Ning Xueyan looked at him coldly, her brows knitted into a frown, and said unhappily, “Your Highness, I should be leaving.”

“Yan’er, if he treats you so poorly, you can come to me. I’ll protect you!” Ao Mingyu seemed determined to express all of his feelings. He even ignored Ning Xueyan’s displeasure and reached out to grab her hand with the look of a man who couldn’t control his emotions anymore. Excitement flitted across his pupils.

“I can treat you better than he can. I would never let you spend your wedding night alone nor would I let those lowly concubines bully you. I wouldn’t let you return to your home all by yourself. I’ll dote on you, I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world!”

Ao Mingyu looked at Ning Xueyan with desire burning in his eyes. The more he spoke, the more touched he was. He didn’t think that he, a prince, would have such deep feelings for a woman. He didn’t care that she was a married woman. He could even promise her that he would make her the happiest woman in the world. No woman would be immune to such a promise.

He was determined to win over the woman in front of him!

He came here for Ning Xueyan. Ning Qingshan was just an excuse. Ning Qingshan was busy looking for someone at the moment, and he had also given her the leeway to do so. If Ning Qingshan proved herself to be useful, he didn’t mind giving her a higher position. That way, he could also pacify his maternal grandfather and mother.

Ning Qingshan would just be another woman in his backyard. It made no difference to him.

Xia Yuhang wanted to meet Ning Ziyan in the prison, so after their discussion, he visited the palace to snoop around. When he arrived at the imperial study, a eunuch told him that Prince Yi was inside but Ning Xueyan was at the Small Jing’an Temple. Before he knew it, he was already walking toward the temple.

Ever since Ning Xueyan married Ao Chenyi, he hadn’t seen much of her. Even if he did see her, it was a fleeting glimpse of her from a distance. He couldn’t tell what this made him feel.

Even so, he had the sudden urge to see her. While Ao Chenyi was still in the imperial study, he changed directions and headed for the Small Jing’an Temple. Sure enough, he happened to catch her just as she was leaving and stopped her.

Ning Xueyan was livid. She looked at Ao Mingyu, who must have thought his gaze was affectionate, and felt so angry that she nearly slapped him. She wanted him to sober up. Who did he think he was? He wouldn’t let her spend her wedding night alone? He would make her the happiest woman in the world? He made it sound as if these words came from the bottom of his heart.

The reality was, there was nothing between them. What right did he have to say such things to her?

“Your Highness, why would you say that to me? I’m your imperial aunt now, your uncle’s wife. Don’t you think you are overstepping your authority?”

Unable to maintain her smile, Ning Xueyan looked at him even more coldly.

“Are you afraid that he’d find out? It’s all right. I’ll have someone take you away in a while. Since you’ll be going missing in the palace, he won’t pin it on me. Besides, he doesn’t care for you. Who cares if he can’t find you? Stay with me from now on. I’ll take good care of you. I won’t ever let anyone bully you. No one can.”

Ao Mingyu said, his voice deep with emotion.

Perhaps, any other woman who heard this would be very touched, but this was Ning Xueyan. She looked at him icily, her gaze menacingly cold. Lanning stepped forward, putting herself in between Ning Xueyan and Ao Mingyu.

“Your Highness, I don’t care what you’re up to. I just want you to know that our Prince will be here very soon. Do you think you can let him see you like this?”

These words were ice-cold. Ning Xueyan’s face was without any smile as she looked at Ao Mingyu coldly. It was obvious that she wasn’t at all moved by his words.

Ao Mingyu looked at her in disbelief. How could she not be touched at all? It was always the women who chased him around, never the other way around. They loved his noble identity, gentleman’s demeanor, handsome face. Coupled with his emotional speech, any other woman would have been so moved that they would look at him bashfully.

But why was Ning Xueyan reacting like this? Never mind being moved, she was even looking at him so coldly. Feeling like he was mocked, his face flushed with color. He felt resentful, and a trace of anger crossed his eyes.

No woman had ever rejected him and yet she did, and repeatedly at that. Their past affair was no more than several ambiguous exchanges between their elders, where her opinion was insignificant. He could have forgiven that, but not this time. Not only did she not respond to his emotional words, but she even showed such an expression. Ao Mingyu was furious.

“Yan’er, you must be terrified of Ao Chenyi! You don’t have to be. I’ll take you away now,” he said, reaching out to grab Ning Xueyan.

Lanning stepped forward and blocked Ao Chenyi’s outreached hand. She glared at him. “Prince Xiang, please show some respect!”

“Get out of my way!” A furious Ao Mingyu flung Lanning away. Unlike Xinmei, Lanning wasn’t a martial artist and was no match for him. She was knocked so hard into a nearby tree trunk that she fainted.

“Lanning!” Ning Xueyan was shocked. She immediately turned around to run toward her maid. She never expected Ao Mingyu to become so mad as to do such a thing.

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“Yan’er, come with me…” Ao Mingyu reached out to grab Ning Xueyan again, his gaze looking sharp. He wanted this woman, desperately so. In the beginning, he thought he wouldn’t miss this woman so much after she married Ao Chenyi. He thought that he would make her kneel and beg him in the future.

