Where did this bracelet come from?
In an instant, everyone in the room turned their gaze towards Yan Yi Ming’s tender white wrist. There, without a doubt, rested a vibrant green jadeite bracelet. Those with sharp eyes could tell in a second that the color of this bracelet was so vivid it looked like it was dripping with water, this was definitely not just any average accessory. From the Crown Prince’s words, it seemed that someone had given this bracelet to Ming’er.
Immediately, Yan Yi Ming pulled down her sleeve to conceal the bracelet. She looked astonished at being ‘caught’ and her mouth still continued spouting lies. “It’s just a trinket I bought on a whim from the jade shop. I’m surprised that Your Highness recognized it…”
“The better the quality of jade the harder it is and the greater the difficulty of carving it. To chisel such an exquisite and rare piece of jadeite, only Lu Zi Chen’s Kunwu knife can do so. Even Duke Ding would experience much difficulty commissioning Lu Zi Chen, so how could a mere jade store have the honor of displaying his work?” Although Nangong Xuan’s EQ was lacking, his IQ was definitely not. He tightened his grip on Yan Yi Ming’s wrist, “I’ll ask again, who gave you this bracelet?”
The strength in his grip could almost crush her bones. Even though Yan Yi Ming had good professional standards, she still felt the pain from his firm grasp. She struggled hard but could not break free, making her annoyed. “Why does it matter where the bracelet came from? What does it have to do with Your Highness? It hurts, release me!”
When Yan Yi Qi finally rushed into the main hall, he was stunned by his sister’s outburst and almost stumbled over the entrance curb. He looked around in confusion before hurrying to his mother’s side to enquire about what had occurred only to realize that even his mother’s eyes had widened in shock due to Yan Yi Ming’s behavior.
The current scene was too mind-boggling. Yan Yi Ming, who dared to defy her own parents and would never mouth a word against the Crown Prince, had not only contradicted him, she even expressed exasperation towards him.
Watching as the Crown Prince’s expression grew increasingly ugly, Madame Yan was afraid her daughter would be persecuted. She pinched herself to stabilize her emotions and stepped forward to gently persuade the Crown Prince, “Your Highness, please quell your anger. Ming’er, be polite with your words, quickly apologize to His Highness…”
“All of you, leave,” Nangong Xuan, still holding onto Yan Yi Ming’s wrist, gave a sneer as he glanced over at the hesitant crowd, “I just wish to talk alone with Young Lady Yan. Or do you suppose that I’ll eat her?”
The rest of the Yan family could only warily leave Yan Yi Ming behind. Yan Yi Qi hastily sent his personal servant to Fifth Prince’s residence to report the situation and seek help. Upon seeing Young Master Yan’s panicked expression as he paced around the garden, Old Mandame Yan was the first to gather her thoughts and questioned Yan Yi Qi, “Qi’er, speak up now. What’s going on and what’s the origin of that bracelet?”
Watching as everyone stepped out of the main hall, she was left to be surrounded by the nervous inhales of Little Apple. Yan Yi Ming glanced down helplessly at her wrist that was still within Nangong Xuan’s grip and she started, “Your Highness, on such a dark and windy night, for the two of us to remain alone in a room and your tugging at my wrist… It’s actually not that painful, it’s just that it would damage my reputation…”
“When have you ever cared about reputation?” Nangong Xuan mocked. Under the faint candlelight, one could see a faint bruise forming a ring on her fair wrist. He never expected Yan Yi Ming’s skin to be so delicate that she bruised so easily. It caused him finally let go of her wrist.
Yan Yi Ming withdrew her hand as she rubbed her slightly aching wrist. Her beautiful visage wrinkled into a frown, displaying a charming and graceful demeanor.
Nangong Xuan’s gaze softened ever so slightly, but his tone remained sharp.
“Does it hurt?”
Yan Yi Ming glanced at Nangong Xuan before muttering, “Of course it hurts.”
