“Elder brother, why is it King Yan? What does he have to do with me? I want to marry King Xuan. I want to be Consort Xuan.” Princess Caifeng had never been a person who had tolerance. She immediately stood up excitedly and spoke loudly when she heard that the man Crown Prince Xieyue mentioned was not the one she wanted to marry.
“King Xuan?” Crown Prince Xieyue frowned and said unhappily, “Everyone knows about what happened between you and King Yan. Furthermore, King Yan has agreed to marry you. What are you dissatisfied with?”
The two parties had their own ideas in private, and Consort Yan didn’t object at all. Xieyue didn’t think that Princess Caifeng didn’t know about it. Besides, Feng Yulei had left the prince’s jade pendant as the betrothal gift of their engagement. No matter which country the prince was from, he would give his jade pendant to his fiancée as the betrothal gift. Now that Feng Yulei’s jade pendant was in Princess Caifeng’s hands, didn’t it represent her intention?
“What happened between the two of us? Elder brother, there’s nothing between us. How could there’s something between us?” Princess Caifeng was so anxious that she jumped up.
“If there’s nothing between the two of you, what do you mean by talking and traveling privately with King Yan during the past few days?” There was a hint of anger on Crown Prince Xieyue’s face. If Feng Yulei and Caifeng had not made an agreement, he would not have allowed the two of them to get along in private to improve their relationship. Even though the other two princes had come, there were always people watching beside them when they were here.
“Elder brother, I… I am choosing my husband!” Caifeng was ashamed and annoyed by Xieyue’s words, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Choosing your husband? Caifeng, I remember when we came here, I had told you clearly that no matter which prince likes you, you have to marry him. Whether you’ll be the only wife or a co-wife, you will do your part for our Southern Barbarian Lands. When could you choose the man you want to marry? He’s the son of the Qin Kingdom’s Emperor. How could you, a princess from the Southern Barbarian Lands, a small country, have the right to choose?”
Xieyue rolled his eyes slightly, and the bottom of his eyes was cold. He originally thought that although Caifeng was a little arrogant and arbitrary, at least she was sensible and knew who she was. Since he also wanted to create difficulties for those princes, he allowed those princes to visit Caifeng. Unexpectedly, what he had done spoiled her. Caifeng wanted to choose her husband in person!
The marriage alliance between the two countries was intended to improve the relationship between the two countries, and everything else was a small matter!
“But elder brother…” Princess Caifeng’s heart trembled when she saw that Xieyue’s expression had darkened. She shivered and wriggled her mouth. “Elder brother, but, I want to marry King Xuan. Didn’t they say that King Xuan is their Emperor’s favorite prince? As long as I marry King Xuan, it will be of great help to you, won’t it?”
She did not want to marry King Yan; she wanted to marry King Xuan. With her beautiful appearance, only King Xuan was worthy of her!
“King Yan was raised by the Empress. There is not only Ding General Manor behind him, but also Mingguo Manor. Even the Empress Dowager will stand on his side when necessary. And most importantly, you and King Yan are already like this. Will King Xuan marry you?” Crown Prince Xieyue a.n.a.lyzed calmly.
Caifeng only relied on her status as a princess and her beauty. However, it was obvious that these points did not attract King Xuan’s attention. Then, what was the point of marrying him? As for Consort Xuan, even Hu Qianyue had to admit that she was beautiful, and she had wanted to bring Consort Xuan here, but she failed, which indicated that she was not a simple woman.
How could Caifeng fight with Consort Xuan who had won Feng Yuran’s heart and was hard to deal with?
By comparison, Consort Yan served King Yan wholeheartedly. It was much easier to deal with her than Consort Xuan, who had deliberately tied King Xuan using her illness. Crown Prince Xieyue compared them and had understood the situation behind it. Therefore, he gave up on King Xuan, Feng Yuran and had already sought the position of Consort Yan for Princess Caifeng.
“But, elder brother… I, I don’t want to!” Princess Caifeng was unwilling to accept it. She gritted her teeth and stomped her feet as she cried out anxiously.
Ever since she saw Feng Yuran, her mind had been filled with him. The reason why she had gotten along well with those princes and played with them from time to time was that she wanted to deliberately make Feng Yuran jealous. She had long forgotten about the misunderstanding between her and King Yan.
Of course, she was the only one who did not take it to heart and chose to forget it!
“Caifeng, don’t you remember what you told me before you came to the Qin Kingdom? Do you still want to marry into Wutuo?” Crown Prince Xieyue’s face darkened with a hint of anger.
The reason why Princess Caifeng came to the Qin Kingdom instead of the other princesses was entirely because of Crown Prince Xieyue. Previously, Princess Caifeng was going to marry into a small country called Wutuo which was located in the other side of the Southern Barbarian Lands. It was said that the place was extremely poor. Since it was hard for a man to marry a wife, some brothers only married one woman. It was a real wilderness.
Of course, Princess Caifeng was unwilling to go to that place. She asked for the permission of Crown Prince Xieyue in private, so she came to the Qin Kingdom with him!
Hearing what Crown Prince Xieyue mentioned, she went limp and almost sat down on the ground. She opened her eyes wide in horror, and her face turned livid. She was so scared that her heart was in her mouth. She didn’t dare to go against Xieyue, and hurriedly begged, “Elder brother, I don’t want to marry into that place. I won’t go there!”
Every princess who had married into Wutuo had all died young. At this moment, Princess Caifeng was truly afraid.
