Chapter 180 - 178: What Attracts Her Most (Part 1)

Chapter 180: Chapter 178: What Attracts Her Most (Part 1)

Xiao Yi paused briefly and said calmly, "There’s no special reason, just a servant in the kitchen forgot to extinguish the fire in the stove, causing the fire."

Xu Jing was slightly stunned.

Such a coincidence?

Moreover, Xiao Yi’s pause just now made people somewhat intrigued.

Is it really that simple, or is there a reason that makes the cause of the fire inconvenient to tell her?

Xu Jing couldn’t help but scrutinize the man in front of her, but Xiao Yi had already picked up Xiao Huai’an and smiled lightly, "Let’s go inside first; it’s not good to keep standing here."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked into the house.

Xu Jing had no choice but to temporarily set the matter aside and followed him, glancing at the man beside her with the corner of her eye as they walked.

Xiao Yi felt her gaze, turned his head to look at her, and raised his eyebrows, "Chang Xiao needs to attend Mr. Wen’s class soon, which will take about an hour."

Xu Jing immediately understood his meaning and looked at Xiao Huai’an in his arms, "Chang Xiao, do you want to stay at home with your dad tonight, or go back with me? If you come with me, I will wait for you after class, is that okay?"

Since just now, Xiao Huai’an felt that his old father seemed pitiful. During this period, he indeed hadn’t seen much of his dad, and he couldn’t help but blurt out, "I’ll stay here tonight to keep dad company!"

Xu Jing and Xiao Yi were both somewhat surprised.

Since Xu Jing came to the Western Capital, this little guy had always steadfastly chosen Xu Jing, as if his own father didn’t exist. This was the first time he chose Xiao Yi so firmly.

Xiao Huai’an suddenly thought of something and began to struggle lightly, "Dad is injured and can’t hold me, I can walk by myself."

Xiao Yi always respected the little guy’s every decision. Hearing this, he looked down at him and put the little guy down, "Dad’s injury is fine, but if Chang Xiao wants to walk by himself, that’s okay."

Once Xiao Huai’an was on the ground, he immediately grabbed Xu Jing’s hand with one hand and still held Xiao Yi’s hand with the other, looking up eagerly at Xu Jing, "Mom, I’ll stay with dad tonight, but can you wait for me after class?"

Though he wanted to be with dad, he couldn’t bear to part with mom.

He was afraid that when he finished class, mom would already be gone.

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback, helplessly curled her lips, and said, "Okay, I’ll wait for you to finish class before leaving."

She had initially thought that if Little Point stayed here, she would return after visiting; after all, staying longer with her status was awkward, not to mention she had a lot of things to do.

But looking at Little Point’s eyes filled with longing, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

Only then did Xiao Huai’an feel satisfied, joyfully holding Xu Jing’s hand with one hand and Xiao Yi’s with the other, bouncing towards the inside, until parting reluctantly with his parents when Xianyun took him to the class.

Xianyun, while sneakily glancing back, quickly left with Xiao Huai’an.

The little lord didn’t understand.

If he stayed there, it would spoil the scenery. It was such a rare moment, it should be the time for Miss Xu and the Lord to have some time alone!

After watching Xiao Huai’an leave, Xu Jing was about to tell Xiao Yi not to bother with her, to leave her wherever and go about his business, but Xiao Yi had already led the way, saying, "Miss Xu, this way."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback, followed up, and saw that Xiao Yi had taken her to the pavilion where they had the meal and drinks with the Holy Emperor a short time ago.

The pavilion was already set up with tea utensils, and upon seeing those, Xu Jing immediately thought of the pastries she bought, saying, "I bought some pastries from Shengmei Restaurant for you. I heard Shengmei Restaurant’s pastries are the best in the Western Capital."

She didn’t mention that Little Point said his dad didn’t like sweet things.

Anyway, cough, it’s the thought that counts.

Xiao Yi sat down, glanced at Xu Jing, with his lips slightly raised, "Miss Xu is thoughtful."

Today, he was dressed in a casual moonwhite robe with silver embroidery and large sleeves, his hair meticulously styled and casually fastened with a cloud-shaped wooden hairpin, giving off a bit of an ethereal presence like an unworldly immortal, along with his faint smile.

Strange, did Xiao Yi used to like smiling this much? She remembered when she first met him, his brows furrowed, lips pressed tight, emanating a cold and solemn aura, looking very unapproachable.

Now, his aura seemed to have softened a lot; was it due to his injury?

Xu Jing sat down opposite him, thinking, "Are your injuries alright? How many days off did the Holy Emperor give you?"

Xiao Yi’s hand paused slightly while making tea.

He mentioned earlier that it’s just an injury on his arm, but now she asked, it had to be about the injury on his back.

He knew she went to the Zhao Family two days ago, and guessed that Chang Xiao, the loose-tongued kid, must have told her.

He said calmly, "It’s not a big deal, the Holy Emperor and others exaggerated, insisting I rest at home for seven days."

Xu Jing raised an eyebrow, "I didn’t expect the Holy Emperor to be so considerate of his officials. I heard Zhao Liulang say you went to handle the weapons depot a while ago. Is it finished?"

Xiao Yi shook his head, "I had only just handled two when I was ambushed, so Xiao He is dealing with the rest, or else I couldn’t have returned so early."

Indeed, he was only gone for about seven or eight days, and the four weapon depots likely aren’t all in one place. Handling all of them in seven or eight days is improbable.

Xu Jing remembered what Zhao Jingming said and couldn’t help but say, "Zhao Liulang also said you had military experience, which I didn’t expect. Luckily, the Great Chu is relatively peaceful now."

Xiao Yi was slightly taken aback.

That kid even said that.

He poured the brewed tea into a cup and placed it in front of Xu Jing, seemingly reminiscing about chaotic wartime and a field of blood, his face slightly solemn, "Indeed, when I was young, I often heard my grandfather say that in times of dynastic upheaval, the most pitiable are the people, yet they have the least control over their lives. The era they live in is not their choice.

At first, I didn’t quite understand what my grandfather meant until I experienced the chaos of war firsthand; only then did I realize how precious national peace and well-being are."

Xu Jing unconsciously looked at the man before her, feeling that when he said this, his entire aura seemed to change.

She became somewhat curious as to why he didn’t continue developing his career in the military but instead took the imperial examinations?

However, asking about this personal matter of Xiao Yi’s didn’t seem appropriate.

While Xu Jing was in some internal conflict, a servant suddenly approached, saluted, and said, "My Lord, someone from the Ministry of Justice just arrived, bringing over all the documents related to the Smiling Killer case."

Upon hearing a familiar term, Xu Jing looked over in surprise.

Yet Xiao Yi remained indifferent, sipping tea and said, "Hmm, take those documents to my study."

"Yes!"

After the servant left, Xu Jing couldn’t help but look at Xiao Yi.

Seeing the uncontainable excitement in her eyes, Xiao Yi chuckled softly, knowing what piqued her interest most were cases, and he proactively said, "Because of Wang Wuniang’s case, the Holy Emperor has also become interested in the Smiling Killer case. A few days ago at court, he questioned the Ministry of Justice as to why such a malignant case remained unresolved for years. Already troubled by this case, the Ministry of Justice took the opportunity to blame it on me, saying that because I was involved in Wang Wuniang’s case and slightly connected to the Smiling Killer case, it was logical for me to take this on."

Xu Jing was dumbfounded; could that count as a reason?!

However, what surprised her more was another thing, "Did you actually take it?"