Chapter 109 [VIP] Shadow Guard (23)
Ye Qiuchen kept watching Zhao Shiqi leave. Seeing that he didn't stop at all, he turned around and hugged Nan Yan even tighter. The person in his arms was probably too tired from crying. She stared blankly in the direction where the man disappeared, and for a moment she even forgot to struggle.
What happened tonight was too unexpected. Ye Qiuchen didn't want to go on any more, especially when he saw the person in his arms looking so badly bullied. Ye Qiuchen simply picked the person up and prepared to go back and talk about it later.
It was only later that he heard people around him talking about the man who looked exactly like Ying Shiqi, who was the prince of the Pingnan Palace. He had been living in the Big Buddha Temple for many years due to illness and was only brought back to the palace in recent years. He rarely went out on weekdays, so it was normal that others did not recognize him...
Ye Qiuchen sneered in his heart and lowered his eyes slightly. In fact, no matter who he was, no matter whether he was the real Ying Seventeen or the most noble prince in the Pingnan Palace, as long as he didn't show up in front of them, didn't disturb their peaceful life, and didn't snatch Nan Yan away from him, he could ignore everything.
Ye Qiuchen carried Nan Yan back to the small courtyard where they had lived. The empty courtyard before had now become a very warm and lively home. There were several orchids that she loved planted in the yard, right in front of her window. When the orchids bloomed, the fragrance of the orchids could spread through the gaps into her room, and he planted a row of white cabbage in the open space next to it.
She used to laugh at him for being unromantic. Why was he planting cabbages next to orchids? How ugly it looked! But he just thought it looked good, and that they were a good match. Her precious and exquisite orchid matched his worthless cabbage. It was clearly she who was unromantic.
Ye Qiuchen put Nan Yan down and sat her on the stool. She seemed to have lost her soul since she came back. Tears were flowing silently and her eyes were slightly red and swollen from crying. Ye Qiuchen felt really distressed when he saw her. He quickly went to the house to get a basin of cold water, soaked a cotton cloth in it, and then carefully wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Stop crying..."
He spoke in a low voice, distressed but helpless. His hands moved more and more slowly, fearing that if he used a little more force, he would break her. He sighed softly, "Do you know what you look like now?"
Nan Yan's eyes turned red, and her nose felt sore again when she heard his words. Only then did she react a little. Her gaze slowly fell on him, and there seemed to be some confusion in her eyes.
It's good that I responded, and fortunately I didn't ignore him.
Ye Qiuchen pursed his lips, gently pressed the tear marks on both sides of her cheeks with a wet cloth, and continued, "Very ugly! Your eyes are swollen like two walnuts, so ugly."
Nan Yan: “…”
"Now, other people will think that you are even less worthy of my handsome and intelligent husband, especially the romantic and passionate young widow next door. I'm afraid she will ask me to be her bedfellow again. What do you think we should do now?"
Nan Yan was originally brewing a sad mood, and she almost couldn't hold back her expression after hearing these words. If she was amused by this, her character would be ruined.
She pinched her fingertips hard to calm herself down. Her eyelashes trembled slightly and tears fell.
She knew he said that on purpose to divert her attention and make her happy.
But she really couldn't be happy at the moment, so the corners of her mouth twitched stiffly, and an expression on her face that was uglier than crying appeared.
Ye Qiuchen sighed softly, pressed her head against his chest, and coaxed her patiently, "Stop laughing, laughing is uglier than crying. Do you want to give me nightmares at night?"
Ye Qiuchen talked to her for a long time, and the atmosphere in the air gradually eased.
Nan Yan's expression relaxed a lot, but when she thought about how close they were now, her body stiffened a little. She reached out and slowly pushed the man away, then said softly, "Shiqi is not dead... He is back."
Ye Qiu calmed down and retorted, "That's not Ying Seventeen."
When Nan Yan heard this, her eyes immediately became moist, and even her voice became a little nervous. She repeated several times, "No, he is Seventeen, I know, I can feel it, he is Seventeen, I won't mistake him..."
