General Yan truly knows how to break someone’s heart…
That man’s back was as hard as stone. Mei Yao rubbed her aching forehead, not yet having a chance to speak, when a sweet, petulant voice drifted over from the peach grove path: “Brother Yu has been changing clothes for so long—has he already left?”
It was that noble young lady from the riding grounds, both anxious and annoyed.
Hearing the voice, Yan Yu turned to Mei Yao and said, “You haven’t seen me!” With that, he leaped over the forsythia bushes and disappeared on the other side of the wall.
He ran faster than a rabbit!
Mei Yao felt displeased. Why should she have to play along with his lies and act?
She opened her palm to reveal a white jade waist pendant—the one she had snatched from Yan Yu just as he was about to flee.
Yan Yu naturally knew he had lost something, but compared to dealing with that headache-inducing voice, he felt the waist pendant wasn’t so urgent.
Just then, a splendid figure emerged from behind the blooming flowers, accompanied by Lu Wan and a maid. The young woman hurried forward but slowed abruptly upon seeing Mei Yao.
Lu Wan quickly stepped forward and said, “This is Princess Wenshan, Mei Yao. This is Princess Zhaohua from the General’s Mansion!”
Princess Zhaohua was Li Ran, the legitimate daughter of the Eldest Princess Li Yiru and General Li Kaiyang. As Mei Yao observed her, Li Ran was also sizing up Mei Yao.
In Li Ran’s eyes, this so-called Princess Wenshan was merely a title the court had bestowed to placate a border prince. Mei An had faced repeated suppression in recent years, so his daughter naturally couldn’t compare to her, the legitimate daughter of the Eldest Princess.
Li Ran lifted her chin and asked, “You—have you seen Brother Yu?”
Seeing her lead with such a question, Mei Yao felt displeased but still replied with a smile, “No, I haven’t.”
Li Ran gave her another once-over, then turned to leave. After a few steps, she turned back: “What’s that in your hand?”
Half a tassel was visible in Mei Yao’s hand. She opened her palm to reveal the exquisite white jade gourd pendant and said calmly, “A waist pendant.”
“That’s Brother Yu’s waist pendant!” Li Ran exclaimed excitedly, stepping forward. “Why is it in your hand? And you still say you haven’t seen him?”
Mei Yao remained silent.
Lu Wan was also surprised—she recognized the item, as it had always hung from Yan Yu’s waist. But she dared not offend either of the two women before her and tried to smooth things over: “Perhaps Princess Wenshan found it. It’s possible General Yan accidentally dropped it.”
Hearing this, Li Ran’s expression softened slightly. She reached out her hand and said, “Then give it to me. I’ll return it to him!”
Mei Yao found it laughable. Remembering how Yan Yu had fled from her faster than a rabbit, she asked, “What is Princess Zhaohua’s relationship with General Yan?”
The question left Li Ran speechless. What relationship? One of chasing and fleeing.
Li Ran flushed with embarrassment and irritation. “That’s none of your concern. Give it back!” she said, reaching out to snatch it.
Mei Yao clenched her fist and raised her arm, leaving Li Ran grasping at air.
With a hint of amusement, Mei Yao stared at Li Ran and said, “Your Highness just said this belongs to General Yan. Since it isn’t yours, how can you demand it be ‘returned’ to you? Even if it were to be returned, I would return it to General Yan myself!”
“You…” Li Ran was furious. In all her life, no one had ever humiliated her like this. She angrily ordered her attendants, “You—go and snatch it back for me!”
Her maids, likely accustomed to her domineering ways, stepped forward to comply. But Feng Xiu stepped in front of them and snapped, “Have you lost your minds? Daring to lay hands on Her Highness?”
It was clear that Feng Xiu, having grown up in the military, carried far more imposing presence than Li Ran’s maidservant. Her sharp rebuff momentarily froze the other side in place.
“What is all this commotion here!” came an unfriendly reprimand—it was Li Youtong, who had led her attendants around from behind the flowering shrubs. Having noticed that the person who had gone to change clothes was taking too long, and hearing that Li Ran had also come over, she had grown uneasy and come to check. Sure enough, she found the two groups nearly at each other’s throats!
