It was none other than Hua Qiuying!

When Ning Xueyan saw Hua Qiuying with her maid, she became certain that Hua Qiuying and Heng Yuwan showed up here one after another for a reason. They must be connected. After all, Hua Qiuying mentioned the birthday banquet at the Lord Guardian’s Manor in her letter to Commandery Princess Xianyun.

Hua Qiuying peered into the shop before entering through the door. This time, Heng Yuqing waited outside for a moment and then followed suit with her maid. Ning Xueyan, in her seat upstairs, could no longer see any of them.

Lanning was also looking out of the window, following her master’s line of sight. They couldn’t see them anymore. She thought for a moment before turning to Ning Xueyan. “Young Lady, will Eldest Young Lady Heng be fine?”

“She’ll be fine. Well, at most, they’ll be uncomfortable to see her. Heng Yuwan and Hua Qiuying wouldn’t do anything excessive in public. Besides, when we were shopping for jewelry earlier, I remember seeing a hall on the right. There are many seats there for you to sit down and look at the jewelry.”

Ning Xueyan replied after thinking about it. If Heng Yuwan had sneaked out to meet Hua Qiuying, they would certainly find a place to sit and talk. There were things that they couldn’t discuss in front of shop employees, after all.

“Yes, I remember it now. There are indeed seats there. The shop even separated the seats with screens.” Lanning recalled the hall as well. When they entered the shop earlier, she was worried that her master would get tired from looking at the jewelry for too long and paid particular attention to the hall. She didn’t mention it because her master and Eldest Young Lady Heng ended up finishing their shopping quickly.

If Heng Yuqing was careful and sat behind the screen separating their seats, they wouldn’t notice her.

It wasn’t guaranteed that she wouldn’t be discovered, though. Ning Xueyan stood up with a frown. Perhaps she should go down and take a look as well. If something unexpected were to happen, she could at least give Heng Yuqing a hand.

However, before she could even walk to the door, it was pushed open. Wen Xueran stood at the door, looking like the perfect gentleman, with a graceful smile lighting up his handsome face. His expression, however, was unreadable.

Lanning instinctively stepped in front of Ning Xueyan and stared warily at Wen Xueran.

“Can we have a chat?” Wen Xueran raised his brow and smiled, looking as though he didn’t see Lanning standing in front of Ning Xueyan. He seemed quite flirty and persistent, but he was already entering the room.

“Lanning, go out and guard the door.” Looking at him, Ning Xueyan knew that she had no choice but to have a chat with him.

“Master, I…” Lanning knew the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Min, a man who usually carried an intense, bewitching charm. He would look at everyone with just a hint of seduction, but her intuition told her that he was a very dangerous one today.

Ning Xueyan took a deep breath and said coldly, “Go out!” The fact that Wen Xueran showed up so shortly after Heng Yuqing left showed that he had someone keeping an eye on her. Perhaps, his spy had been watching her since she came out or even the entire time. Something must have happened, but she wasn’t worried that Wen Xueran would kidnap her at this time.

To be fair, she wasn’t all that useful aside from her identities as Princess Yi and the so-called princess of the previous dynasty. Everyone believed that the so-called medallion and treasures of the former imperial family existed, so they were desperate to find the former princess. Only Ao Chenyi and Wen Xueran knew that those things were long gone. The medallion and treasures were a myth.

That meant that her identity as the daughter of the former Empress was worthless.

Seeing that Ning Xueyan was furious, Lanning had no choice but to walk out of the room, close the door, and stand guard warily.

Ning Xueyan waited until Lanning was outside before turning around and returning to her seat. Coincidentally, Wen Xueran took Heng Yuqing’s previous seat.

“Do you have business with me, Princely Heir Wen?” Ning Xueyan looked at Wen Xueran expressionlessly. She thought she had made herself clear enough that she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

“Yan’er, you’re so cold-hearted. No matter what, I’m still your fiance. Is it okay for you to break your promise?” Wen Xueran retorted jokingly, his voice sweet and soft like the affectionate whispers of a lover. He gave her a gentle, flirtatious look.

“Princely Heir, did you forget that I’m a married woman now? It’s only useful for you to call yourself my fiance when I was a maiden. It’s too late for that now.” Ning Xueyan smiled, but her expression was icy. Whether or not he was her fiance, she wouldn’t acknowledge it.

If Wen Xueran truly wanted to marry her, he wouldn’t wait until she married Prince Yi before telling her. Commandery Prince Min had such influence that if Wen Xueran were to ask for her hand in marriage early, Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager would only be more than happy to agree and develop a connection with their family. Moreover, they would just be giving away their least valuable daughter. It would have been the best kind of deal for them.

Wen Xueran sighed. “Yan’er, you’re so heartless. I had my concerns that stopped me from asking for your hand in marriage…”

Ning Xueyan coughed to interrupt his explanation. She added, without any expression, “I’m afraid your engagement isn’t with me, but Sister Ziying.”

