Chapter 4
Chapter 4
I shot to my feet.
If anyone found me here, Xie Xuechao’s reputation would be ruined.
I looked frantically for somewhere to hide. Understanding my intent, Xie Xuechao stepped closer and gently shook his head, signaling me to sit.
Perhaps his composure steadied me. My pounding heart gradually calmed, and I crept back to the couch, pressing myself into the curtains’ shadows.
Xie Xuechao opened the door halfway.
Moonlight spilled in with Xie Lingchao’s shadow. The door and curtains blocked his view, and he could not see me.
“Elder Brother,” he said, slightly breathless, “have you seen Yuzhu? I’ve searched every—”
“Lingchao.”
Xie Xuechao interrupted him without raising his voice, yet Xie Lingchao fell silent at once.
“Even if Lady Liao entered my courtyard by mistake, a maid would naturally escort her back to the reception hall. Why would she remain here?”
“You have brought a crowd of servants into my courtyard—even to my private rooms—to search for an unmarried lady. Have you given any thought to her reputation?”
Perhaps I imagined it, but his voice seemed to turn colder on the word reputation.
“I… I was too anxious.” Xie Lingchao faltered. “I was wrong, Elder Brother. But I can’t find her anywhere. The servants said she waited a long time. She must be angry with me…”
“Concern does not excuse recklessness.”
Xie Xuechao studied him until he lowered his head. Only then did his tone soften slightly.
“Search elsewhere. I will send people as well, but do not make a commotion, and under no circumstances are male servants to look for her.”
“Yes, Elder Brother.”
The lanterns outside receded. Xie Xuechao stood still for a moment before returning to the inner room.
“Lady Liao, tonight has been too chaotic for a proper conversation. I will take you to Grandmother first.”
I nodded.
Beneath the stars and moon, I followed behind him, watching his straight, broad back. Unbidden, I recalled gossip I had once overheard among my elders.
The Xie clan had already begun to decline in the previous generation.
Marquis Xie was thoroughly mediocre, yet he had somehow fathered Xie Xuechao, a dazzling talent who won the emperor’s trust while still young and single-handedly reversed his family’s fortunes.
Unfortunately, Xie Xuechao was painfully upright. At nine, he had already dared rebuke his parents to their faces. Marquis and Marchioness Xie consequently favored their younger son, Xie Lingchao.
Thus, they raised two brothers of entirely different character.
Influenced by Xie Lingchao, I too had always feared his elder brother.
But now…
I swallowed as a mortifying image rose in my mind: the young man, pure as snow on a mountain peak, struggling and trembling amid soft brocade until restraint gave way…
“Lady Liao.”
Xie Xuechao turned without warning.
Guilty thoughts made me jump, and I stumbled back half a step. “Wh-what is it?”
He misunderstood.
“This is Grandmother’s courtyard. She is broad-minded. From now on, you spent the entire day here. I will handle everything else.”
He paused, his voice softening into reassurance.
“Do not be afraid.”
I stared, then nodded hard. “I won’t.”