Mo Zhizhang didn't move from his chair from beginning to end. He propped his chin and watched as the man with a clear face, who looked honest and simple, carried the firewood into Huichun Hall with the others. He couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
The man who had provoked him in the morning had now turned into a fool in the blink of an eye. It was really interesting.
Should he expose this matter?
Mo Zhizhang shifted his gaze slightly and looked at Ye Wanmian standing opposite Xiao Yixuan, as well as Li Zhao who was reaching out to protect her. His eyes curved with a smile.
Forget it. He found that his junior nephew, whose face he had never clearly seen, and Uncle Li, who was seriously poisoned, seemed even more interesting.
Ye Wanmian didn't notice Mo Zhizhang's expression. At this moment, what was more important to her was how to get Xiao Yixuan to leave quickly.
After calming her mind, she let out a breath and said to Xiao Yixuan apologetically, "Sorry, Your Highness. I accidentally hit you just now. Are you okay?"
Xiao Yixuan endured the sharp pain in his body and smiled gently, "I'm fine. It's just that... I've never seen that person before."
Ye Wanmian blinked and lied without changing her expression, "Oh, he's the son of my mother's cousin. My aunt heard that I'm working as a doctor in Huichun Hall now, so she sent my cousin here and told me to temper his character and make him stop thinking about playing all day and do something meaningful."
Xiao Yixuan knew that the "mother" Ye Wanmian mentioned was definitely not Mrs. Ye who was far away in the capital, but her real mother, who, according to Ye Wanxing, had already died of illness.
But didn't Ye Wanxing say that there were no other relatives around her adoptive parents?
There were still doubts about this matter. Xiao Yixuan couldn't let it go. Immediately, he asked in surprise, "Oh? There are other relatives on your side? Why have I never heard of it before?"
Ye Wanmian let out a soft sigh, "It's quite a coincidence. I met my aunt at my parents' graves. She saw that I looked very much like my mother, so she asked about my background, and that's how we recognized each other."
"She said that she was separated from my mother during the flood when I was born and hadn't seen her for many years. It was only until now that she learned the news of my mother's death and came here specifically to pay her respects."
So it was normal that Ye Wanxing, an adopted daughter, had never met this cousin.
Xiao Yixuan temporarily suppressed his doubts and said with a smile, "I see."
Ye Wanmian had been quietly observing Xiao Yixuan's expression. Seeing that he was about 70% convinced, she said, "Your Highness, do you have anything else to do today? You can see that I'm really busy here. I really don't have the time to entertain you, and it will be the same for the next five days..."
She blinked, looking embarrassed.
The subtext was, stop causing trouble for me here. Hurry up and leave.
After seeing her so - called "distant cousin" and ruling out his previous speculation, Xiao Yixuan really didn't have any reason to stay.
Remembering his purpose, he said to Ye Wanmian, "I heard about what happened yesterday. It's really easy for a woman to attract criticism when practicing medicine in public. Moreover, there are only men in your medical clinic, which is not good for your reputation. How about I find a maid for you? She can assist you and take care of you."
Find a maid for her and take care of her?
Was he trying to monitor her?
Ye Wanmian's face turned cold, "Your Highness, I'm just a rough and spicy village woman, not a noble young lady. I can't afford a maid. Please don't mention this kind of thing in the future."
Xiao Yixuan was about to say something else, but Ye Wanmian had already turned around and walked towards her free - consultation booth, "Your Highness, please go back. Don't delay the villagers from seeing a doctor."
Seeing Ye Wanmian sitting back on the chair, the villagers continued to line up.
Li Zhao bowed to Xiao Yixuan and took Qi Wen back to continue distributing herbal tea.
Xiao Yixuan looked around. Huichun Hall had returned to its previous bustling state. Compared with him, the extremely noble "prince", the villagers on - site were obviously more interested in the free herbal tea and free consultation. Someone even pushed him and spat,
"Don't block the way here!"
Xiao Yixuan clenched his fists. Although his expression remained unchanged, the veins on his forehead were bulging. Just as he was still hesitating whether to leave at this moment, a soldier ran over in a hurry from afar.
"Your Highness, Your Highness. Something terrible has happened!"
Recognizing that it was the soldier guarding outside his door, Xiao Yixuan's expression changed, "What happened to make you so panicked!"
The soldier knelt in front of Xiao Yixuan, his face ashen, "There was a thief in Liuxiang Tower. The rooms of Your Highness and the Prince of Ning were both ransacked by the thief!"
"What did you say?!"
Xiao Yixuan gasped in disbelief. How long had he been away from Liuxiang Tower, and the tower had already been robbed?!
How was this possible!
With such a big thing happening, Xiao Yixuan couldn't stay here calmly. Remembering that there were many secrets hidden in his room, he immediately called Meng Zhao, who was working hard to carry firewood for Ye Wanmian,
"Go back to Liuxiang Tower immediately!"
Xiao Yixuan left in a hurry with his men, leaving everyone on - site confused.
Ye Wanmian watched Xiao Yixuan's figure disappear in the distance and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
He was finally gone. If he had stayed here any longer, God knows what would have happened.
However, she seemed to have heard his soldier say that Liuxiang Tower had been burglarized?
Could it have been done by Xiao Jingcheng?
Whether it was the burglary of Liuxiang Tower or the big, stupid guy who called her "cousin", Ye Wanmian was full of questions at this moment. But this wasn't a good time to delve into them. She could only continue to smile and feel the villagers' pulses, pretending that nothing had happened.
In the backyard of Huichun Hall, the corner was filled with fresh firewood of the same thickness. The big, stupid guy who had called Ye Wanmian "cousin" carefully closed the door, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked towards a noodle stall not far from Huichun Hall.
This noodle stall was located to the east of Huichun Hall, exactly in the opposite direction from where Xiao Yixuan had left. Therefore, Xiao Yixuan didn't notice at all that in this small noodle stall sat the person he was most familiar with, who had toyed with him like a cat playing with a mouse.
There was a bowl of plain noodles in front of Xiao Jingcheng, but the noodles had clumped together. He took two bites and then put down his chopsticks in disgust.
The taste of these noodles was not even as good as those made by Ye Wanmian herself. How dare they sell them for five copper coins? What a greedy merchant!
The big, stupid guy walked up to Xiao Jingcheng. He changed his previous stupid look and showed a flattering smile just like Zhao Hu's, saying, "Boss, I've done what you told me."
Xiao Jingcheng looked up at him.
The big, stupid guy in front of him was Tang Kang, the man Xiao Jingcheng had taken away from Zhao Hu.
If one didn't look at his face, Tang Kang's height and build were really similar to his. He was the "double" that Xiao Jingcheng had specially found for himself.
"Good job. You really are a capable subordinate of Brother Huzi," Xiao Jingcheng praised and threw a string of copper coins at him. "This is a reward for you. If I need your help again next time, I'll have to trouble you."
Tang Kang beamed with joy and thanked Xiao Jingcheng repeatedly. Xiao Jingcheng waved his hand to let him leave, then got up and walked towards Huichun Hall.