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Capítulo 50

"Aren't pear blossoms beautiful?"

"It's alright." Xiao Dao looked around; it was just an ordinary pear blossom.

"Here, take this."

Xiao Dao squinted his eyes, "I'll pick some from this tree too, and give them away."

"Well, this is what they call anticipation," Xue Beifan laughed, arms crossed. "What do you think it meant when I gave you pear blossoms?"

"Who knows?" Xiao Dao scoffed.

"Do you think that me giving you pear blossoms is a way of implying that I like you?"

Xiao Dao was silent for a moment, then took his pulse. "Are you sick too?"

At this moment, a maid came in carrying a tray to serve tea. Xue Beifan went over and took the tea tray from her, placing the flowers in her hand. "Thank you."

The maid was stunned for a moment, glanced up at Xue Beifan, blushed, and ran away.

Xue Beifan shrugged at Xiao Dao, "See?"

Xiao Dao curled his lip, "You lecherous scoundrel!"

Xue Beifan looked at her speechlessly, "I just gave you flowers too, are you trying to say that I'm allowed to sleep with you but not with anyone else?!"

Xiao Dao grabbed an orange from the fruit plate and threw it at him.

"Half of the men in this world are philanderers because of misunderstandings," Xue Beifan said with a hearty laugh as he took the orange. "Of course, the other half are self-inflicted."

Xiao Dao thought to himself, "What's with all this talk about expectations? If you don't provoke people, they won't overthink things. They'll just turn around and go back to their room."

Just as I was climbing the steps, suddenly... I heard a scream coming from the courtyard.

34

The last flower of the rose blooms.

The scream must have come from the maid from before. Xiao Dao and the others ran out and saw her sitting on the ground, pointing to the end of the corridor, crying, "A ghost...a ghost!"

Her shout startled everyone around, including Miss Zhai who had just finished resting.

Everyone rushed to Wen Si's door, fearing that some demon or monster had afflicted him again. Sure enough... the lights inside the house, which had been extinguished, were now on again.

"Fourth Brother!"

Ignoring everyone's attempts to stop her, Miss Zhai pushed the door open and went inside.

At this moment, the scene inside the house was not at all frightening; there were neither fierce demons nor fanged ghosts.

Xiao Dao couldn't see clearly because there were many onlookers blocking her view. She could vaguely make out two people who seemed to be peeking in on tiptoe. Suddenly, Xue Beifan lifted her up from behind, supporting her waist.

"Ah!" Xiao Dao screamed, clutching his waist as he kicked backward.

Fortunately, Xue Beifan managed to dodge, but the kick still landed on his hip, causing him to rub it in pain. "Your kick is too ruthless! Were you trying to cripple me?!"

Xiao Dao was so shocked that his hair stood on end. He rushed to Xiao Yue's side and glared at Xue Beifan, "Who told you to touch me like that, you lecherous scoundrel!"

Xue Beifan sighed, "Good intentions get you struck by lightning!"

Xiao Dao was still feeling annoyed when Lou Xiaoyue gently tugged at his sleeve. Xiaoyue found a crack through which she could see inside, and pulled Xiao Dao inside, pointing towards the room.

Xiao Dao was astonished when he saw it – the room was filled with flickering candlelight, and under the warm, soft light, Wen Si looked much better, leaning against the sickbed with his head bowed.

Beside the bed, a woman knelt... Everyone was amazed. Was she a celestial being who had just fallen from heaven? She wore a long white dress, the hem trailing far behind, like a dream. The woman was slender and graceful, her posture of kneeling and leaning against the bed was supple and boneless. Her slender, white hands tightly held Wen Si's hands, and she looked up at him.

Looking closely at her face, she looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, incredibly charming and pure, especially her tearful eyes and slightly furrowed brows, which made one feel extremely sorry for her.

The way the two looked at each other was full of affection, and their intertwined fingers made them look like lovers who had been separated for a long time.

After a long while, Xiao Dao heard Xue Beifan ask, "Does this woman look familiar?"

When Xiao Dao came to his senses, he realized that it was Liao Xiaoqing, the ghostly singer who sang "The Phoenix Hairpin" in the woods! She wasn't as pretty as he looked now when he saw her in the woods before... and she even looked several years younger?

"Do you look younger?" Xiao Dao asked Xue Beifan, turning around.

Xue Beifan nodded, "I think so too, she's become even prettier!"

As they felt something was amiss, the image of the man-eating concubine suddenly popped into their minds, and they felt a chill run down their spines.

Chonghua had met Liao Xiaoqing before, and he couldn't help but frown—was Liao Xiaoqing truly ageless? How come she looked even younger than she did a few years ago?

Compared to Liao Xiaoqing's radiant beauty, Miss Zhai was much more ordinary, and coupled with her recent exhaustion, she had become extremely thin.

"Miss."

The steward felt it was improper, after all, Wen Si was the son-in-law of the Zhai family, and for him to be so intimate with another woman in front of so many servants in the Zhai mansion... how would his young lady face herself in the future?

The servants were also whispering among themselves.

"Isn't this Liao Xiaoqing?"

"I didn't expect her to be so beautiful!"

"Look, the son-in-law's eyes are practically glued to him!"

"You know, when your son-in-law was so sick before, was it because he was lovesick?!"

Fourth Brother.