In the room, a broken cup was on the ground, and the tea inside spilled all over the floor.
On the bed, Princess Caifeng was dressed thinly and leaned against King Yan Feng Yulei’s chest. Feng Yulei held her waist with one hand. The two cuddled together tightly. Hearing others’ footsteps, they looked up together. At the sight of You Yue’e’s pale face at the door, Feng Yulei subconsciously put down his hand, stood up quickly, and took a few steps back.
Princess Caifeng’s reaction was to pull her collars up forcefully. Looking at the men at the door, she screamed subconsciously. Who could tell her what was happening? She just wanted to seduce Feng Yulei a bit. She had intentionally dropped the cup and screamed in shock. When Feng Yulei came to her, she threw herself into his embrace in a panic so as to make You Yue’e, who would come in later, feel terrible. It would be best if this could make her leave.
But what was with those men?
She was confident that You Yue’e would only suffer in silence and would not tell anyone about it. After all, this matter would damage Feng Yulei’s reputation. Furthermore, she did not really want to marry Feng Yulei. Ever since she entered the capital, she had only wanted to conquer Feng Yuran. She wanted to marry Feng Yuran.
Why did other people come in and see them?
“Your Highness, Your Highness, what’s wrong? What happened?” Hu Qianyue came out of nowhere, lifted her dress, and knocked Lian An, who was standing at the door, into the room. When she got in, she saw Feng Yulei was still grabbing a piece of arm gauze that Princess Caifeng had put on the table in the hast of retreating. She was so shocked that her face changed immediately.
“King Yan, what do you mean by this?” She pointed at the arm gauze hanging from Feng Yulei and her face darkened.
Feng Yulei had completely calmed down by then. He turned around and explained to Hu Qianyue, “Her Highness wanted to drink tea just now and the teacup fell to the floor. I thought I might just get it on me when I was helping Princess Caifeng pick up the teacup!” Even though he wanted Princess Caifeng to marry him, he could not let the Emperor find out about his plot. Otherwise, if the Emperor thought that he was deliberately plotting to force Princess Caifeng to marry him, he would get nothing.
What was more, it was not good for his reputation.
So he had to defend himself at this moment.
“Yes… yes, His Highness helped me…” Princess Caifeng’s face was blanched and then livid. She hurriedly played along with Feng Yulei’s story. However, there was a hint of panic in her expression. It made one feel that something was happening between the two of them and that no one else knew about it.
“Your Highness, Princess Caifeng is the Princess that our Emperor dotes on the most. She has come to the Qin Kingdom in order to marry into your country. Her Highness does not know the characters of the princes, so she wants to investigate. She had planned to learn about what kind of men the princes were while she is injured. That was why she let you in. But now… Your Highness, our Princess has lost her reputation. What… what should we do?”
The panic on Hu Qianyue’s face was just right, as if she did not know how to deal with it. She was just an unmarried girl of16 or 17, and it was normal for her to panic.
She had just left everything to Feng Yulei!
Princess Caifeng suddenly turned her head and looked at Hu Qianyue in disbelief!
You Yue’e walked in slowly to Feng Yulei, and bowed to Feng Yulei. Then, she turned to Princess Caifeng with a smile and said softly, “It turned out to be a misunderstanding. His Highness just helped Her Highness pick up a teacup, but Her Highness’s reputation was damaged. Your Highness, why don’t we go to Father and Mother to clarify it, and prove the innocence of Princess Caifeng?”
“Alright, I will listen to Consort Yan.” Feng Yulei was flustered and when he heard what You Yue’e said, he heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at You Yue’e gratefully and went up to hold her hand gently. It would be completely different if You Yue’e could testify for him. If she spoke up for him as his wife, it would make it seem that he did not do it on purpose.
If he really wanted to have anything to do with Princess Caifeng, he would not have brought You Yue’e with him. Furthermore, if he were to tell the Emperor, it would demonstrate that he was honest and right-minded. On the other hand, Princess Caifeng had lost her reputation and would not be able to marry anyone else. Then his wish could be considered realized.
