The Trick to Teasing a Noble Family's Son - Chapter 33.2

“Someone as clever as the Fourth Young Master Xie…” Wei Lan slowly unfolded the folding fan in her hand. From the upper edge of the fan, a thin, razor-sharp blade suddenly sprang out, gleaming under the moonlight. She raised her hand and gave the fan a twist; under the silvery glow, it whirled like a graceful dancing girl in mid-spin, then landed steadily back in her palm. Lifting her gaze to meet Xie Zichen’s eyes, she said slowly, “How could you not know the saying ‘the hound is cooked once the sly rabbit dies?”

Hearing this, Xie Zichen slowly began to smile.

His smile carried mockery, cold, yet breathtakingly beautiful. Wei Lan’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. In that instant, the person before her was like a poppy in full bloom, stunning enough to steal one’s breath, yet perilously dangerous.

Wei Lan’s mouth went dry for a moment, but then she recalled the promise between them. She was someone who kept her word; if she had said she would stop pursuing him, then she would stop. So she opened and closed her little fan, stiffly shifted her gaze away, and looked to the side.

Xie Zichen, as always slow to notice such things, was still unaware of Wei Lan’s thoughts. In a cool voice, he said, “Then why does Shizi not aid me?”

“Hm?” Wei Lan halted and looked at him. He too stopped, his expression calm.

The rest needed no words.

There are no capable ministers who would not wish to bite their master to death if that master proved too disobedient.

Placing oneself in the role of the hunting dog was simply because Xie Zichen had no other choice. As a bastard son, how else could he quickly reach such a position without resorting to extraordinary means?

The night wind drifted past as Wei Lan quietly studied him.

After a long while, she could not help but slowly smile. “And what, Zichen, do you rely upon, to think that I, the Shizi, would cast aside all the olive branches extended to me, and instead accept you, a bastard son?”

As she spoke, Wei Lan lowered her gaze to the small fan in her hand. “Even if you have done my Changxin Marquis Manor a favor, favors are not repaid in such a manner.”

“I can marry Wei Hua,” Xie Zichen said blandly. “Three years from now, I will become the pearl of the Xie family. Then I will personally come to propose marriage. In this way, can you rest assured in forming an alliance?”

Wei Lan said nothing. She lifted her head, inch by inch, her gaze turning icy.

Xie Zichen frowned slightly. Marrying Wei Hua was the fastest method he could think of to bind himself to Wei Lan, and he had not expected such a reaction from her.

Wei Lan, for her part, was inwardly collapsing.

Why is it that one after another, they all want to marry Wei Hua?!

But she could not let this collapse show on her face. Instead, she feigned anger and said coldly, “I will not turn my sister’s lifelong happiness into a political bargaining chip. I, Wei Lan, stand tall and upright, and it is to give my family a place of peace and stability. I will never commit an act no different from selling my sister!”

At these words, Xie Zichen fell silent for a moment. If he had a younger sister he cherished, he might feel the same. He quickly understood her, and recalling Wei Hua’s appearance, he lifted his head and said solemnly, “I will treat her well. For all her life, she will live in silk and brocade, be treasured as the pearl in the palm of my hand, and I will never take a concubine. What say you to that?”

Wei Lan’s eye twitched. She suspected the man before her simply could not comprehend her words. Angrily, she said, “My sister’s marriage should be decided by her. If you wish for an alliance, do not harbor such thoughts toward her again!”

Xie Zichen said nothing, deep in thought. Wei Lan snorted coldly, clasped her hands, and said, “Think it over at your leisure, Brother Xie. I shall take my leave.”

With that, she turned and left, striding quickly back indoors. As soon as she returned to the courtyard, she saw Ran Mo and Xie Tong standing at the doorway like two door gods. Ran Mo immediately stepped forward excitedly. “Shizi!”

Irritated, Wei Lan flicked her fan. Upon entering, she immediately noticed a screen set upright on the bed, splitting it in two. Her face twitched, and she pointed at the screen. “What is this?!”

“Shizi,” Ran Mo said proudly, lowering her voice, “this way, you won’t have to share the same bed with Xie Zichen anymore!”

“Does self-deception amuse you?” Wei Lan said coldly. “And it’s just a common sleeping platform, how does that count as sharing a bed? Even if I don’t care about my reputation, Xie Si will still marry one day. Stepping back, I’m not the one at a disadvantage here. So why are you putting up this thing to cover your ears while stealing a bell?”

“Uh…” Ran Mo said cautiously, “But you are, after all, a…”

“Take it down!”

Wei Lan’s voice was cold. “It’s awkward to the extreme. What kind of appearance is this? If you ever do something like this again, you can roll back to the frontier garrison!”

At the mention of those rough and uncouth soldiers at the border, Ran Mo nodded like a pecking chick, quickly removing the screen. Wei Lan felt a headache coming on. If Ran Mo kept doing such strange things, Xie Zichen would start noticing.

The more open and aboveboard one appears, the easier it is to deceive, Ran Mo.

Thinking this, she shook her fan lightly. “Prepare water.”

“The Fourth Young Master should be back soon, right?”

Wei Lan gave her a cold look. “We’re both men, what, is Xie Zichen never going to bathe for the rest of his life because of me? He’s not a pervert, would he really insist on guarding me while I bathe?”

“Oh, oh.” Ran Mo nodded at once and went to fetch water. Before long, she set up the partition curtains, and Wei Lan stepped behind them into the bathing area. Ran Mo stood outside nervously.

Even between men, the Great Chu valued privacy. The bathing space was already separated by thick curtains and a screen; once the curtains fell, nothing could be seen at all. Yet Ran Mo still felt uneasy.

Wei Lan had not been in the bath for long when Xie Zichen returned. Entering the room, he immediately heard the sound of water. His brows furrowed. Ran Mo, growing even more tense, saw him turn without a word and go sit in the courtyard.

When Wei Lan emerged, she had changed into a loose robe. Sharing a bed with Xie Zichen these days, she could not remove her heart-guard plate or her fake Adam’s apple even at night.

Will my chest never grow properly because of this?

She came out barefoot, Ran Mo following, using a towel to wrap and gently dry her waist-length hair.

Xie Zichen entered just in time to see Wei Lan fresh from the bath, her pale skin faintly flushed, her damp hair loose, her oversized robe covering her completely, which only made one’s imagination run wilder about the beauty beneath.

She sat on the side of the couch, one leg crossed over the other, flipping through a book, while Ran Mo stood beside her, drying her still-damp hair. Beads of water slid down her neck into her robe, no telling where they travelled next.

Her bare, delicate feet peeked out from beneath her robe, like the tender tips of a lotus bud, stirring the heart and mind.

Xie Zichen forced his gaze away from her, suppressing the husky undertone in his voice as he said to Xie Tong, “Prepare water.”

After a thought, before Xie Tong could leave, he strode forward, pressed down on his shoulder, and said in a low voice, “Cold water.”

Xie Tong gave him a strange look, but seeing he offered no explanation, simply nodded and left. Xie Zichen stood in the corridor for a moment, taking several deep breaths before returning indoors.

Wei Lan was still reading. This time, having learned his lesson, Xie Zichen did not look at her; instead, he knelt at his desk. Finally, after much thought, he spoke, “If Miss Wei and I truly had mutual affection, then the Shizi would not oppose it, correct?”

At these words, Wei Lan’s heart gave a jolt. She looked up, brows furrowing tightly, to see him with his head bent over a scroll. She could not help but smile.

“You like her?”