Ye Qiuchen took a deep breath, and suddenly felt helpless. He stretched out his hand to twist her shoulders and looked into her eyes seriously. "Yanyan, listen to me. He is not Seventeen. He is just a person who looks like Seventeen. He is the prince of Pingnan Palace. Do you understand what a prince is? He is high above and has a noble status. He is definitely not the obedient little shadow guard Seventeen beside you. Can you face the reality?"
"You lied to me! You lied to me again." Hearing this, Nan Yan's emotions were obviously out of control again. She trembled and struggled. She slapped his palm away and cried at him loudly, "I won't believe you, liar, you liar! He is Seventeen, my Seventeen. Don't touch me, and don't even think about deceiving me again."
"Okay, okay, I won't touch you. Just calm down and listen to me, okay?" After noticing Nan Yan's body trembling, Ye Qiu consciously let go of her hand, fearing that she would get too excited and hurt herself. He slowed down his voice and continued to comfort her, "Listen to me, if he is really seventeen, why doesn't he come back to find you? If he is really seventeen, how could he watch you being taken away by me and remain indifferent?"
"Don't you remember? Once in the ruined temple, I accidentally touched your waist, and he chased me and fought with me for half the night. He liked you so much, it was impossible for him to ignore you, and it was even more impossible for him to push you away. Have you forgotten all this?"
Ye Qiuchen told her everything about the past bit by bit, revealing all the most obvious truths. If that person was really Seventeen, he would never hurt her.
Nan Yan finally couldn't hold back her tears and shed them.
She didn't know how to explain this, especially when she thought of the scene on the street. He was so caring towards another girl in front of her, and he even said that he would marry her in the future. How could she possibly accept this?
But...but how could she give up?
She waited for him with great difficulty.
Nan Yan wiped away her tears vigorously. Her mind was still a little confused for a moment, her eyes were wandering, and she racked her brains to find all kinds of suitable explanations and excuses for his abnormal behavior.
"These... maybe it's all because he was injured. Yes, that must be the case."
She explained incoherently, a reason that she herself probably didn't even believe, "You know, that cliff is so high, how could an ordinary person not get hurt if he fell down?"
"He must have been hurt very badly, so he forgot about me for a while. As long as I stay with him and tell him everything about our past, he will definitely remember it. He obviously likes me so much..."
She nodded hard, trying to convince herself, and then as if she remembered something, she took out the jade pendant from her arms. It was the one he had worn since he was a child, and it was a token of their love. With it, he would definitely remember it again.
She really can't give up this time.
As Nan Yan spoke, she held the jade pendant in the palm of her hand, trying to hold it close to her heart. Tears rolled down her face, and she clenched her fingers tightly, as if she had grasped the most important thing in her life.
Ye Qiuchen looked at her like this and suddenly asked in a low voice, "What about me?"
When Nan Yan heard this, her body stiffened slightly.
Her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes fell on Ye Qiuchen in front of her. His expression was somewhat complicated and embarrassed, with a hint of sadness and pleading. He stared at her without blinking.
"You promised me that you would give me a chance. Are you going to give up on me now? Yanyan, please don't be like this. Can't we live this ordinary life together just like before? I will take care of you for the rest of your life. Can you forget about him?"
He walked in front of her without knowing when, and grabbed her shoulders with both hands, with increasing force.
Nan Yan was silent for a moment. After a long time, she moved her lips and said softly, "I'm sorry, the only person I like from beginning to end is Seventeen."
"Except for him... no one else can do it?"
Nan Yan's eyes showed a trace of guilt. She bit her lip and finally nodded, "I'm sorry, Seventeen is Seventeen. No one can replace him. No one else can replace him."
Her tone was so firm.
Ye Qiuchen loosened his hand and took a step back.
Especially after hearing her affirmative answer, I felt cold all over, as if someone had drenched me from head to toe with ice water, and my heart was completely chilled.
He didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment?
