Chapter 3 You Shouldn't Have Come Here

  Bing'er's face turned pale after hearing this. Before entering the mansion, she had already heard that Nan Mu Yu was a cold-blooded animal who didn't show any mercy to women except for his deeply loved Xiao Ruoluan. Last night was hers, although it was only half a night, but the suffering she endured wasn't small either.

  She came back to her senses and saw Bing Er's fearful eyes and pale face. Nan Mu You Xing took a few steps forward with great interest, stretched out his hand, hooked up Bing Er's chin: "You really would rather be a maid than be this prince's concubine?"

  Bing Er suddenly lifted her head, meeting Nan Mu's provocative gaze, and immediately lowered her head in fear. Her hands crossed involuntarily as she watched Xiao Sanzi's footsteps leave the room, and the crown prince even closed the door behind him, causing her heart to skip a beat.

  Yeyu Xiang turned around to see the door closed, her expression calm as she looked at the locked door, then glanced at Xiaosan's tense face, a faint smile appeared on her face.

  "Master, His Highness the Crown Prince... " Xiaoyu's face showed dissatisfaction on behalf of her master, as if she wanted to rush in and pull Bing'er out from inside.

  Xiao Sanzi awkwardly smiled, his whole face stiffening, and under the difficult circumstances he could only lower his head, as neither side could afford to offend.

  A gentle breeze blew by, and the fragrance of flowers wafted through the air. Ye Yuzhen took a deep breath, smiled in enjoyment, and closed her eyes before opening them again. With elegance, she turned around and stepped out of the courtyard with slow, lotus-like steps.

  "Master... Master..." The little fish reacted and hastily chased after him.

  Xiao Sanzi watched as the Crown Princess walked away, her back disappearing into the distance. He furrowed his brow in confusion. Turning around, he looked at the door again, and saw that it had been opened. The Crown Prince emerged from the room, having changed his clothes, with Bing Er following closely behind him, her face flushed bright red. Bing Er slightly lifted her head, a faint trace of blood visible on the corner of her mouth.

  As he walked out the door, Nan Mu's cold eyes scanned the courtyard and saw Ye Yuzhan's figure about to disappear into the doorway of the next courtyard. He turned his head and glanced at Bing'er, pulling her to his side and lowering his voice to say: "You'd better not disappoint this prince, otherwise you'll find out what it means to be worse off than dead."

  Bing Er's hand trembled slightly as she summoned up the courage to lift her head. His eyes looked so gentle, with a faint smile on his face, yet it made her feel even more flustered than if he hadn't smiled at all.

  Hahaha...... Hahaha......

  Kuang Xiao laughed and followed Nan Mu Yu towards Xiao Sanzi, who nodded and bowed as he trailed behind. The two of them chased after Ye Yuzhuan to the Emperor's Longqing Palace.

  Bing Er stood there, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. She narrowed her eyes to look in the direction they had left, and in her eyes, apart from hatred, was a fierce killing intent.

  ……

  There were many formalities in the palace, and after a few hours of fuss, Nan Mu Yu excused himself on the grounds that Ye Yuxuan was unwell and quickly left the place of contention. As soon as he walked out of the Fengyi Palace gate, Nan Mu Yu's attitude changed immediately, and he shook off Ye Yuxuan's hand, hurrying to rush out of the palace to see his beloved woman.

  Ye Yuxuan stared intently at the back of Nanmu Yu, and for this emotionless man, she didn't have any reluctance. However, the hope that was finally found might be on this man's body, and she couldn't give up for anything.

  Seeing the Crown Prince leave, Sanzi walked forward and asked: "If there's nothing else, wouldn't it be better for the Crown Princess to return to Zhao Ming Palace first?"

  Xiao Sanzi is not only a person by the side of the Crown Prince, but also a person by the side of the Empress. Ye Yushan deliberately added a sour tone to her words: "I thought I'd go out for a walk, anyway the Crown Prince isn't in the palace."

  *sigh*...

  Xiao Sanzi sighed, glanced around and took a few steps closer to the crown princess, lowering his voice: "Your Highness, the prince is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, don't take it to heart."

  "Thank you, Xiao Sanzi. I will slowly learn how to get along with the Crown Prince." The vinegar tone in Ye Yusan's voice was gone, replaced by a faint smile on her face.

  Xiao Sanzi nodded and was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and turned back to remind her: "Your Majesty, there are many taboos in the palace, you..."

  "It doesn't matter what you say!" Yeyu Xiang perked up her ears.

  The little three sons looked around cautiously again, making sure there was no one else nearby, and then lowered their voice: "Your Majesty, just now the prince was here, I didn't dare to say it. There are many taboos in the palace, especially about Huálíng Palace, you must never mention it in front of the emperor and empress, that is a great taboo in the palace."

  Hualing Palace?

  Ye Yuxuan remembered this name and nodded towards Xiao Sanzi. After finishing speaking, Xiao Sanzi swung his duster and went to other palaces.

  Her eyes rolled around, and Ye Yuxuan's mind flashed back to the palace map she had seen before. 'Huálíng Palace' seemed to be unmarked, apparently, her father didn't want to get close to that place either, which undoubtedly piqued her curiosity again.

  Seeing the curiosity flashing in Master's eyes, Little Fish worriedly shook Master's hand: "Master, you can't do this."

  "You go back to Zhao Ming Hall first, I have my own plan." Ye Yusan said and waved her hand.

  "Yes!" The little fish didn't dare say more and bowed his head slightly before following him out.

