Chapter 249: The Girl Talks at Night and Confesses Herself

"Hide?"

Lin Jiangnian's eyes gradually became strange.

Under the dim light, on the bed, the girl curled up under the quilt, her delicate face flushed, her eyes panicked, and even her voice trembled slightly, anxious.

The knock on the door and the voice of the aunt came from outside, as if she was caught in bed.

At this moment, it was very clear.

Lin Jiangnian did not move, quietly looking at the panicked girl on the bed, with a playful smile in her eyes.

She approached the girl, staring at Zhiyuan's tender face close at hand, lowered her voice and said meaningfully: "Why hide?"

The girl's eyes showed shame and anger, and she turned her head away in a panic. At this time, the knock on the door outside became louder.

"Zhiyuan? Are you asleep?!"

The crisp voice was particularly clear in the silent night.

In the silent and dull room, Lin Jiangnian could even feel the girl's 'thumping' heartbeat in front of him.

Very intense.

She was very nervous!

Extremely nervous.

That pretty face was no longer cold.

At this moment, she was shy and panicked.

It was late at night, and there was only a man and a woman, and my aunt was still knocking on the door outside.

The strong and strange stimulation made the atmosphere in the room slightly change.

Lin Jiangnian still stared at the girl in front of him, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, and his eyes were no longer as calm as before.

Her breathing was rapid, her expression was flustered, and her bare hands holding the quilt were tightly clenched, her whole body was tense, as if she was extremely nervous.

Even in her eyes looking at Lin Jiangnian, there seemed to be a hint of begging.

Very cute!

Seeing this, Lin Jiangnian was moved, and he leaned close to the girl's ear and whispered: "Are you scared?"

The gentle words could feel the tension and silence of the girl next to him.

Outside the door.

After knocking on the door for a while, there was no movement in the room, and the knocking stopped.

Then, Jiang Yuxiang's voice was heard again: "Strange, the light is still on, is this little girl asleep?"

After a while, the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

The girl on the bed seemed to be relieved suddenly.

Just then, the voice that was about to fade away came from outside the door.

"Go and see that stinky boy, he even dared to hide it from my aunt, and I haven't taught him a lesson today..."

The voice of talking to herself gradually faded away.

And in the room, on the bed, Zhiyuan, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly felt anxious again.

"You, go back quickly!"

She said in a panic, pushing Lin Jiangnian.

Lin Jiangnian did not move, and looked at the panicked scene of the girl in front of him with a smile: "Why do you want to go back?"

"Little, aunt is looking for you..."

"It's okay, let her look for it."

Lin Jiangnian was unmoved, he was different from Zhiyuan. Even if he was caught on the spot, it would not hurt him.

But it was completely different for Zhiyuan.

Her pretty face flushed, and she was particularly flustered when she heard Lin Jiangnian's words. She raised her eyes and met those playful eyes.

As if she had expected something, her eyes were filled with shame and anger: "Go back, go back!"

"No."

Lin Jiangnian not only did not intend to leave, but simply lay down, as if he was going to stay here.

Zhiyuan was already panicking at this moment. In the middle of the night, her aunt suddenly went to find him. What if she didn't see him and found something later...

The girl's already flushed pretty face became even hotter. Looking at Lin Jiangnian who was already lying on the bed, she was anxious and angry, and ashamed.

"You, you go back quickly."

The voice was very light, with a little panic, and it was completely without the previous coldness.

Lin Jiangnian raised his eyebrows and looked at her face with some pride: "It's okay to go back, but what's the benefit for this prince?"

Zhiyuan didn't say anything, staring at him shyly.

"How about you kiss me?"

Lin Jiangnian suddenly came up to her and said with a smile: "If you kiss me, I will go back, how about that?"

After saying this, Zhiyuan's face turned even redder, and her eyes were flustered. She bit her lower lip lightly, staring at Lin Jiangnian with shame and anger, as if trying to force him back with her eyes.

However, Lin Jiangnian ignored her completely.

"Kiss me, and I will leave! Otherwise, I will sleep here tonight!"

