As it turned out, he had been overthinking things.
The moment Fan Xian entered the One Stone Residence, a waiter asked him a few simple questions, then enthusiastically escorted him to the Heaven-Class private room that had already been reserved.
The room was bright and spotless, the tea warm, the fruit fresh. Everything had been thoughtfully prepared, as though this really were nothing more than a pleasant date arranged through a mutual acquaintance.
That unnatural calm only made Fan Xian more uneasy.
He sat beside the window, his gaze fixed on the long street below. His thoughts tangled together, one moment wondering where Zhou Cheng's scheme lay hidden, the next unable to stop imagining the lovely figure he would soon see. His heart pounded like a drum.
As he waited in anxious anticipation, shortly after the start of the morning watch, a fairly ordinary carriage with blue curtains and no distinguished markings approached slowly from the distance, finally coming to a steady stop outside the restaurant's main entrance.
At this hour, the One Stone Residence was still a long way from the bustle of lunchtime. Its entrance stood quiet, making the carriage's arrival rather conspicuous.
Fan Xian instantly held his breath. His fists clenched instinctively, and he stared unblinkingly at the hanging carriage curtain.
Under his gaze, a slender, fair hand emerged from the carriage and gently lifted the blue curtain. Then a figure bent slightly, stepped out of the carriage, and came to a stop beside the shafts.
Her white robes were as pure as snow, untouched by dust; her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, loosely pinned with a simple jade hairpin.
The faint chill of the morning breeze stirred her skirt and hair. Sunlight slipped through a gap between the eaves, outlining her in a hazy halo.
Just one glimpse of her profile, one motion as she brushed stray hair from her forehead, was enough for Fan Xian to know beyond all doubt-
Yes! It was her!
It really was her!
That fellow Li Chengcheng hadn't played any tricks this time. He had actually arranged for her to come!
A torrent of joy swept away every trace of suspicion and caution. Fan Xian felt hot blood rush straight to his head. Etiquette, composure, prudence-none of it mattered anymore.
Unable to wait another instant, he planted one hand on the carved window railing. His figure blurred as he leaped straight out of the second-floor Heaven-Class room!
At that moment, Lin Wan'er had just set foot on the ground, equally nervous.
As an unmarried young woman who was already betrothed, accepting a man's private invitation to a restaurant meant overcoming far heavier social judgment and inner restraints than any man faced. Even so, she had summoned tremendous courage and chosen to come.
But she had barely found her footing, before she could even look up at the restaurant's famous "One Stone Residence" sign, when a rush of wind sounded overhead. A dark figure dropped from the sky with lightning speed and landed with a thud just two paces in front of her!
"Ah!"
Terrified by this sudden "attack," Lin Wan'er cried out and stumbled, almost falling. She instinctively pressed a hand to her heaving chest and looked at the newcomer in lingering shock.
"It's... it's you?!"
Lin Wan'er's breath caught. Before she could say anything else, she clamped a handkerchief over her mouth, bent forward, and began coughing violently.
Fan Xian had landed full of ardor and joy, never imagining that his reckless gesture would frighten the woman he loved so badly. He froze, wanting to support her but afraid of overstepping, wanting to apologize but seeing how painfully she coughed...
For a moment, all he could do was rub his hands awkwardly and watch helplessly, his eyes full of regret and concern.
Lin Wan'er coughed for quite some time before she finally recovered a little.
Embarrassed, she could not bring herself to look up. She had never expected their reunion to expose her frailty so immediately. She worried that it would spoil the beautiful impression he had of her, and feared someone might recognize her outside the restaurant and cause unnecessary trouble.
"Come on. Let's go inside."
Holding her handkerchief over her mouth, Lin Wan'er lifted her skirt and hurried through the restaurant's entrance.
Only then did Fan Xian come to his senses. He quickly followed, carefully keeping a pace or two behind her, afraid of startling her again.
Their second meeting had begun so unexpectedly. Far from the romance he had imagined, it could even be called a rather disastrous start.
Yet as Fan Xian watched the slender figure in white ahead of him, he still felt his heart melting.
They climbed the stairs in silence, one after the other, and returned to the Heaven-Class private room.
Behind her, Fan Xian hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently closed the carved door.
He turned and stared at Lin Wan'er in a daze, making her so uncomfortable that her cheeks grew redder and redder. Only when she could no longer help turning her head away did he snap out of it.
Fan Xian took a deep breath and smiled from the heart. "I've finally... found you."
Lin Wan'er looked shy. "What did you... want to find me for?"
"I don't know either. I just wanted to see you."
"Really?"
"Really!"
After that emphatic answer, Fan Xian began tenderly recounting how much he had missed her. Lin Wan'er's expression grew increasingly shy, and her heart fluttered wildly.
By the time Fan Xian finished, Lin Wan'er had unconsciously tangled all ten fingers together.
She did not speak immediately, and the man before her kept watching her. Seeing that he was about to lapse into another lovestruck stare, she quickly turned sideways and steadied her racing heart. After a moment's hesitation, she asked with a trace of nervousness, "When did you... meet my Third Brother? And why did you... ask him where to find me?"
"Third... Third Brother?"
