Falling into the lake by accident actually helped Aenwyn clear her head. The water was cold. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly as she let herself float.
With a splash, Indigo jumped in.
His face was tense, black hair soaked as he frantically searched in the water.
"Aenwyn." he called hoarsely.
"I'm fine." Aenwyn surfaced and said softly.
After regaining her clarity, she had wanted to get out, but then realized her makeup was ruined. She couldn't go up now.
The cosmetics here weren't waterproof. After swimming two laps in the lake, her hands were covered with pigment.
Ragnar was still standing by the shore. How could she dare come up?
Hearing her voice, Indigo swam toward her quickly. By now, they had drifted to the center of the lake.
Under the night sky, the lake was dark. From the shore, only the figures of the two could be seen.
At that moment, Ludovic and Young Master Zhou rushed over.
Young Master Zhou saw she was fine and immediately turned to punch Ragnar.
Ragnar cried out in pain. "It really wasn't me."
He did want that brat Hart to drown, but this time he truly wasn't responsible.
Indigo realized she could swim but had still chosen to stay in the water in silence. He clenched his jaw in anger. Droplets slid down his face, revealing his handsome and pale features.
He grabbed her and began swimming toward the shore.
"No." Aenwyn didn't want to go up. Indigo's lips were tightly pressed, and Aenwyn could tell he was furious.
"Indigo, the color on my face is coming off." she explained.
Indigo suddenly turned his head.
Her bare face emerged from the water like a lotus. Though lacking the cinnabar mark, it was clearly a woman's face. Most of the eye makeup was intact, but the lotion used to adjust her skin tone had completely washed away.
Droplets beaded on her fair skin. The water was too cold, leaving her face pale with a faint flush. Her black eyes trembled, adding a strange allure.
"Indigo." she called again.
His expression stiffened slightly. He pulled her into his arms, pressing her face to his chest. Supporting her, he swam to a more secluded part of the shore.
Ludovic saw Aenwyn in Indigo's arms and let out a sigh of relief. He looked up and noticed something different in Indigo's face.
If before he looked like a delicate, sickly young man, now he was a cold, striking youth.
"You?"
"Give me your robe." Indigo said.
Ludovic looked at the person in his arms and suddenly realized something. He took off his outer robe and handed it over.
Indigo carefully wrapped her up.
"You alright?" Young Master Zhou asked from behind.
At this moment, the prefect from the selection event approached with several officials.
It was because the heirs of the Ning and Zhou families had suddenly left the table. They couldn't help but come and check.
"Mister Gongzi, what happened?" The prefect of Danzhou looked at Ludovic, who was now only in his inner garments. The others all had a look of curiosity. Why were these two noble young men from the capital so concerned about this year's Huashu gathering?
They recalled Hart's appearance and exchanged meaningful glances.
Ludovic stepped slightly to the side, blocking their view.
"Nothing. Someone fell in the water." he said casually.
"As long as no one's hurt." The prefect of Danzhou smiled like a Buddha. "Shall we return to the banquet?"
"Sir, I'll go change first."
"Very well. Very well." The prefect instructed the servants behind him to take Ludovic to change.
Just then, Indigo carried Aenwyn past them.
The tall, long-legged young man had a stunning face and an extraordinary presence. He stood out wherever he went. Some people wondered why they hadn't noticed such a striking person before.
They quickly brushed it off. With so many guests tonight, it was normal not to recognize everyone.
Young Master Zhou was genuinely shocked at Indigo's true appearance. He and Ludovic had suspected Hart used a disguise.
Maybe even his name was fake.
As he pondered this, he noticed the prefect of Danzhou was staring at Indigo with a strange expression. But when he looked again, the man's expression had returned to normal.
It all happened in just a few glances. Aenwyn was completely unaware.
Soaked to the bone, she returned to the inn. Even though she had drunk ginger tea beforehand, she still caught a serious cold.
She stayed in bed at the inn, sleeping for three full days.
During those three days, Shopkeeper Ye from Huashu Zhai came by once, bringing generous tonic supplies. They were for blood, body, and even for beauty.
Seeing the quantity, Aenwyn felt like they were treating her as a long-term patient. Mister Henricus was far too kind.
"Our master insisted. Please don't refuse, so I can report back." Shopkeeper Ye said with a cheerful smile.
"Thank you." She couldn't turn it down, so she accepted it all, thinking she'd draw more commissions later to repay the favor.
Shopkeeper Ye then pulled out a jade token from his robe. "Please take this as well." He handed it to her.
"What is this?" She looked at the palm-sized jade token. It was exquisite and valuable, with the character Hua engraved on the front.
"For your travels. If anything happens, you can visit any local Huashu Zhai." Shopkeeper Ye said, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Employee benefits this good? Aenwyn wondered.
