Ning Xueyan and Heng Yuqing took the left road, where the flower garden was. The road to the right led to the Princess' courtyard while the middle road led to the Prince's study.
Heng Yuwan's forehead was sweating again.
She stared squarely at the middle road. For a moment, she couldn't move her feet.
"Second Young Lady, let's go. We don't want to let my master and the First Young Lady wait for too long," Lanning said politely, smiling.
"You all can go ahead. I need to take a break. My feet hurt." Unexpectedly, Heng Yuwan shook her head and held onto a nearby tree to stand still.
"I'll stay here and accompany you then, Young Lady." Seeing that Heng Yuwan couldn't walk anymore, it went without saying that her maid would stay with her.
"It's all right. You can go first. I'll join you after a short break." Heng Yuwan shook her head, rejecting the maid's offer. She didn't want anyone to follow her.
<"Consort Ning brought you here, right?" A thought sparked in Commandery Princess Xianyun's mind as she immediately caught the key message in her words."Yes. After she brought me here and vanished, I accidentally came in here," Heng Yuwan insisted.Regardless of what Ning Xueyan and Heng Yuqing's maids would say, she was convinced that her maid would eventually side with her and corroborate her testimony once she was out. They could insist that Ning Xueyan and Heng Yuqing had tricked her into coming here."Straighten your clothes first. I'll go inform His Highness." The Princess nodded after hearing the certainty in Heng Yuwan's words and led Xiangrong out of the room.Appearing before Ao Chenyi once again, the Princess saluted and said, "Your Highness, it was Consort Ning who invited Second Young Lady Heng to the manor today. According to Second Young Lady Heng, she came here with Consort Ning earlier but Consort Ning and First Yo
"Very well. Men, go invite Lord Guardian. Tell him to come and take his daughter away. As for our next step... Mingyu, look. My princess thinks that the man should take full responsibility," Ao Chenyi said leisurely, casting a sidelong glance at the Third Prince with a languid expression.Not only did Commandery Princess Xianyun hear her name mentioned, but she also heard Ao Chenyi using her words earlier to force the Third Prince. She felt a bad premonition and yet there was nothing she could say."We'll go with the Princess' suggestion." Ao Mingyu was also looking at the Princess. His emotions were finally under his control, making his face expressionless as he bowed to her."Princess, Yun Li is already there. I'll have to trouble you to take Yun Li away later. Look at what a mess my study turned out. Mingyu, don't just bring anyone to my manor anymore. You're lucky that it was just some other woman this time. It'd be troublesome if it were o
"You're here, Your Highness." Qingyu's eyes lit up when she saw the tall figure walking in from the gate of the courtyard. She immediately went over to greet him. It was currently Ning Xueyan's nap time."Where's your master?" Ao Chenyi asked lazily."She's taking a nap. Please wait for a moment, Your Highness. I'll wake her immediately," Qingyu said, respectfully saluting him."It's all right. I'm feeling pretty tired myself." Ao Chenyi shook his hand, indicating for Eunuch Zhu to wait outside. He entered Ning Xueyan's room by himself.Qingyu hesitated briefly, not knowing if she should go in with him."Don't go in. His Highness needs neither tea nor a servant right now," Eunuch Zhu said gently, smiling at Qingyu. As the prince's personal attendant, he understood very well who the prince liked. It was obvious judging by how the prince had rushed to the Pear Flower Garden straight after returning from the palace.
Ning Xueyan's watery eyes glinted with intelligence as she pulled the lapel of his clothes. "Didn't you say you'll leave the inner courtyard matters to me? Why won't you let me step in now?"She understood his intention but she didn't want him to intervene in this kind of thing. After all, if she were involved, it would be at most a dispute between the wife and consort. But if he were to do it, he might cause other problems. There was no shortage of spies among the many nameless concubines living here.It was apparent from the incident on their wedding night that the inner courtyard of the Prince Yi's Manor was an unsteady one. The only reason why those people didn't even dare to take action was Ao Chenyi's ruthlessness. However, the inner courtyard was ultimately still a harem. If Ao Chenyi were to intervene, it might give the Emperor an excuse to do the same.Since she married him with the intention of helping him solve his problems, she woul
"You are Consort Ning, aren't you?" A delicate voice came from a woman wearing a white gauze dress. The strangest thing was that the woman wore a veil. Although her face could not be seen, it was sure that she was a stunning lady. Most importantly, her face was covered.The person who could show up with her face veiled in Prince Yi's Manor was no one but the mysterious favored concubine, whom Prince Yi regarded as his precious and exclusive property."You are..." Ning Xueyan was speechless first, but then smiled leisurely and asked naturally."A person without title or status, in whatever condition, she is not comparable to you, Consort Ning. I heard that you are from a renowned family, and the prince is sure to dote on you dearly in the future."These words were put gently, but they carried quite a sarcastic meaning. No doubt, this veiled lady was ridiculing Ning Xueyan by hinting that Ao Chenyi considered Lord Protector's Manor b
Commandery Princess Xianyun sat in the room of the Pear Flower Garden with a gentle smile, waiting for Ning Xueyan's return. Ostensibly, she behaved gracefully and smiled lightly while chatting casually with Lanning with a teacup in her hand. Of course, what she asked about was Ning Xueyan's daily life. She orally cared about her living from time to time and instructed that if anything was needed here, they should go and tell her.As soon as she finished talking, Ning Xueyan walked in with Qingyu.When she saw that Ning Xueyan frowned slightly with depression in her heart although she looked calm and Qingyu was behind her with an angry face, she knew very well what had happened but pretended to show that she knew nothing and said with a smile, "Sister Ning, I was bored staying in my place, so I came here to bother you. I hope you forgive me.""Princess, you are so courteous. Please sit down." Ning Xueyan sat down and asked Lanning to renew Comm
"Sister Ning, let's meet the prince first and plead with him. Who knows, he might spare you on the account that we never committed any major mistakes." Commandery Princess Xianyun grabbed Ning Xueyan's hand eagerly and attempted to pull her out.Ning Xueyan pulled away from her grip with force and said with a terrified voice, "I... I'm not going. I'm... afraid of meeting the prince."There was nothing unexpected about her words. Never mind a woman like Ning Xueyan, few court officials could say that they weren't afraid of Prince Yi. The Princess, an ambitious woman who believed that she would rule as an Empress in the future, was much braver but even she was cautious in front of him.Ning Xueyan was born frail and it was obvious to everyone that she was just a weak, slender woman. Even if she was more courageous than most people, how much braver could she be? Besides, Ao Chenyi had stormed out of her room in anger last night. She probably didn'
Ning Xueyan followed Commandery Princess Xianyun into the courtyard. The eunuchs closed the door behind them. After all, the prince had ordered that people couldn't easily meet the lady in this yard. Of course, their master agreed to meet the Princess and Consort Ning herself, so the responsibility wasn't theirs to bear."Greetings, Your Highnesses." The woman with the white veil seemed pretty courteous. She saluted them both at the door of her room."I'm free today, so I thought I'd visit you with Sister Ning. If you need anything in your yard, feel free to tell me. We can't keep troubling the prince for matters of the inner courtyard or I'd be too embarrassed to call myself the princess," the Princess said affectionately.She didn't mention a word about coming here to help Ning Xueyan apologize.That had been her sister in disguise and had nothing to do with this lady in front of her. Naturally, the less that was said about it, t