Happy Lunar New Year beautiful peeps~
May those that are celebrating receive loads of red packets!
ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ
Known as the most beautiful lady of the Imperial Capital, Young Lady Yan had always been the object of affection of many aristocratic gentlemen. Unfortunately, Young Lady Yan had already stated that she would only marry the Crown Prince and no other.
If it had been another gentleman, it would have been fine. But this person was the Crown Prince, who else could match his status?
Naturally, there were some who were envious while others were jealous. That included Nangong Ye.
They were both biological sons of the Empress. Equally honorable and even more similar in appearance. Yet, Yan Yi Ming only had eyes for his elder brother. To her, he was just like a younger brother, no different from Yan Yi Qi.
He had envied, how could he not? There were even times when he was jealous, but that was all that it was back then.
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Mbld obs oswze bsze vbl bktbla rspkvksd kd bkp byalx?&dcpr;
Gp Zyd Zk Ykdt bye ralhkswpzu pvyvle, vbl ydpola oyp tzyakdtzu schkswp.
The person he had coddled in the depths of his heart had been tossed aside like an old pair of shoes. How could he not be outraged? Yet, other than anger, Nangong Ye had caught another implication from her words. Did this mean that Yan Yi Ming planned to give up on the Crown Prince?
If she was able to give up on the Crown Prince, he was confident that he would be able to compete for her hand.
However, when he met Yan Yi Ming’s gaze, Nangong Ye became sure of one thing. Regardless of whether Yan Yi Ming was ready to give up on the Crown Prince or not, she currently still had him in her heart.
She had never looked at him with such a gaze before. And yet, that one look had caused him to be unable to look away. By the time she snapped out of her trance, Nangong Ye finally realized that she had mistaken him for another.
His appearance held many similarities with his biological brother, the current Crown Prince, Nangong Xuan.
And now, even his short-lived moment of exhilaration was all because of an association with Nangong Xuan. This was truly absurd.
He recalled the conversation she had with her maidservant. Remembering how she said that the Crown Prince had backed out of their appointment for the young lady surnamed Jian. He recalled her soft sigh of resignation. He remembered how she did not mind suffering from all the grievances as long as the Crown Prince did not dislike her any more than he already did.
Maybe she had claimed that she was giving up, but in his ears, it sounded more like she was comforting herself.
Unlike Nangong Ye’s tangled thoughts, Young Master Yan could not rein in his temper as he started cursing, “I just knew that she was the one who wronged you in the first place! And you still want to help her conceal the truth! When have you started becoming so weak?!”
“I just wanted things to end peacefully without further entanglement,” Yan Yi Ming replied helplessly, “Little children shouldn’t meddle in adult matters. Go to the side and play.”
Her words ‘little children’ not only referred to Young Master Yan. It had also looped the Fifth Prince into the same category. Nangong Ye’s eyes twitched as he observed Yan Yi Ming with a complicated gaze, “Has it truly ended though?”
The siblings momentarily did not know what to say. In a blink of an eye, Yan Yi Ming recovered and signaled to Yan Yi Qi to leave for a while, “Don’t let others approach this area. I wish to have a chat with Fifth Prince.”
Young Master Yan took a look at Yan Yi Ming, then he turn to glance at Nangong Ye. Finally noticing something, he turned and left, dragging a dense Lu Mei with him.
“I shan’t invite Your Highness to have some tea since it has already turned cold.” Yan Yi Ming gave him a smile as she sat back down on the stone bench, “Your Highness, please help yourself.”
Nangong Ye chose to sit opposite Yan Yi Ming. He was not interested in the tea that was used to serve Jian Yu’er. In addition, he did not stay back to appreciate tea with her. His gaze locked on Yan Yi Ming as he observed her calm visage as though nothing of consequence had occurred just moments prior.
She started, “Your Highness has not been to Yan Residence for quite a while already.”
If it had been in the past, Nangong Ye would have hidden his true thoughts in order not to make things awkward for her. But now, without the Crown Prince acting as a barrier between them, Nangong Ye felt that there was no more need to hide his real emotions. He stared straight into Yan Yi Ming’s eyes as he replied, “Since that day, it has indeed been a while.”
Since that day, it referred to that time when Nangong Ye had failed to conceal his true feelings towards Yan Yi Ming and it was made known to her.
He watched as Yan Yi Ming’s smile falter as she sighed and raised her head to look properly at him. The fake tranquil front that she put up dropped as she warily told him, “Your Highness, it’s not worth it.”
Without giving Nangong Ye a chance to speak, she continued, “I didn’t expect Your Highness to turn up at our residence today and overheard the conversation I had with Young Lady Jian. I was planning to keep this matter a secret and wasn’t even planning to inform my mother-”
“That’s what I don’t understand. Why do you need to keep this hidden?” Nangong Ye’s emotions were in a mess. Recalling Yan Yi Ming’s words, he asked, “You don’t want to expose what happened with Jian Yu’er to ruin her reputation because you don’t want to incur the Crown Prince’s hatred? You claimed that what I’m doing isn’t worth it. But with the way they treated you, are they worth your consideration?”
