Nangong Ye and Yan Yi Ming grew closer as the days passed and Nangong Xuan had also gradually become accustomed to it. However, even Nangong Xuan had not anticipated that on the night before Nangong Ye’s departure, he would be so bold as to engage in such preposterous behavior. In the middle of the night, he had trespassed into Duke Ding’s Manor and the two shared such an intimate moment together.
Even Nangong Ye’s previous vow to marry Yan Yi Ming did not enrage Nangong Xuan to that extent. After all, a promise like that, dedicating one’s entire life to another, was truly moving, so it was only natural for Yan Yi Ming to be moved by it.
During these days, Nangong Xuan was privy to the number of places they had been to together and the words they had exchanged. He knew that the most intimate thing Nangong Ye did was embrace Yan Yi Ming. But even hearing about it, Nangong Xuan had been infuriated. That day, the officials that went to the Eastern Palace were all trembling with fear, afraid of uttering the wrong thing.
After knowing about Nangong Ye’s feelings, in order to prevent him from frequently running to Duke Ding’s Manor, the Crown Prince proposed to the Emperor to have Nangong Ye become more involved in court. With that, it finally brought some peace and quiet.
Nangong Xuan had never truly believed that Yan Yi Ming had forgotten about him, nor did he believe that Yan Yi Ming would fall for Nangong Ye. If it was so easy to fall out of love with someone, and if it were that simple to fall for Nangong Ye, then Yan Yi Ming would not have wasted away her youth, spending three years earnestly waiting for him since her hair-pinning ceremony.
However, after yesterday’s incident, there was a moment when Nangong Xuan’s mind went completely blank. He even suspected that the hidden guards had exaggerated the situation.
Nangong Ye’s audacity was far greater than he had imagined. How dare he!
In addition, when did Yan Yi Ming’s innocence become so cheap? Or did she truly regard Nangong Ye as the one she would spend the rest of her life with and hence became so unbridled?
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Ohld kd yzz vbspl ulyap sq zkjkdt bkx, Lydtsdt Dwyd bye dlhla esdl yduvbkdt kdyrrasrakyvl vsoyaep Zyd Zk Ykdt.
Mbyv elzknyvl qktwal oyp lxcaynle cu psxlsdl lzpl. Mbyv clywvkqwz qynl oyp cwakle okvbkd psxlsdl lzpl’p nblpv. Mbspl aspu yde psqv zkrp olal ldvydtzle okvb bkp sod uswdtla casvbla.
Ekvb vbyv vbswtbv, Lydtsdt Dwyd’p byaezu pwrralpple ydtla cwadle caktbvla. Gzz sq vbspl saktkdyzzu clzsdtle vs bkx!
Tl oldv kdpydl okvb flyzswpu vsoyaep Lydtsdt Zl.
Tl oldv kdpydl okvb zsdtkdt qsa Zyd Zk Ykdt.
Gp qsa Zyd Zk Ykdt, obs oyp kd Pwjl Pkdt’p Yydsa, pbl oyp osjld wr lyazu kd vbl xsadkdt yde eayttle swv sq cle cu Yyeyxl Zyd. Fvkzz kd y eygl yp vs obu vblu bye nsxl vs Wwuw Yswdvykd obld vbl rlynb czsppsxp bye yzalyeu okvblale. Jwv clqsal pbl nswze qkdkpb prlyjkdt, Yyeyxl Zyd nshlale bla xswvb yde tyhl bla y tzyal.
“Ebyv dsdpldpl yal usw prswvkdt sd vbl Vwal Nyde sq Jweebkpx? Gald’v usw yqayke sq kdnwaakdt vbl oayvb sq Jweeby?!”
“Jweeby’p blyav kp nsxryppksdyvl yde jkde, Jweeby oswzed’v csvbla ycswv pwnb xyvvlap…” Fllkdt vbyv Yyeyxl Zyd oyp ycswv vs pbssv ydsvbla tzyal yv bla, Zyd Zk Ykdt okplzu pbwv bla xswvb.
Madame Yan had come to pray for blessings and protection for Nangong Ye and incidentally dragged Yan Yi Ming along. Yan Yi Ming knew that on this mission, Nangong Ye would not encounter any issues but because she was not able to wheedle her way out, she had no choice but to follow Madame Yan and kowtow a few times.