Lin Jiangnian looked into her eyes, staring at her cold and shy eyes, without any fear.

Eye to eye.

Zhiyuan bit her lower lip tightly and stared at him.

Her eyes were still ashamed and angry, with a hint of coldness.

Without saying a word.

Like a stubborn girl, she confronted him silently.

After staring at Lin Jiangnian for a few times, she turned her head away, no longer looking at Lin Jiangnian, still without saying a word or moving.

A very stubborn girl.

Seeing this, Lin Jiangnian sighed.

Sure enough, it's not that easy to get her to take the initiative.

"Really not kissing?"

Lin Jiangnian moved closer, so close that he almost touched the girl's face, feeling the girl's red and hot face: "Aren't you afraid of being discovered by your aunt?"

Hearing this, the girl's delicate body trembled slightly, but she still stubbornly didn't say anything.

Lin Jiangnian reached out and turned the girl's stubborn little head over, looking into her eyes.

The originally cold eyes were filled with a bit of shame and anger, a bit of coldness, and a bit of... grievance.

Just looking at her, without saying a word.

Seeing this, Lin Jiangnian's heart softened a little.

"Your little mouth is really stubborn!"

Lin Jiangnian sighed, and under the girl's expressionless gaze, he kissed her again, blocking the girl's stubborn mouth.

"Since you don't want to kiss me, I'd better do it myself."

"Uh... no..."

The girl's pupils widened and she struggled with shame and anger.

But soon, the intensity of the struggle gradually became smaller...

"..."

After a long time, Lin Jiangnian let go of the girl's soft body in his arms with satisfaction: "Okay, I won't embarrass you anymore. Is this prince going back?"

On the bed, the girl said nothing, lowered her eyes, and breathed rapidly, as if she hadn't recovered yet.

Those red cherry red lips seemed to be coated with a layer of sugar, glowing with luster and making them look enchanting.

Lin Jiangnian rubbed her head and messed up her black hair: "I'll see you again tomorrow night. Remember to wait for me?"

The girl didn't say anything, she just turned her head away, her face expressionless.

It seemed very light, but also didn't seem to speak.

"snort."

Lin Jiangnian got up with satisfaction, got out of bed, turned around, walked to the door, opened the door and left.

On the bed, the girl sat there quietly with her legs bent. The quilt she was wrapped in had fallen down at some point. Under her thin clothes and messy hair, she revealed a fair and beautiful face.

Fair and delicate, flushed with red, the blush climbed all the way up the girl's pink neck, and even the earlobes were dyed red.

The girl lowered her eyes, her bare hands hidden under the quilt gripping the quilt tightly, as if stirring uneasily. His breathing was slightly rapid, and after a long time, he finally calmed down.

Those cold eyes were staring blankly at the door.

I don't know how long it took before a soft hum came from the cold room.

"snort."

"Bad guy."

"..."

In the courtyard, night falls and the cold wind howls.

After Lin Jiangnian left Zhiyuan's room, he made a special circle and returned to his own courtyard from the side courtyard on the other side.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw a beautiful figure standing quietly under the eaves not far away, with his hands folded across his chest, staring at him with a smile but not a smile.

It seems to have been a long time coming.

"Aunt?"

The figure under the eaves was none other than Jiang Yuxiang.

"Why are you here?"

Lin Jiangnian stepped forward.

Jiang Yuxiang looked him up and down with her beautiful eyes: "Why, aunt can't come?"

"Or do you think your aunt has spoiled your good deeds?"

Lin Jiangnian looked startled, and then said calmly: "If my aunt is from somewhere, of course she can come."

"Yeah?"

Jiang Yuxiang narrowed her beautiful eyes, "Where were you just now?"

"Go and take a walk in the backyard." Lin Jiangnian's expression did not change.

"With whom?"

"one person."

"real?"

"Of course it's true..."

Lin Jiangnian paused and noticed something was slightly wrong in his aunt's tone: "Aunt, why do you ask this?"

"What do you think?"

Jiang Yuxiang suddenly sneered.

Lin Jiangnian's eyelids twitched.

