Chapter 97 So, I Helped You, Prince Yi
Ao Chenyi refused the Third Prince’s suggestion because of his concubine, which clearly showed Ao Chenyi’s disdain for the Third Prince.
Ning Xueyan suddenly became nervous. Although she could not see their expressions, she could sense the tense atmosphere. And what made her more nervous was that Ao Chenyi had called her Yan’er just now. Would Ao Mingyu recognize her by the name?
"Uncle, you must be joking. Since you don’t want to see them today, we’ll talk about it next time!" After a long time, Ning Xueyan heard the gentle laughter of the Third Prince.
This man could not be underestimated!
Unexpectedly, he could endure it being despised like that. He deserved to be Ao Chenyi’s opponent!
"Fine, let’s go. I have something to do," Ao Chenyi said with a faint smile on his face while looking at those depressed childes.
Immediately, theirs faces turned pale and stiff!
"Uncle, you haven’t chosen the right beauty yet. Why are you going back so soon? There still are some beauties from the regions south of the Yangtze River who are 16 years old. Uncle, you really don’t want to see them?" the Third Prince asked again. He did not believe that Ao Chenyi would not like those beauties.
In his opinion, Ao Chenyi was playing cat and mouse with him and the woman in his arms was his prop!
"No, I don’t want to see them. I already have a beauty. As for any other beauties, we’ll talk about it later." Ao Chenyi stood up, wrapped Ning Xueyan with the cloak, and was about to leave.
"Goodbye, uncle. Later, I’ll ask my people to send Lianyue and Xiyue to your manor." The Third Prince stood up with respect and bowed with his hands folded in front of his chest.
Ao Chenyi nodded, and then left the waterside pavilion while holding Ning Xueyan.
Behind him, the Third Prince turned gloomy and veins bulged on his cup-holding hand. He was a prince, but had been slighted like that. How could he not be angry?
"Your Highness, those two beauties..." A man came up and whispered to the Third Prince. Seeing all the people look at him, the Third Prince concealed the coldness in his eyes and changed the topic with a smile on his face.
"My uncle seldom accepts beauty. Since they’re accepted, they can’t be too shabby. Later on, send all their luggage along with the clothes and jewelry I have prepared for them to my uncle’s manor. Then send more jewelry to them. Tell them it’s the dowry I give them."
"Your Highness, remember to send along their family information to Prince Yi, so that Prince Yi can learn about their origins. Otherwise, you may get in trouble when something happens," said Wen Xueran, who came over while shaking the folding fan in his hand.
The Third Prince nodded with an unhappy expression. "Xueran, I’ll leave that to you. Make sure that there’s nothing left. I don’t want to be hurry-scurry one day."
"Your Highness, rest assured. Nothing will happen. Prince Yi has the ability to learn everything about the two beauties. We needn’t bother!"
Wen Xueran spoke with a smile on his face as he shook the folding fan in his hands, the peony pattern on the folding fan flickering.
"But, their origins are still unknown to us, if they are..." The Third Prince hesitated. He looked in the direction Ao Chenyi disappeared and suddenly remembered something.
It took him a long time and so much effort to find them. If they were really found by him, but fell into Ao Chenyi’s hands in the end, it would be too late to regret it.
Knowing what the Third Prince was worried about, Wen Xueran smiled and comforted him. "Your Highness, don’t worry. Although they’re about the same age as the person we’re looking for and also come from the regions south of the Yangtze River, they’re not necessarily the ones we’re looking for. We have checked that there’s nothing wrong them!"
"But this is the first time that he has accepted a beauty. Maybe they are..." The Third Prince felt uneasy. And the more he thought about it, the more doubtful he felt. Ao Chenyi had never accepted any beauty he had sent before, so why did he accept the two today?
Of course, the Third Prince did not believe that Ao Chenyi accepted them because of their beauty!
"Your Highness, even if they’re the people we’re looking for, we needn’t be afraid. Aren’t those people they care about under your control? If they really are, maybe we’ll have unexpected harvest then." Wen Xueran shook his head and rejected the Third Prince’s guess. And the smile on his face was as warm as a spring breeze.
After listening to Wen Xueran’s explanation, the Third Prince relaxed. He thought about it and felt what Wen Xueran said was reasonable, and nodded at the moment.
Outside the manor, Ning Xueyan got on the horse with Ao Chenyi. Although there was no one around them, Ning Xueyan still hid herself in Ao Chenyi’s arms cautiously.
"What’s wrong? You think that someone is keeping an eye on me?" Ao Chenyi reached out a hand and gracefully touched the top of her head.
Ning Xueyan subconsciously avoided his hand. Anything he said or did gave people a sense of great oppression.
"Prince Yi, I’m looking for you because of Xia Yuhang. I believe that you already know what happened in Lord Protector’s Manor today." Ning Xueyan raised her head in his arms and directly spoke with a serious look on her face. She had been out for a period of time, and it would be terrible if she was discovered.
