The handsome boy's attitude was sincere, and his words were like knives, killing her heart without leaving a single piece of it.
But Yan Shang still didn't quite understand. He looked at her in surprise, and his meaning was obvious: he thought this was his most sincere reward.
However, Yan Shang is also smart.
Mu Wanyao revealed an indescribable expression, and he instantly realized what she had misunderstood.
Yan Shang was stunned for a moment, then fell silent.
After a moment, he asked slowly, "What else?"
——Except this way of repaying, what else can he do?
Should I marry her or serve the king with my body?
Does he have that qualification?
Mu Wanyao looked at him, her eyelashes trembling slightly. She felt ashamed and annoyed. Ashamed of her own self-conceit, annoyed that there was really no better way... She refused the marriage in March, and it was only May now.
It’s only been two months. Mu Wanyao refused the marriage proposal that day. Could it be that she is willing today?
Impossible.
She is also ambitious.
After thinking about it, it turned out that Yan Shang's method was the best. He was always a very considerate person.
However, sometimes this compromise, even though we know it is right, still makes us unhappy. When we know that some things are impossible, but there is no hope at all, we still get angry.
Mu Wanyao sat between the beds, staring at the young man kneeling in front of her bed with eyes as clear as black jade.
She vented her anger on him and asked with a sneer, "Why, if you are willing to be my retainer, will I agree? Do I need staff and retainers?"
Yan Shang lowered his eyes and said, "Your Highness naturally has no shortage of retainers and staff, but everyone in your Highness's house has gone out to serve the Crown Prince. Your Highness is short of manpower, why not use me?"
Mu Wan shook: "What can you do to help me?"
Yan Shang: "Your Highness, please tell me."
Mu Wanyao blurted out: "The prince is very short of money now. I want to help him get money. Can you help me think of a way?"
Yan Shang: “Yes.”
Mu Wan shook: "..."
She was speechless for a while, and then she saw Yan Shang, who had been lowering his eyes, raise his head, look at her, and smile slightly. His smile was gentle and shallow, and full of trustworthy power... What could Mu Wanyao say?
Mu Wanyao could only slap the bed and find another excuse to get angry: "Who allowed you to enter my room when I was asleep? I will give the person who let you in twenty strokes of the cane!"
Yan Shang really said, "It's my fault. Your Highness, please don't implicate others, just punish me. I was anxious for the moment... I heard that Your Highness fell ill because of me, and I would always feel uneasy if I couldn't see it with my own eyes... And if I don't go in now, I'm afraid that Your Highness will wake up and refuse to see me again.
"Your Highness is in a high position and has great power. If you don't want to see me, I won't have a chance to express my feelings to Your Highness."
Mu Wan was stunned for a moment. After he told her the reason, she looked at him in a trance. Her expression looked much better, but still with some hesitation.
...She really didn't understand why Yan Shang was thinking so much, and she didn't know whether he was sincere or not.
If he was pretending, he pretended like this...who could say anything bad about him?
As for refusing Yan Shang to be her retainer... Mu Wanyao was very willful, but she was not a fool. She didn't have many people who could use her and listen to her. Yan Shang took the initiative to join her, but she refused because she didn't like him... How could she be qualified?
A person like Yan Shang, even the prince did not turn to him, but turned to her... She should celebrate.
Mu Wanyao was unhappy, but she didn't want to refuse. She just pulled the quilt and lay back on the bed, sulking: "If you want to be a retainer, then do it. It's up to you."
Yan Shang then stood up, and Mu Wan slept on the bed with her back to him, and did not hear his footsteps as he left. She was just wondering when she heard someone behind her say, "I just saw that your hand seemed to be injured, I wonder what the reason is?"
Mu Wan was confused. She looked at her own hand and saw three red scratches on the back of Yu Bai's hand. Then she remembered: "It was scratched by a cat."
Yan Shang said, "Then I will ask the maid to come in and apply some medicine to your Highness's hand."
When Mu Wanyao heard footsteps, she was moved and suddenly turned over and sat up, bent her knees and faced his back: "Stop!"
Yan Shang turned back.
Seeing Mu Wanyao, who had an unhappy look on her face just now, now with curved eyebrows and eyes as bright as spring water, she looked at him.
Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was black as ink. She sat on the bed, her beautiful eyes looking at me with a smile, gentle and clear. What a vivid beauty she was.
Yan Shang quickly lowered his eyes, but his arms were stiff and his hands in his sleeves were slightly clenched.
Mu Wanyao said coquettishly, "Why ask a maid to apply the medicine? Yan Erlang, you came into my room while I was asleep, why are you still observing etiquette? Why don't you just apply the medicine yourself?"
Yan Shang said dryly: "I'm afraid..."
Mu Wan shook her head: "My hand was scratched by a cat when I went to the Princess's mansion."
Yan Shang's eyes narrowed, and he immediately stopped refusing.
Mu Wan snorted at him, knowing that once he knew that she was doing it for him, his sense of morality would force him to obey.
Seeing Yan Shang go out to get medicine, Mu Wanyao sighed softly and looked into the void. She no longer had the seductive charm she had just shown, but was instead staring blankly in the eyes.
-----
Yan Shang sat beside the bed, holding Mu Wanyao's hand, and gently sprinkled the medicine powder on the back of her hand.
She shuddered, perhaps in pain.
Yan Shang held her hand to prevent her from hiding. Instead, he lowered his head. When she was surprised, he blew gently on the back of her hand and said softly, "Blow it and it will stop hurting."
Muwan shook his head and laughed.
She said, "Are you stupid? Are you treating me like a three-year-old child?"
Yan Shang looked up at her and met her smiling eyes. She blamed him with her mouth, but her eyes were smiling. His eyes drifted away uncontrollably, but he also smiled faintly with her.
The atmosphere between the two of them was finally no longer so stiff and cold, and began to become somewhat harmonious.
As Yan Shang applied medicine to Mu Wanyao, he asked her, "Your Highness, I wonder who is the doctor who treated me these past two days?"
Mu Wan glanced at him: "What are you going to do?"
Yan Shang said: "Of course I'm saying thank you."
Mu Wanyao: "... the people from the palace's pharmacy, this is what they should do, so there's no need to thank them, right?"
Yan Shang said in a gentle voice: "Thanks must be given. Your Highness, just tell me a name. When I enter the imperial city, I will find an opportunity to ask someone to thank the old man and give him a gift. It won't be anything valuable, just a token of my heart. Your Highness, don't worry."
Mu Wanyao said in a strange tone: "...You even want to thank an old man? What did he do? He just gave you a few injections, but I..."
Yan Shang looked up at her.
Mu Wanyao suddenly bit her tongue and took back what she had not finished saying.
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyelashes were fluttering. She thought to herself that it would be better if she didn't let him know that she had helped him relieve his stress that night.
It would be so embarrassing if he knew.
In fact, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects is quite good, at least it is safe.
Otherwise... with their ambiguous relationship, she and Yan Shang would end up in a fire sooner or later. Even if they did end up in a fire, who could put it out?
Yan Shang misunderstood Mu Wanyao's sudden silence, thinking she was talking about her taking care of him. He smiled and said, "So am I not repaying His Highness by becoming His Highness's retainer?"
Mu Wanyao hummed perfunctorily.
Said: "Then you should fulfill your responsibilities and think about how to make me look good in front of the prince!"
-----
After one night, Princess Danyang entered into a period of false affection, but her maid Chunhua underwent a drastic change.
When Chunhua woke up in the morning, she found herself sleeping naked with Prince Jin. Her brain felt as if struck by lightning and her face turned pale instantly.
She panicked and hugged her clothes to hide backwards. Such a big movement also woke up the King of Jin.
Prince Jin stood up and put his arm around her shoulders. He did not abandon the beauty he had pityed last night. "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Chunhua leaned against the wall, hugging her clothes, her face as pale as paper. The King of Jin put his hand on her shoulder, and she trembled even more violently.
Her disheveled hair stuck to her face, her heart felt cold as ice, and she immediately thought of Liu Wenzhi.
Liu Lang, Liu Lang... She was still angry with Liu Lang. Liu Lang went to the princess's mansion to look for her every day, but she refused to see him. She had not yet forgiven Liu Wenji for his careless words, but she did not want to break up with her lover. She was just, just still struggling...