The look on Jiang Yuxiang's face in front of him seemed to know something?

Lin Jiangnian remained calm, "Auntie, why did you come to me so late?"

Jiang Yuxiang's beautiful eyes were still staring at him, "I originally wanted to find Zhiyuan, but I didn't expect that she had already fallen asleep, so she stopped by to see you."

"Thank you for your concern, auntie."

"I don't care about you."

Jiang Yuxiang suddenly snorted coldly.

Lin Jiangnian: "..."

Something is wrong with my aunt.

Lin Jiangnian's face remained unchanged and he walked towards the room next to him: "It's cold outside, would you like to come in and chat?"

"No need!"

Jiang Yuxiang was still standing under the eaves and glanced at Lin Jiangnian: "I just wanted to see if you brat did anything shameful in the middle of the night."

"Auntie said this, how could I do such shameful things?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Jiang Yuxiang sneered: "Who knows if you might sneak into a woman's boudoir in the middle of the night and do some shameful things."

Lin Jiangnian: "..."

My aunt is definitely hinting at something.

Seeing that Lin Jiangnian remained silent, Jiang Yuxiang snorted again before looking away.

"Get some rest early!"

After that, she turned and left.

Lin Jiangnian looked at his aunt's leaving figure, thoughtfully.

…

Quiet and cool courtyard.

Jiang Yuxiang came to the door of Zhiyuan's room again, stood in the room and hesitated for a moment before raising her hand to knock on the door.

"Paper Kite?"

After a while, a slightly panicked voice came from the room: "Xiao, aunt?"

"You're not asleep yet? Can I come in?"

"Yes, it's okay..."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuxiang opened the door and walked in.

The atmosphere in the dim and quiet room was dull.

Not far away from the bed, a cold girl was sitting beside the bed. Her clothes were thin, and under her skirt, she had no time to put on her shoes and socks and stepped on the soft carpet.

It's very white, and it seems to have a touch of coldness, and it's so white that it dazzles the eyes.

Jiang Yuxiang stepped into the room, looked around, and sniffed inadvertently. I felt relieved when I was sure there was no strange smell in the room.

Then, his eyes fell on the girl beside the bed not far away.

"Paper Kite."

Jiang Yuxiang approached slowly. The girl was sitting beside the bed. Her black hair was scattered and slightly messy. Covered by black hair, she had a beautiful face that had not completely faded away from the redness.

He was looking down, but he didn't dare to raise his head.

"What's wrong with your hair? It's so messy?"

Jiang Yuxiang approached and spoke softly.

The girl beside the bed froze slightly, not knowing how to explain.

Jiang Yuxiang walked to the side, picked up the wooden comb on the table, and gently combed the girl's hair.

The girl did not move, allowing Jiang Yuxiang to gently comb her hair.

The wooden comb slid down her black hair, and the messy hair was smooth, revealing a delicate face without makeup, but charming.

As young as a girl, beautiful, white teeth and starry eyes, the blush that had not yet completely dissipated, like a powder on her face, added a bit of beauty.

Jiang Yuxiang stared at her little face for a while, and couldn't help but sigh: "Our Zhiyuan is indeed the most beautiful beauty in the world!"

Zhiyuan seemed to be a little shy and lowered her head slightly. After a moment, she spoke softly: "Aunt is."

"How can you compare with little Zhiyuan? In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so much."

Jiang Yuxiang looked at her face and couldn't help but sigh: "When I sent you to the Linwang Mansion, you were so young. In the blink of an eye, I, your aunt, have grown old."

Zhiyuan was slightly stunned, raised her eyes and fell on her aunt, and shook her head gently: "Aunt is not old."

"Why not?"

Jiang Yuxiang sighed: "Time flies, Zhiyuan, you are already at the age of getting married, and it's time to get married."

Zhiyuan's face seemed a little unnatural, and she looked away slightly: "Aunt is not married either?"

"Aunt can't get married anymore."

Jiang Yuxiang sighed: "Who would want an old girl in her twenties like me."

Zhiyuan was silent and didn't speak.

"Why aren't you talking?"

