chance encounter
"Master, are you sure? Won't doing this affect Miss's reputation?" Huang Ying was very worried.
But what can we do?
All she could do was try her best not to affect the reputation of her young mistress, Liu Ruyi.
"I can't give you a 100% guarantee! What I can say is that we will do our best to avoid affecting her reputation."
The oriole lowered its eyes and remained silent.
Jiang Yan sighed, "Huang Ying, I've been here for almost three months. For the past three months, I've struggled to make ends meet and haven't accomplished anything. Shen Qianqian has already been harmed, and I might be next. Relying on the Prince won't work. I can only try to find a new way out for myself and for us."
"...My lord, I believe you! But my lord, the Prince's mansion is heavily guarded, what are you going to do?"
Jiang Yan was indeed at a loss.
If it weren't for the tight security at the Prince's residence, she would have already started dealing with Liu Ruyi's matter long ago, and she might have already found a way back by now.
"Sigh! What can we do? Of course, we'll start with Shangguan Zeyu."
Huang Ying was completely baffled: "Master, didn't you say you wanted to stay away from the Prince and rely on yourself?"
Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile bitterly: "That's true, but the problem is this is the Prince's mansion, not some other place. Putting everything else aside, just the freedom to enter and leave the mansion is impossible without Shangguan Zeyu's permission. When I say 'distance,' I mean emotional distance, to put it bluntly, feigned affection, do you understand?"
Huang Ying let out a knowing "Oh".
But then she became worried: "My lady, you are the prince's concubine. If the prince falls in love with you during your time together, you will..." (Sorry, she didn't finish her sentence.)
But how could Jiang Yan not understand, and how could he not have considered it?
"Huang Ying, reality is before us, you can understand my choice, right?"
Huang Ying looked at her firmly: "This servant has always been loyal to my mistress!"
"Your words warmed my heart. I am extremely unwilling to have any physical intimacy with the Prince, but as you said, I am his concubine. As long as I have not completely gotten rid of him, I cannot avoid this. I can only apologize to your master and hope you can understand."
For the first time, Huang Ying dared to hold Jiang Yan's hands tightly.
She said sincerely, "Master, I know your character. I also know the difficulties you are facing. I believe that the kind young lady will understand you and will not blame you."
Jiang Yan smiled with relief.
Thus, Jiang Yan, who had inexplicably arrived in Zhou Kingdom, began to ingratiate herself with Shangguan Zeyu step by step in order to achieve her goals.
The first thing to do to please Shangguan Zeyu is to be able to see him.
According to Huang Ying, Shangguan Zeyu's leg ailment has relapsed, and he has been staying at the Prince's Mansion ever since Xiao Yiqing put him in confinement.
Therefore, Jiang Yan decided that she would dress up in her finest clothes early the next morning and go to Yunxiao Pavilion to find Shangguan Zeyu.
The day after tomorrow is the summer solstice, and the wind today feels like it has been roasted by a raging fire, blowing on people as if they are being roasted by a fire.
There was no ice distributed at the management office, and the room was like a steamer.
Jiang Yan was feeling extremely hot and stuffy, and with nowhere to go, she asked Huang Ying to take her to the back garden.
They took the road closer to Pear Blossom Residence, not the road near Cloud Pavilion.
Taking the nearest road to the back garden, Jiang Yan once again saw that tall building that was out of place with the surrounding buildings, yet made people marvel at it. It was the Hundred Flowers Garden.
Who was this Hundred Flowers Garden, which consumed so much manpower and resources, built for?
Could it be Liu Ruyan?
It's been so long, and Shangguan Zeyu still hasn't married her. Could it be because there are still things to improve in Baihua Garden?
"Yellow Oriole, is the Hundred Flowers Garden built for the newlyweds ready for people to live in?"
"I heard it's already completed and just waiting for the newlyweds to move in."
Huang Ying paused for a moment, then continued walking: "I haven't heard of anyone wanting to check in?"
“I have inquired, but it seems that no one knows. They all say that the Princess has ordered that no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter.”
"Oh." It still sounds mysterious.
"Only daughters from prestigious families can marry into the royal family."
"Yes, it's about being a good match, I understand."
Huang Ying didn't say anything more.
Jiang Yan continued to enjoy the scenery along the way while walking along the path.
By the time she reached a lakeside path, night had fallen.
But across the path she was walking on, orange lanterns hung among the lush grass by the lake, illuminating the seemingly dark lake water.
"Look at this lake, don't you want big oranges to grow from the bottom of the lake? Haha."
Huang Ying glanced at it and couldn't help but laugh: "Master, what you said makes a lot of sense. Haha."
"These oranges are definitely eaten by the dragons in the lake, it's not our turn to eat them." Jiang Yan just joked casually, not taking it to heart, and didn't expect a third person to hear it.
But to her surprise, someone responded with a smile after she finished speaking.
"If you want to eat it, I can help you get it."
Jiang Yan immediately stopped and turned to look at him.
He had not yet emerged from the darkness.
