Chapter 64 She really has changed.

Chapter 64 She really has changed.

Before Shen Nanzi could make up her mind, Xie Yan stood beside her stone table.

"Is this a lily of the valley?"

His voice was so gentle that Shen Nanzi felt like she was standing next to a fake.

She couldn't help but raise her eyes to look at Xie Yan, her gaze filled with wariness and scrutiny.

Xie Yan met her gaze; before he entered, she was all smiles.

But upon seeing him, her expression changed drastically.

She had resented him before, but there was also a mix of concern and expectation in her feelings.

She had an indescribable feeling about her now, which left him somewhat at a loss.

Perhaps they have never gotten along well, and now they don't know how to get along well.

Xie Yan looked at the jar of ointment on the stone table, and unconsciously touched his arm, a barely perceptible sense of loss in his eyes.

The entire courtyard became unusually quiet because of his arrival.

Seeing that she seemed unwilling to respond to his question, he had no choice but to speak again:

"I have come here on the orders of Consort Wei to select a consort for the Sixth Prince, and I have come to ask you to come and advise me."

Shen Nanzi's expression softened slightly. Xie Yu was finally going to choose a concubine?!

I wonder which family's girl they'll choose?

She has to go and see.

My heart is already itching to go!

He glanced at Xie Yan beside him.

She leaned back slightly, rested her chin on one hand, and raised her beautiful eyes to meet his gaze.

"when?"

Xie Yan looked at the interest in her eyes. She had been ignoring him just moments before, but her expression changed instantly upon hearing that she was going to see Consort Wei.

She was just as she always was, her joys and sorrows always on her lips.

Thinking of her familiarity with Xie Yu, she said, "I'll be waiting for you at the door early tomorrow morning."

Waiting for her?

Shen Nanzi's lips curled up slightly. He had really sacrificed a lot for Xue Qingning!

He actually condescended to take her out with him for the first time.

"No need, I'll go by myself."

Xie Yan's fingers tightened slightly, and his expression stiffened for a moment.

He then regained his composure.

"good."

Hearing his words, which were clearly tinged with emotion, Shen Nanzi lightly tapped her cheek with her finger. He really knew how to hold back.

If it were before, he would have said, "Go if you want, don't go! You're giving me too much credit!"

She still liked his unruly demeanor, but now, for Xue Qingning's sake, he had become someone else entirely.

This is utterly boring!

Seeing that she had no intention of speaking again, Xie Yan turned and left.

As I stepped out of the courtyard, Wuying appeared behind me.

"Your Highness, why don't you explain things clearly to the Princess? You've misunderstood her; your arm was even broken while saving her."

Seeing his prince being repeatedly neglected, Wuying felt anxious.

Xie Yan walked slowly, his gaze fixed ahead: "If I weren't facing a crisis, I might have been able to explain to her why I had misunderstood her all these years."

"Given her personality, she should be able to understand my situation."

“But…” he sighed, his eyes grave, “the best thing for her is to continue like this and keep her out of it.”

"Then...aren't you sad?" Wuying felt that his prince was an extremely stoic person.

However, on these several occasions, he sensed a clear sense of loss in his own prince.

Xie Yan withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes, "These are all minor matters; ultimately, it is I who owe her."

He should accept whatever she does, but now she doesn't argue with him anymore.

He felt that life was empty and devoid of any human warmth.

He was a listless and lethargic person to begin with!

Xie Yan didn't know what he was regretting; he just felt that things shouldn't have been this way between him and her.

"It's His Highness!" Wuying reminded him.

Xie Yan looked up and saw Xie Chengze wearing a royal blue short jacket, carrying Tong Gong on his back, walking towards her.

A servant was following behind him. The servant noticed them and alerted him from behind.

"Your Highness, Prince Jing is in front of you."

Xie Chengze raised his head, revealing a delicate face with red lips and white teeth.

Her eyes instantly turned cold, and her small body clearly showed resistance.

If he hadn't been coming straight at him, he probably would have changed lanes without hesitation.

After his expression changed several times, he walked up to him, and according to etiquette, lowered his head and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Cheng'er greets Father."

Her small body showed him only respect and distance, making them almost like strangers.

Seeing how resistant he was to him, Xie Yan felt like a complete bastard.

Since realizing that she had wronged Shen Nanzi, she has changed her opinion of the child.

Over the years, I've completely ignored him, as if he didn't exist.

"Did you go to archery practice?"

"Yes." He kept his eyes down, his gaze fixed on the ground.

Xie Yan wanted to ask him how his training was going, but before he could speak, Xie Chengze said, "Your subject will take his leave now."

Before he could say anything, he had already quickly passed by him.

Looking at that stubborn and cold little back, Xie Yan felt an indescribable sadness.

"Your Highness, isn't the bow and arrow that Prince Chengze is carrying your servant's bow?"

Wu Ying was a little curious. When did His Highness give it to the young prince?

Previously, His Highness Xie Hongrui had asked for it, but His Highness had refused.

But now it appears on Prince Chengze.

"Don't tell them."

Xie Yan worried that if the mother and son found out, they would throw it away without hesitation.

＊

The Imperial Palace, specifically Consort Wei's Hele Hall.

As the weather gradually warmed up, Shen Nanzi wore a smoky purple pleated ruqun with wide sleeves.

Adorned with a kingfisher feather and silk-wrapped gold hairpin, she exuded an air of elegance and nobility, like a flower of wealth and honor in the mortal world.

Beside her, Xie Yan wore a dark purple fitted robe with gold auspicious patterns embroidered on the lapels and cuffs.

He wore a jade pendant with a qilin pattern around his waist, a jade crown on his head, and black boots on his feet, and walked slowly.

"Xie Yan, can you hurry up?" Shen Nanzi said disdainfully.

"You've been dawdling all morning, and you even blocked my carriage. Were you doing this on purpose?"

"You clearly spent the whole morning doing your makeup and changing your clothes three times."

"You were spying on me?"

"I didn't, it was my great-aunt who kept saying it."

"You were eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"You were speaking so loudly, the houses across the street could hear you!"

"You said I have a loud voice?" Shen Nanzi grinned, put her hands on her hips, and glared with her beautiful eyes.

"Don't you know whether it's big or not?"

“Xie Yan,” Shen Nanzi exhaled and pointed at him, “you will disappear from my side immediately.”

"I must go and pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine; I am not a rude person."

As Xie Yan walked into the palace, he found that when he tried to talk to her properly, he had nothing to say.

Only if you provoke her a little, and make her angry, will she start babbling on and on, just like before, like a wild cat with its fur standing on end.

Only in this way could the emperor not notice the difference between them.

Shen Nanzi chuckled and whispered in his ear, "Don't think I don't know you have ulterior motives."

She looked ahead, gesturing for him to look over.

Xie Yan looked up and saw Xue Qingning, dressed in simple elegance, standing on the bridge in front of them, gazing at their direction.