Would Crown Prince Brother get angry?

“What’s wrong?” Xuan Yanyu picked up the writing brush from the floor and looked at her, at a loss.

“Didn’t you say Ranran could stay for two days?” Yan Yunning said softly.

Her voice was deliberately honeyed and gentle. Xuan Yanyu, finding it difficult to resist, took her hand and pulled her into his arms. “She was pestering me about going out to wander around.”

“I won’t wander anymore, Crown Prince Brother.” Xuan Zhao Ran said promptly.

Staying was the priority.

Xuan Yanyu shot her a sidelong glance but couldn’t be bothered to say more.

“Then Crown Prince Brother, I’ll head out now.” Xuan Zhao Ran pointed toward the door.

The man said, without any particular feeling, “Tell Ye Jian to return to Xuanzhao.”

Seeing Ye Jian loitering in front of him reminded him he still had one subordinate who had dared to defy his orders.

Xuan Zhao Ran said, “Crown Prince Brother, why not let Ye Jian come back with me? That way you won’t have to send Ye Chen or Ye’an to escort me back to Xuanzhao.”

Xuan Yanyu studied her for a moment, then let out a quiet, dismissive sound. “Go and summon Ye Jian.”

Ye’an, hearing the instruction, withdrew from the chamber.

Xuan Zhao Ran’s heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling about this.

In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Ye’an returned with Ye Jian.

“Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince.” Ye Jian knelt and performed a full formal bow.

Ye Chen’s throat tightened slightly. When had he become so haggard?

“Let him get up.” Yan Yunning tugged on the man’s arm.

No acknowledgment, no permission for Ye Jian to rise — so frightened was Ye Jian that even his injured hands, flat against the floor, were trembling.

“What did Xuan Zhao Ran come to Qilan for?” Xuan Yanyu’s voice carried no warmth — nor any invitation for Ye Jian to stand and answer.

“In reply to Your Highness…”

“Crown Prince Brother! I came to Qilan because I missed you.” Xuan Zhao Ran cut in before he could finish.

The man lowered his gaze to Ye Jian. “Speak.”

Yan Yunning studied the man’s profile. He had already deduced the reason Ranran had come to Qilan? His perceptiveness — quite something.

Xuan Zhao Ran’s hand clenched tightly into a fist.

“In reply to Your Highness — the Fifth Princess came to Qilan to look for A’Ci.” Ye Jian did not dare to conceal it.

Xuan Zhao Ran’s heart sank.

“Why look for A’Ci?” Xuan Yanyu’s eyes narrowed. A moment later it came to him — A’Ci had once served in the Ranle Palace, and had been Ranran’s personal attendant.

Yan Yunning was startled. She raised her eyes and met the man’s gaze. She shook her head. “I don’t know. A’Ci never told me.”

Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow. “So then — it’s that you have feelings for A’Ci, and A’Ci has not returned them?”

Xuan Zhao Ran’s brow furrowed as she shot back, “That’s not it. A’Ci said that in his family, no younger sister may marry before her older brother has taken a wife. Crown Prince Brother — when are you marrying Lingning?”

If he delayed any further, her own marriage prospects would be affected.

“Early next year.” The man looked down at Yan Yunning as he said it.

Imperial Father had given him a deadline in Qilan that was now less than ten months away. During these remaining months, he could be at Yan Yunning’s side every day.

Once he returned to Xuanzhao, it would not be as easy to spend time freely with her as it was here in Qilan.

The moment he fulfilled the deadline Imperial Father had set and returned to Xuanzhao, the very first thing he intended to do was complete the wedding.

Yan Yunning: “……”

Really?

He truly had no intention of asking her?

Whether she was willing to marry in the new year??

“Then I’ll also marry A’Ci next year.” Xuan Zhao Ran said shyly.

Xuan Yanyu looked at her with amused eyes. “Xuan Zhao Ran, you really are foolish. Younger sisters cannot marry before an older brother has taken a wife — that line was obviously A’Ci stringing you along.”

Xuan Zhao Ran’s expression froze. She knew that — so why did he have to say it out loud and upset her?

Yan Yunning reached out and poked Xuan Yanyu’s cheek. “Could you let Ye Jian get up first, and then finish your conversation with Ranran?”

Xuan Yanyu held her in his arms and leaned back in the wooden chair, eyes half-closed, saying nothing.

