Chapter 26: His Highness Would Worry About Me

Although Xie Yao had accepted Princess He Yi’s invitation, she still decided to inform Xiao Ji.

“Your Highness,” Xie Yao said gently, “Princess He Yi is hosting a banquet at her residence to thank me.”

“You agreed?” Xiao Ji cut straight to the point.

Xie Yao nodded. “Mhm.”

She looked at him with wide, expectant eyes, clearly waiting to see his reaction.

“En.” Xiao Ji barely reacted, lowering his eyes back to the book in his hands.

Xie Yao pressed forward, asking sweetly, “Is Your Highness not worried about me?”

“…”

He trusted that she wouldn’t agree unless she had made her own calculations. Still, he finally said, “Take Si-nan with you.”

“I knew Your Highness would worry about me.” Her brows curved like crescents as she smiled.

The hand holding his book tightened. Lately, this Crown Princess had grown far too bold, her words more and more direct.

Just after she left the study, the steward entered. “Your Highness, Second Young Lady Xie has come, asking to see you.”

Xie Yujiao.

“Let her in.” After a pause, Xie Yao decided to meet her.

Soon enough, Xie Yujiao strode in furiously.

The Crown Prince’s residence was a place she knew well.

Compared to their last meeting, she looked far more haggard, thinner, and visibly aged. Once surrounded by servants, she now had only Momo Zhang and the maid Qiucha trailing behind.

Xie Yao didn’t need to ask. Clearly, both Yujiao and her attendants had been harshly suppressed by Madam Song Li.

“Xie Yao!” Yujiao completely ignored seniority and propriety, calling her elder sister by name in front of servants. “Where’s my husband? Where did you hide him?”

Her eyes blazed with hatred and suspicion.

Ever since the fiasco at Master Qingshan’s disciple ceremony, Song Wenbo hadn’t returned home.

She couldn’t think of where else he could be. The only possibility was Xie Yao.

In their previous life, this vixen had bewitched her husband until he had eyes for no one else…

Xie Yao smiled lightly. “Your husband? Why ask me?”

“If not you, then who else?” Yujiao shot back recklessly.

“Second Young Lady,” Zhuqing interrupted sharply, “do not slander Her Highness’s reputation!”

“Slander?” Yujiao sneered. “Xie Yao, I warn you, hand over my husband, or else… I’ll make sure you regret it!”

Her gaze sharpened. “Surely you don’t want everyone to know… about your origin?”

The emphasis she placed on those words made her meaning clear.

The strange circumstances of Master Qingshan’s disciple selection had to be connected to Xie Yao.

So Yujiao boldly guessed that she was not the only one reborn and that Xie Yao was also reborn.

But Xie Yao only raised a brow. “Origin? What origin? Second Sister, have you lost your senses? You and I are both daughters of the Xie family. What other origin is there?”

Yujiao narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her up and down, as though she could pierce through to the truth.

But no matter how she stared, Xie Yao’s expression remained flawless.

Yujiao faltered. Could it… really just be coincidence?

If Xie Yao had also been reborn, why would she willingly marry the Crown Prince, a man fated to die?

“Servants,” Xie Yao said calmly, “Second Sister must be overwrought, her mind disturbed. Fetch the physician at once.”

A maid immediately hurried out.

“Stop!” Yujiao barked, blocking her way. “If you didn’t hide him, then help me find him!”

How brazen.

“Rest assured, Second Sister,” Xie Yao replied. “If the scholar Song has disappeared, I can’t simply stand by while you worry.”

“Steward, report to the authorities.”

The steward of the Crown Prince’s household instantly turned and left the residence.

Song Wenbo was a certified scholar, a man with official rank. For someone like that to vanish, the magistrate’s office would have to investigate.

Could it truly not have been Xie Yao?

Eight parts of Yujiao’s certainty wavered.

“No, don’t report to the officials!” She quickly realized something and tried to stop them.

But the Crown Prince’s steward would never heed her.

“You wish to find him, yet you won’t let us report it? Coming to the Crown Prince’s residence to throw around accusations, do you truly think nothing of us?” Xie Yao’s eyes turned cold.

And what if she didn’t think anything of them?

Yujiao wanted to retort, but the chill in her sister’s gaze made her throat seize.

Xie Yao… had changed.

Yet her tone softened a moment later. “But since Second Sister is only worried for her husband, I won’t hold it against you.”

“I will personally instruct the capital prefecture to find him. See Second Sister out.”

Of course, she already knew exactly where Song Wenbo was…currently vying for favor at Princess He Yi’s residence.

That he had managed to climb into her bed spoke volumes about his ambition.

During the uproar over Master Qingshan’s discipleship, Xiao Ning had been bedridden in the palace after falling into the water. She hadn’t been able to pass messages quickly.

But Song Wenbo had lost face. If he wanted to regain Xiao Ning’s favor, he’d have to work much harder.

Once he learned that Yujiao had sabotaged his chances yet again, what face would he show then?

“Hmph!”

Yujiao gave a cold snort, her eyes filled with arrogant disdain.

She strode right up to Xie Yao, craning her neck. “Soon you’ll see just how wrong a path you’ve chosen!”

With a dramatic flick of her sleeves, she spun and left, her posture lofty.

“Your Highness, Second Young Lady was far too much!” The servants were indignant at her arrogance.

But Xie Yao wasn’t angry. Watching her sister’s retreating figure, her lips even curved faintly.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Quickly, send word to find him. If Second Sister worries for her husband, as her elder sister, I naturally must help her.”

Not long after, the news spread: the Xie family’s Second Young Lady had reported her missing husband, Scholar Song. With the Crown Prince’s seal of authority, the prefecture dared not dismiss the case.

It wasn’t hard to trace Song Wenbo’s steps after leaving the Cui residence.

The question was, did they dare to keep digging? Could they keep digging?

That afternoon, Zhuxin entered with a report. “Your Highness, Song Wenbo has already left Princess He Yi’s estate and returned home. But he looked very angry.”

—

At the Song household.

The moment Wenbo entered, Yujiao hurried forward. “Husband, you—”

Before she could finish, he seized her arm and dragged her inside.

Yujiao blinked, cheeks flushing. It was broad daylight, and her husband so urgently wanted….

Slap!

The sharp crack shattered her illusions.

Song Wenbo’s eyes were icy. “Stupid woman!”

Her face snapped to the side, white skin swelling red, blood trickling from the corner of her lips.

She clutched her cheek in disbelief, staring at him. “You… you hit me?”

Translator’s Note: I have stocked few chapters with me out of which I will keep some as advance chapter and post the remaining for free. All the advance chapter will be free after a fixed time (a week) and at the end of the novel everything will be free. So don’t worry!!
Also, I am thinking of uploading 10 chapters a week so what do you think, should I post them, all at once or 2 per day ? Do let me know in comments!