The qin table was quite heavy. Xie Wei hooked it with the tip of his foot and brought it upright, then placed the Jiao’an in his hands back properly. Only then did he look toward Jiang Xuening, seemingly considering whether or not to help her up.

Where would Jiang Xuening dare let him help?

Her fall was neither very heavy nor very painful. Seeing Xie Wei put down the qin, she quickly rolled over, pushed herself up on that thick wool carpet, and said: “It was Xuening being rash. Fortunately the qin is fine.”

Xie Wei glanced at her and nodded: “Indeed.”

Jiang Xuening: “…”

He actually answered “indeed”!

Although her fall was her own fault and logically couldn’t be blamed on Xie Wei, having lost so much face, she inevitably felt anger in her heart. At this moment she secretly thought: Zhang Zhe didn’t marry in his previous life partly because his reputation was ruined by Yao Xi, and partly because of bad luck encountering her. Someone like Xie Wei also didn’t start a family in the previous life—besides being devoted to Buddhist and Daoist learning, it was probably because of this infuriating character!

Not knowing if Xie Wei saw the dissatisfaction in her heart, he only pointed at that qin and said: “Playing qin requires a calm heart, free of distracting thoughts. You’re not normally rash when encountering matters, yet you act rashly. The more you want to play well, the worse you play. As the saying goes, ‘haste makes waste.’ So I won’t teach you qin today. Learning would be useless anyway. Sit before this qin.”

Jiang Xuening sat as instructed and asked: “Then what will we learn?”

Xie Wei had already turned back to walk to that long table. Picking up a piece of wood that had already been sawn, he replied: “Nothing.”

Jiang Xuening was stunned.

Xie Wei said lightly: “You sit quietly before the qin. When your heart calms down, then you’ll learn qin.”

Calm heart?

Wasn’t learning qin a matter of “technique”?

What did it have to do with whether the heart was calm or not?

Jiang Xuening only felt Xie Wei was deliberately finding ways to torment her. Sitting there, far from calming down, her heart became even more agitated.

But Xie Wei paid her no attention.

The qin he’d been crafting for nearly three years had been destroyed in one fell swoop when attacked at Cengxiao Pavilion, leaving him depressed for quite a while. Now starting anew to select wood and craft qin, he planned to craft two qins simultaneously.

This way, he wouldn’t be so unlucky that both qins would meet with accidents.

So at this moment he repeatedly compared the several pieces of lumber before him, wanting to pick out the two best to use.

Sitting behind that qin, at first Jiang Xuening’s head was full of chaotic thoughts, but thinking too much, she felt even thinking itself was boring.

Sitting here with nothing to do was truly torturous.

Her eyelids gradually began to fight each other. Unable to help it, she placed her gaze on Xie Wei, watching him select lumber, taking the marking line to measure, gesturing over there. It conveyed a sense of rigor bordering on harshness—not like an imperial tutor to emperors, but rather like a fault-finding craftsman in the marketplace.

Moreover…

This person stared at those pieces of lumber, picking up this piece and putting it down, picking up that piece and also putting it down. After a long time he still hadn’t selected any, as if having great difficulty making decisions.

Watching and watching, Jiang Xuening’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch: Who would have thought—the person isn’t much, but has quite a few problems.

The class dismissal time was originally close to noon, and the side hall window was also open.

After pondering for a long time, having selected the lumber, Xie Wei looked up to roughly estimate the time. It was actually past noon. Thinking it wouldn’t be good to make Jiang Xuening learn qin here on an empty stomach, he wanted to speak and let her go.

But unexpectedly, turning his head, from the corner of his eye he suddenly glimpsed a white shadow.

It was actually a snowball-like kitten.

Not knowing where it came from, much less when it arrived.

Palm-sized, with ink-blue eyeballs, entirely milky in demeanor. It was crouched on the window sill, looking into the hall, with an eager appearance as if about to jump in to investigate thoroughly. It even meowed softly once.

Xie Wei’s eyelids immediately jumped once. His form slightly stiffened as he unobtrusively retreated one step first.

Jiang Xuening, who had originally been drowsy, became somewhat more alert hearing this sound. She lifted her head and looked toward the sound, her eyes involuntarily blooming with brilliant delight: “Oh my, where did this kitten come from? So adorable!”

She stood up wanting to hold that cat.

But having stood up, she remembered she was currently sitting upright to calm her heart. She couldn’t help but stop and look toward Xie Wei.

