Could it be that because Ningning was angry with her, she refused to come back with Yuege to find her?

Yan Shiyao’s heart clenched. Now that Ningning had been brought back home, their mother had never liked her to begin with. Was Ningning now under the misimpression that she, too, disliked her — and that was why she had sent her away?

“Where are Ningning and Yuege right now? I want to go find them.” Yan Shiyao’s eyes reddened.

Xuanzhao Ran was silent for a moment before asking, “Are you not staying to look after Mother Nan?”

Yan Shiyao held out the bamboo basket on her arm toward Xuanzhao Ran. “Zhao Ran, could you help me with—”

“No.” Xuanzhao Ran stepped back a great stride, her face full of refusal.

Yan Shiyao stood where she was, helpless, her head hung low.

A’Ci could not help herself. “You don’t need to go looking for them. In a few days they’ll come find you.”

Yan Shiyao’s tears fell one by one. “I’m afraid Ningning will blame me.”

From childhood to now, for anything that was not of great importance, their mother had never allowed the children of concubines to disturb her. What she did not know was how desperately she had longed to spend time with her younger brother and sisters — yet she had never dared go against her mother’s wishes.

So when Ningning was brought back home, she had been overjoyed. Even when Ningning confessed that she harbored feelings for Elder Brother Qi, she would have been willing to step aside for her.

“She won’t,” A’Ci said with a gentle smile. “If she is angry, you coax her a little, and she calms down quickly.”

Yan Shiyao’s eyes lit up. “Truly?”

Ever since Ningning had been brought back, she had never once lost her temper. She truly had not known this about her.

“Truly,” A’Ci said, earnest and certain.

Xuanzhao Ran tugged at A’Ci’s sleeve and tilted her head back to look straight at him. “How would you know that coaxing Ningning would make her stop being angry?”

Yan Shiyao blinked. She wanted to know as well.

A’Ci shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “I… guessed.”

In the past he had been so oblivious about everything — how could he possibly not have made her angry?

Xuanzhao Ran lowered her voice and tapped his arm with one finger. “Have you coaxed Ningning before?”

How else could he know!

Yan Shiyao leaned in as well, clearly wanting to hear the answer herself.

A’Ci: “…”

He should never have said anything.

Xuanzhao Ran leaned close to A’Ci’s ear, her voice dropped very low. “Does the Crown Prince know? How did you coax Ningning?”

A’Ci’s ears turned visibly red. He said through gritted teeth, “When you speak to me, don’t lean in so close.”

It burrowed right into his ears and unsettled him deeply.

“I refuse.” Xuanzhao Ran deliberately breathed a soft puff of air against his ear.

A’Ci tilted his head slightly and dropped his voice just as low. “Xuanzhao Ran!”

The girl met his gaze and smiled sweetly. “A’Ci, how bold of you — you dare call this princess by her given name?”

A’Ci raised a brow slightly. “Your Highness, it is already done. How do you intend to punish me?”

“Coax me.” The laughter in Xuanzhao Ran’s voice was impossible to suppress. “If this princess is unsatisfied, this princess will tell the Crown Prince that you deliberately provoked Ningning into anger just so you could have the excuse to coax her.”

Yan Shiyao edged a little closer. She was curious what the two of them were whispering about.

Zhao Ran truly was something — stirring up trouble with Elder Brother Qi and now carrying on like this with A’Ci.

“Your Highness, I do not know how to coax people,” A’Ci said, looking down at Xuanzhao Ran, his eyes darkening slightly.

“…” Xuanzhao Ran nipped lightly at his ear. “A’Ci, this princess is very angry right now!”

Not to be coaxed would not do.

A’Ci pressed his lips together. He truly did not know how to coax people. In the past, when he had been careless and made little Ningning angry, and she refused to pay him any attention, he would shed a few tears, grab hold of her sleeve, and call out to her twice — and just like that, she would no longer be upset.

That was precisely why he had said that coaxing little Ningning would make her calm down quickly.

Right now, he could not very well grab Xuanzhao Ran’s sleeve and shed tears.

