Chapter 292
Yan Huaijing’s eyes slowly narrowed as he spoke casually.
The implication of Yan Huaijing’s words was clear: if the aristocratic young lady he sent for missed the nation-wide selection, the Crown Prince wouldn’t reserve a high position for her. Of course, the other noble daughters of the State of Yan could only be sent back as well.
“Your Heir-apparent, are there no other aristocratic young ladies who came with you?” Master Fenghe’s gaze fell on the tightly wrapped Wei Yuewu.
“Master, are you talking about her?” Yan Huaijing suddenly smiled, his handsome eyes sparkling as he spoke bluntly.
“This young lady…” Master Fenghe pondered for a moment and said slowly.
“Master, do I need to offer my woman to the Crown Prince?” The corners of Yan Huaijing’s lips curled up into a charming smile.
Throughout history, there were many cases in which rulers seized the women of their subjects. Such rulers were always despised by people. However, few victims dared to stand up and criticize the rulers.
Yan Huaijing’s voice was very soft, but there was a bone-piercing chill in it. It was like an extremely sharp and thin sword, which was magnificently pressed against the neck of a person. With just a little force, it would result in a bloody scene.
“Your Heir-apparent, you are mistaken. I just wanted to ask if there are other aristocratic young ladies who came with this young lady. Or in other words, is there any outstanding candidate among the maids that you brought this time?” Master Fenghe did not expect Yan Huaijing to be so difficult to deal with. He immediately let out a laugh and changed the subject.
Yan Huaijing’s expression relaxed. Looking at Master Fenghe’s kind face, he raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “Master, if the maids I brought are acceptable, you can just choose whoever meets the conditions!”
“What do you say?” Master Fenghe turned to the other three heirs-apparent.
The four of them were all heirs-apparent of the dukedoms in the country, so they naturally must be treated equally.
Qi Yunhao and Chu Fangnan looked at each other. Then, Chu Fangnan said, “As you command, Master!” Lu Yeli at the side also nodded with a cold face.
Yan Huaijing stood up lazily. He flung his wide sleeve and said with a smile, “Master, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave first!”
“Aren’t you going to play chess with me?” Master Fenghe smiled.
“Definitely next time!” Yan Huaijing suddenly smiled meaningfully.
“Since that’s the case, Your Heir-apparent, please!” Master Fenghe said politely.
Yan Huaijing turned around and walked out with Wei Yuewu in his arms.
The moment they were outside the courtyard, just as Wei Yuewu was about to speak, she suddenly heard a voice coming from the front. She raised her head and faintly recognized the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. She hurriedly grabbed Yan Huaijing’s sleeve tightly with one hand, not daring to move much.
“Heir-apparent of Yan, are you going back?” Wen Tianyao glanced at Yan Huaijing with a twinkle in his eyes. His gaze fell on Wei Yuewu suspiciously. He had calculated the time before coming over, but he did not expect Yan Huaijing to leave. Besides, who was the woman in his arms? When he entered the Palace, he didn’t bring any woman with him.
Today, Yan Huaijing entered the Palace without carrying any woman with him. The palace guards reported that they saw someone entered the Crown Prince Mansion and disappeared. After that, this so-called woman from a noble family of the State of Yan appeared beside Yan Huaijing.
Judging from the figure, the person wasn’t tall. Although the person was wrapped up, the figure did look like that of a woman. But was it really a woman, and was it just a short guard? For a time, Wen Tianyao was confused.
Nevertheless, whether this person was a woman or not, one thing was certain: it was the person that his guards had been chasing before.
What was Yan Huaijing trying to do? Or was he trying to hide something? Could it be that he wanted to send someone to the Crown Prince Mansion to investigate something? At the thought of these questions, Wen Tianyao’s face became more and more serious.
“Your Highness, I am just about to go back and will visit you next time. I didn’t expect that our joke would make such a scene that alarmed Your Highness!” Yan Huaijing said calmly. He reached out and gently stroked Wei Yuewu’s hair as if he sensed her nervousness. This action made Wei Yuewu calm down inexplicably.
“Who is this…?” Wen Tianyao asked with a smile.
“This is an aristocratic young lady from the State of Yan. This time, she followed me to the capital without my knowledge. Now, I have to keep her beside me for the time being!” Yan Huaijing said leisurely.
His words contained both lies and truth. It was really difficult to tell which part of them could be taken seriously.
Unable to figure out what was going on, Wen Tianyao could only cast a suspicious look at Wei Yuewu, who was tightly wrapped. However, it was inappropriate for him to dig further, so he had to let Yan Huaijing go!
He gave a wink to a guard beside him, who understood and followed behind Yan Huaijing.
They were finally back. It was still the same room containing the same screen. Wei Yuewu removed the cloak and veil from her head and took a deep breath.
Wei Yuewu was inexplicably involved and got frightened. She could not help but bite her lips and ask, “Your Heir-apparent, what exactly are you doing?”
“Scared?” Yan Huaijing reached out his hand and placed a strand of her hair beside her white and tender ear.
“Your Heir-apparent, this matter has nothing to do with fear. If you were inexplicably wrapped up by someone and experienced an inexplicable scene, wouldn’t you be angry?” Wei Yuewu couldn’t take it anymore.
