The Supporting Female Character Enters the Game, the Crazy Crown Prince Slowly Falls Deeply in Love - Chapter 70

Xue Lingqin waved her hand, a hint of impatience in her tone. “Enough. This Princess has things to do. You need to be more spirited yourself, and stop letting people bully you.”

She looks like a little white rabbit, only crying. No wonder people keep bullying her.

Jiang Yao: “…”

Princess, did you forget? You are one of those who relies on influence to bully others…

Only after Xue Lingqin’s figure vanished around the corner did Jiang Yao gently wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes. The expression of grievance on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by a cunning smile.

Finally, that’s settled. Time to go home.

However, she wondered what Xue Lingqin planned to do after realizing the Xue family’s intentions.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard a low voice from ahead.

“A-Yao is always full of surprises.”

Jiang Yao’s heart tightened. She looked up and saw Xie Yunian standing by the Jiang family’s carriage, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

Hearing this, the smile on Jiang Yao’s face did not diminish. She quickly walked up to him. “Xie Lang, why are you here?”

Xie Yunian chuckled softly, his gaze resting on the rabbit fur scarf around her neck. “I also wanted to know what the ‘intimacy’ they spoke of referred to.”

Jiang Yao blinked, a hint of innocence in her voice. “If the incident of falling into the water doesn’t count, does the one at the Huixian Tower count?”

Xie Yunian lowered his gaze, his sight fixed on the young girl’s upturned face.

Her skin was fair and delicate, seeming to glow, and in the sunlight, one could even see fine downy hairs. She was like a flower in first bloom, delicate and alluring.

“Ahem, I’ll escort you back to the manor,” Xie Yunian turned his head, averting his gaze.

Jiang Yao nodded. With Xie Yunian escorting her, surely no one else would be so foolish as to block her path?

The carriage slowly pulled away from the palace gate, heading in the direction of the Jiang Manor.

For some reason, Xie Yunian did not get into the carriage but rode his horse beside it.

Is it because of those rumors?

Then he’s quite considerate.

Perhaps because she had watched a good show at the court banquet today, Jiang Yao was in a good mood.

She leaned against the carriage window, resting half her face on her elbow, her gaze fixed on Xie Yunian. “So, Xie Lang, why were you in the palace today?”

Hearing this, Xie Yunian turned his head slightly to look at her. “I came to the Imperial Hospital for a follow-up examination. I saw the Jiang Manor’s carriage when I left, so I figured you would be here.”

Jiang Yao was taken aback.

Xie Yunian clearly hadn’t lost his memory. What kind of check-up was he having?

She hesitated for a moment, unable to stop herself from asking, her voice soft. “What did the imperial physician say?”

Xie Yunian shook his head, his tone calm. “What else could he say? He told me to rest quietly, and that my memory would eventually recover.”

Jiang Yao nodded, but felt a sense of unease.

The Empress Dowager hosted the Autumn Banquet today. To avoid suspicion, foreign ministers generally would not choose this day to enter the palace.

The Empress Dowager was in the Imperial Garden all day, so Xie Yunian wouldn’t be associated with her faction.

Wait.

Jiang Yao swallowed. A bright yellow figure flashed through her mind.

The Emperor—he had only arrived halfway through.

And he claimed to be busy with state affairs…

So…

The Emperor fainted at the Mid-Autumn Banquet, and the Regent King issued an order to arrest a “fugitive” in the capital. Could there be a connection between these events?

“Why are you staring at me?” Xie Yunian felt somewhat uncomfortable under Jiang Yao’s scrutiny and raised a hand to touch the tip of his nose.

“N-nothing.”

Jiang Yao suddenly remembered Jiang Ying’s words. She opened her mouth, intending to ask Xie Yunian if he needed anything lately.

Before she could speak, she heard the sound of hurried hooves from behind, followed by a familiar figure. “Young Master!”

The person was the same one Jiang Yao had seen outside the window that night.

Xie Yunian pulled on the reins and turned to look.

“Young Master…” Qiyin glanced at Jiang Yao inside the carriage and stopped speaking.

