Chapter 27 Who Designed Whom

  He Huan knew very little about Xie Minyue's situation and couldn't judge whether Xie San's appearance was related to her for the time being. After lunch, she suddenly felt uneasy and could only send Bai Miao to Shen's house to find Zi Lan on one hand, and ordered Zhang Bo to go to Qing Song Guan on the other hand, under the pretext of delivering daily necessities to inquire about the situation inside the Taoist temple.

  An hour later, Bai Rou returned with a bitter face and reported in a wronged tone: "Miss, Zilan said that even if Master Shen didn't go to Qing Song Temple, even if I broke down the door of the Shen family, you still can't see Master Shen. She also said...". She quietly raised her eyes to glance at He Huan, whispering: "She also said that if Miss is not afraid of a futile effort, she can continue to cause trouble, but she cannot accompany her."

  "Is this what she said to you in person?" He Huan smiled instead of getting angry.

  Baizhou nodded lightly with a subtle expression, her lips pursed together in silence.

  "Did you tell her what I taught you?" He Huan asked.

  Bai Mian nodded again and replied in a low voice, "She said that Miss doesn't need to worry about the Shen family's affairs. At this moment, Nian Xi young master is being taken care of by Old Lady Shen, except for two wet nurses, only she and Si Zhu can enter the young master's room. Even outside the house, Mr. Shen has already sent people to guard it closely since early morning."

  "Xie San wore the clothes of Shen's family servant, and in Shen's house, he was like a nobody. Could it be that Master Shen...” He Huan swallowed the rest of her words. She believed in Shen Jinglin, which is why she had sent his mother and younger brother to Qing Song Guan; she shouldn't have doubted his ability to take good care of their son.

  Bai Miao glanced at He Huan, thinking to herself: Isn't Xie San already been taken away by Lin the captain? This morning, they were supposed to report Xie San for intending to steal from the Shen family, she didn't understand why their master hadn't followed the plan.

  He Huan waved her hand thoughtfully, indicating to Bai Miao that she wanted to be alone for a while. She was worried that Xie San would bring harm to the Shen family and feared that her son would encounter an accident, but she had forgotten that with Shen Jinglun around, she didn't need to worry at all. He had personally promised her that he would protect her, their child, and the people she cared about. How could she have forgotten?!

  Bai Mian curtsied to the master and mistress, turned around to leave, but stopped in her tracks again. She hesitated for a moment before stammering: "Miss, Zilan told me that when Master Shen went to Qing Song Guan, he personally took two things with him - one was your portrait, Miss, and the other was your bamboo flute..."

  "Alright, you go down first." He Xuan pushed Bai Rou out of the house and closed the door, leaning against it. She felt her head buzzing and her eyes getting hot. When they had just gotten married, she had intentionally asked Shen Jinglin to teach her how to play the bamboo flute in order to get close to him. He taught her some techniques and told her to practice by herself. But she pretended not to understand and kept asking him to demonstrate every day. One day, when he was in a bad mood, he asked her why she kept asking him to demonstrate even though she already knew how to play.

  At that moment, Lin Xiyue's He Huan was both shy and annoyed, and said angrily that he was her husband, and she only wanted to stay in the same room with her own husband. After finishing speaking, she turned around and wanted to leave, but accidentally knocked over the pen holder on the table with the bamboo flute in her hand. Shen Jinglu gave up the precious books on the table and hurriedly went to rescue the folded paper placed at the corner of the table. Lin Xiyue saw that it was an unfinished meticulous painting, and she was standing under the corridor blowing the flute in the painting.

  After that day, neither of them mentioned the little episode again, but she could clearly feel that when he read and wrote, he no longer shut her out, and sometimes even found excuses to take her out. When they walked together, even if there was nothing to say, he would slow down his pace and walk shoulder to shoulder with her. As for the painting, after he finished it, he personally framed it and hung it in his study room.

  Thinking of the past, He Huan raised her head to look at the roof, trying not to let tears fall. From her decision to marry Shen Jinglin to her pregnancy with their child, all her efforts were not because she liked him, but for survival. To put it bluntly, she was just using him, striving to win his heart, not out of love, but only to firmly grasp the position of Mrs. Shen.

  But what about him? She only discovered after transforming from Lin Xiyue to He Huan that she loved him, but not as much as he loved her. It turned out that she was wrong all along.

  He Huan bit her lower lip, her hands clenched the clothes at her chest. Just as she was about to escape her suffering and find happiness, heaven played a cruel joke on her. If she were still Lin Xiyue, she would have had a loving husband, a son, and the ability to protect her mother and younger brother; but now?