Upon returning to Yan’s residence, Madame Yan radiantly went to find Old Madame Yan. While Yan Yi Ming and Little Apple checked on the current plot progress.
Since Nangong Xuan’s favorability had reached 70%, the rate of increment had slowed down significantly to a point where only a fraction of a percent was gained each day. However, for some reason today, it had actually decreased by a few percent.
“How peculiar, the favorability gauge can also decrease?” Yan Yi Ming was bewildered.
Had something suddenly upset Nangong Xuan? Or did he have some breakthrough with Jian Yu’er?
Hence, she decided to check on Jian Yu’er’s recent progress and discovered that during this period of time, Jian Yu’er had made progress with all four male protagonists.
By using the incident involving Yan Yi Ming, Jian Yu Yan successfully lowered the heat between Jian Yu’er and Nangong Xuan.
While Jiang Yi, who interacted a few times with Jian Yu’er, discovered that she shared the same fondness for poetry and books as himself. Hence, he gifted her several rare books and even his own calligraphy copybook. Jian Yu’er was naturally delighted. According to the storyline, Jian Yu’er had the feeling of having found a kindred spirit.
As for Shao Jing Yu, who was stationed at the remote borders, after waiting for several months, he finally received the letter that came from the Captial from Jian Yu’er.
The progress of these three male protagonists remained consistent with the pace that was in the game except for Nangong Xuan. He, who should have had the highest favorability with Jian Yu’er in the early stages of the game, seemed to be gaining favourability at a much slower rate now when compared to the game’s pace.
But even with the decrease in gained favorability, Jian Yu’er’s favorability for Nanagong Xuan was still the highest. In other words, Nangong Xuan was the most favored among the four male protagonists.
Recently, the Empress, who was once the main supporter of having Yan Yi Ming become crown princess consort, had made an excuse to meet with Jian Yu’er. Maybe Jian Yu’er could fathom a guess of the intention behind this meeting, she felt shy but thrilled.
In addition, every action of Jian Yu’er’s, including her girlish bashfulness recently, was all noticed by Jian Yu Yan.
In the synopsis, it was mentioned that this libertine gentleman, who always had a smile on his face, had a slightly twisted expression as he looked at the soundly sleeping Jian Yu’er with the book given by Jiang Yi lying by her side.
This was a look Jian Yu’er had never seen before.
The synopsis stopped at this point where Jian Yu Yan waited for Jian Yu’er to fall into deep sleep before giving her a kiss. Thus, becoming the second man to have ever kissed her.
Yan Yi Ming felt sorry for Jian Yu Yan for all but three seconds. He had to sneak around even for a little bit of intimacy. She could not help but sigh, “The path to pursuing one’s wife is truly arduous.”
Little Apple nodded empathetically.
Yan Yi Ming’s heart twitched and she smirked as she whispered to Little Apple, “So… is it Jian Yu Yan who isn’t the biological son of the Jian family, or is Jian Yu’er the one who isn’t the biological daughter?”
Little Apple was startled by Yan Yi Ming’s sudden question and broke out in cold sweat. It wanted to ask how she knew, but at the very last second, it became quick-witted and immediately covered its mouth, refusing to utter a single word.
The answer to this question could shape the course of the entire plot, Little Apple would absolutely not reveal a single thing.
Yan Yi Ming clicked her tongue and became even more certain that one of these two individuals had an extraordinary identity. No gun was completely airtight1This idiom points that there are no secrets that can be kept forever, and the truth will eventually come to light. Just like how even a sealed container or airtight object will eventually let air pass through, hidden information or concealed actions will eventually be revealed or discovered., and sooner or later, she would discover it. However, for now, the most important thing was still to pursue Nangong Xuan and save up diamonds.
Accumulating diamonds was difficult, but spending them was easy and quick. After a month of hard work, she had only managed to save up to two hundred diamonds. Currently, she had a little over six hundred diamonds.
She could not even afford to do an eleven consecutive draw. In addition to her African bloodline, even an eleven consecutive draw was considered to be pathetically little.
