In contrast, Han Yan was the calmest of all, leisurely enjoying tea and pastries under the grape arbor in the courtyard. She even sent Huayue and Zirong out to buy her some of Li’s dried fruits. Updates are released by novel⁂fire.net
Huayue and Zirong, of course, knew that tomorrow was the day for Han Yan’s competition with Mu Feng. After spending the past few days with Han Yan, they no longer had ordinary feelings for her, so initially they too were worried about her. But seeing how Han Yan indulged in good food and drink herself, their hearts inexplicably settled down.
After finishing their purchase, the two ran into the guard leader at the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion. The guard leader’s eyes lit up when he saw them, and he waved them over, gesturing for them to wait.
"Leader, is there something you need?" Zirong and Huayue paused and asked after giving him a respectful bow.
"I say, you two, are you buying snacks for the Young Master?" the guard leader asked, his mouth twitching as he looked at what they were carrying. To actually send personal guards to do such a thing! This playboy, truly a playboy in every sense of the word! Are personal guards supposed to do something ? Isn’t that a servant’s job? What a waste of talent, truly a playboy, too excessive!
"Indeed. The Young Master said these taste good," Zirong nodded earnestly, "I tried some myself, and they really are good."
The guard leader’s mouth twitched even more. Zirong’s priorities were off, weren’t they?
"At this time, you still have the leisure to do these things. You’re not unaware that tomorrow the Young Master will have a match with Young Master Feng, right?" the guard leader said quietly.
"We know, what about it?" Zirong took out a broad bean and popped it into his mouth, crunchily delicious. He didn’t feel the slightest embarrassment about snacking on the Young Master’s treats.
"What about it? You two, I see you have potential. Following the Young Master, are you really content?" the guard leader whispered even more softly, "Honestly, Mu Cheng sought me out today, asked me to pass a word to you—if you’re willing, then go with him. You don’t need to worry about the Young Master; he’ll handle it."
Zirong raised an eyebrow and chuckled, well, well, someone’s trying to poach them. And boy, was the attempt as unskilled as it gets! What, did they think he and Huayue were fools?
At first glance, the guard leader’s words seemed quite reasonable. After all, tomorrow was the competition day between the playboy Young Master and Mu Feng. Any reasonable person could guess the outcome: the playboy Young Master would surely lose miserably. There wasn’t much of a future following the Young Master, amidst the scorn and contempt of others. Now, someone was throwing them a lifeline, which seemed not all that bad.
But Huayue and Zirong were far from reasonable. One was stubborn as a mule; the other was sly to a fault. However, they had one thing in common: once they acknowledged someone, it was a lifelong commitment, and nobody could change their decision.
Zirong was quicker on the uptake. They had just caused Mu Cheng’s flame, Fourth Miss Zhao, such great embarrassment, and here Mu Cheng was trying to poach them. Would they ever gain favor by following Mu Cheng? It seemed more likely that Mu Cheng was plotting to kill two birds with one stone. If he could sway them, he would not only undermine Han Yan but also manipulate them at will to avenge Fourth Miss Zhao.
"No need," Huayue replied succinctly before striding past the guard leader to enter the mansion.
"Hey, Huayue, you little rascal, wait for me, wait!" the guard leader hastily called after Huayue.
Huayue stopped in his tracks, turned his head slowly with a poker face to look at the guard leader, not saying a word. But the impatience in his eyes was unmistakably clear. The guard leader felt a pang in his liver at the sight—why couldn’t this kid recognize a good intention when he saw one?