In a daze, it was as if he was back on the day they first met. He couldn’t help but walk over to Jiang Xuewan, buying the mask from her hand and preventing the mask vendor from harming her further.
Jiang Xuewan’s mental state now resembled that of a child. She didn’t remember him or the events in Weicheng. Ah Xuan raised his hand, wanting to touch her face but stopped himself abruptly.
He had no right to touch her.
From that night on, he had lost that right.
If someone were to ask Ah Xuan if he ever regretted it, he would answer that he didn’t know if he regretted it. But if he had to do it all over again, Ah Xuan would still follow Liu Yan’s orders and annihilate the Jiang family in Weicheng.
Liu Yan and Aunt Cui had been kind to him. For his entire life, Ah Xuan would obey their commands, even if he knew these actions would bring endless and indelible harm to others.
However, Aunt Cui knew nothing about the Weicheng incident, as Liu Yan had kept it from her.
Ah Xuan had also kept the fact that Jiang Xuewan was still alive from Liu Yan. Over the years, this was the only time he had lied to Liu Yan. Liu Yan trusted him deeply and never doubted Ah Xuan.
Liu Yan had never seen Jiang Xuewan, so even if he saw her alive, he wouldn’t recognize her.
Ah Xuan lowered his hand, which had wanted to touch Jiang Xuewan.
They would pretend not to know each other.
“Miss Jiang.” He Sui’an approached. She couldn’t just ignore Jiang Xuewan when she saw her; after all, they knew each other.
Moreover, since Jiang Songwei wasn’t by Jiang Xuewan’s side and a stranger was close to her, with Qi Buyan around, there shouldn’t be any trouble. So, He Sui’an had no hesitation in stepping forward.
Hearing the voice, Ah Xuan turned to look at them.
The newcomers were not strangers.
They were people Liu Yan had ordered him to kill, but Ah Xuan couldn’t make a move now. He wasn’t wearing a mask today, revealing his face, which would expose his true identity. It was impossible to act.
Unexpectedly, they also knew Jiang Xuewan. Ah Xuan remained expressionless.
Jiang Xuewan ran to He Sui’an, clutching her chubby hand, and handed her the mask, instantly displaying a silly smile, “Miss He, it’s you again! This is for you.”
He Sui’an took the mask.
“Thank you.”
Ah Xuan was about to leave when Qi Buyan, smiling, blocked his way with his bone flute. The flute was slender, with a translucent body and indigo tassels at the end, looking harmless and pleasing to the eye.
Ah Xuan stopped in his tracks, his path blocked by the flute, “Young master, what are you…”
He looked puzzled.
Qi Buyan’s smile didn’t waver. “Have we met somewhere before?”
Hearing this, He Sui’an looked at Ah Xuan. She had no recollection of his face. His left side was marred with extensive burn scars, making him look even more menacing against the contrast of his handsome right side.
If He Sui’an had seen Ah Xuan before, she would surely remember him, but she had no memory of his face.
Though she didn’t recognize his face, she felt his eyes were familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere. Then it struck her—they resembled the eyes of the masked man by the river outside Chang’an.
The masked man had reached out to grab her, and she had been close enough to look into his eyes. Given the urgent situation, she had a strong impression of those eyes.
But she couldn’t be certain this man was the masked man just based on a pair of similar eyes.
He Sui’an looked at him a few more times.
Facing their scrutiny, Ah Xuan remained composed and calm. He looked directly at Qi Buyan and said, “We haven’t met. Young master, you must be mistaken.”
Qi Buyan continued to smile at him. “Is that so?”
Ah Xuan nodded, “Yes, I believe so. I have not met you before.”
Qi Buyan withdrew the bone flute, the indigo tassel swaying past Ah Xuan’s face. “My apologies, I must have been mistaken.”
Ah Xuan replied, “No problem. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
“Wait.”
This time, it was He Sui’an who called out to him.
He Sui’an looked at Jiang Xuewan, who was playing with the silver ornaments on her hair. “Do you know Miss Jiang?”
Ah Xuan’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, subtly tensed and formed a fist, but his expression remained unperturbed. “No, I don’t.”
He understood why He Sui’an was asking. “I just didn’t want to see this young lady having an argument with the shopkeeper over a mask, so I bought it for her. It was a simple act of kindness.”
It was plausible for a kind-hearted person to step in and help in such situations.
He Sui’an understood his explanation.
Ah Xuan left.
She knew Qi Buyan wouldn’t have blocked the man with his bone flute without a reason. “Do you think he resembles someone?”
Qi Buyan stroked the patterns on the bone flute, the indigo tassel gently resting between his fingers.
“Yes,” he said.
She pressed further, “Like who?”
He twirled the bone flute before tucking it back into his slim waist, the tassel hanging down. “Like the masked man who tried to kill us by the river.”
Their builds were incredibly similar, as if they were the same person. Qi Buyan, who liked to observe his opponents and find their weaknesses to strike a fatal blow, had remembered this.
However, he couldn’t confirm the aura.
Without being able to confirm the aura, he couldn’t be sure if it was the same person.
Few people knew that poisonous Gu could track people and objects by their aura. The masked man was either knowledgeable about Gu or knew someone who was. Which one was he?
Qi Buyan pondered.
He Sui’an also had doubts, but without evidence, they couldn’t just capture someone arbitrarily. For now, they decided to set the matter aside. She turned to Jiang Xuewan, “Miss Jiang, where is your third uncle?”
Jiang Xuewan lowered her head as if she had done something wrong, repeating a few words, “Third uncle, Xie residence, third uncle, Xie residence.”
Xie residence?
The only Xie He Sui’an could think of was Xie Wenqiao. Could it be that Jiang Xuewan had a connection with Xie Wenqiao? It seemed too coincidental.