Madam Ling was worried that she had no chance to deal with Ning Xueyan. If she knew that Ning Xueyan had sneaked out and had the suspicion of having a private meeting with a man, she would immediately deal with Ning Xueyan.
Ao Chenyi lazily picked the hair from Ning Xueyan’s face and said with a faint smile on his face, "Yan’er, do you have a grudge against Xia Yuhang?"
He already knew what had happened in Lord Protector’s Manor today. He did not expect such a little girl to be so scheming and expose what had happened in the past. Meanwhile, he also found something interesting, which was that this girl seemed to pay too much attention to Xia Yuhang.
As far as he knew, Ning Xueyan had never seen Xia Yuhang before. Why did she hate Xia Yuhang so much and want to destroy him? It could be seen that her eyes were full of fierceness when he mentioned Xia Yuhang, which made Ao Chenyi feel a little uncomfortable. What kind of man was Xia Yuhang to make her care so much about him?
"Prince Yi, if I said that I wish I could eat his flesh and drink his blood, would you believe it?" said Ning Xueyan. The hatred in her eyes was too much to be concealed.
"I believe it. Why wouldn’t I believe it? Do you want me to have him captured and kill him directly?" Ao Chenyi said naturally, as if he had just said that he would take her to look at flowers.
"Thank you, Prince Yi. But I don’t want him to die. Sometimes, living is more painful than dying. I want him to stay alive and suffer from pain!" Ning Xueyan smiled insincerely. She showed a cold smile on her face and her eyes were full of hatred.
She just looked up at Ao Chenyi without shyness on her face. Ning Xueyan’s face was delicate and beautiful, but she said such cruel words coldly, which made her attractive!
She was a Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor and was so young. Unexpectedly, she was so vicious!
Unexpectedly, Ao Chenyi did not ask why Ning Xueyan hated Xia Yuhang so much. Instead, he nodded and said with interest in his eyes, "I can stop Xia Yuhang from taking the imperial examination and becoming an official. But you and I only had one deal. Now it seems that you owe me one. Why should I help you?"
In this way, Ning Xueyan was in the wrong!
Ao Chenyi indeed had helped her several times. But she had not stolen what she should have. So he meant that he suffered a loss and did not like the deal, and he was unwilling to help Ning Xueyan this time even though he had the ability to do so.
Hearing that, Ning Xueyan said without hurry, "Prince Yi, I helped you once today. Shouldn’t you express your gratitude to me?" Ning Xueyan did not think that the matter she had helped Ao Chenyi with in Lord Protector’s Manor that night could be used as a bargaining chip. At that time, he didn’t look like he couldn’t escape.
Ao Chenyi raised his eyebrows and said, "I don’t think you helped me today."
He refused to admit it!
Fortunately, she had strung together what happened just now and figured out the whole thing.
But she felt uncomfortable being stared at by him. What did he mean?
Ning Xueyan seemed to be interested and asked, "Prince Yi, did you gamble with the Third Prince today? If I hadn’t been there, would you intend to finish or not?" She was held tight by Ao Chenyi and clung to his chest, which almost made it unable for her to breathe. But Ning Xueyan was quite aware of the situation and did not struggle.
"Gamble? What did Ao Mingyu and I gamble on?" Ao Chenyi smiled and loosened his grip, letting her be able to breathe.
"I don’t know exactly what you and the Third Prince gambled on, but it must be related to the beauties. It seems that the Third Prince is unwilling to give you the two beauties. Prince Yi, why don’t you return them to the Third Prince? In this way, he won’t suffer a lot when he misses the two beauties."
Just now, she had been secretly observing the Third Prince when she hid in Ao Chenyi’s arms.
The expression of the Third Prince had been mild the entire time and he kept smiling. It seemed that there was no change to his expression. But Ning Xueyan had observed him very carefully. She saw his clenched fists in his sleeves and bulged veins on his cup-holding hand. The Third Prince had been trying his best to control himself.
After the dancers appeared, the Third Prince had been paying attention to Ao Chenyi’s expression the entire time. When Ao Chenyi wanted to kill the dancers, the Third Prince became very nervous. It could be seen that he cared about those dancers. Then when Ao Chenyi accepted the two beauties, the Third Prince’s expression became strange again.
It seemed that he did not want to give the two beauties to Ao Chenyi.
All in all, his expression was vivid!
Ning Xueyan of course knew that it had a great deal to do with Ao Chenyi’s acceptance of the two women.
Ao Chenyi did not answer Ning Xueyan’s question, but asked with a treacherous look in his eyes, "Does Ao Mingyu like the two women?"
"The Third Prince does not like those two women. But from my point of view, there must be something that the Third Prince wants to know from them. In the past, you never accept any woman. But today, you suddenly accepted the two beauties. How can Third Prince not suspect it?"
Ning Xueyan strung together what had happened and roughly understood the psychological process of the Third Prince.
"Prince Yi, you never accepted a woman before. You accepted them today just because I was there!" Ning Xueyan summarized in the end and expressed her point again. She smiled happily and her pale face became ruddy instantly. She was full of confidence, as if everything was under her control.
"So, I helped you today!"