Xu Hengyan dropped the bucket and headed towards the study, water dripping from him.
He wasn't self-abusing.
He just wanted to calm down.
He hadn't failed to notice something was wrong with himself these past few days.
It was just self-deception.
Perhaps he thought he could control it.
Why couldn't he control his own emotions, his own feelings?
Why couldn't they always be like this?
She was willing to stay with him.
He had also gotten used to her appearing before him anytime, anywhere, bringing him all sorts of surprises and unprecedented experiences.
They could be lifelong confidantes, they could have each other's backs, they could...
They could hurt no one!
Xu Hengyan suddenly laughed at himself, a self-deprecating, self-abandoning laugh, the bloodshot veins in his eyes as crimson as if soaked in blood.
How could he think that they hurt no one like this?
She was clearly the first one he had hurt.
He had even repeatedly warned her to stay away from Ruan Ziji and his ilk, but the most terrifying one was him; she should have stayed away from him.
She was young and ignorant, and always acted on impulse, without restraint.
She merely thought she had found a friend she got along with!
She was just a child who hadn't grown up!
What could she possibly know!
And yet he had tried to confine her to his side to satisfy his selfish desires.
Xu Hengyan was utterly disappointed in himself.
Guang Bai dismissed all the servants, forbidding anyone from approaching.
Then, holding his breath, he followed the young master into the study.
The young master often rested in the study, and there were clothes prepared for him there.
Guang Bai found a change of clothes for the young master. As soon as he had towel-dried the young master's hair a couple of times, the young master raised his hand, signaling him to leave.
Guang Bai glanced at the young master's still dripping hair, hesitating, but his feet moved without the slightest delay, and he left immediately.
The young master was in a very bad mood at the moment; how could he dare to court disaster and annoy the young master.
Guang Bai waited anxiously outside the study door, unable to understand or guess what was wrong with the young master. Even if Young Master Xie had kicked the young master out of bed, the young master wouldn't have lacked such magnanimity.
So what was it?
Based on the young master's reaction just now, it was definitely related to Young Master Xie.
But two people who were so close, who would even risk their own safety for each other, what could they possibly fall out over?
However, the room had been quiet since early morning. Clearly, there had been no movement, so it couldn't be that Young Master Xie and the young master had argued.
The young master's demeanor didn't suggest he was sulking after an argument.
Guang Bai recalled the look in the young master's eyes just now, as if he had fallen into some painful vortex.
The more Guang Bai thought about it, the more anxious he became.
The young master had always been reserved and measured, never showing his emotions so openly.
This was truly a little terrifying in Guang Bai's eyes.
The only person he could think of to seek help from was possibly the culprit, and Guang Bai didn't know what to do for a moment.
After some thought, he called a young servant and instructed him to keep watch outside the bedroom. If Young Master Xie made any move, he was to report it immediately.
About fifteen minutes later, the study door opened, and Xu Hengyan walked out.
Guang Bai stood at attention, "Young Master."
Guang Bai subtly observed. The young master's hair was neatly tied, but his hair was still wet, and his shoulders and back were soaked.
Fortunately, the young master seemed to have returned to normal, which finally put Guang Bai's worried heart at ease.
Xu Hengyan's voice was hoarse, "Has Young Master Xie left?"
Guang Bai replied, "He's still asleep."
Xu Hengyan nodded emotionlessly, "Prepare the horse."
With that, he walked out.
She could still sleep.
Carefree, like a child.
Every time before, it was the same, stirring up a frenzy in his heart, while she would just fall asleep.
She probably didn't know what she had just done.
It was better that way.
It would be best if she woke up and remembered nothing.
~
Xie Jiang remembered.
As she sat up, wrapped in the thin quilt, she savored the moment, but unfortunately, the brief memory was very hazy, like a dream.
"Where is Xu Hengyan?"
Xie Jiang came out of the room and caught a young servant.
The servant respectfully said, "The young master has gone out."
"Oh, he ran off." Since that was the case, Xie Jiang prepared to go back for breakfast.
Before leaving, she glanced at the ground around the well in the courtyard, which was still wet.
~
The two met at the entrance of the Xie residence.
Xu Hengyi stared at Xie Jiang, examining her from head to toe.
With her disheveled clothes and messy hair, Xie Jiang clearly looked like she had just come from the back衙.
"Did you go sleep with my second brother again?" Realizing the words sounded a bit off, Xu Hengyi immediately changed his phrasing, "Did you go sleep at my second brother's place again?"
"I'm used to it."
"Hm?"
Xie Jiang had already entered the house.
Xu Hengyi followed her, gloating, "Ruan Ziji was taken back by his second uncle last night."
Xie Jiang: "His second uncle?"
Thinking she was unfamiliar with the people and affairs of the capital, Xu Hengyi explained, "Second Master Ruan of the An Yuan Marquisate, the father of Ruan Ziji's cousin, Ruan Zijin. Second Master Ruan is in Jingping, not far from Ninghe."
Xie Jiang knew this Second Master Ruan. When the Huang Lanshan bandits attacked Ninghe county town, Xu Hengyan had made thorough preparations to lure the enemy into a trap, and it was from him that he had borrowed troops.
Xu Hengyi said, "Ruan Ziji lingered in Ninghe for so long, and the Grand Princess Yuning from the capital sent people to urge him twice, but Ruan Ziji sent them away. So this time, Second Master Ruan personally came to apprehend him."
Xu Hengyi had witnessed it with his own eyes last night: Ruan Ziji was carried away like a little chick by Second Master Ruan.
Looking at Ruan Ziji's pathetic struggles, Xu Hengyi had several good dreams last night.
Comfortable!
During breakfast, Xu Hengyi kept asking about what Xie Jiang and Xu Hengyan had been up to at Yongfeng Village.
Although his second brother had gained weight and looked like he was living quite comfortably, and Xie Jiang was still spirited, he just wanted to know more.
After all, she had been kidnapped once.
And it was because of him; if he knew the details, it would be easier to give an account to their grandmother and the others when they returned to the capital and their residence.
Xie Jiang asked someone to call Luo Shou over and instructed Luo Shou to tell him in detail.
Luo Shou understood Xu Hengyi's intention; it turned out he was concerned about his elder brother. So he recounted what he knew about the young master's time in the small courtyard.
Xu Hengyi even found out what his second brother ate for his three meals a day.
Except for the lack of freedom and being confined to a farmhouse courtyard all day, he hadn't suffered too much.
Xu Hengyi was finally at ease.
He no longer had to wake up in the middle of the night and slap himself.
Several times he had dreamed that his second brother and Xie Jiang were locked in a dark, damp dungeon.
Lu Baohong had even tortured his second brother...
Xu Hengyi was going crazy with worry!
"By the way, where is Lu Baohong?"
Xu Hengyi finally remembered the culprit he wanted to kill even in his dreams!
How dare he capture him! And dare to trade him for his second brother!
Luo Shou replied, "He's probably been dismembered and fed to the dogs."
When he left Yongfeng Village with Young Master Xie, he had specifically instructed Uncle Dalong not to let Lu Baohong die too quickly.
Xu Hengyi felt a bit regretful that he couldn't have Lu Baohong left for him to kill, but it was fine that he was dead; dismemberment was a death that suited the scoundrel Lu Baohong perfectly!