The new emperor's first decree upon ascending the throne was to forcibly take his cousin as his

Xie Chengyan settled down at the Ruan family's house, living next door to Ruan Xianrong.

This is really affecting her ability to go out on dates. She was originally confident that she could develop a good relationship with Cheng Xuezi within a month, but now it has to be postponed again.

It's said that men can influence the speed at which women become domineering.

"Young lady, what about Scholar Cheng?"

"Go and deliver a letter to him, saying that there are some matters at home and that we will only correspond for the next few days. Give him some silver and make my request clear. If he accepts it, leave the silver with him; if he doesn't, give him the silver anyway, and consider it as making friends."

"Yes."

No sooner had Yinque left than Xie Chengyan arrived.

Ruan Xianrong bowed and asked, "Cousin, what brings you here?"

"I've heard that Mingzhou is a bustling commercial city, very lively. This is my first time here, could you show me around, cousin?"

She wanted to refuse, but she was afraid he would hold a grudge against her, so she could only bite the bullet and agree, "Okay, then I'll take my cousin tomorrow."

Xie Chengyan's eyes curved into a smile, and he looked every bit the gentle and refined gentleman, a benevolent crown prince.

If she hadn't read the book, she would have been fooled by his appearance.

But what's with this attitude of not planning to leave? The female lead is still in Kyoto; he needs to hurry back and cultivate their relationship.

As the crown prince, he should be busy with official duties, yet he still has the time to stroll around Minnesota.

A tyrannical ruler!

The Crown Prince was staying at the Ruan family's residence, and no mistakes could be made. His comings and goings were strictly controlled. It was at this time that she met Ruan Zhaoyuan.

She had been trying to catch him every day for the past few days, but it was difficult to even get a glimpse of him. Today, however, she actually came to his door on her own.

"What are you doing here?"

Ruan Zhaoyuan was only eleven years old after the New Year, but she was so mature that she didn't have a trace of childishness. She was more like a younger sister than an older sister.

"The Crown Prince has arrived and is staying next door to you."

"So what?"

Ruan Zhaoyuan's face darkened. "You know what I mean. Don't think that just because you're playing hard to get, His Highness the Crown Prince will take a liking to you. Stop dreaming."

"His Highness the Crown Prince will not like you. Your actions are nothing but a disgrace to the Ruan family."

Ruan Xianrong gave up. Her younger brother had a problem with her, and she was too lazy to bother with him.

She smiled and said, "If you have any complaints, go talk to the Crown Prince and tell him to live far away from me."

Ruan Zhaoyuan hadn't expected her to react this way, but then she realized it was all a scheme. A ruthless person like her was a master of disguise.

It was all for the Crown Prince's sake. Knowing that the Crown Prince disliked her, she devised this plan to attract his attention.

He knew best what kind of person Ruan Xianrong was.

"Let me give you a piece of advice: His Highness the Crown Prince is not someone you can covet. If you get any closer to him, don't blame me for being impolite."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Although Ruan Xianrong was open-minded, it didn't mean she was heartless.

Ruan Zhaoyuan and she had been siblings for so many years, and she truly regarded him as her own younger brother.

How could such a long-standing relationship just disappear like that?

"Ruan Zhaoyuan, I am your elder sister. Didn't you love your elder sister the most when you were little? What exactly happened to you in Mingzhou?"

Ruan Zhaoyuan snorted coldly, turning her gaze to her. "Elder sister? Are you really my elder sister?"

His tone was cold, carrying both old and new grudges.

Even after the person left, Ruan Xianrong was still reeling from what he had just said.

How did Ruan Zhaoyuan know?

No wonder he was so cold to her, no wonder he treated her like an enemy.

So you knew.

Could her guess be true?

I felt a little disappointed for a moment, but I quickly came to my senses.

She was bound to find out sooner or later, it was all the same. She just hadn't expected that her younger brother, who had once relied on her, would react this way after learning that she wasn't a biological daughter of the Ruan family.

Fine, from now on she has nothing to do with the Ruan family. She's occupied the female lead's position for so long, his attitude is understandable.

She didn't take it to heart; it was all expected, just earlier than she had imagined.

Sniffle, look up at the sky, it will all pass, it's not a big deal.

Meanwhile, Ruan Zhaoyuan left with a cold face, gritting his teeth and walking faster and faster, finally punching the tree trunk.

It's ridiculous that we're clearly enemies, yet we can't bring ourselves to do this.

He still can't forget how vicious Ruan Xianrong's face was when he died in his previous life.

He didn't die at the hands of the enemy, nor did he die for the country, but he died at the hands of a vicious woman.

The older sister he cherished so much ended up causing the Ruan family's downfall. How could someone like that, even if given a second chance, truly change his ways?

Being soft-hearted will only lead you to further ruin.

Ruan Xianrong is a master of pretense and manipulating people's hearts; he has no belief that she can truly become a good person.

It was all an act. In his past life, he was completely fooled by her innocent appearance. For her sake, he treated his own sister coldly and broke her heart.

He's incredibly stupid.

Trusting such a venomous person not only harmed his parents and implicated his own sister, but also cost him his own life in the end.

He cannot be soft-hearted, he absolutely cannot be soft-hearted, and he absolutely cannot let Ruan Xianrong return to the capital!

*

The next morning, Xie Chengyan sent someone to call her, saying he wanted to go sightseeing in Mingzhou City.

Xie Chengyan's originally flawless smile cracked for a moment when she saw Ruan Tinglan and her brother behind her.

"Cousin, please forgive me. I am not familiar with Mingzhou City, so I called you 'cousin' or 'cousin' instead."

She absolutely refused to go shopping alone with the Crown Prince; it was worse than death for her.

Xie Chengyan remained gentle, humming in agreement, "Get in the car."

Once inside the carriage, it remained motionless. He asked, "Why aren't you moving?"

The people waiting outside remained silent, only looking ahead.

Ruan Zhaoyu immediately understood what was going on and looked at her sister: "Tinglan, the carriage is a bit crowded, let's change to another one."

Ruan Tinglan was holding a pastry and hadn't understood what was going on when her older brother pulled her away.

Before Ruan Xianrong could ask, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Xie Chengyan walked in.

"My carriage has broken down."

"Huh? How could it suddenly break?"

He leaned against the car wall and looked at her. "I don't know. Maybe someone wanted to harm me, but they were discovered."

"There are assassins in Mingzhou? Then cousin, you'd better be careful. Mingzhou is not as safe as the capital."

Although the claim that the carriage was broken was completely fabricated, Xie Chengyan's eyes lit up with a smile when he heard her say that.

Yeah, bad is good.

The group entered the bustling street and got off the carriage, but there was no sign of the carriage behind them.

"Didn't my older cousins ​​catch up?"

Xie Chengyan seemed to have just noticed, and said with a faint smile, "Perhaps they got separated due to the large number of people. I will send someone to look for them."

Cao Shen, who was standing beside her, quickly chimed in, "Don't worry, Miss Ruan, this old servant will go right away."

As he left, he glanced at the Crown Prince, and when Xie Chengyan looked over with his indifferent eyes, he understood.

His Highness the Crown Prince is really not pretending to be thinking anything.

It's just a pity for the eldest daughter and second son of the Ruan family; no one knows where His Highness threw them away.

He dared not stand in the way any longer and quickly left with his men.