As the night deepened, Ouyang Shaochen came before the Marquis Mansion holding Murong Xue in his arm. The two exquisite red lanterns on both sides of the gate were shining with warm light.
Ouyang Shaochen darkened his eyes and then said lightly, âOld Prince Jing has got an old disease. Shouldnât you pay him a visit?â
Murong Xue nodded, âOf course. Iâm going tomorrow morning, and I can take the betrothal gifts and all the other festival gifts with me, to cancel the engagementâŚâ
Since the Old Prince Jing had come back, she should do it at the fastest speed, in case of any incoming troubles.
A slice of unnoticeable smile flashed on Ouyang Shaochenâs face but was gone instantly. He said in a low voice, âBut it seems that Old Prince Jing doesnât agreeâŚâ
Murong Xue hummed, âI donât want to be Ye Yichenâs concubine, or die in his hands without knowing why. So whether he agrees or not, I will do itâŚâ
Looking at her firm eyes, Ouyang Shaochen curled his lips with a graceful radian, saying with a flat tone, âDo you need my help?â
âNo, thanks. This is between me and Ye Yichen. You should stay out of it. Murong Xue smiled at him gently.
She said in her heart, âOuyang Shaochen is Lord Freedomâs heir, an outsider. Itâs not justified to take him to Prince Jing Mansion with her. And if the Old Prince Jing thinks that she doesnât show the courtesy and is hard on her, itâd only make things more complicatedâŚâ
âThen Iâll wait for your news in the mansion.â Said Ouyang Shaochen lightly, with kind of unspoken expression flashed in his eyes.
âOK!â Murong Xue nodded: The spies of Lord Freedom were almost everywhere in the capital. So if she successfully cancelled the engagement, he would know soon.
Looking at her worn out expression, Ouyang Shaochen said lightly, âItâs late. You should go back to rest. Thereâre a lot of things to do tomorrow.â
âHm! Good night!â Murong Xue said gently, and then turned around and walked into the mansion noiselessly.
Until she disappeared at the end of the road, Ouyang Shaochen turned around gracefully and went back to Lord of Freedom Mansion.
Light steps were heard behind. Someone was following him. Ouyang Shaochen pretended he didnât know, and walked in big strides. After a few turns, he arrived at the mansion of Lord of Freedom.
The guard stopped him, âSir, this is Lord of Freedomâs Mansion. No outsider is allowed in.â
âOur lord is your princeâs friend. He isnât an outsider.â Huo Tong argued. Ouyang Shaochen raised his eyebrows, and then turned to the Dongfang Li and his servant at the door, âDongfang Li, itâs already late. What are you doing here instead of checking in a hotel or an inn?â
âOf course Iâm here to put up for the night.â Dongfang Li said lightly. Murong Xue was a woman, so it was inconvenient to go back with her. He could only live next door to her. Although it was only separated by a wall, it was not so good to watch the show.
Ouyang Shaochen liked Murong Xue. So it was quite likely that he would step in Murong Xue and Ye Yichenâs engagement stuff. And if he stayed with Ouyan Shaochen, heâd definitely watch the scene of bustle.
Ouyang Shaochen looked at him and said with a cold voice, âThis is not a hotel. You should check in an inn.â
âUrgh, the environment there is bad, furnishings bad, and food bad, I wonât go there.â Dongfang Li shook his head. And when he saw Ouyang Shaochenâs gloomy face, something flashed in his eyes,
âIf I am not welcomed here, then I am going to Prince Jing Mansion. Although I only met Prince Jing and his father for once, as the seventh prince of Xi Liang, I believe theyâll be very pleased to let me in andâŚâ
With his lips curled, Dongfang Li turned around and pretended to go.
âWait!â Ouyang Shaochen stopped him. Any official who knew that he was the seventh prince of Xiliang Kingdom would be very pleased to let him in.
And only Xueâer could detoxify his Blood Poison and she had to do it for him every three days. If he lived in Prince Jing Mansion, then Xueâer had to go and out of there oftenâŚ
âSomeone! Bring the prince to the guest room in the southeast corner.â
âSoutheast corner?â Dongfang Li squeezed his eyes and frowned lightly, âOuyang Shaochen, as your honored guest, how could you let me stay in such a remote yard?â
âThis is Lord of Freedom Mansion, not your Xi Liang Palace. Thereâs no place for you to choose. The guest room in there is already good enough for you. Sleep there or leave!â Ouyang Shaochen cast a glance at him and then strode away.
Watching the southeast corner, Dongfang Li smiled. He just came from there. Despite the high walls, he already had a picture of it. Though it was a bit remote, the environment there was quite good with grass and flowers. A good place for him to detoxify. He would tarry here and watch the show by the way.
Tomorrow Murong Xue was going to cancel the engagement. No one knew whether she could succeed or not.
The next morning, after the thin mist dispersed, the golden sunlight sprinkled the ground.
In the main room, the Old Prince Jing who had been insensible for the whole night slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that came into his eyes was Ye Yichenâs delicate but a little pale face. Ye Yichen looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes. Apparently he stayed up the whole night.
On seeing his father wake up, Ye Yichen felt much relieved, âFather, you are awake.â
The Old Prince Jing responded and then sat up. He heaved a sigh lightly while looking at his sonâs tiring and pace face, âYichen, it was me and your uncle Yue who arranged your engagement with Murong Xue. Now uncle Yue has passed away, you should take better care of his only left child. You canât do such perfidious things. Murong Xue will be your wife. You should give up the plan of demoting her to a concubineâŚâ
With his eyes darkened, Ye Yichen said in a low voice, âMurong Xue doesnât want to be my wife at all. The only thing on her mind now is to cancel the engagementâŚâ
âShouldnât you be blamed for this? If you hadnât demoted her to a concubine to embarrass her in front of everyone, how would she draw a clear line with you?â
The Old Prince Jing scolded him and then glared at him, âYou go to Marquis Mansion to apologize to Xueâer now and beg her to forgive youâŚâ
âFather!â Ye Yichen was surprised. As the prince, how could he go apologize to Murong Xue?
âWhy are you staring at me?â The Old Prince Jing squirted at him and said word by word, âI am in charge of your engagement. No one can change it. Your wife would only be Murong Xue! Before you marry her, you could marry no one elseâŚâ
Ye Yichen pulled his face, saying nothing.
At this time a guard came in, âMy lords, Princess Murong Xue from Marquis Mansion requests to see you.â\n