Chapter 116: Meeting Prince An Again

Xiao Jingheng still had to meet with court officials in the afternoon, so even if he was willing and able, he had to "let go" of Song Zhao for the time being.

After coming out of Bitong Academy, it seemed that it was almost time for the Queen Mother to take a nap.

Song Zhao went to Xiuzhu Hall to pay his respects to the empress dowager.

From Bitong Academy to Xiuzhu Hall, taking a shortcut through the purple bamboo forest can save a lot of walking.

So Song Zhao took a shortcut.

After walking most of the way deep into the bamboo forest, Song Zhao suddenly heard a strange roar, which made the birds in the bamboo forest flap their wings and fly away, and tender leaves fell to the ground.

Song Zhao was startled for a moment, and looked around in a daze.

Finally, her gaze met a pair of bright golden eyes.

Right in front of her, a black panther suddenly appeared!

The black panther's fur is jet black and shiny, as lustrous as silk.

The teeth are sharp and pointed, the claws are thick and sharp,

Song Zhao was very scared, but when she saw a string of bells tied around the black panther's neck, her nervousness eased a little.

The bell means it is not a wild animal, but a domesticated animal.

But animals are not human beings, and no matter how docile they are, they can lose their temper sometimes.

Song Zhao watched Black Panther's every move, slowly pulled out the hairpin from her bun, and held it tightly in his hand.

I don't know if the originally docile black panther was stimulated by her action.

He suddenly roared and ran towards her like a madman.

This leopard throat sound can shake people's heart.

No matter how calm Song Zhao was, she was just a weak woman. How could she not be afraid when she saw this scene?

His hand shook and the hairpin fell to the ground.

"ah!!"

She was so frightened that her legs went limp, she screamed, frowned, closed her eyes, and stood still, unable to move.

"Ahuan, stop making trouble."

At this critical moment, a clear and unrestrained voice of a young man came into Song Zhao's ears.

Somehow, she felt at peace when she heard this voice.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the black panther stopped less than ten feet away from her, lying obediently on the ground, licking its paws with its red tongue.

And behind it, there appeared a tall shadow.

Song Zhao's gaze slowly settled on the man walking towards her.

He was wearing a slim-fitting brown shirt, with a jade xun hanging around his waist, and his steps were casual and uninhibited.

His eyes moved upwards and he saw that he had sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a straight nose and thin lips. He was holding a piece of tender green bamboo leaf in his mouth and was smiling at Song Zhao with a bit of ruffian attitude.

Song Zhao recognized him at a glance.

This person was Prince An, Xiao Jingyan, whom she had met once at Xiao Jingheng's birthday party that day.

The sunlight passed through the gaps in the bamboo forest, and the golden beams were broken and projected messily onto Xiao Jingyan's body.

He raised his head slightly, showing the youthful vigor and vitality.

His bony Adam's apple rolled up and down, and he waved his hand at Song Zhao with a nonchalant look, saying,

"Good morning, Lady Song."

Song Zhao didn't know why Xiao Jingyan appeared in the Purple Bamboo Forest at this time.

She only knew that there were rumors that Prince An was an idle ruffian who took advantage of Xiao Jingheng's favor to flirt with other women and do whatever he wanted all day long, and his reputation had long been ruined in Kyoto.

Song Zhao naturally didn't want to have anything to do with such a person.

So she hurriedly said "Hello, Your Highness" and hurried away in small steps.

But when he passed by Xiao Jingyan, he heard him laugh and tease,

"Your Excellency will be afraid too?"

Song Zhao ignored him and instead quickened his pace.

But his smile became even bigger, "Your Excellency is not even afraid of dead people, how can you be afraid of a big cat?"

Hearing this, Song Zhao frowned and was forced to stop.

She turned her back to Jamel Xiao and said in a solemn voice:

"I don't understand what the prince is saying."

Xiao Jingyan wandered around to Song Zhao's side, found a slightly thicker bamboo, and leaned against it casually.

"Five days ago, I came to the manor to drink with my brother. I came back drunk and accidentally ran into the flower garden."

He spit out the leaf that was on his lips, and the bamboo leaf spun perfectly in the air and landed right on the forehead of the black panther named Ahuan.

"Meow~"

Ah Huan suddenly let out a cat's cry, raised his head and glanced at Xiao Jingyan with drooping eyelids, with a look of grievance on his face.

"Stay away." Xiao Jingyan dismissed it, turned around and lowered his voice, raised his eyebrows at Song Zhao with a wicked smile,

"In the flower garden, I happened to see someone dumping a corpse. Hiss... that person seemed to be a eunuch beside the noble."

!!!

Hearing this, Song Zhao's heart skipped a beat...

Of course she couldn't admit it, and her brain was racing to think of a solution:

She knew that even if Xiao Jingyan saw it, so many days had passed and Xiying's body had rotted away, so there was no way to verify it.

And if Jamel Xiao wanted to be with Jamel Xiao, he would have gone there early in the morning and would never have waited until now.

So she pretended to be calm and said:

"Your Highness is mistaken. Xiao Fuzi went to save people, not to dump corpses."

Xiao Jingyan looked at Song Zhao with interest for a while, then he jumped up lightly, moved one step further, and stood in front of Song Zhao in a blink of an eye.

He leaned down, with the tip of his nose almost touching Song Zhao's face, frightening Song Zhao so much that he quickly took several steps back.

"Your Majesty!"

Seeing her panic, Xiao Jingyan smiled smugly and mischievously, "Whether it's throwing away the body or saving people, in the end...you lied to my brother~"

Song Zhao had seen it.

This guy is a complete lunatic.

It would only be disadvantageous to her to continue to get involved with him, so she said in a cold voice:

"I don't understand what you are saying. If you think that Xiao Fuzi had an argument with Xiying and beat her to death, just tell the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs about it and let them investigate it thoroughly. I'm going to pay my respects to the Queen Mother, Your Highness, please do as you please."

"Hey! Just listen to what I have to say first!"

Xiao Jingyan grabbed Song Zhao's arm.

Song Zhao struggled hard and was about to break free from his palm.

However, due to the large amplitude of the movement, the bun without a hairpin was scattered in an instant.

The waterfall-like black hair instantly fell on her shoulders. Although there was a breeze in the forest, it brought a faint jasmine fragrance and filled Xiao Jingyan's nostrils.

He stared at Song Zhao for just a glance and then became distracted.

But he soon realized it was rude and turned away immediately.

Just then, she saw a silver hairpin at her feet, gleaming brightly in the sunlight. So she kicked the hairpin up with her toes, caught it gracefully, and handed it back to Song Zhao.

"The noble lady's hairpin."

Song Zhao's face flushed, and he took the hairpin without saying a word. Without even a word of thanks, he tied his hair and trotted away.

But Xiao Jingyan was like a tail that couldn't be shaken off, following her all the way and nagging her non-stop.

"Don't be upset, sir. I want to discuss something with you. I can keep this matter to myself, but you have to do me a favor, as a way of repaying the favor."

Song Zhao's face was full of disgust, as if he had provoked the plague god, and he didn't even want to look at Xiao Jingyan.

But they were about to leave the Purple Bamboo Forest, and if Xiao Jingyan continued to cling to her, it would be bad if others saw them and started talking about them.

So she suddenly stopped, raised her head and glared at Xiao Jingyan, saying unhappily:

"What on earth do you want to do!?"

"Hehe~" Xiao Jingyan raised his index finger and rubbed the tip of his nose, smiling roguely.

"It's very simple. You have to help me...be a thief~"

(ps: Don't be crazy, don't pull them together, they are not a couple, there are other plots, don't put labels on the heroine, thank you.)