Chapter 2: A Chance Encounter with a Handsome Man
The moment Hua Ling got angry, she ran outside. After stepping through the courtyard gate of Yinlü Xuan, she froze at the entrance. Damn it, wasn’t this Prime Minister’s estate way too huge? Why were there so many paths? Which way was she supposed to go to find that heartless, ungrateful Mu Yelei?
Hua Ling tried her best to use her clever, adorable little brain to analyze the three paths before her. Which one was it? After thinking for a long while, she finally gave up, because she truly knew nothing about the layout of ancient houses. Damn it, she would just risk it and take the one on the right. If she couldn’t find him, she’d deal with it then. At worst, she could just retrace her steps.
Hua Ling stepped onto the path on the right. Along the way, willows cast cool shade, the fragrance of flowers filled the garden, and there were rockeries, pavilions, little bridges, and flowing water. The scenery here was truly beautiful, so beautiful that Hua Ling almost forgot why she had come.
The farther Hua Ling walked, the more she felt something was wrong. Why hadn’t she seen so much as a single hair of another person? Could it be that there were no servants in the Prime Minister’s estate? Standing there, Hua Ling carefully looked around again and confirmed that she must have reached the garden. In ancient times, it seemed that high officials and nobles generally liked to build gardens to show off their status. It looked like this Mu Yelei really was highly valued. If such a huge garden were placed in modern Beijing, where every inch of land was worth gold—my god, wouldn’t it cost tens of millions of RMB to afford?
After secretly clicking her tongue in amazement, Hua Ling prepared to return the way she had come. Mu Yelei probably wouldn’t be idling about in the garden at this hour. She definitely wouldn’t find him here.
Hua Ling turned to leave when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. Someone was there! Curious, Hua Ling turned around again, only to meet a pair of pitch-black eyes the moment she looked back. Startled, she hurriedly took a step back, pressed a hand to her chest, and said, “Are you trying to scare someone to death? Why are you standing so close!”
The man opposite her was stunned. No one had ever dared to speak to him in such a tone before, and he immediately found it rather novel. He carefully sized up the woman before him. She wore a plain moon-white dress, with a sash of the same color tied around her waist. Her ink-black hair fell long and loose, with only a casual butterfly bun gathered atop her head, fastened by a very ordinary jade hairpin.
As she moved, she was graceful and elegant, her every glance radiant. Her vermilion lips were red without rouge; her misty brows seemed furrowed yet not furrowed. Her phoenix eyes were dark, her beauty peerless. Her figure was full and slender in perfect balance, neither too tall nor too short, her shoulders as if carved, her waist as if bound in white silk. Her neck was long and graceful, her fair skin revealed; no fragrance had been added, no powder applied, yet the shifting light in her eyes was enough to steal a man’s breath.
What a naturally beautiful woman. What the man cared about most was that her hair had not been pinned up, which clearly meant she was still an unmarried maiden. That fellow Mu Yelei was far too dishonorable. He had hidden such a peerless beauty at home and hadn’t even said a word. In a while, he would ask Mu Yelei for her directly. It was only a woman; surely he wouldn’t be unwilling to part with her.
While the man was sizing her up, Hua Ling was also scrutinizing him. He had a tall, elegant figure. His clothes were made of fine ice-blue silk, with snow-white edging embroidered in refined bamboo-leaf patterns, echoing the mutton-fat jade hairpin on his head. They artfully set off the extraordinary bearing of a gorgeous noble young master, and his smile carried a hint of the flirtatious ease of a romantic youth.
His chin was slightly raised, and within his almond-shaped eyes shone a brilliance like a dazzling galaxy. He wore an ink-colored satin robe, with silver openwork hibiscus-patterned edging visible beneath. A jade belt circled his waist, and he held an ivory folding fan in his hand. In the garden beyond the railing, hibiscus flowers bloomed enchantingly beneath the moon, their pale-red new stamens bright as if they meant to summon spring back again.
Wow, what a handsome man. He was much better-looking than those cosmetically altered handsome guys in idol dramas. They said there were many beautiful men in ancient times, and it seemed that saying wasn’t false at all—she had run into one the moment she arrived. Looking at the sunny, handsome man before her, Hua Ling felt delighted inside.
“I did not do it on purpose. I was merely walking a little too quickly. If I have offended you, miss, please forgive me!” His warm, jade-like voice flowed slowly through the air.
Wow, even his voice was super pleasant to hear. Hua Ling’s face flushed slightly as she said, “It’s fine, forget it. You didn’t do it on purpose anyway. Um, let me ask you, do you know where Mu Yelei is?”
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Also, let me recommend Xiangxiang’s newly completed story, “The Time-Traveling Eccentric Prince’s Modern Consort,” and the currently updating palace intrigue drama “Flower Dragon Teases the Phoenix: The Consort Demands a Divorce Letter.” They’re also very good, so dear readers, drop by when you have time!!! Hehe!!