“May I be so bold as to ask for your esteemed master’s name and residence? Our young master is severely injured and urgently needs to enter the city for treatment. Could you give us a ride?”
The coachman anxiously said, “How unreasonable you are! The one in the carriage is our residence’s Young Miss. How can your young master ride in the same carriage as our Young Miss?”
Ning Yan said, “Old Zhang, in urgent situations, we must adapt. Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda. The important thing is to quickly move the young master into the carriage and take him to the city for treatment. If we don’t speak of it, who will know? Go help lift him.”
Ning Yan was the master and the coachman was the servant. What could a servant say when his master gave an order?
Thus, Pei Che was quickly lifted into Ning Yan’s carriage. His eyes were tightly shut, and his face was pale. He clearly looked very ill, but it was impossible to tell where he was injured.
Liu Huai was extremely worried about his master, but as the saying goes, there’s a distinction between men and women. It was already bad enough that the unconscious young master was riding in the same carriage as a female master. If he, a servant, were to squeeze in as well, that would truly be indefensible.
So, despite his worry, Liu Huai sat outside the carriage.
Inside the carriage, Cui'er whispered to Ning Yan, “Young Miss, this young master is truly handsome. I used to think the Young Master was handsome enough, but only today did I realize there are always more attractive people.”
Ning Yan hadn’t noticed his appearance before, but prompted by Cui'er, she couldn’t help but glance at Pei Che. The Duke's Residence’s carriage was naturally spacious enough. Even though Ning Yan had deliberately chosen an inconspicuous carriage from the residence, Pei Che, being too tall, could only lie halfway on the seat, his long legs reluctantly hanging down.
Ning Yan estimated that he was at least 1.84 meters tall.
In ancient times, being over 1.8 meters was considered very tall.
Song Rui was at most 176 cm, and the Song family was a family of military generals.
Besides, the man’s features were handsome. Although his eyes were closed, his eyelashes were extremely long, and his lips were full, making one feel an urge to kiss them.
Ning Yan quickly turned her head, feeling her face flush.
“Tell Old Sun to speed up.”
The sooner they got him to his destination, the sooner she could relax.
Cui'er lifted the curtain and gave the instruction. The coachman immediately cracked the whip twice, and the carriage’s speed noticeably increased.
Pei Che had been awake the entire time, even able to smell the faint orchid fragrance unique to a woman inside the carriage, but his eyes remained closed.
He knew that the carriage Liu Huai was driving had crashed, and they had hitched a ride with a young lady. The woman’s voice was soft, melodious, and very pleasant to the ear. She and her maid even praised him for being handsome.
He kept regretting that he couldn’t see what this woman looked like.
It wasn’t until the intense discomfort in his body completely subsided that he opened his eyes, meeting a pair of clear, bright ones.
By this time, Ning Yan had already put her veil back on. Cui'er would fall asleep from the rocking of the carriage every time, and she was currently sound asleep. So when Ning Yan noticed that Pei Che kept staring at her after he woke up, she teasingly raised an eyebrow, “Am I good-looking?”
Pei Che, caught in the act: …It seemed he had been teased by this young lady, hadn’t he? He had!
However, she was indeed beautiful, even with her face half-hidden by the veil.
…
The coachman drove the carriage to Swallow Alley in the West City. Liu Huai lifted the curtain and carefully carried his “closed-eyed” master off the carriage. After thanking them, he carried the person into the residence.
The coachman immediately turned the carriage around and drove towards Duke Dingguo's Mansion.
As soon as Ning Yan returned to the residence, Song Rui, who had already heard what happened at Prince Jin's Residence, rushed into Qingqiu Courtyard. His reckless demeanor made Ning Yan frown.
She bowed slightly, “Greetings, Young Master.”
Song Rui’s anxious expression stiffened.
“Cousin, why are you…” so distant from me?
Ning Yan got up and had a maid serve tea. “Young Master, you’ve come at a good time. I also have something to tell you.”
She didn’t want to drag it out. If she didn’t like it, she didn’t like it. It was better to resolve it sooner and save herself trouble, rather than getting entangled.
Song Rui suddenly had a bad premonition. Ever since his cousin fell into the water, she had become increasingly distant from him. He was afraid…
“Young Master…”
“Yanyan, we are engaged. You used to call me cousin. It’s fine if you don’t like calling me by my name.”
Ning Yan didn’t feel there was any need to change the address. After all, she had to call the Duke's Residence’s lady Aunt. She was a blood relative, yet she could cruelly watch herself die. Then there would be no future for her and Song Rui.
No one is willing to put their life in someone else’s hands.
Especially not her!
“Young Master, I think…”
Just then, Song Rui’s personal attendant ran in, “Young Master, we have distinguished guests in the residence. Madam wants you to go to the front to entertain them.”
Every time he came to his cousin’s courtyard, his mother would always find an excuse to call him away. Before, he only found it annoying, but this time, Song Rui was grateful for his mother’s annoyance. He immediately got up, “Then, Cousin, I’ll go to the front first. I’ll come back to see you after I’m done.”
With that, he quickly left, his retreating figure looking somewhat like he was fleeing in disarray.
Ning Yan sighed. Cui'er worriedly said, “Young Miss, are you really going to break off the engagement with the Young Master?
But if we break off the engagement, won’t it be a bit awkward for us to continue living in Duke Dingguo's Mansion?”
“We can live in Ning Residence?”
“Ning Residence? Are you not referring to the courtyard you bought before?”
The Young Miss is alone and so beautiful. What if she lives outside and someone sets their sights on her?
Unfortunately, Ning Yan no longer wanted to continue this topic.
In the palace.
Pei Che was already awake, and it was his old condition; once that intense phase passed, he would be fine.
He changed his clothes in his own courtyard and returned to the palace, presenting the evidence he had found to the Emperor. The Emperor summoned several ministers to discuss matters.
After more than an hour of discussing official business, the father and son went together to the Empress’s palace for a small family gathering and dinner.
After dinner, the two most distinguished couple in the world brought up the matter of finding a Crown Princess for their son again.
“Don’t always overthink things. Nothing is absolute. The divine doctor said the probability is very small, not that it’s impossible. You haven’t even tried, so how do you know you can’t?”
Even if it truly doesn’t work, we can adopt!”
As for replacing the Crown Prince, the Emperor had never considered it.
Che’er was his and the Empress’s legitimate eldest son, and he had raised him personally since childhood. During the Imperial Concubine’s struggle for favor, seven-year-old Pei Che was poisoned with a potent three-day aphrodisiac. The suffering he endured at the time was unspeakable. From then on, Pei Che’s body developed problems; he had the “things,” but couldn’t use them.
At that time, the Empress, struck by this blow, directly vomited blood and fainted, taking over three years to recover her health.
And the Emperor was even more ruthless. He completely purged the imperial harem. The once flourishing harem, apart from the Empress, was left with only three concubines: the Noble Consort who gave birth to the Eldest Princess, Consort Wan who gave birth to the Second Prince, and De Fei who gave birth to the Second Princess. The Emperor also had a Third Prince, who was raised under the Empress’s care because his birth mother died early.
After speaking, the Emperor looked at the Empress, “Tomorrow, you can choose a few attendants for him. Who knows which one might catch his eye.
We can take our time choosing the Crown Princess.”
The Empress was about to nod in agreement but was refused by Pei Che, “Imperial Father, Imperial Mother, your son… your son wishes to try it himself.”