The Western Princess rushed over to the three of them, surprised to see Xu Qingchen there as well. “Young Master Qingchen, why are you here too?” Though the Xu residence wasn’t enormous, it certainly wasn’t small either. The Western Princess had gotten lost in the garden, allowing Qingchen to catch up to Yun Ge first.
Xu Qingchen merely smiled faintly without speaking.
Beside him, Yun Ge wore a puzzled expression. “Um… Princess, why do you want to challenge me? And what does this have to do with Xu Qingchen?” She didn’t particularly care about winning or losing – if the Western Princess was so eager to win, she could just forfeit. But what did they mean about Xu Qingchen belonging to her if she won? Though Yun Ge was confused, seeing Young Master Qingchen’s pleasant smile, her instincts told her she absolutely couldn’t agree or forfeit carelessly.
The Western Princess was displeased, feeling that Yun Ge was deliberately playing dumb to avoid her challenge. Pouting, she said: “Aren’t you Young Master Qingchen’s fiancée? I like Young Master Qingchen, so I’m challenging you. If you lose, you have to give him to me!”
“What?!” Young Master Mei was shocked – Miss Shen was Young Master Qingchen’s fiancée? How had he not known such big news? He… he had tried to court Young Master Qingchen’s fiancée! Looking at Young Master Qingchen standing there smiling like the spring breeze, then looking at himself, Young Master Mei couldn’t help but weep inwardly.
“What…” Yun Ge blinked, completely bewildered. When had she become Xu Qingchen’s fiancée? No, that’s not right! She didn’t want to be Xu Qingchen’s fiancée! Being under his supervision now was already miserable enough – if she became his fiancée, wouldn’t she have to be buried in books for life? Yun Ge shook her head repeatedly with a bitter expression. She didn’t like studying.
“I…” Just as Yun Ge was about to say she surrendered, a gentle hand rested on her shoulder from behind. “Yun Ge…”
Yun Ge turned around and met Young Master Qingchen’s smiling eyes. But she saw the threat written in them – “Do you want to copy books again?”
Of course, Yun Ge didn’t want to copy books, so she could only submit to Young Master Qingchen’s intimidation. Looking somewhat pitifully at the Western Princess, she asked, “What do you want to compete in?” The sky was growing dark, and the Western Princess couldn’t see Yun Ge’s expression. After thinking for a moment, she said: “Let’s compete in martial arts!” The Western people valued martial prowess, but among Central Plains women, it seemed only the Definitive Prince Consort knew martial arts. The Western Princess looked at the divinely handsome Young Master Qingchen standing behind Yun Ge, her heart full of confidence.
“Yun Ge, you’re not allowed to lose,” Young Master Qingchen said softly with a smile.
Yun Ge trembled and nodded somewhat sadly at the Western Princess.
The Western Princess was naturally no match for Yun Ge. Though young, Yun Ge’s martial arts skills ranked among the best in Li City. However, because she was beautiful had a lively, lovable personality, and was under the care of Shen Yang and the Xu family, she rarely had opportunities to fight. So even in Li City, very few people knew she knew martial arts.
Thus, under Young Master Mei’s shocked gaze, the Western Princess was sent flying by Yun Ge in just three or four moves. Seeing Yun Ge’s skills, Young Master Mei felt even more ashamed – he had just boasted about protecting Miss Shen.
The Western Princess was also a straightforward woman. She had pursued Young Master Qingchen directly by challenging Yun Ge and wasn’t angry about losing. She stood up, dusted herself off, waved to Yun Ge, and left, not even sparing another glance at Young Master Qingchen.
The garden grew quiet again. Young Master Mei looked at the silent Xu Qingchen and Yun Ge standing before him, awkwardly rubbed his nose, and quietly slipped away.
Yun Ge stared somewhat dumbly at Xu Qingchen. She had never been particularly good at handling sudden situations, and this sudden talk of being a fiancée left her quite awkward and at a loss. “Um… Xu Qingchen, I’m going to go see Wuyou and Sister Tianxiang first. And… and don’t say weird things, I’m not your fiancée!” Without waiting for Xu Qingchen’s response, she immediately used her lightness skill to leap over the garden’s trees and fake mountains, hurrying toward Hua Tianxiang’s new room, looking as if she feared someone might chase after her.
Young Master Qingchen watched her rapidly vanishing figure with some resignation and sighed softly. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a muffled laugh came from the roof behind him. Young Master Qingchen turned around to see the Definitive Prince, who had disappeared not long after the banquet began, lazily sitting on the roof with the Definitive Prince Consort, watching the scene below with amusement. Seeing Mo Xiu Yao’s schadenfreude expression, it was clear he had watched everything from start to finish.
