Chapter 78 Excitement

Duan Mingchong had been feeling a little distracted since the New Year's Eve. He waited patiently for three days before he could no longer bear it and left the palace to go to the Marquis' Mansion.

During these three days, he had sent people to the Marquis' Mansion to inquire about Sui Yan's condition, but every time he got the reply "The Marquis has not recovered from the cold". Duan Mingchong became more and more worried, and brought a bunch of tonic medicine before leaving the palace.

It has been sunny these past few days, and a lot of the snow on the eaves has melted, dripping down the green tiles. Because of the severe cold, it has formed rows of icicles, which sparkle when the sun shines on them.

As soon as Duan Mingchong arrived at the Marquis's residence, Li Zhao came out to greet him and said, "Your Highness, General Sui Xun is in the front yard. I will lead you in."

Duan Mingchong paused, frowned and asked, "Where's A-Yan? Is he feeling better?"

Li Zhao was a little embarrassed: "Young Master, he..."

Duan Mingchong looked at him in confusion.

Li Zhao said hesitantly, "Young Master heard that there was a market in Tianshui Lane today, so he took people out to play."

Duan Mingchong frowned: "Is he well?"

Li Zhao couldn't say that his young master wasn't ill at all, so he could only say vaguely, "Yeah... I guess he's much better now."

Duan Mingchong nodded. He asked the palace servants to take the supplements in. He went to the front yard to exchange a few words with Sui Xun, then stood up and said goodbye.

Sui Xun wanted to stand up to see him off, but Duan Mingchong said, "General, please stay. There is no need to see you off."

Sui Xun had no choice but to stop.

Duan Mingchong then turned around and left, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

He led his men out of the mansion and got on the carriage. However, he did not go back to the palace directly, but made a detour and headed towards Tianshui Lane in the capital.

Duan Mingchong was quite perceptive and could vaguely tell that Sui Xun didn't want him to get too close to Sui Yan. The neglect he showed him these days was probably Sui Xun's doing.

Duan Mingchong said nothing. With a cold expression on his face, he lifted the curtain and looked at the hustle and bustle outside. No one knew what he was thinking.

After a while, the carriage stopped at Tianshui Lane, which was crowded with inns, and Duan Mingchong got off the carriage wearing a black cloak.

He casually glanced at the endless stream of people, waved to the bodyguards behind him, and they nodded slightly and quickly dispersed in the crowd.

Duan Mingchong looked up at the plaque at the end of the street, stared blankly for a long time before he frowned and walked into the crowded street.

There is a market in Tianshui Lane today. Both sides of the road are lined with small stalls selling things and the shouting is deafening.

Duan Mingchong felt like his head was going to explode after walking for a while. He endured the discomfort and walked a few more steps before he saw a tall wooden platform at the intersection of two long streets.

A woman in a thin red shirt with a red ribbon on her head was dancing gracefully, and below her was a group of men who were attracted by her beauty. They all stared at her intently and shouted from time to time.

Duan Mingchong glanced at the woman on the platform and frowned slightly.

That person seems to be the princess of the former Southern Xinjiang dynasty some time ago?

What is she doing here?

Duan Mingchong raised his hand lightly, and a secret guard in plain clothes instantly appeared beside him.

Duan Mingchong pointed at the princess and said, "Check what she is here for."

"yes."

After the secret guard left, Duan Mingchong retracted his gaze, looked around, and then lowered his eyelashes in disappointment.

He walked around the central platform and was about to move forward when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Sui Yan sitting on the platform of a nearby tavern.

Sui Yan was sitting by the window on the second floor, holding a piece of cake in his hand, looking up at the platform with a smile on his face, seeming to be in a good mood.

Duan Mingchong was stunned for a moment, then turned around and walked into the tavern nearby.

Duan Mingchong was dressed in fine clothes and looked either wealthy or noble, so the servant led him upstairs attentively.

Sui Yan was very generous and asked for a private room in the tavern in the middle of the long street. After Duan Mingchong went in, he stood there for a while before frowning and walking towards the inner room.

As soon as he drew aside the pearl curtain, before he turned around the screen, he saw Sui Yan leaning forward to look downstairs, and next to him, sitting dignifiedly, was a beautiful woman in a green shirt.

The woman had a cold expression on her face, a dot of cinnabar on her brow, and was extremely beautiful. It was obvious at first glance that she was not an ordinary person, but there was a strange sense of disharmony about her.

Duan Mingchong took a look and was stunned where he stood, not knowing whether to advance or retreat behind the screen.

