"Brother, this is the princess of Ye Nan Kingdom, our friend, named Lan Yu. She came here early in the morning just to see you." Chen Qiu followed out.
Shen Yue's brows visibly relaxed, but then frowned again. What did he mean by just wanting to see himself?
Chen Qiu looked at his brother and it was still the same. It seemed that his desire to see his mother was just his mother's wishful thinking.
Chen Yue's frown relaxed in an instant, and she stood up and bowed, "Chen Yue, I greet the princess."
Lan Yu waved her hand and said, "Just call me Lan Yu. Xiao Qiu and I are sisters. No need to be so polite."
Ye Chen took out Chen Qiu's cloak and put it on Chen Qiu. "It's still cold, put it on, we can go through now."
When the group arrived at Rongwei Hall, Xiao Hang was already there.
Chen Yue greeted the old Duke and Madam Xiao with the courtesy of a junior.
After dinner, Shen Yue put on his official uniform and entered the palace. He had asked for leave, but he also had official business to attend to.
As soon as Shen Yue left, someone came to report that "Prince Zhennan and Princess An Ning are here."
Ye Chen and Shen Qiu looked at each other. Yes, Prince Wan of Zhennan had not returned to Binzhou yet, and Princess An Ning had not left yet.
Ye Chen asked someone to bring Lu Chenyuan and An Ning to Qiuchen Courtyard. An Ning looked at the two words "Qiuchen" on the wooden sign at the door, and her heart sank little by little.
Prince Zhennan followed An Ning's gaze and sighed, "Go in, we're here to say goodbye."
"You must remember that you are a princess. You must not lose your pride and dignity."
An Ning smiled bitterly, "My pride and dignity were gone when I asked my father to give me to him as a concubine."
Then he took a deep breath and said, "Let's go in. Since you have decided to let me go, this step must be taken."
Lu Chenyuan nodded and walked forward. An Ning took another deep breath, then followed Lu Chenyuan into Qiuchen Courtyard.
A maidservant had already reported this to Ye Chen and Shen Qiu. Even if they were unhappy, An Ning was a princess after all, so the two of them came out to greet her.
I just happened to see two people coming in.
Chen Qiu and Ye Chen saluted An Ning using the etiquette between a monarch and his subjects.
An Ning smiled bitterly, "Cousin, there's no need for so much formality. This isn't a place outside. We're peers, so just use the etiquette of peers."
Ye Chen didn't hesitate to stand up and helped Chen Qiu up. The alienation in his tone of "Thank you, Princess" made An Ning's heart tighten.
But, wasn't this something I had anticipated?
Although Chen Qiu was surprised by An Ning's behavior, he thought it was good that the princess could let it go. At least she would not cause trouble for him again. However, he didn't know how true this was.
An Ning and Lu Chenyuan were invited into the main hall. An Ning did not sit in the seat of honor, but sat side by side with Lu Chenyuan on the left.
She is a princess, she can sit wherever she wants, and no one else can say that she is sitting in the wrong place.
Ye Chen helped Chen Qiu sit across from them. After the girl served tea, Ye Chen spoke first, "Is the Prince of Zhennan going back to Binzhou?"
Lu Chenyuan nodded, "Yes, I'll be back tomorrow. An Ning will go back with me."
Ye Chen did not respond, but continued: "Can the King of Zhennan help me collect some food when he returns? I can use it."
Lu Chenyuan picked up the teacup and said, "Oh? But I heard that you sent people to Jiangnan before the New Year. Why? Do you want more?"
"The Prince of Zhennan is well-informed. Jiangnan is not under your jurisdiction. However, what I have collected is not enough. I need the Prince of Zhennan to help me collect some more." Ye Chen just talked about his own affairs.
Lu Chenyuan didn't ask what Ye Chen wanted to do with so much food. "How much do you want? Do you want to send it back to Kyoto after collecting it?"
