Chapter 134: Crown Princess, Please Save Your Sister

Impossible!

Xiao Ji refuted the thought instantly in his heart.

To marry Xie Yao was one of the few bright lights in his otherwise bleak life. How could he ever regret it?

He only worried.

Worried about what would happen to her after he was gone…

“It would already be too late then!”

Her clear, spirited voice cut through his brooding. He raised his gaze, only to meet Xie Yao’s eyes; bright and burning as if lit with fire.

She was smiling. “Even if Your Highness regretted marrying me, it’s already too late. Now you and I are one. We share honor and disgrace. We even have a child together… Your Highness, you…”

Her words were sealed away.

Xiao Ji kissed her. His kiss was fierce, engulfing, yet carried no storm of passion, but only a tidal wave threatening to drown her.

On the late Empress’s memorial day, even a kiss was already the limit.

Never had one of his kisses been so restrained. He only held her tighter, as if he wished to draw her into his very bones.

“I have never regretted it,” Xiao Ji murmured. “Not once.”

Xie Yao had been busy all day and was truly exhausted. He urged her to rest in the palace for a while. He himself went to check on the injured Prince Hu Lianyuan before leaving the palace together later.

She had no objection. She was used to napping at midday, and soon drifted into slumber.

Only after leaving Si-nan to stand guard outside did Xiao Ji finally depart.

When Xie Yao awoke, he had already returned. He sat reading in the hall, yet his gaze never strayed far from her.

The moment she stirred, he was at her side in a heartbeat, supporting the Crown Princess as she rose, her belly now visibly rounded.

After washing and changing, the couple left the palace together just before the gates closed.

“What did Your Highness say to Prince Hu Lianyuan today?” Xie Yao asked directly.

A glimmer of approval flickered in Xiao Ji’s eyes. “My Yao-yao is sharp.”

“At the Gu residence, when the scandal broke about Hu Lianyuan and Xiao Ning, Hu Lianyuan swore he adored her and was willing to take responsibility. But when I mentioned to him today that Xiao Ning had recently slipped out of the palace to see Song Wenbo, he showed no reaction at all.”

Xie Yao summarized calmly, “Then marrying Xiao Ning serves another purpose.”

“Indeed,” Xiao Ji agreed. “I once thought he sought alliance with Xiao Hong. But today, I am certain, it is Xiao Ning.”

Xie Yao tilted her head in thought, and then suddenly lifted her eyes. “If we could be deceived, but what about Xiao Hong?”

Could he also have been tricked?

Xiao Ji frowned. “You mean…”

“The black-clad men who came and went from the Second Prince’s residence during the southern floods.” Xie Yao picked up smoothly.

In her previous life, from fragments she overheard from Xiao Ning and Song Wenbo, she knew much of Xiao Ning’s hidden power. The Crown Prince himself had never been one to fight for power.

Many who outwardly still belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction had already shifted allegiance to Xiao Hong or Xiao Ning.

The Third Prince had never stepped into the open. The plague, too, had not been Xiao Hong or Xiao Ning’s doing. Then perhaps, someone else still lurked unseen.

Her deduction came after careful reasoning.

Dare to guess boldly, but verify with caution.

Xiao Ji’s frown deepened. “It is possible.”

Highly possible.

Those not of our race harbor different hearts.

After a pause, he said, “I’ll ask Xiao Hong myself.”

If the one who contacted Xiao Hong was Hu Lianyuan or not he would know surely.

And whether he admitted it or not… Xiao Ji had ways to make him speak.

By the time their carriage returned to the Crown Prince’s residence, dusk had fallen.

“Your Highness, Crown Princess, someone from the Xie family is here,” Si-nan announced.

A Xie family carriage waited outside.

Xiao Ji helped Xie Yao down from the carriage. No sooner had they stepped inside than a weeping voice rang out, “Crown Princess! Crown Princess, you’re finally back!”

“Please, you must save Ru’er, she’s your own younger sister!”

It was Lady Qingqing, the so called guest of the Xie family. Dressed all in white, she looked frail and delicate, a pitiful sight even though she was already a mother. Tears streaked her face like falling blossoms.

But before she could reach Xie Yao, Yuyan barred her way.

“Stand back, miss. Do not rush upon the Crown Princess,” Yuyan said sharply.

Instead, Lady Qingqing collapsed against Yuyan, sobbing all the harder.

Yuyan: “…”

Her face twisted with exasperation. If not for this woman bearing the Xie family’s name, she would already have thrown her out!

The endless crying made Xie Yao’s head pound. “Enough,” she said coldly.

Startled by her tone, Lady Qingqing stifled her sobs at once, sniffing miserably. “Crown Princess, Ru’er has been taken to the Ministry of Justice! You must save her!”

Xie Yao: ???

Once seated in the main hall, Xie Yao finally pieced the story together.

Xie Yuru had been shamelessly clinging to Pei Chen these past days, scheming and pestering endlessly.

Today, she barged into a location where Pei Chen was laying an ambush, frightening off his target. Enraged, he had dragged her straight to the Ministry of Justice.

Xie Yao: She deserves it.

But Lady Qingqing, seeing her impassive face, twisted her handkerchief nearly to shreds. “Crown Princess, Ru’er is still so young, a delicate girl from an honorable family. How can she possibly stay in such a place?”

“You must save her. Coming home so late, who knows what terrors she has suffered already?”

At that, every eye in the room turned upon her in anger.

Zhuqing spoke out directly, “Lady Qingqing, are you blaming our Crown Princess? To those who know, you seem like you’re begging for help. But to those who don’t, it sounds as if you’ve come here to accuse her! What audacity, to speak so to Her Highness.”

Lady Qingqing’s face stiffened. She faltered, and then repeated weakly, “But Ru’er is still the Crown Princess’s sister…”

“Lady Qingqing,” Xie Yao cut her off. “Do my father and mother know of this?”

The woman froze. “Your father is not at home…”

As for Madam Zhang?

Holding the keys to the Xie household, Lady Qingqing had long ceased to treat Madam Zhang as the true mistress. In matters concerning her daughter, how could she even think of informing Madam Zhang?

“As a guest of the Xie family, your concern for their young ladies is admirable,” Xie Yao said coolly. “But…”

“Even concern must know its bounds.”

“Zhuqing, see her out.”

Xie Yao rose. Lady Qingqing leapt up at once. “I can leave, but you must save Ru’er!”

Xie Yao’s patience wore thin. She was about to order the woman dragged away….

When the steward’s voice called from outside, “Your Highness, Crown Princess, Master Xie seeks an audience.”

Lady Qingqing’s eyes lit up instantly. She looked to the doorway as if salvation had arrived.

Xie Yao’s father entered, attendants in tow.

“My lord…”

Lady Qingqing’s plaintive voice had only just begun when Xiao Ji’s cold voice cut across it, “A mere guest in Father-in-law’s household dares speak with such gall.”

Master Xie’s face darkened. He cast her a sharp, warning look before bowing respectfully to Xiao Ji.

“Forgive her offense, Your Highness.”

Frightened, Lady Qingqing finally fell silent.

Only then did Master Xie speak carefully. “Your Highness, Crown Princess, my daughter acted recklessly today. But she is still young, please, grant her leniency this once.

“When we return, I will see her properly disciplined. She will not dare cause such trouble again.”

He had been at a banquet. Only upon returning home did he hear that Lady Qingqing had gone to the Crown Prince’s residence. Alarmed, he rushed over immediately.

Xiao Ji glanced at him. “Does Master Xie know that your Third Young Lady ruined a pursuit by the Ministry of Justice, letting a fugitive escape?”