Chapter 27: Xu Qingyan and Kong Shuyin (2)
Wei Zhiyao had never expected Xu Niannian to play by such strange rules.
Shouldn’t she have been angry first?
Instead, she had asked whether the Third Prince knew Wei Zhiyao had come here.
How could she possibly let the Third Prince know?
Everyone in the capital knew that the Third Prince treated the Young Commandery Princess of Prince An’s household like a precious treasure. Wei Zhiyao was merely unwilling to accept it.
Her grandfather had always intended for her to marry the Third Prince.
Now that rumors had spread that the Third Prince wanted to marry Xu Niannian, she had made time to come and see what the woman who had stolen her man looked like.
At that thought, Wei Zhiyao’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“What are you so pleased with yourself about? You may be beautiful now, and the Third Prince may like you, but who can guarantee that he won’t like me in the future?”
Wei Zhiyao thought to herself that even if she could not become the principal consort, she could still strive to become his secondary consort.
When that time came, no one could say for certain whom the Third Prince would favor.
The thought made Wei Zhiyao smug once more. After all, her grandfather was the Grand Tutor. Unlike Prince An’s household, which belonged to a family with a different surname and whose influence did not even extend throughout the capital, her family possessed real power.
If the Third Prince wanted that position, he would have to rely on her grandfather’s support.
How could Xu Niannian compare? Hmph. She even wanted the Third Prince to marry into her family.
Her grandfather had said that as long as she could win the Third Prince back, she would definitely become his principal consort.
By then, the Cheng family would support her as well.
The thought of marrying the Third Prince strengthened Wei Zhiyao’s resolve.
“I don’t need to feel pleased with myself. Whether he likes me or not won’t affect me in the slightest.” Niannian had no intention of wasting any more time with the madwoman Wei Zhiyao. Her parents had already said that she was to remain in Prince An’s household and marry a man into the family. Whether that man would be the Third Prince was still uncertain.
Besides, she was the one doing the choosing now. She wasn’t like certain people who could only wait around to be chosen.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Wei Zhiyao was infuriated by her words.
She felt that Niannian had insulted her.
“A-Yao, what are you doing?”
Wei Herui had spotted his younger sister from a distance. At first, he thought someone had bullied her.
But when he came closer and saw that it was Niannian, he immediately changed his approach.
“Big Brother, you came at just the right time.” Seeing Wei Herui arrive, Wei Zhiyao felt triumphant.
Her brother was one of the most handsome young men in the capital. If he mocked Xu Niannian a few times, surely she would be too ashamed to remain in the capital.
Then the Third Prince would naturally belong to her.
The thought filled Wei Zhiyao with smug satisfaction.
Wei Herui brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes before calmly walking over to Niannian. With refined manners, he bowed and said, “Little Sister Niannian, we meet again.”
After speaking, Wei Herui revealed what he considered his gentlest smile.
“So this is your sister!” Niannian looked at Wei Herui, then at Wei Zhiyao. There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
They really were two of a kind.
This man had been at odds with her elder brother in the past, and now his sister had come to her spouting nonsense.
It seemed that Prince An’s household and the Wei family were simply destined to clash.
“I hope you won’t take offense, Little Sister Niannian. A-Yao, hurry up and apologize to Little Sister Niannian,” Wei Herui said sternly to Wei Zhiyao.
He was thinking that he absolutely could not allow his sister to ruin his reputation.
“Big Brother, why should I apologize to her? I haven’t done anything wrong! She’s the shameless one. Doesn’t she know her own worth? She even wants the Third Prince to marry into her family. Is she worthy?” Wei Zhiyao pointed furiously at Niannian.
Her heart ached with grievance. Her own elder brother was actually refusing to take her side and was siding with Xu Niannian, that little wretch, instead.
“Enough! Is this how our parents taught you to behave?” Wei Herui rebuked her angrily.
At the same time, he felt somewhat suspicious. Could Niannian really intend to make the Third Prince marry into her family?
How dare she?
“Big Brother, you’re my real brother! How could you take an outsider’s side?” Wei Zhiyao stared at Wei Herui with reddened eyes. She could not understand why her elder brother, who had always doted on her, was now siding with Xu Niannian—the woman who had stolen her man.
“That’s enough. Go home at once. Stop making a spectacle of yourself here.” Wei Herui felt that his sister was doing nothing but dragging him down.
“Fine. If you two siblings want to put on a show, go somewhere else.”
With that, Xu Niannian led Kong Shuyin and Li Mingyue past them and left.
She still found the siblings rather baffling.
“Niannian, that man is interested in you.” Kong Shuyin covered her mouth and giggled.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Niannian hurriedly stopped her.
“Niannian, my eyes don’t deceive me.” Kong Shuyin was completely certain. She had never been wrong about people.
“Shuyin, that man from the Wei family—the one just now—is the eldest brother who has always been at odds with Xu Qingyan,” Li Mingyue carefully reminded her from the side.
“Oh? Then someone is bound to end up heartbroken. But Niannian, is that Third Prince handsome?” Kong Shuyin quickly lost interest in Wei Herui and became curious about the Third Prince instead.
Kong Shuyin’s favorite kind of person was a beautiful one.
Of course, the Wei siblings were excluded.
“Handsome.” Niannian nodded without the slightest hesitation.
When it came to appearances, she had to admit that the Third Prince was indeed very handsome.
“Heehee, now I’m incredibly curious about this Third Prince who wants to marry you, Niannian,” Kong Shuyin said with a grin.
“You should be curious about your An’an instead.”
Niannian pointed toward the distance and laughed. An’an was being stopped by a young woman who had blocked his path.
Kong Shuyin followed the direction of her finger and saw a beautiful young woman standing in front of An’an. Her face was flushed, and she seemed to be asking him something.
“Niannian, she’s probably just asking for directions, right?” Kong Shuyin said uncertainly.
She wanted to rush over and question him, but she remembered Xu Qingyan saying that this was the capital, not Jiangnan, and that she should show him some consideration and preserve his dignity.
That was the only reason she had not gone over.
“That’s Ye Qingyan, the younger daughter of Minister Ye of the Ministry of Rites. Shuyin, I heard that the Ye family has recently been looking for a suitable marriage match for Ye Qingyan,” Li Mingyue said, winking from the side.
“Aren’t you afraid that your An’an will be snatched away?” Niannian asked.
Although she trusted her family and believed that An’an would never fool around—after all, he clearly liked Kong Shuyin—she still rather wanted to see him caught in a difficult situation.
The three of them had been competing with one another ever since childhood. Watching An’an struggle was actually quite entertaining.
“If he dares to leave with someone else, I’ll never speak to him again for the rest of my life!” Kong Shuyin pressed her lips together, naturally feeling extremely unhappy.
But she was also afraid that rushing over would ruin Xu Qingyan’s affairs.
At that thought, Kong Shuyin unhappily kicked a pebble on the ground.
“Ow! Who did that? How dare you hit me?”
A man’s angry voice rang out.
Kong Shuyin hurriedly ducked behind Niannian, terrified.
Oh no. She had caused trouble.
