Nan Yi was taken aback, turned his head to see Murong Ling's serious face before bursting into laughter: "Hahaha... Murong Ling, are you crazy? I regard Meng Ya as my own little sister, what kind of thoughts could I have towards her?! I'm telling you, don't use this kind of thinking to look at the relationship between me and Meng Ya!"

  Murong Ling saw him like this and smiled slightly, his eyes however carried the meaning of 'seeing through' everything: "If you really didn't have any ideas, why would you be in such a hurry to explain?" Moreover, he was so anxious that even his self-address had changed. It's worth noting that Nan Yi Ke had always referred to himself as "young master" since childhood.

  Nan Yi Xun's eyes widened as he heard this: "I'm telling you! This kind of joke is not allowed! I, a man, can get away with it, but Meng Ya is a young lady. If word gets out, how will others look at her?"

  Murong Ling stared at him for a long time before suddenly bursting out laughing: "Nan Yi Ke, when did you also start caring about the reputation of someone's daughter?" Which one of those 'girls' who had shown affection towards him in the past wasn't known by everyone in the capital city the very next day? Even if the girl's family wanted to hang themselves, he knew and just laughed it off, what business was it of his?

  Would such a person also care about others?

  Nan Yi slightly restrained the smile on his face and looked into Murong Ling's eyes, remaining silent for a long time.

  Murong Ling looked at him like this, and couldn't help but sneer in his heart. If it wasn't for mentioning Miss Xia, he might not have known that the usually carefree Nan Yi Ke also had times when he was troubled by love! It's really ridiculous!

  "I had a crush on her." Nan Yi Ke really said it out loud and then found that the next words weren't so hard to say, "When I first met her."

  "At that time, I was thirteen years old and still very naive. Because I discovered that the first girl who made my heart move was not much different from those women who wanted to climb up with me, I felt very bad."

  "For the first time, I had a run-in with Taifu in the study room, completely disregarding Big Brother's advice. Lao Jiu, who is usually so reserved, also stood with me as punishment. If it weren't for the person sent by Empress Dowager to keep an eye on Lao Jiu personally going to invite Empress Dowager, and Empress Dowager running to plead with Father Emperor, I'm afraid I would have really been standing in the study room all day."

  "You might find it amusing, but the whole world is full of beautiful scenery, and yet a dignified prince like myself was actually so infatuated with being deceived by a maid. However... that wasn't just a scam, it changed my perspective."

  "What I thought was good for me turned out to be an illusion. What I thought was true also turned out to be nothing more than that. I questioned everything, as if everything were false."

  Murong Ling looked at him, slightly moving his lips, but ultimately didn't say anything. He remembered that when they first met, he seemed so carefree, but it turned out that in places he couldn't see, he was also silently suffering.

  He felt for the first time that he had been too superficial in his observation of things.

  Nan Yi Quan didn't notice at all that his face had subtly changed color, and he was completely immersed in memories.

  Later, the Emperor himself came to talk to me. He didn't scold me, but instead said in a serious and heartfelt tone, "Knowing you've done something wrong, you should think about how not to make the same mistake again. Being stuck in memories and unable to extricate yourself will only wear away all your fighting spirit."

  Then, I met Meng Ya at the entrance of the imperial study, who came with Xia Taishi. She was still so young, with a pure smile on her face, and the pride in her eyes was visible to everyone, yet it was impossible to dislike her.

  "It was the first time I saw Father Emperor being so affectionate, his eyes even softened. He told me to take Meng Ya to the Imperial 'Flower' Garden to play, but as soon as I turned around, I bullied her."

  "I said she was ugly, and she actually picked up a stone from the ground and hit me." He couldn't help but laugh at this point, "The first time I saw such a strong-willed 'girl', not caring about my identity at all."

  "She asked me why I was crying."

  "I teased her by asking if she had poor eyesight, when I was clearly smiling. But she said... my eyes were crying."

  In Nan's eyes, there was a hint of 'infatuation' as he seemed to reminisce about that innocent time: "She could see into my heart. That feeling was so wonderful, it made me want to get close to her so easily."

  Murong Ling looked at Nan Yi Ke like this, and for the first time, he had a different impression of Xia Tian Meng. She was not the decent and dignified young lady he thought she was, but a pair of eyes that could see through people's hearts.

  If Nan Yi Xuan likes her, it's only natural.

  "But... when she was twelve years old, she fell in love with my older brother at first sight." Nan Yi Ke smiled wryly, full of helplessness. "I can only step down. I couldn't force Miao to like me, nor could I compete with my older brother for anything."

  He can hide his young love deep in his heart and accompany her as a good friend. Others may hurt her and disappoint her, but he won't.

  Murong Ling's heart moved slightly, without a word, he lowered his head and rolled up the finished calligraphy.

  He also didn't know why, but on that day in summer, Meng's clear eyes suddenly appeared in his mind while he was in the dungeon.

  Formed into a picture.

  Dividing line

  "You scoundrel! How dare you have dirty hands and feet! You're messing with the young mistress's things!" An old woman rolled up her sleeves, holding a willow branch ready to whip a young and weak girl, her face full of anger.