Yet this happened!
Chunhua looked up with a pale face and looked at Prince Jin: "Why, why would I be like this with His Highness..."
The King of Jin remained silent.
He gave a strange smile and said, "You'll have to ask your family.
"They were the ones who sent you to my bed. Otherwise, do you think that no matter how much I admire you, I won't be so despicable?"
Chunhua's face turned even paler and his eyes widened.
Tears rolled down her eyes.
She closed her eyes in unbearable pain, feeling extremely ashamed.
She cried like pearls, but she knelt down for her family, trembling and gritting her teeth to plead: "They did something wrong... Your Highness, please don't punish them. They didn't plot against Your Highness..."
The poor and ignorant people in the countryside naively thought that they could control the high and mighty kings and princes with a single plot... Chunhua had followed the princess for so many years, and she knew well the pride of these kings and princes.
They can ask for it themselves, but no one can force them to ask for it.
Seeing the beauty crying like this, looking so pitiful, the King of Jin sighed in his heart and felt even more pity for her.
King Jin said, "Chunhua, why are you doing this? You are my woman now. Even if it is your family... well, I will not care about it for your sake."
Chunhua gritted her teeth so hard that the tip of her tongue started bleeding.
She knew the possibility was extremely low, but she still looked up and begged the King of Jin: "Your Highness, Your Highness... Can you please let me go? I, I also have a lover... I don't want to, I don't want to..."
Prince Jin was stunned and fell silent.
He was somewhat reluctant, after all, this beauty was very much in his heart. But Chunhua was crying like this... The King of Jin was a gentle person, or indecisive to put it bluntly. He hesitated for a long time, feeling torn.
-----
In the end, Prince Jin left in a bad mood under Chunhua's tearful attack.
When he returned to his palace, he was bumped into by a servant who was rushing out as soon as he entered the door. The King of Jin was furious and whipped the servant, thinking that no one took him seriously.
When the prince of Jin returned to his study, his staff heard that he had returned and hurried over to comfort him: "Your Highness, please do not get angry. You must be patient... Only if you are gentle in temperament, you will have a chance of survival under the attack of the two princes."
The King of Jin was dejected.
His brothers are all capable.
In the past, the Second Prince was a genius in both civil and military affairs, and he oppressed all of his brothers to the point of suffocation. But the Second Prince is gone now; the current Crown Prince is vicious and scheming everything; the family of the Prince of Qin's mother is powerful, the Prince of Qin's own concubine is powerful, and the Prince of Qin also holds military power... Under the pressure of these people, if the Prince of Jin had a bad temper and was not a little softer, he would have been trampled to death countless times.
King Jin sat down, thinking that a little maid dared to reject him. And he actually agreed to it in order to maintain his image.
He sighed: "When will this life of being oppressed everywhere end..."
The staff then advised him again, saying that the emperor liked him to be obedient, and the Prince of Jin must not be disobedient.
After this, the prince of Jin gradually recovered and became respectful and gentle again. After the staff left, the princess of Jin came over and asked the prince what was wrong and why he lost his temper and whipped the servant.
The relationship between the Prince of Jin and his successor princess was good. After all, they were both oppressed, and they sympathized with each other, so they liked each other.
Prince Jin then told Chunhua what happened between him and her last night.
When Princess Jin heard that Prince Jin had married a woman, she felt a little sad, but she suppressed her feelings and asked, "Is it Princess Danyang's maid? I seem to have seen her before."
King Jin said, "Yes, that's her! She is the prettiest one, and I fell in love with her at first sight."
Princess Jin thought that her husband had no children yet. Although she was jealous, she gritted her teeth and persuaded her husband to marry a woman for the sake of children.
At this time, she suppressed her displeasure and said, "Why don't I go find Princess Danyang and ask her if she wants this maid? She's just a maid. If I go and tell her, Your Highness won't have to ruin his image."
Prince Jin was moved.
But when he thought of Ri Muwanyao mentioning her dead maid to him with a half-smile, the King of Jin felt a chill in his heart and shook his head...
He murmured to himself: "Forget it. Ever since Danyang came back from Wuman, I always feel that this girl has changed. She seems to have become much crueler... I'd better not provoke her."
