eply wronged in her heart. It was fine yesterday, why is it like this today Knowing she was in the wrong, she asked An Ling beside her, "An Ling, go check where His Royal Highness went yesterday"An Li...Xiao Yu's mood was excellent as she walked back, but she hadn't gone far when she suddenly felt like she was being followed. Her mind raced and she quickly darted into a pavilion, hiding inside.
When the pursuer reached the pavilion, he found she was not there. He looked around, just about to leave, when a figure flashed, and Xiao Yu Ge stopped him in his tracks.
To probe the other's true strength, she struck with her palm. The opponent quickly parried, and in a blink of an eye, they had exchanged several moves, seemingly evenly matched. Seeing this, she feigned a move and landed a palm strike on the person's shoulder!
"Uh!" The man was jolted back two steps.
"Who are you Why are you following me" Xiao Yuge eyed him warily, her mind racing back to her conversation with Huoyan. This man couldn't have heard them, could he After all, she had only been followed after leaving that alley.
"Miss Xiao, long time no see!" the person slowly took off the hat from their head.
"It's you!"
Xiao Yu Ge never expected that the person trailing her would be Mu Cang, the third prince of the Tianzhu Kingdom!
"Miss Xiao, could you spare me a moment for a word" Mu Cang looked around. Their fight just now seemed to have attracted people, so he didn't care about anything else and pulled Xiao Yuge towards an empty place.
"Third Prince, what are you doing" Xiao Yuge retracted her hand and frowned. Were all these men so bold They came right up and grabbed a woman's hand without fear of being chopped to pieces
"Sorry!" Mu Cang then bowed deeply to her.
"What's this" Xiao Yuge narrowed her beautiful eyes, looking him up and down with a puzzled expression. She was truly quite confused about what he wanted to do.
"Thank you, young lady, for saving my mother! I was unable to thank you properly after the banquet that day. I came here today specially, and I apologize for any offense I may have caused earlier. Please forgive me!"
"How is your mother" Xiao Yuge didn't expect that when he casually mentioned the cause of her illness, she would actually guess it right.
“Hmm.” Mu Cang nodded vigorously, his handsome face filled with gratitude: “After receiving your advice that time, I returned to Tianzhu and used your method. As a result, my mother truly recovered. Now the imperial physician says her health is even better than before.”
“Congratulations then.” This will work too. If Senior Brother found out, wouldn't he laugh at her for hitting the mark by accident
"Mu Cang came today, firstly to personally thank the young lady, and secondly..." Mu Cang seemed a little hesitant, but finally gathered his courage: "Secondly, I want to be friends with you." His eyes were full of expectation, mixed with a bit of apprehension, as if afraid of being rejected.
"Your Highness, the Third Prince is too kind. You are a prince, and I am but a commoner now. How could I possibly presume to-"
"In our Tianzhu land, there aren't many distinctions of high and low. The Buddha said that all beings are equal. Since we're sincere friends, why would we care about status Could it be that you still remember the incident in Dumb Woman Village, so you're reluctant to befriend Mu Cang"
"Of course not, you explained it clearly back then. Although you were at fault first, afterwards, you also made every effort to make amends, so it evens out..."
Before Xiao Yuge could finish speaking, Mu Cang became excited: "So, are you willing to be friends with me"
Xiao Yu Ge saw him like this, the words of refusal reached her lips, but she swallowed them back, then nodded: "To be able to be friends with the Third Prince is my Xiao Yu Ge's honor."
"No! It's me who is reaching too high!" Seeing that she agreed, Mu Cang was overjoyed like a child, his excited hands seemed to not know where to put them.
Xiao Yuge's expression faltered for a moment before she gave a wry smile. However, her eyes did not hold the same joy as her face. She didn't want to have too much dealings with these members of the royal family, but thinking about Feng Yan's words that there was a unique orchid in the Tianzhu Kingdom palace, and her senior brother said that for refining the antidote for Qian Tingxuan, both the orchid and the sleeping fire lotus were crucial, although there was no news about the sleeping fire lotus yet, being able to obtain the orchid first wouldn't be bad. Therefore, she had to pretend to play along.
"Girl..."
“Your Highness, Third Prince, since you’re willing to meet me, if I may call myself a friend, then just call me Ge'er.” Xiao Yu Ge smiled faintly at him. Her bright eyes were clear and transparent, sparkling like stars, captivating like crescent moons. Every smile and frown revealed her innocent simplicity. She knew that to get information about the Orchid of Shadows from his mouth, she would still need to spend some time.
"Good, Ge'er!" This was exactly what Mu Cang meant, so he eagerly followed her words: "Then Ge'er doesn't have to call me the Third Prince. We met because of the Mute Girl Village. Back then, I called myself A Cang, why not call me A Cang, Ge'er"
"Alright, when there's no one around, I'll call you A-Cang."
They smiled at each other.
"Ger, since you arrived in Lan Zhao, I've heard about your situation. I never expected that your life would be so... complicated."
Xiao Yu sang chuckled self-deprecatingly: "After occupying the identity of the eldest daughter of the Xiao family for so long, it's time to return it to its owner. It's just a change of identity and life, not that much twists and turns." Before, because she was the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, she had to be careful with every word and deed. In contrast, she preferred this kind of freedom now.
"What are your plans for the future Are you really going to stay at Ruyi Pavilion forever" He suddenly envied her carefree spirit. Even in adversity, she could remain steadfast and true to herself.
Xiao Yu'er raised an eyebrow, casually plucked a leaf from beside her, fashioned it into a small boat, and then tossed it into the river, letting it drift downstream. "There's nothing wrong with staying at Ruyi Pavilion all the time, is there Now I'm like this little boat, I can go wherever I want, so free."
"Then you and King Xiaoyao..." Mu Cang glanced at her quickly, not daring to ask any more.
"Seems like you're quite interested in my affairs, aren't you" she smirked at him, her long eyelashes concealing the coldness in her eyes: to care so much about her, what was An thinking
"I'm sorry, I was too forward." Mu Cang looked apologetic, feeling remorse in his heart. He had finally met her again after so long, how could he be so reckless and scare her away.
"It's fine, he and I... how do I say this simply Let's just say I saved him, he saved me, and then... it's like what you saw that day, a bit chaotic." How could it not be chaotic She was caught between these men, it was almost like a pot of porridge gone wrong.
That day, King Xiao Yao said you were his princess, would you... marry him Mu Cang hesitated for a moment before carefully asking, his hands that seemed to have no place to rest kept twisting the weeds beside him. He wanted to hear the answer, but he was also afraid of it.
"As for my broken engagement, I presume you've heard about it. Do you think anyone in the royal family would marry a woman like me, someone whose origins are unknown" Xiao Yuge gave a self-deprecating smile: "Of course not. Or perhaps put another way, if it were you, A Cang, would you marry a woman like me - one with no status, no position, and who doesn't even know who she is"o achieve this martial arts prowess. If it were simply discarded, it would be like killing her. But if they didn't discard it, the consequences of going mad with fire would be losing their lives. He w...