Chapter 77: Guilty conscience, why is wangfei hiding? (1/2)

When they went downstairs, little Chen Xiang exclaimed, “Mistress, you’ve become muddleheaded!”

“What’s wrong?” Han Yunxi asked lazily.

“Mistress, you’re the Qin Wangfei, ah. You…you…” Chen Xiang always thought that Mistress was very smart, but now she was fretting over the state of her brain. She tugged at her mistress’s hand before murmuring in her ear, “You’re a married woman and the Duke of Qin’s official wife! If news of this gets to the Duke of Qin’s ears, you’ll be done for!”

Little Chen Xiang might be a bit stupid, but she was still sensitive to certain matters. Han Yunxi had no choice but to roll her eyes. Of course she understood these things, so it’s not like she was going to have an affair. She only thought that Gu Beiyue could be a friend to meet for conversations. Moreover, she wasn’t flirting or chatting as a pastime, but because she needed help with certain matters. What’s more, she and Long Feiye were a couple in name but not reality. Long Feiye had even embraced and saved another woman in front of her eyes, casting her aside!

Every time Han Yunxi remembered the incident with Duanmu Yao, it’d stick in her head.

“Mistress, have you taken it to heart?” little Chen Xiang was very earnest.

“It’s not like I did anything. Don’t be so nervous, all right? You’re talking like I’ve overstepped the boundaries,” Han Yunxi almost couldn’t bear it. She really did see Gu Beiyue purely as a friend.

Who knew that while she spoke, her steps came to a stop before she almost fell. She saw a very familiar, imposing form come through the teahouse entrance…Long Feiye!

Although he was dressed in a subdued manner, Han Yunxi still recognized him at a glance. The level minded Han Yunxi suddenly turned around and ran up the stairs, followed by Chen Xiang. Upstairs, she peeked down sneakily and exhaled in relief when Long Feiye didn’t climb the steps.

Little Chen Xiang was astonished. “Mistress, why are you afraid of being found out?”

Tch…

“I…I…there’s too many people like you with flights of fancy, so I’m just taking precautions,” Han Yunxi made up an excuse. Actually, her reaction just then was her body acting before her head. In hindsight, why had she run?

Gu Beiyue hadn’t left yet, but took in everything with his eyes. He didn’t approach, but smiled faintly as if a little helpless. After Han Yunxi calmed down, she remembered that Gu Beiyue was still upstairs as well. Only, when she turned to look for him, he was already gone.

“Where is he?” Han Yunxi was puzzled.

Chen Xiang scanned around them in a circle but saw no one as well. “Mistress, that can’t be right. We were the first to leave.”

There were only one set of stairs, and they’d been blocking the way ever since coming back up. How could Gu Beiyue have gone downstairs? Han Yunxi was full of doubts, but glanced at the stairs leading to the third floor. She didn’t think much, but assumed that Gu Beiyue must have gone upstairs.

Unbeknownst to her, Gu Beiyue at that moment was standing right at the entrance of the teahouse, looking back at the second floor with a smile. Then he turned around, his body flickering before he suddenly vanished from sight.

—

Since she retreated, Han Yunxi simply decided to wait until Long Feiye left before going back downstairs. On the carriage ride back home, Chen Xiang wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare. Han Yunxi wore a pout as she looked out the window. The surrounding atmosphere between master and servant was very strange.

Back in the Hibiscus Courtyard, she saw Long Feiye’s quarters lit up with lanterns. Seeing her mistress look over, little Chen Xiang couldn’t hold back a peal of laughter. But as soon as she started, she couldn’t stop laughing.

Han Yunxi was shamed into anger and pinched her. “You darn servant, what are you laughing about?! Hurry up and go back!”

Even then, Han Yunxi left Chen Xiang behind before the latter took a single step. The entire night, Han Yunxi couldn’t fall asleep, but wrapped herself in covers as she leaned against the bed, looking at the lights from Long Feiye’s quarters.

Actually, she’d taken Chen Xiang’s reminder to heart. Although she’d been married into the Duke of Qin’s for quite some time, only today did she realize she was a woman with a husband. Even though they were a couple more in name than reality, this status would bind her up for the rest of her life. Long Feiye could wed someone else, but she would never be able to marry again. She thought and thought before shaking her head. Why think of these things? If she could keep her life and be safe, then all was well. Why think any further?

Han Yunxi didn’t fall asleep until it grew light, and then she slept until the afternoon. Days had passed. Although the Han Family’s matters were still being discussed in the streets, it wasn’t a trending topic anymore. Han Yunxi felt the storehouse key in her sleeve and thought it was time to pay them a visit. But as soon as she prepared to leave, Young General Mu Qingwu came to ask for an audience.

Seeing him, Han Yunxi couldn’t help but tease. “Young General, I heard that Princess Changping has been very busy recently?”

After Princess Changping’s face was cured, she was afraid of being made a laughingstock and used the excuse of having a winter holiday to play in the south. Otherwise, she might’ve clung to Mu Qingwu all the way to his visit here.

Mu Qingwu had no choice but to laugh. He didn’t answer but said earnestly, “Qin Wangfei, this one came because…”

Hemming and hawing wasn’t this Young General’s style. Exactly what kind of words were stuck on the tip of his tongue?

“If there’s anything Young General needs to say, by all means go ahead,” Han Yunxi watched him in puzzlement. For him to come searching all the way to the Duke of Qin’s residence meant there was something major at play.

“There is indeed a matter that concerns my poisoning with the Ten-Thousand Snake Poison. Esteemed wangfei said that this was a slow-acting poison that accumulated over the course of months and years. But father and I already made an inspection and couldn’t find the poisoner, so…today I’ve come to respectfully ask Qin Wangfei to have a look around our estate.”

Mu Qingwu was magnanimous military official, but when it came to asking people for favors, he suddenly turned into a bashful little boy.