She didn’t think that Wen Xueran’s so-called marriage agreement was with her, in her current body as Ning Xueyan. After all, she wasn’t born at that time. Who could know whether she would turn out male or female? If they didn’t know, how could they set a marriage agreement between her and Wen Xueran? Moreover, the former Empress disappeared after giving birth to her.

She believed that the so-called marriage agreement and fiance belonged to her previous self. Once she thought about how suggestive Wen Xueran had sounded when talking about Ning Ziying in the past, she could say that his words could never stand up to scrutiny.

“When the late Empress and my mother agreed on the marriage, they decided to make the late Emperor’s daughter my fiancee,” Wen Xueran said vaguely. The corners of his beautiful lips were curved into a smile as he tapped the table. “Ning Ziying is dead, leaving you as the only remaining kin of the former imperial family. It goes without saying that the marriage agreement is between you and me!”

“So, you…” It was just as Ning Xueyan thought. She sneered, wanting to get up and leave. This marriage agreement had nothing to do with her at all. Was there a marriage agreement more irresponsible than this one? It was as though Ning Ziying and Ning Xueyan couldn’t find a husband and could only plead tearfully to marry Wen Xueran.

When did a princess of the previous dynasty become so worthless? Even if her imperial family had fallen, she would never acknowledge this marriage agreement and let Wen Xueran choose a fiance that pleased him. This marriage agreement was never fair to begin with. Perhaps this agreement was only made because daughters were worthless.

“So, I want to take you away.” Wen Xueran’s smile vanished and his entire self became sharp.

Ning Xueyan was raising her cup to drink a sip of tea when she heard this. The liquid entered her trachea, causing her to cough uncontrollably.

“Why are you so careless? To think that you can even choke on tea.” Wen Xueran smiled helplessly. He stood up, wanting to go over to her and pat her back. She pushed his outstretched hand away while coughing. Glaring at him, she said, “I… I’m fine. Sit… down!”

Since there was nothing between them, she didn’t think it was appropriate for him to do something intimate to her.

The light in Wen Xueran’s eyes dimmed after seeing her obvious disgust. He sat down again with a smile. With his beautiful, amorous smile back, his delicate face became even more devastatingly handsome. There was almost no woman who could resist his smile or such a handsome man making such a suggestion in that gentle voice.

He sounded so sincere and earnest.

“I’m going to Annan. Come with me! I’ll take care of you from now on. We can start all over again.”

Unfortunately for him, Ning Xueyan wasn’t like most women and didn’t fall for his charm. She shook her head decisively as if she didn’t see the anticipation in his handsome eyes and said, “I don’t want to.”

“Have you thought about what happens if Ao Chenyi fails? You’ll die without even being buried. Ao Chenyi is still not as strong as the Emperor. There’s Prince Xiang and Prince Fu, too, watching Ao Chenyi like a prey. You’ll just be another sacrificial piece. If you stay here, the only thing that awaits you is death.”

He looked solemnly at her, his smile gradually fading. There was a ripple extending through his beautiful pupils as he explained the cons of her situation.

“Thank you for your concern but no matter what, he’s my husband. No matter his situation, I’ll follow him wherever he may end up, as a wife should. So regardless of how the future may turn out, I’ll face it with him.” Ning Xueyan looked at him, her gaze firm and expression neutral.

The moment she saw how much he had done for her, she vowed that she would follow him from the bottom of her heart.

To her, the so-called marriage agreement was more of an irresponsible joke. In her past life, she died because of the agreement, and in this life, she didn’t need it.

Suddenly, she remembered how Ao Chenyi was the only one who reached out and helped her at her most difficult time. His motives, perhaps, weren’t pure at first. But it was enough for her at that time. His hand was the only life-saving rope that she could hold onto.

She smiled as an unreadable emotion crossed her eyes. In her deal with Ao Chenyi, she was at least confident that she could fight Madam Ling with his help.

Seeing Ning Xueyan’s reaction, Wen Xueran lowered his head. His beautiful, flirty eyes were reflected on the surface of the clear tea; only this time, those eyes contained a trace of sadness and hurt.

When he raised his head again, his expression was back to normal. His gaze was sharp as he looked at Ning Xueyan. “Have you made up your mind?”

“Yes. I want to stay here with him.” Ning Xueyan took a deep breath and nodded. Her ink-like pupils were filled with tenacity.

He looked at her quietly as if to etch her into his heart. He then stood up and walked out. “All right. I’ll be off then.”

Ning Xueyan stood up as well and saw him off. Even though she seemed calm, she felt a faint twinge of sadness. She might not acknowledge him, but he was still his cousin on her mother’s side. He was perhaps her only relative in this world. Under her long lashes, her eyes were damp and emotions rippled through her pupils.