Chapter 101: Xiao Youlan is Rarely Guilty

Linglang was merely timid, not stupid; as soon as she heard this, she laughed sarcastically: "So you were kept by His Highness the Crown Prince, then should I congratulate you?"

She then deliberately emphasized: "But you are right, His Highness only likes Miss Nan. He must have kept you for some purpose. Once your wounds are healed and His Highness achieves his goal, he will naturally send you away."

"But... isn't that a matter for the future? It's not certain yet," Jiang Lian'er's voice grew faint, "Perhaps, His Highness won't send me away."

"He definitely will!" Linglang stressed.

It was at this moment that Nan Xueyin pulled open the door.

She didn't speak, and Jiang Lian'er looked up at her timidly, "Miss Nan... do you dislike me too?"

Nan Xueyin was expressionless: "Hm?"

"I truly had no other choice, which is why I begged His Highness the Crown Prince to let me stay in the Eastern Palace. His Highness felt I was pitiful and had a moment of soft-heartedness, so he agreed..."

"I know." Nan Xueyin's voice was indifferent, cutting her off.

Jiang Lian'er seemed to want to say something more, but not far away, the respectful greetings of the attendants could be heard: "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Xiao Youlan had arrived.

Nan Xueyin only glanced at him once before withdrawing her gaze.

"What are you talking about here?" Xiao Youlan asked in a slow voice.

Nan Xueyin said nothing, and Jiang Lian'er replied obediently: "Yesterday, His Highness the Crown Prince kindly took me in. I am grateful in my heart, and I was afraid Miss Nan might misunderstand... so I came specifically to explain to Miss Nan, hoping that no conflict would arise between Miss Nan and His Highness because of me."

Xiao Youlan's gaze landed on Nan Xueyin, and upon hearing Jiang Lian'er's words, he gave a noncommittal "hm."

"Is Your Highness here to find Miss Nan to have breakfast together?" Jiang Lian'er asked again.

"Yes." Xiao Youlan's tone remained flat.

After saying this, without waiting for Jiang Lian'er to say anything more, he took two steps toward Nan Xueyin, his voice unexpectedly gentle: "You woke up this morning, why haven't you combed your hair?"

The distance was very close, and Nan Xueyin smelled the scent of ink on him.

So, he hadn't come over all night because he was in the study?

Hearing Xiao Youlan's words, Linglang hurriedly explained: "Replying to Your Highness the Crown Prince, there hasn't been time yet..."

Xiao Youlan was not angry; he took Nan Xueyin's hand and walked into the room.

Jiang Lian'er wanted to follow, but Linglang immediately blocked her, "What are you going in there for?"

Jiang Lian'er said: "I... I'm going in to help, and to see Xiaoyang, that would be good too."

Linglang reminded her sharply: "His Highness and Miss Nan both have hands and feet, what help do you need to provide? And as for Xiaoyang, that is no longer your little leopard, but our Eastern Palace's, our Miss Nan's little leopard. What are you looking at?"

Her words were rather sharp, and Jiang Lian'er pleaded softly: "I won't go in then, Sister, please don't be angry."

Afterward, neither of them spoke again.

Nan Xueyin was led by Xiao Youlan to the dressing table and pressed down to sit.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Xiao Youlan's voice was unhurried, and as he spoke, he picked up a peach-wood comb from the dressing table and began to carefully and gently comb through her dark hair.

Nan Xueyin:...

There was quite a lot she wanted to ask, for instance, was he really soft-hearted when he kept Jiang Lian'er?

But she felt that asking like this would make it seem as if she were jealous because of Jiang Lian'er.

So Nan Xueyin pressed her lips together and did not speak.

"Really not asking?"

Xiao Youlan lowered his eyes to look at her.

Nan Xueyin feigned indifference: "There's nothing I want to know."

She deliberately added: "Jiang Lian'er's business concerns the Eastern Palace, but I am not a person of the Eastern Palace. Saving your life at Baoci Palace yesterday was already me being merciful; there is no need for me to manage these extra matters."

