Guang Bai stayed close to Xie Jiang as they wandered.
When Xie Jiang grew tired, she leaned against a rock and sat by the lotus pond.
The lotuses in the pond had long since withered, and even the leaves had all dried up, leaving only the remnants of lotuses filling the pond, which lent a certain desolate beauty.
"Why haven't they cleaned it up?" Xie Jiang leaned against the rock, and after a moment, feeling the chill, she sat up straighter.
"They say the Fourth Young Master likes to paint pictures of withered lotuses. He comes every couple of days to paint one, so they left it as is." Seeing her shiver, Guang Bai took off his outer robe and spread it on the cold stone behind Xie Jiang.
The Fourth Young Master was Xu Hengyi's younger brother, around ten years old. He was busy with his studies every day, and Xie Jiang had only met him a few times.
Xie Jiang gazed at the water, lost in thought. Since she remained silent, Guang Bai quietly kept watch beside her.
The midday sun was warm and pleasant, making Xie Jiang even more disinclined to move.
It wasn't until Xu Hengyan found her that Guang Bai quietly withdrew.
"Why did you come here? Aren't you cold staying by the water?"
Xu Hengyan sat down next to her. The rock wasn't high, and he had nowhere to comfortably place his legs.
Xie Jiang spoke slowly, lacking energy, "I just happened to be walking this way and got tired, so I sat down for a bit. How come you, a busy person, have time to sneak out?"
Xu Hengyan quietly turned his head to look at her, sensing her lack of enthusiasm. "I was worried that after drinking, you might get lost and fall into somewhere..."
He had seen many people holding wine glasses around his father and himself, and he assumed she had also had a little to drink, which was why she had left the banquet early.
Xie Jiang blew a puff of air at his face. "I didn't drink anything. It's you who smells of alcohol."
Xu Hengyan smiled as he watched her playful antics and reached out to touch her nose.
Xie Jiang dodged back. "What are you doing? Your hands are also covered in the smell of alcohol."
Seeing her disgusted little expression made Xu Hengyan laugh. "Where did you and Ruan Ziji and the others sneak off to? You got something on your nose and didn't even know, and no one reminded you to wipe it?"
It wasn't that he couldn't understand; her beauty was too dazzling, and many people dared not look directly at her, but even the Regent hadn't reminded her.
Xie Jiang had already forgotten about Yi Yangen. What was the point of thinking about Yi Yangen when the beautiful Xu was here?
Xu Hengyan suddenly remembered some rumors circulating in the capital. "You didn't happen to sneak into the women's quarters with them to peek at the ladies, did you?"
Xie Jiang looked at him with extreme innocence.
Xu Hengyan immediately knew he had guessed correctly. "How could you go with them..."
"What's on my nose? Let me see."
Xie Jiang didn't give him a chance for a long lecture. She cupped his face, preventing him from moving, even his lips, and looked up into his eyes, searching for her reflection.
Xu Hengyan allowed her to pull his head closer to her.
His eyes were full of her.
And only her.
Xie Jiang quickly saw in his eyes a smudge of dirt on her nose.
Xu Hengyan said, "Let me wipe it off for you."
She had held his face too tightly, and Xu Hengyan suspected she had left marks on his face.
"I do need your help, but not with your hands."
"Hmm?"
Using his clothes would be fine; his current outfit was dark, so the smudge wouldn't be noticeable.
But clearly, Xie Jiang had no intention of using his clothes.
"Are we good friends? Are we supposed to share hardships together?"
"So you want to?" Xu Hengyan asked, confused.
Her mind was full of strange ideas, and she was good at playing tricks. He wondered what mischief she was up to now.
Xie Jiang nudged her head forward and rubbed her nose against his. "My nose is dirty, so yours should be dirty too."
Xu Hengyan's heart skipped a beat, then began to race wildly. "You..."
Xie Jiang asked, "Is it clean now? Is there still some?"