“So…” Yan Huaijing leisurely raised his eyebrows.
“So, I am very angry!” Wei Yuewu said, gritting her teeth.
Yan Huaijing seemed to find her anger interesting. He even raised his eyebrows and said with a faint smile, “Didn’t I save you? Your life is mine, so why are you angry?”
“There is no need for Your Heir-apparent to remind me. I will remember your great kindness!” Wei Yuewu was so angry at his words that she almost threw her head back. Nevertheless, what Yan Huaijing said was beyond doubt!
Seeing that she was so angry that her face turned pale, Yan Huaijing felt that it was better to let her go. He changed his tone and asked with a smile, “Has he read your palm?”
“Palm reading? Master Fenghe? Why?” Wei Yuewu’s focus of attention was diverted and she asked in surprise. She really felt that it was strange. Why was there the need for palm reading? That day in the Empress Dowager’s palace, all the daughters of the aristocratic families who attended the meeting had their palms read by Master Fenghe.
It was really strange!
“It is said that there is a phoenix-fate woman who is destined to become the empress. Whoever obtains this woman will rule the country!” The corners of Yan Huaijing’s thin lips curled up, and a faint smile appeared on his face. His eyes were filled with a kind of charm that would enchant people.
At this moment, Wei Yuewu was not in the mood to pay attention to his expression, because the meaning of his words was enough to shock her and attract all her attention.
“A phoenix-fate woman? How… how is this possible?” Wei Yuewu looked extremely astonished.
“You think it’s impossible?” Yan Huaijing was very satisfied with her shock. Finally, the little fox stopped being angry with him. He turned around and sat down on a chair. Then, he looked up and asked with a smile, “Why is it impossible?”
“If there really is such a phoenix-fate woman in this country, then what is the use of soldiers?” Wei Yuewu asked in confusion.
“Good for you to say that. However, there are many people in this country who take it seriously!” Yan Huaijing was very satisfied with her answer and suddenly chuckled.
“So, Master Fenghe is trying to find the phoenix-fate woman for the Crown Prince?” Wei Yuewu suddenly understood. No wonder Master Fenghe was arranged the read the palms. His goal was to find this legendary phoenix-fate woman, who would then be taken by the Crown Prince as his wife to ensure the safety and prosperity of the country.
Wei Yuewu raised another question, “However, the country is so big and there are so many women. How can Master Fenghe read the palm of every woman? If he missed one woman, maybe she is the phoenix-fate woman!”
“Rumor has it that this woman is in the capital. Furthermore, she is a daughter of an aristocratic family!” Yan Huaijing raised his eyebrows slightly.
“So, Master Fenghe suspects that you have already found her. That’s why even the women in your mansions in the capital have to be investigated?” Wei Yuewu asked in surprise.
That was why Master Fenghe had asked for the opinions of the four heirs-apparent. Apparently, he was afraid that Yan Huaijing and the other heirs-apparent had already found the phoenix-fate woman, so he had to investigate all the maids in their mansions.
“You are right!” Yan Huaijing’s extremely long eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyes. “He who gets the phoenix-fate woman will rule the country. How can the nation-wide selection for the Crown Prince be taken lightly?”
“Then why didn’t you look for her?” Looking at his carefree appearance, Wei Yuewu had a new question. No matter how she looked at it, all the heirs-apparent should be looking for such a woman.
“I’m looking for her. The other three heirs-apparent are also looking for her. However, we are all acting behind closed doors. How can we compare with the Crown Prince, who was able to hold a nation-wide selection to get this woman?” Yan Huaijing stretched out his slender fingers and gently flicked them on the table.
“So, you are also looking for her?” Wei Yuewu asked in surprise. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t tell that this heir-apparent was anxious. She didn’t believe that Yan Huaijing had no ambition.
“I sent people out to find this woman from time to time! It’s just that I didn’t find her yet!” Yan Huaijing cast a sidelong glance at Wei Yuewu and narrowed his eyes.
“But you… don’t seem to be in a hurry, do you?” Wei Yuewu could not help but ask.
“On the contrary, I have been anxious all the time. So I sent people to the Crown Prince Mansion from time to time to have a look!” Although Yan Huaijing claimed to be anxious, he did not show any sign of anxiety at all.
“What is the use of me to you?” Wei Yuewu asked doubtfully.
“Previously, I asked Master Fenghe to read your palm. It means that I am also looking for the phoenix-fate woman. Now, there is an aristocratic young lady from the State of Yan by my side. From whichever perspective, it means that the State of Yan values the phoenix-fate woman!” Yan Huaijing said indifferently.
Suddenly, Wei Yuewu understood. After a moment of silence, she raised her head and asked, “So, you are using me to mystify them?” In fact, she knew she did not have any choice even if the answer was yes. Just as Yan Huaijing had said, he saved her life several times. She owed her life to him. No matter how much he asked her to do, there seemed to be no room for refusal.
For a moment, she felt inexplicably sad. She herself was also surrounded by many myths, which were extremely difficult for her to investigate. Although Yan Huaijing lent his guards to her, there were still some things that she could not find out. When would she be able to avenge her mother?
She couldn’t let her mother died in vain…
“The State of Yan lacks an heiress-apparent. What do you think, Yuewu?”