Miss Truth
Chapter 315 - 199: Wall-Climbing Husband

Chapter 315: Chapter 199: Wall-Climbing Husband

A lantern was lit in front of He Ya Inn, casting a dim and flickering light.

Xiao Song stood on the porch, hesitant. The inn was larger than he had imagined, with three or four rooms in the main building suitable for bedrooms. He surely couldn’t search them one by one?

With a creak,

Xiao Song was startled and had no time to hide. He then saw Ran Yan in a light blue satin dress, draped in a black mink cloak, stepping out from a side room and standing under that lantern. The black mink reflected on her plain white face, adding an ethereal beauty in the dim light.

"Assistant Minister Xiao is here?" Ran Yan folded her arms, staring at him composedly.

For the first time in his life, Xiao Song felt a hint of embarrassment, but he quickly regained his composure. "You knew I would come."

"Once there’s a first time, there will be a second." Ran Yan said indifferently.

Ran Yan didn’t hold a grudge against Xiao Song for intruding into her bedroom, since he didn’t do anything to harm her, but she always disliked the feeling that her privacy could be invaded at any moment, and that was exactly why she was angry.

"I came late at night just to talk to you." Xiao Song stated from a distance of several yards away from Ran Yan, initiating the complaint, "You gave me six months, and I’m afraid approaching you during the day might harm you, but I don’t want to waste six months, so I had to come at night."

"Assistant Minister Xiao, treating rituals and etiquette as nothing, might sound carefree to others, but where does that leave me?" Ran Yan asked expressionlessly.

Xiao Song’s already prominent features appeared even more profound in the flickering dim light, his thin lips slightly pursed as he gazed silently at her. Snow fluttered outside the porch, and He Ya Pavilion had a concave architecture with no wind in the courtyard, the snow falling slowly, as if time itself had slowed down.

"Sorry." After a long while, these two words escaped from Xiao Song’s thin lips amidst a low, graceful dissipation of mist.

Ran Yan sighed. She knew Xiao Song meant no harm, but this type of behavior would still be considered a home intrusion even in future generations! However, admitting his fault was a step in the right direction.

She slowly walked up to Xiao Song and handed him a piece of orpiment.

The orpiment could generate heat, feeling like holding a hot water bottle in hand, with a constant flow of warmth.

The warm heat flowed from his palm to his limbs, making the corners of Xiao Song’s lips lift involuntarily. "It seems Lady Seventeen still cares about me."

Ran Yan hummed lightly, ignoring him, and sat down on the porch steps.

Xiao Song felt a sweet sensation in his heart, knowing Ran Yan had guessed he would come, so she didn’t rest but waited in the side room to catch him red-handed. Although she scolded him, she tenderly gave him orpiment to warm his hands. Moreover, there were no maids around; with Ran Yan’s medical skills, she might have administered some sleep-inducing medicine to them, preserving his reputation.

Xiao Song sat down beside her, watching the snow accumulate on the ground, and said with a smile, "The first snow of this winter is quite heavy. It’s a coincidence that I came just in time to watch the snow with Lady Seventeen. Is it fate?"

Ran Yan glanced at him sideways and said indifferently, "If I were you, I’d think about how to get through the night. I won’t shelter a man of unclear origins here."

"I, the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice, how could my origins be unclear?" Xiao Song frowned.

Ran Yan raised her eyebrows and asked, "Really? Does scaling a wall count as a proper path?"

The laughter was stuck in Xiao Song’s throat, as he discovered another virtue in Ran Yan; he had thought her cold demeanor would lack any sense of humor, yet she turned out to be quite amusing.

"Don’t laugh, but when I was a child, among a group of spoiled youths, I was the leader in mischief. In over a hundred neighborhoods of Chang’an, which walls haven’t we climbed over?" Reflecting on those absurd behaviors of his youth, Xiao Song’s tone carried a hint of nostalgia. Just seven or eight years, yet it felt like a different era.

Ran Yan also showed a slight smile. "Besides the title ’Chang’an’s Harbinger of Woe,’ you could also be called ’Wall-Scaling Scion’ in the future."

The title ’Chang’an’s Harbinger of Woe’ was not something Xiao Song acquired after entering office. As a leader among a group of unruly youths indulging in cockfights, dog racing, horseplay, and brawls, wherever they went, animals scattered, and he had quietly earned this nickname. Later, after being taken in by Duke Song to discipline him for two years, he settled down a bit, and gradually, people stopped calling him by that title.

Since taking the position of Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice, this nickname from his youth was once again brought up by some zealous people, gaining further notoriety.

"Though I have climbed many walls, this is the first time I’m doing it for a lady." Xiao Song quickly explained, fearing Ran Yan might misunderstand.