Seeing her cousin, Li Ran clung to her arm with a pitiful expression, half-sobbing, “Sister Tong, you came just in time. Now even the lowest sorts dare to bully me… whimper whimper.”
Mei Yao’s brow furrowed slightly—as if she were some kind of unsavory character.
Li Youtong glanced toward Mei Yao, who gave a slight bow of acknowledgment but remained silent.
Patting the small hand clutching her arm, Li Youtong soothed Li Ran, “You too—getting worked up over such a trivial matter! Enough now. Grandmother heard you’ve arrived and has been looking everywhere for you. Hurry along!”
“But she still has my…” Li Ran wanted to say more, but seeing Li Youtong’s expression darken, she swallowed her words. When it came to arrogance, an angered Fu Guang was far more formidable than even her, Princess Zhaohua. Reluctantly, she replied, “Understood, I’ll go right away.”
Watching Li Ran depart, Li Youtong stepped forward and took Mei Yao’s hand, saying gently, “Let’s go as well. The banquet is about to begin!”
Having witnessed the scene unfold, Lu Wan felt the scales in her heart tilt slightly from Princess Zhaohua toward Princess Wenshan.
As Mei Yao walked alongside Li Youtong, she cast a subtle glance toward the low wall beside the winter jasmine bushes. That glance felt almost tangible, causing the guard Tian Xi beneath the wall to instinctively crouch lower. He whispered, “Master, your little barbarian princess truly has no fear—even in the capital, she doesn’t hold back in the slightest!”
“My barbarian princess?Yan Yu raised an eyebrow in retort.
Tian Xi seemed completely oblivious to his master’s displeasure and continued, “This subordinate observes that Princess Zhaohua’s clinging to you is no less intense than Princess Wenshan’s back in the day…”
“You observe nothing but nonsense!” Yan Yu’s tone turned cold and sharp. “Return to the manor!”
“The banquet is about to start. Won’t you eat?”
“Is the Prince’s Manor short of a meal for you?”
“Well, no.”
After a few steps, Tian Xi added, “…Master, your waist pendant is still in Princess Wenshan’s possession.”
“I’m not blind!”
Yan Yu simply found him irritating—why had he brought him along in a moment of thoughtlessness?
At the banquet, whoever arranged the seating had placed Mei Yao right beside Li Ran. Mei Yao greeted her with calm composure, but due to their earlier clash, Li Ran had no desire to acknowledge her.
Receiving a cold shoulder, Mei Yao paid it no mind. After all, none of those present were blind—who was well-behaved and who was ill-tempered was plain to see.
Today’s banquet marked Princess Wenshan’s first public appearance. Her striking beauty, the “explosive” impression she made during the horse race, and the contrast with the haughty Princess Zhaohua all accentuated her gentle and gracious demeanor, drawing the attention of many guests. Soon, she was surrounded by a lively circle of people engaged in cheerful conversation.
The imperial children were currently seated alongside the Empress Dowager on the elevated dais at the front. Noticing Li Xiang’s gaze repeatedly drifting toward Mei Yao, Li Sheng smiled and asked, “Ninth Brother, what do you think of Princess Wenshan?”
“What does Fourth Brother think?” Li Xiang retorted casually, his eyes still fixed on that graceful figure.
Watching Mei Yao’s charming smile, Li Sheng remarked with a hint of deeper meaning, “The court owes Mei An a son, and now he has sent a daughter instead. That domineering barbarian lord—being his son-in-law won’t be an easy role to fill.”
Li Xiang finally withdrew his gaze and looked at Fourth Brother, saying something seemingly unrelated: “After shedding her barbarian attire, she looks even better in this light silk gown. What do you think, Fourth Brother?”
Li Sheng smiled without speaking.
Below, Li Ran watched Mei Yao chatting and laughing animatedly with others beside her, then recalled her seductive outfit draped over Yan Yu, and felt a surge of anger. She scoffed lightly, “Barbaric customs, utterly shameless!”
