The Eve of Chapter Fifteen

  "Xīn yuè, when did you become so gossipy? What's so strange about it? If someone wants to leave, they'll leave; if they want to stay, they'll stay. What business is it of ours?" Bai Yunnuan naturally knew the reason why the two of them stayed behind, but she didn't dare explain it to Xīn yuè.

  Xin Yue thought for a moment and then said: "I'm just worried..."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Worried that they stayed behind to pester Miss and Young Master."

  Bai Yun let out a "pu" sound, and the soup in her mouth sprayed out entirely. "Tangling with me is understandable, but tangling with Young Master? How did that happen? Those two big men..."

  Xin Yan hesitantly said: "I saw Magistrate Qin coming to look for Master yesterday evening."

  "There's nothing strange about it, young master isn't looking for Guqin lessons from Officer Qin?"

  Alright, what you said makes sense, Miss. I guess I was just overthinking things.

  Xin Yan thought for a moment and added: "But the young master soon asked Officer Qin to leave, Officer Qin wanted to stay a little longer, but the young master wouldn't let him."

  "Who told you?"

  "Songta ah!"

  Bai Yun's heart skipped a beat, that big thing still had to rely on Qin Guan for help, would her brother offend Qin Guan? That would be terrible.

  The next day, Bai Yun let Songta go to the south wing to pass on a message, saying that his brother invited Zhang Nai Spring and Qin Guan to meet in the east garden.

  Qin Guan was over the moon with joy, secretly thinking that although Bai Zhenxuan appeared to be cold and distant on the surface, he still had a soft spot for her in his heart. She then urged Zhang Nai Chun to set off, walking with light steps like a bird released from its cage.

  Arriving at the eastern garden, I saw a young girl quietly waiting by the garden gate. The girl had willow-leaf-shaped eyebrows and autumn-wave-like eyes that shone like a new moon, with an elegant and charming demeanor. She wore a small jacket made of yellow silk with embroidered flowers on her upper body, and a long skirt in fresh green color with wave patterns, shining like a flower reflecting the dew and sunlight, swaying gently in the breeze.

  Qin Guan sighed inwardly, lamenting the fleeting youth of the young maiden. Her precious beauty and noble appearance were already in full bloom. Zhang Nai Chun's face lit up with a smile as he called out: "Miss Bai, why has your esteemed self taken the trouble to come out and greet us in person?"

  Qin Guan couldn't help but notice Zhang Nai Chun's hungry wolf-like gaze when he saw the young and tender flesh, and his heart was filled with jealousy. He then laughed at himself in his heart, wasn't he already infatuated with Bai Zhen Xuan? Why did he still have a soft spot for Zhang Nai Chun?

  Only Bai Yun warmed up and nodded, then lowered his voice and said: "Don't disturb others, follow me." He led the way ahead.

  Zhang Nai Chun and Qin Guan followed her into Bai Zhen Xuan's room.

  He entered the room and found Bai Zhenxuan lying on the bed, fast asleep.

  Qin Guan gazed greedily at Bai Zhenxuan's sleeping face, the young man resembling a bright moon and pear blossoms, icy snow and crystal jade. Another wave of melancholy and ardent thoughts surged up from the depths of his heart, causing his chest to ache faintly.

  Bai Yun asked warmly, "When night falls, we can send Brother out of Lingyun Temple. But, Young Master Zhang, the calming medicine you prepared, will it be enough to make Brother sleep for a whole day and night?"

  "I'll take care of it, miss. The carriage to send Young Master Bai back to Lu County has also been arranged. We just need to wait until midnight when everyone in the temple is asleep before we can act." Zhang Nai Chun guaranteed. The woman he admired had given him a chance to show himself, how could he not seize this opportunity to make a good impression?

  Bai Yun warmed up and shifted her gaze to Qin Guan's face, "And you, sir? Are you ready to play a piece for our noble guest in place of your brother?"

  Qin Guan's lips curled up, and a smile was enough to overturn the crowd. His voice was soft and warm, like a woman's, saying: "What Mr. Zhang entrusted me with, how dare I not do my best? Moreover, it's helping Mr. Bai, Qin Guan should be willing to die for it."

  "But you just asked me to play a tune, why did you say it as if you wanted me to die?" Zhang Nai Chun glanced at the piano officer.

  The zither official stretches out his orchid fingers, covers his mouth with a gourd, and truly has a clever smile, divine light and precious aura.

  White clouds gazed at Qin Guan with a warm and sidelong glance, thinking to herself: I'm afraid that tomorrow's Lantern Festival performance will also be a futile effort. In her past life, the Prime Minister was able to obtain an imperial edict to avenge his own humiliation due to her brother's rejection of his affections, so he must not have been a righteous person either. With Qin Guan's talents, the Prime Minister would certainly take notice of him, and entering the tiger's den would be his own fault. However, for the sake of her brother, she could no longer tolerate any hesitation. If Qin Guan didn't enter the tiger's den, then it would be her brother who would, and she couldn't let such a tragedy occur.

