So what if she's my sister-in-law? You seduced me first.

Her facial features were perfectly proportioned, and now, perhaps frightened by his words, her supple body tensed instantly, sweat beaded on her temples, and her cheeks flushed.

Especially those exceptionally beautiful eyes, a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of terror crossed them.

Xie Xun's hand slowly climbed up her face, gently stroking it. "I can make you wear gold and silver, and give you a better life. Follow me, and you can get anything you want."

What a load of rubbish! What does he mean by this? Does he not approve of her being openly intimate with Xie Yan in the mansion and want to force her to change her identity and be kept by him outside?

Why would she give up being a proper princess consort to become his mistress? Doesn't he have any shame?

Xie Xun could clearly tell from her emotions that her language was very foul, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask, "You want to go with him?"

"If I don't follow him, am I supposed to follow you, you beast?" Ning Yu thought viciously to herself.

That fickle bastard, no matter how beautiful his appearance, she wouldn't want him.

Seeing the slight change in his eyes, she tried hard to calm herself down and said in a hoarse voice, "Didn't you say it would end in three months?"

Xie Xun looked at her, and then suddenly laughed, as if he was laughing at her naivety.

Looking at his expression, Ning Yu closed her eyes. The deepest, uncertain guess in her heart finally came true. He really didn't intend to let her go. What a bastard who didn't keep his word.

"You can go back and think about it carefully."

Yu Bai gripped his sleeve tightly. He glanced at her sideways, his gaze settling on her raised eyes.

"I won't live with the Crown Prince. If you need me, I'll still go to the East Garden as before, okay?"

Xie Xun looked into her beautiful eyes and gently stroked her slender waist. "What can I do? I can't stand seeing you two being so affectionate."

He leaned close to her earlobe. "When I saw you two walking together, and the thought of you lying in the same bed made me want to kill him and lock you up."

That's his own brother, his own flesh and blood.

Ning Yu felt a chill run down her spine, and when she felt him licking her ear, her whole body stiffened.

"I'm already tired of looking at you after only two days. Do you think I'll kill you two to stop you from getting angry if this goes on for too long?"

He's a madman, absolutely insane.

She murmured, too frightened to speak.

"The Crown Prince is a virtuous gentleman; he won't touch me---"

"Ning Yu, put away your naivety. I'm a man, and I understand what men are thinking better than you do."

His hands caressed her body, and his warm lips kissed her face, nose, and lips.

The moment their lips touched, he suddenly tightened his grip, pulling her close and kissing her fiercely—a punishment, but also a release.

Ning Yu whimpered in pain, her pale face flushed with an unnatural redness, she breathed rapidly, and her eyes filled with tears.

She's always been someone who goes with the flow and accepts her fate, so why did she have to run into such a madman like him?

The few female and male tourists who were sightseeing around were riding their horses in this direction. Ning Yu caught a glimpse of those young masters and ladies out of the corner of her eye and struggled to hit him.

Suddenly, with a shout, the horse galloped swiftly through the woods. With a tearing sound, a chill swept over her, and Ning Yu's mind was filled with exploding white light; tears almost welled up in her eyes.

Her eyes were red, and she was panting with her mouth open, her cheeks flushed.

Never before had she hated him as much as she did now. She hadn't hated him this much when he chased after her after she saved him. How could he do this? How could he be such a beast?

Time dragged on endlessly. The two rode their horses into a deep, old forest. White geese flew overhead, darting through the bare branches. Their tiny eyes caught sight of the two affectionate individuals, and then they fluttered away.

---

East Garden of Polo Field

"I knew you wouldn't die. What were you doing in the Northwest?"

Xie Yan sat on the stool, looked at the file handed to him, and casually replied, "You're injured, go and recuperate."

Prince Xie Zhanyan scoffed, "Don't try to fool me, it's probably related to Xie Xun."

"It's not that I'm trying to sow discord between you brothers, but that scoundrel Xie Xun is more cunning than a fox, and his methods are extremely vicious. Who knows, he might kill you one day for the sake of the Xie family's power. What kind of brotherhood do you still care about then?"

Xie Yan didn't even blink, completely ignoring the conversation.

Seeing this, Xie Zhanyan didn't want to make a fool of himself. He sat down and asked for a cup of tea. "This is all the information on the rebel leader in Jizhou. He had correspondence with the Crown Prince of Shangliang."

"Oh, right, there's a letter in my old man's study."

"What letter?"

Xie Zhanyan whispered, "When you were away a while ago, Minister Chen died in a desolate place. The Dali Temple still hasn't found the murderer, and it's become a cold case."

"It is said that the Crown Prince was assassinated that day, and the Huguo Temple was sealed off for several days. That very night, an urgent letter was sent to the border."

"Guess what? My old man's letter said that King Huaiyou left the border of Great Xia that day."

"Do you think the Crown Prince is investigating treason?"

Xie Yan paused, his expression hardening. "The border is not peaceful right now. The officials in the north think that the emperor is far away and they can do whatever they want."

Hearing this, Xie Zhanyan leaned back in his chair, bored, and crossed his legs. "A bunch of troublemakers, they can't make any waves."

"Oh, by the way," he tilted his head and winked at Xie Yan teasingly, "How is it? Isn't the new bride pretty?"

Xie Yan smiled, a rare occurrence for him. "Not bad."

"Of course." Xie Zhanyan sidled up to you. "When the Sage was choosing people for you, he tried to stuff all sorts of weird and wonderful people into the Xie family. I argued for the Ning family girl for you."

Hehe, he didn't argue his point. He told a little lie, saying that the Ning family girl was ugly and that the emperor hadn't even seen her before bestowing the marriage upon her.

The wife he chose for his good brother was naturally the best. He had seen her once; she was as beautiful as a lotus in the water, and he even wanted to take her into his household. Unfortunately, he was already overwhelmed with his dozen or so concubines, so he had no choice but to give this beauty to his good brother.

"You've been back for two days now, have you consummated your marriage? How was it? Aren't you grateful, brother?"

Xie Yan frowned as he listened to his arrogant words, but ignored him.

Xie Zhanyan scoffed, "You've been fighting on the battlefield for so many years, and there are so many men in the military who speak rudely, yet you're still so serious."

"She was slow to warm up, and we didn't consummate our marriage."

"Slow to warm up?" Xie Zhanyan laughed heartily. "You're slow to warm up too? Waiting for the girl to take the initiative? Tsk, are you perhaps already impotent at such a young age?"

"roll."

"Hahaha---" Xie Zhanyan laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Do you need me to get you some of that stuff? You're a 25-year-old man who's never been with a woman, and you haven't even consummated your marriage with your wife. I'm starting to wonder if you were wounded on the battlefield. How can you hold back like this?"

"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore, stop smashing it, stop smashing it---"