On the road.
Ying Yuan looked at Li Jin puzzled and asked, "Li Jin, you asked me to leave this matter to the guards Mother Empress sent me. Isn't that somewhat inappropriate?"
Li Jin shook his head.
"No, on the contrary, it's the best method for us right now."
From the moment he agreed to Li Siyuan, Li Jin had considered many methods. But this was, after all, the imperial palace, a place where Li Jin currently couldn't plant informants. That's why Li Jin used the guards assigned to Ying Yuan by Gu Rushuang.
Sure enough, the guard immediately and stealthily completed the task Li Jin had assigned.
"But Mother Empress will also find out. How will you explain it then?"
This was the reason for Ying Yuan's worry. Ying Yuan didn't regret acting against Ying Ziheng at all, but he was afraid that if this matter got out, Gu Rushuang would punish Li Jin for acting recklessly.
"Just tell His Majesty the Empress the whole story from beginning to end."
Since he used the guards sent by Gu Rushuang, Li Jin never thought this matter could be hidden from him. Or rather, Li Jin intentionally let Gu Rushuang know about this matter.
"Alright, as long as you know what you're doing."
Ying Yuan looked at Li Jin's calm and composed demeanor, took a deep breath, and didn't continue questioning further.
"Don't worry, I won't act recklessly."
Li Jin responded with a smile.
"..."
Ying Yuan felt speechless, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
"Seventh Prince, come with me for a moment. I have something for you to listen to." Li Jin signaled for Ying Yuan to follow him and walked towards the nearby lake.
Listen?
Ying Yuan raised his eyebrow in surprise and quickly followed.
___
After leaving Ying Xichen's place, Shen Ningyu, feeling upset, had unconsciously arrived at the lake. She randomly found a spot to sit down and began recalling what Ying Xichen had said earlier.
Anger uncontrollably spread from the depths of her heart.
How could she be like this? I clearly told her I've fallen for Li Jin, and yet she still uses her status as the Fifth Princess to secretly pressure me to give up. She's truly vicious.
Shen Ningyu instinctively believed Ying Xichen was deliberately trying to steal Li Jin from her, which was why she said those things in front of her today. She completely forgot that she herself had never told Ying Xichen the name of the person she liked.
Inadvertently.
When Shen Ningyu looked up, she saw Li Jin.
Li Jin? Why is he here? Did he notice I was upset and specifically came looking for me?
Watching Li Jin gradually walking towards her, Shen Ningyu's heart suddenly began to beat wildly of its own accord.
"A bunch of snobs who judge people by their status. One day I'll make you regret looking down on me today." Li Yanchen, who happened to be walking towards the lake, kicked a tree beside him in frustration to vent his emotions.
___
Before, Li Yanchen hadn't thought his status was low. But today's Longevity Banquet, the sarcasm and ridicule from those so-called sons of dukes and ministers, and their flattery towards Li Yanshen, made Li Yanchen deeply understand the distinction between the legitimate and the illegitimate.
At the same time.
It also deepened Li Yanchen's resentment towards Li Jin and Li Yanshen. He was convinced that without these two standing in his way, no one would have dared to look down on him.
"Huh? Why is there a young lady up ahead?" Just as Li Yanchen was about to vent his anger on another tree, he spotted Shen Ningyu's figure and stopped in puzzlement.
___
"Ningyu... Ningyu... Where are you? Ningyu..."
Ying Xichen searched anxiously.
She and Shen Ningyu had been friends for many years. How could she not see that something was off with Shen Ningyu's expression when they were speaking earlier? So after Shen Ningyu ran off, Ying Xichen chased after her.
Unfortunately, Shen Ningyu walked too fast. Ying Xichen, worried her veil might fall, lost sight of Shen Ningyu momentarily, leading to her searching aimlessly.
"I should have walked faster just now, maybe then I wouldn't have lost her... Uh... Isn't that Ningyu?" Just as Ying Xichen was about to give up if she couldn't find Shen Ningyu, she suddenly spotted Shen Ningyu's figure and was overjoyed. But before she could walk over, she saw Li Jin walking over and stopping behind the tree Shen Ningyu was leaning against. "Why is Heir Li here too?"
Perhaps it was a mere coincidence.
From where Ying Yuan was standing, it seemed to be a blind spot; Shen Ningyu and the others hadn't noticed Ying Yuan was there too.
___
Back to the scene.
Li Jin walked towards the willow tree, calmly plucked a willow leaf, placed it against his lips, and immediately, a beautiful melody began to play.
Ying Yuan stared at Li Jin in astonishment.
So impressive, he can play a tune using just a leaf.
"Li..."
"Heir Li, are you comforting me?" Just as Ying Yuan was about to speak to Li Jin, Shen Ningyu's voice abruptly cut in, interrupting him.
"Shen Ningyu?" Li Jin raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise.
Why is she here at this time?
"Heir Li, thank you. Actually, you don't need to go this far. Just you coming to see me is enough... I... I am fine then..." Shen Ningyu shyly lowered her head, not daring to look at Li Jin.
The corner of Li Jin's mouth twitched involuntarily. "I didn't mean that, Miss Shen. You've misunderstood."
