Merry Christmas lovely peeps! I hope y’all will enjoy the additional chapter for the week!
Grab a cup of hot choco and snuggle under a warm blanket~ (P.S. for peeps in tropical countries, just turn on the air conditioning, it’s X’mas afterall!)
Although in the story plot, Young Lady Yan was said to have scolded Jian Yu’er for having done it on purpose. Yan Yi Ming was clear that the female protagonist had an innocent and kind personality. She knew that Jian Yu’er’s invitation for Nangong Xuan to join them to Mount Fuyu to admire the peach blossoms was purely coincidental.
Jian Yu’er was not privy to the fact that Young Lady Yan had invited the Crown Prince previously. Even so, her expression changed at Yan Yi Ming’s appearance.
Disregarding all else, Yan Yi Ming was the young lady of Duke Ding’s manor, while Jian Yu’er was the daughter of the current prime minister. Both of them were part of the same aristocratic circle where they could be considered to be ‘good sisters’ who often drink tea and gossiped together.
This was precisely the reason why Jian Yu’er knew how deep ‘Yan Yi Ming’s’ feelings towards the Crown Prince was.
She and the Crown Prince originally did not know each other. However, a few days ago, the Crown Prince came to Jian Manor to look for her brother and they accidentally bumped into each other. Although the Crown Prince was of royal status, his conversations held a depth that showed that he was exceptionally talented. On top of that, her brother was the Crown Prince’s closest childhood companion. Therefore, how could Jian Yu’er, a girl living in a boudoir, not develop some good feelings towards him? Especially when the Crown Prince treated her with extra patience and indulgence.
Thinking of Nangong Xuan’s handsome appearance, Jian Yu’er blushed. Who would not fancy this proud son of Heaven? Even Young Lady Yan, who had so many suitors that her manor’s gate was nearly trampled over, had liked him too.
These days, Jian Yu’er was so immersed in the sweetness of her acquaintance with the Crown Prince that she had purposely tossed Yan Yi Ming to the back of her mind. That was until she turned her head and spotted Yan Yi Ming standing not far away from them. Her beautiful eyes stared straight at them, in shock and in complete disbelief.
Jian Yu’er’s face suddenly turned pale. She suddenly recalled something Yan Yi Ming told her at the beginning of the year when the two of them had gathered together. Yan Yi Ming had told them that when spring arrived in the third month, she would invite the Crown Prince to Mount Fuyu to view the peach blossoms together.
“Yan Jie-jie[1], I…” Jian Yu’er’s heart was a mess. She watched Yan Yi Ming walk closer and hurriedly stood up from the stone bench in panic, “I-, I just…”
She just, what?
The words that reached the tip of her tongue could not make it out of her mouth in an acceptable fashion.
Nangong Xuan also did not expect Yan Yi Ming to show up here. When Yan Yi Ming suddenly appeared, Nangong Xuan felt momentarily discomfited. However, when he turned and noticed how Jian Yu’er had shot up from the bench and her pretty face turned white, he felt distressed over her. When he looked at Yan Yi Ming again, he questioned coldly, “Why are you here?”
Jian Yu Yan, who did not manage to stop Yan Yi Ming in time, found his mood sinking. Young Lady Yan’s temperament was known to be very vicious and it knew no bounds, especially when it was things related to Nangong Xuan. In a couple of steps he stood in front of Jian Yu’er, protecting her, as he said, “Young Lady Yan, His Highness and I came here today to admire the flowers. I had brought Yu’er along the way.”
They had regarded Jian Yu’er as a precious treasure protected close to their hearts and treated Yan Yi Ming as a ferocious beast.
Yan Yi Ming’s approaching figure froze.
She peered at Jian Yu Yan, her eyes were clear and transparent. With a hint of sarcasm, she asked, “What does Young Master Jian think I’m going to do?”
Jian Yu Yan suddenly remembered the excuse he made up to prevent her from venturing forward just now and seeing how Yan Yi Ming had not even moved a muscle, a sense of shame momentarily welled up within.
Yan Yi Ming did not want to say more to Jian Yu Yan. At that moment, the emotions that fluttered across her extremely beautiful face were very complicated. It was probably because she wanted to laugh at Nangong Xuan’s words, yet, she was too hurt that she could not even squeeze out a laugh. Her crystal clear eyes looked directly at Nangong Xuan as she slowly replied, “This is not the imperial gardens, why can’t I be here?”
Nangong Xuan was startled. Based on his understanding of Yan Yi Ming’s personality, having bumped into him hanging out with another lady alone, especially after backing out of their prior engagement, she would have been furious and immediately started yelling at the lady. Hence, he instinctively shouted at her.
It was just that today, Yan Yi Ming did not act as he had imagined. She was not angry nor rash but was rather calm like a pool of stagnant water.
Without her usual domineering temperament, Nangong Xuan’s detest towards her went down a few notches, “Ah Ming, that’s not what Gu[2] meant.”
