“Mother had no choice. From the moment Lu Jin’an came into this household, she demanded that Mother transfer one of the legitimate daughters to her. Your father agreed, and Mother was unwilling too.” Chu Wantang dabbed at the corners of her eyes, squeezing out a few tears with the handkerchief in her hand.
This moment had turned out to be a perfect opportunity — having been “harmed” by Lu Jin’an into a miscarriage, and having even transferred a daughter to her besides, Chu Wantang needed to say nothing more. Everyone outside already knew she had suffered greatly in the Chancellor’s residence.
After all, how else would it look — that after being “harmed” into a miscarriage, she had still transferred “her own daughter” to that woman?
And with Yaoyao now bestowed as the Third Prince’s consort, the noble ladies of the capital had all taken Chu Wantang’s side. These past few days, the mistresses of various households had been coming to call on her.
Word was that the reason the master of the house had confined Lu Jin’an to the ancestral hall was that His Imperial Majesty Qi had applied pressure in court.
Of course — with the consort’s mother being wronged, word had naturally reached His Imperial Majesty Qi’s ears. He could hardly turn a blind eye. The master of the house had no evidence, but if Chu Wantang added a little more fuel to the fire, Lu Jin’an was certain to be driven out of the Chancellor’s residence.
Yan Shiyao’s eyes cooled. “Mother, I am going to look in on Lu Jin’an at the ancestral hall. Rest well.”
“Yaoyao, what are you going to the ancestral hall for?”
“Mother, rest well.” Yan Shiyao set down the medicine bowl and walked quickly out.
“This child!” Chu Wantang sighed. “Nanny Liu, Yaoyao has such a simple-hearted nature — she has probably gone to find Lu Jin’an on Yan Yunning’s behalf. I truly worry about her being bullied when she marries into the Third Prince’s household in the future.”
Nanny Liu waved her hand. “No, no, Madam. It will not come to that.”
Chu Wantang looked at her, unable to make sense of what she was waving about.
……
Walking out of Tangyuan Pavilion, Yan Shiyao ran into Yan Shiyu and Lou Ao, who had come to visit Chu Wantang.
“Elder Sister.” Yan Shiyu gently pulled her hand free of Lou Ao’s and stepped forward with a smile to greet her.
“Mm.” Yan Shiyao glanced at Lou Ao, who was attentively supporting Yan Shiyu, and pressed her lips together in a small smile. “Third Sister, look at how anxious Little Marquis is.”
Yan Shiyu laughed. “Elder Sister, are you heading back to your courtyard?”
“I have something to attend to at the ancestral hall. Go on in with Little Marquis.” Yan Shiyao paused, then smiled again. “Stay in the estate tonight and come to my courtyard for the evening meal.”
“Gladly.” Yan Shiyu beamed, her brows curving with delight.
Watching Yan Shiyao’s retreating figure, Yan Shiyu poked the man at her side with her fingertip. “I feel like Elder Sister seems different from usual.”
“Perhaps now that her position has changed, her bearing has changed as well,” he said.
Yan Shiyu gave him a light punch and laughed playfully. “Just because she now knows she is the Third Prince’s consort, she changed the character she has had for over twenty years? Then if I were to learn right now that His Imperial Majesty Qi had bestowed a title on me, wouldn’t I…”
“My Lady!” Lou Ao put on an aggrieved face. “How could His Imperial Majesty possibly compare to this marquis? He is so much older too.”
Yan Shiyu dissolved into helpless laughter, tears pricking at her eyes. “Be careful someone hears you. If word gets back to Father, you will be in for a beating when you get home.”
“Then, My Lady, please put in a good word for me with Father — My Lady would not want to see her husband get beaten, right? Who else would look after you then?” Lou Ao grinned shamelessly.
“Not my problem,” Yan Shiyu said, turning her head away with deliberate hauteur.
“My Lady.” Lou Ao hooked his little finger around hers and leaned close. “Truly not going to look after this marquis?”
Yan Shiyu cleared her throat. “Come, come — let us go see Mother first.”
“Not going.” The man gripped her little finger stubbornly. “My Lady, tell me — who is better, this marquis or His Imperial Majesty Qi?”
Yan Shiyu: “……”
Did she dare say His Imperial Majesty Qi was not good?
