An Xin lowered her voice as she thought of An Wan and said, "I also bear responsibility for this matter. I will apologize to the Emperor when he returns to the capital." Even though she loathed An Wan, she had to take responsibility. Now that An Wan could not be found, she had no choice but to take the blame.
Jing Lan smiled faintly and said, "This matter is due to my dereliction of duty and has nothing to do with Miss An. So how can you say I'm guilty?"
An Xin didn't argue much, but just smiled and said, "If the Emperor sentences me, I'll also like to experience life in prison."
Jing Lan's gaze suddenly became somewhat distant as she looked at her...
When Yan Zhen arrived, she saw this scene: under the bright sunlight, a beautiful young woman and a handsome man shared a paper umbrella, smiling at each other, their eyes filled with affection.
Yan Zhen's face darkened.
"Yan Zhen, the sun is a bit too strong, you should use an umbrella." A gentle and pure voice came from behind. It is said that women are gentle as water, but this voice perfectly embodied the word "gentle".
Yan Zhen turned around, her lips slightly raised, and said with a smile, "Why are you holding an umbrella? Let's not be pretentious like others." These words were sarcastic and spoken very loudly. An Xin, with her sharp ears, naturally heard them. Her face darkened, and she turned her head to look, then froze.
Yan Zhen was still the same Yan Zhen, arrogant and smug. The difference was the woman standing beside him. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like autumn water, and her lips like cherry blossoms. Her small face was no bigger than a palm. She wore a white dress and at first glance, she seemed ethereal and otherworldly. But upon closer inspection, her skin was not as delicate as porcelain, but rather slightly rough. Her hands, though slender, seemed to bear unseen scars—a woman's hands.
An Xin felt as if something had bitten her heart again. It wasn't a sharp bite, but it left her feeling numb and unable to describe her emotions.
She wanted to turn around and angrily rebuke Yan Zhen for "not being able to say anything nice," but at this moment, she couldn't bring herself to say it. Her temper was foul and stubborn, and she was extremely strange, which made her stand out in stark contrast to this woman!
The moment of shock was fleeting; An Xin quickly returned to normal, though she felt inexplicably uncomfortable all over, so uncomfortable that she wanted to ignore that lazy jerk! But why should she ignore him because she felt uncomfortable? She should completely ignore him!
Jing Lan smiled faintly and said, "It is truly a joyous occasion to see the Right Prime Minister and Miss Xiruo reunited after so many years."
Xi Ruo... An Xin raised an eyebrow. Indeed... she lived up to her name!
Yan Zhen smiled and said, holding up her folding fan, "If Xiruo can come back, I am very surprised and very happy."
The last few words annoyed An Xin for no reason; she remained expressionless and too lazy to offer her congratulations.
When they first arrived in the capital, Yan Zhen mentioned that Jing Lan had a beautiful fiancée. Little did they know that this guy also had a beautiful fiancée. Women all over the world were infatuated with these two, but it turns out they were both already taken!
Zhou Xiruo, gentle and graceful, curtsied to Jing Lan and said, "This humble woman greets the Left Prime Minister."
Jing Lan smiled and said, "Miss Xiruo is the descendant of a famous general. How can you refer to yourself as a commoner? You don't need to perform such a grand ceremony in the future."
Zhou Xiruo smiled gently, her gaze accidentally meeting An Xin's, and then she smiled amicably.
An Xin was used to having a cold face. Not to mention a complete stranger, even the current emperor had rarely seen her with a kind face. But her smile was so friendly that if she didn't respond, she would seem very heartless.
An Xin looked away expressionlessly. Well, she really wasn't very humane, and she couldn't bring herself to smile at a stranger. She turned around and started talking to Feng Yi.
Feng Yi was naturally not very friendly towards this Right Chancellor, but he immediately came to his senses when he saw An Xin turn around to talk to him.
An Xin said calmly, "I suddenly have a clue about that headless corpse."
Like An Xin, Feng Yi had a crazy interest in deduction and solving cases. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he asked, "What leads?"