Princess Jin cursed in her heart, "Coward!" but she still smiled and agreed with Prince Jin's wishes.
The Prince of Jin was thinking: Should he have an heir by now? His two brothers probably wouldn't mind.
His Majesty's health is getting worse day by day, maybe one day... If he has no children, the battle for the crown prince will have nothing to do with him. After all, a person who can become the emperor cannot be without children.
-----
As for Chunhua, after Prince Jin left, Chunhua also changed into clean clothes.
Her face was cold as she faced her brother and sister-in-law, who lowered their heads uneasily under her gaze.
Her mother advised: "It's great to be in the palace, Chunhua, why don't you know how to cherish it? Now you blame your brother and sister-in-law..."
Family members are the most heartbreaking.
Chunhua felt a pain in her heart, but she endured the pain and sneered, "Do you think it's a good thing to enter the palace? The King of Jin still has no children. Do you think this is normal? Our prince told me that the King of Jin was forced to be childless in order to avoid attracting attention. Otherwise, how could he...
"Do you really think that Prince Jin's Mansion is such a good place?"
After she said this, her uneducated family members panicked.
Her brother panicked, "You don't mean that the King of Jin killed his own child? That's impossible, right?"
Chunhua stamped her feet in anger: "Brother! How can you say such things? Saying them out loud is a capital crime!"
Her brother was so scared that he immediately shut up.
Her sister-in-law was also at a loss. Although she wanted her sister-in-law to marry into the rich family, if the Prince of Jin's Mansion was that kind of place... her sister-in-law trembled and said, "Then, what should we do now? Chunhua, it's only one night, you won't get pregnant, right?"
Chunhua was stunned, and then tears welled up in her eyes again.
She said, "Then I'll have to trouble my sister-in-law to make a bowl of stronger medicine for me... I can't get pregnant."
She is the only educated person in their family, so naturally the others listen to her.
Her sister-in-law was already hurried out, Chunhua remembered something and went out again to catch up with her sister-in-law.
Chunhua held her sister-in-law's hand and repeatedly reminded her: "Make sure the medicine is more effective... Otherwise, it will be like our princess..."
She suddenly shut up.
Thinking of what Princess Danyang had experienced in Wuman, his eyes were filled with sorrow.
I felt sorry for His Highness, but I was also afraid that I would encounter the same thing as His Highness did. I was afraid that if the abortion failed, I would have to suffer more... If it were possible, which woman would be so cruel to herself?
-----
The sky is clear and the air is fresh.
Chunhua finally sorted out the affairs on her side and convinced herself that as long as Prince Jin didn't say anything, no one would know.
Chunhua returned to the princess's mansion. Her heart was pounding when she went to see Mu Wanyao, fearing that Prince Jin had already come to find the princess and asked her to hand her over.
However, when she returned to the princess's mansion, she found that Mu Wanyao was not there.
A maid said, "Your Highness went to the palace with Yan Erlang to ask to see the Crown Prince. It must be some political affairs, which we don't understand."
Chunhua was stunned: "Your Highness... have you reconciled with Yan Erlang?"
The maid nodded affirmatively: "They must have reconciled. Yan Erlang has been staying in our house these days, and His Highness has not chased him away."
Chunhua felt lost. She put her own affairs aside for the moment and began to worry about Mu Wanyao...
If you stay away from someone for a long time, you will get used to it; if you are always with that person, can you really control your emotions?
-----
Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang were in the same carriage.
Although the two were in the same car, they were sitting at a distance from each other.
Mu Wanyao was thinking about how to start the conversation when she met the prince later; Yan Shang took advantage of this time to read a book with his head down.
The carriage first entered the imperial city, then the palace. When it arrived at the palace, the carriage stopped and the guards outside sent someone to check the fish symbol. At this time, the door of the carriage was hit twice from the outside. The sound was very light and the force was not strong, but everyone in the carriage heard it.
Yan Shang raised his eyelids, and the knocking sound interrupted his reading.
Seeing Mu Wan shaking her face, lifting the carriage curtain and leaning against the window, she didn't even notice the people outside, and she started to scold: "Yang Si, are you bored? Did you throw stones at my carriage?"
