Chapter 441: In the Auction House 6
Jiang Yeqian’s face stiffened for a second, and he whispered, “You’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy.” He was not crazy, and now he would see if the Head Grand Secretariat was crazy or not himself…
Jiang Yeqian knew that Li Ruoxuan might be testing him again, so he very calmly said, “Li Ruoxuan, did you deliberately say you like her because you want Si Jin to serve the imperial court?”
Li Ruoxuan was extremely calm. “No, I have quite liked Lady Qi since the first time I met her by Qingyang Lake. It’s just that I wasn’t completely sure of my feelings until now. Now that there’s a young grand master by her side, it only strengthens my feelings for her. It shows that she’s worthy enough.”
“…” Jiang Yeqian wanted to remain calm, but the sound of his breathing almost coming to a halt in a split-second gave away his emotions. Despite that, he tried hard to keep himself calm and make his expression look more natural.
Li Ruoxuan was in an inexplicably good mood looking at Jiang Yeqian’s changing face. He purposely b.u.t.tered him up and said, “Head Grand Secretariat, you’ve already planned to resign and return to your hometown. Naturally, I don’t see you as an enemy anymore. Look, I’m so friendly with you now. You know how I feel.
“I’m treating you as my confidant. That’s why I’ve told you so much of my true feelings.
“Now that you know that I like Lady Qi, as my friend, I know for sure that you won’t steal her away from me.
“If that little maid really is Qi Qingyao, it’s impossible for him to get so close to the girl, given Lu Yan’s previous condition. They seemed a little suspicious. So, in my opinion, Lu Yan must have liked Qi Qingyao. That’s why that condition of his was a little alleviated.
“If Lu Yan really likes Qi Qingyao, you must be on my side.
“Think about it. If Si Jin is asked to serve the Lu family, then even the emperor of Northern Liang has to be completely subservient to the Lu family in the future.”
Li Ruoxuan did not care about whether Jiang Yeqian was listening or not and kept talking in circles by himself.
It was only after he finished speaking that he realized Jiang Yeqian had been silent. He urged him, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Jiang Yeqian took a deep breath.
He said, “Did you give me a chance to speak?”
“Now I’ll give you the chance,” Li Ruoxuan said, relaxed. “Speak.”
“Li Ruoxuan, do you really like her?” Jiang Yeqian felt like Li Ruoxuan was definitely testing him, so he could only question him.
Li Ruoxuan said with finality, “Of course I do.”
Jiang Yeqian asked, “Will you take good care of those three children?”
“My love for her extends even to the crows on her roof, so of course I’ll take good care of those three children,” Li Ruoxuan resolutely stated. “In the future, I’ll treat them as my own.”
After he finished speaking, he continued talking to himself and said, “Although I’m not as rich as Lu Yan, I’m the State Preceptor, so I still have some wealth. So you don’t have to worry about whether I can or can’t raise a woman and her children.”
“Then I wish for your happiness.” Jiang Yeqian’s tone was very relaxed, but an unmoving and churning deep emotion flashed through his eyes.
Li Ruoxuan was taken aback for a moment, speculating the genuineness of his words. Then he got up. “You sit here first, I’ll go over and meet that little maid to test her.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Li Ruoxuan walked over there.
Jiang Yeqian’s gaze could not help but follow.
He instinctively swept a glance across the little maid beside Lu Yan.
…
…
After Li Ruoxuan ran to sit together with Jiang Yeqian, Qi Qingyao had an inexplicably bad feeling. She thought for a while, then said to Lu Yan, “I think I might’ve been spotted.”
“Hmm?” How was that possible? She was in a disguise.
Qi Qingyao pointed to someplace. “Li Ruoxuan ran over to sit with Jiang Yeqian.”
“What does that have to do with you?” Those two had been planning some things together recently due to some matters regarding the grand masters.
Qi Qingyao’s expression was restrained, her eyes were clear and black. “Based on my opinion of Li Ruoxuan, that man probably suspects I’m your maid, so he went to discuss it with Jiang Yeqian.”
Lu Yan cast a glance at them and found them suspicious as well, but he did not want to guess that way, so he countered her. “Why are you so narcissistic? You’re now a little maid, who would notice you?”
Qi Qingyao’s brows sank, and she said, “Lady Ling wanted to buy me precisely because I was a maid, but you wouldn’t sell. We got so close after just some small talk!!!”
“…” It had been quite fast indeed.
Qi Qingyao said irritably, “Why don’t you think about it. When have you ever been so close to a lady before? And when have you not sold a little maid that someone offered to buy for a hundred thousand taels?”
“…” Had he gone overboard?
Qi Qingyao a.n.a.lyzed the situation calmly. “Once something goes beyond common sense, a shrewd guy like Li Ruoxuan will surely notice, and it’s expected of him to suspect me.”
Lu Yan glanced over at them with his peripheral vision. He immediately frowned and said, “He’s already walking over here.”
The hairs on Qi Qingyao’s neck stood up, and her entire body grew tense.
She could not help but crook her finger at Si Jin. Si Jin ran from Lu Yan’s right side to Qi Qingyao’s side like a puppy.
Just now their seating arrangement had been: Dong Jing, Si Jin, Lu Yan, Qi Qingyao, an empty seat.
Now it had become: Dong Jing, an empty seat, Lu Yan, Qi Qingyao, Si Jin.