Sui Yan had probably seen enough. He turned around, looked at the woman next to him with a smile, and said, "Why don't you come and take a look? That woman dances really well, even better than you."

The woman kneeling on the soft seat glanced at him coldly without saying a word, a dot of cinnabar between her brows shining like a flower.

Sui Yan didn't see Duan Mingchong behind the screen. He walked to the small table with an elegant posture, leaned down and lifted the beauty's chin, and smiled softly: "What, are you jealous? Okay, okay, you still picked the best. Isn't it okay for me to praise you? Why are you so hypocritical? You have no respect for your elders. I really spoil you too much."

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Jun Jingxing glared at him with hatred, and forced a smile through gritted teeth: "Lord, you said, laugh."

Sui Yan curled his lips and smiled, his peach blossom eyes curled up, and he leaned close to Jun Jingxing's ear and whispered softly: "Hold me."

Jun Jingxing clenched his fists tightly, took a deep breath, stretched out his hand to grab Sui Yan's arm, and pulled it hard.

Sui Yan was pulled unexpectedly and sat directly on Jun Jingxing's legs.

Sui Yan: “…”

I killed you!

Jun Jingxing looked at him with a smile.

Duan Mingchong behind the screen: "..."

Sui Yan glared at him fiercely from where Duan Mingchong couldn't see, then wrapped his hands around Jun Jingxing's neck and pressed him down on the couch.

He pressed his whole body against Jun Jingxing, reaching out to touch the side of his face in an ambiguous way, and said in a sweet voice: "Beauty, so you like this? Tell me earlier, I will love you well."

Jun Jingxing held Sui Yan's slender waist with one hand, and exerted force hard under his outer robe.

Sui Yan: “…”

hiss--

The two of them glared at each other fiercely, and then Jun Jingxing seemed to sense something and looked at him in surprise.

Sui Yan lowered his voice and said: "You..."

Jun Jingxing held his head and whispered in his ear, "Why is your heart beating so fast? Do you... like me?"

Sui Yan: “…”

Sui Yan took a deep breath and suppressed his pounding heart. He pinched Jun Jingxing tightly and said through gritted teeth, "The prince is outside."

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Jun Jingxing was simply speechless. He leaned on the couch with his hands, helped Sui Yan sit on the side, and turned his back to the door while mouthing to Sui Yan: Are you done yet? That's enough.

Sui Yan didn't want to finish. He sat next to Jun Jingxing, pointed at the grapes beside him, and said, "Feed me."

Jun Jingxing mouthed: I will kill you.

Sui Yan: “…”

Jun Jingxing refused to cooperate, so Sui Yan had to reluctantly end this hypocritical show. He sat back down and "accidentally" caught a glimpse of Ming Chong's clothes behind the screen. He pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Who's outside?"

Duan Ming Chong shuddered, then walked out. His face was pale, he looked up at Sui Yan, and forced a smile: "A Yan."

Sui Yan was surprised and asked, "Your Highness, why are you here?"

Jun Jingxing bowed and said, "Meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Duan Mingchong gave Jun Jingxing a cold look from where Sui Yan couldn't see him, and then he said with difficulty: "I... just passed by by chance, and saw you here, so I came up to take a look."

Sui Yan nodded, called Duan Mingchong to come and sit down, and asked the servant to bring a pot of tea.

Sui Yan stood up and moved a seat for Duan Mingchong, then sat side by side with Jun Jingxing, blinking and looking at Duan Mingchong.

Duan Mingchong felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. He didn't know whether to leave or stay, so he had to sit down.

Sui Yan exclaimed, "Oh, by the way, I haven't told His Highness yet that this person is Yue Jian. Your Highness should have met her before."

Duan Mingchong didn't know who Yue Jian was, but he had met Yue Jian once in Wanhualou three years ago. He vaguely remembered him and nodded blankly.

Jun Jingxing nodded slightly towards Duan Mingchong.

Sui Yan smiled and said, "That's good. There is a market here today, and Yue Jian always comes to see me. I was sick before, but I couldn't stand him making noises all the time, so I had to bring him here. It's really a coincidence that I can meet His Highness here."

Duan Mingchong was a little confused, and nodded in a daze: "Yes, yes."

"Ah, I remember now," Duan Mingchong thought to himself in a daze, "The rabbit and twilight bear I gave him before seemed to be named Yuejian."

No wonder……

It turns out that he has always liked this woman.

Then he thought about what Sui Xun had said on New Year's Eve about arranging a marriage for Sui Yan, and then this woman appeared, and was so close to Sui Yan. Anyone with a discerning eye knew what was going on.

