The tall figure loomed over her, and Meng Wan finally snapped out of her daze. She looked up at the man before her, her eyes widening. "Seriously, why are you here? You're not... following me again, are you?"
He felt a light tap on her forehead. Watching her rapidly changing expression, the man raised an eyebrow slightly: "You're really heartless. If I hadn't been with you, you wouldn't even know how you died just now."
That's absolutely true!
However... "Even so, it's wrong of you to follow me. Hey, you look decent enough, you don't have a stalking tendency, do you?"
"You're overthinking it." The man was speechless. "I just thought I hadn't seen you in a long time, so I went to your house to look for you. I didn't expect to see you sneaking out like that. It was so late, and I was worried something might have happened to you, so I followed you."
The word "worry" was uttered so aptly and naturally, as if it were the natural thing to do. Meng Wan was taken aback, feeling as if something had bumped into her chest, and a strange feeling arose within her.
baffling!
"Who's being sneaky? I just had something to do."
"Huh? What are you doing?"
I won't tell you!
Meng Wan patted the stains off her clothes, then picked up her bag and turned to leave. The man followed her unhurriedly, saying, "If you don't tell me, I'll follow you."
A Savior Arrives (Part 2)
"Can I go home now?"
"But this direction is not the way to the Prime Minister's residence."
...
Meng Wan stopped in her tracks: "Young master, although I don't know who you are, you don't seem like a scoundrel. In that case, could you please refrain from such shameless behavior? What exactly are you trying to do by following me?"
"Nothing much, I just find you interesting. Tell me, what are you going to do with all that gunpowder you're carrying?"
He actually knew she was carrying gunpowder. Meng Wan was visibly taken aback for a moment, then raised an eyebrow as he calmly walked towards her. Seemingly noticing her probing gaze, their eyes met, and he suddenly smiled, his red lips and white teeth revealing an extremely wicked charm.
"Don't be surprised. My nose is always very sensitive. I could smell sulfur and saltpeter as soon as I got close to you. So, where are you going to blast? Judging from your direction, it seems to be heading east. East, where is that? The palace? The execution ground? Or... some mansion?"
He tentatively opened his mouth, but his unfathomable black eyes remained fixed on Meng Wan's face the whole time. Meng Wan couldn't help but feel wary, staring at him with a vigilant expression, but she kept her mouth shut and didn't say a word.
Although she didn't feel that this person had any ill intentions towards her, she was plotting to frame a prince, so how could she tell others about it?
Her resistance only fueled his interest. Seeing her tense face and silence, he began to mutter to himself, starting with the mansions in the east and reciting them one by one.
Meng Wan remained silent throughout, only slightly furrowing her brows when he mentioned the Prince Heng's residence.
Seeing that the man was following her, and that she couldn't do anything else that night, Meng Wan didn't say anything more, changed direction, and returned to the Prime Minister's residence.
The man wanted to follow her in, but Meng Wan stopped him, gave him a cold look, and then turned and quietly slipped in through the back door.
Behind her, the man was still standing there. When the footsteps inside the door disappeared, he paused, recalling her expression when he had tentatively asked her a question earlier, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
Was that her destination?
Her beautiful face was hidden in the moonlight, faintly glowing with a cool white light. After a long while, she turned around and ran off in that direction without looking back.
Her clothes fluttered, and she seemed to fly.
--
That night, Meng Wan couldn't sleep at all. She was frightened by the bandits and depressed because the plan couldn't be carried out.
For safety's sake, it's best not to go out at night. But how can she carry so much gunpowder out during the day without being seen by the people in the manor?
She tossed and turned all night without coming up with any good ideas, and finally drifted off to sleep just before dawn. She slept until noon, and when she woke up, a maid came to invite her to the front to have lunch with the Third Madam.
Meng Wan quickly tidied herself up and went to the front dining room, only to find the Third Madam sitting at the table, with no sign of her father. Meng Wan walked over and sat down opposite the Third Madam before asking, "Aunt, where is Father? Why isn't he coming out to eat?"
“Your father hasn’t returned yet. Not long ago, someone came back to say that there was something going on in the palace and that we should have our meal first.”
Something happened in the palace? Meng Wan's brow twitched, and even her eyelids twitched, as if something had occurred.
He did one thing for her.
Something happened in the palace? Meng Wan's brow twitched, and even her eyelids twitched, as if something had occurred.
He didn't say much, but just lowered his head and absentmindedly ate the food on the table.
Prime Minister Meng returned to his residence at 3:45 PM. Meng Wan was chatting with the Third Madam when she saw Prime Minister Meng enter looking exhausted. They both went out to greet him.
"master--"
"father--"
"Yes, Wan'er is here too." When Prime Minister Meng entered the room and saw Meng Wan, a loving smile appeared on his face.
Meng Wan and the Third Madam exchanged a glance: "Father, why are you back so late? Has something terrible happened in the palace?"
"Hmm." Prime Minister Meng nodded, took the tea handed to him by the Third Madam, took a sip, and then said, "The Prince of Heng's mansion caught fire last night. Although it was discovered and put out in time, the fire was too big, and the front yard was burned beyond recognition. His Majesty was furious about this and punished all the people responsible for the repairs and guarding. Several of them were my students, and even the princes were implicated. They all came to ask me to plead with His Majesty, so I stayed in the palace a little longer."
"It's...on fire?" Prime Minister Meng explained clearly, but Meng Wan had no interest in listening; the word "fire" was all she could think about.
But when she got home last night, there was nothing unusual there. How could it have caught fire so quickly?
"How could it have caught fire? It had just snowed, and the ground was so slippery. Logically speaking, the fire shouldn't have been so big!"
The third wife was also full of doubts and said softly.
Meng Wan immediately turned her attention to her father.