Chapter 94: Pushing Xiao Youlan Away

The Ninth Princess of Loulan Kingdom, her beautiful eyes filled with smiles, bowed respectfully upward: "Greetings, Your Majesty, Empress Dowager."

Her gaze shifted, landing on Xiao Youlan, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Xiao Youlan was in the middle of peeling a second lychee for Nan Xueyin; hearing this, he gave a slight nod, "Ninth Princess."

The smile in the Ninth Princess's eyes seemed to deepen, and her gaze fell upon Zong Taihou, "I wish Empress Dowager good fortune, health, and a long, boundless life."

Zong Taihou nodded with a smile and asked her: "Are your imperial father, imperial mother, and your brothers and sisters all doing well?"

The Ninth Princess replied: "Many thanks for your concern, Empress Dowager; everything in Loulan is well."

Zong Taihou then pointed at the black leopard behind her and asked: "Why did you bring this leopard here?"

"This is a congratulatory gift I prepared for the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration," the Ninth Princess looked toward Xiao Youlan, "We reported it to the Eastern Palace several days ago, and at that time, His Highness the Crown Prince had already nodded in approval."

Xiao Youlan had finished peeling the lychee and was about to feed it to Nan Xueyin.

But besides the Ninth Princess, Zong Taihou and Emperor Yongzheng also looked over in this direction.

Nan Xueyin reacted quickly and swatted, knocking the lychee to the ground; her movements were fast, so they did not see anything they shouldn't have.

Xiao Youlan's hand remained suspended in mid-air, and he said: "That is indeed the case."

The Ninth Princess took a few extra looks at Nan Xueyin.

"I ask that Your Majesty and Empress Dowager please be seated; the performance will begin immediately."

As the Ninth Princess spoke, she handed the iron chain in her hand to the girl behind her: "Take it down to perform."

The girl kept her head lowered the entire time and weakly replied that she would.

Nan Xueyin felt this voice was familiar and looked up toward her.

Because the Ninth Princess had been blocking her view, she hadn't been able to see clearly, but now she finally recognized that the girl was none other than Jiang Lian'er, who had come to the Eastern Palace a few days prior.

"She is the one who brought Xiaoyang to the Eastern Palace a few days ago, right?" Xiao Youlan also recognized her.

"Mm."

Xiao Youlan glanced sideways, noticed Nan Xueyin's furrowed brows, and asked: "Do you feel something is wrong?"

Nan Xueyin said "Mm" again.

After a pause, she said deliberately: "If anything happens later, I won't look after you. I hope the Hidden Guards you arranged are strong enough."

Xiao Youlan chuckled softly, "If there is danger, you just need to hide behind me."

Emperor Yongzheng and Zong Taihou took in the sight of the two of them talking and laughing; the two exchanged a look, and in each other's eyes, they saw expressions of disapproval.

Fortunately, the black leopard below began its performance.

Jiang Lian'er held the iron chain, guiding the black leopard to leap through hoops of fire, cross slopes, and jump over high stools; it was agile, clean, and highly entertaining.

The fear of those in the seats was quickly suppressed, and they watched with delight and keen interest, with cheers and applause rising one after another.

"Good!"

"Do it again!"

The attention of Emperor Yongzheng and Zong Taihou was also drawn over.

As they watched, Zong Taihou praised it endlessly, and Emperor Yongzheng also said: "Although it is a wild beast, it is quite intelligent."

The Ninth Princess replied: "Many thanks for the praise, Your Majesty; this is all thanks to the training of Miss Jiang, as she and her father specialize in taming these fierce beasts."

The black leopard completed its final high-difficulty maneuver, and Emperor Yongzheng was greatly pleased, clapping his hands and laughing: "Good! Reward her!"

The Ninth Princess then called to Jiang Lian'er: "Why don't you hurry over to receive the Emperor's grace and reward?"

Jiang Lian'er led the black leopard forward.

