behave in a spoiled manner
Si Pei was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously looked at Jing Yao's reaction.
The latter did not expect Si Jue to suddenly ask this. Although rumors were circulating widely outside, and almost everyone knew that the current crown prince only favored the daughter of the Jing family, the two had never actually decided on a marriage, so naturally there was no official status between them.
Since you haven't gotten married yet, how can you call her the emperor's sister-in-law?
Jing Yao hadn't thought about hearing Si Jue call her that, and answered without hesitation: "If Your Highness Prince Lin still wishes, you can of course continue to call me, your guilty daughter, your cousin."
"Why not, Cousin Lingyi? You don't have to call me Your Highness. Just call me Zi'an as always." Si Jue smiled, looking at Si Pei, who was also staring at him with a hint of anger. Si Jue was not afraid of him either, and her smile became even more exaggerated, as if mocking his incompetence.
You see, even though his omnipotent royal brother has been holding her in his hands for so many years, he still can't get her.
Si Jue's smile did not reach his eyes, revealing a hint of provocation.
Si Pei frowned slightly and turned his head to meet Jing Yao's gaze.
"What's wrong?"
Jing Yao looked as if he was not in the right situation, as if he didn't quite understand what Si Pei was so nervous about.
"you……"
Si Pei was about to speak, but after hesitating for a while, he didn't say anything.
Jing Yao was confused for a moment, wondering if he was sick again, as he was stammering when he spoke.
Si Jue watched the exchange between the two and Si Pei's hesitant expression, believing he had guessed correctly. It seemed Si Pei was no different, intent on tricking Jing Lingyi into his clutches. Now that he'd been hurt by his words, he must be anxious.
snort.
Si Jue glanced at the two of them with a sneer, but when he saw Jing Yao taking the initiative to care about Si Pei, he couldn't help but get angry and his mouth twitched.
When did their relationship become so close?
Si Pei was indeed anxious and worried, but what he was worried about was not what Si Jue expected.
He didn't care whether Jing Yao was willing to marry him or not. He was already very satisfied that she could still stay with him, and he didn't dare to expect more.
The only thing Si Pei feared was that these words would remind Jing Yao of the time when she was almost forced to marry into the Eastern Palace.
How could he forget that Jing Yao cried and begged him not to fulfill Duke Jing's wish and not to marry her.
Jing Yao hated that Duke Jing was using her as a pawn, and hated that she was being forced to follow in the footsteps of Concubine Jing. With red eyes, she held the dagger to her neck, threatening that if Si Pei insisted on appointing her as Crown Princess, she would rather die now.
Si Pei will never forget, how could he forget.
He looked at his beloved and swore a vow word by word with his own mouth that he would never mention marrying her again in this life.
In fact, as long as Jing Yao was still by his side, it didn't matter whether he had a crown princess or not. Si Pei knew that there would never be anyone else by his side in this life.
He didn't dare to mention these words himself, and he strictly forbade others to mention them. Si Pei was worried that this incident would hurt Jing Yao's heart and remind her of the Jing family. Now that the Jing family had been wiped out, although Jing Yao hated the Jing Duke, she didn't want to see innocent people die tragically.
Si Pei looked at Jing Yao with heartache. The latter frowned slightly, wondering why he looked so sad again.
"strangeness."
Jing Yao had no idea that Si Pei had thought so much. To her, marrying Si Pei was just a formality. Could outsiders still believe that they had nothing to do with each other?
She had already died once, so she would not be sad about these things again.
But she could still see that Si Jue wanted to make fun of their relationship. How could Jing Yao let him do as he pleased? Given her vengeful nature, she had to make him unhappy.
"Zi'an is eighteen years old this year, and he's already old enough to discuss marriage. Cousin, I heard that the Lin Wang Mansion still doesn't have a mistress? What's going on?"
After saying this, she complained coquettishly to Si Pei beside her: "As an older brother, why don't you care about your younger brother's lifelong affairs?"
Jing Yao finished speaking and winked at Si Pei secretly. Seeing that she was deliberately teasing him, the man also took on the air of a brother and coughed twice: "It is indeed my negligence. Prince Lin should also get married."
The girl nodded with satisfaction, and turned around to see Si Jue sitting at the table with a pale face: "Your Highness, please do not worry about my marriage."
Si Pei raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly: "Since Prince Lin has returned to accompany the Queen Mother, I will tell her to let her take a look at you. I think she should be happy to take care of her grandson's marriage."
Although Si Jue was filled with anger, he could only suppress it and forced a smile to reply: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is four years older than me and is my elder brother. You are still unmarried. I think the Empress Dowager should be more anxious about your marriage."
