Chapter 528: Who Do You Take After, Your Father or Mother?
Chapter 528: Chapter 528: Who Do You Take After, Your Father or Mother?
An incense stick’s time later.
Xu Jingxi changed into a set of attendant’s clothes and came out of the Warm Pavilion.
Ye Shangyi turned around, looked him over, and let out a snort of laughter.
He had a tall and slender figure, and the attendant’s clothes didn’t quite fit, even exposing his ankles.
But Xu Jingxi’s handsome and refined face was so striking that one’s first glance wouldn’t even notice his ill-fitting attire.
"Xu Jingxi, you’ll just have to make do with my attendant’s clothes. It’s not like you have any other choice right now anyway."
Xu Jingxi cupped his hands in a fist. His expression was placid and he appeared quite calm, but his brows were furrowed as he tried to figure out how to catch Liang Yici and question her properly.
"Thank you, Miss Ye. I will be sure to thank you properly another day."
He had come on horseback, but upon leaving the bamboo garden, he discovered that Liang Yici had taken his horse too!
’That girl...’
Seeing Xu Jingxi’s tense expression, Ye Shangyi blinked a couple of times.
"Ohh~ I get it. You must have offended someone again and are facing their revenge, aren’t you?"
"Don’t worry about it. Who told you to be Ningning’s third brother? Since I’ve started helping, I’ll see it through. You can take my carriage back to the city."
Besides, she had to go meet a certain young master.
Xu Jingxi nodded his thanks. "In that case, I’ll trouble you."
Unexpectedly, just as the carriage entered the Capital City, it was stopped.
Ye Shangyi’s maidservant called from outside, "Miss, Mr. Wu is ahead, waiting to welcome you."
Wu Ke came from a noble family with three generations of power and influence. The current head of the family, Mr. Wu, was the Prefectural Governor of a city on the border and held great authority.
And Wu Ke was the sole male heir for three generations, the only son of his time.
The Wu family had intentions of a marriage alliance, so they had communicated with the Ye Family and arranged for Ye Shangyi and Wu Ke to meet today.
Ye Shangyi lifted the curtain for a look and, just as expected, saw Wu Ke with a group of men, dressed in a flashy pinkish-purple robe, sitting on his horse and eagerly looking their way.
"Tsk..." Ye Shangyi frowned and muttered, "Why is he being so forward?"
She didn’t dislike Wu Ke, but she certainly didn’t like him either.
However, she recalled that Wu Ke was considered quite the scholar, and he was cheerful and talkative.
Thinking of this, Ye Shangyi said to Xu Jingxi, "Why don’t you get out of the carriage here? We’re already in the Capital City anyway. Wu Ke knows you, and if he sees you dressed like this, he might make fun of you."
Xu Jingxi’s calm, dark eyes glanced at her.
"You’re having a matchmaking meeting with someone like Wu Ke?"
"Yes, what about it?"
Xu Jingxi usually never meddled in others’ affairs.
But Ye Shangyi had helped him today, so he didn’t mind sparing a few words of advice for her. "He’s not suitable."
Ye Shangyi froze.
She then heard Xu Jingxi add, "His essays from the National Academy were all written by people he paid."
Ye Shangyi was astonished. "How do you know? I’ve never heard that before!"
Xu Jingxi gave her a helpless glance. "I wrote them, so of course I know."
Before he was acknowledged by the Xie family, he had registered his name at a bookstore to support himself. The shopkeeper would help him get writing jobs, and he could do them all.
So Wu Ke had no idea that the person who helped him complete his assignments and compose poetry in previous years was Xu Jingxi.
But Xu Jingxi knew full well that Wu Ke was a frequent customer of the bookstore!
He even had to hire someone to ghostwrite the ordinary policy essays assigned by the National Academy.
As for literary talent, he was completely clueless.
"Furthermore, he is not a man who conducts himself with integrity. If you end up with him, I’m afraid that with your level of cunning, he’ll swindle you out of everything you have."