Seeing that she was still hanging her head, Zong Taihou asked with a kind smile: "The Emperor wishes to reward you; are you not happy?"

"H-happy!" Jiang Lian'er hurriedly revealed a smile.

But the smile she forced out was even uglier than crying.

The Ninth Princess glanced at her and explained: "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, please forgive her; she is young and this is her first time seeing the Imperial countenance, so it is inevitable that she is nervous."

Zong Taihou waved her hand, not minding it much.

The Ninth Princess looked at Jiang Lian'er again.

Jiang Lian'er bit her lip in secret, gathered her courage, and said: "E-Empress Dowager, the black leopard's performance just now was the most ordinary kind; today is your birthday banquet, and this commoner has prepared another special performance."

"Oh?" Zong Taihou was actually quite curious.

"It is just that," Jiang Lian'er said, "if I am to perform the special act, I must remove the iron chain from its neck."

"You cannot perform without removing it?"

"Mm... it must be removed."

Zong Taihou and Emperor Yongzheng exchanged a look.

Zong Taihou was certainly worried, as this was a leopard after all, and wild beasts are hard to tame; if something were to happen, that would be bad.

Emperor Yongzheng, however, only gave her a reassuring look and spoke in a clear voice: "It is the Empress Dowager's birthday, so there must be no regrets. Remove it and perform."

He was not nervous, for he had confidence in the guards within Baoci Palace and confidence in his own majesty as the Emperor.

Having received the Emperor's personal permission, Jiang Lian'er walked forward and removed the iron chain from the black leopard's neck.

Nan Xueyin narrowed her eyes, noticing her fingers trembling slightly.

Freed from its restraints, the black leopard shook its neck.

"Wish for longevity!"

Jiang Lian'er commanded.

The black leopard obediently went to bite its own tail, spinning around on the ground several times in a row.

This comical scene successfully amused the entire audience, including Emperor Yongzheng and Zong Taihou.

Jiang Lian'er, however, took a deep breath, as if she had made a firm decision, and slapped the black leopard on the back.

The black leopard stood still, its tail slapping heavily against the ground, and it shook its head twice, a low growl rolling in its throat.

Everyone was watching the performance with great interest, their guard lowered, not thinking for a moment that this was a threatening move.

The black panther took two steps, then shook its head.

"Could it be dizzy from spinning?" someone guessed.

"It must be!"

Someone else laughed and shouted, "Hey! Big panther, keep performing!"

The black panther panted heavily, its gaze suddenly landing on Xiao Youlan, its vertical pupils terrifyingly sharp.

It exerted force suddenly, lunging straight at Xiao Youlan.

No one reacted in time, including the Crown Prince himself.

Only Nan Xueyin had been vigilantly watching the Ninth Princess, Jiang Lian'er, and the black panther the entire time; the moment the panther moved, she pulled Xiao Youlan's chair without a second thought, dragging him and the chair together a good distance backward.

Tables and chairs collided, and the black panther failed to catch Xiao Youlan, instead pouncing on Nan Xueyin and knocking her to the ground.

Nan Xueyin had originally been sitting in the chair, and she fell along with it; the wooden chair shattered under the heavy impact, and her back struck the ground, then was jabbed by the broken chair back, the pain making cold sweat pour down her.

From a distance earlier, Nan Xueyin hadn't felt it, but now, being pinned down, she realized just how massive an adult panther was; it pressed down on her so hard she could barely breathe, and with its claws resting on her right shoulder, it felt as if her bones were about to be crushed and split.

The black panther panted heavily, the foul, fishy stench spraying onto her face.

Nan Xueyin frowned, actually having the leisure to think that it was fortunate she had pushed Xiao Youlan away, otherwise, as delicate as he was, he certainly wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

"Ah—"

Someone in the seats let out a terrified scream.

The black panther seemed to be enraged, opening its blood-red maw toward Nan Xueyin.