Under the gazes of Qi Wen and Xiao Jingcheng, Ye Wanmian forced out a couple of awkward laughs and said to Qi Wen,
"What do you ask this for?"
"Yesterday, when His Highness the Prince of Xuan came to visit with his entourage, I caught a quick glimpse. Good heavens! I've never seen such a handsome man!" Qi Wen's eyes sparkled. "If His Highness the Prince of Xuan is like this, then His Highness the Crown Prince can't be far behind!"
"Isn't that how it's always sung in the operas? The princes in the palace are all extremely handsome and are admired by many young ladies. They might even fight over a girl and turn against each other."
Qi Wen was all excited. "Our town hasn't had a royal relative visit for hundreds of years. Now that there are so many princes here, perhaps one of the girls in town will catch the eye of these noblemen and soar into the palace to become a concubine!"
"What if the princes don't like girls..."
He blushed shyly. "Handsome young men would do as well."
Ye Wanmian's lips twitched.
She'd seen people who loved operas, but never one who could have such wild imaginations after watching them!
Xiao Jingcheng was also irritated by Qi Wen's words.
What did he mean by "if they don't like girls, handsome young men would do as well"? Although he'd never been with a girl, he had no liking for smelly and stiff men at all.
Involuntarily, his mind recalled the soft and intoxicating touch when the young girl had hugged him, as well as the faint fragrance on her body...
He stole a cautious glance at Ye Wanmian, whose body was mostly blocked by Qi Wen.
Wait a minute. What was this Qi Wen guy doing so close to her!
Suddenly, something popped into Ye Wanmian's arms. She looked down and saw the yellow dog from outside had run in and nestled into her arms. It was glaring menacingly at Qi Wen across.
Qi Wen was forced to take a small step back, but he didn't notice the hostility emanating from the dog at all. He urged, "Come on, tell me. Who's more handsome?"
Should she answer without any bias and objectively?
Ye Wanmian lowered her eyes and pondered.
It had been two years since she'd last seen him, yet the moment she had the slightest thought, the face of Crown Prince Xiao Jingcheng, handsome with a hint of sharpness and flamboyance, would appear in her mind.
The queen was extremely beautiful, so beautiful that she didn't seem like an ordinary person. And the crown prince had inherited all of the queen's advantages. His pair of light amber pupils were like two precious gemstones that were captivating. As for his figure, needless to say, he had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and stood as straight as a pine. His long and strong arms could draw the heaviest bow and arrow.
However, when he looked at people with those heart - stoppingly beautiful eyes, there was no emotion in them, only a faint hint of disgust. And the words that came out of his perfectly shaped thin lips were even more intimidating.
Xiao Yixuan was naturally handsome too. There was always a faint smile on his lips. Because he loved books and calligraphy, there was a touch of elegance on him. And because his mother, the imperial concubine, was favored by the emperor, every strand of his hair exuded confidence and high - spiritedness.
As for Ning Wang, Xiao Wuchen...
He was also good - looking, but perhaps because he often appeared with Xiao Yixuan, his radiance was overshadowed by the latter. So when one thought of him, only his somewhat gloomy eyes came to mind.
Xiao Jingcheng leaned in the girl's arms and looked up at her expression. Seeing that she'd been thinking for a long time, he felt a bit uneasy and also a bit dissatisfied.
Did this question really need so much thought?!
Finally, Ye Wanmian looked up and said to Qi Wen, "Didn't I tell you before? The crown prince is extremely ugly. His face is full of pockmarks, and he's short and stocky. He loves to rob civilian girls. In terms of both appearance and personality, the Prince of Xuan is definitely superior."
Xiao Jingcheng stared blankly at Ye Wanmian, then quickly realized that she was doing it on purpose!
If it had been before, hearing her slander his image like this, he would surely have taught her a lesson. But thinking about the entanglement between them, he quickly calmed down.
Forget it. He did owe her after all. Let her have her moment of verbal triumph. What could it matter?
Qi Wen was shocked and stammered,
"Ah, is the crown prince really that ugly? Then the queen..."
Ye Wanmian sincerely praised the queen. "Her Majesty the queen is the most beautiful woman in the world."
Xiao Jingcheng felt mixed emotions.
The fact that she could praise his mother meant that she didn't spread the hatred between them to others. She only resented him.
"Then why is the crown prince like this..."
Ye Wanmian remained calm. "Maybe it's because the crown prince has done too many bad things, so he's getting his retribution."
Qi Wen nodded in realization. "I see."
Then he became confused again. "Something's not right. How could you have even met the queen, Miss Jiang..."
Ye Wanmian was startled. She thought she'd said too much. She rolled her eyes, stood up, and said, "I just remembered that Master forgot to take the golden sore powder when he went out. I'll go and give it to him right away. You watch the shop well!"
"Miss Jiang, Miss Jiang!"
Ye Wanmian grabbed a bottle of golden sore powder, slung her satchel over her shoulder, and ran out. Naturally, Xiao Jingcheng also controlled his body and followed in her footsteps, leaving Qi Wen stamping his feet behind.
Xiao Jingcheng chased after Ye Wanmian and was quite surprised when he recognized the direction she was going.
Was she really going to look for Old Wang at Liuxiang Tower?
However, when she was almost at Liuxiang Tower, Ye Wanmian stopped and didn't go any further. Instead, she entered a nearby teahouse and found a seat by the window where she could see Liuxiang Tower.
She ordered a pot of tea and a plate of peanuts. She took out a medical book, sipped her tea while flipping through it, and occasionally looked up in the direction of Liuxiang Tower.
Xiao Jingcheng's heart skipped a beat. He roughly guessed her purpose.
Sure enough, when she saw the two from the Ye family come out of Liuxiang Tower and get into a carriage, Ye Wanmian closed the book, quickly walked out of the teahouse, and chased after the direction the carriage had left.
Xiao Jingcheng followed behind her, looking thoughtfully at the carriage not far away.
From her conversation with Xiao Yixuan last night, she should have been avoiding the two from the Ye family. Why was she following them today?
The roads in Dongli Town were narrow. To avoid pedestrians, the carriage carrying Ye Wanxing and Ye Huan didn't move very fast. With Ye Wanmian's walking pace, she could just about keep up with it and always maintain a distance from it.
There were other pedestrians on the road, as well as patrolling guards. Ye Wanmian wasn't worried about being discovered.
Soon, she found out where the carriage was going —
Ye Wanxing and Ye Huan were trying to leave the city. It should be the Ling'an Temple outside Tianyuan County that Xiao Yixuan had mentioned last night.
However, when the carriage reached the city gate, it was stopped by the guards on duty.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and Ye Huan poked out half of his body. He said something to the guards and then took out a jade pendant and held it out.
From a distance, Ye Wanmian couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could roughly guess.
The jade pendant in Ye Huan's hand belonged to Xiao Yixuan. She'd seen it on him before.
They should be trying to leave the city with Xiao Yixuan's jade pendant.
However, to Ye Huan and Ye Wanxing's disappointment, no matter what they said, the guards didn't give in an inch. Since the physical evidence on the crown prince had suddenly gone missing, they couldn't afford to take any chances.
Helplessly, Ye Huan had to get back into the carriage and tell the coachman to turn the carriage around.
Ye Wanmian could have avoided them when the carriage turned around, but she waited until the carriage passed by her before turning around. The carriage curtain was flapped by the wind, revealing half of Ye Huan's profile. He unexpectedly locked eyes with Ye Wanmian.