Xu Hengyan replied dazedly, "Y-yes..."
And the smudge was even bigger than before.
Then let's wipe it again.
Xie Jiang continued to rub his nose, not in a way that pulled away immediately, but with a grinding motion.
Xu Hengyan's back was already against the rock, where Guang Bai had thoughtfully placed his outer robe. He had nowhere to escape.
Xu Hengyan felt as if she were grinding his heart, igniting a fire within him, making the blood in his chest bubble and boil.
"Is there still some?"
"Y-yes..."
Xu Hengyan's mind was filled with only one hazy thought: it was fortunate that everyone was at the banquet at this moment, and this lotus pond was quite far from the banquet hall, so no one should come here.
"Still some? Hmm?"
"Just a little..."
Yi Yangen had left the banquet almost immediately after Xu Hengyan.
He had seen her sitting alone amidst the revelry, her face smiling, but he felt she wasn't genuinely happy.
Her retreating back as she quietly left the banquet had also caught his eye.
Yi Yangen felt somewhat uneasy and found an excuse to leave.
Yi Yangen wandered around the courtyard but didn't see Xie Jiang. He asked a servant of the Duke of Wei's mansion, who said that Marquis Xie had come this way.
Yi Yangen slowly followed the small path and saw Guang Bai leaving the lotus pond.
Xu Hengyan wouldn't have come to the lotus pond specifically to cool off at this time; Xie Jiang must be here.
Thinking that Xu Hengyan had also come specifically to find Xie Jiang, and had found her before him, Yi Yangen felt very displeased. He wanted to turn around and leave immediately, to avoid seeing them being intimate and adding to his unhappiness!
But if he left like this, wouldn't he be letting this pair of scoundrels have their way?
Why should he give up his position!
He strode over aggressively, intending to interrupt their romantic conversation, but what he saw instead was...
From Yi Yangen's angle, he couldn't see that Xie Jiang was rubbing her nose against Xu Hengyan's nose, even though the process was somewhat excessive.
Yi Yangen only saw her pressing Xu Hengyan against the rock, occasionally lowering her head to kiss him, and then shamelessly asking Xu Hengyan if he wanted more.
Xu Hengyan was a beast in human clothing, acting like a dog!
Even a blind person could tell he was thoroughly enjoying it, yet he was still playing the game of feigning reluctance, pretending to try his best to dodge but unable to, forced to let her do as she pleased!
This was because Yi Yangen clearly heard Xu Hengyan say – he wanted more.
He wanted more!
Why didn't he just die!
The two scoundrels were so engrossed in their wanton affection that they didn't notice anyone approaching. Xie Jiang was grabbed by the back of her collar and thrown out, landing on the ground still dazed.
Xu Hengyan reacted a moment too late, almost being struck in a vital spot, though he quickly regained his senses.
He narrowly dodged Yi Yangen's fatal blow, deflecting three to four parts of its power, but still had to endure the remaining killing intent.
Yi Yangen's only thought at this moment was to tear Xu Hengyan, that worse-than-beast thing, into a thousand pieces, so every strike was merciless.
If this were a battlefield, in this short amount of time, there would already be corpses strewn everywhere.
Fortunately, Xu Hengyan's martial arts skills were equally outstanding. Even if he only defended and didn't attack for a while, he didn't fall behind.
Xie Jiang, before even getting up from the ground, began to lament inwardly.
Although Yi Yangen's injuries had mostly healed, his condition was far from its peak. He hadn't managed to kill Xu Hengyan with a single palm strike.
It was just a little bit short!
If Yi Yangen were to form a deadly feud with the Duke of Wei's mansion, it was foreseeable that the outcome would inevitably be a mutual destruction.
Xie Jiang pounded her chest and stamped her feet.
If she had known Yi Yangen would witness this, she should have stripped Xu Hengyan's clothes off and poured oil on Yi Yangen's forehead.