章 8: The Wisteria Garden
It was nearly five in the evening when Wan Yi Jun left the office with his luggage and things stored in the locker room.
He feared that if he stayed at police quarters for one more hour, Wu Feng might drag him to Wu family house to live as their guest.
Inorder to avoid that prickly situation, he decided to return to Wisteria gardens, even though the renovations were only half done.
"Well, I don't need much, just a room to sleep in, and it is manageable since the workers might have cleaned one or two rooms in the mansion,"
Wan Yi Jun thought while his black range rover drifted through the buzzing streets of the city. The imperial was bustling with cheerful masses of people who are preparing to welcome the 'New Year" while celebrating the last day of the year. Every building, lamp posts, trees, in the city was covered with red and golden ribbons and decorations as the symbols of wealth and prosperity.
Wan Yi Jun drove further and turned to the northern side of the city, which appeared less crowded with buildings but covered tall shady trees.
After driving for five more minutes, he took a right turn and entered a road with a signboard with 'Private property' written over it.
The neatly aligned road with cherry blossoms ended in front of a huge black metal gate.
As his car approached the gate, Wan Yi Jun's eyes fell on a shocking sight over the tall boundary walls.
A pair of long slender legs hanging, Nah, flailing on the high walls.
"What the -?" He almost cussed and kicked the brake in the startlement, stopping the car with a loud screeching noise.
After picking up his revolver, he carefully got down from the car and strode silently towards the boundary wall, assessing the weight of the situation.
It's a trespasser, that too a woman.
She was stuck between the barbed iron wires over the boundary wall with its sharp pointy edges on the keeping her trapped, restricting her movements.
If she moves any further, her clothes will get torn and probably the rusty wire will end up leaving wounds on her, that would probably serve as an evidence of the crime.
Wan Yi Jun stood a few feet away from the wall and looked at the women's struggles.
The lilac dress on the woman was fluttering in the wind, revealing the smooth expanse of her thighs, alluring enough to capture anyone's attention or, even worse, evoking some lustful thoughts.
"Are you going to stay there looking at me or, will you help?" A desperate mellow voice floated in the air.
Hearing her question, Wan Yi Jun subconsciously glanced around to check whether she was talking to him or her accomplices.
But to his surprise, he couldn't find anyone else.
"Is this a prank? But who is brave enough to pull a trick like this on me?" His thoughts wandered wild as he moved closer to the boundary wall and climbed up in swift motions to catch the trespasser red-handed.
When the woman heard the slight movements beside her, she let out a sigh in relief and averted her eyes to the rescuer.
"I told you not to follow-"
Her strings of words broke when she saw the man who came for her rescue.
The man she hated the most!!!!!!
"Why is he here? What the hell is he doing here?" Her big black eyes widened at the very sight of the dashingly handsome man who grabbed the collar of her dress, with utter confusion and a little bit of fear flashing on her face.
The person whom she avoided the most appeared out of nowhere as her rescuer,
While she remained petrified, Wan Yi Jun freed her collar from the hooks of the iron wires.
When her movements became free, she made a effort to slip down from the wall, as an immediate reflex action. However, Wan Yi Jun, who foresaw her intentions to escape, quickly grabbed her right hand and landed on the ground, along with the woman.
Even after touching the ground, he held onto her arm, with no intention to set her free.
"Good looking or not, she is a burglar." Wan Yi Jun reminded himself not to fall into her honey traps.
After a long minute of silence, he started interrogating the burglar who tried to break into his house.
"So will you accompany me to the police station or, should I call them here?' He casually asked while tightening his grip on the slender arms of the woman who remained frozen to the ground.
"I didn't do anything wrong...Leave me!!!" She jolted awake from her daze and struggled to let her loose from his strong hold.
"Really?" Wan Yi Jun's lips curled into a mocking smile as he heard her protest and scanned the woman who stood before him.
She was too beautiful and naive to be called a delinquent. If he met her under some other occasion, he might have looked at her as an innocent little woman.
"Trespassing private property is considered as an offence." He sounded indifferently cold as he spoke.
However, she repeatedly chanted that she is innocent and refused to admit her crime.
"I just saw you climbing over the wall and get stucked in the iron wires." He sternly jeered. He wasn't a person who would use force or impolite words to women, but for some reason, he felt that this burglar deserved no consideration.
"I came for Wisteria flowers." She explained the earlier sticky situation with a perplexed look on her face.
"Trespassing and burglary." He sneered and fished out his cell phone from his pocket.
Hearing Wan Yi Jun's words, she shrugged her shoulders in disbelief and went ahead to prove her innocence, by stating her reasons.However, none of them made sense to Wan Yi Jun.
"How can you call it a theft? It's just a small flower." She tried to reason,
"Whether it is small or big, theft is a punishable crime."
His haughty claims to prove her as a thief has left the woman speechless.
"What kind of police officer is he? I didn't even step inside the premises, and yet he was quick to accuse me." She mumbled in her head, but outside, she put on an act like she did nothing wrong and had no idea about Wan Yi Jun or his identity as a police officer.
However, Wan Yi Jun was not a fool to believe her claims, so he kept rejecting her excuses one after another.
"At Least use some believable excuse, 'came for Wisteria flowers' what a lame reason!!!" He gritted annoyedly. He literally couldn't believe her petty excuses to trespass into the billion-dollar mansion.