This was the best solution. Feng Yulei was freed from the awkward situation immediately. How could he not be grateful to You Yue’e?
This was what they thought, which could settle the matter perfectly. As for Princess Caifeng, Feng Yulei felt that he had already won her heart. As long as he spoke up now, Princess Caifeng would definitely say “yes”. To become King Yan’s co-wife was not something that an ordinary person could imagine.
“No, I don’t want that,” Princess Caifeng cried as she heard that her fate had been decided by these people in a few word. She knew that she could only marry Feng Yulei if the matter were to be brought up in front of the Emperor of the Qin Kingdom. How could she be willing to do that? As such, she flew into a rage and screamed. She stretched out her hand and pointed at the few people in front of her. “How, how dare all of you to plot against me? My royal Brother, I’ll tell my royal brother that the Qin Kingdom dared to plot against the Princess from the Southern Barbarian Lands.”
She screamed loudly, and her face was stern! All of a sudden, everyone was stunned!
If she didn’t want to marry Feng Yulei, then what about what happened between her and Feng Yulei just now?
“Your Highness, you…” Hu Qianyue still wanted to say something, but was immediately interrupted by Princess Caifeng. She pointed at her with her finger and scolded, “Hu Qianyue, who told you to bring them into my room? He is a stranger man, but without my consent, he entered my room. How did you deal with this matter?”
“But, Your Highness, didn’t you allow that?” Hu Qianyue asked with a bitter face.
“If I allowed it, why didn’t I know that? I was resting just now. You said that Consort Yan came to visit. Consort Yan is a woman, so I naturally allowed her in. But why King Yan is also here? Hu Qianyue, who are you conspiring with to harm me?” Princess Caifeng pointed at Hu Qianyue with an angry face and put all the blame on her. She now had a bad feeling that Hu Qianyue was not here to help her, but was here to hurt her.
At this time, she remembered that Hu Qianyue was her third brother’s cousin. Her third brother and her elder brother had always been against each other, and she was on her elder brother’s side. Then Hu Qianyue had a reason to hurt her. Princess Caifeng had trusted her so much before, but now she dared to betray her. At this moment, she was regretful and hateful. She just wanted to put all the blame on Hu Qianyue.
Hu Qianyue’s eyes turned red as she was scolded, and her tears burst out. She pointed at the two palace maids standing on either side of her and explained timidly, “Your Highness, how… how… could you say that? They both saw and heard it when you issued the order.” These two were the personal palace maids of Princess Caifeng who had just gone out to look for You Yue’e with Hu Qianyue.
“Yes, Your Highness. We heard what you said clearly when you ordered Miss Hu. Why…” The two palace maids looked at the furious Princess Caifeng fearfully, with a look of shock and confusion on their faces.
“Get out, get out, get out of here, I don’t want to marry him. I won’t marry him even if I die.” Princess Caifeng was furious and gnashed her teeth in hatred. At this time, she understood Hu Qianyue’s methods. Even the two palace maids beside her were Hu Qianyue’s people. How could she get this matter straight? Moreover, she had really said those words. Originally, she planned to trick You Yue’e, but she did not expect that Hu Qianyue actually played her!
“What happened?” A cold question came from outside the door. Princess Caifeng, who was so enraged that she wanted to kill, immediately calmed down in the room. Her fingers trembled and she pulled the corner of the quilt. Her lips trembled and she suddenly cried out loud, “Elder Brother, Elder Brother, help me. Third brother and these people plotted against me!”
Anyway, she was not in the Southern Barbarian Lands at this time, so she did not have to care about her third brother’s power!
Unable to marry King Xuan, Princess Caifeng was filled with hatred!
“What’s this racket about?” The curtain was lifted and Crown Prince Xieyue appeared at the door. He looked pale and sick. He glanced at everyone present and especially squinted at King Yan’s face. A trace of coldness tugged at the corner of his mouth. There was a flash of light in his eyes, and then his eyes fell on Princess Caifeng.
