Qi Qingchen’s face was taut. Of course he knew — his royal father often praised him and used him as a benchmark to spur them on.
What was there to praise? Xuanzhao had only one imperial prince. Prince Xuan had certainly been grooming him from childhood, so what was so remarkable about his outstanding abilities?
If his royal father had groomed him from childhood too, he would be even more outstanding than Xuanzhao’s crown prince.
“Why don’t you find a way to kill him? That way, your royal father would hand you the throne by tomorrow.” Yan Shiyao smiled, eyes curving playfully.
“Yan Shiyao!” Qi Qingchen’s teeth ached with fury. “Why don’t you kill him yourself?”
He couldn’t even beat Xuan Yanyu. If he went to the Xuan Wang Palace to kill their Crown Prince, wouldn’t he just be captured by the Xuanzhao Crown Prince? At that point, even his royal father might not be able to save him.
Yan Shiyao patted his shoulder, wearing a helpless expression. “Third Prince, this subject-girl would not dare. I didn’t expect Your Highness wouldn’t dare either.”
The man’s pitch-black eyes reddened with rage.
“Third Prince, or perhaps you could find a way to claim Prince Xuan as your father, and compete with that Xuanzhao Crown Prince.” Yan Shiyao tilted her head with a smile. “If Your Highness had been born in Xuanzhao, you wouldn’t have to spend every day scheming to seize the position of Crown Prince.”
“It’s just a pity for Xuanzhao — the kingdom would fall in Your Highness’s hands. After all, Your Highness doesn’t seem like someone who would make a good Crown Prince.”
“Yan Shiyao!” Qi Qingchen endured and endured, forcing himself to stay calm.
Claim Prince Xuan as his father?
He was supposed to claim an enemy nation’s emperor as his father??
And what did she mean he couldn’t be a good Crown Prince??
Yan Shiyao’s lips curved into a lovely smile. “Third Prince, this subject-girl was only joking — don’t be angry. If you die of rage and the Qi Emperor has my family executed, what am I to do?”
“Yan Shiyao, you are even more insufferable than before.” Qi Qingchen grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him, his voice low and rough. “This Prince genuinely wants to kill you right now.”
Yan Shiyao balled her hand into a fist and drove it into his abdomen, her eyes reddening. “You have always been insufferable.”
She had once liked him so much. The fragments she had seen showed him using her, mocking her, ridiculing her — and reality had only confirmed it further: he had set his sights on Zhao Ran, made overtures to Ningning, had Wu’an sent to kill her. She hated Qi Qingchen to the bone.
Qi Qingchen grunted from the pain and reflexively loosened his grip on her.
“Qi Qingchen, stay away from me, and stay away from Ningning. Otherwise, I truly will kill you.” Yan Shiyao trembled all over, her emotions on the verge of spiraling out of control.
If she killed Qi Qingchen and Xuan Yanyu, she and Ningning could live in peace. If she killed them……
Qi Qingchen’s eyelids flickered.
Yan Shiyao clutched the food box in her hand, her eyes blazing crimson as she glared at him and screamed, “Qi Qingchen, get out, get out!”
The girl’s cry was deafeningly loud. The moment her voice fell, her body began to sway uncontrollably; her legs buckled and she crumpled toward the ground.
“Yan Shiyao?” Qi Qingchen stepped forward and caught her, saying coldly, “Did you shout yourself into fainting?”
“……” Yan Shiyao steadied herself a little, then thrust the food box toward Qi Qingchen, her voice hoarse. “Go find Ningning. Tell her I fainted and have her come find me.”
Qi Qingchen laughed out of sheer exasperation. She wanted to kill him and told him to get lost, and now she was giving him orders!
Clatter. The food box crashed to the ground, and Yan Shiyao went limp and fainted in Qi Qingchen’s arms.
Qi Qingchen looked at the dish broth splattered across his robes, his brow furrowed, and through gritted teeth he gathered Yan Shiyao up in his arms.
What a nuisance!
She ruined one of his garments every single time.
……
Inside the inn, Xuan Yanyu sat on the wooden chair furthest from Yan Yunning, his cheek propped in one hand, gazing at her lazily.
