"I told you not to play this card," the Ninth Prince said sullenly from behind.

Nan Yi glared at him, then glanced at him sideways, only to be surprised to see a pretty woman following behind him who looked somewhat familiar.

Wanqing, Xiao Xizhen, and Zhenzhen stood up to greet each other, but the Ninth Prince waved his hand and said, "Keep playing, I'll just watch from the side."

Nan Yi remained seated, and no one paid any attention. The four of them sat down again to shuffle the cards. Ninth Prince stood behind Nan Yi and lectured, "You lost badly, didn't you? You need to use your brain to play mahjong. You can't just focus on the cards in your hand; you also have to observe the cards played by the other three players."

Nan Yi scoffed, "If you can do it, then you come and fight. Let me see how good you are." With that, she stood up and made way for him.

The Ninth Prince shook his head and chuckled, "How could I play this game with you women? People would laugh themselves to death if word got out."

"There are no outsiders here, who would tell anyone? Come on, let's play a couple of rounds." Nan Yi pushed him to sit down.

The Ninth Prince touched his nose and reluctantly said, "Alright."

The pretty woman behind him spoke up, "My lord, I'd like to play too."

Nan Yi glanced at her indifferently, and Wan Qing quickly stood up. "Sister, sit here. I was just about to rest for a while."

Huifang, of the Zhangjia clan, was a princess in the Ninth Prince's mansion. She was sweet-talking and beautiful, and was quite favored by Yinzhen. The woman that Nan Yi first saw when he broke into the Ninth Prince's mansion at night was her.

Zhangjia didn't refuse. "Then I won't stand on ceremony, sister." She swayed her waist and sat down gracefully. Wanqing was originally Nan Yi's subordinate, but when she sat down, she became the subordinate of the Ninth Prince.

Nan Yi Wanqing stood behind the Ninth Prince watching the game. As she watched, Nan Yi felt something was wrong. All she could hear from the table was Zhang Jia Shi's sweet and coquettish voice.

One moment she's saying, "Master, you have to let me have a turn... Master, I want the middle tile of the Wan suit... Master, I want to eat/pong... Master, I'm ready to win!"

Nan Yi's face turned pale. There was no other reason than that she was just playing cards and making a racket. It was annoying, and besides, her indiscriminate flirting was just too awkward.

Zhenzhen and Xiaoxi remained silent, playing cards as if they couldn't hear anything and their expressions showed no change.

Nan Yi was ashamed of his composure.

"My lord, I..."

"I won," Xiao Xi said calmly.

Nan Yi pressed his forehead and gave Xiao Xi a thumbs up. Xiao Xi raised an eyebrow, secretly delighted. The God of Wealth had delivered himself to his doorstep; he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn't take advantage of him.

When she wasn't busy with official duties, this was her favorite pastime in private. She was undefeated in Shuntian Prefecture.

Her subordinates were so afraid of losing that they stopped playing with her.

Nan Yi had no idea that she was an expert. When the second round started, she couldn't stand it anymore. Zhang Jia's voice gave her goosebumps, while A-Tang seemed to enjoy it.

She pulled Wanqing, whose expression was equally unnatural, aside and led her to the side.

The Ninth Prince glanced at the two figures who had walked away, then looked back at the table. Lady Zhangjia said something again, and he glared at her. Lady Zhangjia immediately shrank back and stopped talking nonsense, obediently playing cards.

Wanqing sighed softly, seemingly lost in thought.

Nan Yi's emotions were affected by her, and a slight melancholy arose in his heart. Even with a beauty like Wan Qing, A Tang didn't seem to appreciate her. In modern times, a girl like Wan Qing would be cherished and pampered.

Blind, stinky man.

Nan patted her on the shoulder and said, "Take it easy. These men are always looking for something better. Being sad for them is just asking for trouble."

"Wanqing, cheer up! We'll give you money to spend, and you'll have plenty to eat, drink, and play with every day. How pleasant! You're a secondary consort, your status is what it is. The ones who should be worried are those concubines and princesses; only they need to go to great lengths to please the master."

"Pfft—" Wanqing immediately laughed when she heard her advice. Having money, food, drink, entertainment, and status was indeed a wonderful thing.

She laughed for a while, then her face showed helplessness. "Even though that's what I say, I'm still sad inside. Ninth Master... Sigh, it's all my fault for being so weak."

Wanqing began to feel sorry for herself again when she looked at the flowers.

Nan Yi was speechless upon hearing this. Although she could understand the idea of ​​attributing a man's dislike for her to her own lack of ambition, she could not agree with it.

A three-hundred-year generation gap lies there. Women of this era valued the "three obediences and four virtues": obeying their fathers at home, obeying their husbands after marriage, and devoting themselves entirely to their husbands after marriage.

Even if she is not liked by her husband, there is no question of her falling in love with someone else.

She spent nearly three years in the Qing Dynasty, but her modern ideas remained unchanged. Whether Yinzhen liked her or not, it seemed to make no difference.

She still wants freedom.

Unless... No, that's impossible.

Even if she were to become a fake Tong Yilan, Yinzhen's concubine, what would the Fourth Prince matter if she fell in love with another man someday?

Looking at Wanqing beside him, well, he was an oddball, unconventional, and couldn't let Wanqing cheat on A-Tang.

She was really bad at comforting people. Wanqing was immersed in her own worries, and Nanyi was afraid that she would not be able to say anything unreliable again, so she kept her mouth shut and stayed silent with her.

She was playing with the flowers around her when Yiren suddenly ran over and said, "My lady, something has happened at the manor. Eunuch Gao has come to take you back to the manor."

Nan stood up. "Did Eunuch Gao say what happened?"

Yiren rushed over to help Nan Yi up and whispered in her ear, "It's the eldest prince. He said he's not going to make it."

Nan Yi was startled and immediately turned to Wan Qing to say goodbye, "Wan Qing, there's something at the manor..."

Wanqing interrupted her, "It's nothing, you go ahead with your work, I'll tell them."

Nan nodded and hurriedly walked out of the garden with Yiren. Xiao Shunzi and Eunuch Gao were waiting for her at the gate of the mansion, their faces a little pale.

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