“As a girl, you should behave. Miss Hu, help Princess clean up the room. Don’t get her too excited. If she continues to make a fuss, the wound on her face will leave a permanent scar.” Crown Prince Xieyue looked at Princess Caifeng’s blood-stained veil and narrowed his eyes slightly.
A permanent scar meant that her face was really disfigured! Princess Caifeng was so frightened that her face turned pale. She picked up a handkerchief and touched her face. Indeed, she saw a patch of blood on her handkerchief. She was immediately dumbfounded. Her body tilted and she fell backward!
The palace maids hurried forward to help her clean up. The others left the room together. Crown Prince Xieyue led the crowd to the front room and sat down according to their statue. Lian An was asked to stay as a witness. Crown Prince Xieyue looked at Feng Yulei and asked, “Your Highness, King Yan, how are you going to solve this?”
He threw the problem directly to Feng Yulei. In any case, this matter must have something to do with him.
“Crown Prince, no matter what, the Princess’s reputation has been ruined. I am willing to take responsibility.” Feng Yulei looked up with a serious expression on his face, as if he was willing to marry Caifeng for the sake of her reputation.
You Yue’e did not say anything else. There was a hint of laughter flashing across her eyes. However, her expression was truly calm. Princess Caifeng had cried that she did not want to marry Feng Yulei earlier, which had turned into a thorn in Feng Yulei’s heart. No matter whether Princess Caifeng would marry into King Yan’s Manor in the future, the proud Feng Yulei would never love her.
“Since Your Highness is willing to take responsibility, then when are you planning to officially marry Caifeng?” A slight smile appeared on the lips of Crown Prince Xieyue, which showed that he was satisfied with Feng Yulei.
This matter went so smoothly that Feng Yulei almost couldn’t believe it. He was relieved at once. He had been worrying that Crown Prince Xieyue would demand him to do something in conflict of his own interest just now. Unexpectedly, Crown Prince Xieyue didn’t mention it at all.
In order to show his sincerity, Feng Yulei nodded and said wholeheartedly, “I will go to the palace as soon as possible to ask for an imperial edict from my Father, allowing Princess Caifeng to marry into my manor as soon as possible. I promise here that I will never let her down.”
“That will do. In order to show Your Highness’s desire to marry the princess, Your Highness, please leave a token.” Prince Xieyue did not make things difficult for him. Thinking for a moment, he explained politely, “Caifeng hates being plotted against the most. Generally speaking, she was wronged today, so she snapped like that. Your Highness, please forgive her. She is just a little girl. Facing such a sudden and big change, she didn’t know what to say. If she has offended Your Highness, please forgive her!”
Feng Yulei also saw through this matter. It seemed that Princess Caifeng had been set up by the lady beside her. Originally, he was full of hatred and anger towards Princess Caifeng as he felt that she insisted on not marrying him, which made him lose face. And she implied that he and Hu Qianyue had worked together to frame her, which made Feng Yulei very unhappy.
But on second thought, he felt that her reaction was reasonable. A girl would indeed be confused after experiencing a sudden change. It also explained the complete change in her attitude before and after. In order to show how much attention he attached to Princess Caifeng and to please Crown Prince Xieyue, he immediately took off his jade pendant hanging at his waist, which symbolized his status as a prince.
“Your Highness, I’ll give this to Princess Caifeng as a token of our engagement.”
There was only one of such a jade pendant for each prince, representing their identity. It was even said that it was the betrothal gift the prince sent to his wife. However, this was not included in the betrothal gifts sent to You Yue’e by King Yan’s Manor. Later she noticed that Feng Yulei had always taken it with him, and she thought that he really liked it. As such, she did not mind it. However, Feng Yulei surely meant different when he took it out at this point. You Yue’e watched Crown Prince Xieyue take it with satisfaction.
You Yue’e’s expression changed drastically and she almost fell off the stool…