"Aunt..."

Zhiyuan was silent for a while, then said: "You came to Beijing to escape marriage, right?"

Jiang Yuxiang's expression froze slightly, then sighed: "That's right..."

As she spoke, she said angrily: "They don't like your age, and the people they arranged for you to marry are either in their seventies or eighties, or blind and short-legged, or they have many wives and concubines at home and want you to be a concubine. Do you think you can marry?"

Zhiyuan shook her head: "No."

"That's it?"

Jiang Yuxiang sneered: "Even if I don't marry for the rest of my life, I will never marry them."

Zhiyuan was still silent.

After a while, she suddenly looked up at her aunt again.

"Then, who does your aunt want to marry?"

This question stumped Jiang Yuxiang. She shook her head after a moment and said: "Aunt doesn't plan to marry!"

Zhiyuan nodded and didn't speak again.

"What about you?"

Jiang Yuxiang's eyes fell on Zhiyuan, and she asked with a smile: "Zhiyuan, who do you want to marry?"

Zhiyuan was stunned, and in a trance, a familiar face subconsciously appeared in her mind.

She quickly lowered her eyes and was silent for a moment.

"I, I won't marry either!"

"Really?"

Jiang Yuxiang looked at her and asked casually: "Do you want to be like your aunt?"

"Yeah."

"Then are you willing to give it up?"

Jiang Yuxiang smiled: "Are you willing to give that boy to someone else?"

After saying this, Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, and then a little flustered: "I, I didn't, didn't..."

"Nothing?" Jiang Yuxiang looked playful.

Under the gaze of her aunt, a blush appeared on Zhiyuan's clean and white cheeks.

She looked away in a panic, biting her lower lip. After a while, she said in a whisper, "No, I'm not reluctant."

"Oh?"

Jiang Yuxiang looked at her with a smile, "But I haven't told you who that guy is yet?"

"Does this count as confessing yourself?"

"..."

Zhiyuan's expression froze, and the next second, the blush on her face spread, and in an instant, her pretty face was covered with blood.

Her snow-white skin was rosy, like a winter plum blossom in bud.

A strong sense of shame surged in her heart, and she tensed up all over, and even her breathing almost stopped. Her face was burning, and her eyes were even more panicked, and she didn't dare to look at her aunt again.

Her body was trembling slightly, and even her snow-white neck seemed to be stained with a few blushes.

"Little, auntie..."

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore."

Jiang Yuxiang smiled at the girl in front of her who was almost ashamed and ashamed to face others. She sat beside her and grabbed her little hand: "Auntie is joking with you."

The girl beside her didn't say anything or move.

She still lowered her head and didn't face others.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuxiang sighed again: "You grew up under my auntie's eyes. How could I not understand you... You like this boy, right?"

The girl beside her still didn't speak.

"Even if you don't answer, auntie knows... The way you look at him is very different..."

The girl beside her still didn't speak, but her breathing was a little faster.

"This stinky boy is also good-looking and has not lost the face of their Lin family. You have been with him for so long. If he is sincere to you, auntie will not stop him..."

Jiang Yuxiang spoke softly, looking at Zhiyuan beside her, with a little more tenderness in her eyes.

When the Xunyang Jiang family was wiped out, Zhiyuan was left alone and was taken back to the Jiangnan Jiang family by her sister. A few years later, her sister died of illness. She inherited her sister's will and took on the responsibility of taking care of Zhiyuan.

At that time, Jiang Yuxiang was just a teenage girl. It's better to say that she grew up together than to say that she was taking care of her.

To Zhiyuan, her aunt is both a mother and a sister. In the eyes of outsiders, she is a maid who holds great power under the Prince Lin's Mansion. She has a cold temperament, cruel means, and is unkind. Everyone in the Prince Lin's Mansion is afraid of her.

But in front of her aunt, she was just a teenage girl. After taking off her guard, she was no different from other ordinary girls of the same age.

Because of this, she was so panicked when her aunt knocked on the door.

The panic is like being caught by a parent in puppy love...

