Why would he want to bring her to the palace out of the blue? Wen Wan felt a bit panicky. She had already forgotten everything, so why would he bring her there?
This apprehensive feeling lasted for a few days, but her ban had been lifted. She could finally leave Qiangwei Courtyard and see the outside world.
The female lead and the secondary male character were destined to have accidental encounters. Just as Wen Wan walked into the garden, she bumped into Ning Mingjie。
Steward Qian had been leading Ning Mingjie to the receiving room to wait for Marquis Moyu’s return. When they bumped into each other, both sides were a bit surprised.
Properly standing behind Wen Wan, Tanxiang reminded her master, “This is Young Master. He’s the Zhenyuan General.”
Suddenly enlightened, Wen Wan saluted him. “Greetings, Young Master.”
When Ning Mingjie had heard from Ji Man in the jade store that Wen Wan had lost her memories, he didn’t quite believe her. But, seeing Wen Wan with his own eyes, it did seem that Wen Wan had genuinely lost her memories. She didn’t seem like she recognized him at all when she raised her head to look at him.
“How unfortunate,” Ning Mingjie slightly sighed. Just as he was about to continue walking forward, Wen Wan suddenly said, “Young Master, you’re probably… very close with the marquis, right?”
Ning Mingjie was stunned by these words.
On the side, Tanxiang explained, “Master, you’re being silly. Young Master and the marquis are practically brothers, and they also work together. How could they not be close?”
Not quite understanding, Wen Wan just nodded. Looking as if she had been put into a difficult position, she look at Steward Qian and said, “I want to ask Young Master for advice. Steward Qian, could you give us some space?”
Steward Qian glanced at her, then he bowed and withdrew.
Ning Mingjie curiously looked at her. Since she had lost her memories, then all of the good and bad things in the past should be written off. What advice could she possibly want from him?
Tanxiang also withdrew to act as the lookout. Wen Wan squeezed her handkerchief and said in a very aggrieved voice, “Young Master, do you know what’s happening in the palace recently? Wan-er doesn’t remember anything, but the marquis is going to bring Wan-er into the palace tomorrow.”
Bring Wen Wan into the palace? Ning Mingjie slightly furrowed his brow. What was Yuxuan thinking? His cousin had been up to a lot things lately and even dared to play tricks right underneath the emperor’s eyes. He had come over here today to try to persuade his cousin. Although the current emperor had no great talent for governing, he could still be considered a good emperor. As long as they displayed utter loyalty to the emperor, there was no need for political tricks.
However, he didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow. Other than Kangyuan going to the palace to celebrate her birthday with the emperor and empress, there didn’t seem to be anything else planned.
“Wan-er doesn’t want to go to the palace,” Wen Wan said, “Wan-er doesn’t remember the marquis’s heir or want to see him. Young Master, can you help Wan-er? Say to the marquis that there’s no need to bring Wan-er along with him when he enters the palace.”
Wan-er had a pretty good relationship with Kangyuan in the past. Seeing Wen Wan’s frightened expression, a halo of gentleness glimmered around Ning Mingjie. “Very few people can change Yuxuan’s mind. If you’re scared of making a mistake in the palace, you should go look for Kangyuan Junzhu.”
Stunned, Wen Wan pursed her lips and asked, “Who is Kangyuan Junzhu?”
Oh, right, she lost her memories. Ning Mingjie thought it over before saying, “Have the marquis bring you to see her tomorrow. She’ll be in the palace.”
Wen Wan wanted to say more, but a servant had come over to report that Ning Yuxuan had returned.
Ning Mingjie bid Wen Wan goodbye and headed to the receiving room.
Wen Wan remained standing in the same spot and lightly stamped her feet. She kept having a foreboding feeling that something would happen during tomorrow’s trip to the palace.
—
Ning Yuxuan was holding Ji Man’s gift. There was a smile in his eyes, but his voice was indifferent as he said, “This is a good piece of jade and thoughtful enough.”
Guibai didn’t expose his master’s real feelings. He only nodded and agreeably repeated, “It’s a very good piece of jade.”
Ning Mingjie stepped into the receiving room with a slight smile and called out, “Yuxuan.”
Ning Yuxuan tied the jade to his waist, stood up, and saluted him in greeting. “It’s been so long. Cousin, you still have such a valiant and commanding presence.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before sitting down. As Ning Mingjie sat down, his robe slightly moved, and Ning Yuxuan saw the unengraved purple jade that was tied to Ning Mingjie’s waist.
His smile slowly faded away. Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. He looked away and was silent for a while before he asked, “Cousin, is there an urgent matter? Why did you pay a visit to my estate today?”
Yuxuan’s tone had noticeably chilled. Ning Mingjie was a bit lost. He didn’t know what had caused the sudden change. “I just came here because I haven’t seen you in a while. I heard that you’re going to the palace tomorrow, so I wanted to ask if you could bring along my gift for Kangyuan’s birthday. This would save me a trip. I’m going to be busy at the Ministry of War.”
“There’s nothing important going on at the Ministry of War tomorrow,” Ning Yuxuan lightly refuted. “Cousin, you’ve been married to the junzhu for a while now, but your relationship is still lukewarm. Since Kangyuan Junzhu wants to spend her birthday in the palace, why don’t you go and personally give her your present?”
“The road between Zhangjun and the capital is almost halfway done, so there’s naturally work to be done on the Ministry of War’s side,” Ning Mingjie seriously said, “Anyways, there’s not much affection between me and Kangyuan. We’re both aware of it and letting sleeping dogs lie.”
A sulky feeling arose in Ning Yuxuan that went unnoticed by the other people. In a low voice, he said, “Cousin, even if there aren’t feelings between the two of you, you can’t be so neglectful about Kangyuan Junzhu’s birthday. I won’t help you out by delivering your gift.”
