Shake Your Head

Old Madam Zhang’s words didn’t bother Xie Wan at all, but Rushi and Ruhua were furious.

Rushi puffed up and said, “Miss, why don’t you let us curse back?”

Xie Wan responded calmly, “We are young ladies who have not yet married. Those filthy words, even if we were to retort, it wouldn’t end well.”

After safely storing the ruby headpieces, Xie Wan thought for a moment and put Li Yu’s jade pendant inside as well.

Rushi and Ruhua, who were still feeling indignant, caught sight of the jade pendant and their attention was immediately drawn to it.

They exchanged a glance, and Rushi cautiously asked, “Miss, this jade pendant is...”

Xie Wan raised an eyebrow at them and said, “It belongs to your future brother-in-law.”

Upon hearing this, Rushi and Ruhua widened their eyes in astonishment.

Oh no! Miss went out and was deceived by some random man!

They looked at Xie Wan with a pained expression, wanting to say something but not daring to.

Xie Wan smiled and said, “What are you thinking? This is the personal jade pendant of Prince Ning, Li Yu. I stole it. Well, to be precise, I stole it, but he tacitly agreed.”

Thinking of Li Yu, a smile appeared on Xie Wan’s face. “I have taken a liking to him.”

Upon hearing this, Rushi’s jaw dropped to the ground, and it took her a while to pick it up.

After considering her words, Rushi asked, “Miss, what do you like about Prince Ning?”

Xie Wan thought for a moment and replied, “I like his handsome appearance, and I like that he has a good temperament.”

“A good temperament?” Rushi was somewhat dumbfounded. “Prince Ning is known for being ruthless and cold. Those women sent to the Prince's Residence were sent directly to the brothels without him batting an eye. Miss, how did you see that Prince Ning has a good temperament?”

Ruhua chimed in, “Everyone in the capital knows that Prince Ning is like an icy Yama. Miss, could it be that you’ve mistaken someone else?”

Xie Wan glanced at the two of them and said, “You can doubt my character, but you can’t doubt my judgment.”

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Rushi and Ruhua didn’t say anything more. After all, from childhood to adulthood, Xie Wan had always been the one making decisions, and they just needed to follow along.

The image of that handsome face flashed through her mind, and Xie Wan put away the jade pendant with a slight smile on her face.

He had saved her twice today. She wondered if his cold exterior hid a warm heart, or if it was just directed at her. If it was the latter, did he remember her now?

Today was a day of rest, but the flow of memorials did not stop.

The current emperor didn’t care much about handling court affairs, so all the memorials were first sent to Prince Ning Residence and screened by Li Yu before being presented.

Due to the delay at Princess Royal’s residence, Li Yu returned and immediately immersed himself in the study after finishing his meal.

However, Littel Quan noticed that at the busiest times, their master seemed somewhat distracted.

For example, during the intervals of reviewing the memorials, when he picked up the teacup to drink tea, their master would gaze at the teacup absentmindedly. After a while, he would put down the teacup and resume his work.

While pouring tea, Littel Quan carefully observed the teacup.

It was the usual set they used on ordinary days, nothing special about it.

Little Quan couldn’t figure it out. When Li Yu looked at the teacup absentmindedly again, he couldn’t help but ask, “Master, is there something wrong with the teacup?”

Li Yu instantly came back to his senses upon hearing this and calmly replied, “No.”

Little Quan became even more confused and said, “Then why does the master keep staring at the teacup? I counted, and it’s already...”

Li Yu interrupted him lightly, saying, “Littel Quan.”

“I’m here, Master.”

“You talk too much.”

Little Quan: ...

Didn’t he only say two sentences?!

In the evening, Xie Lin hurriedly came over as soon as he finished his studies.

When he saw Xie Wan, he immediately ran towards her and buried his face in her embrace, tightly hugging her. “Sister, I haven’t seen you for so long.”

Xie Wan patted his back and smiled, “Sister is now back home, right?”

But Xie Lin was not pacified at all. He held onto her tightly, enjoying the fragrance on her body. He wanted to hug her more.

Xie Wan had no choice but to let him hug her until he had enough. Then she took his hand and sat him down at the table, smiling and saying, “What did Lin’er learn from the tutor today? Can you teach Sister? Sister never went to school, so I can only rely on you, my little scholar.”

Xie Lin glanced at the book on the bedside.

He was no longer a two-year-old child. Sister still used these words every day to deceive him. The book was still there, she should have put it away before deceiving him, right?

Xie Lin sighed inwardly.

Sigh...

What else could his sister do besides doting on him?

Who made him the only sensible one in this family?

He straightened his small body, lightly coughed, and turned to the little pageboy standing by the door. “Bring over my book.”

The pageboy immediately brought the book over, and Xie Lin reached out and took it. He opened it to the page he had just studied and pointed to the words in the book. “Come, read with me: ‘To learn and then practice it from time to time, is it not a pleasure? Friends who come from afar, is it not delightful? To be unknown and yet unaffected, is it not a true gentleman?’”

Xie Wan followed along and read it once. Xie Lin was dissatisfied, “Your head needs to shake like this! Haven’t I told you that so many times, my little scholar?!”

Xie Wan: ...

She really didn’t quite understand why she had to shake her head while reading, but seeing Xie Lin’s serious and persistent expression, she could only shake her head and say, “To learn and then practice it from time to time, is it not a pleasure...”

Finally done with the lesson, Xie Wan immediately said to Xie Lin, “Go change your clothes and wash your hands. It’s time for dinner.”

Xie Lin responded with an “Okay” and jumped off the stool, happily leaving.

Once he left, Xie Wan immediately held her head. “Quickly bring the sachet over, I have a headache.”

Rushi, who had prepared the sachet in advance, handed it over and looked at Xie Wan sniffing the sachet, feeling both distressed and amused. “Miss, why do you torment yourself like this? The Marquis loves to learn, after all.”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Xie Wan took a deep breath. “This is to increase his motivation to study.”

In her previous life, she heard it from some education experts on TV. She had never raised a child herself, so she could only follow the book.

Fortunately, the effect was good. Xie Lin’s daily knowledge was solid, but he was just a little... too reliant on her.

Physically reliant, to be precise.

Old Madam Zhang suffered humiliation from Xie Wan, but the servant outside the door was stubborn. She didn’t know where she found a basin of water and splashed it right in the room, infuriating Old Madam Zhang to the point of half-death.

That servant was a sycophant. If she wanted to punish her, the servant would threaten to report to Xie Wan.

Old Madam Zhang was so angry that she called her two sons to her room.

Xie Zhifeng and Xie Zhikang were already concerned about the matter with Wang Deshui. They were gathered together, anxiously waiting for news.

Once they received the letter, the two of them immediately rushed to the Marquis Residence. Following Xie Wan’s instructions, they couldn’t enter through the main gate, so they quietly came in through the back door.