Ye Qingjue's eyes shone brightly, clearly brimming with excitement at the unfolding spectacle. Mo Lincheng, lacking Ye Qingyu's gossipy nature, simply lifted the wine flagon from the table to take a direct drink, his index finger tapping rhythmically as he watched with considerable amusement.
Shen Qingyan nodded, the tips of her brows lifting slightly as she drawled, "It's me."
"Absurd! This is a place for men to seek pleasure and carouse. How can a woman like you show your face here? Is this how your father taught you? Come back with me at once!"
He grabbed Shen Qingyan's wrist, looking thoroughly enraged at finding her in such a place.
She jerked her hand out of his grip, rushed to Mo Lincheng's side, and caught his arm with both hands. "I came here to find him. What business is it of yours? Prince Qin, how my father raised me is none of your concern. Since you know this place is full of gossiping tongues, you might want to lower your voice! I'm not deaf."
Shen Qingyan's utter disregard for him drove the man to fury. "Shen Qingyan, I don't need you telling me how to act! Do you think I *want* to manage you? If it weren't for—" Catching sight of her hands gripping Mo Lincheng's arm so tightly, the sight stung his eyes for reasons he couldn't fathom.
"If it weren't for what?!"
He reined in his surging anger, his sharp gaze turning icy and piercing. "Do you want the entire Capital to know that the Prince Qin's Consort frequents houses of ill repute? Or do you think I can afford to lose that kind of face?"
He had no idea why he was so furious; he only knew that when she said she was looking for Mo Lincheng, an inexplicable wave of agitation washed over him!
Mo Lincheng pried her hands away. "Since Prince Qin has private matters to attend to, it wouldn't be proper for the two of us to intrude. Farewell!"
With that, he grabbed a spectating Ye Qingjue and made as if to leave. Naturally, Shen Qingyan couldn't let him go; she dashed over and hooked her arm through his once more.
"Mo Lincheng, you are not allowed to leave!" After all, he was a key figure—her chosen instrument to deal with Xuanyuan Ming. She was merely using him, though the strategy was proving remarkably effective right now.
Mo Lincheng frowned. He was certain he had never crossed paths with this woman before; why was she clinging to him relentlessly? Could it be...
The situation was descending into chaos. Seeing her ignore him entirely while intimately latching onto his friend, Xuanyuan Ming felt an overwhelming urge to kill! If the person standing before him hadn't been his friend, he would have had him torn apart by chariots long ago.
He forcefully yanked her back to his side, offering a look of apology to his friend for her relentless pestering of another man.
After Ye Qingjue left, he made a point of whispering a warning to his friend not to let things end in murder!
The atmosphere in the private room instantly plunged to a freezing low. Seeing the others gone, Shen Qingyan simply chose to ignore the man's existence altogether.
"Shen Qingyan, don't you think you owe this prince an explanation for all of this?"
His sharp gaze felt like the blade of a knife, his voice so glacial that a deadly chill could be felt radiating through the air.
Shen Qingyan shot him a sideways glance and sneered inwardly. Their marital bond was severed; who cared which root vegetable he thought he was?
She straightened her back, nonchalantly tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, lifted her phoenix eyes, and let out a mocking laugh. "Your Highness, do I look like I owe you an explanation for my personal affairs? If you insist on a reason, I might remind Your Highness that you and I are already divorced. From this moment on, we walk our separate paths in marriage and courtship, having nothing more to do with one another."
Her tone was unhurried, yet every single word carried the weight of a boulder.
"Shen Qingyan, you are too insolent!"
Xuanyuan Ming was like a tyrannosaurus rex ready to snap at any moment. He viciously seized her by the throat. "I don't need you telling me how to behave! Shen Qingyan, you are nothing more than a discarded woman I cast aside. Whatever you do and whoever you are with is your own business—just don't taint those around me with your filthy schemes! Now that you have your Divorce Decree, get out of my sight!"
If the real Shen Qingyan had heard those words, how heartbroken she would have been...
Her face flushed a deep, choking red under his grip. She had assumed that once they divorced, he would have no grounds to harm her, but she had overestimated this man's decency.