Xie Yunian nodded slightly, then turned to Jiang Yao. “I have something urgent to attend to. I can’t escort you back to the manor today.”

Jiang Yao nodded, indicating her understanding.

Her gaze inadvertently fell on Xie Yunian’s cuff.

The embroidered pattern on the wrist guard was that of a Black Bird (Xuan Niao). It was not a pattern commonly used by embroiderers in the capital. The design was complex, carrying a hint of the northern frontier’s ruggedness.

Jiang Yao suddenly remembered that Xie Yunian grew up in Shuobei. Perhaps he missed Shuobei more than the capital.

Thinking of this, a strange emotion welled up in Jiang Yao’s heart.

His status as a hostage in the capital—is he like an eagle whose wings have been clipped, trapped in this Golden Cage?

“Alright, be careful on your way.” Jiang Yao forced a smile.

Xie Yunian nodded, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment, as if he wanted to say something more, but in the end, he just responded faintly: “Good.”

With that, he turned his horse around and hurried away with Qiyin.

The carriage continued its journey. Jiang Yao leaned back against the cushion, her eyes tightly closed.

According to the original plot, if the Emperor were to die…

What about Xie Yunian?

Would he also die?

If she were to go tell Xie Yunian now to switch allegiance to Prince Jin, Xiao Wuheng, would he agree?

…Certainly not.

Xie Yunian, who was already facing a fatal situation in Jiang Yao’s eyes, was leaning on a soft couch, listening to Qiyin’s report.

“Speaking of which, we really have Third Young Miss Jiang to thank for this,” Qiyin said in a low voice, his tone laced with emotion.

If the Young Master hadn’t sought trouble with the Xuan Yang Marquis’s Consort to stand up for Third Young Miss Jiang, he wouldn’t have uncovered the fact that the loss of the Hetu defense map five years ago was connected to the Xuan Yang Marquis.

Qiyin and his men’s initial intention was merely to make the Xuan Yang Marquis’s Consort suffer a little. After staking out the manor for several days, they finally caught the Consort leaving the manor.

They heard the Xuan Yang Marquis’s Consort was heading to the Jing’an Temple to pray for a son.

Qiyin hid in a tree, but observed that after leaving the Guanyin Pavilion, the Consort was assisted by her maidservant into a side hall on the other side.

The statue of the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva on the altar was ferocious, entirely different from those in ordinary temples—the Bodhisattva’s tin staff was held upside down, and beneath its feet was a bronze lotus inscribed with talismans.

Through the carved lattice window, Qiyin vaguely saw the Xuan Yang Marquis’s Consort tossing a stack of yellow paper talismans into a brazier.

The word “Hetu” on the paper was circled in cinnabar, which looked extremely inauspicious.

“Countless people died in Hetu five years ago due to the loss of the defense map,” Qiyin clenched his fists, recalling those wronged souls. “Yet she ordered the monks to chant the Kṣitigarbha Sutra backward there. This is intended to scatter their souls, preventing them from ever achieving rebirth…”

How could a person’s heart be so vicious?

Xie Yunian gave a cold snort.

If there truly were ghosts in the world, then there would be no such thing as injustice.

After the Old Marquis died, the Xuan Yang Marquis had also wanted to follow his father’s footsteps and inherit the title of General.

Who knew he was merely a useless fool who only talked big, causing many embarrassments and angering the Late Emperor, who publicly scolded him for his incompetence in front of the entire court.

Since then, he had been stripped of military power and retreated to the capital to serve merely as the Xuan Yang Marquis.

Xie Yunian recalled that the initial impeachment of the Xuan Yang Marquis was personally submitted by his father, who could not bear his actions in the military camp.

He must have held a grudge against the Xie family since that time.

Xie Yunian pursed his lips, wondering what role the Regent King had played in this.

He pressed his brow. “His Majesty has already issued an Imperial Decree, using his poor health as an excuse to have the Regent King preside over this year’s Ancestral Rites and Imperial Hunt. Tell them to prepare in advance.”

Some things must finally come to a resolution.