“I despise you now as well.” Yan Yunning pushed down the surge of emotion rising in her chest.
“Yan Yunning, are you unwell?” Xuan Yanyu’s expression darkened, and he said coolly, “If this Prince were you, I would not give up the position of Empress of Xuanzhao to say I despise this Prince. Nor would I tell this Prince that you once intended to poison him.”
She would agree to anything he said — so why be foolish enough to push him away?
“But I don’t wish to be your Empress of Xuanzhao.” Yan Yunning’s heart clenched, and tears blurred her vision without warning. “Xuan Yanyu, I don’t want to marry you. I don’t want to have your children either.”
“Ha.” Xuan Yanyu’s throat bobbed twice, his gaze heavy and dark as he looked down at her. “This Prince doesn’t necessarily need to marry you. This Prince will comply with Royal Father’s wishes and marry A’Yao. Whether or not this Prince returns to Xuanzhao is none of Second Miss Yan’s concern.”
Every time she said she was unwilling to marry him — he didn’t have the patience to keep asking her why.
Yan Yunning’s lashes trembled. If he married A’Jie, Qi Qingchen would……
She wanted him to be safe and well.
“Second Miss Yan, the jade pendant and the bracelet this Prince gave you — take them off. This Prince wishes to have them cleaned before presenting them to A’Yao.” The man said indifferently.
Yan Yunning lowered her eyes, opened her pouch, and took out the jade pendant. The bracelet was rather tight. Yan Yunning’s brow furrowed as she forced it off her wrist; the bone of her wrist was left with a ring of red marks where it had dug in.
Xuan Yanyu’s brow creased.
“Xuan Xi……Xuan Yanyu, you……”
Never mind. She just had to keep a close eye on A’Chen. Without A’Chen, her A’Jie would have no reason to ally with Qi Qingchen. When the day came that she could finally go home, she would instruct A’Chen properly then.
Yan Yunning extended the jade pendant and bracelet toward Xuan Yanyu.
Xuan Yanyu’s throat tightened; he couldn’t make a sound. He glanced indifferently at Ye Jian.
Ye Jian, his own brow furrowed, stepped forward. “Second Miss Yan, let me take them.”
Yan Yunning lowered her head, and a tear slipped free before she could stop it.
Xuan Yanyu’s fingers lifted involuntarily — he wanted to wipe away her tears.
Yan Yunning used the back of her hand to brush away the tear, then closed her hand around the man’s where it hung at his side and placed the jade pendant and bracelet in his palm.
“Xuan Yanyu, after you return to Xuanzhao, if anything important arises, keep a distance from my A’Jie.” Yan Yunning’s tears slid down silently. “I’m worried that because of my A’Jie’s relationship with Qi Qingchen, she might do something that works against you.”
If she didn’t say it, Xuan Xizi would refuse to acknowledge her afterward……
“Is Second Miss Yan reminding this Prince in the capacity of a younger sister?” Xuan Yanyu withdrew the hand she had been holding and said coolly, “But A’Yao will be this Prince’s Crown Princess. Why should this Prince listen to you, a younger sister, and keep a distance from A’Yao?”
“Between Second Miss Yan and A’Yao, this Prince can still tell who is more important. Second Miss Yan, do not stir up discord between this Prince and A’Yao in the future. This Prince will not heed you.”
Yan Yunning gave a small nod, her nasal passage stinging. “I understand. I’ll head back to the residence first.”
After Yan Yunning had been gone for quite some time, Ye Jian cautiously said, “Your… Your Highness, this subordinate will go and clean the jade pendant and bracelet.”
“No need.” The man exercised great restraint over his emotions. “She doesn’t truly want to separate from this Prince.”
If she truly wanted to part from him, she would not have shed tears.
If she truly despised him, she would not have warned him to keep his distance from Yan Shiyao.
She had instinctively almost called him Xuan Xizi. When he had Ye Jian take the jade pendant and bracelet, she had lowered her head and cried. If she truly despised him, how could she have taken the initiative to hold his hand and place the jade pendant and bracelet directly in his palm?
But what exactly was she worried about?
Was she afraid he would fail her in the future?
Or was she afraid of marrying far away to Xuanzhao and missing home?
What was there to miss about the Prime Minister’s manor?
