Chapter 449 Cruelly Point Arrows at His Head
Ning Xueyan involuntarily shook a little, and felt a surge of weakness after relaxing. A moment ago, she struggled to confront Mammy Luo and the four hostile guards, for fear that any slight relaxation in will would put her in that catastrophic situation. At this moment, as soon as she relaxed, she felt everything in front of her went black and she went weak and limp.
Xinmei intended to reach out, but saw a dark figure flash in front of her. She took two steps back and stood aside with her hands down. Feeling relived, she put the flying needles back into her sleeves and secretly wiped the sweat on her forehead. Prince Yi had come. It didn’t matter even if the Third Prince played others tricks.
She was at present and certainly knew that the crunch was on the verge of breaking out just now. If Ning Xueyan hadn’t threatened with her life, the Third Prince never would have come out to meet her. Of course, even if the Third Prince came out, it didn’t mean that they had got through it. As long as Ning Xueyan hesitated a little, the result would be completely different.
The moment was so dangerous that it could even compare with a battlefield flashing with knives and swords!
At the thought of this, she felt increasingly appreciative of Ning Xueyan. In the situation a moment ago, no weak lady from a noble family could do better than Ning Xueyan.
“Uncle, it turns out that you’re here. I heard that you were here before, so I intended to pay you a visit. Unexpectedly, you went back, so I intended to ask the Fifth Young Lady Ning about it. Unexpectedly, she got me wrong. Uncle…”
Ao Mingyu didn’t expect that Ao Chenyi would show up here suddenly. He had heard that Ao Chenyi’s favorite concubine was still sick, so he came to Cold Mountain Temple with his lackeys. He didn’t expect that he would see Ao Chenyi at this moment. Although he was in a panic, he calmed down at once, and then stepped forward and saluted Ao Chenyi with a smile.
No matter what he intended to do, he didn’t really do it. Besides, he was in the courtyard with plenty of people around at this moment. Apart from the four guards, there were also Ning Qingshan and her maids and old maids in the room. In fact, he didn’t commit a breach of etiquette and stay in the room only with Ning Xueyan, so Ao Chenyi couldn’t find fault with him.
However, when he found that the sharp arrows were pointed at him, he narrowed his eyes and could not say anything.
Ao Chenyi showed a smile, a very gentle smile. However, his cold eyes were filled with thick darkness, making him look like a ghost that sucked people’s bone marrow. His eyes also contained bloodthirsty rage and gloom as well as suffocating coldness and emptiness, seeming to show no feelings and carry a sense of indifference.
Ao Mingyu knew that Ao Chenyi would get angry, but he didn’t expect that Ao Chenyi would do this to him. He became stiff. Two guards pointed two arrows in their sleeves at him directly, and Ao Chenyi, who was standing in the middle, showed a smile. But Ao Mingyu could feel the cold murderous intent from him.
How, how dare he instruct the guards to point the arrows at him! Ao Mingyu clenched his fists under his sleeves with his veins protruding.
“Mingyu, if your father knows that you died an unnatural death because of competing for a girl with me, I wonder if he will tell the whole world about it and avenge you?” Ao Chenyi said in a calm voice, but showed a smile surprisingly. However, Ao Mingyu felt so cold that he failed to maintain his gentleness and elegance and his face turned pale at once.
Ao Chenyi could do something like competing for a girl, but he couldn’t, because he was the gentle and elegant Third Prince, who was totally different from the arrogant and overbearing Prince Yi. Moreover, the girl they competed for was the co-consort granted to Ao Chenyi by the emperor. If it were known by others, he would be considered disloyal, unfilial, heartless and unrighteous. All his reputation would be ruined.
It could be said that the mask he had worn in front of others for so many years would be immediately torn apart.
Under the threat of two arrows, he didn’t dare to move. He could sense the murderous intent in Ao Chenyi’s eyes, which was treacherous and gloomy. However, his four guards were taken by surprise and couldn’t help him. They could only look at them vigilantly, but couldn’t do anything.
In the wing room, Ning Qingshan was also stunned. She knew that Ao Mingyu would be at a disadvantageous position when confronting Ao Chenyi. In terms of both status and seniority, Ao Chenyi was superior to Ao Mingyu. Nevertheless, she had never expected that Ao Mingyu would be subdued even before he met Ao Chenyi.
She gnashed her teeth and was frightened at this moment. If Ning Xueyan really “had a private date” with Ao Mingyu in the room just now and was caught by Prince Yi, would they have been shot to death at Prince Yi’s command even before they said anything? As a witness, she certainly would have no way out as well.
Everyone would be killed. Thinking of this, Ning Qingshan trembled all over. How could she underestimate the cruelty of Prince Yi? If his future co-consort had an affair with the Third Prince, how could a man like Prince Yi tolerate being cuckolded in this way? Of course, he would kill everyone present.