"I haven't misunderstood." With that, Shen Ningyu boldly grabbed Li Jin's sleeve. "You clearly like me, why won't you admit it? Is it because of the Fifth Princess?"
Li Jin frowned slightly. "What about the Fifth Princess? Miss Shen, I don't know what you're talking about. Furthermore, I have never liked you, neither in the future nor now."
"I don't believe it."
Shen Ningyu was convinced that Li Jin's rejection was because of Ying Xichen. So no matter how much Li Jin explained, Shen Ningyu refused to listen.
Li Jin said helplessly, "Miss Shen, I..."
"Shen Ningyu, is this how you repay me for being so good to you? By stealing the person I like?" From Ying Xichen's angle, it looked as if Shen Ningyu had thrown herself into Li Jin's embrace. Her eyes instantly reddened, all caution thrown to the wind as she stepped forward to confront Shen Ningyu.
"What do you mean, the person you like? Li Jin clearly likes me. And didn't you hear just now? Heir Li even played a tune for me."
Shen Ningyu stood her ground against Ying Xichen.
"You..."
Ying Xichen was overwhelmed with mixed emotions, but most of all, she felt anger towards Shen Ningyu.
"Could it be that the Fifth Princess intends to use her status to force Li Jin to be with you?" Since she had already torn pretense with Ying Xichen, Shen Ningyu saw no need for further hypocrisy and launched a series of accusatory questions.
Ying Xichen, Li Jin is mine. What right does an ugly woman like you have to compete with me?
"I did not."
Ying Xichen had been raised in seclusion by the Empress Dowager Wei. How could she be a match for Shen Ningyu? Being accused like this by Shen Ningyu, Ying Xichen felt so humiliated and angry she was on the verge of tears.
At the same time.
She also began to harbor resentment towards Shen Ningyu.
Just as Li Jin couldn't help but speak up, Ying Yuan walked out from the blind spot and sternly rebuked, "What are you two making such a noisy fuss about here?"
"Seventh Prince (Seventh Brother), why are you here?"
Shen Ningyu and the other hadn't expected Ying Yuan to be there too. They stared in disbelief and immediately fell silent.
"I've been with Li Jin the whole time. You just didn't see me." After saying this, Ying Yuan turned to Li Jin. "Li Jin, let's go back. Mother Empress said she wanted to see us earlier. It wouldn't be good to delay."
"Mm."
Li Jin nodded and let Ying Yuan lead him away from the scene.
"Shen Ningyu and the Fifth Princess both like Li Jin?" Li Yanchen, hidden in the shadows, watched everything that had happened not far from him, a dark light flashing quickly in his eyes.
"Fifth Princess, Li Jin is mine."
"Shen Ningyu, you were right earlier. I am a princess. What do you have to compete with me?"
Shen Ningyu and Ying Xichen glared at each other with hostility, then simultaneously turned and walked away in different directions, neither having any intention of speaking to the other.
___
Li Jin looked at Ying Yuan walking beside him and said, "Seventh Prince, thank you for helping me out of that situation earlier."
What had just happened had also startled Li Jin. He knew about Shen Ningyu's unreasonable and clingy nature from his previous life and had experienced it himself. So her earlier remarks were within Li Jin's expectations. However, the matter of Ying Xichen liking him was something Li Jin found puzzling.
He had only met this Fifth Princess a few times, and only recently had a conversation with her at Yunling Temple. How could she inexplicably fall for him?
Ying Yuan turned his head away. "Even without me, you could have handled it yourself."
For some reason.
After hearing Shen Ningyu and Ying Xichen say they liked Li Jin, Ying Yuan felt very uncomfortable. An uncontrollable feeling, as if something important was about to be taken from him, spread through his heart.
"Without you, I could have handled it, but it would have been troublesome."
"Who knows?"
Ying Yuan lowered his head, his voice muffled, as if he didn't want to continue the topic.
Ying Yuan knew his words were somewhat unreasonable, but he couldn't help saying them.
"Ying Yuan, this is for you." Seeing that Ying Yuan didn't want to continue the topic, Li Jin suddenly placed the object he was holding into Ying Yuan's hand, not allowing refusal.
"A willow leaf?"
Ying Yuan looked at the willow leaf in his palm and was stunned.
Truth be told.
Over the years, many people had given Ying Yuan gifts to curry favor with him. But when it came to the strangest gifts, Li Jin topped the list. Now he was actually starting to give him leaves.
"This is a thank you gift for your help earlier, Seventh Prince." Li Jin smiled and explained the use of this willow leaf. "Seventh Prince, don't think it's just a leaf. In the future, when you're reading and haven't finished, you can use this willow leaf to mark the page. Next time, you can immediately find where you left off, without having to search for it every time."
"Uh... Thank you..."
Hearing Li Jin's explanation of the correct use of the willow leaf, Ying Yuan couldn't help but thank him.
"I'm glad you like it, Seventh Prince."
Li Jin responded with a smile.
"By the way, before giving me this leaf, could you play that tune from earlier on a willow leaf for me one more time?" Ying Yuan looked at Li Jin, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes that even he himself didn't notice.
"Sure."
Li Jin took the willow leaf and, walking beside Ying Yuan, continued to play the unfinished tune from earlier.
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