Duan Mingchong looked at the handsome man and beautiful woman sitting side by side, and somehow he just felt uncomfortable. He seemed to vent the emotion, but when he thought about it carefully, he didn't know what to do. He could only endure it, and his heart was so uncomfortable that it almost exploded.

Duan Mingchong suppressed the unknown sadness and loss in his heart, and his slightly drooped eyelashes trembled constantly.

He couldn't hear clearly what Sui Yan was saying the whole time, as if there was a veil between them, and could only nod vaguely.

Sui Yan wanted to say something more to provoke Duan Mingchong, but Jun Jingxing, who was standing by, couldn't bear to listen any more when he saw Duan Mingchong's pale face. He pinched Sui Yan under the table, glanced at him sideways, and signaled him to stop.

Sui Yan actually felt a little sorry when he first saw Duan Mingchong's confused and pale face. He didn't pay much attention to what he said afterwards. He was sobered up after being pinched.

He frowned and glared at Jun Jingxing: "Why are you touching my leg?"

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Duan Mingchong: “…”

Duan Mingchong was a little embarrassed. He hesitated and said, "Should I leave now?"

Sui Yan said hurriedly: "It's okay, it's okay. Your Highness, please forgive me for my poor discipline."

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Duan Mingchong's face became even uglier.

Jun Jingxing put his fist to his lips and coughed heavily.

Sui Yan then calmed down and waved to Jun Jingxing. Jun Jingxing immediately stood up as if he had been pardoned, bowed slightly to say goodbye to the two of them, and walked out slowly.

Sui Yan watched him leave before retracting his gaze. He smiled and said, "I haven't asked Your Highness why you wanted to come to a crowded place like the market today. You didn't bring many people with you. It would be bad if you encountered danger."

Duan Mingchong lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea, and whispered, "It's nothing serious."

Sui Yan saw that he was distracted and immediately sighed in his heart, thinking: "I felt the same way a few days ago. You finally understand it, haha, just bear with it."

He is a person who will never let himself suffer any loss, and he is very tolerant of small grudges.

The night he came back from Xiangguo Temple, he felt so bad that he wanted to drink to drown his sorrows, but he was too scared to make himself feel bad, so he lay on the bed for a long time, saying a lot of bad things about Duan Mingchong - things like "idiot", "stubborn", "naturally stupid" and so on - before he finally got rid of the depression in his heart. He also secretly made up his mind that one day he would let Duan Mingchong, who hurt others without knowing it, have a taste of this feeling.

And now he finally got what he wanted. He was secretly happy but remained calm on the surface.

Sui Yan was used to acting, and he was especially at home in this kind of romantic atmosphere. Just a few casual words from him made Duan Mingchong feel even more uncomfortable.

Sui Yan was acting hard while thinking: "Now that you are like this, please stop thinking that you have no feelings for me, or I really won't wait for you anymore."

This was the first time in Duan Mingchong's life that his mind was controlled by someone and played with so wantonly. He was completely confused and didn't know what was wrong with him.

Perhaps the act of cutting off one's sleeve was too outrageous and shocking to the prince, who had been familiar with the books of sages since childhood, and he was so flustered that he didn't even think about it. He just felt that there seemed to be something wrong with him, otherwise why did he feel so lost and disgusted just because he saw Sui Yan behaving ambiguously with others.

When he saw Sui Yan and the woman cuddling together behind the screen, he almost unconsciously arose an uncontrollable murderous intent in his heart.

Duan Mingchong shuddered suddenly and was completely confused.

Sui Yan noticed that Duan Mingchong looked a little strange, and fearing that he might be too excited, he leaned forward with his hand on the small table and looked at Duan Mingchong, wondering, "Your Highness, Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"

Duan Mingchong came back to his senses in a daze, and he ran straight into Sui Yan's deep and bright eyes.

That bright and gorgeous face that he was used to seeing, and the eyes that seemed to be shining with starlight, were so bright that they almost burned Duan Mingchong's eyes.

All of a sudden, Sui Yan's words from a few days ago came back to my mind.

"Your Highness, what kind of person do you prefer?"

Duan Mingchong stared blankly at Sui Yan who was so close to him. It seemed as if a beast that had been imprisoned for many years in his heart was roaring and struggling to break free from the cage and jumped out ferociously.

I just felt a loud bang in my head...

Duan Mingchong murmured, "You are like this."

Author's words: Jun Jingxing: Thank you all for your support. [Sui, please pay the performance fee and don't try to default on it! ]