Xiao Youlan was not annoyed, and he raised his eyebrows: "Actually, I was going to let you see Wu Zhui today. It is said that the wounds on his body are almost healed."

Nan Xueyin was startled and turned her head to look at him.

Xiao Youlan had long known she would make such a move and timely released her hair, so it did not pull painfully.

He smiled: "So, do you want to ask me?"

Nan Xueyin took a deep breath and chose a question: "Last night, you went to see Jiang Lian'er; what did you two talk about?"

This question was more normal and didn't have that feeling of jealous interrogation.

Xiao Youlan truthfully recounted the situation and the conversation from last night.

After listening, Nan Xueyin frowned.

Her intuition told her that Jiang Lian'er was not right; she was definitely not as simple as she appeared on the surface.

"Do you also feel that Jiang Lian'er is hiding something?" Xiao Youlan looked at her.

Nan Xueyin did indeed feel that way, but she still maintained her coldness for the sake of her pride: "So what if she is? I just said it; Jiang Lian'er's business is clearly aimed at your Eastern Palace. I am not a person of the Eastern Palace, so I don't care what she wants to do. Whether she wants to marry you or assassinate you, I don't mind."

"You really don't mind?" Xiao Youlan's gaze deepened slightly.

Nan Xueyin's expression was calm, and just as she was about to answer "I don't mind," she was interrupted by Xiao Youlan covering her mouth with his hand.

He had done this manual "shut up" gesture to her far too many times.

"You cannot say any more," Xiao Youlan stared into her eyes, "Let me comb your hair; once it's done, we'll go have breakfast together."

Nan Xueyin blinked, meaning she understood.

Xiao Youlan then released her and began to focus on combing her hair.

After a moment, Nan Xueyin asked: "You know how to comb hair?"

As such a precious Crown Prince, pampered and waited on hand and foot, would he know how to comb hair?

"I do."

Xiao Youlan was confident.

For the sake of mystery, he even turned the flower-shaped mirror face down on the table, "I'll show you when I'm finished."

Nan Xueyin was half-doubting, but she reluctantly believed him.

He combed very earnestly, but also very slowly, truly especially slowly.

Nan Xueyin was a very patient person; after all, she could crouch and wait for six or seven hours just to chop off someone's head, but at this moment, she sat before the vanity, waiting and waiting, and her hair was still not combed.

She began to lose patience and asked, "Is it not done yet?"

"Almost," Xiao Youlan replied.

Just as Nan Xueyin's patience was about to run out, Xiao Youlan let out a breath, "Done."

He stood in front of Nan Xueyin and looked her over, his expression appearing strange, as if he felt a bit guilty, and also as if he felt a bit regretful.

Nan Xueyin had a bad premonition and picked up the lozenge-shaped mirror on the vanity.

Fixing her eyes on it, she nearly blacked out.

The hair on her left side was combed up into a loose, sloppy bun, with a gold hairpin worn crookedly; the right side had followed suit, but it was lower than the left and even looser, and since the hairpin wouldn't stay in, he had tucked in two pearl flowers instead.

It was simply incongruous and bizarre.

Nan Xueyin stared at the mirror for a while, then looked at Xiao Youlan and asked sincerely, "Are you sure you know how to comb hair?"

Xiao Youlan felt uncharacteristically guilty and said, "I remember that I do."

"What do you mean by 'you remember that you do'?"

"When I was young, I often combed my mother the Empress's hair, and every time she said it looked good."

Nan Xueyin pondered and asked, "How old were you then?"

Xiao Youlan felt even guiltier and said, "Ten."

Nan Xueyin then laughed.

Xiao Youlan glanced at her, "Actually... it's not ugly like this... your face is beautiful, so any hairstyle looks good."

Nan Xueyin was still smiling, but the smile was very unfriendly, "Now, immediately, get out, call Linglang in, take this hair down, and comb it! All! Over! Again!"