Still lost in his beloved's beauty, Fan Xian failed to react at first. He instinctively repeated the title, turning it over in his mind a couple of times before realization jolted him awake.
Third Brother? Didn't that mean the Third Prince?
She called the Third Prince her Third Brother?
Who exactly was this Drumstick Girl?
For some reason, Fan Xian suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I mean Prince Cheng! Didn't you ask Third Brother to pass along a message and invite me here today?" Lin Wan'er lowered her head shyly.
Suppressing his unease, Fan Xian asked tentatively, "You call Prince Cheng your Third Brother. May I ask your name?"
Lin Wan'er bit her lip and answered bashfully, "I'm Lin Wan'er."
"Lin... Lin Wan'er?"
Fan Xian felt as though a thunderbolt had struck him. Utterly stunned, he asked again in disbelief, "You're... the Lin Wan'er from Chancellor Lin's Residence? The Dawn Commandery Princess personally invested by His Majesty?"
"Yes, that's me..."
Seeing such a strong reaction from Fan Xian, Lin Wan'er assumed he knew about her engagement and hurried to explain, "Although I'm betrothed, the engagement is already about to be dissolved. That Fan Xian has written an Engagement Cancellation Letter, and it should be delivered to the palace within a few days. Soon, he and I will have nothing more to do with each other!"
"The Engagement Cancellation Letter..."
Fan Xian was even more dumbfounded. His mind went blank, and for a long while he could not recover.
Seeing his vacant expression, Lin Wan'er assumed he was looking down on her. A wave of hurt swept over her.
"If you don't believe me and think I'm a fickle woman, I'll leave."
With that, Lin Wan'er turned to go.
Alarmed, Fan Xian hurriedly caught hold of her.
"No, that's not it! It's not that I don't believe you. I just... just haven't managed to make sense of it yet."
Holding the girl's sleeve, Fan Xian hastily explained.
Lin Wan'er struggled when he caught her, but did not break free. She looked back and saw that his expression seemed genuine. Only then did she stop.
After calming herself a little, she asked, "I've told you who I am. May I ask who you are?"
"Me?"
Fan Xian's mind was still a muddle. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest. "I'm Fan Xian."
"..."
Lin Wan'er stared at him, her eyes instantly reddening.
She violently shook off his hand, her voice choked with tears. "You! How could you humiliate me like this? I already told you my engagement to Fan Xian was about to be dissolved. If you couldn't accept that, you could have said so! Why would you treat me this way? I hate you!"
Tears spilled from Lin Wan'er's eyes, and she struggled free of Fan Xian, trying to run outside.
Seeing the misunderstanding deepen, Fan Xian felt his scalp prickle. He swiftly moved to block her escape, gripping both her arms to hold her firmly in place.
"Let go! You lecher! I was wrong about you! If you keep this up, I'll call for help!" Lin Wan'er struggled desperately.
Fan Xian tried his utmost to explain. "I'm Fan Xian! I really am Fan Xian! I'm not trying to humiliate you. My name really is Fan Xian!"
Seeing his distressed expression as he desperately explained, Lin Wan'er finally calmed down a little.
She asked hesitantly, "You're Fan Xian?"
"Yes! I've had that name for years!"
"Then how can you prove you're that Fan Xian?"
"Huh? Me? You want me to prove I'm myself?"
Lin Wan'er told Fan Xian to release her. Gesturing for her to stay calm, he slowly let go.
"You wrote that seven-character poem at the Poetry Gathering, didn't you?" Lin Wan'er asked.
Fan Xian nodded.
"Then write that poem out again."
Fan Xian answered without hesitation, "All right. Wait here while I get paper and a brush."
Lin Wan'er stopped him. "You don't need to go out. Do it right here, where I can watch you. Write it on the table with tea!"
Fan Xian pointed hesitantly at the table, and Lin Wan'er nodded.
"All right!"
Fan Xian poured a cup of tea. Without even checking its temperature, he dipped his finger into it and began writing on the black-lacquered square table, polished enough to reflect his face.
Fan Xian's brush calligraphy was a complete mess. Using his finger instead made it a little better, though not by much-it had merely risen above the level of illegible scrawls.
Lin Wan'er watched him write the entire poem in one uninterrupted stretch. After reading it, she finally confirmed that the Fan Xian before her was indeed the Fan Xian to whom she was betrothed.
"But... how could this be?"
Lin Wan'er murmured to herself as though talking in a dream.
"You can finally confirm that I'm Fan Xian now, right?"
Fan Xian was rather pleased. He had never expected Lin Wan'er to recognize his handwriting.
Lin Wan'er took out her silk handkerchief and wiped her face twice, drying her tears.
She looked at Fan Xian with an utterly conflicted gaze. "So you're the one I'm engaged to. Why... why did you write that Engagement Cancellation Letter?"
At the mention of the Engagement Cancellation Letter, the delight that had just appeared on Fan Xian's face instantly turned to dismay.
He gritted his teeth. "It was all your Third Brother's fault! Prince Cheng! He tricked me, saying he'd only agree to arrange a meeting with you if I broke off my engagement to Lin Wan'er and was no longer betrothed. How was I supposed to know you were my fiancée?!"
Before you continue