Yan Yi Ming raised her eyes and glanced at the quivering Jian Yu’er. With a superficial smile, she asked, “Then what does Your Highness mean? Did Your Highness think that I had prior knowledge of your meeting with Young Lady Jian and that I had purposely come here to find you?”
Nangong Xuan pursed his lips, he had originally thought so.
However, when he contemplated more about it, he realized, how could Yan Yi Ming have known.
“I haven’t reached the point of gaining the ability of clairvoyance,” Yan Yi Ming lowered her eyes and calmly explained, “I’ve previously told Your Highness that I would be coming to Mount Fuyu to view the peach blossoms today. Although Your Highness had backed out of our appointment, it doesn’t deter me from coming to enjoy the flowers myself.
“However, Your Highness told me that you had an important discussion with Young Master Jian. While Young Master Jian said that Your Highness was busy attending to official business and had earlier returned to the Eastern Palace. And yet, how come you’re here?”
Nangong Xuan hated it when people questioned him, but Yan Yi Ming was not aggressive in her questioning this time. In addition, he was the one who backed out of their appointment first. He was prepared to explain it to her, when he heard Yan Yi Ming adding on, “I have overstepped my boundaries. Your Highness doesn’t owe me an explanation. Please treat it as if you didn’t hear anything.”
Nangong Xuan was stunned. He studied Yan Yi Ming’s expression. Suddenly, he felt that he did not know what was going through her head anymore.
On the other hand, after learning that Yan Yi Ming and Nangong Xuan had planned to meet previously, Jian Yu’er panicked and did not dare look directly at Yan Yi Ming as she hurriedly tried to explain, “Yan Jie-jie, I didn’t know that you and His Highness had plans…”
Hearing Jian Yu’er’s words, Nangong Xuan once again snapped out of his thoughts.
Although everyone in the capital knew that Young Lady Yan adored him, he had never thought of marrying Yan Yi Ming and making her his Crown Princess Consort. Jian Yu’er words hinted that there was some ambiguous relationship between him and Yan Yi Ming.
He was the Crown Prince and could marry whoever he wanted to. What could Yan Yi Ming do about that?
Feeling slightly displeased, he immediately refuted Jian Yu’er, “This is not your fault, you didn’t know about it.”
“Indeed,” Yan Yi Ming agreed and turned to Jian Yu’er, “Although I initially invited His Highness, His Highness didn’t verbally agree to my appointment. Whoever His Highness likes or dislikes is all up to him. I am nobody to His Highness, so Young Lady Jian need not explain it to me.”
Yan Yi Ming used to call her Yu’er, but now she addressed her as Young Lady Jian.
Jian Yu’er’s body swayed and Jian Yu Yan immediately reached out and supported her with one hand. He glanced down at Jian Yu’er, she was so anxious that tears were streaming down her face. He wanted to say something on her behalf, but the words that reached his lips could not come out.
This situation was not one that he could intervene in. Neither did he want to intervene.
Nangong Xuan frowned.
That was because Yan Yi Ming had never said such a thing.
She had always been domineering and arrogantly swearing her sovereignty over him and that had severely annoyed him.
He never thought of having any sort of relationship with Yan Yi Ming. Yet, when Yan Yi Ming phrased it like that, Nangong Xuan did not feel as at ease as he had expected. His heart felt stifled, and he was filled with an inexplicable sense of sourness and irritability.
Jian Yu’er had assumed that those were just words of anger. Although she was afraid, she still mustered the courage to explain, “Yan Jie-jie, today’s matter is our fault…”
“Of course, it is,” Yan Yi Ming stated with a faint smile, “Otherwise, did you think it was mine?”
Jian Yu’er’s heart trembled and she closed her mouth, her tears were like raindrops on a pear blossom.
Jian Yu Yan wanted to speak on behalf of his sister, but still had a shred of conscience to keep mum upon meeting Yan Yi Ming’s indifferent gaze.
The three of them were momentarily unable to speak. Yan Yi Ming turned her gaze to meet Nangong Xuan’s, “If Your Highness doesn’t want to go out with me, you could’ve rejected me at the beginning. Why did you agree, making me float on clouds for days, only to shoot me down from bliss? In addition, you came up with absurd reasons to deceive me. In all the years that Your Highness had ignored me, when have I ever displayed any grievance towards you?”
“Gu didn’t mean to deceive you,” Nangong Xuan uttered.
Yan Yi Ming’s words slammed against his heart bit by bit, and every word was indescribably painful. Nangong Xuan recalled that despite so many years, no matter how poorly she treated others, Yan Yi Ming had always treated him tenderly. Currently standing in front of them, her white teeth were biting harshly on her rosy lips, causing them to turn pale. She did not have her usual overbearing appearance, making her look extremely pitiful.
Nangong Xuan’s heart softened, he lowered his voice and explained to Yan Yi Ming in a lower timbre, “It just so happened that Yu’er also wanted to come to Mount Fuyu today. Gu could only choose one.”
Yan Yi Ming bit hard on her tongue. The sudden pain brought tears to her eyes.
From the very beginning, the atmosphere of bitterness that she tried so hard to create almost collapsed because of Nangong Xuan’s words. It was better not to have explained that than to have said something like this.