After her initial shock, Ye Shangyi recovered and said with a pouty anger, "What do you mean by that? Are you calling me stupid? Let me tell you, I, Ye Shangyi, am not someone to be trifled with!"
"Since you put it that way, I’m even more determined to test it out and prove you wrong," she said, giving Xu Jingxi a couple of shoves. "Get out. Don’t hold up my matchmaking meeting."
Xu Jingxi gave her a look with his dark, narrow eyes.
’Fine. You can’t reason with a fool hell-bent on their own demise.’
He got out of the carriage.
Xu Jingxi watched as the carriage drove away and stopped in front of Wu Ke in the distance.
The man, Wu Ke, was all smiles as he produced a brocade box from behind him. Inside was an exquisite bell.
A new trend had recently become popular in the Capital City: men and women who admired each other would exchange bells.
A jingle with every step, a thought with every step.
Xu Jingxi saw Ye Shangyi extend her hand and accept it.
Then, Wu Ke boarded her carriage.
He pursed his thin lips. "I just hope she doesn’t come crying to Ningning."
Then, he turned around. Just as he was about to head back to the Xie Mansion first, he saw someone peeking at him from around a corner.
Xu Jingxi’s expression changed. "Liang Yici!"
Liang Yici turned and ran for it, and Xu Jingxi immediately gave chase.
In the end, he cornered her in a dead-end alley.
Liang Yici was panting, and the bundle hanging from her waist was stuffed with Xu Jingxi’s clothes, making it bulge.
"Give me back my clothes." He held out his hand.
Her eyes widened. "You have the nerve to ask for them back? Shameless!"
Xu Jingxi’s face was pale and cold. He flicked his sleeves and clasped his hands behind his back. "I’ve been wanting to ask you. You stole my clothes, called me despicable, and claimed I have improper thoughts about my own sister. What exactly do you mean by all that?"
Liang Yici was furious. "You really want me to expose this ugly truth, don’t you? Fine! Just don’t be afraid of the humiliation when it comes out!"
"Ningning is your cousin. I know you were close to her even before you were acknowledged by the Xie Mansion. I’m afraid you started having inappropriate thoughts back then, didn’t you?"
"But now your relationship is clear—she’s your sister! How can you be in love with her?!"
Xu Jingxi’s pupils constricted. "Who said I’m in love with her? My feelings for Ningning are purely brotherly! Who taught you to spout such nonsense?"
"If you’re not in love with Ningning, then why did you ask her if she understood the feelings between a man and a woman?"
"As her older brother, it’s a normal part of my guidance to worry that she might become too intimate with the Crown Prince and forget the proper distance between men and women. What’s wrong with that!?"
Liang Yici froze at his words, then stammered, "Th-then why did you say you made up the part about the Xie Mansion not wanting Ningning to marry?"
Xu Jingxi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.
"My uncle simply hasn’t admitted it aloud, but I’m afraid that’s what he truly thinks. I only said that at the time to appease Mr. Han."
Liang Yici finally understood everything.
She had made a complete fool of herself over such a ridiculous misunderstanding!
"So... I was mistaken..." She let out a subconscious sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I didn’t tell Ningning to be wary of you."
The thought of Liang Yici spouting this laughable nonsense to Shen Ningning as well made Xu Jingxi’s temper flare.
He blurted out, almost without thinking, "With how reckless you are, I wonder which of your parents you take after!"
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, right along with Liang Yici.
Liang Yici still didn’t know the truth about her parentage.
Xu Jingxi saw her eyes gradually turn red, and his heart sank. ’This is bad.’
"Miss Liang, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I..."
"My father passed away, so I take after my mother." After saying this, Liang Yici wiped away her tears, turned, and leaped onto the eaves of a roof, quickly departing with Qinggong.
It would have been difficult for Xu Jingxi to give chase, so he could only gaze at the spot on the rooftops where she had vanished.
The setting sun was brilliant, a golden crow’s radiance about to sink below the horizon.