Upon hearing this, she immediately sensed something was wrong.
But when she cautiously looked at him, she was met with a gaze as deep and cold as a still pool.
Her dark eyes, as black as lacquer, seemed to be veiled by a faint light and shadow in the still night, or like an invisible net that firmly locked her in.
He slowly took a few steps forward, and Su Xuerong, her body stiff, couldn't take another step for a moment.
A faint scent of ambergris wafted from him; it was an elegant and noble fragrance, yet it carried an invisible pressure that left her nowhere to escape.
"You really want to marry him that badly?" The man's voice came from very close by, giving Su Xuerong a strange feeling.
She had only ever been this close to Xiao Shiyan in both of her lives.
She could even feel a hot breath gently brushing against her earlobe.
In an instant, her whole body felt as if it were on fire, and she hurriedly took a step back: "I...I'm engaged to Mr. Ling..."
"Oh? A marriage contract?" Xiao Yuan sneered. "No parental consent, no matchmaker's words, and you call that a marriage contract?"
Su Xuerong's face instantly tightened, staring at him in disbelief.
The moment Xiao Yuan saw the hurt in her eyes, he suddenly felt a pang of regret.
He shouldn't have hurt her like that...
The gratitude that Su Xuerong had just felt vanished in an instant.
She took a few steps back, composed herself, took a deep breath, and said, "Your Highness is being far too nosy!"
Since you're not being polite, I won't be polite either!
Looking at her rejecting and distant expression, Xiao Yuan suddenly felt something gradually leaving him.
He took another step forward, his gaze fixed on her: "You really... want to marry Ling Qingxue?"
"Mr. Ling and I are mutually in love, please grant us your blessing, Your Highness!" Su Xuerong took two steps back and bowed to him properly, her posture perfect and impeccable.
She knew that if she didn't take a firm stance now, things might not end well for her today.
She lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye again.
Her gaze was fixed solely on the boots embroidered with subtle gold patterns.
The boots didn't move forward. After remaining in place for a moment, she heard a barely audible sigh.
The sigh that reached her ears sounded so heartbreaking...
"In that case, I will grant your wish..."
After a while, Su Xuerong heard the voice coming from the other side.
Xiao Yuan had returned to normal, his expression calm and composed, his eyes fixed on the gold hairpin in the woman's hair.
The hairpin shimmered faintly in the moonlight, yet it stung his eyes.
“You don’t need to worry about him. He’s on his way to Tongguan and will bring his mother to Hangzhou soon.” Xiao Yuan didn’t know why he said such magnanimous words. He just felt something slowly slipping away from his heart, leaving him with an emptiness that hurt.
"If you two are truly willing to marry, I..."
There was no further movement after the word "I".
Su Xuerong slowly raised her head, only to see the man in front of her with his eyes tightly closed.
When he opened his eyes again, Su Xuerong saw a fleeting emotion that defied description.
"Never mind, we'll talk about it another day."
Xiao Yuan gave a self-deprecating smile and slowly walked past her.
Su Xuerong stood there stunned for a long time. When she turned her head again, the person had already disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
The moonlight, as clear as water, fell coldly on the courtyard. It was supposed to be the height of summer, but a chill had inexplicably crept in, making one's heart feel cold.
Fang Mingzhu was not even able to return to Mingxiu Garden that night, and was forcibly taken to Fenglin Temple, located on the west side of West Lake.
When Lady Liu was taken to the Prince's mansion for interrogation, she bit her tongue and committed suicide.
The news reached the Prince's residence the next day.
Lady Cui sighed deeply, "Your Highness... how could you be so foolish..."
Cui Yun'er said, "Luckily, A Rong was clever and borrowed the bodyguard her cousin gave her to switch the poison in her sister-in-law's hands, otherwise the entire Su family of more than a dozen people would have been wiped out..."
Madam Cui sighed, "Thank goodness, everything's alright..."
Although she disliked the Su family, she did not want so many members of the Su family to die innocently.
In retrospect, Fang Mingzhu was far too vicious, resorting to such methods to deal with ordinary people.
"By the way, did your cousin go to see Chen Siyi when he came back?" Cui asked again.
Cui Yun'er shook her head: "How would I know? I haven't even been able to see my cousin since he came back. He summoned his people to Juxian Hall for a meeting early this morning."
Juxian Hall is located on the east side of the Prince's Mansion, separated from the West Courtyard where Cui and other female relatives lived by two long corridors. Under normal circumstances, Xiao Yuan's subordinates and government officials were not allowed to enter the West Courtyard.
Xiao Yuan also had an inner hall for resting in Juxian Hall, where he would stay when he was busy.
It's normal that Cui Yun'er didn't see him.
Madam Cui snorted coldly: "Granny Xu, send a servant to deliver a message, inviting the Prince to dinner tonight."
Madam Xu immediately responded and went out.
But after she went out, she winked at a maid outside the door and made a gesture, and the maid hurried away.
She then summoned the servant outside the courtyard and instructed him to deliver a message to the east courtyard.
Upon receiving Cui's message, Xiao Yuan nodded and said, "Go back and tell the old lady that I will go back to visit her before dinner."
The servant left in a hurry.
Xiao Yuan then spoke with several officials of the prefecture about the rebellion in Shaoxing at Juxian Hall, and then it was lunchtime.
Just as the servant brought out the lunch, someone outside announced, "Your Highness, Princess Qinghe requests an audience."
Xiao Yuan glanced at Ming Shu.
Ming Shu walked out, directly out of the east gate, and saw Chen Siyi in front of the gate leading to the west courtyard.
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