V2C138

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On the night of the full moon, lights and shadows enveloped the capital of the Jialan Empire in the heart of the Yunhuang Wilderness.

Before the nightfall arrival, the White King’s palace had already been decorated with flowers, and one by one, the palace lanterns were lifted up, embellishing the gardens in a scattered manner. Although they were not yet lit with candles as it was still sunny outside, each lamp was adorned with crystal chips, and as soon as a little ray of light reached them, countless brilliant glints flowed out, making for an indescribable display of beauty.

The hundred lamps alone have cost tens of thousands of golden baht, without mentioning everything else.

“When will His Imperial Highness arrive?” Seeing that everything was ready, Bai Fenglin turned his head and asked his trusted servant, Fu Quan, when the ceremony would start.

Fu Quan respectfully replied, “A messenger has just arrived, saying that they have already departed from the Imperial Palace as early as eight o’clock. According to Zi Jun’s footing, they will probably arrive within the next half an hour.”

“Then have the Princesses start preparing up. “Bai Fenglin tapped his folding fan in the palm of his hand and whispered, “Especially Xiao Jiu*, she’s always procrastinating and disorganized, so she shouldn’t wait for the arrival of the guests before even having her dressing done.”

“Yes, yes.” Fu Quan knew that Bai Fenglin was partial to Xue Yan, the Princess born from the same mother as himself, and that he intended to recommend to the Crown Prince, so he smiled and said, “I sent someone to remind her early this afternoon, but the Princess has been very nervous since early this morning.

“Is that so?” Bai Fenglin couldn’t help but laugh, thinking of his sister’s usual appearance, “Is Xiao Jiu also nervous? Doesn’t she usually disregard everyone?”

“It’s the Crown Prince who is coming today,” Fu Quan laughed, “anyone would be a little nervous.”

Bai Fenglin pondered for a moment and whispered, “You can tell Xiao Jiu to be more spirited and daring when the time comes… The Crown Prince would prefer an energetic young girl, not a quiet and dignified lady.”

“Is that so?” Fu Quan didn’t expect the Head Governor to make such a remark, so he couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

“But never mention Empress Bai Yan in front of him, not even in the slightest hint.” Bai Fenglin carefully reflected on the relevant details and admonished, “Don’t mention the Imperial Prince’s past experiences on Jiuyi Mountain either – these are taboo, and it would be disastrous to mention them.”

“Yes.” Fu Quan took note of each detail one by one, “Your humble servant will go and report this to Princess Xue Yan.”

“By the way, I remember that Xue Yan used to practice with the Divine Priest of the White Clan and knows some spells, if there is a chance today, she can show off her skills, but she must not mess up her act.” Bai Fenglin further reflected on the situation and said, “That’s all I can think of, the rest depends on Xiao Jiu and her good fortune.”

She was the youngest of the White King’s daughters. Although she was not the first-born, and her looks were not as outstanding as those of her two older sisters, she was a simple and lively girl who would have been a good match for Shi Ying – after all, the newly appointed Crown Prince had grown up as an ascetic, and the only woman he had spent any time with was Zhu Yan. And the young Princess of the Red Clan was just that type of girl.

Could he fall in love with her? Bai Fenglin’s heart was silently calculating all this, his eyes shifting several times, and his heart became slightly uncomfortable – Shi Ying was considered his cousin, yet for some reason, when he remembered that person, his heart invariably was filling with an unspeakable darkness.

It was still sunny when the Crown Prince approached the White King’s palace after his journey from the Purple Palace. The sun was shining in the west, reflecting on the water in the garden, and the light of the waves reflected in the crystal of the lanterns, with the rays of sunlight falling all over the garden like shining stars. The Royal steed stopped, and the young Crown Prince, wearing elegant, raffinate and light garments, stepped out of the carriage and walked through the reflection of the crystals, looking like a celestial being descended from Heavens.

In that moment, everyone from the White King’s Residence could not help but gasp loudly, letting themselves become transfixed like they have seen a God descending on earth.

“Ah, older brother, he… he actually looks this beautiful?” Xue Yan stood behind him and couldn’t help but tug at her brother’s clothes, shouting softly with unspeakable happiness, “He is truly so handsome!”

“Xue Yan, focus.” Bai Fenglin reprimanded her with a smile, but there was something in his heart that made him feel uncomfortable.

Although Shi Ying had been banished from the Imperial Capital when he was a child, he suddenly reversed his fortunes and made a comeback, reclaiming his position as Crown Prince.