  The young girl knelt down and begged for mercy: "Madam, spare my life! I didn't steal anything from Miss Yu's room! I just wanted to take a look, that's all!"

  The wife sneered, the willow branch heavily lashed at the young girl's thin back, ignoring her shrill cries of pain and pleading. Instead, she coldly snorted: "You cheap thing! You still have the nerve to touch something that belongs to Miss Yu? Who gave you permission to look? What is your status? If you break it, can you afford to pay for it?"

  Everyone else in the laundry room was scrubbing away at their tubs of clothes with a completely indifferent expression, as if they hadn't heard the young woman's pleas for mercy at all.

  The young woman fell to the ground with a thud, curled up and wailed: "Madam, spare my life! I know I was wrong! I'll never dare again!"

  No one even looked up at her, let alone helped her.

  "Help! Help!" The young woman grasped the ankle of the woman beside her, her dark face filled with terror and tears. "Please, save me!"

  The wife paused slightly in her actions, not because of anything else, but because the 'girl' being hugged was Xia Tianmeng. Although she said she wasn't afraid of these rough maids, this 'woman' was ultimately different.

  She has an extraordinary temperament and her words and deeds are noble and unconventional. Moreover, she is the 'woman' brought back by the sect master from outside, who knows what great changes will happen in the future?

  Only 'Yu' Ruyi and Yu Qiao, the two girls, put down their words and didn't need to be polite to her. It was the master who personally told her to let her be a rough servant girl, and an old woman like her could only treat her with cold indifference.

  It's rare for a woman who looks so noble and elegant to have no complaints about such daily hardships.

  The little girl saw that the old woman was no longer moving, and she quickly crawled to the back of Xia Tianmeng, muttering in her mouth: "Save me, save me!"

  Xiatian Meng, who was being used as a scapegoat, slightly raised her eyes and met the gaze of the old lady, nodding slightly: "If you've done something wrong, you should accept your punishment, let alone having dirty hands."

  No one expected her to say such a thing, and for a moment the laundry room was filled with silence.

  Since becoming a maid, Xia Tian Miao has always had good relationships with others, and whenever someone is in trouble, she will lend a helping hand.

  Everyone knows she has a kind heart.

  But such a kind-hearted person, would actually be indifferent to someone else's life and death?

  The wife was even more stunned, and immediately dragged the young woman out with a loud scolding: "You little slut, you still want to run? You really are asking for death!" But in her heart, she was frightened by Xia Tianmeng's seemingly piercing gaze that seemed to see through people's hearts!

  What else can she see?

  The young woman was dragged by her hair, struggling and flailing, but pointing at Xia Tian Meng with anger: "Heartless! You were just asked to help me a little! How can you be so heartless? Are you going to watch me die?! Was all your kindness in the past fake?!"

  Others looked at each other in dismay, but still believed the young woman's rebuke.

  Xia Tian Miao nodded calmly and looked at the young woman with a faint gaze: "If one's heart is not upright, they will naturally be punished." Hands and feet can be cleaned, but what about an unclean heart?

  "Good!"

  Everyone hastily dismounted and knelt down to kowtow: "Greetings, Deputy Left!" But in their hearts, they were astonished that the normally reclusive Deputy Left would actually come to a laundry house.

  Her expression was cold and indifferent, but she saw that only Xia Tian Meng was not flustered, looking at her calmly. She couldn't help but frown: "As a maid, don't you even know the most basic etiquette of being a maid?"

  Everyone cast their eyes on Xia Tianmeng, who was sitting on a small stool as if he were sitting in a noble position, with a mixture of admiration and jealousy in their hearts. Such temperament is engraved in his bones, which is not something that those small families can have?

  "The cold teacher only wanted me to be a low-ranking maid, but never said I was just a maid." She can do the things that maids do, but she won't really consider herself as a maid.

  His cold gaze deepened slightly as he stared at her for a while before smiling faintly: "Sharp teeth and a sharp tongue." Yet, he didn't press the issue further, instead asking her in a rather casual tone, "Why did you see me dying and not save me?" Did she really just watch him almost die like that?

  Xiatian Meng heard this and looked at the young woman with a resentful gaze, shaking her head and smiling: "If I were to intervene and save her, it's not necessarily true that she would be let go. Even if she was let go, having a backing in the future would only make her more arrogant."

  She wasn't unable to see through the girl's act, she was just too lazy to expose her.

  It's just a plan thought up by Yu Ruo or Yu Qiao. Saving someone like that is equivalent to finding trouble for oneself.

  It was unexpectedly cold, and she didn't think that the maid would see through her impure thoughts. She couldn't help but take a few more glances at her. Then, turning to the old servant girl who was bowing her head beside her, she said: "Since you're all maids, if you can't do things well in the laundry room, come and serve me instead. I'm short of a maid."

  The old lady got a headache, although she was worried that 'Yu' would wear small shoes for her like Yu Qiao, but she was more afraid of this ruthless Left Vice Envoy!