After such a bizarre occurrence, the atmosphere in the whole Lord Protector’s Manor was very depressing. All the servants were trembling with fear. They were afraid that if they were not careful, they would make their masters angry and get themselves killed.
The news that an orphan girl had been tortured to death in the backyard of the Lord Protector’s Manor spread very quickly. Everyone was concerned about this matter. But there was another thing that had quietly started. Prince Yi’s, the Third Prince’s, and the Fourth Prince’s marriage partners had already been settled. Then, they needed to go through the preparation process.
In order to show that Prince Yi was different from the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, Prince Yi’s marriage would be held one month earlier than that of the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince. Prince Yi would get married immediately. However, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince had to get married after one month. His two nephews could only get married after Prince Yi got married.
Whether it was in terms of seniority or status, this was reasonable. After discussing these processes in the court, they were ready to send gifts to the Lord Peace’s Manor.
For some unknown reasons, Prince Yi’s gifts had not been sent out yet. Boasting about his sister, who was about to become Prince Yi’s consort, a cousin of Commandery Princess Xianyun showed off in front of others. While drinking and eating at a girlie restaurant, he fought with a guy, and he beat that guy to death on the spot.
Initially, as long as the other party did not pursue the matter, it would be fine. However, the other party did not take this lightly. The dead man was related to an imperial concubine. By the time the Lord Peace’s Manor found about this matter, something had already happened in the imperial court. The imperial concubine cried in front of the imperial study and said that her family had only this one son for several generations in a patrilineal line of descent.
The emperor was furious and sent people to summon Lord Peace and Prince Yi. Lord Peace came soon. However, the eunuch, who went to call Prince Yi, came back and reported that he could not find him, because Prince Yi was dealing with the rebellion in Annan State outside. The people of Prince Yi’s Manor made an apology to the emperor and said that they would ask him to come to the palace after they found the Prince.
Since the new dynasty had just been established for more than ten years, most places had already been conquered, but Annan had always been a big threat to them. Initially, Annan had turned traitor and had gone over to the new dynasty. To subdue them at that time, the former emperor appointed the three kings of Annan, and then they surrendered.
Unexpectedly, when the late emperor passed away, the Annan State became restless. These days, it seemed that they had secretly wanted to become independent and might launch a rebellion. More than a decade ago, the former dynasty was wiped out. Many treasures were destroyed in the fire, and then the palace was rebuilt. The national treasury was empty, so it was tough to take action at this time. Therefore, the emperor adopted a conciliatory policy and wanted to offer amnesty and enlistment to the rebels.
Most of these things were now under Prince Yi’s control. Compared with that, the fight between playboys was indeed a minor issue. Moreover, it was not related to Ao Chenyi. After all, Commandery Princess Xianyun was not his consort yet.
The emperor wanted to pass the problem onto Ao Chenyi, but he could not come up with an excuse. He was still not in the manor, and the servants in the mansion said that he had gone out to settle some matters, so they were unable to locate him at this time. In desperation, the emperor could only suppress his anger and deal with this matter himself, with a cold face.
Ao Chenyi was indeed not in the manor at this time. His courtyard was not big, which was the place he had arranged for Ning Xueyan.
Ning Xueyan had been “invited” by him again.
There was a flower shelf hanging in the middle of the courtyard, which was full of blooming roses. Clusters of light blue flowers were scattered among the flowers. Some of them trailed down, which made them look very eye-catching.
Under the flower shelf, Ao Chenyi leaned against a couch, lazily basking in the sun. He glanced at Ning Xueyan, who was sitting next to him, with a smile on his handsome face.
“How about your dowry? In three months, it will be time for the wedding. Don’t be late.” The drawling voice, coupled with his leisurely appearance, made it hard for people to believe that this was Prince Yi, who was so busy that he did not even have time to go to the imperial palace.
“Prince Yi, three months later, it will be your wedding day.” Ning Xueyan reminded him helplessly. She did not know why he was so persistent. He summoned her here early in the morning just to tell her about it. It was so dull.
“I know. I want you to know so you can tell me what you need.” Ao Chenyi nodded freely, as if he had not seen the grievance on Ning Xueyan’s face. He narrowed his long and narrow eyes, and seemed to be in a good mood.
Ning Xueyan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly avoided his beautiful eyes and asked, “Prince Yi, what do you mean?”
“Yan’er, don’t you understand what I mean?” Ao Chenyi lazily raised his eyebrows and looked at her with interest.
“I don’t understand,” Ning Xueyan said quickly.
“Since you don’t understand, I’ll make it clear that I want to marry you and the Commandery Princess Xianyun at the same time.” Ao Chenyi seemed to be dissatisfied with Ning Xueyan’s pretense, and his voice was filled with coldness.
“What?” Ning Xueyan was shocked and suddenly raised her head.
It was the first time that one married a consort and a co-consort together. It had never happened before. Usually, one married the consort first, and then married the co-consort. When did one ever marry them together?
