the son of an official, but his parents had been killed by a traitor and his family had fallen on hard times, and even his ancestral home had been taken away from him.

He had nowhere to go and in desperation, he used the little money he had left to buy this deserted house and live out his days.

He also told Xia Xun that his name was Qi Yan.

A year later, Xia Xun and his eldest brother went to jail.

In prison, he found out that the "traitor" Qi Yan had mentioned was his father Xia Hongxi.

Nowadays, the courtyard had been newly renovated and the pond was full of water that sparkled and rippled in front of Xia Xun's eyes.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a beautiful face suddenly appeared outside the window.