Chapter 172 Prince Ding endures grievances
The assassins were either executed or escaped, and the entire Xu family mansion was in a state of chaos.
The birthday banquet naturally came to an end. Lord Xu and his wife personally escorted all the guests out the door one by one, and apologized for scaring everyone.
Everyone was still frightened, but they also felt inexplicably excited. After all, the scene of a puppet turning into an assassin and an assassin turning into a rain of flowers might only happen once in a lifetime.
All I can say is that these powerful people are too idle on weekdays.
Shen Ning and Xie Yunqing saw Xie Yunyan off to the carriage. When Xie Yunyan got on the carriage and left, a voice sounded behind her.
"Is my cousin okay?"
Xu Zhiyi stood tall and graceful, with a smile on his face, and he didn't look frightened by the assassin at all.
Xie Yunqing had just witnessed his cousin, the Third Master of the Xu family, shattering the long sword with a cup. He was amazed, but his expression was gentle. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Third Master."
Although Xu Zhiyi always called her cousin, Xie Yunqing knew that her aunt was not Xu Zhiyi's biological mother. Moreover, the Xu family's status and Xu Zhiyi's position were there, so she never acted arrogantly and always called him Third Master like everyone else.
Xu Zhiyi nodded. "That's good. I'm sorry to have frightened my cousin today... How's Ningning? Is she okay?"
The word "Ning Ning" almost gave Shen Ning goose bumps, but Xu Zhiyi was still smiling and looked gentle, concerned and close, as if the incident of the arrow pointing at Shen Ning on the city wall had never happened.
You are really good at playing dumb.
Shen Ning complained in her heart, but she had to deal with it on the surface. She smiled and nodded to Xu Zhiyi: "Thank you for your concern, Third Master. I'm fine too."
Xie Yunqing patted her and said, "Call me uncle."
Xu Zhiyi said, "It's okay. Just call me whatever you want."
Xie Yunqing scolded: "You unruly girl, even though the Third Master is only a few years older than you, we are still of the same generation, so you shouldn't be rude."
Shen Ning had no choice but to speak: "Thank you for your concern, little uncle."
My uncle...
It sounds pretty nice.
Xu Zhiyi smiled and said, "That's good."
"mother……"
Shen Chengxi walked over here quickly with Shen Nian. After seeing Xu Zhiyi, they stopped and prepared to greet each other. Shen Nian bowed... But before they could speak, Xu Zhiyi turned around and walked away, as if he didn't see them.
The third master of the Xu family has always acted casually, and everyone has long been accustomed to it.
Shen Chengxi retracted his gaze and walked to his mother.
Just now, separated from the guests by tables and chairs, Shen Chengxi knew that his mother was fine, and he had already breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. But now, when he suddenly saw Shen Ning, he thought of how he had overturned the tables and chairs and tripped Shen Ning in order to save Nian Nian in a hurry, and his face showed a bit of discomfort.
"Chen Ning, just now I..."
"Mother, I'll go and thank His Royal Highness Prince Ding."
Shen Ning directly ignored Shen Chengxi and turned to walk to the other side.
Under the tree over there, His Royal Highness Prince Ding was being flattered by a group of people with an expressionless face. All they praised was his great martial arts skills.
He was very impatient. If he hadn't wanted to talk to Shen Ning, he would have left long ago.
Seeing Shen Ning coming over here, Xiao Nanchen nodded: "Excuse me first."
The people around him naturally asked him to do as he pleased. Shen Ning walked to his side and said politely, "Thank you for your help, Your Highness."
There were other people around, so she couldn't act too casually or intimately.
Xiao Nanchen also knew this truth, but even though he knew that Shen Ning was being so polite to him just to hide her tracks, he still felt a little upset.
He didn't want to be like this with her. He wanted to be the closest person to her, the kind that could be close to her openly without any scruples, no matter if there were other people around or not.
His Royal Highness Prince Ding suppressed his unbearable throbbing in his heart and said softly, "I'm glad you're okay."
Shen Ning originally wanted to ignore Shen Chengxi, so she made an excuse to leave. She wanted to use Xiao Nanchen as a pretext, thank him politely and leave, but when she met the eyes of His Royal Highness Prince Ding, she inexplicably felt that she shouldn't treat him like this.
Even though they all knew it was just to prevent people with ulterior motives from taking advantage of the situation.
After a pause, Shen Ning chuckled softly and said, "Anan's kung fu was amazing just now... I didn't even see you clearly before you dealt with those moths and assassins. It was really cool."
In an instant, the throbbing that His Royal Highness Prince Ding had suppressed with great difficulty began to surge and bubble up again.
At this moment, Crown Prince Xiao Nanyu came over, his face full of fear: "Seventh Brother, please escort me back to the palace quickly. I don't want to stay here for a moment."
Xiao Nanyu's tone was as if Xiao Nanchen was not his brother, but his subordinate.
Shen Ning pursed her lips and looked at the prince, feeling upset.
However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was obviously not a person who would do things in a thorough manner. Shen Ning forced herself to bow and greet him, but he ignored her and just urged Xiao Nanchen: "Let's go."
Xiao Nanchen was about to speak when he suddenly met Shen Ning's eyes.
That look showed both heartache for him and dissatisfaction with Xiao Nanyu... With a slight movement in his heart, Xiao Nanchen lowered his eyes and said to the prince very respectfully, "Yes."
Finally, he signaled Shen Ning with his eyes to go back, and he respectfully led the prince out.