An Xin frowned slightly and said, "I'm not sure. By the way, come with me to Xisi Hutong later. Maybe we'll find something."
Feng Yi paused and said, "There's no time to lose, shall we go now? There are two adults here, and you can't help them much."
An Xin said, "Okay," agreeing without hesitation. She casually took out the Dust-Avoiding Pearl and handed it to Jing Lan, saying, "There's poisonous gas in that lake. I feel safe having it with you, sir. Suddenly, I remembered a clue. I'll go take a look with Feng Yi." Every word she spoke was uncompromising. In fact, it was her own business, so why should she consult others?
Jing Lan stared at the dust-repelling bead for a moment, then her heart fluttered at her words, "I'm not worried." She then smiled and said, "Be careful. Once this matter is over, return to the manor as soon as possible."
An Xin nodded and turned to leave.
Yan Zhen felt an inexplicable anger rising within him!
They were sleeping in the same bed just a few days ago, and now she's turned on him like that?! What's even more infuriating is that the dust-repelling pearl was a gift from him! And now she's taking it out to give to another man, spouting nonsense about how she trusts him, just to annoy him!
What made his hair stand on end even more was that this damned woman didn't even acknowledge him, and couldn't be bothered to look at him!
"Someone is using your flower to offer to Buddha; doesn't the Left Prime Minister feel ashamed to accept it?" Yan Zhen slowly stepped forward, picked up the dazzling, spotless bead, her gaze turning icy cold, yet she still smiled as she closed her folding fan, lifting An Xin's chin. "What kind of act is this?!"
An Xin finally experienced Yan Zhen's split personality firsthand. Her face changed like flipping through a book, and each time she changed in a way that made you feel horrified, as if she were not the same person you had seen before!
The sinister look in front of her really caught her off guard. She had only given the bead to Jing Lan to hold first. The Dust-Avoiding Bead could make the area within a hundred meters as clear as nothing, and she was keeping it so that everyone would be safe when the seawater flooded in later. She didn't expect this person to be so petty. Her ambiguous words made her feel uncomfortable all over. And she even asked what she was up to!
An Xin said calmly, "Does the Right Prime Minister not have eyes to see? Isn't this just a case of using someone else's flowers to present to Buddha?"
One sentence really angered Yan Zhen!
"Since we don't need it, let's just throw it away." With that, he raised his hand and flicked it. An Xin's eyes widened. He really did throw it away. This one throw meant the loss of five cities, sir!
An Xin glanced at the direction the bead flew and said, "Sir, can I say I need it? Why did you throw it away in such a hurry?!"
Yan Zhen's expression was unfriendly, but he said with a forced smile, "There's no need for that. I don't think Xin'er needs anything. She just needs to give the beads away."
An Xin has a bad temper and is the kind of person who won't listen to reason. She speaks to others in a nice way, but they ignore her. She also loses patience very quickly. Besides, she already feels like she has cotton stuffed in her heart, making her uncomfortable. Yan Zhen is still provoking her!
Her face and eyes turned colder as An Xin said indifferently, "If you need to give it away, then you still need it. It's such a pity to throw away a priceless pearl. I've been worried about not having enough money these past few days and was thinking of pawning it. If you throw it away like this, how am I going to survive these next few days?"
Yan Zhenzhen is so angry with her!
I got it!?
She actually wanted to pawn the Dust-Avoiding Pearl!?
An Xin suddenly took a step back and then walked in the direction the bead had flown. Feng Yi was about to follow when Yan Zhen gave him a cold stare, and his heart trembled for no reason.
Just how far did that bastard Yan Zhen throw it?!
This place is full of woods and bushes; for her to find a bead is like looking for a needle in a haystack! Even if she's quick-witted and the clues are right in front of her, finding it would probably be a nightmare!
She watched as he threw the bead, roughly estimating the distance. And when the bead landed, there happened to be a very tall tree. So An Xin went to find that very tall tree with a headache.