After giving her wrist a couple more rubs, she looked up at Nangong Xuan and commented somberly, “In the past, I only wanted to marry Your Highness, hence, my reputation had not mattered. However, now I still wish to be able to marry another, so my reputation becomes important to me.”
The fury that Nangong Xuan had just managed to quell burst forth once more like oil dosed onto dying embers. He chuckled mirthlessly.
Yan Yi Ming actually had thoughts of marrying someone else?
“Marry another?” Nangong Xuan barely squeezed the words out from between his teeth. “Who were you planning to marry? The eldest son of Yang’s family? The heir of Prince Jiang Xia? Or to that good brother of mine, Nangong Ye?”
“Ye’er?” Nangong Xuan had been called that nickname for seventeen years, and for the first time, he found it extremely grating. He stared down at Yan Yi Ming and scowled, “You sure utter that name with affection.”
“If Your Highness doesn’t wish to hear it, then…”
“Yan Yi Ming, stop with your pretentious words!” Nangong Xuan roared in anger. He had never seen Yan Yi Ming as bold and ungiving as she was today. Every word she uttered and every expression she made rubbed him the wrong way.
“Yes,” Yan Yi Ming calmly replied. She collected her expression and looked up at Nangong Xuan, “It seems that Your Highness already knows where this bracelet came from. But, why is Your Highness angered by this? Do you dislike the fact that Fifth Prince gave me this bracelet? Or are you unhappy that I accepted Fifth Prince’s gift?”
Nangong Xuan nearly wanted to shut Yan Yi Ming up and demand she stopped playing around with her words. But at the next moment, he experienced a rare moment of epiphany and grasp the difference between those two sentences.
If he objected to the fact that his Fifth Brother gave Yan Yi Ming the bracelet, then it meant that he disliked the fact that Fifth Brother liked Yan Yi Ming. On the other hand, if he was displeased that Yan Yi Ming accepted the bracelet from Nangong Ye, then it meant that he was vexed that Yan Yi Ming had accepted Nangong Ye’s affections, or that she might even return Nangong Ye’s feelings.
If the former ignited his anger, the latter was unforgivable with just the bare thought of it.
It became obvious why he was so agitated.
However, Nangong Xuan would never admit or accept this reasoning.
He lowered his head and met Yan Yi Ming’s gaze. His eyes traced over the beautiful brows and eyes of the woman in front of him before they finally settled on the cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye. Pretending as if he did not hear her previous words, he reminded her, “Yan Yi Ming, you once vowed in front of everyone that you would marry Gu and no other. But now you are secretly exchanging gifts with other men. Do you think that Gu is blind?”
Yan Yi Ming listened to such righteous words and closed her eyes in disappointment. She faintly replied, “An honorable gentleman is expected to keep his word. I’m but a young lady. At that point in time, I had uttered those words as a joke. Your Highness need not take it to heart.”
That vow she spoke of that shocked the entire capital city had now been reduced to nothing but a joke.
Nangong Xuan still remembered how this stunning young lady stood before everyone and loudly declared that she would only marry him, causing his Father Emperor and Mother Empress to be between laughter and tears.
At that time, he recalled that he did not experience any fluctuation in his heart. This was because Yan Yi Ming had told him such words countless times before. He only remembered the jealous looks his royal brothers had cast his way. After all, she was known as the most remarkable beauty of the Imperial Capital.
His heart suddenly felt bitter, there were even pangs of pain. The anger welled up his throat as he found the whole situation absurd.
Just a joke?
Nangong Xuan pursed his lips into a cold arc and sneered, “Just a woman? But how shameless she must be to speak such words as a joke…”
Before he finished his sentence he spotted the hurt that flashed through Yan Yi Ming’s eyes as she squeezed out a smile on her pallid face, “That’s right, in Your Highess’ eyes I’m such an unlikeable person who only knows how to shamelessly cling onto you. I’m not as considerate or reasonable as Young Lady Jian. Since Your Highness feels that way, why haven’t you gone to seek Young Lady Jian? Instead, you come here to seek displeasure.”
