Chapter 18 [TCFCPC 18]

This long-awaited reunion did not go as smoothly as Nangong Xuan had imagined.

He thought that he would win Yan Yi Ming back today. He never expected Yan Yi Ming to say those words instead.

Having concluded not too long ago that the one Yan Yi Ming truly loved was himself, he was now once again in doubt. However, there was still a glimmer of hope in his heart because Yan Yi Ming had said, “In the beginning, it was Your Highness who let me down, but Fifth Highness did not. He treats me sincerely with all his heart, so I won’t let him down.”

Such a response was something Nangong Xuan could not comprehend. So what kind of feelings did Yan Yi Ming actually have for Nangong Ye? Did she genuinely have feelings for him, or was it simply because she did not want to let Nangong Ye down?

But regardless, Yan Yi Ming still rejected him because of Nangong Ye.

Such thoughts were difficult to bear. Nangong Xuan was furious that someone else stole Yan Yi Ming from him, and was angrier that this person was his biological younger brother. If it were someone else, even if the person was Third Imperial Brother, he could have simply asked the Emperor to bestow marriage between Yan Yi Ming and himself. But yet, this person was his closest brother.

However, as he had previously told her, the Empress would never agree to Yan Yi Ming marrying Nangong Ye. And on his Father Emperor’s end, if he did not approve of this union, Father Emperor would also not agree either. So, Nangong Ye’s desire to marry Yan Yi Ming was but an impossible dream.

Although this was the case, Nangong Xuan still began to entertain certain thoughts.

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Yan Yi Ming did not hide anything and conveyed Nangong Xuan’s words to Old Madame Yan in detail. After hearing it, Old Madame Yan fell into deep contemplation.

The fact that the Crown Prince had a change of heart and offered Yan Yi Ming the position of Crown Princess Consort was out of her expectations.

However, despite this new information, Old Madame Yan’s thoughts on marrying Yan Yi Ming to Nangong Ye did not change. They, the people of Yan family, were straightforward and upright. Since they had decided to commit themselves to the Fifth Prince, they would not send Yan Yi Ming to the Eastern Palace in a bid to fight for more power.

Yet, it seemed that the Empress was not in support of Yan Yi Ming marrying Nangong Ye. Originally, Old Madame Yan was ready to seek an audience with the Emperor on behalf of her granddaughter, but now this plan was unlikely to work out. After all, nobody expected the Crown Prince to have a change of heart. Even if she went to seek the Emperor, if the Crown Prince stated that he would marry Yan Yi Ming, the Emperor would definitely choose to bestow marriage between her and the Crown Prince instead of the Fifth Prince.

Unfortunately, the Fifth Prince was also not in the capital currently, making the situation more complicated.

Back in her courtyard, Lu Mei cautiously asked her young lady if the Crown Prince had mistreated her.

Yan Yi Ming laughed and patted Lu Mei’s head, “Of course not.”

With Nangong Xuan’s favorability towards her now at 70%, how could he bear to mistreat her? However, reaching 70% posed a new challenge.

It seemed that simply provoking Nangong Xuan was no longer effective. Nangong Xuan’s initial growth of affection was due to his jealousy and it had already plateaued. After bashing him for so long, it was about time to give him some sweetness.

However, ensuring that she gave Nangong Xuan enough sweetness while keeping Nangong Ye’s affections intact left Yan Yi Ming in a plight. After pondering for a while, she sighed softly.

This was a real headache.

One month after Nangong Ye left the capital, it was the Empress’s birthday celebration. Officials, who were second rank and above, were allowed to bring their official wives and di daughters into the palace to attend the celebration. Yan Yi Ming was naturally invited, and so was Jian Yu’er.

Because of Yan Yi Ming’s existence, Jian Yu’er’s relationship development with the male protagonists deviated significantly from the original plotline. For example, in the game, during this month, Jian Yu’er and Nangong Xuan’s affections was supposed to be skyrocketing, but currently, it seemed somewhat distant. In the original game, Nangong Xuan was the one who took the initiative to seek the other party out, yet now, Jian Yu’er has become the more proactive one.

According to Little Apple’s monitoring system, Jian Yu’er had visited the Eastern Palace once, but due to her reserved nature, she had not asked Nangong Xuan why he had not come to visit her. As Nangong Xuan’s emotional intelligence was only 22, he could not read Jian Yu’er’s intent and had inexplicably said that he had let her down.

Jian Yu’er was stunned in place. Why was he apologizing? Was it because of his recent aloof treatment or was he referring to the subsequent future?