Her intuition told her that it might indeed be that coincidental. Unsure if her intuition was accurate, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to check the Xie residence. Xie Wenqiao’s residence wasn’t dangerous.
She tugged at Qi Buyan’s wrist guard.
He tilted his head slightly to look at her.
He Sui’an shared her thought, “I want to help Miss Jiang find her third uncle.”
Qi Buyan used his pinky to fix the silver ornaments in her hair that Jiang Xuewan had pulled askew, “Why?”
He Sui’an replied, “I just want to.”
Qi Buyan stared at He Sui’an for a moment. He didn’t particularly like her attention being on others, but he let it go.
The residence of Xie Wenqiao, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, wasn’t hard to find and could be located quickly.
He Sui’an didn’t rashly take Jiang Xuewan into the Xie residence. Instead, she observed from a distance. If Jiang Xuewan’s third uncle was at Xie Wenqiao’s residence, he would surely be looking for her.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, He Sui’an saw Xie Wenqiao meet an elderly man at the front gate.
They both looked anxious.
She continued to watch patiently.
Jiang Songwei also appeared, sweating profusely as he quickly ran up the stone steps to the Xie residence, exchanging a few words with Xie Wenqiao and the elderly man.
In Chang’an, few people had seen Jiang Songwei or Jiang Xuewan. They had spent most of their lives in Weicheng, only leaving a few times. By chance, they had met Xie Wenqiao once, so they were hard to recognize.
As they moved around Chang’an, they didn’t need to be constantly worried. Jiang Xuewan didn’t look like she had been kidnapped but rather like she had run out of the Xie residence on her own.
This was her third time running off.
Jiang Songwei’s eyes showed exhaustion and a sense of helplessness. Although he was Jiang Xuewan’s biological uncle, they were still a man and a woman, and it was impossible to be together every moment, leading to occasional lapses.
Just as Jiang Songwei was about to continue searching for Jiang Xuewan, He Sui’an approached the gate of the Xie residence, holding Jiang Xuewan’s hand. “Uncle, are you looking for Miss Jiang?”
Jiang Songwei immediately descended the steps.
“Xuewan…”
He Sui’an explained, “I saw Miss Jiang on the street.”
It seemed they were fated to meet. Each time Jiang Xuewan got lost, He Sui’an found her, as if by some destined connection.
“Thank you,” Jiang Songwei said, checking Jiang Xuewan for injuries.
She wouldn’t have been hurt after meeting them, but what about before? He needed to ensure she was unharmed. “Xuewan, do you have any pain? Tell your uncle.”
“No,” Jiang Xuewan replied, shrinking her neck in fear of being scolded. The main gate of the Xie residence had been closed the whole time. It wasn’t Zhu Bo’s negligence; Jiang Xuewan had crawled out through a dog hole, getting mud stains on her white dress.
After confirming she was unhurt, Jiang Songwei’s expression didn’t soften. “Why did you go out?”
While playing in the courtyard, Jiang Xuewan heard a familiar nursery rhyme from beyond the wall, reminding her of her mother. She crawled out through the dog hole to the outside.
Hearing her reason, Jiang Songwei fell silent.
Jiang Xuewan’s mind was like that of a child, and her memories had regressed to when she was a few years old. She remembered her mother and also remembered that Jiang Songwei was her uncle.
Anyone could hum a nursery rhyme.
But the dead could not come back to life.
Knowing that Jiang Xuewan went out because she heard a nursery rhyme her mother used to hum, Jiang Songwei couldn’t bear to blame her and felt even more heartbroken.
Xie Wenqiao noticed He Sui’an and Qi Buyan, his eyes showing surprise, but he didn’t ask many questions. Whether Jiang Songwei knew them had nothing to do with the Weicheng incident. He nodded at them.
He Sui’an politely greeted, “Lord Xie.”
Xie Wenqiao invited them into the residence for tea.
Regardless, it was they who brought Jiang Xuewan back. Since she was currently staying at the Xie residence, as the host, Xie Wenqiao felt obliged to offer them some tea before they left.
They politely declined.
He Sui’an felt it wasn’t necessary; she originally planned just to bring Jiang Xuewan back to Jiang Songwei. They didn’t want to get involved in other matters or ask why Jiang Songwei was in Chang’an.
Xie Wenqiao didn’t insist on keeping them.
Jiang Songwei thanked them repeatedly.
After thanking them, Jiang Songwei’s gaze fell on Qi Buyan, feeling somewhat awkward. The memory of Qi Buyan refusing to lift the Gu from Jiang Xuewan was still fresh, making him uneasy upon seeing him again.
Qi Buyan seemed to have completely forgotten about refusing Jiang Songwei or, rather, he simply didn’t care about such insignificant matters. He treated Jiang Songwei like any other person.
They left the Xie residence.
Not long after, they found themselves back on the bustling streets of Chang’an, passing by a bookstall.
The bookstall owner was waving a book and shouting, “Books for sale, books for sale! Whatever good book you want, I have it here.”
Qi Buyan stopped in front of the bookstall.
He Sui’an walked a few steps ahead, then turned back when she noticed he hadn’t followed.
“What books do you have for sale?” He Sui’an heard Qi Buyan ask the bookstall owner as she walked back.
The bookstall owner gave a knowing smile.
The people of Chang’an knew what kind of books were sold at these outdoor stalls. Proper books were sold in bookstores and the like, but Qi Buyan and He Sui’an were not from Chang’an; they had just arrived.
The bookstall owner pulled out a few books from beneath the stall and handed them to Qi Buyan. “Young master, let me tell you, these are some real treasures!”
oh no… how come i feel like i know what he’s selling…