Xie Wangze stopped deceiving himself. Once he thought it through, he admitted it.
But he would not continue.
Because he could not continue.
He told himself that it was merely a complex emotion born from specific circumstances. It had to fade with time; he could not let it be.
This was the best for both of them. She resented him, and they had no good beginning between them, nor any future.
What he needed to do now was wait for the feelings to fade.
He had to be rational.
He needed to return to the Chen State. Unless Chu Yunge could settle her heart, even willing to follow him back to the Chen State and peacefully become his royal consort, they would have no good future.
But he knew clearly that Chu Yunge was not such a person, nor one he could easily control. She would not stay for him.
He himself had never changed his goals, and he had no right to demand that Chu Yunge change. They were both independent people.
Xie Wangze believed he could suppress it. He forced himself to stay calm, yet he did not know that emotions could not be suppressed. The more one repressed and restrained them, the more fiercely they surged.
Thus, after staying calm for less than three hours, he sent Ju An back to the Princess Mansion to probe and see if Chu Yunge would come to save him.
He even found an excuse for himself: he just wanted to make himself completely give up.
He was not a good person. Chu Yunge saw that clearly, so she would not come to save him.
But with that ‘really seeking death to gain a dead heart’, when he heard Ju An say that Chu Yunge was doing fine, his heart still sank to the bottom.
Xie Wangze spoke with difficulty: “Tell me what she is doing.”
He wanted to deaden his heart even more, to deaden it thoroughly.
Ju An looked at Xie Wangze’s furious expression, mixed with heartbreak, as if he wanted to kill someone: “…”
How was he supposed to say it?
He feared that if he said it, his master would go mad. He also feared his master would cry…
Pah pah pah, his master would never cry over a woman, but… he still did not dare say it.
Ju An’s silence was deafening.
Xie Wangze waited a moment and successfully misunderstood.
“Why aren’t you speaking? Did something happen to her? Could Zhao Zeng have gone to take revenge on her?”
Killing intent flashed in Xie Wangze’s eyes: “If you don’t speak, the Princess Mansion has plenty of my people…”
“This subordinate will speak.” Ju An sensed the severity of the situation and closed his eyes, speaking as if facing death.
“Her Highness is fine. When this subordinate returned, Her Highness was boating with Master Qingchen. The two… were chatting happily.” Apart from the fact that it was not yet dark, it was completely like a romantic rendezvous under flowers and moonlight.
Ju An nearly cried: “Young Master, Her Highness has long forgotten you.”
Without you, the Princess Mansion was no different from before.
No one looked for you, no one worried about you. Everyone was happy.
Not only Her Highness, but even the kindest Master Qingchen was the same. He cast you aside and flirted intimately with Her Highness.
No one missed you. Why worry about their safety? Stop missing anyone and give up completely.
The latter sentences were too cruel. Ju An did not dare say them aloud, but to Xie Wangze, they were already a fatal blow.
“Boating… Impossible. Go probe again.”
He was not surprised that she would cast him aside. After all, she was such a heartless, wicked woman.
But with Qingchen… Impossible. Qingchen was not that kind of person.
She already had Li Guangi and had provoked Pei Ji. Adding Qingchen—what would that be?
Ju An left with a mournful face to continue probing.
But because he dawdled, by the time he returned to the Princess Mansion, Chu Yunge was no longer there.
Ju An was just about to breathe a sigh of relief and report that he had not found her when he heard people excitedly passing along a message on the road.
“Have you heard? The Princess went to rob pretty boys again.”
“Your news is outdated. The Princess isn’t just robbing pretty boys again; she’s selecting handsome men. They say she selected over a hundred to bring back to the mansion as her male favorites.”
“Apparently, she has one serving her bedchambers each day, and it could go on for days.”
“Heavens, such a thing exists? Where? I want to go see!”
In one’s lifetime, how many chances were there to witness such a spectacle? They had to go see.
Everyone was excited, all rushing to watch the excitement. No one noticed Ju An, who was nearly knocked off his feet by the crowd and on the verge of shattering.
The Princess… robbed pretty boys again, and this time over a hundred?!!
It was over. How was he supposed to report this to the Young Master? The Young Master had fallen for the Princess now.
Yes, Ju An was no fool. He had already seen it. The Young Master Xie, who had been single-minded about returning home, had gone mad and fallen for the Princess he was supposed to hate.
In order to have something to report when he returned, Ju An hoped it was just rumors from the common folk. In the end, to verify, he followed the crowd.
However, Ju An could not squeeze in. The restaurant where the Princess was had crowds inside and out. Standing far outside, he could still hear the lively clamor.
At the center of the clamor was Chu Yunge.
Having finished boating with Qingchen, she received Yan Feng’s message and learned the location. Without hesitation, she ditched Qingchen and hurried over nonstop.
Business came first!
Anticipation filled her along the way.
In the accompanying carriage, besides Du Ruo, Maid A was also there.
She had passed the test. The maids she found matched the numbers and names, and she had handled the matter properly.
Chu Yunge thought it was good and directly brought her along.
“What is your name?”
Maid A perked up, knowing she had finally passed her master’s preliminary test. She immediately kowtowed and saluted: “Replying to Your Highness, this servant is Jimo.”
Chu Yunge paused: “Hm?” It sounded like ‘lonely’.
“This servant requests a new name from the Princess.” Jimo knew her name had a bad homophone and had been mocked before for ‘immediately inking’ and stealing someone else’s fiancé.
“No need. Just Jimo.” The name was easy to remember.
They arrived at the appointed restaurant, which was already bustling. Looking down from the second floor, she spotted Yan Feng and his Yan People friends at a glance.
They stood out because there were even more of them than she had imagined.
Moreover, they all looked spirited between their brows—extremely rare. Each was more handsome than the last. Coincidentally, they were arrayed in formation, practicing swordplay.
Chu Yunge’s eyes lit up. These faces, these figures, this martial prowess and swordsmanship!
Yan Feng accurately spotted Chu Yunge, then casually looked away, merely coughing once and making a hand gesture.
To make it more realistic, Yan Feng had specially prepared the sword formation practice. Because of the hot weather, many Yan People quickly shed their outer robes, baring their upper bodies. Their momentum was grand and had already drawn a crowd before Chu Yunge arrived.
Thus, it became even more reasonable for Chu Yunge to be attracted.
It was just as the lanterns were lit. Under the moonlight, seeing such a scene—not only did men yearn with fascination, but women, while pretending modesty, also drooled openly.
They only drooled, but Chu Yunge was different.
In her heart, she praised Yan Feng for coming through while starting her scumbag lines.
“Huh, who would have thought sword practice could be so interesting. These Yan People look ordinary when seen separately, nothing attractive about them. But together like this… quite intriguing.”
With that, her slender jade hand pointed, and she began snatching the common hunks.
“The first row, second row, those few in the third row, and them—This Princess wants them all.”
Chu Yunge pointed boldly, her face flushed with excitement.
Ju An in the crowd had a face ashen as death.
Damn heavens, how was he supposed to explain this to the Young Master?