I just felt a stuffiness and pain in my chest. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, as if someone was squeezing my heart heavily. If I breathed a little harder, it felt like I was being pricked by countless needles. The dense pain kept spreading in my chest.
How could this happen?
Why did it become like this?
Ye Qiuchen really felt that he was powerless.
Obviously... he had worked so hard for so long, he had done so many things, he had spent a happy year with her, they had so many beautiful memories, he thought... she liked him to some extent.
But why? Why did Ying Shiqi only appear once, just that one time!
She regretted and backed down without hesitation, making all his previous efforts go to waste. Why couldn't he get even a little bit of her attention despite trying his best?
Is it true that she has no feelings for him at all?
Ye Qiuchen suddenly felt his eyes welling up. He subconsciously turned his face away, not wanting her to see the expression on his face. But when he caught a glimpse of her reluctant look, he really didn't know what to do.
At this moment, his chest felt empty as if something had hollowed it out. The dense and stabbing pain gradually spread throughout his body, making even his brain a little confused and painful.
He really didn't expect that even though he tried his best to take care of her, in her eyes, he was still not as good as Ying Shiqi and he would never be able to replace him.
Ye Qiu stepped back subconsciously.
He staggered, as if he couldn't bear it anymore, and turned around and walked out.
At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind, which was to leave here, far away, and never come back. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would really do something bad.
Ye Qiuchen's face turned pale, he clenched his fingers, and fled from the yard like a wolf.
Nan Yan looked at his leaving back, guilt in her eyes. She opened her lips, but in the end she said nothing to keep him, nor did she chase after him.
At the moment, all her attention was on Seventeen, and she had no time to care about what others thought. What she was thinking about now was how to make Seventeen remember her.
Nan Yan tried hard to recall the days when they lived in seclusion in the village, and the day before they were to get married, when that silly boy held her tightly and refused to let go, blushing as he whispered in her ear about having a baby, and the next day before he left the house, he said he wanted to eat the locust flower cake she made, but unfortunately he didn't get to eat any of it, and she didn't finish making the cake...
There were so many memories between them. He obviously liked her so much, he just forgot it temporarily. As long as she told him, he would definitely remember it.
Nan Yan gently wiped away her tears and soon calmed down. Thinking about the past, she felt a little comforted. Now she could finally cook for him.
…
Nan Yan got up early the next morning. Ye Qiuchen had not come back last night and she didn't know where he had gone. Anyway, she really didn't have the heart to care about him now.
She was busy all morning and finally prepared everything, then went directly to Prince Pingnan's Palace.
She heard what the servant beside him said yesterday, and later asked someone to find out. Today's Seventeen is no longer the little shadow guard who knew nothing before. He is Zhao Shiqi, the prince of the Prince of Pingnan's Palace. But in her eyes, no matter whether he is a shadow guard or a prince, she only cares about him as a person.
Nan Yan walked for a long time before she finally found the mansion of Prince Pingnan. It was a real grand courtyard with two majestic and tall stone lions in front of the gate. The mansion was heavily guarded. As soon as Nan Yan walked to the door, she was stopped by two guards.
"Where did you come from, little wild girl? Do you know where this place is? How dare you break into the palace without permission? Do you want to die?"
Nan Yan staggered after being pushed by the two men and took a few steps back. She quickly explained, "I'm not interfering. I'm here to look for your prince. Could you please inform him for me? Just say... just say that there's a girl named Yanyan who wants to see him for something, okay?"
The guard waved his hands decisively, refusing with great disgust, "What do you want to report? It's useless for us to report for you. The prince has not been in the mansion these days. He went out for something."
Nan Yan's face turned pale, and she immediately asked anxiously, "Are you telling the truth? Is Seventeen really not in the mansion? Where did he go, and when will he come back?"
The guard was annoyed by her questioning and waved his hand to tell her to get out of here. "How can you be so troublesome, woman? How dare we spy on the prince's whereabouts? Anyway, the prince is not in the mansion, and we don't know anything else."
