Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 299 Dating
Go to sleep early, and have sweet dreams.

After saying this, Yan Ciwan gently closed the window.

She lay down on the bed and quietly looked at the ceiling. Images of her grandmother, mother, Yan Tingyu, and the King of Xizhou kept flashing through her mind. What finally settled in her mind was Xiao Wang's eyes, which were silently watching her.

She sighed silently. She desperately needed Xiao Wang's help, yet she couldn't give him the response he wanted, and she couldn't help but feel indebted to him.

She slept soundly through the night. The next morning, Yan Ciwan washed and dressed with Qiu Shuang's help. She went downstairs to have breakfast with Xiao Wang and Du Lingzhou.

Du Lingzhou slept well last night and looked energetic, but Xiao Wang's complexion was slightly paler than usual, indicating that he hadn't rested well last night.

When Yan Ciwan entered the dining hall, she saw Du Lingzhou making fun of Xiao Wang.

"Tell me honestly, were you up to something sneaky last night? Why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?"

Xiao Wang casually replied, "Maybe he's not used to sleeping here."

He heard footsteps, turned his head to look at the door, and saw Yan Ciwan walk in.

The two looked at each other and simultaneously recalled the scene from last night.

Yan Ciwan casually said good morning, then walked to the table and sat down.

Du Lingzhou's expression was quite exaggerated: "Tsk tsk tsk, no matter how bad the environment of the inns and post stations we stayed in on our way to Chang'an was, you still slept well. This place is no worse than your home, so why can't you sleep well? Look at you, it's like someone sucked all your yang energy out at night. There's definitely something wrong with you!"

Yan Ciwan examined Xiao Wang's face. He did have some dark circles under his eyes, but it wasn't as exaggerated as Du Lingzhou had described.

Xiao Wang told Du Lingzhou to say less, then took something out of his sleeve.

"Here's the chimney you wanted." He placed a chimney in front of Yan Ciwan. "Time is limited, and we don't have enough materials, so we can only make this one for now."

Yan Ciwan picked up the pipe: "One is enough, thank you."

Then Xiao Wang took out another item, a small and exquisite silver ring.

“The ring I gave you last time, you later gave to Chao Erniang, so I made another one. The way to use this ring is the same as before, just press this spot.” As Xiao Wang spoke, he pressed the end of the ring, and a blade immediately popped out from the front. “I made this ring a long time ago, and I improved it last night. If you turn the ring around and then press this spot, a silver needle will pop out.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a thin silver needle shot out and pierced the door in front of him.

Du Lingzhou ran over and saw that the needle had penetrated deep into the wood. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Your silver needle is quite powerful!"

After saying that, he reached out to pull out the silver needle to take a look.

Xiao Wang immediately stopped him: "Don't touch it! The needle is highly poisonous; it will kill you on contact with blood!"

Du Lingzhou was startled and quickly withdrew his hand.

Xiao Wang walked over, wrapped the silver needle in a silk handkerchief, and pulled it out. Then, he carefully disassembled the silver ring and put the silver needle inside. Because of the limited capacity, the silver ring could only hold one silver needle. When he handed the ring to Yan Ciwan, he specifically reminded her, "Use it carefully and don't hurt yourself."

"Yes, thank you." Yan Ciwan put the ring on the middle finger of her left hand; it fit perfectly.

She touched the silver ring, and remembering seeing him busy late into the night last night, the guilt in her heart resurfaced.

Xiao Wang then took out another item: "This... is what you left behind last night."

Yan Ciwan looked over and saw that it was a light purple sachet.

Xiao Wang explained, "Your sachet fell on the ground and got a little dirty, so I sewed another one and moved the spices from the original sachet here. You can smell it; the fragrance is still the same as before."

Yan Ciwan picked up the sachet and smelled it closely; the fragrance had indeed remained unchanged. Making the chimney, the ring, and the sachet—it would definitely take a long time.

She asked Xiao Wang, "You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"

"It's not that serious, I took a nap later."

Yan Ciwan didn't believe it. The dark circles under Xiao Wang's eyes were enough to prove that he probably hadn't slept all night, but he refused to admit it, so she could only pretend not to know and silently hang the sachet on her waist.

Qiu Shuang and Dong Li came in carrying trays, placed breakfast on the table, and then withdrew.

Xiao Wang ladled out a bowl of rice porridge and placed it in front of Yan Ciwan.

Yan Ciwan had just picked up her bowl and taken a sip when she heard Du Lingzhou suddenly ask a question.

"You two secretly went on a date last night?"

Yan Ciwan was startled. The rice porridge went down her throat, causing her to cough violently. Cough, cough, cough!
Qiu Shuang, who had already reached the door, stumbled upon hearing this and was about to fall when Dong Li, who was nearby, reacted quickly and reached out to pull her up.

After Qiu Shuang steadied herself, she quickly thanked Dong Li, then turned to look into the house and saw Xiao Wang handing Yan Ciwan the handkerchief he always carried with him.

Handkerchiefs are personal items and are generally not lent to outsiders unless there is a close relationship.

However, Yan Ciwan did not notice this. After wiping her mouth clean with the handkerchief, Xiao Wang handed her a cup of tea. She took the teacup and rinsed her mouth.

Xiao Wang asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine now." Yan Ciwan glanced at the soiled handkerchief in her hand, only then realizing what she had held, and her cheeks immediately felt hot.

She tried to act as if nothing was wrong, clutching the handkerchief in her hand and saying, "I'll wash it clean and give it back to you later."

Xiao Wang nodded and replied, "Alright."

Yan Ciwan quickly folded the handkerchief and stuffed it into her sleeve pocket.

By this time, Qiushuang and Dongli had returned. They wiped the table clean and helped Yan Ciwan replace the bowl with a clean one.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Du Lingzhou was very unwilling, so he asked again.

"Did Xiao Liulang not sleep well last night because he went on a date with Ning Ci?"

After crossing the threshold, Qiushuang and Dongli did not immediately go far. Instead, they stopped in their tracks and listened intently to what was to come.

Yan Ciwan denied it without hesitation: "No!"

Du Lingzhou was skeptical: "But just now Xiao Liulang said he found your sachet..."

Yan Ciwan made up a story: "That's because I couldn't sleep last night, so I went out for a walk and accidentally left my sachet outside, which he happened to find."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shuang, who was outside the door, immediately frowned. After she finished serving Yan Ci's bath last night, Yan Ci had not left the room again.

She knew Yan Ciwan was lying.

This means that Yan Ciwan was very likely having a secret rendezvous with Xiao Wang last night!
Du Lingzhou was still persistent and continued to press for answers.

“But you just asked Xiao Liulang if he hadn’t slept all night. Xiao Liulang said he slept for a while after seeing you.”

Yan Ciwan was taken aback. Had Xiao Liu just said something like that?