After leaving the Prince Hao Residence, Xie Yun was still none the wiser that he was falling into a trap laid by the married couple. As he sat in the horse carriage from the Commandery Prince Residence, the corners of his mouth curled up, and his hands were balled up into fists before he relaxed them.
I’ve lost so many soldiers; I’m going to teach Pei Qianhao a lesson tomorrow.
The person he cares about the most is going to meet with great misfortune. Su Xi-er won’t die, but she won’t get away scot-free either. In fact, since they’re newlyweds, it would be better if I separated them for a good amount of time. With how much Pei Qianhao loves her, he’ll definitely be distraught over her disappearance, and dedicate all his time to looking for her. He won’t be able to interfere with matters of the court, and I’ll be able to make use of the time to snatch some of his power away.
The more he envisioned his plan panning out, the more satisfied he felt. Only when the horse carriage stopped in front of the Commandery Prince Residence was he pulled out of his reverie by the guard announcing their arrival.
Swiftly entering, Xie Yun didn’t go to Xie Liuli’s courtyard straight away, but headed for the study instead. He summoned a competent subordinate to lie in wait for an ambush on the mountain that was in front of Willow Village.
Willow Village was surrounded by mountains on all sides, forcing anybody who wanted to visit it to brave the rocky paths over the mountains. When Xie Yun had previously gone to Willow Village, he had found the precarious roads of this particular mountain extremely suitable for an ambush.
Everything will be set up tonight, and all we have to do is wait for Su Xi-er to travel to Willow Village tomorrow.
The subordinate bowed as he acknowledged the order, and he quickly left the Commandery Prince Residence. He swiftly gathered a group of people who would be going to the mountain with him tonight, preparing to lie in wait for Su Xi-er tomorrow.
After doling out the instructions, Xie Yun walked out of the study and headed for his sister’s courtyard.
Xie Liuli was indeed not feeling well. She was lying in bed, and despite feeling better after drinking a bowl of soup, she still found her whole body lacking strength.
“Commandery Princess, the Commandery Prince is here.” As soon as Xie Liuli’s personal maidservant reported, Xie Yun entered the room.
The maidservant immediately bowed and left, while Xie Yun sat in front of his sister’s bed. Looking at her flushed face, he reached out to touch her forehead. “Your fever has subsided.”
Having just gotten a little better, Xie Liuli’s thoughts were still slightly muddled as she asked, “Elder Brother, if the person you love doesn’t love you back, what would you do?”
My younger sister has never asked me about something like this.
Xie Yun couldn’t help but be shocked. “Why did you suddenly ask me this? Liuli, have you taken a fancy to a man you met while walking on the streets, and you still can’t forget him?”
“Elder Brother, you investigated him?” Xie Liuli started to panic as she used an arm to grasp Xie Yun’s sleeve.
Xie Yun’s face darkened, but upon seeing his younger sister sickly lying on the bed, he could only struggle to put on a normal expression. “I didn’t investigate him, nor will I do anything to him since you care about him so much. However, in exchange, you must forget about him, and I will find someone else for you. You should marry someone like the eldest son of the Chief Minister of Justice; he has both looks and talent, is proficient in literature and martial arts, and is also filial to his parents.”
“Elder Brother, I won’t marry.” Xie Liuli let go of his hand and turned away from him.
“Liuli, you shouldn’t strain yourself when you’re sick. In a human’s life, the main purpose of marrying is to reproduce and raise the next generation; how is it possible for so much of such love and feelings to exist? You’re not allowed to read those play scripts filled with such messy and nonsensical stuff from now on.”
Xie Liuli wasn’t willing to accept what he said, and became irritated. “Marrying is just for the sake of raising the next generation? Elder Brother, your brain is the one that is filled with messy and nonsensical stuff. You’ll understand when you meet someone you really like one day. It’s just that you haven’t met that someone yet.”