However, Xie Wei frowned, having no intention of acknowledging her gaze at all. Raising his voice, he called: “Come here.”

The young eunuch attending outside immediately responded and entered: “What are Grand Preceptor’s instructions?”

Xie Wei’s eyes congealed with frost. His finger moved, about to point at the snowball-like kitten on the window sill, but when about to point, he withdrew his hand and said: “Not knowing which palace’s cat slipped out and came here—take it away and send someone to ask around. Fengchen Hall is a quiet place for study. In the future, don’t let these little things come in to disturb.”

The young eunuch immediately became somewhat tremulous, quickly saying: “Yes.”

Then he quickly stepped forward and picked up that kitten.

He said: “This slave will send someone to ask around immediately. In the future, I will definitely inspect strictly and not let these little things enter the hall.”

Jiang Xuening’s mouth opened slightly. Watching that young eunuch carry away the cat, her heart was already dissatisfied with Xie Wei, and now it increased by three parts. Turning her head, she wanted to secretly use her gaze to vent her anger.

But turning her head, she suddenly felt somewhat strange—

Was Xie Wei originally that far from the window sill?

When the young eunuch picked up the cat from the window sill and withdrew from the hall, he also casually put down the marking line in his hand, turned and walked to the desk on the other side to pick up a gazette to read. Throughout the entire process, his distance from that cat exceeded one zhang.

Jiang Xuening suddenly felt an indescribable strangeness. An unprecedented bold thought emerged from her mind.

In her previous life, she also kept cats.

Once she was holding a plump calico cat while strolling through the Imperial Garden. She ran into Shen Jie leading a group of ministers also walking through the Imperial Garden, discussing court matters. Naturally they stopped to pay respects.

But unexpectedly, when she bent down, the calico cat actually jumped out.

With one jump it landed right at Xie Wei’s feet, even extending its chubby paw to grab at the hem of the dark robe hanging down, just like normally jumping up to catch butterflies—utterly adorable.

She was immediately amused by this.

As a result, when she lifted her head, she saw Xie Wei’s face had darkened. His gaze moved from her cat to her, and he stepped back.

Jiang Xuening at that time was Empress and wasn’t afraid of him. She only assumed he, like other court officials, detested her forming factions for private gain, so even her cat was disdained. She didn’t give him a good look either. Bending down to pick up the cat and circle it in her arms, she said coolly to the cat: “Look at you, playing without looking at who you’re pouncing on. Fortunately our Grand Preceptor is magnanimous, otherwise he’d skin you later!”

Having said this, she turned and left.

She didn’t even look at Xie Wei’s expression.

Although placing this guess on Xie Wei seemed quite fantastical and unbelievable, but what if…

What if Xie Wei truly wasn’t detesting her at that time?

“…”

The young eunuch had already carried the cat away, but Jiang Xuening gazed at Xie Wei, a few traces of shrewd contemplation passing through her eyes. But before Xie Wei’s gaze turned back to her, this contemplation immediately disappeared completely, as if she hadn’t considered anything just now.

“Master Xie?”

Xie Wei still stood far from that window sill. Only now did he say: “The hour isn’t early. You’re still not calm. Learning qin is slow, grinding work. Go back first today.”

Jiang Xuening thought to herself that it was finally over. She immediately bowed in farewell.

But unexpectedly, just as she was about to withdraw, having just reached the doorway, she heard Xie Wei lightly add from inside the door: “Come again tomorrow afternoon.”

With a “clang,” her feet slipped and she stumbled on the threshold, nearly falling!

Having finally steadied herself, she was so angry smoke came from her seven orifices.

In the end she could only secretly grind her teeth, saying word by word: “Master Xie honors and favors this student. This student will come again tomorrow!”

Coming out from Fengchen Hall, she realized she’d been so angry she’d forgotten to even bring back her qin. She originally wanted to turn back to get it, but thinking Xie Wei might still be in the hall and hadn’t left, she immediately dismissed this thought.

Anyway, she wouldn’t practice qin when she returned.

Leaving the qin with Xie Wei even saved the effort of moving it back and forth.

So she walked back empty-handed.

From Fengchen Hall to Yangzhi Studio was just a few steps. There weren’t many palace servants passing on the way.

However, walking along, she actually heard sounds of laughter and commotion.

Several of the voices were somewhat familiar.

Jiang Xuening’s footsteps immediately stopped. Looking ahead, she couldn’t help but freeze slightly.