Jian Yu’er’s heart was gradually chilled by this. When Jian Yu Yan learned that Jian Yu’er had gone to the Eastern Palace without informing him, saying that he was angry was an understatement. However, when he saw Jian Yu’er looking pallid and lost in thought after returning, he felt both heartache at her sadness and joy that the Crown Prince and she would no longer have any entanglements in the future.

After that episode, Nangong Xuan and Jian Yu’er had no further interactions.

On the day of the Empress’s birthday celebration, Nangong Ye did not manage to return to the capital as expected. It was said that his journey to Fu Jian and Zhe Jiang provinces did not go smoothly, so his return to the capital was delayed longer than anticipated.

Bright and early on the day of the Empress’ birthday celebration, Yan Yi Ming followed Old Madame Yan and Madame Yan into the palace. Being the recent center of attention, Yan Yi Ming was the recipient of many gazes from all directions.

Little Apple deliberately brought it to Yan Yi Ming’s attention, “Everyone is staring at you.”

Yan Yi Ming pinched a strand of hair and sighed unabashedly, “It must be because I’m just too beautiful. It’s all my fault.”

Little Apple, “…”

While accompanying Old Madame Yan and Madame Yan to pay respect to the Empress, Yan Yi Ming could feel the Empress’s gaze lingering on her. Probing and seemingly friendly, as if the Empress was not privy to anything, she bade Yan Yi Ming over and examined her carefully before smiling, “Indeed worthy of the title of being the most beautiful woman in the Capital. After not seeing you for so many days, you’ve become even more outstanding.”

Whether she became more outstanding in appearance or her actions, Yan Yi Ming could tell that the Empress’s words were laced with a hint of sarcasm. Yan Yi Ming smiled sweetly while pretending to be ignorant. She thanked the Empress for her compliment before returning to stand obediently to the side.

The Empress was slightly taken aback, thinking to herself that Yan Yi Ming had truly changed a lot recently. However, she suspected it was because of Ye’re that Yan Yi Ming was deliberately putting on an act, causing her dislike towards Yan Yi Ming to increase even more.

After exchanging pleasantries with the Empress, she kept Old Madame Yan and the other noble ladies behind for a chitchat. Yan Yi Ming and her di younger sister, along with other young ladies, went to the imperial garden to admire the flowers.

As the eldest di granddaughter of Duke Ding, Yan Yi Ming’s status was prominent, and wherever she went, people would greet her with a smile.

Little Apple, like a radar, was chirpily tattletaling into Yan Yi Ming’s ear, “The young lady in the green dress on the left said you have nothing to offer other than your face, and the young lady in the red dress on the right wonders why you still have the gall to appear here. Aiya, they don’t have any innovativity.” 

Little Apple could not help but sigh, “The women in ancient times are too conservative, that young lady’s eyes are clearly showing that she wants to scold you for being a shameless vixen.”

Yan Yi Ming released a mocking laugh and looked at the group of girls who were talking with Jian Yu’er in the distance.

In the original storyline, Young Lady Yan held a grudge against Jian Yu’er because Nangong Xuan became interested in her. She targeted Jian Yu’er every time they met and mocked her for pretending to be innocent as she shamelessly seduced the Crown Prince.

Jian Yu’er had always wanted to mend her friendship with Young Lady Yan. When she heard those words, she felt both hurt and angry. Later on, while arguing with Young Lady Yan and having been given a few shoves, Jian Yu’er fell into a nearby pond.

As for why there was suddenly a pond nearby, it might be due to a divine arrangement. Yet, it was because of this fall into the waters that resulted in the scene of the Crown Prince heroically rescuing the beauty. From then on, Jian Yu’er officially stepped on Young Lady Yan’s face and became the Eastern Palace’s Princess Consort. Through his face-slapping actions, the Crown Prince flung his sleeves just as he was leaving, causing Young Lady Yan to land on the ground, crying in heartache.

But of course, that was what happened in the game.

Now Yan Yi Ming was no longer that wicked woman. However, if they were to follow the plotline’s progression, Yan Yi Ming made a bold guess; even if she did not take the lead today, Jian Yu’er would still end up falling into the pond.

Sure enough, even without Yan Yi Ming spreading the news, some people still found out about Jian Yu’er’s relationship with the Crown Prince.

Most people tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. With Yan Yi Ming’s haughty and domineering temperament, most people dare not provoke her. However, many people dared to criticize Jian Yu’er because her temperament was weak and demure even when her status was just as prominent as Yan Yi Ming’s. Furthermore, there were many other equally distinguished noble ladies in the capital apart from Duke Ding and the Prime Minister’s households.

