Chapter 17: Enough of the Scene, Nan Xueyin?

Nan Xueyin snuck into Jiaoyuan.

She did not know where Hua Lianying was being settled, so she intended to find someone to ask.

Suddenly, she heard Wu Zhui call out to her in pleasant surprise: "Miss Nan!"

Nan Xueyin turned her head and saw Wu Zhui and Xiao Mingyu; the two had just returned from outside.

Xiao Mingyu had originally been in low spirits, his expression somewhat gloomy, but when his gaze fell upon Nan Xueyin's face, he paused, and ripples stirred in the depths of his eyes.

Wu Zhui explained with a smile: "We just returned from the palace; we saw the Virtuous Consort, and we also saw the Emperor."

Nan Xueyin nodded.

Wu Zhui glanced at Xiao Mingyu beside him and teased: "Miss Nan, did you know the Prince was coming and miss us, so you snuck out specifically to see us?"

Xiao Mingyu guessed the same; otherwise, what else could be the reason for her coming here?

He curled his lips in pleasure, saying: "It's too risky, there was no need."

Nan Xueyin said: "This subordinate understands. This subordinate did not come specifically to see the Prince."

Xiao Mingyu's smile stiffened at the corners of his mouth.

Nan Xueyin added: "This subordinate came to find Hua Lianying."

Xiao Mingyu stared at her, knowing she did not like to lie; she really had not come for him tonight.

His expression turned cold again, and his tone was unkind: "You have business with Yingying?"

"Yingying"—such an intimate form of address.

Nan Xueyin frowned very slightly.

At this moment, Hua Lianying came out from inside, originally intending to welcome Xiao Mingyu, her face full of soft, gentle smiles: "Prince, you have returned."

Seeing Nan Xueyin suddenly, her heart gave a violent jolt, her smile vanished in an instant, and she nervously gripped her sleeves: "Sis... Sister, why have you come?"

Nan Xueyin saw through her guilty conscience and said coldly: "The Lin father and son, you were the one who brought them here, weren't you?"

It was not a question, but a statement.

Hua Lianying's expression stiffened, and she could not speak.

"What Lin father and son?" Xiao Mingyu inquired.

Hua Lianying looked over pitifully, her tone even more sorrowful: "Prince, this concubine..."

"The palace maid I replaced was named Doukou; before entering the palace, she was called Lin Chunxia. Hua Lianying had her subordinates find the Lin father and son, that is, Lin Chunxia's father and brother, and guided them to the Eastern Palace."

Nan Xueyin knew she was about to play the victim, so she simply interrupted her and stated the facts plainly.

She stared at Hua Lianying expressionlessly and questioned her coldly: "Do you think that they would expose my true identity, and I would either be driven out of the Eastern Palace by the Crown Prince or die directly in the Eastern Palace?"

Hua Lianying was startled, her entire small face turning pale to the point of having no color.

Nan Xueyin said word by word: "Hua Lianying, I warn you, do not come to sabotage my mission!"

Wu Zhui was also indignant: "Miss Lianying, what you did is too much! We went to such lengths to send Miss Nan into the Eastern Palace; doing this will disrupt our entire plan and get many people killed!"

Facing their accusations, Hua Lianying only snuck a glance at Xiao Mingyu, and seeing that he did not rebuke her, she bit her lower lip and said weakly: "I, I don't know, I didn't do this. Sister has misunderstood me."

As she spoke, her tears fell in grievance: "I know that Sister is currently very favored by the Crown Prince, how could I possibly sabotage that?"

Nan Xueyin was about to speak when Xiao Mingyu suddenly said: "Have you made enough of a scene, Nan Xueyin?"

Nan Xueyin was stunned for a moment. Scolding her?

"Since you replaced someone else's identity, you should have known there would be a risk of being exposed. Or did you think that since the Crown Prince likes you and favors you, you could just sail through smoothly and be carefree?"

Nan Xueyin furrowed her brows: "This subordinate has evidence; if the Prince does not believe me, you can go and ask..."

Xiao Mingyu was very impatient: "That's enough."

Nan Xueyin's lips moved: "But today, this subordinate was almost exposed."

If the mission failed, she would be tortured, and might even die.

Xiao Mingyu's gaze was indifferent, and he sneered: "But aren't you still perfectly fine now?"

Nan Xueyin was stunned again.

