Huo Heng waited outside for a while before seeing Xiao Yanzhou and Xie Hengwu getting off the sedan.
His master, who had always had a frosty face, was now like snow melting in spring. Although it was not obvious, there was a subtle smile between the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
As for the beauty, she buried her head so low that her expression could not be seen at all.
Huo Heng was a little confused, but when he felt Xiao Yanzhou's sharp gaze, he decisively chose to play dumb.
"Your Majesty, the gardens have been decorated."
Xiao Yanzhou nodded and turned to look at Xie Hengwu: "Let's go."
Xie Hengwu then raised his head, his beautiful eyes twinkling as if he was embarrassed. She responded softly and followed Xiao Yanzhou's footsteps.
After taking a few steps, a hand was handed to her.
The snow light made the hand even more pale, and the thin lines followed the wrist bone and disappeared into the big sleeve. Xie Hengwu was stunned for a moment, and when he looked up, he saw the owner of the hand turning back and looking at her expressionlessly.
She was excited and quickly held Xiao Yanzhou's hand.
Unlike his cold appearance, his palm was so hot that it almost burned her when it wrapped around her palm.
After Xiao Yanzhou grabbed Xie Hengwu, he stepped forward and walked in, without any intention of whether Xie Hengwu could keep up.
So the latter stumbled and was almost carried by Xiao Yanzhou's arm into the villa.
Huo Heng was behind, already dumbfounded.
His unkind Majesty would actually take the initiative to hold a woman's hand one day?
Sure enough, Zhao Quan was right, this beauty has some abilities.
He felt solemn in his heart, secretly thinking that he should give a warning to the Yulin guards so that they would be more respectful and tactful towards Xie Hengwu in the future.
--
This should be Xiao Yanzhou's property purchased outside the palace. It is his personal property and does not bear the name of the royal family.
Xie Hengwu made this judgment because many of the furnishings and furniture here were different from those in the palace, as if they were deliberately following some rules; and although the waiters were well-trained, they did not shy away from Xiao Yanzhou like they did in the palace.
Could it be that he brought her here because... he believed her?
Xie Hengwu stood under the window, watching the people coming and going in the dim light of the corridor outside, and fell into thinking.
"What are you thinking about?"
A deep male voice sounded behind him, and Xie Hengwu felt a little calm in his heart for a moment, and even had the idea that this was indeed the case.
Xiao Yanzhou always appeared out of nowhere when she was distracted or deep in thought, and she was almost used to it.
"Your Majesty, where is this?"
Xie Hengwu said and looked over his shoulder, suddenly startled.
Xiao Yanzhou must have just finished taking a bath. The room was very warm, so he only wore his middle coat. Like a waterfall of ink hair, it was randomly scattered on the chest and back, and the unwiped water drops ran along the neck, crossed the bulge in the throat, flowed over the collarbone, and submerged into the open collar.
The muscular lines under the white tunic are faintly undulating with his breathing, seeming to contain infinite power. The two of them were so close again that she could almost feel the heat radiating from his body just after bathing.
Xie Hengwu took a breath and subconsciously covered his nose.
Xiao Yanzhou frowned: "What's wrong?"
"No...it's nothing. I'm just a little sleepy." Xie Hengwu stumbled and pretended to yawn.
Xiao Yanzhou did not doubt that he was there and continued to answer her previous questions.
"This is the villa of the Orphan Office on the outskirts of Beijing. Everyone in the house can trust it. It's an orphan..." Xiao Yanzhou was silent for a moment, "He's from the Grand Master."
If it weren't for the fact that Xie Hengwu was from Nanliang who knew little about Beijiang, Xiao Yanzhou would not have mentioned the Grand Master in front of her.
Hearing this, Xie Hengwu only nodded in understanding.
Although he didn't know who the Grand Master was, seeing Xiao Yanzhou's appearance, he must be a very important person to him.
And someone he can trust.