“If you will not say it, this marquis will stand here and not move.”
Left with no choice, Yan Shiyu coaxed him along as one would a child. “You — you are better.”
The man smiled with a satisfied squint. “Let us go then, My Lady. Go see Mother.”
Yan Shiyu shook her head. Here was a man who was already a father — why was he growing more childish by the day??
……
Yuanjing Manor.
Yan Yunning covertly pinched Xuan Yanyu’s arm. These past few days, Ling Mianning had been so warm and attentive toward her that she was somewhat at a loss. If her guess was right, Ling Mianning wanted to be friends with her.
“What is it?” The man’s fingers, which had been absently twirling a strand of her hair, stilled.
Ling Mianning stared at Xuan Yanyu as he wound Yan Yunning’s hair around his finger, and could not help the ache that lodged in her heart, along with a stifling sense of dejection.
The day the Crown Prince had asked her to leave — had it not been for her body being truly too weak to endure the jolting of a carriage, she would have gone back to Xuanzhao by now.
She felt her health growing worse with each passing day, and so she had wanted to befriend the Second Young Miss of the Yan Family — that way she could stay close to the Crown Prince for a few more days. She did not ask for much. Just a few more glimpses of him. That would be enough.
Yan Yunning glanced at Ling Mianning, then gestured for Xuan Yanyu to lean down. He understood at once and bent to bring his ear near.
“Xuan Yanyu, keep your distance from me from now on.”
Ling Mianning’s constitution was frail — Yan Yunning could not bring herself to say anything harsh to her. But she had been hovering about for days now, even disrupting Yan Yunning’s peace. She could not simply put up with that just because the girl was unwell.
The reason Ling Mianning kept hanging around her was none other than Xuan Yanyu always being by her side. Since Xuan Yanyu’s admirers were his problem to handle, he might as well stay a bit further away from her for now. She was growing quite exasperated.
Xuan Yanyu turned to look at Ling Mianning and said coolly, “This is the last time. Return to the inn. If you still refuse to listen, this prince will no longer show consideration.”
Yan Yunning pressed her lips together. He could tell that she was asking him to keep his distance because of Ling Mianning?
His mind was that quick?
He was not easy to fool at all. If she were to deceive him in the future, she would need to think very carefully about how to go about it.
“Miss, it is time to head back to the inn. We are due to take your medicine,” Xiao Ying said, offering a graceful way out.
Ling Mianning smiled bitterly. “Crown Prince-ge, I want to go back to Xuanzhao.”
She was waiting — waiting for the Crown Prince to persuade her to stay. Her body at present could not withstand a long journey in a jolting carriage.
“Have you made up your mind? If you have, go.” The man was utterly indifferent.
Ling Mianning’s heart felt as though it were being squeezed shut by something. She was not the least bit special to the Crown Prince — he only looked after her out of consideration for her elder brother. It was time she accepted that clearly.
Over these past few days, she had seen what it looked like when the Crown Prince favored someone. He would coax her, indulge her, and personally peel fruit for her.
Even when the Second Young Miss of the Yan Family had bitten into a mandarin and found it too sour and handed it back, the Crown Prince had taken it from her without a second thought and put it in his own mouth.
None of the things he did were befitting of his station as Crown Prince — and yet he had set aside all of that, become an ordinary person, entirely for the Second Young Miss of the Yan Family.
How could she not envy that?
But what did envy matter? Even if the Crown Prince were to treat her the same way he treated the Second Young Miss of the Yan Family, she would still push him away.
She did not wish for him to grieve over her one day.
“Miss, let us return to the inn first and rest well for a few days before going back to Xuanzhao,” Xiao Ying said in a gentle voice of persuasion.
How could the miss be this unclear-headed — coming all the way to Qilan to make such a scene? If she had not come, the Crown Prince would still treat her as he always had.
Now that she had provoked the Crown Prince’s displeasure, once the miss’s status was stripped away, what would become of her in the household? The Madam would not even bother calling a physician for her anymore. How could the miss be so blind to what was good for her?
“Very well.” Ling Mianning could not help looking at Xuan Yanyu once more. “Crown Prince-ge, Second Young Miss Yan, I will rest for a few days and then return to Xuanzhao. I wanted to let you both know in advance — goodbye.”
This farewell was meant as a final parting.