When she heard her aunt mention this matter, she felt ashamed in her eyes, lowered her eyes to escape, and remained silent without speaking.

Seeing that Zhiyuan didn't speak, Jiang Yuxiang glanced at the bed behind him inadvertently, landed on Zhiyuan, and suddenly asked softly: "Zhiyuan, what do you think of this brat?"

Zhiyuan still didn't speak.

"You and him..."

As if she thought of something, Jiang Yuxiang's eyes sparkled with light. She leaned close to Zhiyuan's ear and asked softly.

The next second, I saw Zhiyuan's already red cheeks turning crimson, her delicate body tense, her voice trembling, and she hesitated and said: "No, no..."

"Really not?"

Jiang Yuxiang stared at her face.

"Um……"

Zhiyuan lowered her head, almost burying it in her chest. Su's hands squeezed the quilt beside the bed very tightly.

When Jiang Yuxiang saw this, he was relieved and a little surprised at the same time.

She understands Zhiyuan. Although Zhiyuan has a cold personality, he never lies. So, she really didn't let that kid succeed?

"That's weird."

Jiang Yuxiang's eyes became more and more surprised: "You went to Beijing with him on the way, and this brat didn't attack you?"

"Is he really a gentleman?"

Jiang Yuxiang touched his chin thoughtfully, and then chuckled and said: "As expected of my sister's child, his character is really not bad. In this case, it is not impossible for you to marry him."

She smiled softly and spoke, but Zhiyuan beside her remained silent, then shook her head slightly.

"Huh? What?" Jiang Yuxiang looked at her.

Zhiyuan was silent for a long time, and there seemed to be a flash of darkness in his eyes. His tone was very light and deep: "I am just the maid of Prince Lin's Mansion..."

"maid?"

Looking at the drooped head of the girl in front of him, Jiang Yuxiang was stunned for a moment, and then realized something. He put his arms around Zhiyuan's shoulders, gently pulled her into his arms, and touched her head.

"Who said that?"

"You are not a maid, you are the princess appointed by my sister back then..."

"When my sister brought you back to the Jiang family, she planned to train you to be the crown prince's concubine and serve as that boy's child bride..."

"It's a pity that my sister passed away so early that she didn't have time to tell the story. However, my aunt will always remember it..."

Jiang Yuxiang looked at the girl in his arms with soft eyes, smiled softly and said, "Not only does my aunt remember, but Prince Lin also remembers it...otherwise, why do you think he took you back to Prince Lin's Mansion?"

Zhiyuan seemed startled.

Looking at Jiang Yuxiang's soft smile, she smiled half-heartedly: "Prince Lin took you back to Prince Lin's Mansion, which is a kind of tacit consent. As for asking you to discipline that kid, it's just an excuse..."

"If he really wants to discipline that kid, there are certainly ways and people to discipline him. Why did he choose you?"

"It's just to give you a legitimate reason to enter Prince Lin's Mansion, so that you can legitimately stay with that boy. As time goes by, if the two of you develop a relationship, it will be logical for you to marry..."

Zhiyuan was stunned, her eyes were dazed, as if she didn't expect there to be such a relationship at all.

Seeing her dull look, Jiang Yuxiang couldn't help pinching her red cheeks and sighed: "I didn't agree at first. I always felt that that boy was not good enough for you. But then I remembered my sister's last wish. , I’m still soft-hearted again…”

At this point, Jiang Yuxiang suddenly paused, with an unknown thought on his face, and his voice suddenly became lower: "Have you noticed any changes in him during the past few years in Prince Lin's Mansion?"

Zhiyuan was startled for a moment, then his eyes gradually deepened and he began to think.

After a moment of silence, she gently shook her head and said: "In the past few years, His Highness has not had a very good reputation in the palaces outside the city. He often looks for flowers outside the city, spends a lot of time, has an irritable and irritable personality, and his health does not seem to be in good shape..."

Speaking of this, Zhiyuan paused and lowered his eyes: "His Highness seems to hate me. He speaks rudely to me every time and breaks up on bad terms. Therefore, I have very little contact with him..."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuxiang was silent for a moment: "Is it possible that he did it on purpose?"