The depression in Xiao Yanzhou's eyes disappeared momentarily. He glanced at Xie Hengwu, who was still holding his nose, and said calmly: "If you are tired, go wash up quickly and get some rest early."
Xie Hengwu had become somewhat accustomed to his appearance, so he put down his hand and asked doubtfully: "Your Majesty, aren't we going back to the palace?"
"Back to the palace?" Xiao Yanzhou glanced at her, "What are you doing back to the palace? Do you want to greet her every day?"
The "she" in his mouth is naturally Queen Mother Cui.
Xie Hengwu opened his mouth and said softly: "Your Majesty, don't you plan to go back?"
Xiao Yanzhou said slowly: "It doesn't matter if Gu is gone for a few days. If they don't handle it well, wouldn't Gu have raised so many people in vain?"
Xie Hengwu was silent. It seemed that Xiao Yanzhou had already planned to leave after Queen Mother Cui returned to the palace.
Bringing her out was also...a coincidence?
Somehow, she felt a little lost.
"Your Majesty, I will go and wash up first."
"Yes." Xiao Yanzhou pinched her waist expressionlessly, and saw Xie Hengwu blushing again with satisfaction before letting her go.
…
The bathroom was filled with heat, and Xie Hengwu did not let anyone wait on him, but sent all the maids away.
She was soaking in the water, with only her shoulders still above the water.
Milky white water vapor steamed up, blurring a small patch of red on her collarbone.
When Xie Hengwu splashed water on his body, he couldn't help but pause when his fingertips touched his collarbone.
She gently stroked the small red scar. Compared with the surrounding delicate skin, this scar was extremely abrupt, like a regrettable crack on the beautiful jade.
Xie Hengwu ignored it as if nothing had happened. After bathing, he stood up and took the cotton towel to wipe it.
She wrapped herself in a cotton towel, and when she caught a glimpse of the full-length mirror nearby, she couldn't help but walk over and look carefully at the scar on her collarbone.
In the whiteness, this red color is particularly eye-catching.
It looks like a flower, or some other indescribable pattern. It's not ugly, just very eye-catching.
This is in her opinion.
Xie Hengwu lowered his eyelashes and remembered what happened in the Hou Mansion again.
When she first discovered it, she asked Mrs. Hou out of curiosity.
Mrs. Hou was vague about this. Later, when she informed her of her adopted daughter's identity, she said that this was the mark given by Jiaofangsi.
"The Marquis and I rescued you from a place like Jiaofangsi. You must know how to repay the favor, do you understand?"
When Mrs. Hou said this, she had just returned from a banquet in the palace. She was dressed in official uniform, and the golden hairpin on her head was extremely dazzling.
The skinny Xie Hengwu was confused and knelt down to thank him.
It might not be the mark of Jiaofangsi, but it was something real, something that was used by the Marquis to manipulate her.
Who made the position ambiguous? If Mrs. Hou wanted to make a fuss about it, I'm afraid many people would believe it.
After all, no one would really explore whether Jiaofangsi would give people printed notes.
They only want to believe what they want to believe.
So Xie Hengwu hated this place.
She held a dagger in front of the mirror several times, trying to carve it out, but in the end she couldn't do it.
Xie Hengwu stared at the mirror motionless, his expression frozen, like a beauty carved in wood.
After a long while, she took the clothes hanging on the screen and wrapped herself one by one. Finally, she covered the neckline to make it more tightly covered.
When she returned to the dormitory wrapped in clothes, she seemed to see Xiao Yanzhou hiding something quickly.
Xie Hengwu rubbed his eyes, and when he looked again, Xiao Yanzhou was leaning on the couch, holding a book in his hand, and gave her the same cold look as always.
...Did she see it wrong?
Xiao Yanzhou hooked his hand and motioned for her to come over, and asked, "Why did it take so long?"
Xie Hengwu took the opportunity to glance at the contents of the book in Xiao Yanzhou's hand. It was roughly some allusions to the Art of War.
