"Sugar, candied haws?!"
When Jiang Shaoan saw Lin Jiangnian, he was suddenly frightened. Then he heard him suddenly mention candied haws, and then he remembered something.
Last night, it seemed like he agreed to go to the west of the city to buy candied haws for Lin Jiangnian?
But after Jiang Shaoan left the Jiang Mansion, he was in a hurry to report the news, completely forgetting the matter. Besides, how could he let the eldest son of the Jiang family buy candied haws?
Isn't this humiliating to him?!
Jiang Shaoan naturally preferred death to surrender, especially after he informed the Eighth Prince, thinking that Lin Jiangnian's good days were coming to an end, his original fear was reduced a lot.
He straightened his back slightly and snorted coldly, "What candied haws? When did I ever promise to buy you candied haws?"
In the yard, on a tree with dense branches, Lin Jiangnian leaned on a branch, his back against the trunk, and looked at Jiang Shaoan not far away from the tree with surprise.
This little bastard suddenly dared to talk to him like this?
On a second thought, he quickly realized where Jiang Shaoan's confidence came from... Could it be that this kid thought that he could do it again just by tipping off the person?
"It seems that you didn't understand a single word of what I said yesterday?"
Lin Jiangnian glanced at him and spoke slowly.
Jiang Shaoan suddenly panicked, taking a step back at Lin Jiangnian's half-smile. But he quickly realized he couldn't be so cowardly, so he stopped and glared at Lin Jiangnian fiercely.
"Don't go too far... Don't think you can do whatever you want just because I have my mother to help you!"
Having said that, Jiang Shaoan sneered again, with a smug look on his face: "Your good days are numbered!"
"oh?"
Lin Jiangnian raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"
Jiang Shaoan realized that he had spoken out of turn, and a trace of panic flashed across his eyes. Then he sneered: "Don't worry about it... Anyway, your good days are coming to an end. When the time comes, this young master will definitely settle the score with you!"
He had suffered losses one after another at the hands of Lin Jiangnian in the past few days, which was a great insult to him, the eldest son of the Jiang family who had been pampered since childhood. What he didn't expect was that this guy was actually his cousin!
It was his cousin who lived far away in Linzhou, whom he had always looked down upon!
This made Jiang Shaoan extremely upset, and all the new and old grudges came to his mind!
Now, with the Eighth Prince's support, Jiang Shaoan naturally no longer feared Lin Jiangnian. All he had to do now was wait and see, until the Eighth Prince took action to punish Lin Jiangnian. Then, he could hold his head high and repay all the humiliation he had endured these days.
Jiang Shaoan's wishful thinking was very clear, and he could no longer conceal the smug look in his eyes.
Lin Jiangnian, who was originally sitting on the tree, suddenly turned over and landed steadily on the ground.
"You said you wanted to settle the score, so I'd like to settle it with you first!"
"You, what are you going to do?!"
Seeing Lin Jiangnian suddenly walking towards him, Jiang Shaoan immediately realized that something was wrong. With the lessons learned from the previous times, he turned around and ran into the inner room without looking back!
But he had only run a few steps when someone suddenly grabbed his collar from behind, and then a force of gravity pulled him back. He staggered a few steps and fell to the ground.
His butt, which hadn't fully recovered yet, was hit so hard by the fall that he almost cried. But the next second, Lin Jiangnian's malicious smile appeared in front of him, frightening his tears back.
"You, don't come over here... You, what do you want to do?!"
"What?"
Lin Jiangnian stared at the frightened Jiang Shaoan in front of him with a smile, "Didn't you say you wanted to settle the score? Aren't I here to settle the score with you?"
"You...don't, don't come over here...help, help!"
Jiang Shaoan was terrified and shouted at the top of his lungs. Several guards quickly appeared outside the courtyard. Jiang Shaoan grabbed at straws and said, "Quick, come and save me... Come quickly..."
Several guards heard the young master's cry for help and quickly approached. But when they saw the scene in front of them, they were stunned.
This, this is not...
"None of your business, get off!"
Lin Jiangnian half-closed his eyes, grabbed Jiang Shaoan's collar with one hand, and waved at them with the other: "Your young master is disobedient, and your wife specifically asked me to discipline this kid. It's none of your business, go down and play."
Several guards looked at each other in confusion. They were also aware of Lin Jiangnian's identity, and some of them were actually present yesterday and heard the lady ask the Prince of Lin to discipline their young master well.
In addition, the Prince of Lin is of noble status, and he is the nephew of the master and his wife, and the cousin of his young master. They are all family!
Thinking of this, several guards hesitated and chose to retreat.
Jiang Shaoan was completely panicked!
That's not right!
Why did his own guards suddenly run away?
"Don't go... Stop, hurry, save me..."
