Chapter 14: Danger is Approaching

Hua Lianying was bewildered, her eyes reddening with grievance, "Prince, this concubine does not know..."

Xiao Mingyu covered her mouth with one hand.

Hua Lianying could only emit pitiful whimpers.

He was ruthless that night; Hua Lianying cried until she fainted several times, and she had no idea how late the torment lasted.

When Hua Lianying woke the next day, Xiao Mingyu was long gone, the room and bed were in complete disarray, and her entire body was covered in bruises.

She recalled the things Xiao Mingyu had said last night—about smiling at him, about blocking wine for him—and the more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

Enduring the pain, she got out of bed, dressed, tidied up, found Wu Zhui, and asked, "Did anything happen when the Prince went to the Kang Wang Mansion last night?"

Wu Zhui was applying medicine to his palm, which had been scraped against the ground when the Prince shoved him the night before; hearing this, he replied, "Nothing happened."

Hua Lianying did not believe him, "Then did you run into anyone?"

Wu Zhui did not like her very much; he shrugged and gave a perfunctory answer, "Who could we run into? Just the Crown Prince, Kang Wang, and their lot."

Hua Lianying's gaze darkened.

The Crown Prince.

If nothing went wrong, Nan Xueyin must be by the Crown Prince's side, right?

It seemed that the Prince had seen Nan Xueyin last night, and seeing her acting intimate with the Crown Prince had displeased him.

It was just like when they were in Lianzhou; hearing that Nan Xueyin was serving in the bedchamber had also displeased the Prince.

Hua Lianying thought coldly, *Oh Prince, my Prince, wasn't it you who personally sent Nan Xueyin to the Crown Prince's side? Why are you unhappy? *

*I fear that even you haven't realized it yet, but you have long since developed feelings for Nan Xueyin! *

The next day, Nan Xueyin did not see Hantao all day.

Linglang muttered in a low voice, "I'm afraid she's off somewhere, acting aggrieved and seeking comfort from some good brother."

Cui Mama glared at her with dissatisfaction and smiled at Nan Xueyin, "I will certainly discipline Hantao well later; her behavior is truly unseemly!"

After all, the current Doukou could already be considered half a mistress to them.

Later that evening, after Nan Xueyin had served Xiao Youlan his dinner, she prepared to return to her own room.

Walking along the path, she felt as if she were being watched by something.

Her gaze quickly locked onto the doorway.

Caught off guard, she met Hantao's hostile stare.

Nan Xueyin discovered her, and she gave a smile of ambiguous meaning before turning and walking back into the room.

Intuition told Nan Xueyin that danger was approaching.

She just hadn't expected the crisis to come so quickly.

The next day, after Xiao Youlan went to the morning court, Nan Xueyin prepared breakfast as usual.

There was a commotion outside the door, with someone shouting incessantly, "Chunxia! Lin Chunxia!"

Hearing this, Nan Xueyin's hands paused.

Lin Chunxia was Doukou's original name.

She had been sold into the palace by her father, and the person in charge had felt the name "Chunxia" was vulgar, so it was changed to Doukou.

The only people who could call out that name would be Doukou's father and brother.

"Miss Doukou, two people have come from outside, saying they are your father and brother..."

The words the attendant said upon entering confirmed Nan Xueyin's guess.

She furrowed her brows, thinking of Hantao's look from the night before.

Without time to overthink, she left the remaining tasks to the palace servants and walked out the door.

Two men had come to the Eastern Palace, one old and one young, both wearing coarse cloth garments; they were looking up, down, left, and right at the palace halls and towers, their faces full of awe as they let out continuous exclamations of praise.

The guards attempted to step forward to block them, but the older one, Lin Laixi, glared straight at them, "You dare touch me? I am the current Crown Prince's father-in-law! Doukou, do you know her? The woman the Crown Prince likes best—she is my daughter!"

The younger one, Lin Jiaxing, stood with his hands on his hips, putting on airs, "That's right, that's right!"

The attendant beside Nan Xueyin sighed, "That is exactly what they said outside the palace gate, and they even said that if we didn't let them in, His Highness the Crown Prince would surely punish us blind servants."

Who in the Eastern Palace didn't know that Doukou was favored? The palace servants couldn't help but be wary of offending her.

But now that it had become such a scene, the attendant looked troubled, "Miss Doukou, you say this..."

Nan Xueyin didn't even think, "Drive them out."

She was not the real Doukou; if the Lin family saw any clues, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, at that very moment, a palace servant outside sang out, "The Crown Prince arrives!"

Nan Xueyin's heart skipped a beat.

Xiao Youlan walked in with steady steps, dressed in a gold-embroidered white silk round-collared robe, his hair bound with a jade crown, exuding an imposing nobility.

Seeing the situation in the courtyard, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"Your Highness, they are..."

Before the palace servant could report, Lin Laixi called out joyfully, "Crown Prince, I am Lin Laixi! I am Doukou's father!"

He then pulled over Lin Jiaxing, who was standing to the side, "This is Doukou's brother, and the only son of our Lin family, our only seedling! He's been smart since he was little—he can pee really high!"

The language was crude, causing the palace servants to frown.

Xiao Youlan, however, had no strange expression, and his tone could be considered polite, "So, for what reason have you come to the Eastern Palace today?"

Lin Laixi: "Why, to visit my daughter, of course!"

He rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "And by the way, Crown Prince, look at my son here—he's smart and capable; shouldn't you arrange some official post for him?"

Feihong couldn't help but say, "You must be crazy, wanting to become an official and get rich."

Lin Laixi glared at him, "You servant, how are you speaking? I am Doukou's father! When my Doukou marries the Crown Prince in the future, I will be the Crown Prince's father-in-law! You dare speak to me like that?"

After finishing, he winked and grinned at Xiao Youlan, "Am I right, Crown Prince?"

Xiao Youlan:...

He remained calm and said slowly, "You said you came to visit Doukou; did you see her?"

Lin Laixi then slapped his forehead, "Oh, look at my memory!"

He turned around and began shouting again, "Doukou! Chunxia!"

Lin Jiaxing was the first to notice Nan Xueyin standing outside the palace gate, and he raised a hand to point, "Dad, Chunxia is over there!"

Nan Xueyin caught her breath.

Lin Laixi walked over with a smile, "It's been so long, why are you still acting like a stranger? You've been standing on the side for ages, and you didn't even know to call out 'Dad'?"

Lin Jiaxing found it strange, "Dad, have you noticed? Chunxia is not quite the same as before."