Yet, looking at her apathetic expression, he felt hurt. All he wanted now was to take her away and hide her somewhere, never letting Ao Chenyi find her again. He even thought that it was worth confronting Ao Chenyi for her sake. Of course, knowing how little Ao Chenyi cared for her, he would at most investigate her disappearance and leave it at that.

Perhaps, Ao Chenyi would use this incident to threaten the Emperor into making concessions. He could endure this.

At this moment, he was obsessed with taking her away. He wanted to take her with him, take this woman away, make her into his…

Suddenly, a tranquil voice rang out, shattering the tension like a morning bell. “Your Highness, what, what is going on?” The voice prompted the madness in Ao Mingyu’s eyes to fade and he sobered up instantly. This was the palace, not his manor. There might be people somewhere who saw him with Ning Xueyan.

Besides, even if Ao Chenyi didn’t care for Ning Xueyan, he would never let someone kidnap his princess without doing anything. This was a matter of his reputation, and he might very well cause a bloody feud. No one knew what would happen if Ao Chenyi was infuriated; he was never one to play by the rules.

He would not be able to counterattack Ao Chenyi if the latter targeted him. Their fight might even benefit Ao Mingwan in the end.

He gradually calmed down as he weighed these consequences, but his expression sank when he looked at the grey-robed nun at the mouth of the path.

“Your maid has some nerve to disrespect me! Please discipline her properly when you return, Princess Yi.”

He was addressing Ning Xueyan. Of course, he was also trying to explain why he pushed Lanning so hard that she fainted. With that said, he turned around and left with his servant.

Once he left, Ning Xueyan ran up to Lanning and helped her up. “Lanning! Lanning!” she cried, panicked.

“Let me have a look at her.” Senior Nun Jing Kong walked over to them and squatted down. She grabbed Lanning’s hand and felt her pulse.

“Don’t be so worried, Your Highness. She lost consciousness, that’s all. She’ll be better when she wakes up and gets some rest,” Senior Nun Jing Kong said, pinching Lanning’s philtrum with force.

A couple of pinches later, Lanning gradually regained consciousness.

“Lanning, how do you feel?” Ning Xueyan asked impatiently. Lanning was her most capable maid, and also one who had accompanied her throughout two lifetimes. Her feelings for her were different from other maids. She took Lanning with her to the palace, thinking there wouldn’t be any danger, and left Xinmei to run another errand outside.

She never thought she would run into Ao Mingyu in such a remote place in the palace or that Ao Mingyu would behave like a deranged man. He dared to do something like this in the palace.

“Master, I’m fine. Is Prince Xiang gone yet?” Lanning got back to her feet with Senior Nun Jing Kong’s help and rubbed her head. Even though she was dizzy, her body wasn’t hurt anywhere else. When she looked around and didn’t see Ao Mingyu, she felt relieved.

“He’s gone. Fortunately, Senior Nun showed up. Thank you!” Ning Xueyan turned around and saluted Senior Nun Jing Kong with a nod.

Senior Nun Jing Kong nodded. “It’s no problem. You should get back, Your Highness. Small Jing’an Temple is remote, so hardly anyone ever comes.”

Ning Xueyan nodded, knowing that Senior Nun Jing Kong was warning her not to stay here for long. She helped Lanning up and together, they made their way back. Even though she didn’t know why Ao Mingyu was acting so deranged, he must have sobered up by now and was unlikely to repeat his behavior.

As expected, their journey back was smooth. When Ning Xueyan was about to reach the Emperor’s palace, she ran into Ao Chenyi, who was on his way to meet her. He stopped walking when he saw a pale-faced Ning Xueyan supporting an even paler Lanning, his expression dark.

“What happened?”

“We ran into Prince Xiang.” Naturally, Ning Xueyan knew what to say and what not to say in the palace.

“Did he hit Lanning?” Ao Chenyi narrowed his beautiful eyes, his pupils a pool of sinister coldness.

Handing Lanning to Eunuch Zhu, Ning Xueyan walked over to Ao Chenyi and tugged at his sleeve. “He wants to grab me, so Lanning stopped him,” she explained in a low voice.

A murderous glint flashed in Ao Chenyi’s cold eyes. His sudden smirk was enough to cause a chill to run down one’s spine. The slight mirth on his face was bright, yet cold.

He turned around, wanting to return to the Emperor’s palace.

An anxious Ning Xueyan immediately threw herself at him, not caring that she was in front of others, and hugged his waist. “He didn’t touch me. Senior Nun Jing Kong showed up and he left after seeing someone else.”

Sensing him struggling to get out of her hold, she held tightly onto his clothes. This was the palace and everywhere were the eyes and ears of the Emperor. If Ao Chenyi did anything that the Emperor could take advantage of, the latter would surely not let him off easily. The Emperor hadn’t been able to do anything to Ao Chenyi all these years, simply because Ao Chenyi was able to make use of his opportunities.