“This princess is going to find the Crown Prince right now and tell him—”

“Your Highness, Miss Yan is still here,” A’Ci said, glancing sideways at Yan Shiyao out of the corner of his eye.

The latter had angled her ear right toward them, pressing in to listen.

The corners of Xuanzhao Ran’s mouth curved upward. So his meaning was that Yan Shiyao was standing there getting in the way?

She grabbed his arm and dragged him far behind a tree trunk, well out of Yan Shiyao’s earshot.

There was no one around. Xuanzhao Ran blinked her wide eyes and tilted her chin upward with a haughty air. “Coax me, then.”

The girl’s petulant expression was terribly endearing.

A’Ci let out a helpless sigh. “Your Highness, what would it take to satisfy you?”

Xuanzhao Ran gave an imperious little huff.

“Your Highness.” A’Ci raised his hand and brushed a dried leaf from where it had fallen among the girl’s hair.

The corners of Xuanzhao Ran’s mouth curved up just slightly. Was he only going to touch her hair?

A’Ci leaned forward, his gaze falling on the upturned corners of the girl’s mouth. The light in his eyes gradually darkened.

Xuanzhao Ran waited a short while, yet the man before her did not open his mouth. Her eyes shifted thoughtfully. She hooked a lock of his ink-black hair around her finger, raised her hand to cover a smile, and said, “A’Ci, this princess is very unsatisfied right now! So this princess has decided to take you back to Xuanzhao by force, to keep this princess company day and night until this princess is no longer angry.”

A’Ci’s voice carried a teasing lilt. “Your Highness, you are here alone. How exactly do you plan to drag me back to Xuanzhao?”

“You cooperate with me, of course.” Xuanzhao Ran wound his lock of hair around her fingertip. “When Sixth Brother sent me away, Ningning and I cooperated with him beautifully.”

A’Ci: “…”

Was he supposed to compliment them for that?

Xuanzhao Ran gave a soft huff and carefully tugged at his hair, drawing him a little closer toward her. In a soft voice she said, “A’Ci, stop deliberating. You like this princess — let this princess tell the Crown Prince, have you become this princess’s Prince Consort, and ask the Crown Prince to petition the Emperor for his approval. How does that sound?”

After all, the gap between A’Ci’s station and hers was enormous. If the Crown Prince petitioned the Emperor on their behalf, the odds of success would be considerably better.

The two of them stood very close together — close enough to hear each other breathe. Gazing at the smiling face of the girl before him, A’Ci felt an inexplicable warmth creep up to the tips of his ears, and beads of perspiration began to form on his palm.

“Your Highness, I am afraid I cannot agree to that.” A’Ci’s voice came out slightly hoarse.

He needed to find Young Master first.

Xuanzhao Ran’s expression clouded with indignation. “A’Ci!”

Did she truly displease him so much?

If it were anyone else who heard an offer of becoming a Prince Consort, they would surely have agreed long ago.

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince has not yet taken a wife. If you were to marry beneath your station to me before he does, it would hardly be appropriate,” A’Ci said in all seriousness.

Xuanzhao Ran looked genuinely puzzled. “What does whether or not the Crown Prince has taken a wife have to do with anything?”

A’Ci continued his deflection. “How could a younger sister marry before her elder brother has even taken a wife?”

Xuanzhao Ran broke into a light laugh. “Xuanzhao has no such custom. A’Ci—”

“Your Highness, my family has such a custom, and I hope Your Highness will understand.” A’Ci pressed his lips together, his expression very earnest.

The corners of Xuanzhao Ran’s mouth drooped ever so slightly. “Understood.”

She would think of some way to ask the Crown Prince for help — to simply bring A’Ci directly into Xuanzhao and have him become her Prince Consort.

The way she saw it, the Crown Prince was not going to be taking a wife anytime soon. If she waited for him, how long would she have to wait?

What could she do to get the Crown Prince to help her?

Otherwise… should she tell the Crown Prince that A’Ci had feelings for Ningning?

She could tell him that she, for the sake of both A’Ci and Ningning, was taking A’Ci as her Prince Consort — which would mean A’Ci and Ningning would have no future together.