"Your Majesty, women always take longer to bathe." Xie Hengwu said casually, naturally not telling him the real reason.
Xiao Yanzhou's eyes roamed around her body. Her temples were probably wet with moisture, and lay a little messy on her cheeks. Her pajamas were wide but thin, and under the candlelight, the beautiful lines under her clothes seemed to be faintly visible.
Probably because of the bath, her fragrance seemed to be stronger, and it floated in his nose with warmth.
This place was not as dark as the Zichen Palace's dormitory. Xiao Yanzhou saw clearly again what he had seen clearly and what he had not seen clearly before.
He lowered his eyes, feeling unknown restlessness in his heart again.
Xiao Yanzhou attributed this to the impending onset of a headache.
He leaned back, and the soft pillow he was leaning on was compressed, as if there was a rustling sound of paper rubbing against each other.
Xiao Yanzhou made a move.
He just hid the script given by Zhao Quan behind his back.
Xie Hengwu naturally heard the sound and looked behind him nervously: "Your Majesty, was there any sound just now?"
After experiencing that assassination, she really felt that it was not unusual for an assassin to appear at this time.
Xiao Yanzhou's expression did not change, he opened his eyes and told lies: "No."
Xie Hengwu frowned slightly and leaned forward to look behind him in confusion: "Is it really not there? But I seem to have heard something..."
Xiao Yanzhou grabbed her wrist with a snap, stopping her from further prying, and said in a cold voice: "If you say no, it means no."
Xie Hengwu saw that his face was as dark as water and his voice was horribly cold. He thought he was angry, so he quickly stood up straight and withdrew his glance back.
Since he said no, he must have really heard wrong, right?
"Your Majesty, is this concubine going to bed first?" She asked carefully, looking at Xiao Yanzhou's expression.
Xiao Yanzhou usually called her over for something, either to give her a massage or to have her stand beside him.
But tonight, Xiao Yanzhou just let go of her and hummed softly.
Xie Hengwu's eyes lit up and he thought happily,
Great, I can finally have a good sleep.
Although it was okay to stay in Zichen Palace, every time I stayed with Xiao Yanzhou, I didn't know how late it was, and I never got enough sleep during the day.
Xie Hengwu got up in a good mood and walked through the bead curtain to the bedroom outside. Even after walking far away, he hummed an unknown tune in his mouth.
But Xiao Yanzhou heard everything.
He chuckled softly, with an indulgence in his eyes that he didn't even notice.
--
It was late at night, and all the attendants on duty were leaning against the door frame, half asleep and half awake. The candles in Xiao Yanzhou's bedroom were about to be extinguished.
But he never fell asleep, but walked outside.
The golden gauze tent drooped and flickered in the air, blurring the scene in the tent.
Xiao Yanzhou raised his hand and opened the curtain.
Xie Hengwu was already fast asleep, rubbing his hair on his temples, looking very affectionate.
She seemed to be restless in a dream, her eyelashes quivering slightly, casting a small shadow under her eyes.
As if aware of the gaze from the side, she turned over, and her collar slipped down with the movement, revealing a small piece of delicate collarbone.
Xiao Yanzhou stared in silence for a while, and suddenly had the idea of teasing.
He stretched out his hand and lightly touched her face with his fingertips.
In the dream, Xie Hengwu was enjoying her free afternoon after escaping, but a small insect flew around her cheek without realizing it, making her upset.
In anger, she raised her palm and clapped it.
Snapped!
Xiao Yanzhou's hand was slapped away by Xie Hengwu.
The force was quite high this time, and Xiao Yanzhou's face instantly darkened.
At the same time, Xie Hengwu was also woken up by himself.
She opened her eyes drowsily and saw a tall black figure standing at the head of the bed. She was so frightened that she sat up.
However, Xie Hengwu quickly realized that this was Xiao Yanzhou's villa, and the only person who could stand beside her bed at this time was...
"His Majesty……?"
She wrapped herself tightly in the quilt and asked tremblingly.
