“It’s been a busy time, and I haven’t had time to take care of you. I don’t know if you’re getting used to life in the palace; is it very different from the Dayan Kingdom?” Yuchi Lan was not young, he looked quite mature and stable, and his appearance was a bit like that of a prince.

He looked like he was simply looking for him to chat about his family and improve their relationship.

Gu Xiyu looked down at the hot tea that Yuchi Lan put in front of him but didn’t pick it up to drink right away and replied: “Fortunately, whether it is the Dayan or Yao kingdom, the imperial palace is the same, it’s a suffocating cage. “

Yuchi Lan smiled, “From the sound of it, Princess Murong doesn’t like living in the palace very much.”

“I do yearn for freedom.” Gu Xiyu said in a light voice, “But you can’t choose what you are born into, it’s your destiny, so you can’t blame anyone.” He sounded a bit like a princess who had resigned herself to her fate.

Yuchi Lan chatted with him casually and asked people around him to put Yao Kingdom specialties in front of him in an attempt to please him. Then he suddenly asked in a seemingly casual way: “Speaking of which, I heard from the people in your palace that the third prince is always looking for you to chat and is also sending things.”

Perhaps it was for the sake of enhancing affinity, but Yuchi Lan did not use honorific titles to refer to himself.

In fact, his attitude was fine, but Gu Xiyu just wasn’t attracted to him.

The main system probably detected his situation and said, {I thought that as a mission executor, you should treat everyone equally.}

“Am I treating Murong Qingwan and Yuchi Rong badly?” Gu Xiyu took the time to reply in his mind, “This prince is in an antagonistic situation with both the male and female protagonists, as well as the mission target, so I don’t need to treat him well.”

{Heh.}

If he couldn’t imagine the feeling of the main system chuckling, he would have thought it was mocking him.

After dealing with the main system, Gu Xiyu nodded graciously in response to what Yuchi Lan had just said: “Third Highness is indeed a nice person.”

This comment provoked a laugh from Yuchi Lan: “You’re really interesting; it’s the first time I’ve heard someone say that about my third brother.”

Gu Xiyu didn’t follow up on Yuchi Lan’s explicitly mocking words, but only said, “Maybe it’s because His Highness has too little contact with him.”

The two people who were supposed to get married to each other might have started a relationship, so he wanted to use a kind tone to warn Gu Xiyu to stay away from the other party. But Gu Xiyu, who had crossed over to this world, had no intentions to act according to their old-fashioned ideas, so he did not give Yuchi Lan any face at all.

However, this attitude just made Yuchi Lan more interested in him, and if Gu Xiyu knew what he was thinking, he would probably curse at the strange world consciousness from start to finish.

Yuchi Lan didn’t bother arguing with him, instead saying with a smile, “Perhaps.”

“The Third Imperial Brother is perhaps too bored in the palace. Father has long since given him an imperial residence outside the palace, but he still hasn’t bothered to move out.”

As soon as Yuchi Lan had finished speaking, the main system floated over with some static sounds, its tone a little indignant.

{The reason why he didn’t leave the palace was that his mother was not comfortable with him being out of her watchful eye and asked him to stay on various excuses.}

Gu Xiyu was unable to hold back a laugh, and Yuchi Lan thought he was laughing at Wei Chiyan and followed suit: “Right? I also think he’s like an overgrown child, always doing something that gives people a headache. But I can’t blame him for that; his right eye has been crippled since birth, and his low self-esteem has affected his temperament.”

Murong Qingwan, who was standing quietly at the side, couldn’t help but quietly lift her eyelids to glance at Yuchi Lan as she listened.

Gu Xiyu himself didn’t listen to this at all and was telling the main system, “I’ve heard that the main system of each hub is set up with different personalities, I’ve now seen it.”

“You should talk to me more often from now on, I quite like you.”

The main system asked, {Really? Then do you like me or the mission targets more?}

A very humane question.

Gu Xiyu glanced at Yuchi Lan, who was still talking nonsense, and mentally replied, “Is there a difference?”

After he finished asking this rhetorical question, he and the main system fell into a short and eerie silence.

After some time, Gu Xiyu continued casually, “One is the system, and one is the mission target; can’t I like both?”

{…okay, it’s just a little bit of philandering anyway.}

Gu Xiyu laughed: “After all, I have rarely bothered to like anything over the years, it was the Great Demon King who taught me this word. I have to use it up as much as possible to live up to his bitter conscience.”

{…}

Yuchi Lan sat with him at the lake pavilion for a short while longer and had gotten the whim to show him around the palace when someone suddenly came and whispered something in his ear. Yuchi Lan’s face turned gloomy at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his gaze fell on him a few times.

Afterward, he apologized, “Something urgent has suddenly come up in the palace, so I’m afraid I can’t accompany you.”

Gu Xiyu was not sad or happy: “It’s okay, official business is important.”

On the way back to the palace, there was only he and Murong Qingwan and the little Eunuch who had brought them here to see the Crown Prince. They didn’t say anything because walls have ears, and only after they returned to the room and Murong Qingwan confirmed that there was no one else around did she spit out, “Brother, you didn’t notice the look in that Yuchi Lan’s eyes, it was like he wanted to strip you and eat you clean on the spot.”

Murong Qingwan’s impression of Yuchi Lan was obviously not very good, and Gu Xiyu was quite relieved. At least it proved that she, the heroine with a true Phoenix destiny, would not be easily fooled.

“I didn’t pay much attention, you’re really exaggerating.” Gu Xiyu said.

Murong Qingwan sat down and spoke in a cautious tone: “Imperial brother, don’t be fooled by Yuchi Lan’s appearance, I think this man… looks hypocritical. Although I have never met the third prince of the Yao Kingdom, he pretended to be empathetic when he was talking about his brother’s faults.”