Nan Yan kept asking questions for a long time, and finally the guard couldn't stand it anymore and let out a little news. It was said that after the Lantern Festival that day, the prince's fiancée fell ill, and the prince went out this time to ask for a doctor, and it would take at least two or three days for him to come back.
After knowing this, Nan Yan felt a little disappointed, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. She could only sit in front of the palace gate and wait. She waited for three days, going back and forth every day. Several times, she simply fell asleep sitting in front of the stone pier because she had been waiting for too long.
It wasn't until the third morning that she finally saw someone.
Zhao Shiqi finally came back.
Nan Yan saw from a distance that a carriage was heading towards the main gate of the palace. Especially when she saw Shiqi getting out of the carriage, she almost subconsciously rushed over with a smile of joy on her face, and then reached out and tugged at his sleeve tightly, "Shiqi, you are finally back. I have been waiting for you for a long time. I have been waiting for you at the gate these days."
Zhao Shiqi turned around subconsciously when he heard the voice. When he saw who it was, and saw the other person's pale face, his brows wrinkled unconsciously, "Why are you here again? What are you doing here? I've already told you that I don't know you."
When Zhao Shiqi saw her, he just felt irritated in his chest. He thought of the sick Yanyan. Maybe she was really angry that night. Yanyan fell ill as soon as she returned home. She was so sick that she couldn't even stand up. When he saw the culprit who was jumping around in front of him, Zhao Shiqi's face unconsciously turned cold.
The butler at the side hurried forward to greet him, "Prince, you are back, Doctor Zhang... this..."
Zhao Shiqi finally came back to his senses. He turned around and told the housekeeper, "Take Doctor Zhang back home first and let him see how Yanyan is doing. I'll take care of things here first."
After receiving the order, the butler naturally took the doctor and hurried into the house, but Nan Yan was still holding his sleeve tightly, watching him give orders to everyone coldly with such a strange demeanor, and he didn't even want to look at her.
This made Nan Yan's face turn pale instantly. She pursed her lips and looked a little uneasy. "Shiqi, I came to look for you. Where have you been these days? Why didn't you tell me?"
Zhao Shiqijian felt completely baffled. He didn't think it was necessary to tell a stranger about his whereabouts, especially since this man was the culprit behind Qi Bingyan's illness.
Zhao Shiqi frowned, "Is this what you want to tell me? If so, you can leave now."
He looked down at her and saw tears in her eyes, but he really didn't feel like tangling with her at the moment.
He turned around and was about to leave, but Nan Yan kept pulling at his sleeve and refused to let go. She looked anxious as she trotted along for a long distance. "No, no, Seventeen, wait a minute. I have something else to give you. Don't leave yet. Wait for me, okay?"
Zhao Shiqi stopped again after hearing this.
He turned his head to look at Nan Yan, watching her jogging to the nearby steps, then taking out a neatly wrapped food box from the side, and hurriedly running back to him, then handing him the food box with expectant eyes, "I made delicious Sophora japonica flower snacks for you, and I put a lot of thought into it. You know it's July now, and the Sophora japonica flowers are long gone. These are the petals I sealed up last year. In fact, I save some in advance every year, just for..."
She was still rambling, but Zhao Shiqi just felt annoyed and simply interrupted her, "I don't like sweet food, and I don't eat anything made by strangers."
Stranger? But she was not a stranger.
Nan Yan was stunned for a moment, probably because she didn't expect to be rejected. Suddenly, a slightly aggrieved expression appeared on her face. She turned her finger over and stretched it in front of him. Her finger was red and swollen, and looked a little pitiful.
"I worked so hard to make this that my fingers are all red from the heat. Would you like to have a piece? Do you really not remember anything about it? This is what you said you wanted to eat the day before our wedding, so I kept remembering it..."
Zhao Shiqi's eyes fell on the pair of soft and slender fingers, which were a little red. He looked away with some discomfort and directly refused, "I said I don't eat food made by outsiders. Don't bother me again in the future. I really don't remember those messy things you said."
