Eine eisige Aura

Kapitel 46

"How is that possible?" she asked.

"How could that be!" she murmured again, "Granny, you're so beautiful, and you have the power to bewitch people..."

Jin Buyao giggled, propped her cheek with one hand, and looked at Pang Wan with flirtatious eyes.

"To be captivating, the person needs to have a heart." She pinched her plump, smooth cheek, her voice slightly hoarse with a hint of intoxication. "Silly girl, don't be like me, falling for a man who will never have a heart, and living a lonely life forever."

Looking at the radiant beauty before her, Pang Wan's heart clenched: "But Granny, there are still so many people who like you..." With just a flick of her finger, the men rushing to kneel at her feet could probably stretch for miles. If one doesn't work out, just find another; why hang yourself on one tree?

"It's no use, it's no use." Jin Buyao's smile widened, like a magnificent, blooming rose. "Even if the whole world adores you, you will still be unsatisfied, you will be lonely, you will crave."

"Because you can never get into his heart."

She spoke softly, a deep sadness in her eyes.

Pang Wan stared at the golden hairpin with wide eyes, his mind a complete mess.

"Silly girl, you haven't even grasped the meaning of love yet!" Jin Buyao patted her chubby cheeks. "You'll understand when you feel heartache."

"Actually, I've already been heartbroken several times..." Pang Wan lowered her head and whispered her defense, her mind filled with thoughts of several handsome male protagonists who had fallen for other men: Nan Yi, Gu Xiju, the Palace Master of the Lonely Palace, and the Ninth Prince—hadn't she suffered enough blows before?

"Is that so?" Jin Buyao chuckled, exuding charm. "But in my opinion, you've never truly loved anyone before!" She picked up a strand of her curly hair and twirled it in her hand with a hint of tenderness. "Some truths can only be understood when you experience them. Growth often happens in an instant, but it comes at a price."

*****

After seeing Pang Wan off, Jin Buyao gracefully walked towards the study.

"Young Master." She greeted the refined man in the room, then reached into her bosom and took out the pink and white lotus flowers, placing them one by one into a white jade porcelain vase.

He Qinglu was using tweezers to untangle a bundle of silver fishing nets on the table without looking up.

Jin Buyao didn't care at all. She arranged the flowers herself, struck the perfect pose, and then gracefully turned around.

"A letter has arrived from the master." She took an envelope from her bosom. "Here you are."

He Qinglu paused slightly.

"If it was meant for me, why is it in your hands?"

He quickly immersed himself in the world of fishing nets again.

"Because the letter was specifically given to me by the gentleman before I came, and he instructed me to give it to you a month later."

Jin Buyao smiled sweetly and with great sincerity.

He Qinglu did not take the envelope, but simply asked, "What does the letter say?"

"Oh, I dare not look at that." Jin Buyao continued to smile. "The letter is specially for the young master by the master."

"Stop giving me these insincere words!" He Qinglu seemed a little impatient. "Everything you took from him, you touched and looked at again and again, probably even secretly hiding it, smelling it and kissing it!"

Jin Buyao's cheeks flushed slightly, then a charming smile appeared on her lips: "Oh my young master, how can you speak a woman's thoughts so aloud? You're really not going to win a girl's heart." Be careful, or you'll never be able to find a wife!

“I don’t need that kind of thing,” He Qinglu replied coldly. “What exactly did the letter say?”

Seeing his impatient expression, Jin Buyao rolled her eyes inwardly, then gracefully placed the envelope on the desk with both hands—after all, it was written by that person himself, and she couldn't bear to throw it away.

"The gentleman said that you should return within ten days of seeing this letter," she said softly.

He Qinglu paused.

"Understood." After a long pause, he replied expressionlessly and continued to dismantle the fishing net in his hands.

Seeing his indifferent expression, Jin Buyao couldn't help but ask curiously, "You agreed so readily?"

He Qinglu looked up in surprise: "Why should I hesitate?"

Jin Buyao's brows furrowed deeply: "Don't you feel even the slightest bit reluctant...?"

Looking into the person's clear, spring-like eyes, she swallowed the rest of her sentence.

"You've overstepped your bounds with this hair ornament." She smiled slightly, turned around, and gracefully took her leave, her movements as elegant as lotus blossoms.

—The He family really does produce heartless people; she's overthinking it.

After Jin Buyao had been gone for a while, He Qinglu finally managed to completely untangle the tangled fishing net and gently lay it flat on the desk.

His elbow accidentally bumped into a porcelain bottle—it was used to store the paint for the Flame Needle needle bag. He had swiftly picked off a tiny piece, the size of a needle tip, from the bag, and the owner of the needle almost cried, making a scene for a long time.

—I should be happy to say goodbye to this annoying silly girl.

As he thought this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

—Hmph, what on earth is Jin Buyao thinking? That silly girl is nothing more than a fleeting cloud in his meticulously planned mind, leaving not even a trace. How could he possibly feel even the slightest bit of reluctance?

Beauty Trap

Recently, Pang Wan's gaze towards Gu Xiju has been a bit strange, like a wolf seeing a fat pig or a tiger seeing a plump rabbit, with a sinister, eerie light shining through—she really, really wanted to pounce on him and tear off the Alliance Leader's clothes!

"You should at least show some restraint," Nan Yi said, unable to bear it any longer.

With a slurp, Pang Wan wiped away the drool that was about to drip down his face and reluctantly looked away.

"Do you think he might actually have buried the Jade Dragon Token somewhere in his body?"

Turning her gaze away from the window, Pang Wan kept an eye on the medicine furnace while muttering to herself in frustration.

"How should I know? I'm not him!" Nan Yi was busy sorting through a large pile of precious medicinal herbs, his face not looking too good. "You're fanning yourself so slowly! Didn't you eat lunch?"