NOVEL WEB Chapter 37: She Was Once My Fiancée
Chapter 37: She Was Once My Fiancée
Here it comes again.
At this moment, only these three words popped up in Qiao Nian’s mind.
The thing she hated seeing the most was Lin Yuan looking like this.
Noticing Qiao Nian looking at her, Lin Yuan walked forward pitifully and bowed to Qiao Nian, “Yuan’er greets sister.”
Her voice carried a hint of tears. She wasn’t crying, but held the tears in her eyes, making people feel even more sympathetic.
Xiao Qingnu was the first to react, “Yuan’er, how can you be so kind? She’s clearly trying to seduce your fiancé, yet you still bow to her! If it were me, I’d say you should slap her!”
The surrounding crowd was still moving, but due to Xiao Qingnu’s words, they slowed down more or less.
Perhaps they all didn’t want to miss this drama of ‘two women fighting over one man’?
Lin Yuan timidly glanced at Qiao Nian, saying nothing.
Xiao Heng, however, glared at Xiao Qingnu sternly, “If you want to cause trouble, go back by yourself first.”
Seeing Xiao Heng speaking up for Qiao Nian, Xiao Qingnu became upset, “Brother, why do you keep helping her? You clearly couldn’t be bothered to look at her before! Don’t tell me after three years apart, you’ve fallen for her?”
Xiao Qingnu’s voice clearly became softer as she said the last sentence.
Perhaps even she felt that her words were too much.
But after her words fell, they didn’t provoke any reaction from Xiao Heng.
The surrounding crowd was noisy, but a strange silence spread between the four of them.
This silence was very much like that day in the cave, when she deliberately said she would marry him to embarrass him, and he remained silent.
He shouldn’t be silent.
Qiao Nian’s brow furrowed slightly, her gaze unconsciously falling on Lin Yuan’s face.
Sure enough, the tears Lin Yuan had been holding back for so long finally fell.
Xiao Qingnu finally reacted, staring at Xiao Heng with wide eyes, “Brother, are you crazy? Yuan’er is still here!”
Xiao Heng’s eyes darkened as he glanced at Xiao Qingnu indifferently.
Then came Lin Yuan’s small voice, thick with tears, “Nuan Nuan, don’t say that. After all, sister and Heng-ge were once engaged.”
She wanted to tell Xiao Qingnu that Qiao Nian and Xiao Heng had such a history, so it was normal if Xiao Heng still had a place for Qiao Nian in his heart.
Moreover, that was in the past.
Now, she was the one engaged to Heng-ge, and she would be the one marrying him. That was enough!
Mother had told her this morning that they had already arranged a date with Xiao Heng’s parents to discuss their marriage.
And sister was about to marry Prince Ming. At this time, she didn’t want to cause any more trouble.
As mother said, after sister goes to Gucheng with Prince Ming, they might not see each other even once a year.
There was really no need to argue about these things now.
Although, she was indeed very upset.
Thinking this, tears fell like broken beads, one after another.
Xiao Heng could tell just from the sound that Lin Yuan was crying again.
His brow furrowed unconsciously, and he finally looked at Xiao Qingnu, his voice stern, “If you say one more nonsensical word, I’ll have Jing Yan sew your mouth shut.”
Hearing this, Xiao Qingnu seemed frightened and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand.
This reaction was truly strange.
Qiao Nian couldn’t help but think of the Jing Yan Xiao Heng mentioned, recalling the tall figure who came to deliver medicine outside Fanghe Courtyard. She wondered why Xiao Qingnu was so afraid of him.
Then she saw Xiao Heng speak again, his voice cold, “Where is your maid?”
Qiao Nian looked back, “I don’t know where she ran off to.”
“Hmph!” Even with her mouth covered, Xiao Qingnu still managed to let out a cold snort to express her disbelief.
Qiao Nian couldn’t be bothered to respond to her. Then she heard Xiao Heng say, “It’s crowded today, it’s not safe for you to be alone. Let’s go together.”
Was he inviting Qiao Nian to view lanterns together?
Lin Yuan suddenly widened her eyes, her tears falling even more fiercely.
Xiao Qingnu finally couldn’t keep her mouth covered and shouted, “Brother!”
But after being warned earlier, she didn’t dare say another word.
At this moment, Ning Shuang finally returned to Qiao Nian’s side, “Miss!”
Qiao Nian turned her head to see the little maid already holding several items: candied haws, osmanthus cakes, and a small wooden puppet, probably the interesting one she mentioned earlier.
She sighed lightly, “Have I been rewarding you too much these days?”
How long had she been gone, and she had already bought so many things!
Ning Shuang smiled sheepishly, bowed to Xiao Heng and the others, then moved closer to Qiao Nian and whispered, “This servant was wondering why Miss didn’t follow, turns out you encountered a roadblock.”
“…” Qiao Nian instinctively checked Xiao Heng’s reaction.
Although Ning Shuang’s voice was low, Xiao Heng, as a military general trained in martial arts since childhood, had extremely sensitive hearing.
She knew he must have heard Ning Shuang’s words.
But fortunately, Xiao Heng showed no reaction.
That habitually indifferent face was still full of coldness.
Only those eyes, for some reason, seemed deeper than usual.
Qiao Nian glared at Ning Shuang, signaling her not to speak carelessly, then said to Xiao Heng and the others, “I have an appointment with Prince Ming, so I won’t be going with General Xiao.”
With that, without waiting for Xiao Heng’s reaction, she turned and left with Ning Shuang.
Xiao Heng’s gaze followed her the entire time.
He watched as she raised her hand to poke her maid’s head, seemingly scolding her for being mischievous.
But the corners of her mouth were clearly smiling.
How long had it been since he’d seen this smile?
But in the past, he seemed to dislike seeing it. Now, after three years, he found himself reluctant to look away.
“Brother!” Xiao Qingnu’s voice brought Xiao Heng’s attention back.
She looked a bit dissatisfied at the figure that had disappeared into the crowd, then said, “Your eyeballs are about to fall out!”
Xiao Heng frowned, looking at Xiao Qingnu with an unfriendly expression, “If not, do you want to go back to the mansion first?”
Xiao Qingnu was startled, “I don’t want to! I begged father so hard to let me come out!” With that, she went ahead first.
Lin Yuan, worried that Xiao Qingnu might get lost alone, sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. She spoke softly to Xiao Heng, “Heng-ge, let’s go too! Don’t let Nuan Nuan get lost alone.”
“Mm.” A deep voice responded, then called her name very gently, “Yuan’er.”
Lin Yuan was startled, her previously upset mood immediately brightening, “What is it, Heng-ge?”
“You said something very correct earlier.”
Xiao Heng still didn’t look at Lin Yuan. His gaze fell on the crowd, in the direction where she had long since walked away.
An indescribable gloom rose in his eyes, “She was once my fiancée.”