Unlike himself, who had worked hard for half his life and made painstaking efforts to become what he is now because of his lowly birth origins, but now he still had to behave like everyone else and bow down in front of him, and if he wasn’t careful enough, he would lose the favor of the White King.

There are people and people, sometimes it is really frightening when you compare them.

“Greetings to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince!” The White King led his family to welcome him, and the crowd bowed down on their knees.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the White King, Shi Ying stood up and entered the residence.

It was still early in the evening, and it was not yet time to enjoy the lanterns, so the White King took Shi Ying on a tour around the Palace, introducing him to several of the elaborate gardens in the residence. At each place, the hosts diligently explained the scenery to the distinguished guest, and at each place, young noble girls in formal attire deliberately and purposefully strolled in front of them, laughing softly, gazing at the beautiful man while looking at each other and causing mischief among themselves.

However, Shi Ying’s demeanor remained tame, speaking very little, but politely and reasonably, and his eyes not once lingering on any of the women surrounding him. The White King had been observing his manners, but he could not discern the Crown Prince’s intentions in the slightest, so he could not help but wonder: could it be that the Crown Prince did not approve of any of his daughters? How could this be?

“Ah!” The group had just crossed the Nine Twists Bridge when a little girl slipped and stumbled, causing the women around them to cry out in shock.

As the young maid was about to tumble into the water, the surface of the water suddenly condensed and turned into ice with a loud click! The ice quickly expanded and thickened, and in a flash caught the servant girl who fell over.

Everyone turned their heads together and discovered that it was actually Princess Xue Yan who formed a seal with her hands and contained the surface of the water.

The people next to her breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly reached out to pull the young servant girl up. The Princess Xue Yan reprimanded her softly, “There are distinguished guests here today, walk more carefully, Xiao Ya!”

“Thank you… thank you, Your Ladyship!” The maid’s face was pale and she bowed her head in a hurry.

As the small commotion quickly subsided, the procession proceeded on their way through the garden, but Shi Ying took a few more glances at that particular princess. The hair was pulled back into a double bun and held up with only a jade hairpin, unlike the other sisters who were covered in precious jewels, it looked simple and elegant, quite unpretentious.

“This is one of my youngest daughters, Xue Yan, she is sixteen years old.” The White King caught sight of his expression and immediately introduced her, “She used to learn a little bit of magic under the Divine Priest of the Clan, but today she actually dares to make a fool of herself in front of the Crown Prince, she is really insolent!”

“That was quite good.” Shi Ying replied lightly, “Worthy of being the daughter of the White King.”

“The Crown Prince is extremely gracious in his compliments.” Seeing that the Crown Prince had finally praised one of his daughters, the White King could not help but breathe a sigh of relief – it seems that this time, the Crown Prince finally caught someone in his sights after all? Although Xue Yan was born from a concubine, she was as smart as her brother, Bai Fenglin, and deserved to have great success in her life.

However, Bai Fenglin was going to take over the succession as King, so if Xue Yan became the Crown Princess, the other households would say that he was biased towards the second concubine. The fire will start again inside the harem.

The White King already started to make calculations in his mind as he escorted Shi Ying along.

They were about to return to the main hall to sit and have their meal. However, Shi Ying suddenly paused under a flowering palm tree and turned his head to look towards another place, exposing a slight expression of surprise.

What? The White King was also stupefied, because in the same time he heard a crying sound coming from the depths of the garden and could not help but feel his heart sink – up ahead was the Wenying Pavilion, the place where Xue Ying was living.

What was going on? He just told her this afternoon that he was going to marry her off to the Purple King’s brother-in-law, and this little girl started weeping like a baby and wouldn’t give in. He was afraid that she might disturb the Crown Prince’s visit, so he had locked her in her room and sent a nanny to keep an eye on her, but he didn’t expect such a thing to happen!

Xue Ying, that foolish girl, refused to listen to his orders, he really doted on her for nothing.

However, before he could think of a way to cover this up, he was surprised to hear a soft noise as the door to Wenying Pavilion was pushed open and two maids inside ran out in alarm, shouting, “This is bad… This is bad! She’s got a knife and she’s going to kill herself!”

What? The White King was shocked, not expecting such a thing to happen right at this moment, and was at a loss of what to do, when the wind rushed around him, and the Crown Prince suddenly disappeared.

*Xiao Jiu – Little Nine: The number of the birth of the Princess into the royal family.

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