Originally, Yan Yi Ming felt that the value of 22 on Nangong Xuan’s EQ stats was too low. Now, she felt that having 22 points was very generous.
She secretly peeked at Jian Yu Yan, and he had indeed suffered a fright from Nangong Xuan’s words. Who would have thought that Nangong Xuan would be so candid and directly attract hatred towards Jian Yu’er? He was simply challenging Yan Yi Ming’s bottom line.
Jian Yu Yan glanced at Yan Yi Ming uneasily. While she happened to be shedding tears because of how much pain her tongue was in. In the eyes of Nangong Xuan, Jian Yu Yan, and Jian Yu’er, they had assumed that Yan Yi Ming was in this state because of what Nanggong Xuan had said.
Yan Yi Ming endured the pain and laughed bitterly with hazy eyes, “It turns out that Your Highness had set an appointment to meet a beautiful woman hence you can only choose her. Young Lady Jian is naturally beautiful and gentle, she is indeed way better than me. Hence, it’s only natural that Your Highness likes her. Umm, it seems that I’ve disrupted Your Highness, Young Lady Jian, and Young Master Jian’s time. I’ll be leaving first, the scenery here is breathtaking. Your Highness and Young Lady Jian should continue leisurely enjoying it.”
At the end of her sentence, she no longer wanted to say more. Turning her body, she walked away. Lu Mei, who was following behind Yan Yi Ming, angrily but timidly gave Jian Yu’er a glare before stomping off to catch up with her mistress.
In a blink of an eye, the silhouettes of both, the master and servant, disappeared from sight. Nangong Xuan watched Yan Yi Ming’s thin and desolate figure getting further and further away, and suddenly felt a sense of indignation welling up in his heart.
Nangong Xuan had never coaxed a woman before. He had never lowered himself to chase after another. In addition, he did not believe that Yan Yi Ming would really leave.
So when Yan Yi Ming’s figure gradually started to disappear, he only frowned but showed no signs of going after her.
Yet, it felt like there was something tugging at his heart and he no longer had the mood to enjoy the peach blossoms.
Once Yan Yi Ming left, Jian Yu’er lost her strength to remain upright. Nangong Xuan, who was standing beside her, supported her weight. She was weeping very tearfully and she was choked with sobs, “Yan Jie-jie must hate me now. I- I need to explain it clearly to Yan Jie-jie…”
She wanted to give chase but her legs were too weak to even take a single step forward.
She did not dare demand Nangong Xuan to go after Yan Yi Ming, so she could only turn to Jian Yu Yan while tugging at his arm purposefully, “Yan Jie-jie came here with only a young maidservant. Ge-ge, can you send her back?…”
Jian Yu Yan supported Jian Yu’er to the stone bench before lightly touching her head, “I’ll go even if you didn’t say so.”
“I… Ge-ge, can you tell Yan Jie-jie that it’s not what she thinks? I’ll also go to Duke Ding’s manor to look for her tomorrow…”
Jian Yu Yan naturally agreed. After ordering the servants to take care of Nangong Xuan and Jian Yu’er, he made his way through the peach blossoms and disappeared from sight. Jian Yu’er continued sobbing for a long while and the servants dared not step forward to comfort her with Nangong Xuan present. Thus, after weeping by herself with no one to console her, she gradually stopped.
Looking up, she saw that there was no expression on Nangong Xuan’s handsome face. She softly called out, “Crown Prince Ge-ge[3].”
Nangong Xuan had just returned to his senses. He hummed in acknowledgment, seemingly preoccupied.
Jian Yu’er clenched tightly to the handkerchief as she softly continued, “I’ve known Yan Jie-jie for many years… And she… really likes you…”
Nangong Xuan furrowed his brows but did not comment.
Jian Yu’er hesitated before continuing, “Tomorrow I’ll go to Duke Ding’s residence to explain to Yan Jie-jie.”
“No need, this has nothing to do with you.” Realizing that his tone was probably too hostile, he softened his voice in order not to scare Jian Yu’er, “What I meant was, there’s no need to bother yourself with this. It’s getting dark. Si Xin, send Young Lady Jian back to the Prime Minister’s manor.”
Jian Yu’er wore the cape handed over by the maidservant. She glanced over and her eyes were red. It was still early in the day and the sky was still brightly lit, Nangong Xuan was sitting there sipping tea.
How was this considered as getting dark?
Did anyone else experience the pang on behalf of OG Yan Yi Ming?
｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡
I hope the feelings didn’t get lost through the translations~
[1] Jie-jie <姐姐> = Elder Sister. It can also be used as an intimate form of address, not necessarily just between biological siblings.
[2] Gu <孤>, was the way a Crown Prince formally addressed himself. It is an honorific with the meaning of ‘I’ or ‘me’, directly translated to ‘Alone’. As the person that was above all but one, that position was a lofty but lonely one.
[3] Ge-ge <哥哥> = Elder Brother. Can also be used as an intimate form of address, not necessarily just between biological siblings.