Who knows that she was trying to rob the entire Wisteria gardens?
"I...I.. came to collect flowers for ancestral rites." She came up with an even better excuse, but only to get mocked by Wan Yi Jun.
"Oh yeah, your ancestors will be proud if they receive stolen flowers."
"I came to buy them, not to steal," She quickly refuted, losing his chance to mock her once again.
" But even after ringing the doorbell, nobody came. I thought the bell might be broken, and that's why I kinda tried to climb...But look, I didn't pluck any flowers, nor did I trespass."
She waved her left hand to show him that she didn't steal anything. However, Wan Yi Jun wasn't ready to believe her at all.
"Do you want me to believe that lie?" His thick black eyebrows perched up in curiosity as he continued with his interrogation, "And Wisteria blooms in December? Who are you trying to fool?"
Well, he was right. It wasn't the season of Wisteria. But for some reason, she believed that she might find some flowers in this mansion and decided to climb over the wall. But she never expected to run into Wan Yi Jun, who was supposed to be at the office at this hour.
"It's not a lie. If I'm a thief, then why would I still stay here and talk to you. I would have run away."
"Yes. Petty thieves run away when they are about to get caught, but experienced burglars stay back."
"Mister, you should not jump into a conclusion that easily." Unable to endure his blame she protested, rather harshly.
"Well experienced burglars are eloquent too." Wan Yi Jun didn't shut his mouth and let his blabber go on air.
"Wisterias are my mom's favourite flowers. I just want to keep it on the rites table. I went to almost every flower shop in the city, but no one got it. One of the florists said that it is available here. Since you are adamant on tagging me as a
burglar, I would better set the table without the flowers. My mom would be happy to see an empty table than seeing her daughter as a criminal." She made one last effort to release herself from his grip, that started to hurt her. However, this time Wan Yi Jun let go of her arm without uttering a word as if he believed her reasons to break in.
She stole a glance at his confused face and faintly sighed on the relief that her excuse worked on him.
And more than anything else, he didn't recognise her at all.
"It's the best time to leave" She made her mind and cleared her throat,
"Sorry for trespassing, and thanks for helping me out." She said while gently massaging her wrist and turned her heels to leave before he comes up with another trouble.
However, when she took a step towards the road, she was yanked back by a heavy force, almost pulling her towards Wan Yi Jun's muscular body.
"Did I allow you to leave?" His sharp eyes narrowed down as he interrogated her again.
She was a woman who was famous for keeping a ice-cold face, even under any threatening situation. But when she came face to face with the man, her heart betrayed her, by fluttering for a mere second.
"What's now?" She replied as she tried hard to keep herself steady.
"Get inside." Wan Yi Jun ordered and let go of her arm as he turned towards the car that was parked beside the gate.
"I told you, I didn't steal anything." She fumbled and tried not to take things to the police station since she can't afford getting caught by the imperial police force.
"Take flowers and go." Wan Yi Jun muttered and walked towards the gate to press the passcode, surprising her with his unexpected behaviour.
"When did he became so kind?" While she was wondering, the giant gate opened wide enough to reveal a vast Wisteria garden covering the three forth of the entire compound.
However when she moved closer, her gorgeous face hit with a wave of glum.
Just as Wan Yi Jun mentioned earlier, there weren't any flowers only the green vines tangled with nearly every tree and pergolas in the garden.
"I told you, there aren't any wisteria flowers. It's not their season." Wan Yi Jun informed, rather in a gentle voice unlike his earlier tone and looked at the disappointed woman.
"Hmm...It's okay. I will leave then." Gently bowing her head in gratitude, she turned to leave. However, just as she took a step towards the gate, his deep, profound voice urgently pulled her back.
"Wait a minute. There might be some." Wan Yi Jun stopped the woman from leaving and led her to the south side of the vast garden, where a giant tree stood covered with purple wisteria blooms.
Under the nearly silent enviornment, the blue hues of twilight, painted the unexpected blooms of the wisteria vines a glow that gave off a mystical appearance.
"Take whatever you want." Wan Yi Jun instructed and moved aside to give way to the girl who came for the flowers.
"Hmm, thanks." She walked towards the giant tree in gentle footsteps, with her heart horrendously thumping inside her ribcage.
The day she was taken away from this place, she promised herself that she would destroy the entire place into nothing but dust and ashes.
Everything in Wisteria gardens was mean to be burnt down, including the living heraldry of the Wan family- The centuries-old Wisteria tree, that symbolises the warrior clan of Imperial from time immemorial.
With several thoughts and memories running inside her mind, the woman forgot to watch her steps, and the next moment, she stumbled upon a thick root and fell into a puddle, right under the tree.
When he saw the woman fall into the puddle, Wan Yi Jun rushed towards her to offer his help.
But the moment, she rose from the murky water, with half of her face toiled with dirt, he unknowingly halted his steps and bent beside the puddle.
But to his shock, not only she refused to accept his help, but she raised her fierce obsidian eyes at Wan Yi Jun, nearly startling him out of his wits.
That sharp gaze!!!
For a moment, Wan Yi Jun felt that the woman in the puddle, looked too familiar, just like the girl whom
everyone believed that no more existed in this world.
Even before his brain could think coherently, Wan Yi Jun's thumping heart made him ask the question to confirm his speculations.
"What's your name?"
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