Jian Yu’er recently learned about Yan Yi Ming and the Fifth Prince. Everyone said that Yan Yi Ming had no scruples, and Jian Yu’er felt guilty when she heard this. If it were not for her, Yan Yi Ming would not have ended up in this situation.

Hence, just now when she overheard someone speaking badly about Yan Yi Ming, Jian Yu’er retorted back. Yet, she did not expect the young lady to respond in a way that made her face turn pale.

The young lady was the di granddaughter of the current Grand Tutor. Her status was no inferior to Jian Yu’er’s. She scornfully whispered to Jian Yu’er, “If it had been others who said it, then it’s a whole different matter. But for Young Lady Jian, how could you even bring yourself to utter such words?”

Surrounded by the confused crowd, the young lady sneered, “If it weren’t for you, His Highness the Crown Prince, wouldn’t have abandoned Yan Jie-jie. And then where will the rumors regarding Yan Jie-jie and the Fifth Prince come from?”

The onlookers were in an uproar, and then cold sarcasm thrown towards Jian Yu’er began to overlap each other.

“No wonder! Young Lady Jian and Young Lady Yan used to be so close and yet, now they don’t even speak a single word to each other.” 

“Young Lady Jian, why did you act like that? It’s clear that you were the one who did wrong, and now you want to play the good person? In my opinion, Young Lady Yan won’t accept your goodwill.”

After being mocked by several people, Jian Yu’er was already in a panic. She never expected that others would know about this matter. Who told them? Was it… Yan Yi Ming?

Just as she was feeling vulnerable, a flash of red appeared in her sight, and Yan Yi Ming stepped in front of her, shielding Jian Yu’er behind her. With a smile on her lips, her voice rang clearly, “What is everyone talking about? The conversation taking place between Mei-mei seems very interesting, why don’t you share it with me?”

Jian Yu’er instantly looked up at Yan Yi Ming, she was almost in tears because of her anxious state.

Everyone present could not believe that Yan Yi Ming was defending Jian Yu’er. After hesitating for a moment, Jian Yu’er unconsciously reached out and grabbed onto Yan Yi Ming’s sleeve. The young lady who had spoken out earlier stared at Yan Yi Ming in disbelief and angrily shouted, “Yan Yi Ming, have you lost your mind?!”

When the Crown Prince and the other princes arrived at the imperial garden and spotted the gathering crowd, someone casually asked a nearby servant what had happened. The little palace maid trembled as she stuttered a reply, “It looks like… Young Lady Yan from Duke Ding’s residence is having a conflict with Young Lady Yang from the Grand Tutor’s residence…” 

Nangong Xuan’s face changed slightly as he hurried over.

As he approached, he heard a shrill female voice yelling Yan Yi Ming’s name. “You’re just a discarded toy that the Crown Prince no longer wants, what rights do you have to act so arrogant here? And you! Can’t you see that she despises you, and yet, here you are, constantly trying to defend her…”

Nangong Xuan’s heart tightened. When people nearby heard the hurried footsteps, they all turned to look and the moment they spotted him, their faces instantly paled, “It’s the Crown Prince!”

Young Lady Yang and Jian Yu’er quickly turned around, but unexpectedly, someone suddenly screamed, and Jian Yu’er seemed to have slipped on something which caused her to fall backwards into the pond.

At that moment, Yan Yi Ming, who was standing beside her, suddenly reached out and pulled her back. Concomitantly, she lost her balance and plunged straight into the water. The surrounding bystanders gasped in shock. While Yan Yi Ming was falling into the water, she held her breath whilst asking Little Apple, “How much is the reward for saving Jian Yu’er this time around?”

“This time you’ve struck gold!” Little Apple exclaimed excitedly.

But before she could reply, her body was pulled upwards by a strong grip.

Amidst the astonished and incredulous gazes of everyone, the Crown Prince instantly dived into the water and pulled Yan Yi Ming out.

After a moment of silence, everyone exploded into a flurry of panic, “Quickly! Summon the imperial physician!”

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Regarding Jian Yu’er’s personality (thus far), I don’t feel that she’s malicious. I don’t think the motives behind her actions were aimed at harming others.

Her character build perfectly demonstrates it; a very pampered and well-protected aristocratic lady of the boudoir.

Naively dumb? Maybe. 

Vicious? Highly unlikely. 

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I apologize for the lack of posting recently (for FP, MIE, and EAPWM readers). Honours programme has been, and still is, kicking my butt… So ready to be done but I still have one more year to go… 

On a brighter note, I’m nearly done with the semester, so end November, posting will return to normal (of once a week).

Thank you for your patience and understanding…

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