Hua Lianying looked bewildered, her aggrieved eyes turning red. "Prince, this concubine doesn't know..."
Xiao Mingyu clamped a hand over her mouth.
Hua Lianying could only emit pitiful sobs.
He was ruthless tonight; Hua Lianying cried herself to unconsciousness several times, having no recollection of how late into the night their torment lasted.
When Hua Lianying woke the next day, Xiao Mingyu was long gone. The entire room and bed were in utter disarray, and her body was covered from head to toe in bruises and marks.
Recalling the things Xiao Mingyu had said last night—something about smiling at him, something about drinking in his stead—the more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
Suppressing her pain, she got out of bed, dressed and tidied up, and found Wuzhui. She asked, "When the Prince went to Prince Kang's Estate last night, did something happen?"
Wuzhui was applying medicine to her palms, having scraped her skin against the floor when the Prince shoved her the previous evening. Hearing this, she replied, "Nothing happened."
Hua Lianying didn't believe it. "Then did he run into someone?"
Wuzhui didn't care much for her, shrugged, and gave a perfunctory reply, "Who would there be to run into? Just the Crown Prince and Prince Kang, weren't they?"
Hua Lianying's gaze darkened.
The Crown Prince.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Nan Xueyin must have been by the Crown Prince's side, right?
It seemed the Prince had seen Nan Xueyin last night, and seeing her acting intimately with the Crown Prince had displeased him.
Just as when they were in Lianzhou, upon hearing that Nan Xueyin had spent the night attending to the Prince, he had been very displeased as well.
Hua Lianying thought coldly: *My good Prince, wasn't it you who personally delivered Nan Xueyin to the Crown Prince's side? Why are you unhappy now?*
*I'm afraid even you haven't realized that you've long since developed feelings for Nan Xueyin!*
***
The next day, Nan Xueyin did not see Hantao all day long.
Linglang muttered under her breath, "She's probably somewhere playing the victim and seeking comfort from some good brother."
Mother Cui glared at her with displeasure, then smiled at Nan Xueyin and said, "Later on, I will surely teach Hantao a proper lesson. Such behavior is completely unacceptable!"
After all, Doukou could now be considered half a mistress to them.
Later that evening, after Nan Xueyin attended to Xiao Youlan through his dinner, she prepared to return to her own room.
As she walked, she felt as though something was watching her.
Her gaze quickly locked onto the doorway.
Caught off guard, she met Hantao's hostile glare.
Realizing she had been spotted, Hantao let out an ambiguous laugh and turned back into her room.
Intuition told Nan Xueyin that danger was closing in.
She simply hadn't expected the crisis to arrive so soon.
The next day, after Xiao Youlan left for morning court, Nan Xueyin prepared breakfast as usual.
A commotion arose outside the door, with someone shouting incessantly, "Chunxia! Lin Chunxia!"
Hearing this, Nan Xueyin paused in her work.
Lin Chunxia was Doukou's original name.
She had been sold into the palace by her father, and the official in charge deemed the name "Chunxia" vulgar, so it was changed to Doukou.
The only ones who could call out that name were Doukou's father and brother.
"Lady Doukou, two people have come from outside, claiming to be your father and brother..."
The servant's words as he entered confirmed Nan Xueyin's suspicion.
Frowning, she thought of Hantao's look from the previous night.
With no time to dwell on it, she left the remaining tasks to the palace attendants and walked outside.
Two men had arrived at the East Palace—one old and one young, both dressed in coarse cloth garments. They were looking up, down, and all around at the palatial halls, their faces filled with awe and wonder as they let out successive gasps of praise.
As the guards moved to block them, the older man, Lin Laixi, glared straight at them. "How dare you touch me? I am the current Crown Prince's father-in-law! Doukou, you know her? The Crown Prince's favorite woman—she's my daughter!"
The younger one, Lin Jiaxing, put his hands on his hips and flaunted borrowed authority, "That's right, exactly!"
The servant beside Nan Xueyin sighed. "That's what they were saying outside the palace gates, and they even threatened that if they weren't let in, His Highness the Crown Prince would deal with us blind servants later."
Everyone in the East Palace knew of Doukou's favor with the Prince, leaving the servants inevitably hesitant to act rashly.
Yet with the situation in such a state, the servant looked troubled. "Lady Doukou, what do you say we..."
Without a second thought, Nan Xueyin said, "Drive them out."
She was not the real Doukou; if the Lin family were to notice any flaws, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Right at that moment, however, a palace attendant chanted loudly outside, "The Crown Prince arrives!"
Nan Xueyin's heart skipped a beat.
Xiao Youlan walked in steadily, clad in a round-collared robe of white silk embroidered with gold, his hair bound by a jade crown, exuding an overwhelming aura of nobility.
Seeing the scene in the courtyard, a puzzled expression crossed his face.
"Your Highness, they are..."
Before the servant could report, Lin Laixi joyfully shouted out, "Your Highness, I am Lin Laixi, I'm Doukou's dad!"
He then yanked Lin Jiaxing over from the side. "This is Doukou's brother, and the only son in our Lin family—the last twig on the tree! He's been smart since he was a kid, he could pee the highest!"
His language was vulgar, causing the palace attendants to furrow their brows in disgust.
Xiao Youlan, however, wore no unusual expression, his tone bordering on polite. "Then why have you come to the East Palace today?"
Lin Laixi replied, "Well, of course to visit my daughter!"
He rubbed his hands together and chuckled foolishly. "And by the way, Your Highness, look at this son of mine—smart and capable. Shouldn't you arrange some official post for him?"
Feihong couldn't help interjecting, "You must be out of your minds, wanting to become officials and get rich like this."
Lin Laixi glared at him. "You servant, how are you talking? I am Doukou's father! Once my Doukou marries the Crown Prince in the future, I'll be the Crown Prince's father-in-law! How dare you speak to me like that?"
With that, he winked and grinned slyly at Xiao Youlan. "Am I right, Your Highness?"
Xiao Youlan: ......
Remaining entirely calm, he slowly said, "You said you came to see Doukou. Have you seen her?"
Only then did Lin Laixi slap his own forehead. "Aiya, look at my memory!"
He turned around and began shouting again, "Doukou! Chunxia!"
Lin Jiaxing was the first to notice Nan Xueyin standing outside the hall doors, and raised a finger to point. "Dad, Chunxia is right there!"
Nan Xueyin steadied her breath.
Lin Laixi walked over with a smile. "Haven't seen you in so long, why so distant? Standing over there for half the day, and you didn't even call out 'Dad'?"
Lin Jiaxing looked amazed. "Dad, did you notice? Chunxia looks a bit different than before."