"Taking a step back, even if the Lin father and son were brought by Yingying, didn't that help you? The Crown Prince didn't discover your identity as an Assassin, but instead became even more convinced that you are a little palace maid with no father to love her and no mother to care for her. Won't he summon you to serve him in bed even more often from now on?" Xiao Mingyu's gaze was extremely sarcastic.

Nan Xueyin was completely speechless.

She finally understood: Xiao Mingyu did not disbelieve her; he had simply made up his mind to favor Hua Lianying.

"Prince..." Even Wu Zhui could not bear to watch; what had Miss Nan done wrong to be treated like this?

"What, are you feeling sorry for her too?" Xiao Mingyu swept a cold glance over.

Wu Zhui was stunned; what was this even about!

It took a long while for Nan Xueyin to recover the strength to speak: "This subordinate understands."

She lowered her eyes: "It was this subordinate who was anxious tonight and came rashly; it will not happen again."

Xiao Mingyu stared at her face; there was no sign of acting spoiled or being hurt, only a calmness that made one feel irritated.

He frowned: "If you know, then why don't you get out of here!"

After Nan Xueyin took her leave, Xiao Mingyu looked at her retreating back, but his chest felt even more stifled, even throbbing with pain, as if... he were losing something of utmost importance.

Nan Xueyin walked alone on the empty street; as she walked, she felt as if her whole body had lost its strength, so she stopped.

She saw a remnant of a notice on the city wall; it must have been a missing person poster, posted for some time, weathered by wind and sun, with little left of it.

On the portrait, one could vaguely recognize a young girl, who looked somewhat like Nan Xueyin, with a pair of phoenix eyes that tilted upward at the corners; when she had no expression, she appeared cold and distant.

It was just that the girl's age was clearly younger than hers, looking no more than ten years old, and the remaining text in the corner read: If there is any news of the little girl, there will be a heavy reward.

Nan Xueyin suddenly remembered the year she was ten.

After both her parents died, she had drifted alone for a long time; she was truly too hungry, and for half a meat bun that had fallen on the ground, she had gotten into a fierce fight with a big yellow dog in the alley.

She won the fight, but she didn't win it very gracefully; her clothes were torn, revealing most of her shoulder.

She didn't care; she patted the mud off the bun and bit into it impatiently.

"Is it good?" someone asked.

Nan Xueyin quickly stuffed the last bite of the bun into her mouth, her cheeks bulging, and said, "Even if you want to eat it, there isn't any left; I ate it all."

The person seemed to find these words amusing and laughed out loud; that calm, unhurried, and refined laughter made it clear at once that his status was extraordinary.

Nan Xueyin raised her face and, sure enough, met the finely carved, jade-like face of a young man with handsome features and a gentle smile, which instantly made her think of the description, "Like jade on the road, a young nobleman peerless in the world."

She suddenly felt embarrassed because she knew she was filthy, and remembering the fight she had just been in, she hurriedly tugged hard at her torn sleeve to barely cover her shoulder.

The young man smiled and moved to walk away.

Nan Xueyin thought he was disgusted with her or something, feeling a rare sense of inferiority and sadness, but before long, the young man returned, this time carrying a bag of flatbreads in his hand.

From quite a distance away, Nan Xueyin could already smell the fragrance of the bread, faint and intermittent, mixed with the scent of meat; she couldn't tell if it was beef flatbread or fish flatbread, and her stomach couldn't help but growl.

The young man heard it and laughed again; he handed over the meat flatbreads, "Eat, I bought these for you."

Nan Xueyin hesitated for a short while, but in the end, she still couldn't resist the temptation of the food.

She had been hungry for far too long, and she wolfed down the entire bag of meat flatbreads very quickly.

With a full stomach, Nan Xueyin felt content; she wiped the crumbs and grease from the corners of her mouth and solemnly promised the young man, "Noble one, you saved me; from now on, no matter what you ask me to do, I will definitely do it. Definitely. I must repay the debt of saving my life."

The young man nodded and said with smiling eyes, "I am called Xiao Mingyu, the Fourth Prince in the imperial court. From now on, you shall follow me."

In her memory, the young man's face overlapped with Xiao Mingyu's, then slowly separated.

Nan Xueyin suddenly discovered that her eyes were filled with tears, blurring everything; she closed her eyes, suppressed all her emotions, turned around, and strode toward the Eastern Palace.