Chapter 3

Editor: DarkSapphire, Uncia

Today would be Xiao Lian’s last day to see Yan Xixia, as the day after tomorrow would be his wedding. Even if the Xiao Family didn’t care about the wedding, they still needed one day to prepare. 

Although it was autumn, the temperature sometimes felt sultry. Xiao Lian no longer acted like a fool who attracted everyone’s attention as he stood under the sun outside the Yan Mansion. Instead, he brought a small stool to sit in an unobtrusive place. With his trusty small box of embroidered tools, he sat there embroidering handkerchiefs.

Yesterday, he accepted a single order from the Yu Family, a big household in Qingyun City that wanted a hundred handkerchiefs. He had abundant time to complete the order which was due in the first month of the year with very considerable pay. The Yu Family provided the solid color handkerchief. Xiao Lian’s only job was to embroider patterns on them. Any pattern would do. The customer had only one requirement: Xiao Lian must be the one who embroidered them.

At first, Xiao Lian was bewildered. His embroidery shop was not famous, and the request was very simple, yet it paid a lot. The weirdest part was hearing the person who placed the order say: “Rewards come to people that do good deeds. Has the little boss ever cared for an intellectually impaired young man before?”

That sentence was related to the person’s master. This was the only hint given to Xiao Lian, but he knew immediately that this sale was because of the little fool’s blessing. 

The little fool was really silly. He gave no name, had unknown origins, and was also going to who-knows-where.

One day last year, a homeless person wandered into the embroidery shop. Xiao Lian saw him. The man looked poor and was being treated horribly by others, so Xiao Lian bought him food and also freshened the person up. He even gave his own clothes for the man to change into and also let him stay in the embroidery workshop for the night.

After some time, the little fool said he wanted to continue to search for his little stuttering friend. Xiao Lian helped by giving him a small bag, which was filled with food and clothing.

Although the little fool did not understand what embroidering was, he loved the pattern on the handkerchief, so Xiao Lian also packed a few for him.

The last sentence the little fool said to him was: Brother Xiao Lian, once I find my friend, I will come find you to play.

Xiao Lian thought that since the little fool had a relationship with the Yu Family of the neighboring city, he must have a more comfortable life now, but he didn’t know whether he had found his friend. Huaihe City and Qingyun City were right next to each other. It should be a simple trip. If there is an opportunity, he should visit him.

As Xiao Lian embroidered the handkerchiefs while thinking about these things, he suddenly heard the Yan Mansion door opening. He immediately looked up and saw the person he wanted to see the most.

Yan Xixia was dressed in a light blue wide-sleeved robe, standing with a strong posture. His eyebrows were like an ink painting. Below were eyes that lost their vigor. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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The coachman slowly headed west.

Xiao Lian put away his small box in a panic, carrying it while following Yan Xixia’s carriage. The small stool that he brought was left forgotten. Although the carriage was not fast and the ride lasted only a quarter of an hour, Xiao Lian ended up drenched with sweat. 

The carriage stopped outside the Zhuxi Pavilion, and Yan Xixia was assisted off the carriage. Two scholarly folks came out of the Zhuxi Pavilion and greeted Yan Xixia with a smile. Yan Xixia also talked to them, smiling and looking very unbothered by his new handicap.

Xiao Lian saw the young servant next to Yan Xixia approach the young master and whisper a few words to him. Then, Yan Xixia looked in the direction where Xiao Lian was and smiled at him.

Xiao Lian subconsciously wanted to find a place to hide, but then he remembered that Yan Xixia couldn’t see him, so he relaxed.

What Jiu Si, the servant next to Yan Xixia, said was that someone stood outside of the Yan Mansion on the day after the incident the whole afternoon, and then continued to sit outside the mansion for the past few days. He never forgets to visit. He thought he was concealed, but the servants had noticed him since day one. That person followed the carriage, said Jiu Si, toward your left. 

Thinking of what Jiu Si said of “concealing himself,” a single person came into Yan Xixia’s mind as he subconsciously looked to his left and smiled again. As someone who couldn’t see, he didn’t know precisely who would do this stupid thing, but he said to Jiu Si: “If he comes back tomorrow, please invite him for tea.”

Then, Yan Xixia continued to talk with his two friends on the unfinished topics.

The Zhuxi Pavilion was a place where scholars often gathered, so Xiao Lian thought the two should be Yan Xixia’s friends. It was not until their backs disappeared from his view did he turn around, preparing to return to the embroidery workshop.

Now that he learned Yan Xixia was fine, he felt relieved. He was really fortunate to finally see Yan Xixia in person. 

When Xiao Lian left the embroidery workshop that night, he mentioned nothing about the marriage. He only said that there was something he needed to do in the next few days, so he would not be coming to the workshop.

In a blink of an eye, the day of the wedding arrived. Xiao Lian’s suit was flame-red, making his appearance more refined, but his suit was slightly loose on his figure because the outfit was originally intended for Xiao Xin. Xiao Lian and Xiao Xin were of similar stature except for the extra weight on Xiao Xin.

