Chapter 135 All Bad News

The Crown Prince stared intently into her eyes, seemingly sensing that Xie Mianmian's state was somewhat strange. This shouldn't be the case; the Xie family hadn't made any moves, so they shouldn't know what he was doing.

Why is Xie's youngest daughter so afraid of him?

Before he could say anything, a clear, melodious voice came from the palace entrance, "Brother Crown Prince."

Seeing the Seventh Prince approach, Xie Mianmian felt as if she had seen a god descend, and her previously stiff body came back to life.

She disregarded the Crown Prince's hand and quickly hid behind the Seventh Prince, still peeking out to sized him up. When she noticed the Crown Prince staring at her, she quickly shrank back.

The Seventh Prince grasped Xie Mianmian's wrist. "Don't be afraid, your Crown Prince brother won't hurt you."

Although he was not close to the Crown Prince, they had been brothers for three years, and the Seventh Prince had never seen the Crown Prince treat people harshly.

The child's finger trembled, and he almost tattled on the spot. "Yes, he knows! He definitely knows!" "That prince is wicked! He messed with the pirates, and now he wants to mess with our Xie family!"

However, Xie Mianmian had no evidence, so she could only cower and hide behind the Seventh Prince in a humiliating manner.

The Crown Prince chatted with the Seventh Prince for a few minutes, inquired about his studies, and then left with a smile.

Xie Mianmian tugged at the Seventh Prince's sleeve, "Mianmian has something very important to tell you. How about I sit next to you today?"

The seventh prince silently agreed.

Xie Mianmian ran to her seat and hurriedly carried her chair. However, the Seventh Prince couldn't stand it and went over to lift the chair up.

Just then, the Sixth Princess arrived. As soon as she entered the hall, she saw the Seventh Prince trying to abduct her little companion!

What are you doing?!

The Seventh Prince glanced at her, then moved his own chair aside and placed Xie Mianmian's chair next to it.

Seeing that the Sixth Princess was about to explode in anger, Xie Mianmian quickly ran over and coaxed her in a clingy manner.

"It was just sitting with him for a morning; Mianmian is still Princess's study companion."

"Being Her Highness's study companion is the best thing; everyone else is just a classmate of Mianmian."

"Don't overthink it, Mianmian loves being your reading companion!"

She didn't dare let the Seventh Prince hear her doing this, and secretly coaxed the Sixth Princess back to peace.

The sixth princess haughtily raised her head, snorted coldly at her seventh brother, and sat back down in her seat.

Xie Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to the Seventh Prince. She had a secret in her heart and twisted and turned in the chair, as if she had a tail behind her, feeling very uneasy.

She would occasionally glance at the Seventh Prince. Although he was young, he was very self-disciplined, sat upright with his back straight, and was reading a book.

Judging from the tone of the Seventh Prince's voice just now, he seemed to trust His Highness the Crown Prince a lot. I wonder if he will believe what I said.

"Just say what's important." Without asking, you'd never know how long she was going to keep brooding.

"Then I'll tell you, but you have to promise me you won't get angry."

The Seventh Prince nodded in agreement, wondering what she would say. He had no idea what else she might say that would make him angry.

Xie Mianmian leaned close to his ear and uttered cold words through her small mouth.

It was His Highness the Crown Prince who killed the pirates.

It was also His Highness the Crown Prince who smeared white phosphorus on the emperor's portrait, causing it to spontaneously combust in order to frame her family.

The Seventh Prince still turned his face away from Xie Mianmian, his eyes lowered and he remained silent, but his grip tightened, causing deep creases to form on the book.

He forced out two words through his teeth, "Really?"

At this moment, the Grand Tutor walked in and asked everyone to be quiet and listen to his lecture.

Xie Mianmian could only grind a pool of ink, touch her face, and write the four characters "absolutely true" on the Xuan paper. She quickly handed it over to the Grand Tutor as he bowed his head.

The seventh prince stared quietly at the words on it; they were crooked, crooked, and ugly.

Although he was not the Empress's biological son, she treated him very well and never treated him coldly or unfairly, as did his elder brother, the Crown Prince.

However, although Xie Mianmian was young, she did not speak nonsense. What she said was reasonable and well-founded, and she even convinced herself of it.

When the two people you trust most stand on opposite sides, how should you deal with it? The Seventh Prince was unusually confused.

Xie Mianmian didn't disturb him, quietly listening to the Grand Tutor's lecture. It was difficult to understand, but that didn't stop her from learning even a few words from it.

Just then, a beautiful little smoky blue bird perched on a branch outside the window, chirping and singing.

It had been a long time since I'd seen it. It had taken good care of itself and was still a chubby little bird, round and plump.

Xie Mianmian immediately snapped out of the Grand Tutor's storytelling, happily waved to the little chubby bird, and mouthed, "How have you been lately?"

"Chirp chirp chirp, I'm fine, summer is good, lots of bugs, I'm full." I don't know where it learned this little tune, it's a bit strange, but strangely pleasing to the ear, even better than the Grand Tutor telling stories.

The little chubby bird hopped and skipped on the branch, starting to share the gossip it knew with Xie Mianmian.

"Someone just went to the Cold Palace looking for Aunt Lan. They said the Westerners have arrived and want to take her back. What will I do if Aunt Lan leaves? No one will take care of those cats. I'm in danger!"

The tutor was standing right next to her giving a lesson. Xie Mianmian didn't dare to speak, but just nodded to the little chubby bird to indicate that she understood and would chat with it when she had time.

Why does it always come to gossip with her when she's listening to a lecture?

And Aunt Lan is actually leaving?!

When Xie Mianmian finally got a short break, she looked up at the branch and saw that the little chubby bird had already flown away.

She glanced guiltily at the seventh prince, who was practicing calligraphy with his head down. Well, now she had some bad news to tell him.

Suddenly, a strange maidservant walked up to her, handed Xie Mianmian a brocade pouch, and left, quickly disappearing from sight.

She scratched her head, wondering why there was so much trouble. She opened the brocade pouch, inside were two small slips of paper. One of them had only a few lines of writing on it, but it made her eyes widen.

Xie Mianmian carefully folded the note and put it away, her delicate brows furrowed, and her left and right index fingers poking at each other in a tangled manner.

Okay, now there are two pieces of news, one is bad news and the other is also bad news. Which one should she tell first?

She pressed her head against the desk, peering down at the Seventh Prince's bowed head. "Seventh Prince, are you alright?"

The Seventh Prince put away his brush and said solemnly, "I need concrete witnesses and evidence before I can make a judgment. I cannot just listen to one side of the story."

Xie Mianmian nodded, "Yes, yes, that's right."

Seeing the Seventh Prince's resilience, she felt relieved and handed the brocade pouch to him.

"What is this?" He wasn't the kind of person who would just accept someone's brocade pouch without a second thought.

Xie Mianmian leaned close to his ear and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "This is the information that Sister Bai got for us from Shanzhan Tower. It contains information about the Seventh Prince's birth mother."

Speaking of Bai Yun, Xie Mianmian felt a pang of regret. They hadn't seen each other since their unexpected encounter at the archery range that day.

The other note in the brocade pouch was a message from Bai Yun, saying that someone in her family had suddenly fallen seriously ill, and she was going home to take care of them. She added that the world was vast, and they would meet again someday.

Xie Mianmian sighed, but she didn't know what she was feeling melancholy about. The journey through the martial world was long, and she hoped to see Sister Bai again and watch her dance once more.