Chapter 185: The Fish Has Taken the Bait

Nan Xueyin raised her eyebrows: "For example, smearing ink on my face, and then not telling me?"

Xiao Youlan couldn't help but be stunned, "How did you know?"

Nan Xueyin wrapped her arms around his waist, "I saw it in your eyes."

Xiao Youlan's eyes were pitch black, reflecting the complete outline of Nan Xueyin.

Her face could be seen clearly, including her brows and eyes, and also the ink stains on her face.

She was standing in front of the desk, and at this moment, facing Xiao Youlan, she lifted her bottom slightly and perched it onto the desk.

She hooked Xiao Youlan closer to her, and used the side of her face that had been dirtied by the ink to rub against him.

Seeing that Xiao Youlan's handsome, clean face was also smeared with ink, and that both of them were equally dirty, she felt much more at ease, "I have to say, you look much better like this."

Xiao Youlan laughed: "How much better?"

Nan Xueyin thought for a moment: "Better to the extent that you could do most things to me, and I wouldn't be angry."

Xiao Youlan heard the subtext in her words, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and with his hands braced on the desk on either side of her, he finally kissed her deeply.

The room door was tightly shut, and outside was a mass of thick, dark night, with the cold late-autumn wind occasionally swirling to blow down withered yellow flowers and leaves.

However, candles were lit in the room, and these clusters of light embraced the slight warmth in the room, also illuminating the entire space extremely brightly.

While kissing, Nan Xueyin opened her eyelids a crack and saw Xiao Youlan's tightly closed eyes.

At such a close distance, she saw his thick, pitch-black eyelashes; she could almost count how many there were.

Suddenly, Xiao Youlan pulled back a little and asked in a low voice: "What are you thinking about? Why are you distracted?"

Nan Xueyin answered truthfully: "I was looking at your eyes, counting how many eyelashes you have."

Xiao Youlan smiled and kissed her again.

This time, his kiss was much more forceful.

Nan Xueyin was stirred by him until her head felt a bit dizzy; what eyelashes was she still counting? She could only focus on responding.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Youlan finally left her lips.

He did not leave, but remained standing in front of Nan Xueyin.

Nan Xueyin breathed slightly, her cheeks flushed with a rosy glow.

Xiao Youlan watched for a while, his gaze deepening, and he lowered his head again; this time, he kissed Nan Xueyin's earlobe, one scorching kiss after another moving downward, as if leaving behind some profound mark.

He kissed down to Nan Xueyin's neck.

Xiao Youlan's hands were also moving, easily untying her clothing sash.

As the sash loosened, her collar fell down as well.

Xiao Youlan kissed Nan Xueyin's collarbone.

Further down was a place that had never been touched by anyone; when Xiao Youlan kissed down, Nan Xueyin's body trembled involuntarily, and she raised her hands to grab Xiao Youlan's arms.

Xiao Youlan stopped and looked up: "If you don't like it, I won't do this."

Nan Xueyin blushed: "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I... am nervous."

Xiao Youlan went along with it: "Then let's stop here for today."

After saying this, he did not continue further, but leaned in and kissed the corner of Nan Xueyin's mouth again.

Nan Xueyin was actually stunned; she wanted to say that he could actually continue, as nervous as she was, she wasn't actually that resistant...

However, before she could speak, Feihong's voice came from outside the door first: "Your Highness Crown Prince, the fish has taken the bait."

Xiao Youlan replied: "Understood."

Nan Xueyin was puzzled: "What fish are you talking about? How did it take the bait?"

Xiao Youlan patiently helped her put on her disheveled clothes, "Consort Xian is in the palace, and Xiao Mingyu happens to be in Fengdu. They are both fish I want to catch; today, Father Emperor is unconscious, and that is the hook."

Nan Xueyin understood: "Catching the mother and son to kill them?"

Xiao Youlan expressed deep approval for this apt description: "Yes, once the mother and son are dead, many things can be settled."

With her clothes put on, Xiao Youlan tied her waist sash neatly and beautifully.

Nan Xueyin suggested: "I will go with you. If Xiao Mingyu brings any Assassins with him, I cannot let them hurt you."

Xiao Youlan thought for a moment and did not refuse, "That is fine."

He then suggested: "Do you want to disguise yourself?"

Nan Xueyin was thinking the same, and she jumped down from the table easily, "I will be ready very soon."

She made some subtle modifications to her face; she didn't change everything, so it was done very quickly.

When Nan Xueyin finished her disguise and went out with Xiao Youlan, besides Feihong, there was also Nan Jiyun outside the door.

Nan Jiyun did not know that Nan Xueyin could disguise herself; from his perspective, it was the middle of the night, the Crown Prince's door was tightly shut, and after Feihong delivered a message, he only came out after a while, and when he came out, he was followed by an unfamiliar woman.

During the day he said he liked his niece, but in the middle of the night, he was actually sharing a room with another woman.

Nan Jiyun felt indignant and felt aggrieved for Nan Xueyin.

He even began to doubt, could the Crown Prince's reputation abroad be fake? Could the Crown Prince be unreliable? Could the Ye Dynasty really be finished?

Nan Xueyin caught the change in Nan Jiyun's expression and cleared her throat: "Uncle, it's me."

Nan Jiyun was suddenly startled: "Li... Little Xue?"

Nan Xueyin explained simply: "I disguised myself."

Nan Jiyun's brain didn't turn for a long while.

"We are going to the palace; you wait in the Eastern Palace," Nan Xueyin said again.

Before Nan Jiyun could react, she, Xiao Youlan, and Feihong had already strode away toward the palace.

The night was deep, and the cold wind whistled between the palace buildings.

Nan Xueyin truly felt that this entire imperial palace, except for the Eastern Palace, felt ghostly everywhere else, especially at night; who knew how many wronged souls were buried under the palace walls?

Thinking this, the group arrived outside the Emperor's bedchamber.

From a distance, one could hear the Virtuous Consort's tearful complaint: "Your Majesty! It has only been so long, how have you become this ill?"

She went to ask those serving inside: "Speak! How could His Majesty have become this ill? Was it your lack of care? Was it that you did not serve him well?"

However, no one inside responded to her.

After all, those people were already wholeheartedly devoted to the Crown Prince.

Seeing this, the Virtuous Consort threw herself onto the side of the dragon bed again, tears streaming down her face, and said: "Your Majesty, I beg you to open your eyes and look at your subject, look at Mingyu... Mingyu has returned, Mingyu has come to see you!"

Xiao Youlan remained composed as he stepped into the room.

At this, everyone in the hall greeted him one after another: "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Xiao Mingyu, who was before the sickbed, and the Virtuous Consort, whose face was covered in tears, turned their heads to look over simultaneously, their eyes filled with a mixture of hatred and anger.

Before the Virtuous Consort could open her mouth to accuse him, Xiao Youlan spoke first in a low, eerie tone: "Virtuous Consort, the Emperor is still well; he is merely critically ill and unconscious. You are crying like this—do you want people to think that the Emperor has already passed away?"