The conversation returned to Si Pei and Jing Yao. Before Si Pei could open his mouth to refute, the young woman beside him spoke first, "Si Pei is always here, there's no need to worry. And Zi'an, you've finally made it back to Shanghua, so the Empress Dowager will naturally make sure everything is done for you before letting you return to your fiefdom."
"Your cousin Ling Yi is right." Si Pei looked at Jing Yao, who was sharp-tongued and complacent, and smiled helplessly, but when he looked at Si Jue, his eyes were full of boasting.
"There are many girls of the right age in Beijing, there must be one you like."
Seeing Si Jue's face flushed with anger, Jing Yao suddenly remembered that he had Yue Ningning by his side. In his previous life, he was deeply in love with that girl, so he hinted, "Or maybe Zi'an already has a lover? I've heard that Jiang Ru is full of beautiful women. Maybe Zi'an already has someone in his heart, but is just too embarrassed to tell us."
As Jing Yao finished speaking, Si Pei took advantage of Si Jue's hesitation to continue, "If Prince Lin already has a girl in mind, that would be the best. You can simply ask the Queen Mother to issue an imperial decree granting the marriage. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will help you arrange the wedding, saving Prince Lin's Palace the trouble."
Seeing that the two of them were agreeing to arrange a marriage for him, Si Jue's face turned a little ugly.
Especially when he heard Jing Yao specifically mention that he "has someone in his heart", it really hurt him the most.
Si Jue never thought that she might be talking about Yue Ningning. He gritted his teeth and forced a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness and cousin, but I don't have a girl I like."
Jing Yao was very surprised. Did Si Jue want to protect the beauty and not let them know?
Afraid that others would harm his beloved? Then Si Jue is not as responsible as Si Pei, being so timid.
Jing Yao forgot that Si Pei dared to act so brazenly because he was the crown prince. No one dared to question his decisions, and no one dared to touch his people.
But it’s hard to say about Si Jue, a leisurely prince.
Moreover, the biggest threat Si Jue could face came from the Eastern Palace.
Jing Yao just felt that if someone liked someone, he would definitely dare to say it out loud.
Or perhaps Si Jue was worried about Yue Ningning's humble background, that a commoner woman would easily suffer in the struggles between aristocratic families, and would be more likely to become a target of public criticism. But since Yue Ningning, the daughter of a traitor whose family supported the Prince of Jin, could still stay in the Eastern Palace, Si Jue didn't think she would care about her family background.
"Zi'an, you don't have to worry about being well-matched. As long as the two of you are in love, an ordinary girl is a good match."
Si Pei nodded when he heard that. Si Jue, who was about to get angry, finally understood who Jing Yao was secretly talking about.
Who else could it be? It must be the scheming Yue Ningning.
Si Jue's eyes moved slightly. Did they both already know of her existence? It seemed like they had both noticed it.
So that's why Jing Yao suddenly went to Yushan Bookstore...
Jing Yao, not knowing what Si Jue was thinking, thought he was extremely touched. He thought he had become a lot kinder in his new life, and he even wanted to do a good deed, so that the two of them could be together in this life more legitimately than in their previous life.
But Jing Yao thought to himself that this way they wouldn't have to be separated when the time came to clean up, and the couple could just be held jointly responsible.
It’s much more convenient to think about it this way.
Si Jue forced a smile and said, "My cousin is right, but I don't have anyone I like."
There was a hint of resentment in his eyes as he stared at Si Pei, who had a calm expression.
The latter ignored his provocative gaze that was like a declaration of war, and turned his head to comfort Jing Yao: "Since Prince Lin said so, he must really have no one in his heart. Let the matter of marriage be left to the Queen Mother."
"That's right." Jing Yao nodded, and turned to look at Si Jue, who had an indescribable expression in the hall. As if she couldn't see his discomfort, she smiled gently and acted like a big sister. "Then I'll look forward to drinking Zi'an's wedding wine as soon as possible."
Si Jue watched the two of them acting like brother and sister-in-law in front of him. The anger in his heart was like a muffled thunder, but he didn't show it on his face. He nodded respectfully and obediently.
Since there was no other important matter to report, Si Pei asked him to go directly to the Western Suburbs Palace to pay his respects to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother Xuan was eagerly waiting for her good grandson to come to Shanghua, so how could she not let them reunite as soon as possible?
Si Pei's considerate and kind brotherly look made Si Jue feel nauseous, but he finally bowed silently and left.
Jing Yao breathed a sigh of relief only after Si Jue completely left. She naturally collapsed to the person beside her and was steadily held in Si Pei's arms.
"Tired?"
Si Pei smiled, gently held the hand extended by the person in his arms, and placed it on his lips to kiss it naturally.
"Um."
