Chapter 34: Don’t Tell Me He’s Fallen in Love with Me?
“Huh? The Crown Prince gave this to me?”
Raising her eyebrows slightly, Huangfu Changan turned the glittering gold medallion over and over in her hand. First, she feigned a touch of surprise, then the corners of her mouth hooked up in a smug grin. She flipped her long hair back over her shoulder, striking a pose she believed to be dashing and suave, and laughed with no small amount of narcissism.
“To think the Crown Prince would be willing to part with such a precious item. I really don’t know if I should call him generous, or if… wait! Could it be… that the Crown Prince has been conquered by my unique charisma? Has he uncontrollably, hopelessly, deeply… fallen in love with me?!”
“Cough! Cough, cough, cough…”
Perched on the treetop, Bai Su expressed deeply that she had uncontrollably and hopelessly choked on her own saliva! Dare she ask, could the Crown Prince contain her shamelessness even a little bit?!
Hearing Huangfu Changan speak like this, even the eternal fox-like mask on Nangong Liyue’s face couldn’t help but crack slightly. The corners of his narrow, elongated eyes twitched twice before he focused his gaze, looking deep into Huangfu Changan’s eyes. His tone remained as cool and arrogant as ever.
“Besides this gold medallion, the Crown Prince also had someone bring you a message.”
“What message?”
As she spoke, Huangfu Changan pulled open her lapel and very consciously stuffed the gold medallion into her pocket. Meeting Nangong Liyue’s slightly darkened gaze, she simply threw a cheeky wink back at him.
“A treasure delivered right to my door—only a fool would turn it down. Don’t you dare tell me to return it!”
Nangong Liyue let out a faint snort, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. However, his gaze remained tightly fixed on Huangfu Changan’s face, as if trying to bore two holes through it. Even his tone became somewhat eccentric, laced with a trace of imperceptible displeasure.
“The Crown Prince asks you… regarding what was said in the dungeon that night, how is your consideration coming along?”
“Oh, so it’s about that…” Huangfu Changan swallowed a piece of candied fruit, looking completely unconcerned. She knew perfectly well that Nangong Liyue was fishing for information, but she deliberately played Tai Chi with him, talking in circles and refusing to get to the point. “Such a trivial matter, why would I need three days to consider? for something so obvious, This Young Master made up his mind long ago…”
Seeing Huangfu Changan keeping him in suspense, Nangong Liyue didn’t pay it much mind. He cut straight to the chase.
“That night in the dungeon, what did the Crown Prince say to you?”
“You want to know?” Hooking her eyes up playfully, Huangfu Changan leaned in with a grin, presenting her cheek to him as she teased, “Kiss me once, and I’ll tell you.”
Nangong Liyue took a half-step back, not buying it.
“Heh… even if you don’t say it, This Prince knows what he said.”
“Oh? Then why don’t you tell me…” Turning to take a step forward, Huangfu Changan curved her eyes and blew a gentle breath toward Nangong Liyue, her smile treacherous and cunning. “What did the Crown Prince say to me?”
Nangong Liyue calmly retreated two steps, speaking indifferently.
“It was nothing more than coercion and bribery.”
Huangfu Changan advanced another two steps. “And the specifics?”
“Coercion goes without saying; your current situation is troublesome enough. As for bribery…” Nangong Liyue continued to retreat expressionlessly. “The Crown Prince doesn’t know your true identity yet. In nine cases out of ten, he likely used high office, rich salary, or perhaps rare treasures to tempt you.”
Huangfu Changan closely followed, advancing three steps!
“But you know, while This Young Master does like gold, silver, and jewels, those things are far from enough to satisfy me… That night, in order to win me over, the Crown Prince proposed a very tempting condition. He told This Young Master to consider it for three days… and give him an answer after three days. Guess what condition the Crown Prince proposed?”
Nangong Liyue tried to retreat again, but as soon as he lifted his leg, he kicked the wall.
“What condition?”
Huangfu Changan unhesitatingly blocked him into the corner, beaming with triumph.
“Guess!”
Nangong Liyue turned his head to the side, looking at a nearby vase.
“I won’t guess.”
Huangfu Changan wouldn’t give up, continuing to tempt him. “Guess right and there’s a prize!”
Nangong Liyue kept staring at the vase. “I won’t guess.”
“Tsk! What’s so good about a vase? Is it as easy on the eyes as This Young Master?” Raising a hand to physically turn Nangong Liyue’s face back, Huangfu Changan tried hard to stand on her tiptoes, attempting to look Nangong Liyue in the eye. However, her height of 1.6 meters was a fatal flaw! Helpless, Huangfu Changan had to wave her hand, making a ‘time-out’ gesture. “Wait a second!”
Saying that, she turned and dragged a chair over from the table, placing it heavily in front of Nangong Liyue. She then stepped onto it with one foot and sat on the backrest!
With this, their line of sight was exactly on the same level. Ding! You could almost hear the sound of their gazes connecting!
Raising a hand to compare their heights, Huangfu Changan felt rather stifled.