Qi Qingyao lowered her voice and said to Si Jin, “We must not let that guy expose our ident.i.ties.”
“Okay.” Si Jin began to think about whether to kill Li Ruoxuan or not.
…Li Ruoxuan did not expect that pageboy to move to sit beside the little maid as he walked over. There happened to be an empty seat by Lu Yan now, somewhat confirming some of his ideas.
“Master Lu.” Li Ruoxuan pointed at the empty seat and smiled kindly at Lu Yan. “Can I sit next to you?”
Lu Yan thought about Qi Qingyao’s prior a.n.a.lysis. He went with the flow and said, “Please.”
Li Ruoxuan sat down calmly and touched the eye patch over his right eye. Only then did he look past Lu Yan and glance at the little maid on his left. He said in nonchalant pretense, “I heard that Lady Ling wanted this little maid.”
Lu Yan suddenly asked, “Does the State Preceptor also want a little maid from my family?”
“Exactly my intentions,” Li Ruoxuan said unhurriedly.
After he spoke, he waited for Lu Yan to react, looking at him.
Lu Yan rubbed his forehead with a look of confusion.
“I don’t know Lady Ling well, so I don’t really want to sell my little maid to her, but if the State Preceptor wants her, then…”
With that, he got up and made a gesture of giving up his seat.
He signaled and said, “Qingqing, you’ll be sitting next to the State Preceptor tonight. Be sure to serve him well.”
Lu Yan then exchanged positions with the little maid.
The seats for these few people then immediately became: Dong Jing, Li Ruoxuan, Qi Qingyao, Lu Yan, Si Jin.
Qi Qingyao exchanged glances with Lu Yan when he looked down at her.
Once she was seated next to Li Ruoxuan, she immediately tightened her voice and called coquettishly in a sweet tone, “State Preceptor~”
She even clung onto Li Ruoxuan’s arm.
Li Ruoxuan suddenly stiffened. He seemed to have not caught onto what was going on.
Most of the little maid’s body was glued to Li Ruoxuan’s left side. She even said in a sultry voice, “Could it be that the State Preceptor also wants to buy me? I just don’t know if you want me as an ordinary maid, or…”
Li Ruoxuan felt a chill all over his body.
The little maid said with her breath in his ear, “…A personal maid~~”
Li Ruoxuan, who seldom got this close with women, felt uncomfortable right away. He quickly detached himself from this ferocious little maid and said angrily, “Don’t come near me!”
The little maid’s hands were pushed away. She rubbed her eyes aggrievedly and said in a whining and pitiful tone, “Master asked me to serve the State Preceptor tonight, so why did the State Preceptor push me so far away?”
“I’m asking you to back off!” An astonis.h.i.+ngly terrifying aura suddenly erupted from Li Ruoxuan’s entire body, making Qi Qingyao’s face go pale.
However, she had achieved her goal.
She got up.
And said to Lu Yan with a grievance, “Master, the State Preceptor wants me to back off.”
Lu Yan smiled and got up, then exchanged positions with her. He said with a big smile, “Since the State Preceptor hates you, you should just behave and sit next to me. Don’t bother the State Preceptor anymore.”
After Qi Qingyao sat down, she said, “I’ll heed your orders, Master.”
Li Ruoxuan glared at Lu Yan in anger then left unhappily.
He went back to Jiang Yeqian’s side and sat down.
He spat out the words sulkily and in a low voice, “It seems that I guessed wrong.”
“…” The corner of Jiang Yeqian’s lips curled up in a meaningful smile, and he looked over there without saying a word.
Li Ruoxuan puckered his lips and said, “Don’t you have any opinions about this, Head Grand Secretariat?”
Jiang Yeqian could not help himself from exposing him and said, “You’ve been fooled.”
“What makes you think so?!” What did he mean by Li Ruoxian getting fooled?
Since Jiang Yeqian had now decided to do exactly the opposite of what he had been intending to do, he had to follow through till the end, so he told Li Ruoxuan honestly, “Just now when you were talking to me, that little maid looked over here with her peripheral vision a few times and seemed to notice the two of us together.”
Li Ruoxuan, “?”
Jiang Yeqian continued, “Think about it. Would an ordinary maid have ever seen us before? What’s more, she was paying close attention to our movements a few times.”
Li Ruoxuan was deep in thought.
Jiang Yeqian reminded him and said, “After that, the little maid lowered her head and whispered discreetly to Lu Yan for a while.
Li Ruoxuan was too angry to figure it out, so he asked, “What’s wrong with that?”
“Should I say that the dignified State Preceptor is shrewd or an idiot?” Jiang Yeqian hugged his arms and said, “If it’s really her, she should’ve noticed the both of us together. I think, with Qi Qingyao’s character, she must’ve deduced something, so when you walked over there, if it really is her, she must’ve been ready for you to come over.”
Li Ruoxuan had returned to his senses. “So when I went over there, Lu Yan was happy to give her to me so generously?”
“Pretty much.” Jiang Yeqian nodded.
Li Ruoxuan’s gaze was playful. “She even acted like that just to make me repulsed by her?”
Jiang Yeqian chuckled and said, “Hasn’t she succeeded in avoiding the State Preceptor’s attention, even sending you back here in disgust?”
Li Ruoxuan, “…”
F*ck.
He had been fooled.
Jiang Yeqian looked at his dark expression and knew that the State Preceptor, who was so used to being the shrewd and conceited one, had lost to her.