  Seeing the sky was still bright outside the window, Bai Yun let Qin Guanqiao dress up as her brother in the room to play the piano, so that their parents wouldn't hear the sound of the piano and become suspicious when they passed by. She then escorted Zhang Nai Chun to the garden gate.

  Zhang Naichun stood at the garden gate, feeling somewhat reluctant to part with Bai Yunnuan.

  White clouds warm shallow smile like the wind, empty as a snake, in her heart she tells herself: even if she hates him so much that she wants to flay and devour him immediately, she must still endure until after the Lantern Festival. For the sake of her brother, she will first play along with this ruthless person. After using him to keep her brother safe from harm, she will then kick this scoundrel away.

  Jian Baiyun Nuan was very gentle and warm to herself, without any disgust or general feminine reserve. Zhang Nai Chun thought that Baiyun Nuan had a crush on him, so he boldly held her hand to test the truth. He felt soft and slender, like a spring shoot, and immediately became infatuated.

  Bai Yun felt a wave of disgust in her heart, feeling nauseous to the point of wanting to vomit. However, she still had to maintain a gentle smile on her face. She lightly withdrew her hand from Zhang Nai Chun's grasp, turned sideways, and pretended to be shy, saying: "Brother's matters will have to be entrusted to Young Master Zhang."

  He said goodbye and quickly walked away. After a few steps, he turned back and gave Zhang Nai Chun a sideways glance.

  Zhang Nai Chun's whole body went limp.

  What a lovely and charming beauty, it's really a pity we didn't meet earlier.

  This girl is a heavenly beauty! She's a heavenly beauty indeed!

  A person stood stupidly at the garden gate for a long time, and Zhang Nai Chun finally turned around and left with light footsteps like cotton.

  Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival.

  Bai Yushu and Hui Ze both looked anxious, unsure if the trip to Lufu Lingyun Temple would bring a turning point for the Bai family.

  Apart from knowing that Chancellor is good at playing the zither, Hui Ze actually doesn't understand Luo Fu very well. So he can only make do with this one point of interest.

  Everything else was arranged properly, but Bai Yushu still worried about his son's zither.

  As I entered the eastern garden, I could hear from afar the tinkling sound of a qin coming from within the pavilion, which was truly beautiful.

  Bai Yu's heart was slightly relieved, and he still wanted to instruct his son a few more sentences, such as what else to pay attention to in dress and speech when meeting the Grand Minister tomorrow. Oh, his son didn't know that the noble guest he was going to meet was the Grand Minister. Hui Ze said it was better not to let him know, so as not to put pressure on him and affect his performance of the qin, after all, he was young and had grown up in a small place like Luo County, without seeing much of the world.

  He walked up to his son's room door and found his daughter Baiyun Nuan standing there.

  "Father..." he called out respectfully.

  "How did you end up here?" Bai Yushu smiled and was about to push open the door of the sedan chair, but his daughter grasped his hand.

  "Father," she said, "my brother told me to stay here and not let anyone disturb him while he plays the piano."

  "Father has some words to entrust to your elder brother, regarding tomorrow's reception of honored guests."

  "Father has something to entrust to Anuan, and Anuan tells him it's the same."

  Bai Yushu furrowed her brow, scrutinizing Bai Yunnuan, feeling that her 13-year-old daughter had changed a lot from before. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was different, though.

  Bai Yunnuo saw her father looking at her in confusion, afraid that he would burst in, so she said: "Brother said that as long as I help him guard this door, when we return to the White family, he will give me a precious gift. Father, just agree with Anu! Anu really wants to get such a gift, and Anu doesn't want Brother to think that he is useless, can't even guard a door."

  "What gift would make you feel like you have to have it?"

  "Wait until the daughter receives the gift and then tell her father." Bai Yunnuan saw that her father was moved, so she immediately pulled him into her own room, took out paper and pen, and let her father tell her all the words he wanted to entrust to his brother. She wrote them down without missing a single word.

  "Look at that, your handwriting has become so good? Last year when you were studying with Mr. Wen and learning to read and write, I saw your handwriting before, it wasn't as improved as it is now!"

  Bai Yu Shu held the paper and looked it up and down, her eyes filled with surprise.

  Bai Yun said with a warm smile: "Father, haven't you heard of a saying: after three days, one should look at each other with new eyes."

  Alright! Bai Yuxu hummed softly from his nose and burst out laughing.

  Having dealt with his father, he used the same method to deal with his mother, and it wasn't until night fell that Bai Yun was able to let out a sigh of relief.

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