Outside Yangzhi Studio, beneath the vermillion palace walls, stood a youth wearing a sky-water blue long robe. His figure was tall and upright. Even though at this moment he wasn’t galloping on horseback, between his clear brows and starry eyes there was naturally a bit of soaring, intense spirit.

Only when his eyes caught sight of her did the light in them dim.

Yan Lin forgot what he was saying, also forgot what he wanted to say next. Even the many people standing beside and before him seemed to disappear. His heart and eyes were full of only that graceful figure ahead.

Shen Zhiyi, Xiao Shu and others had encountered Yan Lin and his group when they went to Kunning Palace today to pay respects. Because they were returning to Yangzhi Studio while that group of noble young masters was going to Fengchen Hall to find Master Xie, they traveled the same route. Having reached here, they were about to bid farewell.

Shen Zhiyi had known Yan Lin since childhood—they were playmates.

She was just about to say Ningning had been kept after class by Master Xie today, so maybe if he went to the side hall he could run into her. But halfway through her words, she saw Yan Lin’s gaze pass over everyone and look behind them.

So she followed and turned to look.

Seeing Jiang Xuening, she was extremely delighted and quickly waved to call her: “Ningning, you’re finally out! We were so worried about you!”

If it were normally, Jiang Xuening would have been amused by Shen Zhiyi, and might even have inwardly criticized her concern as cheap, thinking of how Shen Zhiyi had earlier gripped her hand telling her to study well with Xie Wei.

But now she couldn’t smile at all.

She walked over silently.

Xiao Shu, Yao Xi and others were all there, their gazes wandering between her and Yan Lin.

Walking together with Yan Lin were several unfamiliar youths in fine clothing. Presumably they were all of noble status, able to be selected by the emperor to enter the palace to attend classics mat lectures.

Among them was one who looked particularly young, only about fourteen or fifteen years old.

Standing closest to Yan Lin.

First seeing Yan Lin look toward Jiang Xuening, then hearing Shen Zhiyi call out “Ningning,” he clapped his hands as if suddenly understanding, and laughed toward Yan Lin: “So this is that Second Miss Jiang? Brother Yan Lin always kept her hidden and wouldn’t let us meet her. Today we’ve finally seen her!”

The implications in his words showed he also knew of Yan Lin and Jiang Xuening’s relationship.

Everyone knowingly laughed in a teasing manner.

Only Yan Lin didn’t smile.

Clearly seeing her brought such joy, but with Prince Yanping’s one sentence, he was pulled into a bottomless abyss, making him feel the young girl before his eyes clearly stood in front of him, yet seemed as distant as clouds at the horizon.

The youth in blue robes solemnly composed his still somewhat immature face, only saying: “Prince Yanping, please don’t joke. Miss Jiang and I are merely playmates. In private it’s one thing, but if such nonsense spreads to my father’s ears, getting a beating and scolding would be light—ruining Second Miss’s good name would be serious. Please be cautious with your words, Your Highness.”

Prince Yanping, not very old, was immediately stunned.

Even Shen Zhiyi didn’t react.

Xiao Shu beside them raised her eyebrows even more, lifting her eyes to look at Yan Lin with some surprise.

You Yue and others, after their surprise, immediately became gloating: After all this, Young Marquis Yan doesn’t take her seriously at all!

But Yan Lin gazed at Jiang Xuening with an extremely earnest look, as if seeing her once meant one less time, wanting to carve her into his heart.

Clearly something inside had broken open and was bleeding.

Yet he curved his lips and smiled at her: “Prince Yanping is young and speaks without restraint. I hope Second Miss Jiang won’t take offense.”

“…”

In that instant, Jiang Xuening’s eyes grew moist.

She had to hastily lower her head to hide her distress.

Others couldn’t understand, but how could she not know?

The Marquis of Yongyi’s household was in imminent danger. Since Yan Lin already knew and truly loved and cherished her, he wouldn’t continue with his previous youthful impulsiveness, nor would he wish the whole world knew he liked her.

On the contrary, he wanted to sever all connection with her.

Not willing to let her be implicated, not willing to ruin her reputation—just like Zhang Zhe proactively breaking off the engagement with the Yao family.

Her fingers hanging at her sides quietly clenched tight. She forcibly pushed back the tears and also looked at the youth, wanting to respond with something in her heart. But in front of all these people, she couldn’t say a single word.

She dared not say it even more.