Chapter 42 Apology
After a long pause, he turned around, walked to the table, and sighed:
"You're the first person who can make me angry so easily."
Sigh... I must have owed you something in my past life.
He then poured Xie Yunyu a glass of water.
Xie Yunyu suddenly came to her senses. The person opposite her was the Prince of Shou'an, not a commoner like herself. If things went wrong, she could lose her head.
So he restrained his temper, picked up the teacup on the table, and drank it down in one gulp.
Seeing that Xie Yunyu was still angry, Xiao Ling calmly said:
"You won't listen to anything I say now. How about this, let my guard come and talk to you."
Then he said to the outside, "Qingfeng, come in."
A gentle breeze entered in response.
When Gu Yu saw Qing Feng come in, she hurriedly followed him in.
"Tell Xie San Niangzi about what happened at the Jiuzhou Pastry Shop today."
"yes."
After Qingfeng recounted everything he had found out, Xie Yunyu's expression turned suspicious.
"You mean, the mastermind behind today's events is Prince Ye?"
Xiao Ling nodded.
"I have already sent people to investigate Ye Jing."
Xie Yunyu, however, asked to herself, "We have no past grudges or recent feuds with the Marquis of Guangping's family, so what is the point of him doing this?"
"The general process is to create trouble, then step in to help out, and finally take advantage of the situation to seek repayment."
"The Marquis of Guangping comes from a military family, while our Xie family are civil officials. The two families have never had any interaction."
Looking for a favor in return? How exactly would you repay it?
Xie Yunyu also stood up and paced back and forth in the room, thinking about the Xie family and the Guangping Marquis family.
Suddenly, Qingfeng spoke up: "Could it be because of Chen Jiatao?"
Xie Yunyu suddenly turned around and looked at Qingfeng: "Who is Chen Jiatao?"
"The illegitimate son of Chen Heng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is studying at Nanshan Academy and will also take the imperial examination next year."
"What does he have to do with this?" Xie Yunyu asked, puzzled.
Qingfeng felt extremely embarrassed upon hearing this, coughed once, and remained silent.
Xie Yunyu then turned to look at Xiao Ling.
Xiao Ling explained casually, "Actually, Ye Jing is gay; he likes Chen Jiatao."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yunyu's eyes widened in surprise.
Gu Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my god..."
Suddenly, Xie Yunyu remembered the two men she had met on the mountain of the academy with Wu Yumin.
He exclaimed, "Could it be that what we caught them doing last time was an affair?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Xie Yunyu.
Xie Yunyu then recounted the incident where she and Wu Yumin bumped into each other on the mountain.
"After that, I kept running into him—at the Jiuzhou Dim Sum Shop, at the Wu family's banquets, at street corners..."
As Xie Yunyu spoke, she gradually came to terms with it.
"So it seems that the young lady from the Wu family and I were too slow that day, and he still managed to see us."
He investigated me, learned my identity, and that's how our repeated chance encounters and today's events came about?
Xiao Ling nodded.
Xie Yunyu then said, "So, it doesn't make sense that he went through all this trouble just for that guy named Tao's exam."
My grandfather won't be in charge of next year's imperial examination; he'll only be assisting. In the end, he won't even know what the questions will be.
Isn't he taking the long way around instead of the right thing to do?
Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that Xie Yunyu's words made sense.
After a moment of silence, Gu Yu timidly spoke:
"Miss, could it be that Young Master Ye thinks that Tao's status is too low and wants our master to take him as his apprentice?"
Xie Yunyu pondered for a moment and said, "That is indeed possible."
However, long before my grandfather became the Crown Prince's tutor, he had already taken Zongcheng as his last disciple, and afterwards he had no intention of taking on any more disciples.
"Could it be that he wants to marry you?" Gu Yu asked again.
Upon hearing this, all three people in the room stared at her.
Seeing this, Gu Yu became somewhat frightened and stammered:
"The people of the Marquis of Guangping's mansion would definitely... no... wouldn't let the heir marry a man, would they?"
Does he... does he want to marry you... to silence everyone's gossip...?
And then...and then with that...that Tao, they lived happily ever after?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ling abruptly stopped turning the prayer beads.
Qingfeng stroked his chin and said, "It's not impossible."
Xie Yunyu's inner monologue: Holy crap, is this guy trying to trick me into becoming a gay wife?!