He ignored her and turned to leave. If he hadn't pushed her that day and made him feel guilty, he wouldn't have been delayed by her at the door for so long.
Zhao Shiqi pursed his lips. Did he really have to go back and see how Yanyan was doing?
Nan Yan still held on to him and refused to let go. She became more and more anxious, and her grip on him became tighter and tighter. "Do you really not remember anything?"
Zhao Shiqi was really fed up, "I don't remember."
"What about this?" She said as she took out a jade pendant from her bosom and handed it to him, her eyes full of anticipation and nervousness. "Do you still remember this jade pendant? You have worn it since you were a child. You gave it to me as a token of love before we got married. You said that the jade pendant was the most important thing to you before, and I will be the most important thing to you in the future. You said it yourself, how could you forget it?"
She was almost crying as she spoke, her eyes red, and she began to rummage through her pockets again, then pulled out a pearl hairpin and handed it to him, "And this one, this pearl hairpin was also something you wanted to give me, on the day you disappeared, how could you not remember? Think about it carefully, I am your Yanyan..."
Zhao Shiqi's eyes fell on the jade pendant and pearl hairpin in her hand. He didn't expect that she had prepared so many things, one ring inside another. If he had remembered it without any trace, he might have really been convinced.
Zhao Shiqi looked at the woman in front of him with a cold gaze, "Okay, stop pretending. I have no impression of what you said. You may not know that after returning that night, I asked someone to check your identity. You are the fourth lady of Qixia Villa. If you want to avenge your father through me, it is impossible."
In fact, he had always wondered why she could call out his name so accurately that night. So he sent someone to investigate that night. Not only did he find out her identity, he also knew that she had lived with the man that night for a year, and they usually called each other husband and wife, so how could such a person have such a messy relationship with him?
Later, when he found out her identity, he realized that this woman probably wanted to use him to avenge his father. After all, Qixia Villa was destroyed by the Pingnan Palace.
This time, Nan Yan couldn't hold back her tears any more. She shook her head and cried helplessly, "It's not like that. It's not like what you said. How could you not remember it at all? This is clearly the token of love you gave me..."
At this moment, the housekeeper came out again. When he saw Zhao Shiqi, he immediately stepped forward and said, "Hey, my prince, why are you still here? Miss Yan just woke up and is anxious to see you. The princess is also urging you to go back. Please go over with me to take a look."
Zhao Shiqi immediately said "hmm" when he heard this.
He easily broke free of Nan Yan's fingers and walked away, but the man behind him kept pestering him, trying to pass the jade pendant to him, crying.
"Look carefully, there's no way you wouldn't remember it..."
Zhao Shiqi was really impatient with being entangled, and subconsciously waved his sleeves to get rid of her approach. He didn't actually use much strength this time.
But the opponent might not have stood steadily, and was thrown by him, staggering and falling backwards uncontrollably in an instant.
But this time no one could catch her in time.
Nan Yan accidentally fell down the stairs, and the jade pendant in her hand hit the ground with a "snap" and broke into two pieces.
She hit her palm on the steps, and she didn't know where she was injured. A trace of blood flowed out from between her fingers.
At that moment, Zhao Shiqi didn't know what happened. He just felt as if something had stung his chest. There was a sudden sharp pain, and he subconsciously reached out to support her.
Nan Yan shrank back unconsciously.
This also made Zhao Shiqi's outstretched fingers freeze.
Nan Yan raised her head, tears still on her cheeks, but the light in her eyes seemed to be completely extinguished at that moment. Her bubble-like dark eyes just stared at him quietly, and as she looked at him, she suddenly felt that the person in front of her was a very strange person.
Zhao Shiqi had not expected things to turn out like this. He pursed his lips. For a moment, he looked just like Shiqi, anxious and nervous.
"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it this time..."
He didn't know why he felt so anxious at this moment, and his chest felt empty, as if he had really done something that could not be undone.
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