The young man outside in a red shirt with narrow sleeves was Yang Si.
He stroked the mane of the horse he was leading absentmindedly, turned his head and looked at the carriage, giving a handsome and meaningless smile.
He said, "Baba is coming to the palace so early? Is he waiting to have lunch with the prince?"
Mu Wan shook her head: "How dare you say that to me? I think it's you who wants to have lunch?"
Yang Si smiled with his white teeth showing, which was dazzling in the sunlight without any gloomy look.
The young man was very romantic, swinging the whip in his hand, almost hitting the guard next to him. He looked at Mu Wan again and saw that she was pretty and calm. He took two steps forward, rested his hand on the shaft, and snapped his fingers at Mu Wan.
He said leisurely: "The weather is so nice, why are you still riding in a carriage? Aren't you bored? Come down and walk with me."
Mu Wanyao said, "I am not the only one riding in the car."
Yang Si was startled, his face darkened. He leaned forward and pushed open the carriage door. At this moment, he saw that besides Mu Wanyao, there was another person sitting in the carriage.
The man sat in a dark place, looking particularly quiet and elegant. He did not speak a word from beginning to end, making Yang Si think that Mu Wan was the only one in the car.
The man bowed to Yang Si and said in a gentle voice, "Yang Sanlang."
Yang Si stared at the man again, staring at his handsome appearance for a long time, and then he remembered: "...Yan Tanhua!"
Mu Wan laughed and said, "What? My name is Yan Shang... You are giving people random names."
She smiled like a flower, her eyes and eyebrows were full of waves, Yang Si was embarrassed by her smile, his neck turned red. However, he acted impatient and glared at her coldly.
Yang Sanlang sneered: "I can't remember people's names."
Yang Sanlang looked at Yan Shang with a dull expression, his eyes filled with displeasure: "Why is he here?"
Mu Wan shook: "Of course there is something, but why should I tell you?"
Yang Si's eyes fell on Mu Wanyao's face. He paused for a moment, then looked at the young man in the car again. Yang Si's searching gaze paused for a moment or two.
After that, without saying anything, Yang Si casually took two steps back and ignored them.
The young man stood beside the horse and waved lazily to Mu Wan: "Then I'll go first, see you in the East Palace later. I'll ask the prince to save lunch for you?"
Mu Wanyao said quickly: "No need! I will leave after saying a few words. I will not eat in the East Palace."
Yang Si got on the horse and rode away. Mu Wan leaned against the window and shouted, but she didn't know if he heard her. The young man's back was cold and chilly, and he didn't look back at her.
After closing the car door, Mu Wan looked at Yan Shang who was sitting quietly in the car.
Seeing that he was lost in thought, Mu Wanyao coughed and explained, "He is Yang Si, the prince's follower. I avoided him several times before because I didn't want the prince to know where I went... Well, you have met him several times before, I wonder if you have any impression of him."
Yan Shang looked at her.
After a while, he said, "Your Highness seems to be talking to Yang Sanlang very freely, so you don't need to think too much."
Mu Wanyao: "Because he is a very simple person. He won't understand if you beat around the bush when talking to him. Of course he will just say what he thinks."
Yan Shang said, “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Mu Wan shook: "Hmm?"
Yan Shang frowned, and after a while he slowly said, "...I mean, Your Highness and Yang Sanlang seemed to have a lot to say."
Mu Wanyao was puzzled and looked at him to ask what he meant. She and Yang Si had known each other for many years, so it was nothing to say a few more words.
Yan Shang didn't say anything.
He thought, His Highness didn't seem to talk to him that much. He and His Highness were often silent and often at a loss for words. However, His Highness and Yang Sanlang... were always talking back and forth, not afraid of awkward silence.
The carriage started moving again, Yan Shang lowered his eyes and quietly flipped through the book in his hand.
Mu Wanyao seemed to have just remembered something, and with a bit of malice and sincerity, she asked with a smile: "I don't think I have ever told you that the Li family hopes that I will marry Wei Juyuan, you know, and the prince actually hopes that I will marry Yang Si.
"Since you are my retainer, then give me some advice. Which one should I marry?"
Yan Shang: “…”
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