Yan Yunning caught Ye Chen’s eye and nodded toward Ye Jian. “Quickly go and help Ye Jian up.”

Ye Chen shifted his feet but didn’t dare go forward. His Highness had given no such order — how could he dare?

Ye’an kept his head down, dreading the possibility that Yan Yunning might call on him to do it instead.

“……” Yan Yunning quietly pinched Xuan Yanyu on the waist and leaned close to his ear, issuing a low threat. “Say something — tell Ye Jian to get up.”

This was the ancient era, but in a room full of people, Ye Jian was the only one on his knees. If it were her, she would feel thoroughly humiliated.

At the root of it all, it was because Ye Jian had withheld the antidote from her that Xuan Yanyu was treating him this way. She was afraid that Ye Jian might, in time, come to resent her for it.

She had watched plenty of videos in her past life — so many about how servants came to harbor a growing bitterness against their masters over small grievances.

More than that, Ye Jian was kneeling there shaking visibly, and she was afraid he might suddenly faint.

“Yan Yunning, you have some nerve.” Xuan Yanyu took her hand away, his voice coming out low and muffled. “You actually dared to pinch this Palace — over Ye Jian, of all people.”

Yan Yunning glanced awkwardly at the others in the room, then turned back and murmured softly, “Can’t you just let Ye Jian get up? Crown Prince — be a little more magnanimous, won’t you? Don’t trouble yourself over this.”

Kneeling on the floor, Ye Jian listened to all of this, and something difficult stirred in him. Second Miss Yan really had no obligation to look out for him. Knowing His Highness’s temperament as well as he did, His Highness would be angry any moment now.

“Is this about troubling myself over him?” Xuan Yanyu said patiently. “Do you know — if you had not taken the antidote in time, if you had lost consciousness in the middle of it without the antidote on hand, you might never have woken up again?”

“And yet you pinched this Palace twice over him. The one who should have come to plead for him is Yan Shiyao — not you.”

Yan Yunning said wearily, “Xuan Xixi, can you look at the state he’s in? By the time my sister comes to plead for him, he’ll have fainted.”

Ye Jian had chosen not to save her for the sake of his own survival. From here on, she would simply treat him as a stranger. At the heart of it, the fault lay with Mu Rong. Ye Jian’s only wrong was in not listening to Xuan Yanyu.

Xuan Yanyu was the Crown Prince — the future Xuan King. If he did not restore Ye Jian to his position, a disloyal and insubordinate guard with no standing would have no easy road ahead in the Xuan Royal Palace. And seeing him now, he looked visibly worn down and wretched.

If Xuan Yanyu continued to hold this over him after they returned to the Xuan Royal Palace, Ye Jian’s life there would only grow harder. Could Ye Jian withstand that? Having already chosen himself over her once — if his life turned miserable because of it, could she truly be sure he wouldn’t come to hate her for it?

“What concern is that of yours?” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze sharpened.

“……” Yan Yunning stopped arguing and closed her mouth.

Xuan Zhao Ran, having listened for a good while, began to piece it together — Ye Jian must have disobeyed Crown Prince Brother’s orders and been expelled from the Crown Prince’s household as a result.

If she hadn’t known Crown Prince Brother’s attitude toward Ye Jian at the start, she certainly did now. There was absolutely no way Ye Jian was going back to the Crown Prince’s household.

Crown Prince Brother had merely expelled Ye Jian rather than doing something far worse — that alone was already a great mercy to Ye Jian.

Yan Yunning stole a glance at the man holding her in his arms. He was pressing his lips together right now, not even looking her way — and once again… he was angry!!!

“Everyone out.”

Ye Chen, hearing the order, walked briskly over to Ye Jian and helped him up from the floor.

After everyone had withdrawn from the chamber, Yan Yunning stared at the large, knuckled hand resting at her waist. This “everyone” hadn’t included her??

She tried to move the man’s hand aside and slip out to follow Xuan Zhao Ran and the others.

Xuan Yanyu stared at her, his tone even. “Where are you going?”

“Everyone out — I’m going out too.” Yan Yunning tilted her head slightly and met his gaze.

“Has this Palace or has this Palace not told you — don’t pity Ye Jian. Pardon him once, and the next time he’ll do the same thing. Why don’t you listen? And when this Palace says everyone out, you listen to that?”

“I won’t do it again.” Yan Yunning flattered him with a soft kiss to his cheek.