Truly, she had never laid eyes on such a despicable excuse for a man.
Shen Qingyan drew a deep breath, her gaze turning lethal as she lashed out with a kick. Xuanyuan Ming let out a muffled grunt, his face turning the color of a pig's liver.
He released his grip on her throat, his features twisting in agony.
Shen Qingyan blinked, raising a hand to rub her bruised neck as her expression turned as cold as ice.
"Your Highness, Qingyan has taken a fancy to Young Master Mo at first sight. Moreover, our divorce is written in black and white—we agreed to go our separate ways and never interfere in each other's romantic affairs! Since I am willing to grant you and Side Consort Qing your happiness, I must ask you to extend me the same courtesy and stay out of my personal life."
"You truly are utterly shameless! Chasing after a man right to my doorstep? Can you simply not live without a man?!"
She replied fiercely, "Yes!"
Then she smiled. "Without a man, I simply cannot survive."
Xuanyuan Ming's expression darkened into a scowl, his fingers curling into tight fists.
***
Shen Qingyan stumbled out of Yichun Brothel in a disheveled state. She raised her eyes toward the second-floor private room, her gaze dark and inscrutable. Back at the inn, she smoothed down her skirt and instructed the inn attendant, "Go and boil some hot water."
Tucking stray locks of hair behind her ears, she made her way toward her room.
The moment she closed the door behind her, Shen Qingyan drew a long, heavy breath, feeling a profound sense of having cheated death. To get close to Xuanyuan Ming once more, she had practically risked her life. She walked slowly over to the washstand and stared at the reflection in the bronze mirror, unable to help a flicker of deep appreciation for this face: an oval jaw, a pert nose, and phoenix eyes upturned at the corners—every movement radiated a breathtaking, peerless beauty.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Mo Lincheng of Dragon Sword Manor seemed every bit as striking as Xuanyuan Ming. Ancient times really were a manufacturing hub for handsome men.
Shen Qingyan plucked the decorative hairpin from her hair, its blossoms vibrant and interwoven in red and white.
***
Once Lian'er found a property, she purchased it without a moment's hesitation.
After moving into the Shen Residence, Shen Qingyan kept a covert watch on Mo Lincheng's movements. Her next step was to shower the man with attentive flattery, using him to provoke Xuanyuan Ming.
Surely no man could watch his former wife turn around and lavish attention on another man without a reaction—even if it wasn't true jealousy, it would surely grate on him.
After all, that was human nature.
Things that could not be attained often gained immense value the moment they were lost.
The main thoroughfare of the Capital!
On the bustling street, Shen Qingyan wore a gradient-colored cross-collar gauze dress. Possessing naturally gentle features, a touch of light styling rendered her utterly stunning.
"Young Master Mo, what a coincidence! Are you out by yourself?"
Holding a sugar figurine, her eyes sparkled brightly, as if the bustling mortal world held no appeal for her whatsoever, and the man before her was her sole destination in life. Smiling brightly, she scampered right up to him, lacking any trace of noble-lady decorum, and instead radiating the playful charm and rustic innocence of a girl next door.
She was already old hands at this sort of routine.
An aura of unapproachable distance emanated from the man. Even in the face of her enthusiasm, his expression remained entirely unchanged, offering not a single word of response as he left her standing there in the cold.
Undeterred, she took a bite of her sugar figurine and cheerfully chased right after him, even spinning around in delight so that her skirt flared out like a butterfly beating its wings in a graceful dance.
"Young Master Mo..." Finding the title a bit too formal, she wrinkled her dainty nose and rolled her eyes. "I think I'll just call you Lincheng instead! I assume you already know who I am without any introduction, so~ I'll skip it. You can call me Qingyan, or Xiao Yan~ Yanyan~"
She walked backward facing him as she kept pace beside him. It was a bit strenuous, however; with Mo Lincheng standing at a towering height of at least one meter eighty-seven, looking up at him genuinely felt like gazing skyward, even though she herself stood at a respectable one meter sixty-eight.
"Miss Shen, do you think following me around like this is appropriate?"