Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next time I saw Xie Lin’an was at a palace banquet.

Xiao Yu had executed Prince Liang and was in excellent spirits. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth day of the eighth month, he held a feast for the officials who had rendered merit.

I was carrying wine through the long corridor when someone suddenly patted me on the shoulder from behind.

I turned around and saw a man in a scarlet official robe. He was broad-shouldered and long-legged, with sharp brows, bright eyes, and a tiny mole on the bridge of his nose.

It was already late autumn, and the lords in the palace had begun wearing padded layers. This man, however, was dressed lightly, standing tall and straight like a green pine.

But I did not know him.

“Is your health any better?”

The moment I heard him say that, realization struck me. This man was Xie Lin’an.

So this was what my savior looked like.

A trace of a smile had only just risen in my eyes when Xiao Yu’s icy words rang beside my ear: I would bring disaster to anyone around me.

Imperial Physician Liu had merely saved me, and Xiao Yu had killed him for it.

Then what about Xie Lin’an, who had drawn his sword and forced Imperial Physician Liu to save me?

The words of thanks that had reached my lips suddenly would not come out.

I stepped back twice, widening the distance between us a little, then gave him a proper, distant salute. “Greetings, General Xie.”

He lifted a brow and clicked his tongue. Then, as if entirely at ease, he reached out and took a jug of wine from the tray I was holding. Half leaning against the railing, he took a drink before finally saying in a slow, unhurried voice,

“I have not entered the palace in a long time. I had no idea that now, there is not the slightest warmth left in this place.”

I restrained myself from looking at him or answering. I only lowered my head and stared at the embroidered toe of my shoe peeking out beneath my skirt.

After a while, when he grew bored, he would leave on his own, wouldn’t he?

Better yet… he should never have anything to do with me again.

As I thought this, I kept my gaze fixed on the pattern embroidered on my shoe, only to suddenly meet a pair of dark, glistening eyes. I cried out and stumbled back two steps, almost losing hold of the wine cups on my tray.

Xie Lin’an straightened and burst into laughter. He tapped the ground with the tip of his boot and said,

“You keep your head down all the time. I thought there must be something fascinating on the ground. I asked you a question just now. Did you not hear me?”

Having embarrassed myself in front of him, my face burned a little. I did not know whether he noticed.

“I… I heard you…”

“So?” He raised a brow.

“My health has fully recovered.”

“Recovered, my foot. You look like a scrawny monkey to me. When you have nothing to do, eat a few more bites.”

He returned the wine jug to me, folded his arms behind his head, and sauntered away with carefree ease.

I did not know whether it was fate, but from that day on, I often ran into him in the palace.

Most of the time, the moment I spotted him from afar, I would take another path around him.

On the few occasions we brushed past each other, I kept my eyes straight ahead and pretended not to see him.

Until one day, Xie Lin’an stopped me in an empty alley and asked in a low voice,

“Little palace maid, are you avoiding me?”