What she didn't know was that the entire Hua family only had two such tokens. Holding one was like holding a direct pass from the family head. With it, she could even access nearly half of Hua's liquid assets.
After Shopkeeper Ye left, Aenwyn began to think that maybe they should leave Danyang and continue their journey.
Ludovic frowned deeply as he held the letter in his hand.
"What is it, the old man pushing us again?" Young Master Zhou was not pleased.
He had gone to look for Hart several times since that night, and each time he had been turned away by that fake face.
"Lord Zhou has mostly settled the unrest in Cenzhou. He's urging us to regroup as soon as possible."
"And Ishmael is here too. But he's not going back with us. After picking us up, he has personal matters to handle," Ludovic said.
"I'm not leaving."
"You don't have a choice. Ishmael's ship actually arrived today. We'll set off tomorrow after regrouping."
Young Master Zhou ignored him. He stared in the direction of Aenwyn's inn and said, "Aren't you curious what he looks like?"
Ludovic knew who he meant.
"He's a man."
"I know." These past few days, he kept thinking. So what if he's a man? It was the first time in his life someone had slapped him like that, and he still kept going back.
He couldn't explain the feeling. He just liked looking at him.
While Ludovic tried to persuade him, he was also trying to persuade himself. In the capital, many liked men, but not their Ning and Zhou families. The more prominent the family, the more they needed to marry a woman ruler to continue the bloodline.
The more Young Master Zhou thought about it, the angrier he got. Why shouldn't he be allowed to see him?
"Where are you going in the middle of the night?"
"I'm going to find him." He turned and left as he spoke.
Ludovic thought he might be going crazy, actually following Young Master Zhou in the middle of the night to see a man. Maybe he also wanted to see what was under that disguise.
It was a calm night as usual. The only difference was that everyone in the inn seemed to have gone to bed very early.
After the beauty contest, those who were supposed to leave had done so over the past few days. The inn was very quiet.
Aenwyn had almost been exposed when she fell into the water that day. She was still shaken and had been sleeping in makeup ever since.
She had been sleeping deeply when she suddenly felt breathless in the middle of the night. Someone was pushing her. She opened her eyes. The room was pitch black, and her nose and mouth were covered by a hand. Aenwyn panicked and tried to pull it off.
"Aenwyn, don't move." It was Indigo. His voice was extremely low.
Seeing that Aenwyn was awake, he slightly loosened his hand.
"What is it?" Aenwyn whispered.
"They've come after us," Indigo said with a serious expression.
That didn't make sense. Indigo had only appeared that night, and only a few officials saw his face.
She suddenly remembered how in Sitong Town, people had called her a woman ruler. The Yue family had been accused of hiding her, and the governor had come to search personally.
That's right. The governor of Danzhou.
He recognized Indigo. They were working together.
What if it was the same group of assassins? Aenwyn's heart sank.
"We should…" She hadn't even finished speaking when she heard the faint sound of someone prying the window open.
Young Master Zhou had originally planned to climb through the window and see him. He hadn't expected to nearly be killed.
Indigo retracted his dagger and gave him a cold glance.
"What are you doing here?" Aenwyn was surprised.
Young Master Zhou was full of questions too, but before he could ask, the people outside, hearing the noise, couldn't wait and broke the door down.
They didn't care if they woke the other guests.
The clash of weapons followed. Four masked men in black stormed in.
Young Master Zhou had just recovered from serious injuries. He fought back with all his strength while shouting, "Who on earth did you mess with that people are chasing you?"
You're the one sneaking around at night. Aenwyn, protected by Indigo, gave him a couple of looks. Coming here in the middle of the night, what was he trying to do?
Everyone else in the inn was sleeping like the dead. With another person helping, they managed to break out of the room without getting surrounded.
But outside, four more men in black were waiting.
Indigo's face turned grim. "Aenwyn, when the time comes, run."
Aenwyn knew she could handle thugs, but these trained fighters were out of her league.
"Okay. I'll take care of myself."
Indigo patted her head and drew the whip from his waist.
"Ludovic, Ludovic, help!" Young Master Zhou shouted. The two of them had come together. Ludovic didn't want to come in and had waited outside.
Where was he? After all this time, hadn't he heard the noise?
The fight was about to break out completely. Aenwyn spotted a chance and ran outside. She hadn't gone far when she ran straight into Ludovic and his men.
Before she could even feel relieved, a sharp blade flashed toward her. Just as she faced the attack, someone pulled her out of danger.
The person jumped off a horse to save her with such grace and speed. His movement was as fluid as a dragon, and his looks were otherworldly.
"Ishmael, put him down for now." Ludovic walked over and took Aenwyn from him.
Ishmael looked down at her, and his eyes landed on the jade pendant revealed by her sudden movement.
A flicker crossed his eyes. Was this his second brother?