  ……

  The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, and the warmth on her skin made Ye Yusan feel uncomfortable. She squinted her eyes and used a silk scarf to cover her face, searching for the map she had seen in her mind. A bright spot flashed before her eyes, and among the three courtyard entrances in front of her, she chose the middle one and walked through it.

  Luxurious imperial palace, bright glazed tiles, shuttling on the road filled with seven-colored stones, along the white jade pavilion beside the corridor to the east palace.

  It's unclear if it was luck or not, but as she headed east, she only ran into the Duke and his servant, and didn't encounter any of the imperial consorts. Everything went more smoothly than expected, and soon she found the unmarked location on the map, catching sight of the dilapidated palace gates of Huangling Palace.

  The gate was half-closed, and curiosity compelled her to walk to the entrance. A gust of cold wind blew out from the door, and she couldn't help but shiver violently, raising her hand in mid-air, her eyes peeking through the gap in the door, a face hidden behind disheveled long hair startled her.

  Ah...

  She let out a scream at the pair of eyes in the gap above the door. She subconsciously covered her mouth with her hand and retreated several steps back in fear.

  "Crown Princess, you shouldn't have come here."

  The voice suddenly came from behind, Ye Yusan was startled again, and quickly turned around to see a serious-looking old man standing not far away.

  Ye Yuxuan sized up the old man in front of her, who was no longer young, with thick eyebrows and small eyes, his eyebrow hairs were somewhat white, and those eyes seemed to be full of inner meaning.

  "May I ask which palace is Your Excellency in?" she asked tentatively.

  "As for what the princess said, I am Xiao Jingzi, serving in the Empress Dowager's palace." The man who called himself Xiao Jingzi spoke politely, but a hypocritical smile appeared on his face.

  "It turned out to be the eunuch Jing from the Empress Dowager's palace. In that case, please inform me which door leads to the direction of the Zhao Ming Palace? I'm new here and got lost." Upon hearing that it was the Empress Dowager's most favored eunuch, Ye Yu-Shan became even more cautious, speaking while secretly glancing at the gap between the doors.

  However, the disheveled woman from just now was nowhere to be found. Through the gap in the door, I saw that the flowerbeds were all withered branches and fallen leaves, and there were several broken doors that looked like they hadn't been swept for ages, no wonder there was a strong yin energy inside.

  "Has the princess gotten lost?" Duke Jing's tone was clearly interrogative.

  If it were any other eunuch, Ye Yu-shuang would have definitely lost her temper. However, this Jing Gonggong was not someone she could afford to offend, so she pretended to sigh and said: "Alas... originally I was supposed to accompany the Crown Prince to pay respects to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, but as soon as we left Fengyi Palace, the Crown Prince left, and I decided to take a stroll around, which is how I ended up here."

  Jing Gong listened and roughly understood the meaning of the Crown Princess, the doubt in his eyes gradually dispersed, and the smile on his face looked more benevolent. He respectfully saluted the Crown Princess and pointed to the gate on the left: "Your Highness can walk through this gate, follow the corridor all the way east, and you will return to the Zhao Ming Palace."

  "Thank you, Duke Jing!" Ye Yusan nodded slightly and turned around, stealing another glance at the door crack.

  The gap in the door was still empty, and the woman was nowhere to be seen. However, Jing Gong seemed to be intentionally blocking something, taking a few steps to the side, deliberately blocking her line of sight.

  She didn't dare to linger any longer, and walked out of the two courtyards in one breath. She confirmed that no one was following her and turned back to look, but when she turned her head again, a sudden appearance scared her feet unstable, and she stumbled backwards and fell down.

  Time was running out, and before she knew it, a pair of strong arms had wrapped around her, pulling her into an embrace. She looked up to see a face that was almost identical to Namu's staring back at her.

  "Yu Xiang, it's really you, Yu Xiang..." The man's eyes were as gentle as water, gazing at Ye Yu Xiang with deep affection, his pupils filled with the joy of a long-awaited reunion.

  Ye Yuxuan quickly searched in her mind, this man looked really like Nan Mu Yu, if she didn't look carefully, at first glance, people would really mistake him for someone else.

  "Who are you..." She slowly regained her footing, pushed away the hands that were holding her, and took a few steps back defensively.

  "You actually don't remember me, you actually don't remember me."

  The man walked up excitedly, shaking Ye Yuxuan's jade arm with both hands, and a flash of water could be seen in his reddened eyes.

  Ye Yuxuan calmly bowed her head, secretly glancing around. She found that the little girl and grandfather who were walking in front of her earlier had disappeared. A bad premonition surged up to her heart, she began to ponder whether the man in the painting seen in Wangling was Nanmu Yu or this man?

  "Who... who is this young master?" She lowered her head, not daring to look at the man's affectionate eyes again, as such eyes could easily soften one's heart.

  "Prince... Prince... Hahaha! Hahaha!"

  The man listened and was shocked, throwing his head back and laughing wildly, covering his mouth with a hurt expression.

  Strange?

  Such laughter, surprisingly didn't attract the curious eunuchs and palace maids. Apparently, this man's identity in the palace was not ordinary, plus he actually resembled Nan Mu Yu like that, could it be...

  Ye Yuxuan's forehead was covered in cold sweat, having witnessed many intrigues and power struggles within the palace. She thought she could still handle the conflicts between the concubines, but brotherly rivalry over a wife was something else entirely - usually, it was the women who ended up suffering. Thus, she began to tense up again: "You...who exactly are you?"

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