Chapter 27          Jealous (2/2)

Although there were many twists and turns today, Feng Xian was also quite satisfied. He defended Qin Yan and Qin Yan seemed to have accepted this favor, so she invited him to go to the Princess Mansion in Xishan to play horse tag. It was very good and was not far from marrying Qin Yan as his imperial concubine.

After Taizi and his party got off the boat, Qin Yan and Feng Yuyao also bid farewell to the Second Prince and prepared to leave.

Second Prince Feng Xian suddenly remembered something and stopped Feng Yuyao, “Imperial Sister Yuyao, that fan…”

Although Feng Yuyao didn’t like the Second Prince’s thick skin, he defended Yanyan today, which made Feng Yuyao a little tangled. But this fan was Yanyan’s thing, and she couldn’t give it away without her permission.

Qin Yan stopped and looked back, wondering why Feng Yuyao didn’t leave yet.

Feng Xian said to Qin Yan, “Princess of Zhaoren, I admire your fan very much. Can I ask you for one?”

Qin Yan didn’t care, her fan was just an ordinary object, and there were many in the warehouse. Mister Ji and Jiang Mu also had them. It was just right to be able to use a fan to return the favor of the Second Prince.

Qin Yan said, “I’ll send someone to send a fan to the palace another day.”

Feng Xian waved his hand and said, “Don’t have to be so troublesome. When I go to the Princess Mansion in Xishan for a horse tag, I will go to your mansion to pick it up myself.”

…..

Feng Yuyao thought to herself, climbing up along the pole. The Second Imperial Brother was really thick-skinned.

——

Today at Qianshui Lake, when Xie Changyuan went ashore with A Yan who was drenched all over, he thought that A Yan would be better off soaking in a hot pool to warm herself. However, due to the crowded streets today, the speed of the carriage was extremely slow, which might cause A Yan to catch a cold if delayed for too long, so he decided to take A Yan straight to Shuyu Lane on the west bank of Qianshui Lake.

Originally, He Xiao also invited Xie Changyuan to Shuyu Lane today. Although it was not suitable for a girl to go to that place, it was now a stopgap measure.

The eye-catching feature of Qianshui Lake in the south of the capital was not the light and color of the lake, but the Qianshui Promenade that surrounds the lake.

The Qianshui Promenade was lined with buildings, courtyards, and pavilions, including the famous brothels in the capital.

This place was different from the ordinary red-light district. Among these singing and dancing clubs, there were many talented elegant prostitutes.

Every year, the Qianshui Promenade held a courtesan competition jointly held with various dance clubs, and one outstanding person would be selected, that was, the courtesan of the year.

This year’s courtesan was Miss Nanxu from Shuyu Lane. This new courtesan Nanxu was an elegant prostitute who was good at poetry and music.

And Miss Nanxu was held up by He Xiao, the eldest son of the Minister of the Ministry of War.

He Xiao was a frequent visitor to Shuyu Lane.

——

When Xie Changyuan arrived at Shuyu Lane, He Xiao had not left.

Seeing that Xie Changyuan also brought A Yan, tsk… Did A Yan, who was drenched all over, fall into the water? What was the situation?

Xie Changyuan ignored He Xiao’s curiosity and asked Nanxu to take A Yan to soak in a hot pool.

And let the young manservant go out to buy clothes for A Yan.

Nanxu shook her head with a smile and said, “How can you ask the young manservant to buy clothes for a girl. I have new clothes in my room. According to Miss A Yan’s body size, I’ll change it a little bit, and it will be fine in a while.”

At this moment, A Yan, who was drenched and embarrassed, looked at the generous Nanxu, who was dressed brightly and elegantly, and regretted that she deliberately fell into the water today.

It seemed that Brother Changyuan and Nanxu were very familiar with each other, who was this Nanxu?

