Chapter 132: It Really Has Been Such a Long, Long Time

Walking out of the study, Nan Xueyin did not see Xiao Youlan at first glance.

She felt slightly puzzled and, following her intuition, walked two steps to the side.

Across a short distance, under a flowering tree, Nan Xueyin finally caught sight of his figure.

What surprised her was that the Crown Prince was not alone; a young woman was standing beside him.

That woman looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old, with skin like congealed fat and a face like a lotus; whether because of the sweltering weather or shyness, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and fine beads of sweat had seeped onto her forehead.

She was bowing her head, speaking to Xiao Youlan.

Xiao Youlan's face held no particular expression, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture appearing somewhat distant.

Yet he listened quite patiently, and after she finished, he nodded.

Suddenly, Nan Xueyin recalled that when Hua Lianying first arrived at the Duan Prince Mansion, the time she had gone to look for her, she had seen Hua Lianying kneeling before a couch, speaking to Xiao Mingyu.

After that, Hua Lianying became Xiao Mingyu's new favorite.

Looking at Xiao Youlan and that woman now, Nan Xueyin's heart sank uncontrollably.

For a moment, Nan Xueyin told herself that the result would be the same anyway; perhaps she was never worthy of receiving love in the first place.

At this moment, Xiao Youlan seemed to sense something; he raised his eyes, and his gaze landed on Nan Xueyin.

The woman still wanted to say something, but Xiao Youlan did not continue to listen.

He took a step forward and walked toward Nan Xueyin.

The cold expression on his face gradually faded like melting snow; he looked at Nan Xueyin and revealed a faint smile: "You came out so quickly."

Nan Xueyin looked at him and gave a hum, her mood inexplicable.

Xiao Youlan sensed that something was a bit off with her; as intelligent as the Crown Prince was, he quickly thought of the reason. He pointed to the woman behind him and introduced her: "You were curious before, weren't you? That is Shu Yu's fiancée, surnamed Song, given name Jianing."

Nan Xueyin was stunned.

She looked at Song Jianing, her heart feeling a wave of guilt and shame because of the misunderstanding just now.

Song Jianing walked forward, glanced at Nan Xueyin, and said in a soft, gentle voice: "This must be Miss Nan. I often hear Yan Xing mention you."

Yan Xing?

Xiao Youlan's gaze remained fixed on Nan Xueyin's face, and seeing her reveal a trace of confusion, he explained: "Yan Xing is Shu Yu's courtesy name."

Nan Xueyin understood.

Song Jianing continued: "I came to find the Crown Prince because Yan Xing got into a fight with the young General Lu again today."

The stifled anger Nan Xueyin had been holding in her heart finally dissipated completely at this moment.

She told herself again that people are indeed very different from one another.

"I will go personally in a moment to see what exactly is going on." Xiao Youlan said this to Song Jianing.

"Very well, sorry to trouble you, Crown Prince. Yan Xing has caused the Crown Prince trouble." Song Jianing bowed her head and offered a respectful salute.

Nan Xueyin took one last look at her, thinking that having such a beautiful and sensible fiancée was Shu Yu's good fortune.

After bidding farewell to Song Jianing and walking away, Xiao Youlan tilted his head and asked: "Were you a little unhappy just now?"

If it were the past Nan Xueyin, she would only have said with a cold face: No.

But at this moment, she slowly nodded and said: "A little bit."

Xiao Youlan was somewhat surprised, a smile emerging in the depths of his eyes, "If you don't like it, from now on I will not speak to any other woman."

He paused, then added: "Except for Grandmother Empress Dowager."

Nan Xueyin:?

Nan Xueyin: "There's no need to be so exaggerated..."

Xiao Youlan's expression, however, was surprisingly serious, "I don't want you to be unhappy."

Nan Xueyin looked at him and said with great interest: "Then what if I even get jealous of Zong Taihou?"

Xiao Youlan laughed: "Then I will have no choice but to stop paying my respects to Grandmother Empress Dowager from now on. Of all things in the world, little Xue is the greatest."

Nan Xueyin laughed: "If that were really the case, the old Emperor would definitely hate me to death."

After saying it, she realized belatedly that she had called him "the old Emperor."

The smile at the corners of Xiao Youlan's mouth grew even wider, "Perhaps he would find you in private and give you five million taels to make you leave his son, which is me."