Yan Yi Ming remained silent.
Although his words made Yan Yi Ming speechless, Nangong Ye did not feel any better than she did.
No matter how much she still liked the Crown Prince, he had already chosen to forsake her, was that not the case?
Yan Yi Ming did not want to say it and Nangong Ye did not want to force her. After a long pause, he thought of something and unconsciously asked her, “Crown Prince and I, do we bore such resemblance to each other?”
Yan Yi Ming’s eyes flickered slightly, “Fifth Highness and the Crown Prince are both born by Her Majesty, it’s not surprising that you’ll share a slight resemblance.”
“Is it just only a slight resemblance?” Nangong Ye questioned, “If it’s only slightly, why have you mistaken me for him just now?”
“I didn’t.” Yan Yi Ming refuted too quickly. After blurting out those words, she seemed to have realized that she replied too hastily and decided to add, “I just didn’t expect to see Fifth Highness in our residence today so I was a little surprised.”
Nangong Ye scrutinized the clearly stubborn lady in front of him. He calmly continued, “You didn’t expect to see me in your residence, but had hoped that the Crown Prince would appear instead?”
Yan Yi Ming raised her eyes to glance at Nangong Ye. She tried to suppress the fire that was building behind her gaze as she forced a smile, “Since Your Highness already knew, why are you still trying to make things difficult for me? So what if I was hoping that he would appear? The Crown Prince would never show up here.”
“That’s right. You clearly knew that he wouldn’t appear but you still wished that he would. Is he that great?” Nangong Ye’s voice drew closer to her as the anger he tried to push down burnt brightly in his eyes. “What is so great about him that you would wholeheartedly do everything for him despite his aversion towards you? Is he that great that even with another lady in his heart, you’re still unwilling to let go?!”
With every sentence Nangong Ye uttered, Yan Yi Ming’s countenance paled a shade more. Being so aggressively interrogated by Nangong Ye caused the calm front that she tried hard to maintain to crack bit by bit.
She glared at Nangong Ye and she shot up abruptly from the seat as she retorted, “What His Highness chose to do, and what I’ve chosen to do, what does any of this have to do with Your Highness? If Your Highness has nothing better to say, I shall be taking my leave now…”
Blinded by his anger, Nangong Ye stood up and grabbed her wrist as he shouted in rage, “What? Angry that I’ve spoken the facts out loud? One year ago when Imperial Father and Mother brought up marriage between the two of you, he had not married you then. Now, with the appearance of Jian Yu’er, there’s an even lesser chance that he would ever marry you! Do you still remember your identity? You’re the eldest di granddaughter of Duke Ding’s Manor! It’s not even farfetched to say that you could even become the mother of the nation in the future. But now, are you planning to wait for him to marry Jian Yu’er and then send a sedan to carry you into the Eastern Palace to be his concubine?!”
“You, release me!” Yan Yi Ming struggled to break free from his grip but Nangong Ye only held on tighter.
They stood so close that he could even catch a whiff of the faint fragrance from her body. Nangong Ye slid his hand down from gripping onto her wrist to holding onto her hand. Finally managing to control his anger, he said in a deep voice, “Even if you’re willing, your grandfather would never agree to this. Duke Ding’s Manor cannot afford to lose their reputation and honor like this. Ah Ming, there’s no more future between you and the Crown Prince. Even if he doesn’t like you, there are others that do. I can accompany you to view each and every peach blossom on Mount Fuyu. I can accompany you to pick out the best pearls. I will never hurt you. Please, turn back to look at me.”
Yan Yi Ming froze on the spot due to Nangong Ye’s words. It was as though she was stunned by his confession. She could not stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
Nangong Ye’s heart softened as he gently lifted her face. Using his thumb, he wiped away her tears, “You don’t know how long I’ve liked you.”
Yan Yi Ming stared transfixed at him as her tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks. Suddenly, she retreated a few steps back as she roughly wiped the tears from her face, “This wouldn’t do.”
“Why?” Nangong Ye was inevitably hurt. He had clearly seen from her gaze that she was wavering.
“Because that’s unfair to you.”
Yan Yi Ming said, “Your Highness, I can be with anyone but that person can never be you,-
“Please let me finish. It’s not that you’re not good enough. But it’s just that you two look too alike.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? I thought you would like it.”
“But you wouldn’t.” Yan Yi Ming continued, “the both of you look too alike. As long as I see you, I’ll think of him. You wouldn’t like it if I were to look at you but think of another.”
It took Nangong Ye a while to understand what Yan Yi Ming meant. When he did, he laughed, “It’s not considered to be unfair as long as I am willing. And I believe one day, even when you see his face, you’ll only think of me.”
I like this 5th prince – these 2 younger brothers are keepers with clear eyes 👌 no need for crappy MLs 🤌