As her gaze shifted, she caught sight of the figure she had been searching for but couldn’t find earlier. He had greeted the stage and seemed about to leave. She immediately stood up and followed.
Naturally, Mei Yao saw it too and found an excuse to leave the banquet.
The two walked one after the other. Li Ran said unhappily, “Why are you following me?”
“Is this path off-limits?” Mei Yao feigned ignorance.
“Stop pretending!” Li Ran retorted as she walked. “You saw him too, didn’t you? You’re going to find him, right?”
“Who, General Yan?” Mei Yao smiled. “Yes, I am.”
Li Ran hadn’t expected her to be so unabashed and was momentarily flustered. She turned around and said, “You really are… shameless!”
Mei Yao replied calmly, “Aren’t you?”
“How could I be the same as you… Forget it, I won’t argue with you!” She had no time to waste on her and turned to continue pursuing the man.
Mei Yao kept pace just a step behind her, teasingly saying, “Indeed, it’s not the same. I noticed he avoids you like the plague. Earlier on the peach blossom path, he fled faster than a rabbit at the sound of your voice!”
Feng Xiu couldn’t help but chuckle upon hearing this.
“You… you’re talking nonsense!” Li Ran was furious, her beautiful eyes almost blazing with fire.
Mei Yao, unbothered by stirring trouble, added, “Well, he’s right ahead. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Li Ran shot her an angry glare and jogged toward Yan Yu, who was about to walk away, calling out from a distance, “Brother Yu, wait for me!”
It wasn’t until the third call that Yan Yu stopped.
Li Ran was already panting from the run. Standing before the tall man, she tilted her delicate, fair face upward, a mix of coquettishness and reproach in her expression. “You knew I was calling you, yet you walked so fast!”
Yan Yu replied with a serious expression, “What is it, Junzhu?”
Li Ran was annoyed, but facing his handsome face, she couldn’t bring herself to vent her anger. As she struggled with her emotions, she saw Mei Yao approaching. In a fit of pique, she said, “Earlier, when you took so long changing and didn’t return, I went looking for you. Did you… did you know?”
Yan Yu looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Li Ran decided to be blunt: “Were you deliberately avoiding me? She said you fled faster than… than a rabbit at the sound of my voice!”
A vein throbbed at Yan Yu’s temple.
He glanced sideways at the graceful figure approaching. She wore an innocent, bright smile, as if she hadn’t been the one stirring trouble.
Li Ran pressed on relentlessly: “Is what she said true? Were you deliberately avoiding me?”
Yan Yu withdrew his gaze, his tone remarkably calm. “I had matters to attend to and left in a hurry.”
“Brother Yu!” Li Ran felt stung, tears welling up in her eyes.
Mei Yao had already walked up to them. She glanced sideways at Princess Zhaohua, who was on the verge of tears, then looked up at the indifferent instigator. She said something that made Yan Yu even more uneasy: “General Yan truly has a knack for breaking hearts…”
Her words were soft and plaintive, and the look she gave him held a mix of affection and resentment. Though she was referring to him making Li Ran cry, it sounded more as if she were speaking of herself, as though he had hurt her too.
She really knew how to act!
Making it seem as if he were some heartless scoundrel, hurting one after another!
Yan Yu was both amused and exasperated. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the troublemaking woman brush past him. Her expression carried a hint of reproach and resentment, and she deliberately revealed the waist pendant she had “stolen” from him before gracefully heading toward the small courtyard on the other side, meant for rest.
She was deliberately luring him over!
At least she was more willing to put in effort than the delicate beauty who had been chasing after him relentlessly!
Mei Yao had no intention of staging a “two women fighting over one man” drama, but she was genuinely intrigued by this General Yan, who wore the face of Xiao Yu’s brother. Moreover, Li Ran’s constant cooing of “Brother Yu” grated on her nerves, so she decided to stir up some trouble for the two of them to vent her frustration.
She thought to herself, whether it was to demand an explanation or to reclaim the waist pendant, he should at least take the initiative to seek her out, right?