The oriole was quite frightened and hurriedly ran to her side, asking in a low voice, "Master, whose voice is that?"
It sounded like Zhang Qin's voice, but she couldn't quite make it out.
He laughed again and said, "What are you looking at? Do you think I'm lying to you?"
Jiang Yan heard his voice clearly this time and said irritably, "Zhang Qin! Who are you trying to scare to death in the middle of the night?"
But Huang Ying was puzzled and asked, "Is he Zhang Qin?" Her tone was as if to say, "How could he be Zhang Qin?"
Jiang Yan didn't understand her implied meaning and said bluntly.
"You dare to come out and scare people, but you don't dare to show your face?"
"Master, he's not..." Huang Ying quickly whispered to her.
But at this critical moment, he suddenly spoke up, interrupting Huang Ying: "What's there to be afraid of?"
"Then hurry up and come out!!!"
Huang Ying grabbed Jiang Yan's sleeve in a panic, but Jiang Yan thought she was just scared and gently patted her hands that were gripping her sleeve with her other hand.
"What are you afraid of? I'm here!!"
Then he turned and shouted at him, "What are you waiting for?"
He slowly emerged from the night, fanning himself with a folding fan in his right hand.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Yan couldn't help but mock, "Are you afraid of being seen at night? You have the guts to do such a despicable thing, but you don't have the courage to let people see your true face? I'm embarrassed for you!!"
"What the concubine said is really interesting!" The voice was soft and gentle.
Jiang Yan rolled her eyes at him, guessing he probably hadn't noticed.
"Is your prince asleep?"
Why do you ask that?
Jiang Yan couldn't help but sneer again: "He's not asleep and you have time to wander around here? You certainly know how to pick your time!"
Shangguan Zeyu chuckled softly: "What is the concubine doing here so late at night? Nobody likes to come here on ordinary days."
"Hmph, how funny! You came too... Or are you..." He deliberately dragged out the last syllable.
Shangguan Zeyu was indeed curious: "How was it?"
Jiang Yan laughed heartily a few times: "Did you come here to have a secret rendezvous? Have you been doing a lot of bad things behind your prince's back? What do you think your prince will do to you if he finds out?"
Shangguan Zeyu laughed heartily.
"Is the concubine worried about me?"
"Dream on!! Zhang Qin, I won't hold what happened at the Liu residence against you. You'd better behave yourself!!" Jiang Yan finished speaking, grabbed Huang Ying, and turned to leave.
Shangguan Zeyu unconsciously took a step forward and hurriedly stopped her: "Wait!" Then he said plaintively, "Won't the concubine reconsider?"
"You're sick!" Jiang Yan cursed inwardly, then turned around and looked at him.
"Zhang Qin! What are you thinking? You don't want to live anymore, but I do! Please consider me, okay?"
"What's wrong with mutual affection?"
Huang Ying listened attentively the whole time.
She could tell he wasn't Zhang Qin, because she had met Zhang Qin not long ago and even exchanged a few words with him.
Zhang Qin's voice was low and flat.
His voice, however, was full of emotion, making it very intriguing.
Therefore, upon hearing him say such treasonous words, she was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on her back, and she tightly grabbed Jiang Yan's sleeve.
Jiang Yan gently patted the back of her hand with her other hand to comfort her, and said to Shangguan Zeyu.
"Zhang Qin! What exactly do you want? Just explain yourself clearly!!"
Shangguan Zeyu remained silent for a while before speaking.
“My concubine, I know you don’t like the prince, so why don’t you consider me? My heart for you is as clear as day and night, and there is absolutely no pretense between us.”
Jiang Yan was so angry she laughed.
"'Heaven and earth bear witness'? Do you know how many times I've heard that? I don't believe it!!"
"Does anyone often say this to the concubine?" Shangguan Zeyu's voice suddenly turned serious.
But Jiang Yan didn't care what nonsense he was spouting again, and laughed, "Yeah! A lot of people have told me that, but I've never believed them!!"
"Why not believe it? How will you know if it's true or false if you don't try?"
Shangguan Zeyu spoke with such deep emotion, and his voice itself possessed a captivating power that could penetrate the heart. Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan's heart suddenly began to pound wildly.
Shangguan Zeyu did not say another word.
Jiang Yan remained silent.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yan said seriously, "Alright, since you say your feelings for me are sincere and that heaven and earth can bear witness to your heart, then dare you swear an oath to heaven?"
"Swear?" Shangguan Zeyu murmured, pondering the phrase repeatedly.
"Yes, swear to heaven, let the heavens witness your sincerity. Don't you dare?"
Shangguan Zeyu remained silent.
Jiang Yan looked down on him and sneered, "See? All men are the same! They always talk a good game, but they always mess things up when it matters!"
Then, pulling Huang Ying along, they continued walking forward.
Shangguan Zeyu finally put away the folding fan that had been covering half of his face.
He stared at Jiang Yan's departing figure for a long, long time before finally whispering, "Who exactly are you?"
Zhang Qin then emerged from the darkness: "Your Highness, shall we go with the concubine?"
"No."
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