When love draws near, it's like snow

Chapter 16

Jona's face suddenly flushed a suspicious red, and she looked me up and down with a sidelong glance. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh dear! You're so silly! Haven't you ever heard of time travel? I'm telling you, I really did travel through time!" I slapped her face hard—who told her to look so disbelieving?

"Time travel?" Jona looked horrified, her voice trembling. "What does that mean?" "But, I feel sleepy, Jona, can I borrow your leg?" She indeed stretched out a leg for me, and I lay down on it contentedly, falling into a deep sleep.

"Ye Qing, wake up! Where did you come from?" Someone shook my body violently.

"Shut up!" I grabbed Jona and pinned her down, adjusting myself to a comfortable position. "Where did I come from? Where am I...?"

Ugh, my head hurts so much, and why is the morning sunlight so strong? I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the light—I glanced out the window, is it already past 1 PM? If I had known that being drunk would feel this bad, I would never have drunk so much.

"Awake?" Why is there a voice above my head?

I looked around in confusion—wait! Huaiyuan was looking down at me with a lazy smile, and I was resting my head on his arm? I was startled and jumped up. "How did you get on my bed?"

"Don't you remember?" Huaiyuan looked aggrieved. "You were the one who wouldn't let go. And look closely, this is clearly my bed, okay? Don't you even know how heavy you are! You've been lying on top of me all night. Please, can you at least be more mindful of your behavior?"

Huh, it seems real! This is Huaiyuan's room—I stuck out my tongue and made a face at him. "Sorry, but you're so strong, you could have easily pushed me away! I was drunk, I didn't know. But you were sober, you..."

Facing Huaiyuan's increasingly dark gaze, my voice suddenly disappeared from my throat, and my face flushed instantly—this little devil must have taken some kind of magic potion; in the past month, his height has grown like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and he has already blossomed into a handsome young man, making it impossible for me to hug him and have fun with him at will anymore—on the contrary, he often stares at people with an almost suffocating gaze without restraint until my cheeks turn red before letting me go—just like now.

Huaiyuan seemed quite satisfied with the effect he had on me, and changed the subject to let me off the hook: "Why were you drinking with that guy surnamed Liu last night?"

"How would I know? I was walking down the street when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and insisted that I drink. You know who he is; he's practically the host here. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head," I tried my best to clear myself.

"Really? Is the person surnamed Liu the kind who randomly picks up someone on the street and insists on getting them to drink with him?" Huaiyuan's face clearly showed his suspicion.

"Okay, I admit it. I got lost and probably wandered into his place by accident." I had no choice but to confess. "But it really wasn't me who invited him for drinks! At first, I thought he was Young Master Lu! That's why I used the name of Young Master Liu to ask him to perform a sword dance. Later I found out he was Young Hero Liu. You know we're trying to avoid him like the plague, why would we drink with him? So..."

"So what?" Huaiyuan's voice was devoid of emotion—it seemed calm, right?

"So I slipped away! But you know how amazing his lightness skill is, he floated in front of me like a ghost and blocked my way. He said that since he had already performed his sword dance, I had to drink! I couldn't beat him in a fight, and I couldn't outrun him, so I had no choice but to accept my fate and drink. So you can't blame me, you can only blame him!" I said in one breath, very self-righteously.

"Why is someone surnamed Liu coming to Lu Family Village?" Huaiyuan ignored me and asked a very stupid question.

"Isn't that obvious? He's here to see his fiancée, of course!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Or did he come to see you?"

"Did you mention me to him?" Huaiyuan asked with a serious expression.

"Why would I mention you to him out of the blue?" I asked dismissively. "Are you that famous?"

"From now on, no matter who it is, don't mention anything about me to them, understand?"

"Why? Is someone trying to kill you?" Just thinking about it gets me excited—a feud in the martial arts world! It's not on TV, it's real! "So what should I do? Do I have to never tell anyone? Should I change your name? Or should I do your makeup? You're too conspicuous like this, people will recognize you easily!" I said with great interest.

"No, you just need to keep quiet and don't say anything else." Huaiyuan gave me a look that was both funny and exasperating.

"Oh!" I was quite discouraged—I had wasted a chance to be a hero. "But everyone in Lu Family Village knows you exist, right? Won't you be in danger?"

"The person they saw is not the person you see, it doesn't matter." "What's the difference between what they saw and what I saw?" I was truly bewildered, not knowing what was being said.

"Never mind all that, just don't mention me to that Liu guy. Here, take this." Huaiyuan shook his head, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and tossed it to me.