One of the women helping at the wedding came outside his door. She informed Xiao Lian that Yan Xixia had arrived at the Xiao Mansion’s gate, and soon he would be here to pick him up. Xiao Lian needed to be ready soon.

The Hua Ding Dynasty said that in a marriage between two men, one of them would come to greet the relatives, then both of them would walk hand in hand out the door and ride on the same horse to the wedding hall. 

Xiao Lian stood at the door waiting for Yan Xixia, clearly knowing that he was an imposter and he had stolen everything for himself, but Xiao Lian couldn’t help his heartbeat speeding up in expectation.

With the sound of the door being opened, sunlight rushed in through the open door. Yan Xixia, dressed in a groom jacket, stood in front of Xiao Lian. He had a polite yet distanced smile on his face as he stretched out his hand before him.

Xiao Lian knew that the person in Yan Xixia’s heart was Xiao Xin. Looking at the white and slender hand in front of him, he extended out his own hand and gently placed it on Yan Xixia’s larger hand. Let this lie be his joy, just for today.

Yan Xixia held Xiao Lian’s hand as he led Xiao Lian out. Someone beside him had been guiding him on how and where to walk. Xiao Lian had seen that person. It was the same little servant who followed Yan Xixia to the Zhuxi Pavilion. 

After leaving the house, Xiao Lian got on the horse first and then saw Jiu Si leaning over to say something. Yan Xixia moved his lips and smiled again.

Jiu Si had taken the opportunity to get close to Yan Xixia’s ear and whisper, “Master, the new wife is the one who has been visiting you for the past few days.”

Yan Xixia was taken aback for a moment, and murmured, “How could this be?”

Yan Xixia originally thought it was Xiao Lian who visited, but who would have guessed it was actually Xiao Xin. Thinking of Xiao Xin’s arrogant and domineering appearance, he would have never expected the spoiled young master would do such a thing. But he smiled again. It didn’t matter. 

Yan Xixia hopped on his horse, acting neatly and completely unlike a blind man as they rode to the Yan’s Mansion, guided by a man holding the rein.

Xiao Lian felt Yan Xixia’s body leaning against him and immediately stiffened. He dared not make a single movement. There was obviously the sound of gongs and drums from the welcoming party, but he felt that he could hear Yan Xixia’s breathing clearly.

He held the saddle front bridge with both hands. Yan Xixia’s arms went around Xiao Lian, and his hands were also placed on the saddle front bridge. Because of the limited space, it was hard for their hands not to touch each other.

Yan Xixia felt the stiffness of the person in front of him. Although he only saw Xiao Xin a few times, he didn’t feel like Xiao Xin was behaving like his usual self at all. He thought that it must be the nervousness from the big celebration today, so he said a few comforting words: “You can relax; no need to be this tense.” 

How could Xiao Lian relax? Not to mention the affection he had for Yan Xixia, he was deceiving him!

Yan Xixia felt that the person in front of him didn’t relax at all, so he asked, “Were you the one who had been sitting outside the Yan Mansion a few days ago? Why didn’t you come in?”

Because of the sound of gongs and drums, Yan Xixia had to talk by his ears. The temperature of Xiao Lian’s ears was warm. Could it be that Yan Xixia already suspected him?

“Although none of my servants know you, you only need to say that you are from the Xiao family, and they would let you in.” 

Xiao Lian thought: I was afraid of facing you, and I didn’t know under what identity I should visit you. Was it possible to enter as “the younger brother of the future Madam Yan?” Xiao Lian was right in the middle of contemplating his answer when he heard Yan Xixia speak again.

“I thought only your timid younger brother would stay outside the door, afraid to enter. I didn’t expect that…” Yan Xixia paused and chuckled a few times. “Sure enough, there is always a similarity in the family.”

After listening, how would Xiao Lian dare to talk anymore? As soon as he talked, he would reveal himself. Yan Xixia thought he was Xiao Xin, and that the man watching the Yan Mansion was Xiao Xin. He clenched the saddle tightly, and his heart twitched. It hurt so much, but he deserved it for his deception.

Yan Xixia saw that he didn’t reply, so he said: “Why don’t you speak? Was it because I mentioned Xiao Lian? I know you two don’t see eye to eye, but now that you are married to the Yan Family, you will have fewer opportunities to encounter him in the future. But when you do, don’t cause trouble with him.” Yan Xixia spoke carefully, for fear that it would arouse Xiao Xin’s arrogant temper. 

Yan Xixia stopped speaking. Xiao Lian knew that Yan Xixia thought it was Xiao Xin who was riding with him and also didn’t say a single word.

He felt very uncomfortable inside. Does Yan Xixia like Xiao Xin? He has to. Otherwise, why would he want to marry Xiao Xin?

Xiao Xin was the first wife’s son. He had everything since he was born, was spoiled by his father, and was loved by his mother. Everyone held him in their palms. He could knock many people behind him as they shouted in distress and still have a group of people help to deal with the aftermath.

Xiao Lian was just the opposite. He only had a mother, and it was the first time that Xiao Lian had someone other than his mother who helped him when he grew up, but in the end, he lost his heart to that person. 

Xiao Lian had never envied Xiao Xin, even as a child, but at this moment, Xiao Lian was extremely envious.