Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

83. The Fight between Prince Rui and Prince Qin (2)

Translator: Flying Lines

However, Xiao Shengnian was confused. He could clearly feel Xiao Luoxuan had ‘evil intents’ (TL: affection, only evil in the possessive Prince Rui’s mind) towards Su Jie, but if that was the case, why did he send Su Jie to him in the first place?

Because Su Jie didn’t explicitly say that his mission was arranged by the Guqin Master, Xiao Shengnian was puzzled about Xiao Luoxuan’s actions now.

“Second brother, seventh brother.” Xiao Luoxuan arrived. A smile hung on his face as he greeted the second prince and Xiao Shengnian.

The second prince didn’t respond. He even let out a light ‘hmph’. On the contrary, Xiao Shengnian nodded warmly and responded, “Fourth brother, why did you come here?”

Because of the second prince’s attitude, a trace of hatred flashed past Xiao Luoxuan’s eyes. Inwardly, he was screaming madly, ‘Just you wait! You may look down on me now, but when I become emperor in the future, I will definitely torture you mercilessly!’

However, on the surface, Xiao Luoxuan said with a smile, “Why, it was because I saw you have a beautiful man by your side. Not to mention, I didn’t recognize him, so I came to have a look.”

“Let me give you an introduction. This is Nianxuan. He will often be by my side in the future.” Xiao Shengnian’s words were happy, and he pulled Su Jie in his arms. There was a gentle look in his eyes.

Xiao Luoxuan’s smile stiffened.

As if feeling like this wasn’t enough, Xiao Shengnian turned to smile at Su Jie. Then, he said to the second prince and Xiao Luoxuan, “I met Nianxuan by chance. Before that, I never believed in love at first sight, but after meeting him, I do now.”

His words were pearls of wisdom. His voice was charmingly magnetic and sounded very pleasant. However, Xiao Luoxuan was highly incensed by the contents of his words.

If someone asked Xiao Luoxuan what he was feeling right now, he would answer, ‘feeling like I want to kill someone’.

The second prince laughed, “Congratulations, seventh brother. You and this Young Master must be destined together. Since I didn’t bring anything precious with me, I will give this piece of gold leaf from the Pavilion of Jinxiu to this Young Master as a meeting gift.”

Su Jie accepted the thin piece of gold leaf casually. From his expression to his thanks, his etiquette was perfect. This made the second prince view him in another light, suddenly thinking that the youth was not only handsome but also had a good upbringing. Perhaps he was a young master from a good family.

Xiao Shengnian gave him a light smile. Even though the gold leaf looked thin, it was priceless, because it was hard to obtain things from the Pavilion of Jinxiu. The Pavilion was famous for its mysteriousness and its reputation. They had both scholars and warriors as patrons and had branches in various states. However, no one knew who the Pavilion’s owner was.

Only those who possessed the Pavilion’s gilded gold leaves were permitted to go to the fourth floor. However, very few of their patrons had ever been able to go onto the fourth floor.

“Thank you very much, second brother. I will never let Nianxuan down as long as I live.” Xiao Shengnian’s tone was serious. There was not a trace in his voice that suggested he was saying this lightly.

“Seventh brother is really lucky to be able to meet such a handsome and smart person.” The second prince laughed again and chatted with Xiao Shengnian for a bit more before he left to find other princes.

From the beginning to the end, Xiao Luoxuan listened to their conversation in silence. He sucked in a few deep breaths, but his eyes never left Su Jie.

Su Jie lowered his eyes and played with the gold leaf in his hands. There was a faint smile on his lips, and as the sun shone down, it created a comfortable atmosphere that was as quiet as flowing water.

“What is the matter, fourth brother?” Inwardly, Xiao Shengnian wasn’t happy about this at all. He didn’t like other people looking at Su Jie with such an obvious and aggressive gaze, especially when ‘other people’ happened to be Prince Qin.

“I… I quite like the young man by your side.” Xiao Luoxuan said in a deep and sharp voice. He seemed to have spoken loudly on purpose and led other princes, who were nearby, to look at them.

Su Jie’s fingers paused in his fiddling with the gold leaf. He put it away and, with an unfeeling gaze, looked at Xiao Luoxuan.

Xiao Shengnian sneered inwardly, but his face sported a gentle smile. His voice sounded apathetic, and he said indifferently, “Yes, my Nianxuan is excellent. It’s great that fourth brother is giving us your blessings.”

This sentence candidly twisted what Xiao Luoxuan meant. He even used ‘my Nianxuan’ to anger Xiao Luoxuan but, his tone was so natural and easy-going that no one could find anything wrong with it.

“No. I am not giving you my blessings.” This was the first time Xiao Luoxuan was being so headstrong. He suddenly felt the urge to do something he normally wouldn’t do, like… proclaiming his love for Su Jie in front of everyone here.

Xiao Luoxuan’s expression revealed a hint of a smile. He said firmly, “I love Wen Nianxuan.”

At this time, the surrounding princes gathered around them. After all, Xiao Shengnian was the Emperor’s beloved son, whilst Xiao Luoxuan was the son the Emperor abandoned. Now that there was a conflict between them, they found it… interesting.

“Young Master Wen Luoxuan is the only one I will love for as long as I live.”

As if feeling like once wasn’t enough, Xiao Luoxuan loudly repeated the phrase again. His voice was as strong as steel, and he spoke solemnly and persistently.

The nearby princes had all gathered around them.

Su Jie frowned a little because he realized, when Xiao Luoxuan said this in front of everyone, he didn’t feel excited at all.

He didn’t even feel a trace of joy.

Why?

Wasn’t Xiao Luoxuan the one he had been in love with for so many years?

Hadn’t he always wished to stand beside Xiao Luoxuan without hiding and skulking?

So why didn’t he feel happy now?

Su Jie was suddenly confused. Was it that the feelings he had harbored towards Xiao Luoxuan for so many years were all fake?

But he could clearly remember all of Prince Qin’s likes and habits, and he had gone through life and death situations with Prince Qin. In the beginning, the Guqin Master had taught him that he must be loyal to Prince Qin, or he would be doomed forever. So, Su Jie had always believed in his loyalty to Prince Qin until Zhou Zaiyue appeared…

Su Jie couldn’t help but become annoyed. He didn’t know whether he actually liked Xiao Luoxuan, or whether he only felt a sense of responsibility towards him because of having to protect him.