Chapter 238: Ambiguity in the Carriage

Veins bulged, hysterical.

Everyone stared, having never seen the Crown Prince lose composure like this.

Ye Qingran's steps remained unchanged.

Regret? She would never!

……

A banquet ended in farce.

On the way back to the residence, an uninvited guest barged into Ye Qingran's carriage.

"National Master, what are you doing?"

Fu Hanxiu glanced at Han Xing Leng Yue each, his cool voice saying, "You go out first."

Han Xing Leng Yue gazed at their young lady.

Ye Qingran furrowed her brows, stayed silent for a moment, then gave a barely perceptible nod.

Once they left, the carriage's atmosphere suddenly turned ambiguous.

Late at night, a lone man and woman, alone together in a carriage…

Ye Qingran's heart involuntarily sped up.

Fu Hanxiu watched the faint light, capturing the woman's full red lips, his gaze growing darker and darker.

The next instant, he didn't wait for Ye Qingran to react, moved forward, and pressed his lips against hers.

From the moment he first saw her at the banquet, he had wanted to do this.

At this moment he finally did it, letting out a satisfied sigh.

Ye Qingran's eyes widened; her first reaction wasn't that she had been forcibly kissed, but how familiar this feeling was.

She recalled that day on the Qingshan Lake pleasure boat, when Wuhen had kissed her on the deck.

Clearly there were two people, yet why did the feeling feel the same to her?

In fact, she never denied having feelings for the National Master; but because she remained clear-headed in the mortal world, she deliberately ignored and suppressed them.

But after meeting Wuhen, she discovered she seemed to have the same feelings for him.

This gave her a headache, even making her wonder if she was a born scumbag.

Otherwise, how could she be fickle, eyeing the pot while eating from the bowl?

This is also one reason why she had Wuhen step forward to act and dissuade the National Master.

Between Wuhen and the National Master, she chose Wuhen.

Because, compared to the National Master's mystery, and that secret between her and the National Master of day and night, she felt Wuhen was purer…

Yet the National Master is practically a reincarnated sticky plaster—impossible to shake off!

"Just this nervous? You even forgot to breathe?"

A teasing voice came from beside her; Ye Qingran came to, looking at the close lips, pulling a playful smile, her eyes deepening as she herself leaned in…

Fu Hanxiu's smile gradually froze, his starry eyes brimming with shock.

Ye Qingran, initiating the kiss?

But before he could come to his senses, Ye Qingran had already withdrawn.

She pursed her lips, savoring the feeling, then furrowed her brows.

It's over, it's exactly the same…

Fu Hanxiu didn't know Ye Qingran's thoughts; seeing her furrowed brows, he assumed she was dissatisfied with him, his face sinking: "Woman, are you dissatisfied?"

"Huh?" Ye Qingran startled, then realized what he meant, waving her hand: "No, very satisfied!"

Fu Hanxiu, his mood easing slightly, raised his sword-brows, his voice low and hoarse: "Then, continue?"

Ye Qingran's mouth twitched.

Continue, you idiot!

Her mindset was on the verge of breaking.

Although she had the idea of trying things with Wuhen, the National Master's occasional teasing really made it hard not to get carried away!

How exactly should she choose?

She can't possibly want both, can she?

"I'm tired, I want to go back to sleep." Ye Qingran, weary, yawned. Fu Hanxiu nodded: "I'll send you back to the residence."

Ye Qingran didn't refuse either.

The carriage swayed all the way, and soon arrived at the Ye Residence.

Seeing Ye Qingran enter, Fu Hanxiu stood outside the gate, tall and straight, exuding aloof pride. Yet his face rarely showed a hint of pleased smile.

Today he kissed her, she didn't refuse and even took the initiative—could this be a sign she's falling for him?

Thinking of this possibility, the ever aloof Emperor Sovereign's lips curled higher and higher.

Fu San beside him wanted to speak but held back; Fu Hanxiu noticed and said, "Speak if you have something to say."

"Your Majesty, I suspect Miss Ye may have feelings for both you and Wuhen…"

Fu Hanxiu hearing this, didn't know whether to be happy or gloomy.

"If that's really the case, how will you later explain to Miss Ye that Wuhen is actually you?" Fu San probed. In his view, Ye Qingran is someone who can't tolerate a speck of sand in her eyes; if one day she learns Wuhen and the National Master are the same person, she will surely be furious.

It's quite possible she'd rather break than accept either!

Fu Hanxiu naturally also thought of this.

But things have come to this, he also doesn't know when the right time to lay his cards before Ye Qingran would be.

Originally he thought approaching her as Wuhen would let him learn her secrets faster; but though the goal was achieved, it also brought him trouble. Given that woman's stubborn nature, if he told her now that Wuhen is actually him, the feelings they had barely warmed would likely plunge to freezing point!

Just thinking about it makes his head swell!

Fu Hanxiu's slender fingers pinched his brow.

The ever decisive Western Extreme Emperor, before the one he loves, is just a raw recruit!

Fu Qianchen's long‑awaited Bloodline Detection result finally arrived.

He didn't tell anyone; in the dead of night, while Mo Xiaohu was already asleep, he slipped alone up to the top of the locust tree's canopy, opened the envelope, took out its contents, and read them with eager anticipation.

The hopeful light in his eyes dimmed instantly when he saw the final result.

It said that there is no blood relation between him and Ye Qingran!

Fu Qianchen felt as if struck by lightning; his complexion turned paper‑white in an instant.

He clutched his knees, burying his head within them; his small frame exuded a deep sense of desolation and loneliness.

He is not his mother's child.

He is ultimately not the lucky one he thought himself to be.

He feels so awful!

Fu Qianchen's tiny body trembled, sobbing continuously.

It is the first time in his life he has cried so hopelessly.

Just after returning from the banquet to Ting Yu Xuan, Ye Qingran heard a rustle from the locust tree, shook her head at Han Xing Leng Yue, and leapt onto the treetop. Parting the branches, she saw Fu Qianchen's tiny figure hidden among the leaves, hugging his knees, curled into a ball, crying sorrowfully.

That small silhouette, shrouded in shadow, seemed abandoned by the whole world.

Her heart clenched instantly, aching to the point she could not breathe.

Without a second thought, she sprang up and cradled the child in her arms.

"Xiao Chen, what's wrong? Why are you crying so sadly?" Ye Qingran asked, then noticed Fu Qianchen clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand; something flashed in her mind, and when she took it, she instantly understood.

Seeing the Bloodline Detection result on the paper, she was not surprised, but she could not hide the disappointment in her heart.

Fu Qianchen is the National Master's son; how could he be her child?

"Mother, you're back?"

Fu Qianchen lifted his head from his knees; his little face looked pitiful, still bearing tear stains, making Ye Qingran feel an overwhelming pang of heartache.

"Xiao Chen, please stop crying, okay? In Mother's eyes, regardless of whether we have blood relation, you are still Mother's child…" She placed a kiss on Fu Qianchen's cheek.

"Mother, but I want to be your child, a biological child!" Fu Qianchen said stubbornly.