Jiang Shaoan was terrified and struggled desperately, but he couldn't get free. Seeing Lin Jiangnian's increasingly playful smile fall on him, Jiang Shaoan shuddered.
After the painful lessons of the past two days, and now that even his own guards are not helping him, the completely desperate Jiang Shaoan suddenly regretted it very much. Why did he provoke Lin Jiangnian?
Why mess with this guy!
Shocked, angry, frightened and desperate, Jiang Shaoan was scared to tears!
"Don't, don't hit me..."
Jiang Shaoan's voice trembled, and he was already scared.
"Do you know you're wrong?"
“I know, I know!”
"Will you dare to do it again next time?"
"No, I don't dare..."
“…”
"This young man is teachable."
Seeing Jiang Shaoan being so sensible, Lin Jiangnian finally nodded in satisfaction and patted his head: "In that case, I won't beat you today, get out of here."
Hearing this, Jiang Shaoan felt relieved, and he jumped up from the ground and fled away from Lin Jiangnian in a panic. He turned around and stared at Lin Jiangnian fiercely. He wanted to say something harsh, but in the end he didn't dare to say it and fled!
"laugh!"
A light laugh suddenly came from another place in the yard.
Lin Jiangnian glanced sideways, and saw a beautiful figure approaching slowly. She was dressed in a slender, silk-lined skirt, a blue shirt with a shawl over it, and beneath her bun of hair, a mature and beautiful face was revealed, gazing at him with a half-smile.
She walked with gentle steps, neither hurried nor slow, to Lin Jiangnian's side, looking at the direction where Jiang Shaoan fled, with some emotion in her beautiful eyes.
"Look at him, he must be scared to death by you!"
"Sure enough, to deal with a dandy like him, you need a bigger dandy like you to step in!"
Lin Jiangnian glanced sideways at his aunt who had appeared beside him, "Aunt, are you praising me or insulting me?"
"Of course I'm praising you."
Jiang Yuxiang looked at Lin Jiangnian with a smile on her face, almost a half-smile.
Lin Jiangnian sighed, unable to discern a trace of praise in his voice. What technical skills were needed to teach a frivolous, uneducated dandy a lesson?
Absolutely not necessary!
To deal with a dandy boy like Jiang Shaoan who only knows how to live off his parents, you just need to start with the aspect he is most proud of and attack and destroy his self-confidence.
Jiang Shaoan's most proud asset of being a playboy had no advantage in front of Lin Jiangnian.
Not to mention that Lin Jiangnian was his cousin and older brother. As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father. So, if you round it up, Lin Jiangnian could be considered half his father.
It is only natural for a father to beat his son!
Jiang Yuxiang slowly withdrew her gaze and fell on Lin Jiangnian: "Aren't you afraid that he will completely hate you?"
"Why should you be afraid?"
"After all, he is your cousin, the child of your second brother..."
At this point, Jiang Yuxiang sighed softly: "Sister-in-law doesn't want your relationship to be too awkward!"
"Don't worry, I know what's going on."
Lin Jiang smiled young, if it weren't for his uncle and aunt's face, this kid would not have escaped the beating today.
As for whether Jiang Shaoan would hold a grudge against him, that was not something Lin Jiangnian considered. On the contrary, if he hated Lin Jiangnian now, he could be used by Lin Jiangnian even more.
Jiang Yuxiang suppressed her emotions and glanced outside the courtyard: "Has he gone to inform on me?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be." Lin Jiangnian nodded.
When Jiang Shaoan came back, he was full of smugness and even dared to talk back to him. It was obvious that he had someone to rely on.
"and you……"
Jiang Yuxiang glanced at him and said, "Be careful next time!"
"This morning, a lot of traces have been found outside the Jiang Mansion."
Jiang Yuxiang's expression was slightly solemn: "I think they have noticed something."
"The news that I'm still alive will eventually become unconcealable."
Lin Jiangnian nodded, not surprised by this, and chuckled again: "Let them try it out, it's okay."
Jiang Yuxiang frowned and stared at Lin Jiangnian, wanting to say something, but finally held back.
"I will go to the palace later."
Jiang Yuxiang spoke softly.
Lin Jiangnian raised his eyes and realized the meaning of his aunt's words.
"Then, please, auntie?"
“It may not work.”
Jiang Yuxiang shook her head lightly and sighed, "I may not be able to see the Princess, so I can only do my best."
Lin Jiangnian said, "Aunt, there's no need to force it. It's okay if it doesn't work out."
Jiang Yuxiang nodded and started to walk out the door. After taking two steps, he seemed to think of something, stopped, and stared at Lin Jiangnian for a few seconds.
"By the way, did you...do something to Zhiyuan last night?"
The casual words made Lin Jiangnian's heart skip a beat.
last night?
What did my aunt discover?
