“Fu Yunning, wasn’t she brought into the Pixiang Palace by the Consort again? The Prince of Yan is the Emperor’s own son and holds the rank of a prince. If she marries him, she will become a princess. This is a good marriage that the Consort has always been pursuing. Hasn’t the Consort mentioned it to the Emperor?”
Li Shiyue seemed unaware of which word she had said that offended the person beside her. Turning her head, she saw that Xu Yunci's face clearly showed displeasure.
Confusion filled her eyes, and she lowered her gaze, wondering if she had said something wrong. These were things she couldn't say to others, but Xu Yunci wasn't one of her own, and she never held back when it came to such matters.
Seemingly unwilling to give up, she turned to look at Xu Yunci with a puzzled expression, only to be met with a snort from him: "As a prince, you'll become a princess consort after marriage. This is a good match for you, do you want it?"
Even if Li Shiyue was slow to understand, she realized why Xu Yunci was unhappy. Forgetting the rules, she glared at Xu Yunci and said, "Cousin, you are the one who is truly blessed. First, a princess is eager to marry you, and then a noble lady is infatuated with you. Why do you have to tease me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she gripped the horse's flanks tightly with her legs and rode off quickly into the distance.
Xu Yunci watched the figures gradually disappear into the distance, and chuckled incredulously. It was unclear whether he was laughing out of anger or something else, but he chuckled a few times without saying a word.
He was the one with unresolved feelings for Qin Ying, wanting to hear the young girl say she had no feelings for Qin Ying, but unexpectedly, the fire spread to him.
As if lost in thought, he sighed softly, watching Li Shiyue leisurely stroll ahead, his helplessness undisguised. He squeezed his legs tightly around the horse's flanks, tightened the reins slightly, and simply caught up with Li Shiyue, resuming their journey together.
Unfortunately, Li Shiyue noticed someone approaching and deliberately didn't turn around. She looked at the reins in her hand, but her heart was not at peace.
When she realized what she was doing, she felt embarrassed to go back, but leaving Xu Yunci behind and running away was against the rules.
Unfortunately, the "culprit" actually followed her. Without further ado, Li Shiyue simply lowered her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering, concealing the emotions in her eyes.
"I misspoke. Please don't be angry with your cousin, Yan Yan."
His light breath drifted over on the autumn breeze, and his steady voice seemed to be right next to her ear. Li Shiyue's cheeks flushed slightly. She looked up to meet his smiling gaze, then lowered her head again.
"Not angry."
Li Shiyue looked up at Guo Xun and Xu Lingzi, who were already quite far apart: "Now that my cousin's marriage is settled, I heard from my aunt and grandmother that they want to wait until next spring to get married."
Xu Yunci raised his eyes, a complex look in them, not displeasure, but a kind of sorrow.
He remained silent. After all, his younger sister, whom he had watched grow up, was now getting married. To be honest, this feeling was very unpleasant, even though Guo Xun was the woman he had chosen for his sister's marriage at first sight.
·
On the bustling street, Xu Lingzi and Guo Xun were nowhere to be seen, with pedestrians constantly passing by. Li Shiyue slowed her pace, staying close to Xu Yunci, afraid of getting lost in the crowd.
However, there were just too many people tonight. If you weren't careful, Xu Yunyao and Xu Lingqing would disappear from sight by the time you realized it, and you didn't know if they had moved forward or fallen behind.
With pedestrians passing by behind her, Li Shiyue couldn't dodge in time and instinctively grabbed the person closest to her. She looked up and met Xu Yunci's calm eyes. Before she could react, Xu Yunci had already reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Xu Yunxu's eyes flickered slightly: "I'll go find Fifth Brother and the others, and then I'll come back to meet you later."
Without giving them a chance to answer, Xu Yunxu disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Li Shiyue tiptoed out from Xu Yunci's embrace, somewhat worried: "Seventh Cousin, are you alright by yourself?"
As she spoke, she tried to wriggle out of Xu Yunci's arms, reaching out to tug tightly at Xu Yunci's sleeve, her eyes filled with worry as she looked back and forth: "And my sixth cousin, I wonder where she went."
Tonight is the last night of the Double Ninth Festival lantern festival, and I didn't expect there to be so many people. I guess they all came to visit on the last day.
"Walk forward a bit, and you'll see it when there are fewer people."
Xu Yunci kept an eye on the passersby, then held her wrist through her clothes and led her slowly along with the flow of people.
His palms were broad and thick, and their intense heat seemed to burn her skin even through her clothes; her wrists felt burning hot.
"Ouch."
Li Shiyue covered her forehead with her other hand. This young man's back was really strong; it felt like her forehead would swell up if he bumped it.
She was so engrossed in watching Xu Yunci's back that she didn't notice he had stopped and bumped straight into him.
Her skin was fair, and when she lowered her hand, a slight redness and swelling could be seen on her forehead, which was covered by her hair and not very noticeable.
Xu Yunci sighed softly. The sugar figurine he had bought at some point seemed somewhat out of place with his aloof and cold demeanor.
Placed in Li Shiyue's hand, his warm fingers stroked the small red and swollen area, his heart churning like boiling water, but Li Shiyue did not dislike this feeling.
Her eyes narrowed, revealing an unusual calm. She tugged at Xu Yunci's sleeve, and seeing his puzzled expression, she pointed in that direction.
“I saw my third cousin go inside.”
It was a restaurant, three stories high, but from the top floor came soft, seductive music, and even the faint sound of women's laughter.
Realizing what kind of place it was, Li Shiyue couldn't hide the disgust in her eyes, but the next moment she tilted her head: "Prince Yan?"
The sound was so soft it was like a strand of hair drifting by; if Xu Yunci hadn't had such sharp ears, it would have been difficult to hear it clearly.
Xu Yunci watched calmly as Qin Ying alighted from the carriage. He didn't rush inside, but looked around before walking in. After some words from the woman guarding the gate, Qin Ying was led inside.
"What a coincidence! My third cousin and the Prince of Yan have quite the same hobbies; they both like to go to restaurants."
Li Shiyue's eyes were clear and unfazed, as if she were speaking without thinking. Seeing Xu Yunci looking at her suspiciously, she thought for a moment and said, "Yesterday, my second aunt paid her respects to my maternal grandmother and mentioned that my third cousin had recently been appreciated by his superiors and was going to be promoted. My maternal grandmother wanted to ask more questions, but my second aunt dodged the question, so my maternal grandmother didn't press the matter."
"However, I'm worried that the Prince of Yan has recently become interested in vying for the throne and might set a trap for the Xu family. I'm quite concerned about my third cousin."
This wasn't true, but Li Shiyue said it because she was certain that Xu Yunci wouldn't ask Old Madam Xu to confirm the truth of her words.
After all, even though Madam Xu disliked the concubine in the west courtyard, she hadn't shown too much favoritism towards the second branch of the family over the years; she would still give them what they deserved. She wouldn't allow the eldest branch to mistreat them either; there was no doubt about that, and it wouldn't arouse suspicion.
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