Ye Chen shook his head. "No, I'll leave it with you. When I need it, I'll send someone over. I'll also have to trouble King Zhennan to send someone to escort it."
Lu Chenyuan looked at Ye Chen with gloomy eyes. He couldn't have been wrong about Ye Chen's hostility towards him.
But judging from what happened on New Year's Eve and the fact that he was asked to collect grain now, this person obviously trusts himself very much. But, isn't this a bit abnormal? How can you trust someone when you are full of hostility towards him at the same time?
Ye Chen glanced at Lu Chenyuan, and the doubt in his eyes was clear to him. Ye Chen said, "Prince Zhennan, don't doubt it. My hostility towards you is due to personal matters, and my trust in you is due to official matters."
Can it be divided like this? Lu Chenyuan looked at Ye Chen as if he were a monster. "How did this guy do it?" Lu Chenyuan pondered.
An Ning didn't interrupt their conversation, but just smiled and said to Shen Qiu, "Cousin, is the baby coming soon?"
Before Shen Qiu could answer, Ye Chen turned his head and glared at An Ning, "What do you want to do, Princess?"
An Ning smiled bitterly, "Cousin, there's no need to be like this. I won't hurt my cousin's wife again. The world outside is big. I want to stay out there for a while. When I come back, my cousin's wife will have given birth."
"It was only during my trip to Binzhou that I realized Kyoto is too small, and my world is too small."
"So... I decided to let myself go."
Lu Chenyuan smiled with relief. It seemed that his efforts in the past few months before the New Year were not in vain. He took her to see the mountains and rivers, and took her to see a different world. His niece finally stopped making things difficult for him, although she must have been very painful to make this decision.
Yes, when making this decision, An Ning recalled that time again and again. That was when she was closest to Ye Chen.
Finally, the back figure that he had been looking at for more than a month finally overlapped with the murderous intent in Ye Chen's eyes when he looked at him a year ago.
An Ning asked herself, would she rather have him hate her than not want him to hate her? Or would she let him go and just be ordinary cousins?
Which version of myself is the most painful? Thinking about it, it seems that every version of myself is painful. Since they are all painful, at least I should not let him hate me.
This time I left not to hide, but to find a place to heal.
Her mother was right. Rather than suffering like her for the rest of her life, it would be better to be reborn from the ashes and see a bigger world. She didn't want to stay in Kyoto any longer. After riding a horse, she didn't want to sit in that small carriage anymore.
Seeing that An Ning's eyes no longer had the look that made her uncomfortable, Chen Qiu smiled and replied, "It will be the end of March or the beginning of April. How long will the princess stay in Binzhou this time?"
An Ning smiled and looked at Chen Qiu's belly, "Is pregnancy hard?"
Ye Chen kept staring at An Ning. He was always afraid that she would suddenly make a turn and hurt Chen Qiu.
Chen Qiu pulled Ye Chen, smiled at him, and then said, "It is very hard, but it will only take ten months. It will be fine when you get out."
An Ning smiled and said, "There are troubles when you get out, but there are even more things to worry about after you get out."
Ye Chen misinterpreted what was originally a normal sentence and immediately stood up and said, "Princess, do you still not want him to be born?"
Chen Qiu was a little confused when he saw it, and quickly stood up and pulled Ye Chen, "Husband, don't misinterpret other people's meanings. No one dares to chat with me if you do this."
"My cousin is only like this to me. After all, I hurt my cousin's wife before." An Ning looked at Ye Chen with bitter heart.
Lu Chenyuan pulled An Ning and said, "We've said goodbye. We still have a lot of things to prepare, so we'll leave first."
Lu Chenyuan pulled An Ning out, and An Ning suddenly turned around and bowed to Chen Qiu, "Cousin, I apologize for what I did before."
Chen Qiu was startled. After reacting, he said, "The past is the past. I can't forgive you yet. After all, you almost killed me."
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