  "No! Everything is still salvageable, I shouldn't give up." He Huan muttered to himself, "Rather than being heartbroken and wasting time, it's better to think of a way to return to their side. Although he may not believe me now, but I have a future with him, after all, I am who I am, whether my appearance is Lin Xiyu or He Huan, what does it matter?"

  At the same time, in the wing room of Qing Song Guan, Shen Jinglu stared blankly at the portrait on the shelf. In the portrait, Lin Xiyin held a bamboo flute, wore a lake-green cheongsam, and stood elegantly under a blooming apricot tree. Pink petals danced in the wind, some falling on her shoulders, others flying into the nearby lake, stirring up ripples. Although it was only a side face, he seemed to see her smile.

  He had long discovered that she loved to laugh. When they first got married, she was always careful around him, being reserved all the time, but she couldn't hide her true nature. As soon as he turned his head, he could see a radiant smile like sunshine, and sometimes he couldn't help but wonder how she had developed such a cheerful personality after losing her father at the age of ten and taking care of her younger brother and weak mother.

  He had long known that she had deliberately arranged their first "accidental encounter", he was very clear that she did not like him as other women did, she wanted to marry him just for the Lin family, her tenderness and consideration towards him, as well as her little tricks, were all for her mother and brother. To her, he was nothing but a tool.

  Shen Jingxian smiled self-deprecatingly and gently touched the bamboo flute on the table with his long fingers. He couldn't bear to bury it with her, as it was something she often held in her hands. She had no idea that he had investigated her early on, even before their first "encounter". To be precise, he had decided to marry her before she decided to marry him, so from the start, it was he who chose her.

  Shen Jinglun picked up the bamboo flute, slowly stroking its emerald green body. As far as he knew, after her father's death, the mother and three children had a very hard time, but she still demanded herself with the standard of a noble lady. Reading, writing, needlework, music, although she was not proficient in any of them, none were neglected.

  In her daily life, she is elegant and refined in her attire, and dignified in her demeanor. She has always planned to use her own marriage to secure a smooth and peaceful life for her mother and younger brother, and has been implementing this plan step by step. He thought that if the Lin family hadn't encountered such a huge change three years ago, she would have probably chosen a practical and unassuming family, quietly paving the way for her younger brother.

  Shen Jingxian's hands tightly grasped the bamboo flute, his self-mocking smile had long since faded away, leaving only sorrow in his eyes. He married her because he had to get married. Behind that marriage, on the surface, he saved the Lin family, but in reality, he was the ultimate beneficiary of the gain.

  Shen Jinglun took a deep breath, wanting to put down the bamboo flute, but couldn't bear to part with it. He chose her because she wasn't an ignorant young girl; she knew that marriage was just an equal exchange. In his time in the capital, he had seen all sorts of beautiful women, but he had to admit that her beauty went beyond her flawless features.

  He had always thought that getting married would mean having another woman in his life, which would be inconvenient but also have its advantages. Until one morning, he opened his eyes to see her beside him, and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

  He had always woken up very early, a habit that had been with him for a long time. At this hour the sky was not yet bright enough, and he shouldn't have been able to see her clearly, but he did - her peaceful sleeping face. Her eyelashes were long, her nose small but high-bridged, her lips like fresh flowers in the morning dew, and when she smiled sincerely, her soft cheeks would have two shallow dimples.

  He didn't know how long he had been staring, until she opened her eyes and he came back to himself. He was about to get up and dress, but instead caught sight of her smile after a moment's confusion. Her smile was perfect in form, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised and her eyes slightly curved, so that no one could say she didn't look good when she smiled. But he noticed that her smile did not reach her eyes, and there were no dimples on her cheeks. This smile was just a courtesy she had to give her husband.

  At that moment, his heart was pierced, and he suddenly thought that she was under him to please her mother and younger brother, not because she liked him or wanted to be close to him. To her, it didn't matter if it was him or another man. He knew this in his heart, but if she had cared about him even a little bit, she wouldn't have said that she would arrange for others to serve him and let him choose the type he liked just less than a month after their marriage.

  He rarely lost control, for over a decade he had learned to keep his emotions in check, but that day, he angrily kissed her, tearing off the sash of her cheongsam and ripping her camisole. She neither reciprocated nor resisted, simply letting him take what he wanted. He grew angrier still, even suspecting that at such a moment, she was thinking of her mother and brother.

  "Look at me." He commanded in a low voice. His anger didn't subside until he saw himself in her eyes.

  "Please me." He knew he had scared her, and she would never understand why he was angry. He closed his eyes to feel her warm lips brush against his cheek, embracing her fragrant soft body, eager to become one with her.

  "Don't think about anything else, just think that I'm your man, and you can only rely on me." He whispered in her ear.