Chapter 197 The Princess Has Lost Her Usefulness
Under the cover of night, Qin Yalin walked to the back door, where she saw two servants guarding the entrance. Although they were dozing off, she knew they would be discovered as soon as she approached.
Qin Yalin turned and went to another side gate, which was also guarded by servants. Finally, having no other choice, she endured her nausea and crawled out through the dog hole.
After leaving, she wiped away her tears with her sleeve and ran towards the Xie family. Fortunately, the Xie family was not far from the Prince Yong's residence, and both residences were not too far from the palace, so the security was relatively good, and she arrived at the Xie family without incident.
She still didn't dare to knock at the main gate, and circled the Xie family mansion for a long time before finally finding a side gate. After knocking for a while, a servant boy opened the door, yawning. Seeing her dressed as a maid, he frowned and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
“I…I am Hongyi, a maid of Princess Yalin. My princess has something she wants me to personally deliver to Young Master Xie.” She lowered her head and took out a jade pendant to hand over.
The servant took it and examined it carefully. At this moment, Qin Yalin said, "This is your young master's jade pendant. You can show it to him."
The servant looked her up and down, then let her in and led her to Xie Ning'an's courtyard. At the courtyard gate, the servant told her to wait and went inside with the jade pendant.
Upon meeting Xie Ning'an's attendant, the servant handed him the jade pendant and recounted the events. Xie Ning'an's attendant was naturally someone she had been assigned after meeting him, and he also knew that Xie Ning'an had given this jade pendant to Princess Yalin.
In the dead of night, Princess Yalin's maid came with the jade pendant, which meant something serious must have happened. The servant dared not delay and immediately took the jade pendant to the door of Xie Ning'an's bedroom. He knocked gently and, upon hearing a response from inside, said, "Young Master, Princess Yalin's maid has come with the jade pendant you gave me."
Xie Ning'an frowned and sat up in bed. He was already in a bad mood today, and being woken up right after falling asleep only made him feel worse. But he still suppressed his temper and said, "Take him to the study."
"yes."
The servant acknowledged and left. Xie Ning'an dressed and went to the study. Upon entering, she saw Qin Yalin's tear-streaked face. Xie Ning'an was startled, "Princess? What are you doing here?"
"Ning'an." Qin Yalin ran over and threw herself into his arms, sobbing.
Xie Ning'an was somewhat at a loss, his arms outstretched, unsure whether he should hug her. Although he and Qin Yalin had met many times since their engagement, they had never engaged in any overly intimate behavior.
After a while, he gently pushed Qin Yalin away, helped her sit down in a chair, poured her a cup of tea, and asked softly, "Princess, what happened?"
Qin Yalin cried for a while before her emotions stabilized. Through her teary eyes, she looked at Xie Ning'an and said, "I...I ran away from home?"
Xie Ning'an was even more shocked, and then she heard Qin Yalin say again, "My father wants me to break off our engagement."
At this point, Qin Yalin burst into tears again. Xie Ning'an paused for a moment, then calmly sat down opposite Qin Yalin and asked, "Why does Your Highness suddenly want to break off the engagement?"
He had already guessed the general idea.
Qin Yalin was crying with tears streaming down her face. Xie Ning'an took out a handkerchief and handed it to her. Qin Yalin took it and wiped her tears, saying:
“I…I went to the Duke of Chu today and asked him to forgive what the Second Madam did, but the Duke of Chu did not agree. My father and mother found out about this. My mother said that the Duke of Chu did not give me face and asked my father to go to the Emperor to stand up for me.”
At this point, Qin Yalin blushed slightly. In fact, she knew that she shouldn't have sought out the Duke of Chu today, and even less should she have let her father see the Emperor.
Xie Ning'an's brows were furrowed, and his face was somewhat gloomy, but he didn't say anything.
Qin Yalin glanced at him cautiously and said, "After Father returned from the palace, he said he wanted to call off our engagement. I disagreed and threatened to kill myself, so Mother locked me in the room. I escaped by changing clothes with Hongyi."
After saying this, Qin Yalin looked at Xie Ning'an through teary eyes, waiting for his response. Xie Ning'an sat there silently, and Qin Yalin's heart was filled with anxiety and grievance, causing her tears to flow even more profusely.
After a while, Xie Ning'an stood up and said, "I will escort the princess back."
Qin Yalin was shocked and aggrieved, and she cried so hard she could barely speak. Xie Ning'an frowned as he watched her cry. After a while, when Qin Yalin's crying subsided, he said, "Princess, you shouldn't act impulsively. I'll take you back."
"Xie Ning'an, do you have a heart?" Qin Yalin, a royal princess, was pampered since childhood and naturally had a temper. Even if she was slow to notice, she could see Xie Ning'an's indifference towards her.
Xie Ning'an remained calm in the face of her questioning. He said, "What the Prince and Princess have done is all for the good of the Princess. As for our marriage... let's call it off."
Qin Yalin was so shocked she was almost speechless. After a long while, she finally found her voice, "Xie Ning'an, do you know what you're saying?"
Xie Ning'an looked at her seriously and said, "I know very well what I'm saying, Princess. Let's break off the engagement."
"ah..."
Qin Yalin yelled, grabbed something from the table, and started throwing it at Xie Ning'an without a second thought. Soon, Xie Ning'an was covered in ink and tea stains, and had several cuts. But he stood there motionless, letting Qin Yalin vent her anger.
"How could you do this to me? Xie Ning'an, how could you do this to me?" Qin Yalin sat on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Xie Ning'an clenched his fists tightly. He stood in front of Qin Yalin, looking down at her and said, "I am not worthy of the princess."
After saying this, he walked out. A moment later, two maids entered the study and saw Qin Yalin still sitting on the floor crying. They carefully walked over, squatted down, and whispered, "Princess, the eldest young master is waiting for you outside."
Qin Yalin cried even harder when she saw the two maids. She never imagined that the marriage she had begged for all day would end with her being told she wasn't good enough for them. What did all her efforts amount to then?
"Princess, let me help you to your feet."
Two maids helped Qin Yalin to her feet, one on each side, and then they walked out of the study. A sedan chair was parked outside. Xie Ning'an saw her come out, walked over, lifted the curtain, and the two maids helped Qin Yalin into the sedan chair.
Xie Ning'an lowered her eyes and didn't look at her. She lowered the sedan curtain, and at this moment, Qin Yalin's hoarse voice rang out, "Have you never loved me?"
Xie Ning'an stood beside the sedan chair and said calmly, "Yes."
"Are you using me?" Qin Yalin asked again.
"yes."
"Then why don't you keep taking advantage of me? Why don't you keep lying to me?" Qin Yalin asked, lifting the sedan curtain and staring intently at Xie Ning'an.
Xie Ning'an clenched her fists, looked at her calmly, and said, "The princess is no longer of any use to you."
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