——

When A Yan went inside to take a bath, Xie Changyuan and He Xiao were drinking by the window. The lake was shining outside the window, with the sunset glow and Nanxu was doing needlework on the beauty couch at the side. At this moment, there was an illusion of a peaceful and quiet life.

Oh, but in fact, they were all frustrated people.

Nanxu, formerly known as An Qingruo, was the second daughter of the previous minister of the Ministry of Finance, An Binghuai.

An Binghuai was removed from his position and his home was ransacked because of his corruption, which involved a lot of people. The Emperor and the Taizi were outraged. The male members of An Mansion were exiled to Shuobei, and the female family members were used as official prostitutes. An Binghuai had only two daughters, the eldest daughter had been married to Jiangnan and escaped the crisis. But the second daughter, An Qingruo, was not so lucky. She was reduced to Shuyu Lane by the Qianshui Lake. Fortunately, she was saved from humiliation by her acquaintance He Xiao.

And An Qingruo had long passed the age of discussing marriage, and it was late to get married, but it was because she secretly loved Xie Changyuan. She had been waiting for Xie Changyuan’s filial piety period to end, even if as a concubine, she was willing. She waited for her predestined love marriage, but what awaited her was the downfall of the family.

Xie Changyuan didn’t know An Qingruo’s thoughts, but how could He Xiao, a frequent visitor of the brothels, not see it?

When A Yan was soaking in the hot pool, she kept guessing about Nanxu’s identity. She always felt that Nanxu looked familiar. Who did she look like?

Just thinking about it, Nanxu brought the clothes in. Outside the screen, Nanxu’s voice was soft, “Miss A Yan, the clothes are here, call me if you need something.”

“Thank you, Sister Nanxu.”

Nanxu went out and saw that Xie Changyuan and He Xiao were still drinking. As usual, she took the pipa and sang while playing it at the side.

When A Yan came out, this was what she saw. She felt extremely uncomfortable. She didn’t like how Nanxu was so familiar with Brother Changyuan.

A Yan took a closer look at Nanxu’s appearance, did she actually look like her, Miss An?

She had inadvertently overheard the conversation between Brother Changyuan and He Xiao. It seemed that He Xiao liked An Yanxi, the eldest young lady of the An family, so Nanxu was…

It turned out to be like this, He Xiao actually found a substitute!

——

When Taizi and his party boarded the carriage to leave Qianshui Lake, An Yanxi stepped forward to the Taizi’s carriage and said she wanted to speak to His Highness Taizi alone.

Feng Zhan frowned in displeasure, but still waved back Song Zhi who blocked in front of An Yanxi.

An Yanxi had prepared a sachet she made by herself a few days ago. The embroidery on it was exquisite. Today’s Double Seven Festival was also the time to test the girl’s needlework. An Yanxi was very satisfied with her embroidery.

Before taking the route of talented women by herself, Taizi remained unmoved. She planned to let His Highness Taizi know more about her.

At this moment, An Yanxi and the Taizi were standing under a willow tree. Praying for marriage under the tree on today’s Double Seven Festival was just right.

Before An Yanxi could take out the prepared sachet from her sleeve, Feng Zhan said coldly, “I told you before that your improper conduct will affect your brother’s judgment, did you not remember?”

After speaking, Feng Zhan boarded Taizi’s carriage and left.

An Yanxi stood there in a daze, and she didn’t even hear Feng Yunchao calling her when the Princess of Changle’s carriage came over.

When Feng Yunchao saw An Yanxi’s depressed expression, she knew in her heart that Yanxi should have been rejected by Imperial Brother Taizi again. At this moment, she left her alone, then put down the curtain and left.

An Yanxi’s heart was sour.

In the past, there had never been a woman other than herself next to His Highness Taizi. She thought that even if His Highness Taizi had no intention toward her, relying on the relationship between her brother and her father, she would be the most suitable candidate for the crown princess in the future.

Now another existence was even more special than her, who was able to win the favor of His Highness Taizi and Feng Yunchao.

Qin Yan, should not exist.