“Since when does the Definitive Prince peek at others’ private matters?” Xu Qingchen said irritably.
Mo Xiu Yao laughed heartily, one arm around Ye Li’s waist as he floated down from the roof, smiling at Young Master Qingchen: “This Prince has always enjoyed watching others’ misfortunes, hasn’t Young Master Qingchen known this?”
Ye Li smiled apologetically at Xu Qingchen and said softly: “Big Brother, did you perhaps frighten Yun Ge?” Ye Li had privately tested Yun Ge several times – that young girl had been raised by her father in the deep mountains with very little human contact, making her mentally less mature than most young women her age. She couldn’t even think about matters of love between men and women. At first, she had just found Xu Qingchen handsome and wanted companionship, so she had risked saving him. Later she discovered Xu Qingchen liked teaching others, while she was a poor student, leading to their current situation where the student feared the teacher, much like a mouse seeing a cat. If Xu Qingchen were to suddenly propose marriage now, Ye Li would bet that Yun Ge’s first thought would be that if they married, they would have to stay together forever and she would have to be taught by Xu Qingchen for life. So, Young Master Qingchen’s chances of a successful proposal right now were probably even lower than that of Young Master Mei from earlier.
“Are you trying to take a wife or find a student? This Prince has never seen anyone treat their future wife like a student, and even more strictly than regular students at that. Didn’t you see how that little girl wants to run away whenever she sees you?” Mo Xiu Yao lazily mocked. Even he could see how pitiful that young girl looked when she saw Xu Qingchen – both aggrieved and not daring to object. It was fortunate her parents were gone – if any man dared treat his precious daughter that way… His Highness would destroy him! The Prince thought murderously.
Xu Qingchen appeared lost in thought. Ye Li smiled gently and said: “Big Brother, Yun Ge has already learned very well. Even Sister Qin’er and First Aunt praise her highly. She has no interest in the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, or prose – you shouldn’t force her anymore.”
Mo Xiu Yao held Ye Li and smiled mischievously, “Be careful – if you push the little girl too far, you won’t be able to beat her, you know.”
“Thank you for Your Highness’s advice.” Young Master Qingchen said calmly, waved to Ye Li, and turned to leave. As he walked, the smile gradually faded from Young Master Qingchen’s lips. She doesn’t like it… Well then, he should tell her later that he won’t force her to study anymore. The little girl’s appearance when she didn’t want to study but was too aggrieved to voice her anger was quite adorable.
Xu Qingchen didn’t get the chance to tell Yun Ge his decision, because early the next morning, the Xu family discovered Yun Ge was gone. She hadn’t disappeared or been kidnapped – rather, Yun Ge had left a letter telling everyone she was going to travel the world practicing medicine. After staring at the elegant letter before him for a long while, Young Master Qingchen finally confirmed one thing – the little girl he had raised for over half a year had run away from home.
“Qingchen, look at this…” Madam Xu held Yun Ge’s letter with some difficulty, looking worriedly at her son, truly concerned about Young Master Qingchen’s expression. She had never seen such a pained look on her son’s face before, making Madam Xu both happy and worried. She was happy to finally confirm that her son truly felt differently about Yun Ge but worried that Yun Ge encountered any danger while alone outside. Moreover, seeing her son’s current expression, he would likely give her a harsh lesson when they found her – wouldn’t that just make Yun Ge fear him even more? Then when would she ever get a daughter-in-law?
After some thought, Madam Xu still decided to first guide her son, “Qingchen, don’t worry. I’ve already sent word to Li’er, we’ll find Yun Ge very soon. But when Yun Ge returns, you absolutely must not frighten her again. She’s just a young girl, and quite pitiful.”
Young Master Qingchen paused, looking at his mother and asking: “Mother, do you also think I treat Yun Ge poorly?”
Madam Xu couldn’t help but roll her eyes, lamenting: “What sin did I commit to give birth to such a foolish son? She’s just a girl of around fifteen – if you can’t speak gently and take care of her, that’s one thing, but you assign her piles of lessons every day, constantly saying this isn’t good and that isn’t good. Not just young girls, even grown men couldn’t stand this treatment. Haven’t you noticed even Qingyan fears you? It’s fortunate Yun Ge has a good temper – any other young girl would have turned against you long ago!” At this point, Madam Xu felt extremely bitter. People said she was blessed to have such good sons, but who could understand her suffering of having a son over thirty who still couldn’t find a wife? Their Xu family naturally looked down on women who threw themselves at them, but with her son’s foolish ways, he couldn’t marry women who didn’t approach him either. Look – they finally had an interested young lady, and in the blink of an eye she had been frightened away.