Damn it, throughout history and across the world, this kind of trickery used to swindle women is always the same, without any variation.
He then sneered, "If that's really his plan, it would be a good thing."
Xiao Ling glared at her and said, "Good news? How can this be good news for you?"
Xie Yunyu looked at Xiao Ling, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and said:
"He can come and propose, but I can also refuse."
"What if he has another plan?" Xiao Ling asked.
"We'll just deal with whatever comes our way, what's there to be afraid of?" Xie Yunyu said nonchalantly.
Xiao Ling was angry and waved for Qingfeng to leave first.
Qingfeng, with great tact, turned and left, taking Guyu with him as he went.
Gu Yu struggled to call out, "Miss..."
"You may leave now. Have someone prepare a table of food and wine."
Gu Yu listened and then went out with them.
Soon, a servant brought up a table of lightly colored food.
The room lights were turned on, and the windows were closed to keep moths away. The light cast a dim, warm glow, adding a touch of softness to the room.
Xie Yunyu felt embarrassed by her earlier recklessness and poured a glass of wine for Xiao Ling.
"Ahem, Your Highness, I misunderstood you just now. This cup of wine is my apology. Please forgive me."
Seeing this, Xiao Ling ignored her and simply sipped his tea.
Xie Yunyu knew that the man was still angry when she saw him.
He then said, "Your Highness, you were the one who started this behind my back, which is why I became suspicious of you. Let's call it even this time."
Xiao Ling saw that she spoke these words with such confidence and self-assurance.
He glanced at her sideways and said, "You're really something. You apologize for your mistakes with such self-righteousness."
The two of them were both too busy being angry, and it was getting dark and they couldn't see clearly.
At this moment, under the lamplight, Xie Yunyu saw Xiao Ling's stunningly beautiful face up close.
My heart was struck hard again in an instant.
To be honest, this person is really handsome.
Xie Yunyu had been in a terrible mood all day, but seeing this handsome guy made her feel much better.
Sigh... No wonder everyone wants to find someone good-looking.
Looking at that face, my anger subsided considerably, and I could even eat two more bowls of rice.
Xiao Ling picked up the cup and said, "Thank you, Third Madam. Your apology should at least be sincere."
Xie Yunyu sighed. No matter where she was, she couldn't escape the world of wine culture.
As he spoke, he picked up the wine pot and downed three cups in a row.
Xiao Ling actually just wanted to tell Xie Yunyu to be nicer.
Who knew that Xie Yunyu would start drinking right away?
After three cups, Xie Yunyu thought to herself, "This wine is quite good; it's sweet and not spicy."
Then, holding the wine cup, he said, "Your Highness, this is my sincerity. If you forgive me, then drink it all."
Xiao Ling didn't know how to respond, so she silently picked up her wine glass and drank it.
Xie Yunyu poured him a refill as soon as he finished drinking.
He raised his glass and said, "Those three glasses just now were my apology."
Let's drink to this, and call a truce for now; we're even.
Xiao Ling didn't know what "cheers" meant, but seeing Xie Yunyu pick up her glass and clink it against his own, she said:
"cheers."
So he could only say, "Cheers."
After saying that, Xie Yunyu tilted her head back and drank another cup.
Xiao Ling had no choice but to drink with him.
Xie Yunyu introduced the dishes on the table to Xiao Ling: "Your Highness, these dishes are from my grandfather's hometown."
Its elegant color and light flavor are quite suitable for you.
I named it the "Elegant Spring Feast," you should try it.
Seeing how attentively she introduced the dishes, Xiao Ling felt much more at ease; this was the proper attitude.
After eating a couple of bites of food, the two drank two more cups, and Xie Yunyu's alcohol levels kicked in.
Her face was rosy and flushed, and she no longer had the aggressive demeanor she had just displayed, nor her usual composure; instead, she appeared somewhat endearing and naive.
Xiao Ling smiled when he saw her like this.
Xie Yunyu took in that smiling face and stared at it intently without moving.
Seeing this, Xiao Ling knew that his charm had worked again.
Taking the wine glass from Xie Yunyu, he poured himself another and asked softly:
Am I pretty?
"nice."
Xie Yunyu laughed drunkenly and answered subconsciously.
"If you're beautiful, marry me, so I can see you every day."
Xiao Ling said softly.
"OK."
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