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you satisfied?” Ao Chenyi raised his eyebrows, as if he was challenging her.
“I… I’m not. But Prince Yi, it’s against the rules.” Ning Xueyan instinctively wanted to resist, but when she saw the coldness in his eyes, she had to lower her voice.
“Rules? Don’t worry. I’ll let it be according to the rules. This time, I am just informing you and might ask you to perform another play acting by the way. After all, you’re my favorite concubine, but you have not shown up in public for a long time. Others may think that you’ve fallen into disfavor.” Ao Chenyi had a domineering look on his handsome face.
Talking about his favorite concubine, she had not played that role for a long time. Ao Chenyi found a garden here to serve as her transfer station in order to prevent her from being noticed, when she came out of the Lord Protector’s Manor. However, it seemed that she had not been using it for some time already.
This place was empty. This should be different from Ao Chenyi’s original plan! Was he doing this to show that he had changed his mind?
“Prince Yi, should I put on an act for the Third Prince this time?” Ning Xueyan collected her thoughts uneasily and raised her head, trying hard to maintain her calmness.
“No, of course not. I’m going to get married this time, and I don’t have time to play with Ao Mingyu.” Ao Chenyi shook his head with a cold smile on his face. He suddenly turned to look at Ning Xueyan and stared at her. Ning Xueyan became more and more uncomfortable. She bit her lip, but did not know what to say next.
“Yan’er, why don’t you tell me what happened at the Lord Protector’s Manor recently?” As expected, Ao Chenyi asked about the incident that had happened in the Lord Protector’s Manor. The most important thing should be about that incident in the Cloud Reflection Courtyard.
“Prince Yi, Sister Ziying died due to injustice.” Ning Xueyan gritted her teeth and suddenly raised her head to face Ao Chenyi. Her eyes turned red for no reason.
She knew that she should give a more detailed explanation, but this was her secret. She was not willing to share this secret with anyone. Her rebirth was strange and inexplicable. She did not want others to treat her as a monster. But would Ao Chenyi, the cold-blooded Prince Yi, believe her?
“So, you’re helping her to take revenge?” Ao Chenyi raised his eyebrows. He did not intend to ask her how she knew about it but asked her this.
After a moment of hesitation, Ning Xueyan bit her lip and nodded. She said seriously, “I’m also helping myself.”
She was indeed helping herself. She had always been helping herself. She could only help herself. She had no parents to protect her. She came out of self-isolation and weakness. She took on a new lease of life and struggled to survive. She had no choice, but to resort to scheming, because she was weak. She had to risk danger, due to desperation.
However, even if it was not the case, so what?
“I’ll help you in the future,” Ao Chenyi said lazily and casually. His eyes were as gentle as drifting clouds. Her words were not clear, but he did not ask her why. He was so shrewd that he should know that it was a pretext. However, he did not ask her in his usual aggressive manner, which was different from his usual cold and fierce look.
As a lump came into her throat, she could not help biting her pale lips. A faint fog appeared in her dark jade-like eyes. A trace of sadness that she could not control surged up in her heart. Even though she was trying hard to suppress it, she could not contain it. Moreover, it was as if there was a force that surged from her heart.
Ning Xueyan turned her head subconsciously and felt wronged. Suddenly, her hand was caught, and a strong force pushed her forward uncontrollably, which made her fall into a firm embrace. She lowered her head and knocked into the chin of the person in front of her.
“What’s going on? Why are you crying?” Ao Chenyi sat up straight and asked in surprise, as he looked at the girl in his arms, who was trying hard to hold back her sadness. Her eyes were red with sorrow and grievance, and a trace of profoundness flashed in her eyes.
Ning Xueyan did not speak, but lowered her head and allowed herself to lie stiffly in Ao Chenyi’s arms. She pursed her lips and subconsciously clenched her fists. She was filled with fear. In Ning Xueyan’s memory, Xia Yuhang seemed to have said something like that as well. But his voice sounded much softer than that of Ao Chenyi.
However, the man who spoke in such a soft voice was so relentless in the end, and his hands were stained with her blood.
The person in front of her was not him, but Ao Chenyi, the bloodthirsty prince, who was said to be the Asura. His voice was always cold, which seemed to emit chills all the time. However, when he said these words, it made her feel that he was different from Xia Yuhang.
They were not the same. They were different!
After Ning Ziyan had that illicit affair with Xia Yuhang, they framed Ning Ziying, by proving that she was having an affair with someone else. Xia Yuhang watched Madam Ling and her daughter humiliate Ning Ziying and drowned her in the lotus pond. Both his gentleness and his love for Ning Ziyan were goal-directed. In the end, everything became what Ning Ziying saw through the bloodied water in the lotus pond.
Tears slid down silently. No matter how strong she was, at this time, all she wanted was to find a firm embrace. After her rebirth, she was treading on thin ice. She had been careful about other people’s plans. She had no choice, but to rely on others. She had never thought that someone would do this for her.