Shen Ning stood there, watching Xiao Nanchen respectfully lead the prince out. She felt very uncomfortable, a little distressed, and a little angry.
Xiao Nanchen fought bravely on the battlefield to defend his country, and after returning to Beijing he served in the Imperial Guard. He was steady and decisive, and had great martial arts skills and abilities... But the dandy prince, who was now bruised and had unsteady steps, bossed him around, even though they were born of the same mother.
Although she knew that Xiao Nanchen was now Prince Ding and naturally had to respect the Crown Prince, she felt a little upset when she saw that he had to endure it when he was clearly capable and had made contributions.
She comforted herself that it was all temporary, everything was temporary, and from now on Anan would be Emperor Jingyong, and no one could let him suffer any grievances.
Speaking of which, how did Xiao Nanchen become emperor?
It was a pity that she couldn't concentrate at that time. If she had paid more attention, she wouldn't have been so passive.
But now it seems that he is so humble to the prince, he is definitely not rebelling to usurp the throne... Even if he really is rebelling to usurp the throne, it must be because he has suffered so much injustice that he can no longer bear it.
On the other side, the prince and Xiao Nanchen got on the carriage. Looking at his expressionless brother standing beside them, they felt a little uneasy.
"Seventh Brother, what happened to you just now?"
Normally, the seventh brother always ignored him. Just now, he was frightened by the assassin and was afraid of being laughed at, so he had to maintain his dignity as the crown prince and asked his younger brother to save his face and send him back to the palace.
After all, those people respected Lao Qi, and Lao Qi protected him, so those people naturally did not dare to look down on him.
But he didn't expect that the usually cold and aloof Seventh Prince would be so respectful to him, lowering his posture and giving him, the crown prince, enough face.
The prince was somewhat touched. The seventh brother must have done that on purpose to support him.
He said that since they were born from the same mother, his brother still had some feelings for him...
"Seventh Brother, I know that brothers like us are different from others. Don't worry, I know how good you are."
Xiao Nanchen nodded expressionlessly.
The prince continued, "Don't worry, when I succeed to the throne, I will choose the best fiefdom for you and give you the greatest power!"
Xiao Nanchen didn't want to care about it anymore and simply closed his eyes to rest.
Xiao Nanyu discovered that Lao Qi's brotherly love for him seemed to have run out today...
The next day, after breakfast, Shen Ning left Xie Yunqing's yard. Qi Yue was beside her, whispering to her with a smile, telling her about what had happened with Xue Surong in the past few days, with the main goal of not letting Xue Surong have any time to spare.
No matter how big or small the matter was, even in the middle of the night, he would knock on Xue Surong's door to ask for advice. The advice he gave was always trivial, and Xue Surong was very angry but she had no way to deal with it.
Unfortunately, she cannot access the real things and accounts yet, so she can only endure it.
July chuckled: "Miss, didn't you see that the dark circles under her eyes are almost down to her chin."
Chen Ning curled her lips: "She is very capable, so the more capable, the more work."
When he was about to reach the gate of Lianchiyuan, Shen Chengxi’s voice suddenly sounded behind him: “Shen Ning…”
Shen Ning pretended not to hear and quickened his pace to go back and close the door directly, but Shen Chengxi actually trotted over and caught up with him: "Shen Ning... Ning Ning."
Shen Ning took a deep breath and said with a fake smile: "What's the matter?"
Seeing her obviously impatient expression, and then seeing Xiao Qiyue's unfriendly eyes beside her, Shen Chengxi coughed dryly and spoke a little uncomfortably: "Yesterday in the Xu family banquet hall, I, I didn't see it was you, and I accidentally pushed over the table and chairs and tripped you."
In that situation, if Shen Ning had been tripped by the tables and chairs and fallen to the ground, she would have been in danger.
Shen Chengxi did not mean it, but he also knew that his behavior at the time was really unacceptable. He had wanted to apologize yesterday, but did not find the opportunity. He hurried over after finishing his meal.
His eyes were a little vague: "I apologize to you, I'm sorry."
"oh."
Shen Ning asked: "I heard it, is there anything else?"
Shen Chengxi was choked and didn't know what to say: "Shen Ning, do you still remember..."
At this moment, Qingcheng walked in from outside and said with a smile: "Miss, look who's here?"
Shen Ning turned around and was immediately surprised: "Qingbai, why are you here?"
Shen Qingbai followed behind Qingcheng. The young man had an upright figure, handsome and gentle. "I heard about what happened at the Xu residence yesterday. I was a little worried about my sister, so I asked the teacher for leave to come out and see her."
"Hey, what can I do?"
Shen Ning complained about the young man making this special trip, but her face was filled with joy. "But it's just right that you're here. A few days ago, I came across some blue smoke yarn and had someone cut two summer clothes for you. You can take them back. It's been very hot these days, so it's better to change into summer clothes early."
Shen Qingbai smiled and said, "Then I'm here by chance."
Shen Ning smiled and took Shen Qingbai into the Lotus Pond Garden, directly ignoring Shen Chengxi next to her.
Shen Qingbai seemed not to notice that there was someone next to him. His eyes were full of his sister. He followed Chen Ning into the yard with a gentle look on his face.
Looking at the natural and intimate way the brother and sister were getting along, Shen Chengxi felt a little uncomfortable.
Shen Ning is much closer and kinder to this younger brother than to him.
But it doesn't matter. It's okay to be estranged from him. He has a sister who is close to him...
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