Young Master Qingchen naturally didn’t know his mother was disparaging him so thoroughly in her heart. He sat in a chair in the main hall, lowering his head in thought.
“First Aunt, Big Brother, what happened?” From outside, Ye Li hurried in, followed by the displeased Definitive Prince Mo Xiu Yao. Today was Xu Qingfeng and Xu Qingbai’s wedding, and everyone had stayed up late celebrating, so at this hour, only Madam Xu and Young Master Qingchen were in the Xu residence. After receiving Madam Xu’s message, Ye Li directly dragged Mo Xiu Yao over. Having his time with his beloved wife disturbed so early in the morning, the Prince’s displeasure was understandable.
Seeing Xu Qingchen sitting in the main hall, Mo Xiu Yao raised an eyebrow and smiled: “If it isn’t Young Master Qingchen? What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you frightened the young lady away. I think I just saw Shen Yang heading this way too. Losing someone’s daughter for no good reason, this is…”
“Xiu Yao!” Ye Li glared at Mo Xiu Yao in irritation, then looked at Xu Qingchen and said: “Big Brother, don’t worry, I’ve already sent people to search. We’ll have news soon.”
Mo Xiu Yao didn’t mind – seeing Xu Qingchen unhappy made him happy. Especially since the brilliantly intelligent Young Master Qingchen had frightened away the girl he liked. Xu Qingchen hadn’t married in all these years – could it be because he simply didn’t know how to pursue a beloved girl? Mo Xiu Yao thought uncharitably to himself.
Xu Qingchen nodded, giving Ye Li a faint smile: “Thank you.”
Ye Li shook her head: “Big Brother, what are you saying? We’re all family, no need for thanks. Yun Ge just left, she can’t have gone far.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Mo Xiu Yao leaned on Ye Li’s shoulder, smiling: “That young lady’s martial arts are quite good. And she’s also well-versed in medicine. If she’s unwilling to return, even Qilin might not be able to bring her back without hurting her. Oh yes… a precious horse from the Western Regions is missing from Shen Yang’s residence.”
Hearing his words, Xu Qingchen couldn’t help but frown. Western Region horses could travel a thousand li in a day – with Yun Ge riding through the night, who knew where she had gone by now.
Beside him, Madam Xu also looked very anxious, “What should we do? Li’er, please make sure the people you sent are very careful not to hurt Yun Ge. If she’s unwilling to return, don’t force her. It wouldn’t be good if she gets hurt.”
Ye Li smiled: “First Aunt, don’t worry. They’ll be prudent.”
“Reporting to Madam, Young Master – Mr. Shen has arrived,” a servant announced from outside. Before Madam Xu could speak, Shen Yang had already burst in, glaring fiercely at Xu Qingchen: “Young Master Qingchen, where has Yun Ge gone?”
Young Master Qingchen shook his head: “I don’t know.”
Shen Yang was furious, pointing at Xu Qingchen: “What exactly did you say to Yun Ge? Why would she suddenly run away from home?” Though their time together wasn’t long, Shen Yang already understood Yun Ge well. If there wasn’t truly something major, she wouldn’t leave Li City alone. Having lost her parents and lived alone for three years, Yun Ge greatly cherished her newly found home.
Mo Xiu Yao, ever eager to stir up trouble, smiled: “Young Master Qingchen told people Miss Shen was his fiancée. Perhaps Miss Shen was simply shy.”
Fiancée?!
Why did no one know Young Master Qingchen had a fiancée?!
In the main hall, both Madam Xu and Shen Yang were shocked – Madam Xu with joy, Shen Yang with anger.
Young Master Qingchen stood up, stopping what Madam Xu and Shen Yang were about to say, and said with a faint smile: “The most important thing now is to first find Yun Ge. Your Highness, I’ll have to trouble you to handle more of the governmental affairs at the Definitive Prince’s residence for a while.”
Huh? Mo Xiu Yao sat up straight alertly, staring at Xu Qingchen suspiciously, “What are you planning to do?” For some reason, he had a rather bad feeling.
Xu Qingchen looked at him, saying calmly: “Didn’t Your Highness say Yun Ge was frightened away by me? Shouldn’t I go find her and bring her back?”
“…” Could we pretend I never said that? The Prince, who had failed to stir up trouble and ended up losing more than he gained, felt extremely regretful.