“If you don’t want to go there, just listen to my arrangement. Will I hurt you?” The voice of Crown Prince Xieyue softened. He reached out and patted Princess Caifeng’s hand. Then, he stood up and said to the maidservant beside him, “Go and see if Miss Hu has prepared the clothes for the princess. Once she’s ready, help the princess put on her makeup.”
“Yes!” The maidservant lowered her head and left.
Crown Prince Xieyue turned around and strode out. He had something else to deal with. He was a little confused and could not solve it at the moment, so he had to go back and get someone to sort out some things. He always felt that he had missed something. Why did Consort Xuan’s maidservant look so familiar?
He wondered if he had made a mistake!
Behind him, Princess Caifeng’s angry eyes turned glum and furious…
Mo Xuetong had no idea what had happened between Xieyue and Princess Caifeng because she had already boarded Feng Yuran’s super luxurious carriage and was heading to the palace. She did not have to go in such a hurry. However, Feng Yuran had gotten someone to tell her to hurry over and to go to Anhe Palace first.
There were no other people living in Anhe Palace now. When Mo Xuetong entered the palace, she would rest in Anhe Palace from time to time. Because of the Emperor’s order, no one paid attention to Anhe Palace, and everyone chose to forget it. It used to be Consort Xian’s palace, but now it seemed to be the resting place for King Xuan and Consort Xuan.
Mo Xuetong got off the carriage at the gate of the palace and got on the palace sedan chair waiting there. The two eunuchs carrying the sedan chair skillfully took Mo Xuetong to Anhe Palace. Feng Yuran had been waiting there for a long time. Before Mo Xuetong could get off the sedan chair, he strode over and helped Mo Xuetong out. Then, he took her hand and walked into the palace.
Noticing his strange expression, Mo Xuetong reached out to hold his hand and asked softly, “What’s the matter?” She lifted her long dress with one hand, almost unable to keep up with his footsteps.
Feng Yuran did not say anything. Instead, he held her hand tightly. As he felt her warm and smooth hand in his hand, the depression in his chest was relieved. However, he still did not want to speak and continued to pull her inside. The palace servants in the inner room had already been asked to stay outside. The two of them walked into the inner palace. Feng Yuran put down his hand when he saw the portrait of Consort Xian hanging on the wall. He was speechless for a moment.
The portrait had been brought from the Emperor. Ever since Feng Yuran and Mo Xuetong rested here from time to time, the portrait had been hung on the wall.
“What’s wrong?” Mo Xuetong turned around and asked again. She reached out to hold Feng Yuran’s hand forwardly and asked hesitantly, “It’s Consort Zhao…”
“The He family sent the poison to Consort Zhao’s palace. When the Empress sent Mother the soup of birth control, Consort Zhao added the poison to it. Mother fell into her trap without checking.” Feng Yuran’s eyes were dark. “Mother had been gentle and kind for a lifetime. I didn’t expect that she would die in her own family’s hand in the end. The He family, the He family…”
He couldn’t finish his words for a while. His eyes were slightly red with bloodthirsty light flashing in them. He looked extremely hateful, but there was a look of deep sadness on his face.
Mo Xuetong had never seen him like this. His bloodthirsty aura represented that Feng Yuran was about to lose control. He had lost his mother at such a young age and had survived in that environment. He must have lived a hard life. His recollection of his mother was the source of all his warmth. He would definitely seek revenge for Consort Xian wholeheartedly.
The He family was indeed dirty. They dared to murder Consort Xian. Mo Xuetong remembered that Feng Yuran had killed the entire He family like crazy because of this in the last life. He must have suffered a great blow. In this life, she would never allow him to lose control and hurt himself again. She slowly approached him and leaned into his arms. She heard his strong heartbeat which was clear and warm.
“Yuran, how is His Majesty going to deal with Consort Zhao?” Mo Xuetong asked tentatively, trying to calm him down.
She could not allow him to be immersed in this bloodthirsty impulse. This might be Feng Yuran’s biggest blow. Mo Xuetong knew that it seemed that Feng Yuran did not care about anything on the surface, but in fact, he valued feelings very much. When Consort Xian died, he had to feed himself poison since he was helpless.
At that time, he was a child, and the Emperor did not believe what he said. If he did not think of a way of protecting himself, he would really die without a burial place!
Therefore, Feng Yuran had always been suspicious of Consort Zhao. However, he could not uncover her true colors because there was no evidence.
After so many years, the depression acc.u.mulated in his heart was enough to destroy his usual calmness.
Even though it could not be seen from the surface, Mo Xuetong had been paying attention to his reaction because of what had happened in the past life. She had already told that he cared about it very much. He cared about the fact that the He family had killed Consort Xian, and the point was that his mother treated the He family as a true relative, but the He family had poisoned her behind her back.
Being betrayed by her closest kin was the pain in his heart that could not alleviate.
Feng Yuran lowered his head and stared at Mo Xuetong, looking at the reflection of his figure in her clear watery eyes. Her beautiful eyes were filled with tenderness, and the bloodthirsty viciousness in his eyes faded away slowly. He had regained his usual calm. He had only taken a glance at the file on Emperor Zongwen’s table earlier but was stopped by Emperor Zongwen.
When he left just now, he picked up the file. As he sat in Anhe Palace, the more he read it, the harder it was to suppress the anger in his heart. He almost wanted to desperately catch all the He family members and put them to death one by one!