Nan Xueyin was bewildered, "Why would he do that?"

Xiao Youlan said with a straight face, "That's how it's written in storybooks. Haven't you read them?"

Nan Xueyin shook her head.

Xiao Youlan expressed deep regret, "You should read them; those storybooks are all very interesting."

Passing through the moon gate, Nan Xueyin remembered the conversation in the study just now and glanced at him, "Speaking of which, the evidence you used to threaten the Duan Prince just now—you must have collected it for a long time, right? Was it very hard to collect?"

"Those witnesses and physical evidence were indeed not easy to collect, especially since the Duan Prince Mansion has a very formidable Assassin..."

Halfway through his sentence, Xiao Youlan cut himself off.

Because he realized that the very formidable Assassin from the Duan Prince Mansion who was always causing trouble for their Eastern Palace was the woman in front of him.

Nan Xueyin also realized this point and laughed sullenly, "I'm truly sorry, I am just too formidable."

She paused, then said seriously: "However, what I want to say is that you shouldn't have used such an important matter to trade for my freedom; it was only an antidote, I could have gone to steal it in Lianzhou."

"How could that be?"

"Are you afraid I would run away?"

"That is part of the reason," Xiao Youlan raised his hand to lift a hanging branch so that Nan Xueyin could pass through smoothly, and continued, "and there is a more important point: I feel that he likes you very much."

Nan Xueyin turned her head in confusion.

Xiao Mingyu?

Likes her?

"You don't believe it?"

"I don't believe it," Nan Xueyin said truthfully.

She felt that for Xiao Mingyu, she was more of a possession; it was as if he had picked her up and trained her, and from then on, she was his slave alone, only able to obey his commands.

Xiao Youlan's tone, however, was very certain: "He likes you. It's just that his way of liking you is different from mine."

Noisy sounds could already be heard ahead; Nan Xueyin wanted to say, "Then I don't want this kind of liking at all," but her gaze fell upon Xiao Qingling in the crowd, and she couldn't help but frown.

Over there was the place where Shu Yu and Lu Yan were fighting.

The two had finally been pulled apart, yet they were still pointing at each other and cursing.

Xiao Youlan was just about to walk forward when Nan Xueyin suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"I'll go ask them what happened; it will be over quickly," Xiao Youlan thought she was reluctant to let him leave.

"You must be careful of the Jing Prince," Nan Xueyin lowered her voice.

Xiao Youlan was slightly stunned, "Xiao Qingling?"

Nan Xueyin hummed in agreement, "He is not right."

"How do you know?"

"Intuition," Nan Xueyin knitted her brows, "My intuition has always been accurate."

Xiao Youlan looked at her, "Alright, I understand. I will be careful."

Only then did Nan Xueyin let go of him.

Over there, the verbal battle between Shu Yu and Lu Yan had already escalated, and it looked like they were about to fight again; after all, they were two sturdy youths, one an Eastern Palace personal guard and the other someone who spent all year in the military camp, each one reckless and powerful, and for a moment, the others couldn't hold them back.

Fortunately, Xiao Youlan appeared in time.

With a single "Stop" from the Crown Prince, neither too light nor too heavy, Shu Yu and Lu Yan stood still in unison, faced Xiao Youlan, and said respectfully, "Your Highness, Crown Prince."

"What is this about this time?" Xiao Youlan asked.

"Today, Lu Yan provoked me first!" Shu Yu raised a finger and pointed over.

"Lord Shu is playing the villain who sues first again!" Lu Yan's face was full of indignation.

Nan Xueyin stood on the outer edge of the crowd, watching Xiao Youlan's back and the scene of Shu Yu and Lu Yan accusing each other, feeling that this scene was like a schoolteacher scolding disobedient students, and also very much like a father disciplining two sons who didn't get along.

"Who is the villain? Just now it was clearly you who first..."

"Nonsense! It was clearly you who..."

Xiao Youlan rubbed his brow, "Speak one by one. Shu Yu, you first."

Nan Xueyin thought with amusement, has he always lived like this?

That really must be a headache.

"Nan Xueyin, it really has been a long, long time."

Suddenly, Nan Xueyin heard a youth's voice from behind, kept very low, revealing a faint smile; it seemed like mockery, yet also like the joy of a long-awaited reunion.