The tips of Jing Yao's ears were stained with a thin layer of pink, but she did not withdraw her hand, allowing the man to pinch her hand teasingly.
"Do you think there's something wrong?"
Jing Yao thought about it and still felt something was strange.
"What?"
Seeing Si Pei's puzzled expression, Jing Yao poked his stunned face with his hand and said, "It's Si Jue. Don't you think he's weird?"
"...Yes." Si Pei pondered for a moment, thinking of that guy's covetous eyes towards Jing Yaoming, and seeing that Jing Yao was also concerned about him, he felt dissatisfied: "He is very strange, Yaoyao, you must stay away from him."
Jing Yao glanced at him and said, "I know this."
She wished Si Jue would never appear in front of her, because that would mean he wouldn't rebel, Si Pei wouldn't be poisoned, and she wouldn't have to die.
But Si Jue was now a living person standing in front of them, and Jing Yao had no choice but to take things one step at a time.
But Si Jue's demeanor just now was nothing like that of an eighteen-year-old boy, and it was also completely different from the Si Jue in his previous life who would pretend to be innocent and simple.
Is Si Jue such a person?
Or maybe her memory was confused. In fact, Si Jue had always been so gloomy and deep.
Jing Yao felt a dull pain in his solar plexus. Seeing Si Pei's nervous expression, he sighed inwardly, "You should be careful too. I suspect he has other motives for returning to Beijing this time."
Seeing her serious expression and that she really cared about him, Si Pei couldn't help but chuckle sweetly: "Yeah, I get it."
Looking at his worthless and stupid appearance, what could he possibly know?
Do you really know that you could be destroyed by others in your previous life?
Jing Yao was speechless and choked.
Now Si Jue’s background is still unclear, and Yue Ningning’s identity is also mysterious. I wonder if the powerful Zuo Yuanwu can help her find out something.
Thinking of this, Jing Yao suddenly sat up from Si Pei's arms. The man next to her was still savoring the feeling of being in his arms. Before he could react, Jing Yao urged him to find something he wanted: "Where's my storybook? I'm bored while you're reviewing memorials here. Bring me my storybook."
Si Pei snapped his fingers, calling out to the guards he had dispatched. It took a while for anyone to return. The man in black knelt solemnly, "I was incompetent and failed to find what my lady wanted. Your Highness, please punish me."
"What's going on? Is the second volume not out yet?"
The black-clad guard shook his head. "My lady, I went looking for that book as soon as the bookshop opened today, but the clerk said the author had fallen seriously ill and passed away. Before his death, he left a will not to sell the book. Therefore, the remaining manuscript has not been printed, and the first volume has been completely withdrawn."
Jing Yao pinched the hem of her skirt. What a coincidence... Wasn't "Hidden Dragon" written by Yue Ningning? How could the author suddenly pass away?
"Is this true?"
The secret guard bowed his head and said, "I sent someone to investigate. The author was a well-known writer in Shanghua City. He had indeed been ill for a long time and passed away last night."
Jing Yao frowned: "Can you prove that the dead person is really the author of that book?"
Several secret guards looked at each other in surprise. "The bookstore owner said it was him. My subordinates also found some manuscripts in his home, but since most of them were burned, we can't completely confirm it..."
"Forget it." Jing Yao did not ask any more questions. Regardless of whether the dead person was the author or not, she had already alerted the enemy yesterday, and the other party would definitely be on guard.
Seeing her lost in thought, Si Pei thought she was disappointed. "If you like it, I'll send someone to find the remaining manuscript."
If her guess was correct, Yue Ningning must have cleaned up everything related to "Hidden Dragon".
But what is really important is not "Hidden Dragon", but the existence of Yue Ningning.
As long as Si Pei becomes suspicious and investigates Yushan Bookstore, her goal will be achieved.
"Are you serious?"
Jing Yao deliberately showed surprise, as happy as a little girl whose wish was granted. Seeing that it could make her happy, Si Pei had no reason to refuse, and immediately ordered his men to bring the second volume of "Hidden Dragon" at all costs.
"Xiaoli, you are so nice..."
Jing Yao threw herself into Si Pei's arms, her hands soft and boneless as if they were placed on his shoulders. The girl's smile was as beautiful as a flower, so charming that Si Pei was willing to be captivated by her.
The man leaned over and kissed her like a madman.
Unlike Si Pei who was confused and infatuated, Jing Yao kept his eyes open and was only looking forward to how Yushan Bookstore would respond.
As if noticing her inattention, Si Pei bit her lower lip in dissatisfaction. Jing Yao groaned in pain and her mind finally returned to the person in front of her.
"Hmm... well..."
The desire to kiss each other is intertwined, and the ups and downs of the heart are no longer visible, and everything is forgotten.
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