“Second Miss Yan, please drink it quickly — it will go cold.” Ye Jian extended the bowl of medicinal broth toward Yan Yunning.
Yan Yunning pressed her lips together. “Didn’t I just drink it?”
Ye Jian told her frankly, “Second Miss Yan, the medicine you drank just now ended up all over His Highness.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
Xuan Yanyu’s expression stiffened for a split second.
“Xuan Yanyu.” Yan Yunning smiled faintly.
Meeting the girl’s smiling gaze, Xuan Yanyu waved a hand. “Drink it first, then come over.”
The implied meaning was clear: until she had finished drinking, she should stay away from him.
Yan Yunning: “……”
“Second Miss Yan, please drink.” Ye Jian inched the bowl of medicinal broth a little closer to Yan Yunning.
Yan Yunning took the medicine bowl, pinched her nose, tilted her head back, and gulped it all down.
“Urgh~” Yan Yunning swallowed frantically, fighting down the wave of nausea rising within her.
Ye Jian quickly offered a plate of dried plums. “Second Miss Yan, eat one — it will settle the feeling.”
Yan Yunning pinched a dried plum and held it in her mouth; the sweet-sour flavor washed away the nausea.
“Have some water.” Xuan Yanyu carried a cup of water over to her.
“I don’t want it.” Yan Yunning gritted her teeth and refused him.
Xuan Yanyu handed the cup to Ye Jian, then his slender, well-defined fingers hooked around her waist, drawing her into his arms. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Next time this Prince will absolutely hold you and make sure you drink.”
Yan Yunning looked at him with disdain. “Next time I won’t need you.”
The man pressed his nose lightly to hers and murmured coaxingly, “This Prince simply doesn’t want to go and change into another set of robes.”
He had already instructed Imperial Physician Wen to formulate the medicinal brew to be less stomach-turning, and had also had Ye Jian send word to the Xuanzhao Imperial Medical Bureau, so that from now on, when she fell ill again, she would no longer drink the medicine only to feel so nauseated she vomited.
Yan Yunning pushed him away and sniffled, muttering softly, “Xuan Yanyu, you’re just tired of me.”
“No.” Xuan Yanyu took her hand where it hung at her side, a touch of warmth crossing his face. “I’m not tired of you.”
Yan Yunning pried his hand away, her voice flat and emotionless. “Not tired of me, and yet you’re sitting so far from me?”
Without waiting for Xuan Yanyu to respond, Yan Yunning continued, “You came to Qilan for my A’Jie’s sake. Now that you’re not planning to marry her either, you may as well go back to Xuanzhao.”
Xuan Yanyu’s lips tugged into a thin smile. “Yan Yunning, what do you mean by that?”
“Because I don’t want to see you anymore.” Yan Yunning lifted her head to meet his gaze, her expression gravely serious.
Ye Jian’s brow knotted tightly. A sentence suddenly flashed through his mind — I’ll find some excuse to pick a fight with Xuan Yanyu.
“What did you say?” Xuan Yanyu’s voice carried a shade of displeasure.
Yan Yunning paused for two seconds, then repeated, “Go back to Xuanzhao. I don’t want to see you anymore.”
A dark, brooding light passed through the man’s eyes. “Yan Yunning, are you playing this Prince for a fool?”
She had told him she would only marry one person, and every day since, he had been racking his mind for ways to go back to Xuanzhao and persuade his royal father. And now she didn’t want to see him anymore?
Yan Yunning smiled faintly. “Xuan Yanyu, do you remember when my A’Jie fainted? You saw me put a packet of powder into the bowl — that was prepared for you. It was arsenic.”
Ye Jian’s body swayed. Second Miss Yan… she… she had wanted to harm His Highness.
“Yan Yunning, be quiet.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice was strained with suppressed agitation.
Ye Chen had said her purchase matched — the medicine prepared for him had been discovered, and when she claimed it was for a cold and wind chill, he had her drink it herself. She vomited blood and fainted; he had carried her to Imperial Physician Wen, who said she had been poisoned but it had been suppressed — it all matched up.
Yan Yunning’s fingers curled into a trembling fist, and after a long moment her shaking voice finally came: “Xuan Yanyu, I… I have despised you ever since I first met you.”