"deliberately?"

"What did he deliberately provoke you to make you resist him, so as to avoid being discovered by you?"

"I always feel that that kid is hiding something."

Hearing this, Zhiyuan's eyes were stunned and she fell into deep thought.

"It's so strange..."

Jiang Yuxiang's voice was slightly lowered, with a bit of unconcealable emotion in his tone: "It's so good, how could he die..."

"Did he seriously say he was killed?"

Hearing this, Zhiyuan remained silent.

She didn't know some of the answers.

On the night when His Royal Highness Prince Lin was rescued, no other figure was seen.

"My sister clearly gave birth to a pair of twins, why did she announce that there was only one... Where did the one she gave birth to go?"

"Again, how did you come back?!"

After realizing that Lin Jiangnian was now her sister's remaining child, Jiang Yuxiang was very excited. But after calming down, many doubts came to mind.

What happened that year?

Why only one child?

Where did the rest of this go?

How did you come back?

How did that one... die?

It was late at night.

Zhiyuan whispered to her aunt about what happened in the ruined temple that night.

When she realized that Lin Jiangnian was impersonating her, Zhiyuan immediately thought of the time when His Highness was attacked during an outing.

I'm afraid that His Highness was "swapped" that time!

What happened that night?

Zhiyuan had sent people to find out, but there were still many doubts about what happened that night.

"According to Chen Yingying's accomplices, she asked His Highness to go out for an outing, and on the way back, she encountered a long-prepared assassination in the ruined temple..."

"But among the assassins who assassinated His Highness, there are multiple forces, which have not been found out yet..."

"That night, I'm afraid something happened that we don't know..."

Jiang Yuxiang was silent for a long time after listening.

His Highness, the Prince of Lin, was out for an outing and encountered an assassination. When the people from the Prince of Lin's Mansion arrived to rescue the Prince of Lin, there was no one alive.

The rescued Prince of Lin had been replaced, but the Prince of Lin who was replaced was actually another child of Prince Lin...

This is too much of a coincidence!

It was so coincidental that it seemed as if someone was manipulating all this.

Who was manipulating all this, and what was the purpose?

The two people in the room fell into silence for a long time, and no one spoke.

"If you want to find the answer, I'm afraid you can only start with this kid..."

After a while, Jiang Yuxiang sighed softly: "Since he pretended to be the Prince of Lin, he should know something. I just don't know...if he knows his identity."

Zhiyuan seemed to recall something and shook his head gently: "He shouldn't know."

"Hmm?"

Zhiyuan said softly: "If he knew, he probably wouldn't disguise himself..."

Looking back now, Lin Jiangnian's disguises were somewhat clumsy. However, although Zhiyuan felt strange at the time, he didn't doubt it much.

No one would have thought that the prince of Lin would be "swapped" by someone, and the real "swapped" became another real one...

After a pause, Zhiyuan shook her head gently: "Now, it's best not to alert the enemy."

"Hmm?"

Jiang Yuxiang glanced at Zhiyuan and quickly realized something.

The boy could be replaced quietly in the Prince of Lin's Mansion. The person behind him might not be simple. If you ask directly, you might alert the enemy.

"But..."

Jiang Yuxiang frowned and worried: "If you don't check it out, what if the person behind him..."

Zhiyuan was silent and shook her head softly: "Your Majesty, you should have planned it long ago."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuxiang was silent.

Yes!

After all, it was Lin Hengzhong's child. What she could think of, how could the Prince of Lin not think of it?

He didn't move after learning about this matter. I think he must have known something.

In this case, she didn't need to worry about it anymore.

"This child is so pitiful!"

Jiang Yuxiang sighed deeply: "I don't know where he has been in these years, and what happened..."

As she spoke, her eyes slightly reddened: "I thought the two brothers could meet, but I didn't expect..."

Zhiyuan was silent, speechless.

Until a long time later, her eyes were deep, as if she thought of something, and suddenly said: "There is someone who may know something."

"Who?"

"The eldest lady of the Xu family."

"Xu Lan!"

"..."