"No need, I have plenty of handkerchiefs..." I declined with a smile. "Hey, what's drawn on this?" Upon closer inspection—wasn't this a map? Why would he give me a map out of the blue? I'm not doing anything wrong. Just as I was thinking of returning it to him, my eyes caught sight of a very familiar name, "Benlei Pavilion." Isn't that where I live? And what I'm holding is a topographical map of Lu Family Village?

Meeting my grateful gaze, Huaiyuan coughed awkwardly. "From now on, can you use your brain a little? Don't always run away like a fool!"

Pshaw! How come a perfectly good sentence sounds so different coming out of his mouth?

“Young Master Ye, Young Hero Liu invites you to the Invitation Moon Pavilion for a chat.” Wu Geng stood respectfully outside the door—it was less respect for me and more reverence for Huai Yuan. For some reason, just his casual presence always exuded an invisible pressure, and he always seemed to possess a captivating power.

I looked up at Huaiyuan. He frowned and snorted, "No matter what that Liu guy is up to, in five days, once the remaining poison in my body is cleared, we'll leave here as soon as possible. Go ahead and go now. Don't be afraid, he won't make things difficult for you."

This is really baffling. What am I afraid of? I think he's the one who's afraid of something. But seeing how serious he looks, I don't want to argue with him.

"Let's go, Wugeng." Having learned my lesson yesterday, I dared not be careless again today, and quickly called Wugeng to lead the way.

Just as they passed through the four corridors, a young maidservant came rushing towards them—I think her name was Wan Hong? "Brother Wugeng, the steward has instructed you to go to the pavilion in the middle of the lake to invite the master."

"Excuse me, Young Master Ye, I must take my leave now."

No, really? He actually ran away again?!

This book was first published on Xiaoxiang Novel Original Website. Please retain this information when reprinting!

[Volume 1: Encounter Chapter 16 - Moonlight on Jade Arms]

A pavilion in the middle of the lake? So, there's actually a lake in Lu Family Manor? I stopped and pulled out the handkerchief map—damn! I was shocked by what I saw! This Master Lu is truly extravagant! In my opinion, he's practically a psychopath! Seriously! Who turns their house into this?

In the center of the manor is a small lake called Wangxia Lake. Arranged in a triangular pattern along its shore are the three pavilions: Yingri (Welcoming the Sun), Yaoyue (Inviting the Moon), and Zhaixing (Picking Stars). Several small waterways branching off from the lake direct its waters throughout the entire Lu Family Manor. Surrounding these three pavilions are the Benlei Pavilion to the north, the Shandian Pavilion to the west, the Jufeng Pavilion to the south, and the Tingyu Pavilion to the east. Between the Benlei and Shandian Pavilions lie the Mei and Zhu Gardens, while between the Yufeng and Yufeng Pavilions are the Lan and Ju Gardens. On either side of the main gate are the Flower Hall and the Council Hall. The waterways in the middle are intricately crisscrossed, like a spider web. It's truly a water town! No wonder I see stone bridges everywhere I look!

I wondered which path led to the Invitation to the Moon Pavilion. I was studying the map when I suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats coming from afar. I looked up and saw a red cloud wrapped around a pure white horse. Accompanied by a wisp of sunset on the horizon, it rushed towards me like lightning in an instant.

Riding on the horse was a woman in red. With a clear shout, she pulled on the saddle rope with her right hand, and the horse neighed loudly, reared up, and stopped beside me.

"Stop right there!" The beautiful woman on horseback pointed a silver whip at my nose. Her voice was quite clear, but unfortunately, it was a bit too arrogant.

"Miss, are you calling me? May I ask who you are?" Although I didn't know her, I didn't want to offend anyone and cause unnecessary trouble—judging from her appearance, she must have some connection with the people of Lu Family Village.

"Hmph! You don't even recognize me? Who are you? What are you doing at Lu Family Manor?" Oh dear, Miss is throwing a tantrum!

Who do you think you are? The president? Does everyone have to know you? Even though I was thinking this to myself, I still politely replied, "I'm the new accountant, so I don't recognize you. Please forgive me, young lady." — Sigh! Even I've become vulgar here!

"Hey! Newcomer! Do you know where Young Master Liu is?" The girl still had an imperious air about her.

Oh, so you're chasing after someone's man. What's so great about that? I rolled my eyes and pointed ahead with a smile. "Oh, you're looking for Young Master Liu? Why didn't you say so earlier? He went to Jufeng Pavilion early this morning to play chess with Master Lu." Heh, dare to go against me? Well, let's take a detour around the manor first! Anyway, she has a horse, so it shouldn't be tiring, right?!