So she had to figure out a way to get more diamonds. But before she had time to come up with a concrete plan, an unexpected guest came to Yan’s residence.
The Crown Prince.
Madame Yan was aghast and frantic. Unfortunately, both her father-in-law and mother-in-law were not at home today, and coincidentally her husband also had official business to attend to and had yet to return home. When she recalled the furious appearance of the Crown Prince during their last encounter, Madame Yan could not help but have a sense of lingering fear. She received the Crown Prince with trepidation, only to find that His Highness, Nangong Xuan, today was completely different from their last meeting. He had a pleasant smile on his face.
Madame Yan thought to herself that after the Crown Prince smiled, he was actually not as intimidating as she had imagined. After all, the Fifth Prince was the Crown Prince’s younger brother, and they do looked so much alike.
Nangong Xuan spoke mildly and explained to Madame Yan that the Empress had summoned Yan Yi Ming to the palace for an important matter. Madame Yan immediately thought that it was regarding matters between Yan Yi Ming and the Fifth Prince, so she immediately sent someone to call for Yan Yi Ming without further delay.
It was currently early summer, and there was already a hint of heat lingering in the air. Yan Yi Ming wore a light, cool, moon-white gauze robe, and her slender waist was accentuated by a light blue belt, making her waist appear even more delicate. Her hair was simply pinned up with a jade hairpin, and a few stray strands fell and framed her face, adding a touch of elegance to her already stunning face.
So beautiful.
Nangong Xuan suddenly recalled how countless people had praised Yan Yi Ming’s beauty, but he had never thought the same. Now, looking at her again, he realized how shallow and dull those praises paled in comparison to her actual person.
From the distance, she walked step by step towards him, each step felt like a gentle tread on his heart. Nangong Xuan even felt a hint of nervousness.
Yan Yi Ming looked as if she was surprised to see Nangong Xuan. However, Nangong Xuan could also clearly sense the distance she was putting between them. He felt a twinge of pain in his chest, but his voice remained gentle.
Madame Yan cheerfully stepped forward to explain, “Her Majesty has summoned you to the palace and she specifically asked the Crown Prince to come and escort you. Why are you still dilly-dallying? Make haste and go!”
Yan Yi Ming hummed her compliance with her head lowered. Then she raised her eyes to meet Nangong Xuan’s and said, “Then, I’ll have to trouble Your Highness.”
There was already a carriage waiting at the entrance of the Yan’s residence so Yan Yi Ming boarded the carriage. It had a spacious interior capable of accommodating five to six people, and the interior decoration was exceptionally luxurious.
Little Apple nervously twiddled its fingers as it hovered around Yan Yi Ming’s ear. Yan Yi Ming lightly tapped her ear before Little Apple settled down. As the carriage slightly jolted, Yan Yi Ming raised her head and suddenly came to the realization that Nangong Xuan would be sharing the same carriage with her. Her expression abruptly changed, as she prepared to alight the carriage immediately.
Nangong Xuan reached out and grabbed Yan Yi Ming’s wrist, giving her a tug so that she would land back beside him and after that, he snaked his arm around her waist to keep her in place. He then faintly instructed the driver to move off and the carriage door was closed securely. Soon after, the carriage set forth.
With their bodies pressed tightly against each other, and Nangong Xuan’s grip being unexpectedly unwavering, Yan Yi Ming struggled profusely trying to break free from his grasp. After struggling for a while but to no avail, she became more anxious and frustrated.
“Your Highness, please release me!”
Nangong Xuan lowered his head and looked at Yan Yi Ming’s flushed face and stated softly, “Not going to. There’s only one carriage, so stay put.”
Yan Yi Ming gave up struggling and took a deep breath. As though she was trying to suppress certain emotions, she sarcastically mocked, “Your Highness must believe that I’m as shameless as what everyone in the Capital is saying. Is that why you deliberately humiliate me like this?”
The hand that was placed around her waist suddenly stiffened. Nangong Xuan’s deep voice sounded in her ear, “Ah Ming, its not Gu’s intention to humiliate you. Gu just… misses you too much and couldn’t help myself.”
Blegh… (¬_¬)
LOL, blergh indeed.