Nangong Xuan watched as her stunning face crumpled in pain as she was unable to conceal her sadness. After hearing her words, instead of becoming angrier, he felt his heart clenched as he faintly said, “Gu didn’t come with the intention to scorn you.” This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Yan Yi Ming released a bitter laugh. Her soft voice slowly rang into Nangong Xuan’s ears, “I no longer wish to find out about Your Highness’ intentions. Back then, it was Your Highness who told me to stop bothering you. Now that I’ve decided to let go, shouldn’t you be happy?”
Should he be happy?
Nangong Xuan did not know anymore. He just knew that his heart was slightly stinging when he heard the words ‘let go’.
Without saying another word, he waved to his servant who was standing a distance away from them. He took the cloak from his servant’s hands and lightly draped it over Yan Yi Ming’s shoulders. “The night is cold. Go back and rest early. I’ll drop by to visit you another day.”
Yan Yi Ming watched as Nangong Xuan’s tall figure put distance between them. Wrapping his cloak tightly around herself, she murmured, “Maybe he still has some EQ after all.”
Little Apple immediately reminded her, “His EQ is still only 22 points.”
“… That little bit of EQ shouldn’t be completely disregarded,” Yan Yi Ming replied sarcastically as she massaged her faintly aching wrist.
Little Apple nodded silently and worried asked, “What if the two brothers have a falling out?”
“At the end of the day, they’re still biological brothers, it’s not like they would start raising fists at each other. If you’re so interested, why not follow after Nangong Xuan and have a look?” Yan Yi Ming heartlessly commented as she made her way to her own courtyard with the cloak on her shoulders. Seeing that Little Apple did not quite understand, she explained, “Nangong Xuan is probably going to look for Nangong Ye now. And who knows if that silly kid, Yan Yi Qi, has already tattled to Nangong Ye about it as well. Once Nangong Ye finds out about it, he’ll surely come. Looking at the time now, he should be reaching soon.”
Little Apple might have been skeptical or perhaps, it was interested in verifying Yan Yi Ming’s speculations. After hesitating for all but three seconds, it decided to trail after Nangong Xuan to watch the excitement unfold. Just as it floated to the gate of Duke Ding’s manor, it spotted Nangong Ye dismounting from his horse and bumping into Nangong Xuan, who had just stepped out of Yan’s residence.
Before Little Apple could even exclaim at Yan Yi Ming’s astuteness, the anxious-looking young man whose face resembled Nangong Xuan’s, immediately jumped into the heart of the matter without even greeting his older brother, “Why is Royal Brother here?”
Nangong Xuan scrutinized Nangong Ye coldly. Then, in a deep voice, he replied, “I should be the one asking you this question instead. Ye’er, even though Gu didn’t voice out to marry her back then, Gu never stated that Gu don’t want her.”
Nangong Ye’s pursed his lips tightly. The thing he was most worried about was not that the Crown Prince was unwilling to let go. However, he disliked Nangong Xuan’s attitude as though he was in the right when he was obviously wrong.
“Royal Brother, you already have Young Lady Jian,” Nangong Ye tried to suppress his agitation and reminded Nangong Xuan, “You shouldn’t trifle with Ah Ming anymore.”
“Jian Yu’er belongs to Gu, and so does Yan Yi Ming.” Nangong Xuan stood proudly as he gazed down at his biological younger brother. He arrogantly continued, “Gu only just learned that you entertained such preposterous thoughts. In consideration of the fact that you’re my younger brother, Gu won’t hold this against you. But Gu hope you see the situation clearly, Yan Yi Ming is not someone you can meddle with. You couldn’t before, and you certainly can’t now. Ye’er, you’ve caused enough trouble, it’s time to keep yourself in check.”
I feel so speechless by his words but then I remember that this is in a historical context and concubines and polygamy are a thing… but he’s such a righteous misogynist… I look forward to his suffering…
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