“This is too unfair. You’re only two or three years older than me, yet you’re so much taller. Where is the justice? Where is the justice…”
Hearing this, Nangong Liyue finally couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at her—a classic dead-fish eye roll—and flicked his sleeves, preparing to dodge away.
However, before he could turn, Huangfu Changan grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him heavily back against the wall!
“What’s the rush? Yours Truly hasn’t even started talking yet!”
Nangong Liyue lowered his eyes, slightly regretting interfering in this matter… If he had known Huangfu Changan was this annoying, he wouldn’t have bothered asking so much and would have just let the servants deliver the item!
“Speak.”
“Hehe…” After building up the suspense, Huangfu Changan first gave a lecherous grin before cutting to the chase. “Actually, it’s not that big of a condition. You know my demands have always been simple! Ever since I was in my mother’s womb, I’ve had zero resistance to beauties. So… when His Highness the Crown Prince said he would offer himself as the reward to repay This Palace, I really felt a little… no, extremely unable to control myself!”
Feeling Huangfu Changan’s gaze falling straight onto his face without even blinking, speaking as if her words were truer than gold… Nangong Liyue gave a faint scoff and unhesitatingly exposed her!
“The Crown Prince would never agree to such a condition.”
To this, Huangfu Changan hummed noncommittally twice and retorted, “You aren’t him, how do you know if he would agree?”
Nangong Liyue spoke word by word, enchanting, wicked, and arrogant without hiding his sharp edge.
“Because… This Prince wouldn’t.”
Seeing him vow so solemnly, Huangfu Changan couldn’t help but get curious. “What if the Crown Prince really agreed? Would you agree too?”
Regarding this, Nangong Liyue once again ruthlessly severed Huangfu Changan’s delusion.
“That is impossible!”
Huangfu Changan got a little angry. “What makes you so certain?!”
Nangong Liyue smiled.
“Because neither the Crown Prince nor This Prince are people willing to bow our heads and become subjects. Otherwise… things wouldn’t have escalated to this state, and there would be no need for you in the first place!”
Huangfu Changan paused slightly. Strange, why did that sound familiar?
Damn, she remembered! Nangong Zhongyuan had said the exact same thing, practically down to the punctuation marks! Enough already—are you two really a match made in heaven and earth? Do you have to be so telepathic without even communicating?! If this keeps up, how can she, the third wheel, have the nerve to break them up?!
“Hmph! One day, Yours Truly will make both of you obediently kneel before me and, as you said… bow your heads and become subjects!”
Leaning against the tree trunk, Bai Su silently mouthed the words along with her, expressing that even the look of indignation was exactly the same as Huangfu Changan’s… So, um… Director! I’ve memorized the lines too! When can I play the lead?!
“Heh…” Nangong Liyue gave a faint, indifferent smile, his tone full of dismissal. “Then let’s wait until that time comes. This Prince… will wait and see.”
As he spoke, Nangong Liyue calmly, quietly, raised his hand. He placed a finger on the backrest of the chair Huangfu Changan was standing on, and gently… gave it a push.
Because Huangfu Changan was sitting on the backrest, the chair’s center of gravity was already unstable. With Nangong Liyue’s push, the balance easily tipped to one side. At first, Huangfu Changan didn’t notice, and by the time she reacted, it was too late. She toppled backward, stiff as a board, along with the chair. In that awkward posture, she couldn’t jump clear and had no way to stabilize herself.
“Ah… ahhh… Holy crap! Save me!”
In the moment she fell, Huangfu Changan didn’t know it was Nangong Liyue’s doing; she thought she had lost her balance. She didn’t curse him in rage but watched helplessly as the little fox Nangong stood aside with arms crossed, watching with folded arms… and even schadenfreude. She finally couldn’t help but shout a profanity.
“Damn it! Would it kill you to give me a hand?!”
The next second, just as Huangfu Changan’s head was about to hit the floor, Nangong Liyue moved like lightning, grabbing her arm and preventing the tragedy!
“Hmph! At least you have a little conscience!”
Using Nangong Liyue’s strength, Huangfu Changan bounced up from the ground with a whoosh, hanging onto Nangong Liyue’s shoulder like a monkey. Holding his arm, she smiled and changed her tone, no longer talking nonsense in circles.
“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore! Since This Palace stayed, I won’t sell you out. You don’t need to worry about the Crown Prince’s side. When the time comes tomorrow, I’ll go reject him.”
“Don’t reject him.” Narrowing his long eyes slightly, Nangong Liyue lowered his brows and smiled, looking like a little fox that had cultivated in the deep mountains for a thousand years. “It’s rare for the Crown Prince to invest such capital, even giving away a gold medallion. How can there be any logic in returning it?”
Huangfu Changan put on a face that said “This pleases the Emperor greatly” and asked back.
“Then you mean…?”
“Play along with his plot. Tomorrow morning, you move into the Eastern Palace.”
Hearing this, Huangfu Changan looked like she was about to weep. “What? You’re chasing me away?!”
Nangong Liyue frowned with a headache.
“Do you expect This Prince to accompany you?”
Huangfu Changan raised a paw in approval. “Sure! If we get one more person, we can form a Mahjong table!”
“… I’m not going.”
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