Lin Jiangnian remained calm and asked, "What do you mean, aunt?"
"You answer me first?"
Jiang Yuxiang stared at Lin Jiangnian with a half-smile: "What did you do to Zhiyuan last night?"
“I didn’t do anything…”
Although Lin Jiangnian felt a little guilty, he remained calm.
After all, it didn't work, and rounding it off really meant doing nothing.
"Really?"
Jiang Yuxiang stared into Lin Jiangnian's eyes, as if trying to discern something, but Lin Jiangnian's calm reaction revealed no flaws.
"Aunt, why do you ask this suddenly?"
Lin Jiangnian hinted at it indirectly.
Jiang Yuxiang retracted her gaze, thoughtfully: "When I saw Zhiyuan this morning, she seemed a little strange!"
"strangeness?"
"There's something wrong with her. She's a little distracted and out of sorts..."
Having said that, Jiang Yuxiang glanced at Lin Jiangnian thoughtfully, and suddenly said, "You'd better not bully Zhiyuan, otherwise I will not let you go."
"That's absolutely not the case!" Lin Jiangnian assured.
"snort!"
Jiang Yuxiang snorted, rolled her eyes at Lin Jiangnian, and turned away.
After Jiang Yuxiang left, Lin Jiangnian sighed. How could he not know why Zhiyuan was so distracted?
Apparently last night...
Zhiyuan was scared by last night's behavior. Lin Jiangnian went to look for her this morning, but as expected, he was disappointed.
The kite was deliberately avoiding him!
Lin Jiangnian didn't force it. Zhiyuan didn't want to see him because she needed some time to digest and accept what happened last night.
Lin Jiangnian wasn't in a hurry, and he wouldn't continue to provoke Zhiyuan at this moment. Right now, he had more important things to do.
Not long after Jiang Yuxiang entered the palace, Lin Jiangnian also disguised himself and left the Jiang residence. He walked through the long alley, shook off the little tail that was following him, and came to a deep alley.
The familiar alley, just a few walls away, is a bustling and lively street.
Lin Jiangnian walked to the gate and knocked. After a long moment, there was still no response. He took two steps back, then tapped the ground with his toes, leaped up, and landed in the courtyard.
The courtyard is cool and quiet.
There was no one around.
Not only was the front yard deserted, the entire huge house seemed completely empty, as if no one had been seen. Inside the courtyard building, there was still a hint of life, but no one was living there anymore.
Lin Jiangnian followed the familiar route and slowly came to the courtyard where he had lived a few days ago. The courtyard was clean and tidy, and the room was also tidy.
but……
Still no one!
Lin Jiangnian stood in the room, scanning his surroundings, confirming his thoughts. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and left a letter in the room.
Then, he turned and left.
Just half an hour after Lin Jiangnian left, a figure landed silently in the yard, walked into the room Lin Jiangnian had been to, and saw the letter on the table.
He took a closer look and his eyes became serious.
Soon, the figure hurriedly left the room and courtyard and disappeared deep into the alley.
…
Imperial city.
Weiyang Palace.
Under the eaves of the imperial city, a maid in light-colored palace dress was sitting bored, looking at the gray sky and sighing.
“So boring!”
There was silence all around, and no one answered her.
"Could you please stop being dumb and say something?"
There were complaining voices.
"Forget it!"
The maid in palace dress sighed repeatedly and waved her hands. Bored, she propped up her little face, staring at the sky, muttering to herself.
"It was more fun to go out of the palace a few days ago. The princess asked me to go out of the palace to take care of the Prince of Lin..."
"You might not believe this, but the Prince of Lin is actually quite elegant and handsome, so good-looking..."
Muttering to herself, a few blushes appeared on the pretty face of the palace-dressed maid, and her beautiful eyes became more and more bright.
"But, what a pity..."
As if she thought of something, she sighed softly.
Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door.
"Urgent news from outside the palace!"
Upon hearing this voice, the maid in palace dress's eyes lit up immediately: "Is there any information outside the palace?"
She walked quickly out the door with a cheerful pace.
A dark figure knelt on one knee outside and handed over a letter: "News from outside the palace, the young master left a letter in the room!"
"letter?"
The maid in palace dress was stunned for a moment, then she realized who it was.
The young man outside the palace?
Isn't that the Prince of Lin? !
The maid in palace dress quickly took the letter, glanced at it twice, her expression changed slightly, and she turned and left in a hurry.
…
"Princess, something bad has happened!"
In the quiet and cold courtyard.
Li Piaomiao, dressed in white, looked at the contents of the letter expressionlessly without saying a word.
Beside her, Jinxiu, a maid in a light green palace dress, opened her eyes slightly wide, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.
"He, he...already knows your identity, Princess?!"
"Then, what should we do?"
“…”