He could also petition the Qi Emperor to permit her entire family to settle permanently in Xuanzhao.
She couldn’t shake him off. He would absolutely not let her go.
“Your Highness, but Second Miss Yan did once try to harm you.” Ye Jian’s brow knotted tightly. “Your Highness, since Second Miss Yan truly does not wish to be with you, perhaps it would be best to let it go. We came to Qilan for the First Miss Yan in the first place. Your Highness, perhaps it is better this way.”
“This Prince came to no harm, did he? Ye Jian, this matter must not be disclosed to anyone.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice dropped low and heavy. “If Royal Father and Royal Mother were to find out, this Prince would not forgive you.”
“This subordinate understands.” Ye Jian lowered his head, his eyelids flickering.
It was hopeless. His Highness had been driven half-mad by Second Miss Yan. What did he mean by she doesn’t truly want to part from him? From where he stood, Second Miss Yan looked very much like she truly wanted to part from His Highness.
She had even tried to poison His Highness, and she still didn’t truly want to part from him?
Poison him to death and she really would be parting from him for good!
……
Third Prince’s Residence.
Yan Shiyao opened her eyes, met Qi Qingchen’s gaze, and raised her hand to slap him across the face.
“Yan Shiyao!” Qi Qingchen’s expression turned icy.
“How did I end up fainting??” Yan Shiyao rubbed her temple. “Was it you who……”
“You shouted yourself into fainting. What does that have to do with this Prince?” Qi Qingchen’s head was pounding with anger.
Why on earth had he brought her back to the residence!
Yan Shiyao scrutinized him with disbelief. “I shouted myself into fainting? That’s still your fault. If you hadn’t appeared in front of me, would I have shouted at you? If I hadn’t shouted at you, could I have fainted from emotional agitation??”
Qi Qingchen narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yan Shiyao, it was Jiang Jin who set you off, not this Prince. Why are you taking your resentment out on this Prince?”
“Isn’t she your side consort?” Yan Shiyao wore a smile on her face. “Aren’t you husband and wife? She even carries your child.”
“Husband and wife?” Qi Qingchen gave a cold laugh. “She’s just a side consort — she hardly counts as this Prince’s wife.”
Yan Shiyao raised an eyebrow.
“Your Highness, First Miss Yan.” Jiang Jin appeared at the door, eyes rimmed red and a bitter smile hanging at the corners of her mouth.
“Why did you come?” Qi Qingchen glanced at her.
Jiang Jin forced a smile. “Your Highness, I saw a physician outside the hall and thought you were ill. I wanted to come and check on you.”
Yan Shiyao curved her lips and looked at Qi Qingchen. He even called a physician for her?
It seemed he still had designs on her father and brother.
Then she would tell her father and brother: whichever prince they helped, it must not be Qi Qingchen.
“Is First Miss Yan the one who is unwell? What happened to her?” Jiang Jin pursed her lips. “Your Highness, why is First Miss Yan falling ill in our residence again?”
“Is First Miss Yan trying to frame me and His Highness again?”
Yan Shiyao gave a small laugh. “Side Consort Jiang has misunderstood. It was Qi Qingchen who brought me here.”
As she spoke, she looked toward Qi Qingchen, the smile at her lips deepening with a hint of intimacy. “Qi Qingchen, how did you bring me here? In your arms?”
Qi Qingchen took stock of her smiling face and gave a light, dismissive snort. “Yan Shiyao, what do you think? You fainted, after all — does this Prince look like someone who would drag you to his residence?”
Jiang Jin pressed her lips together, the dejection in her eyes impossible to conceal.
Yan Shiyao regarded Jiang Jin with cold eyes, unhurriedly drawling, “Side Consort Jiang, this subject-girl had no intention of framing you and the Third Prince. It was the Third Prince who brought me into the residence.”
Jiang Jin bit her lip and carefully tugged at Qi Qingchen’s sleeve. “Your Highness, that’s not what this concubine meant, this concubine……”
“That’s enough. Be quiet and stop provoking her.” Qi Qingchen rubbed his now-numb cheek.
Every time Jiang Jin stirred up Yan Shiyao, Yan Shiyao struck him. He took the slaps in her stead with no fault of his own.