Chapter 213: Visiting the Xie Mansion

Chapter 213: Visiting the Xie Mansion

Su Youyue was suddenly called out and could only steal a glance at Xie Yuan before she softly replied, "Goodbye, Lord Xie."

My father is selling me off too eagerly.

Xie Yuan listened to her voice, which was clearly lower than usual, and his lips curled into an ambiguous smile.

For some inexplicable reason, Su Youyue didn’t dare to look at him for long, but as she boarded the carriage, her gaze inadvertently swept over him.

This time, she finally saw it clearly.

There was no mocking or cryptic meaning in the man’s eyes; he was simply smiling at her, a pure and simple smile.

The winter night was cold, yet Su Youyue's hand, which had just touched the carriage, suddenly paused. Her fingers curled as if she had been scalded, but she quickly got into the carriage and blocked the man’s view with the curtain.

Even so, she couldn’t calm down for a long time, feeling as though the curtain couldn’t block out the man’s smile.

For a moment, she seemed to truly see the little fat boy who used to follow her around in Xie Yuan, his eyes filled with... only her.

Such a Xie Yuan was unfamiliar to her, leaving her at a loss, yet he had forcefully entered her life, shattering all her plans to gradually distance herself from him. And now, in the future...

"Miss?" Chunya, who had noticed something amiss with Su Youyue after boarding the carriage, asked.

Su Youyue shifted her gaze, avoiding Chunya’s eyes, and found an excuse, "In two days, Doctor Ji will be treating my leg, and I’m a bit uneasy about it."

Jin’er remembered the treatment method Doctor Ji had mentioned and immediately felt heartbroken. "The method Doctor Ji spoke of sounds painful, how will you bear it, Miss?"

Chunya also felt heartbroken but comforted her, "Miss, when the time comes, just bear with it. Endure this temporary pain, and you’ll have decades of your life ahead where you can walk properly."

In truth, Su Youyue wasn’t really afraid of having her bones broken and reset. Having lived two lifetimes as a disabled person, she would take any chance to be cured, even if it meant breaking or removing her bones and reattaching them.

She said this merely as an excuse.

Seeing that the maids were genuinely worried, she nodded as if relieved. "Yes, I’ll bear with it then."

It was useless to be afraid now, as it wasn’t happening today.

Seeing that their mistress was truly unafraid, the maids slowly thought of other things.

"Miss, I never imagined that Lord Xie would kneel before Doctor Ji..." Jin’er whispered.

"..."

Su Youyue fell silent. She had tried to change the topic because she couldn’t sort out her relationship with Xie Yuan and wanted to push him out of her mind first.

Who knew that Jin’er would bring it up again, mentioning the very thing she didn’t know how to face.

In both her past and present lives, Xie Yuan seemed etched deep within her soul.

She thought that she might never forget him.

Su Youyue sighed softly. "Yes, I didn’t expect it either..."

Not knowing how to respond to Xie Yuan, Su Youyue decided to return the New Year’s gift first.

Upon returning home, Su Youyue had the two maids push her to the Su Family’s storeroom, where she personally searched and eventually found a warm jade token.

The warm jade was an exquisite piece of Hetian jade, uniformly colored like sheep’s fat, with excellent tactile qualities.

Warm jade nurtures one’s health. Thinking back to how Xie Yuan had been described as a block of ice, Su Youyue felt that giving this to him was perfect.

Although the man usually had a high body temperature, he often went out late at night to handle official business and interrogate criminals. Sometimes, when he returned late at night, his icy hands would wrap around her, making her shiver.

With a piece of warm jade, even playing with it on the coldest days wouldn’t leave his hands so cold.

After placing the jade token in a brocade box, Su Youyue instructed Xia Hua to deliver it to Xie Yuan the next day and then retired to her room to rest.

Xia Hua, knowing that the jade token was a New Year’s gift for Lord Xie, felt that her mistress had entrusted her with an important task. She was nervous, afraid of damaging it.

Early the next morning, she couldn’t wait and headed to the Xie Mansion.

When she arrived outside the Xie Mansion, she immediately saw six guards standing there, each with an imposing and robust physique. They looked like skilled warriors, and these men seemed different from ordinary martial artists, exuding an indescribable aura of ferocity.

Xia Hua was uncertain. If she had seen executioners on the battlefield, she would have known that these men had the appearance of those who had taken lives. Already nervous, she swallowed hard.

At that moment, the guards seemed particularly vigilant and spotted her in the corner.

"Who are you?"

Hearing the man’s stern question, Xia Hua trembled and instinctively wanted to run, but then she remembered why she had come and froze in place.

In the blink of an eye, the guard was already in front of her, his eyes sharp like those of an eagle. "What are you doing here, lurking around?"

Xia Hua’s fingers shook in fear. "L-Lord, I, I am, I am..."

Another guard approached and drew his sword with a swish. "Are you a spy? Let’s capture her first."

Xia Hua suddenly came to her senses and managed to speak coherently. "Lord, I am the maid of the eldest Miss of the Su Family. I, I was sent by our Miss to deliver something to Lord Xie..."

"The Su Family?" The two fierce-looking guards were stunned for a moment before their expressions changed, and they both broke into bright smiles.

"You’re the maid from the lady! Why didn’t you say so earlier? Quickly, go and inform the lord!"

Guard Wang put his sword away swiftly. "Wang Er, look at how you scared the girl. Be careful, or the lady will make you pay when she arrives."

"Zhang San, it was you who scared the girl. Alright, alright, go and inform the lord. If he finds out we delayed the delivery of the lady’s gift, forget about the lady, he’ll punish us first!"

Xia Hua watched as the two previously menacing men suddenly turned into bumbling fools, almost unable to react.

"Young miss, please go in first; the master instructed that anyone from the Su Mansion should be taken straight to see him." With that, the man promptly gestured for Xia Hua to proceed.

"Oh, alright, alright..." Xia Hua was still somewhat dazed.

Lady? What lady? Was he referring to their young miss?

But hadn't their young miss not even entered yet? These people were quite bold, addressing her as such already.

Regardless, seeing the guard smiling like the midday sun, Xia Hua's fear dissipated, and she followed along in a daze all the way to the backyard.

Before they even entered the courtyard, Xia Hua suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream coming from within, causing her to stop in her tracks immediately.

At the same time, she suddenly caught a strong whiff of blood.