C29 (1/2)

She said he had a few last words for her father.

Xu Shilian's hand that was under the table trembled imperceptibly, yet he still maintained his composure on the surface, in case he made a fool of himself in front of the younger generation.

She clenched her fingers into a tight ball on her lap, not even knowing how to explain the terrible news to her father. She could only lower her head and repeat, ”Please grieve.”

This reason was originally reasonable, but for some reason, the moment Luo Yi blurted it out, she felt that something was amiss, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was amiss …

”How did he know?” Father Xu asked slowly.

Xu Heng said it ah — Just as the answer floated by his lips and circled around his lips, Luo Yi immediately reacted to where it was wrong.

Why did he tell Liu Liangyun his real identity?

Luo Yi recalled, and realized that the first time she had heard of Xu Heng's true identity was also on the night he had met Liu Liangyun. Liu Yin said: ”This is Xu Heng, the only son of Prime Minister Xu.”

Because she had guessed that Xu Heng's identity was definitely extraordinary, when she heard the news, she didn't feel that it was anything unexpected, so naturally she didn't take it to heart. But Xu Heng was such a cautious person, to even hide his identity from her, who had already been dragged onto the boat, how could she forget to remind Liu Yin not to reveal his true identity? Furthermore, at that time, they didn't even know if Liu Liangyun was reliable or not …

Luo Yi's brows unconsciously knit together, she kept thinking that she had leaked some important information. However, before she could think of it, Father Xu interrupted her once again, ”You saw His Majesty?”

”Ah?” ”Right.” Luo Yi was startled for a second before she jumped out from her thoughts. She raised her head and looked at the Father Xu with a blank expression.

”Then did you hear what His Majesty said?” Or... What did you get from him? ”

After saying half of the sentence, Father Xu's eyes suddenly became sharp, staring at Luo Yi like a lion staring at its prey. Luo Yi subconsciously wanted to touch the jade pendant that she had been holding on to all this time, but fortunately, she was able to restrain her finger from doing so. She stopped for two seconds and then, as if by some strange coincidence, she did not tell the truth.

She rubbed the tip of her nose: ”Xu Heng told me to get something from him, but he didn't believe me and refused to give it to me.”

Xu Shilian thought about it for a while, and felt that with His Majesty's suspicious personality, it would be impossible for him to hand over such an important thing to a stranger, so he didn't doubt her words. He quickly followed up with a change in tone, and asked, ”Didn't His Majesty tell you anything?”

”I did say that …” Luo Yi recalled: ”The secret passage to the palace was something like that, but he did not elaborate. He only gave me a vague address.”

”Oh right, Xu Heng actually gave me something, and told you to be careful of the person who might have it by your side.”

Father Xu took it and observed it carefully.

The Jade Pendant Pattern was not considered special, but the workmanship was extremely meticulous. It was the one that Luo Yi threw away several times but then returned back to her hands again and again.

Father Xu was only in the mood to ponder about the meaning of Xu Heng's words, so he did not pay attention to Luo Yi's erratic gaze.

In fact, Xu Heng had never even said these words to her.

She just … He wanted to know the origin and uses of this jade pendant, but there was no other way, so he used Xu Shilian's power to help her.

Luo Yi lowered her head and hid the expression on her face even more.

Thinking about it now, it was really strange when Xu Heng gave the jade pendant back to her. It was as if he had already predicted that she would encounter danger in the future and this thing would help her, but it wasn't willing to tell her the truth, so he set up a trap for her to jump into.

Privately, she did not want to doubt Xu Heng, but …

Luo Yi raised her head and smiled at Lin Ting, saying, ”I'll wait for you at the Quan Gui Restaurant.”

Luo Yi nodded along with the force above her head: ”Ok.”

She had just come out from Prime Minister's Estate's study, and just as the two were about to leave, Lin Ting called out to her: ”Lin Ting.”

With a stern expression on his face, he said, ”Wait a moment, I have something to say to you.”

Lin Ting didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but based on his past experiences, this conversation should take at least two hours, leaving Luo Yi here alone would be boring, but he didn't feel at ease if she went back alone.

Seemingly seeing through his concerns, Luo Yi took the initiative to smile at him: ”Isn't Yi Qiannan's aristocratic house nearby? I can go there and wait for you. ”

”Don't worry,” she comforted Lin Ting, ”Wasn't Tang Yuan invited by Yi Qiannan to his restaurant this morning? ”I'm fine.”

”...” ”Alright then.”

Lin Ting glanced at Xu Shilian, who had already returned to his study, and turned to look at the smiling Luo Yi.

When he left Prime Minister's Estate, he was brought along by a servant girl that Xu Shilian casually pointed to. Luo Yi followed behind her and walked towards the entrance, but upon passing by a certain room, he suddenly stopped in his tracks for no apparent reason: ”Whose room is this?”

”Miss, it belongs to our Young Master.”

stood in place for a moment, his reason urging her to continue walking but no matter what he did, he was unable to take a single step forward.

She stared at the room for a long time. When she saw the maid leading the way, she became confused and called out to her, ”Young Mistress?”

”Huh?” Luo Yi came back to her senses and unconsciously followed her for a few steps. Then, she lowered her voice and asked: ”Can I go in and take a look?”

Prime Minister's Estate's maidservants were not as easy to talk to as the Yi family. Almost as soon as her voice fell, she shook her head and said, ”Please forgive me miss, our young master does not like people …”

”Let her in.”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a sudden voice. The maidservant who had spoken turned her head to look at the person in surprise and respectfully called out to him, ”Butler.”

Housekeeper Zhang waved his hand, indicating for the servant to go down first, and then slowly walked to Luo Yi and nodded to her: ”Miss Luo.”

”The young master has many rules, he hates people who touch his things the most. Miss Luo? ”Come here.”