Yan Yao’an intimately held her hand. “I’ve finally found you!”


  Just now, when she was wandering around, she didn’t expect to see immediatly.

  Of course. She looked the best when the curtain hat fell off, and if you followed the eyes of the crowd, you’d find her.

  Unfortunately, it was only a flash in the pan. Before she had been seen enough, she had put on the curtain hat again.

  Xie Zhen was confused, “What are you looking for me for?”


  Yan Yao’an replied matter-of-factly, “Today is Shangsi Festival. It wasn’t easy for me to make a trip out here myself. Who else can I look for if not you?”


  Judging from her posture, she must have just come from the palace.

  Not only were there three to five maids following behind her, there were also ten guards standing beside the carriage. Although they were all dressed up, they were still very eye-catching.

  In addition to Xie Zhen’s earlier appearance, more than half of the people at Mingqiu Lake were looking at them. This was really too ostentatious.

  Yan Yao’an complained to her about how she had done everything she could to get out of the palace, and how she had gone to the Duke Dingguo’s Mansion. After knowing that she was not in the mansion, he had gone to the lake in the autumn to find her.

  After saying that, she suddenly thought of something and looked around. “I came with Sixth Brother. Where is Sixth Brother?”


  Xie Zhen was stunned, the sixth prince came as well?

  However, Yan Yao’an continued to wander around in the crowd, but still couldn’t find the sixth prince. She mumbled to herself strangely, “I clearly saw him here just now …”


  Yan Yao’an quickly tossed this person to the back of her mind. “Ignore him. Let’s go play by ourselves!”


  Xie Zhen said yes, and thought it was just good that they could do whatever they want without the the sixth prince.

  She once again thought of the little deer she saw in the woods just now. She grabbed Yan Yao’an’s hand and took two steps forward. “I’ll show you something. Quick, follow me!”


  Yan Yao’an rarely left the palace, and was curious about everything. Thus, she followed her without a second thought. “What are you going to see?”


  Xie Zhen smiled back at her. “A Deer.”


  Her interest was piqued as she quickly took two steps forward, “Alright, alright, let’s go quickly.”


  The animals most commonly seen in the palace were either the emperor’s gyrfalcon and various birds, or the concubines’ cats and dogs. Deer was quite rare, especially in this wild forest.

  No wonder she was so excited.

  There were several maids behind her, and they kept protecting her, afraid that she would be in any danger.

  Yan Yao’an felt that they were getting in the way, so she only left the two maidservants, Qingfeng and Bai Lu, to wait outside the forest.

  Xie Zhen got Xie Xun, and shouted towards on direction. “Brother, don’t go, wait for us here!”


  Yan Yao’an followed his gaze, only to see a youth about 20 years old standing under the tree. His temperament was cold, like a pine tree or a cypress.

  He leaned against the trunk of the tree, looking out at the lake, and when he turned his head, he smiled the instant she saw Xie Zhen, and nodded his head at the coldness in his brow.

  Xie Zhen was relieved, she led her and Xie Xun to the woods.

  Yan Yao’an blankly let her hold her hand. After a long while, she hesitantly asked, “That’s …”


  “Your brother?”


  It was a soft voice, completely different from the domineering tone from before.

  Xie Zhen nodded innocently. “Yeah.”


  She made an “oh” sound. She didn’t know what was going on, but she obviously spoke less than before.

  They hadn’t gone far, after all, and the woods were still far away.

  Xie Zhen led them to a stream, and after a dozen steps along it they saw a small spotted deer lying under a tall camphor tree.

  It was probably separated from the doe, and Xie Zhen looked around, but she never found his mother.

  It was just waking up when they arrived.

  It slowly stood up, a little scared to see them, and quietly took a step back.

  Unfortunately, it did not find the right direction and crashed into the tree trunk.

  Xie Zhen couldn’t help but laugh. She crouched down and touched its head, said to it as it could understand her, “Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you.”


  The deer let out a low growl, but still did not let down its guard.

  Xie Zhen felt it was poor and wanted to take it home, but she wouldn’t come near it, so she picked up the grass on the ground and fed it, “Do you want to eat?”


  The deer did not move.

  She was about to feed it again when she suddenly felt something was wrong. She stood up and looked around.

  The leaves in the forest swirled and the shadows of the trees were mottled. Everything was very calm, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

  She pursed her lips, still feeling that something was strange.

  Xie Xun teasing the deer as she looked up at it. “What are you looking at, sister?”


  She hesitated, then said, “I think someone’s watching us.”


  Xie Xun paused, a look of bewilderment on her face.

  Yan Yao’an also heard it. She looked around, but didn’t see any abnormalities. “Did you make a mistake?”


  There were a few ladies in the woods, and they were all followed by biddies and servant maids.

  Everyone was playing with themselves, and no one noticed them.

  Xie Zhen nodded, “Maybe.”


  She continued to discuss with Xie Zhen how to take the deer back.

  Gradually the deer got to know them well, actually ate Xie Zhen’s grass in her hand in one gulp, startled her, who plopped down on the ground.

  Before she could react from her fright, the deer, as if it had not eaten his fill, threw itself on top of her, nudged the curtain hat off her head, and began licking her face with its tongue.

  Xie Zhen tried to dodge, but it was too late, and it was already licking his face.

  She whimpered, perhaps a little like a small animal, and the deer licked her again.