“Let me tell you, you can’t tell from the relatively few people you’ve met, but I can guarantee that this prince is not a good person, and you will suffer if you follow him.” Saying that, she frowned, “What’s more, you are a man, if he married you, wouldn’t he ……”

Murong Qingwan did not say the last words explicitly, but it was enough to make Gu Xiyu understand.

He tapped his fingertips on the tabletop a few times and said, “Would Wan’er find two men together annoying?”

The young girl in front of him paused and said in a low voice, “Not really. Although broken sleeves are indeed against the rules of the world, it is not easy to love and stay together, in my opinion. If there are lovers who do not care about people’s gazes and insist on staying together, then they are certainly blessed.”

As she said this, she suddenly asked, “Why are you suddenly asking me this, brother? Could it be that …… you have a crush on that Yuchi Lan?”

“Don’t worry, I know exactly what kind of person Yuchi Lan is, there is no way I would like him.” Gu Xiyu said.

Murong Qingwan patted her chest with relief and poured herself and him a cup of tea with confidence. While she was picking up the cup of tea, Gu Xiyu continued with a smile, “It is Third Prince Wei Chiyan that I like.”

“Pfft—”

Gu Xiyu looked at Murong Qingwan’s dumbfounded, dismayed, and shocked expression and let out a laugh in his heart, thinking that it was quite fun to tease his sister.

On the other hand, Crown Prince Yuchi Lan hurried back to his palace after receiving the message and walked through countless long corridors to his study. A small wooden chest was sitting in the center of the room, and when the spies saw him enter, they knelt down on one knee and greeted him in a serious tone.

Yuchi Lan’s gaze fell on the chest. He hesitated to open it but instead asked the guard who had just briefed him in a deep voice: “You, are you sure that it contains… ”

The guard also lowered his head, clenched his fist, and replied, “My subordinates have just confirmed that what is inside is indeed Mr. Lu’s head.”

Lu Wei, alias Chen Wei, was one of his subordinates he had put outside the palace to spy for him and track down the important matters of the bandit fortress. Over the years, he had been most at ease with Lu Wei, after all, he had already muddled his way to the position of Second Fortress Master, so he must have already gained the trust of the fortress master, and there was nothing to worry about.

It was only after a while that he asked someone to open the chest. As soon as the lid was lifted, Lu Wei’s terrified and dead eyes stared back at him, obviously having suffered great pain and terror before his death. The blood stains on his face had not been cleaned up, and the box was filled with an unpleasant smell of blood, which made Yuchi Lan feel a little sick to his stomach. He covered his mouth and turned his head in disgust, waving for someone to close the box: “Just find someone to deal with it. Don’t bring it in front of me, and don’t let anyone else find it.”

Only after the guards had taken the box out did Yuchi Lan ask the spies who had reported back, “Who sent the head here? Did they come directly to the palace?”

“Yes, it was the palace staff in the palace who reported it. It is said that it suddenly appeared at the main hall, and a few palace maids even fainted from fear.”

Yuchi Lan said angrily, “It must be that people from Luohe Fortress discovered his identity …… You, release the information that Lu Wei has collected about Luohe Fortress over the years and make sure that people from Tianyun Zhai know about it!” If they dare to challenge his authority and simply do not put him in their eyes, then all the people in this fortress don’t want to live.

Before leaving the study, he ordered in a low voice, “Also, kill all the palace attendants that saw the head.”

In the following days, he received several different boxes containing Lu Wei’s hands and toes, followed by several other people he had planted elsewhere, all of whom were killed by someone even more vicious than him.

This infuriated Yuchi Lan to the maximum, but he had nowhere to vent. The day before his marriage with Gu Xiyu, he received a report from his subordinates that all the news about the Luohe fortress had indeed been released, but when the people from Tianyun Zhai broke into the fortress, it was said to be empty.

They had run away ahead of time. It was unknown where they had gone, and it would take some time to find them again.

Faced with this sudden and unexpected feeling of having his life and all his secrets in someone’s hands, Yuchi Lan’s heart was in his throat.

He asked again, “What about that thing? Have you found it?”

Lu Wei lurked in the Luohe fortress not only to get information but also because the former master of the Luohe fortress had something very important in his possession. He had all the evidence of his private deeds, and it was only because of his negligence that they had accidentally fallen into the hands of the other party. Once these things are discovered and submitted to the emperor and the world, his position as the crown prince would be gone, and he may even be charged with treason and collaboration with the enemy. At best, he would be imprisoned, and at worst, he and his mother’s family would be killed and executed.

It was for this reason that he had the former fortress master die at the hands of the Tianyun Zhai people. But the former master was no amateur and probably left a backup plan. Over the years, he had sent people around to look for it, but he had not been able to recover it. This matter had become a big stone that he could not put down, and the only way he could rest assured was to destroy them all.

“Your Highness, there is no such thing. Apart from the people planted in Tianyun Zhai fortress, we here also made a special effort to search Luohe fortress after they left and searched the entire place without finding it.”

Yuchi Lan’s mood got even worse.

No matter what happened in private, the palace finally ushered in the Crown Prince’s big day of taking on a side concubine. Normally, a side concubine should not have the ceremony and pomp of a wedding banquet, but considering that Murong Qingwan was a princess and a great beauty, the crown prince made such a big ceremony after discussing it with the emperor.

When the good news spread outside the palace, it was praised by the people, who said that the royal family of the Yao Kingdom was very generous and did not wrong Murong Qingwan because she was a princess from a small country.

On the day he put on his wedding suit, Yuchi Lan stood in front of the bronze mirror, but his right eyelid kept jumping.

He has been feeling depressed since he woke up. Perhaps it’s because of the bad things that have happened over the past few days or the feeling that….things will not go well later on.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like