  At first, Yan Yao’an was also shocked, but then she laughed until she fell over and laughed, “It probably thinks you are of the same kind …”


  Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan came to help her, pulled the deer away, helped her to her feet, and wiped her face with a handkerchief. “Is the girl all right?”


  She pursed her lips and said in disgust, “It’s so dirty.”


  Saliva was all over her face, and she held her dress to the stream to wash her face.

  She dipped the handkerchief in the water, wrung it out, washed her face bit by bit, put the curtain hat at her feet, and let her dark hair slide down over her shoulders. She tilted her head, revealing a white, flawless face.

  After washing it two or three times, she finally felt clean. She abruptly stood up, feeling dizzy.

  Her vision blurred as she seemed to see a person in the forest ahead.

  Besides the thick and lush trees, what else was there?

  But did she really see someone? Was she seeing things?

  Xie Zhen put her hat on her head in a hurry, then turned and walked away.

  Shuang Yu, who was only a few steps away, saw her hurrying and asked: “What’s the matter with the girl?”


  She did not bother to explain. “Let’s go out first.”


  She had experienced danger several times when she was young, and she was more alert than most people.

  For some reason, she thought of the night when she was six or seven years old, when she was being watched by the wolves in the wild mountain. It was the same feeling she had when she was six or seven years old.

  It seemed that no matter how she ran, no matter where she went, the gaze would always be on her, following her.

  She could not escape.

  She shuddered and walked faster.

  When she returned to the spot she had just been at, there was no trace of Yan Yao’an except for Xie Xun and Shuang Yan.

  Xie Zhen asked, “Where’s Princess Yi?”


  Xie Xun pointed at a direction in the woods. “She’s gone after the deer.”


  Soon after Xie Zhen left, the deer began to move and went off somewhere else.

  Yan Yao’an had a wild disposition. In order to catch it, she ran with it. The two maidservants were worried that something might happen to her, so they followed her.

  Although there were no wild beasts in the woods, it did not mean that there were no dangers.

  If there were any villains in there, she would not be able to deal with them as a girl.

  Xie Zhen was a little worried. She waited there for Yan Yao’an while, but seeing that Yan Yao’an had returned, she quickly ordered Shuang Yu to go outside to seek help from Xie Rong. He also called the princess’s guards and maids over.

  She told Xie Rong about the situation, so worried that tears were about to fall. Xie Rong comforted her, “The wood’s not too deep, so there shouldn’t be any accidents.”


  His voice was calm and somehow gave off a sense of security.

  Xie Zhen grabbed his sleeve, still worried.

  After all, Yan Yao’an was a princess. If anything happened to her, they wouldn’t have a good ending today. Perhaps the entire Duke Dingguo’s Mansion would be implicated.

  Xie Rong touched her head. “I’ll look over there, Little Lamb. You and Ah Xun wait here.”


  As he spoke, he sent the remaining maids and guards to different directions, letting them split up to look for people.

  If they found it, then brought it back here.

  Xie Zhen nodded, “Be careful, brother.”


  He said “be relieved” and started walking in the direction Xie Xun had pointed.

  For a moment there was only Xie Zhen and Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan. Xie Rong told them to wait outside in the carriage, but Xie Zhen was fidgeting, so she might as well stay here and feel more comfortable.

  After a while, when there was no news from the woods, she felt more and more uneasy, as if something were going to happen.

  “Sister, I’m sorry,” Xie Xun was guiltily, tugging at her sleeve. “I didn’t stop her.”


  “I shouldn’t have let her go away.”


  Xie Zhen held her hands without any blame. “Even if you tried, you still can’t stop her. Don’t be sad, it has nothing to do with you.”


  She grunted, still unhappy.

  Just now, Yan Yao’an had wanted to chase the deer, but she thought they wouldn’t go far. Who would have thought that they would disappear in a blink? If she had known earlier, she would have stopped them.

  Not long later, there were footsteps not far away. Xie Zhen looked over and saw the little deer that ran away!

  The deer, hidden in the grass, with only the top of its head and a pair of round eyes, looked in their direction and ran away.

  “Ai!”


  Xie Zhen thought that Yan Yao’an was there, so walked there and blurted out, “You wait for me!”


  The deer did not run fast, keeping her at arm’s length.

  She chased it for a while and was about to give up when she saw that the deer was standing on a rock in front of a huge tree.

  She slowly walked two steps forward, looking around, but didn’t see Yan Yao’an at all.

  When she turned around to look, Shuang Yu had already caught up. She was about to open her mouth when she was grabbed by the wrist by a strong force and dragged to the back of a nearby tree trunk.

  Xie Zhen could not call for help, until her eyes lit up, and the curtain hat flew open.

  In front of her eyes was a solid chest. Looking up, she saw a handsome face, with a sword shaped eyebrows and thin lips. Each expression in his eyes revealed his displeasure.

  It was, no doubt, a beautiful face.

  Xie Zhen was stunned, somehow, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if she knew such a person from the depths of her mind.

  But when she tried to think about it, she couldn’t recall him.

  She had forgotten to call for help, and the confusion in her eyes only made him more angry.

  He was waiting for her to recall, but after a long moment, when Shuang Yu’s voice behind the trunk came closer and closer, she still didn’t react.

  Not only that, she even tried to struggle free and ask for help. “I …”


  He put his hand over her mouth and leaned close to her, and the superiority of his height made him look down on her with something like pride.

  Gritting his teeth, he asked, enunciating each word, “Do you dare forget me, Xie Zhen?”