Although Ao Mingyu was the son of the emperor, it seemed that Ao Chenyi didn’t take him seriously and directly instructed the guards to point arrows at his head. Ning Qingshan had never expected that this man could be so formidable and cruel.
Ao Chenyi rolled his deep and dark eyes and stared fixedly at Ao Mingyu’s pale face, while walking over with Ning Xueyan in one hand. Suddenly, his eyes turned cold, and he raised the other hand to slap Ao Mingyu fiercely and said gloomily, “How dare you covet my girl!”
Ao Mingyu was beaten so hard that he staggered and almost fell down awkwardly. He was ashamed and angry of being beaten in front of his guards. With dark mist in his eyes, he glanced at Ning Xueyan, who was held by Ao Chenyi, with extremely complicated feelings. But he immediately lowered his head to hide his anger and shame.
Of course, he couldn’t confront Ao Chenyi directly at this moment. No one knew if this madman would really instruct the guards to kill him. Murderous intent! He saw obvious fierceness and murderous intent from Ao Chenyi’s long slanted eyes.
“Uncle, I won’t do that again!” Ao Mingyu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Ao Chenyi with composure. He had to give in and tell the truth. Since Ao Chenyi had known his intention, he could only make Ao Chenyi angrier by keeping pretending. So he said, “I’ve fallen in love with the Fifth Young Lady Ning and wanted to ask father for an imperial edict to grant the marriage between her and me, but I didn’t expect that you would do it ahead of me.”
He would rather describe it an uncontrolled behavior due to his affection for Ning Xueyan than describe it a plot against Ning Xueyan, because the former was obviously much less serious than the latter. It was normal for a teenage boy to fall in love with a teenage girl. Besides, when the Third Prince was acquainted with Ning Xueyan, the emperor hadn’t issued the imperial edict to grant the marriage between Ning Xueyan and Prince Yi. So it was nothing serious even if he fell in love with her at that time.
He did this today just in order to ruin Ning Xueyan’s reputation so that she could only marry him.
Meanwhile, he promised Ao Chenyi that such a thing would never happen again and he would stay away from her and take her as an elder and cut off all thoughts for her. From now on, he was only the Third Prince, and she was the co-consort of Prince Yi.
“If your co-consort, who’s in the room now, is not good enough, I can take her to my manor.” Ao Chenyi raised his chin with malicious mockery and gave Ao Mingyu a hint by glancing at the wing room beside him.
Ao Chenyi only said that he could take her to his manor without mentioning her status, which was obviously a humiliation. With the corners of his eyes twitching, Ao Mingyu finally lowered his head and said, “Uncle, I’m at your command.”
Ning Qingshan sat in front of the couch, feeling cold all over. If it weren’t for being supported by Caifen beside her, she would have become weak. Prince Yi said that he could take her to his manor and make her a concubine with no status, but Ao Mingyu didn’t object at all. He even lowered his head and seemed to go to leave her at Prince Yi’s disposal.
How could he treat her like this? She had waited for him wholeheartedly and devoted herself to him. How could he turn a cold shoulder to her?
Thinking of his gentle words, she now only considered them a joke. Prince Yi asked to take her away from him, but he made no objection at all. Even if he just pretended to object, he could ease her anxiety. With her eyes filled with tears, she broke off all her nails. She was the co-consort the emperor granted to him.
“I’m really not into such a malicious daughter of a concubine. Feel free to keep her. I think that she’s a perfect match for you.” Ao Chenyi said with a faint smile. After that, he ignored him and turned to leave with Ning Xueyan in his arms. The two guards of Prince Yi’s Manor withdrew their arrows and walked behind him.
After the two guards withdrew their arrows, the four guards of the Third Prince’s Manor immediately rushed over and stood in front of Ao Mingyu to protect him.
Ao Chenyi suddenly turned around and said to Ao Mingyu with a wicked smile, “Mingyu, why are you still here? I heard that Honored Consort Shu and Mingwan are asking Senior Grand Tutor Ya to marry his granddaughter to Mingwan in the imperial palace at this moment.”
He seemed to show no grudges, but the deeper meaning in his words made Ao Mingyu shiver with fear.
Ao Mingwan was going to marry Grand Tutor Ya’s granddaughter. However, there was no other girl of the right age in Grand Tutor Ya’s family except for Ya Moqin. The reason why Ya Moqin didn’t marry Ao Mingyu this time was that she had given Ning Qingshan the chance to marry him. However, it didn’t mean that Ya Moqin had lost the chance to marry him. When Ya Moqin got an appropriate chance later, she would definitely marry into his manor.
Although Ao Mingyu didn’t like Ya Moqin, the marriage between him and Ya Moqin meant the further combination of the forces of the Ya family and his, so he would like to see that. Ning Qingshan was also the daughter of the Ya family, but her identity was confidential. The outsiders only saw the combination of Lord Protector’s Manor and him. The Ya family certainly needed a more stable marriage, and Ya Moqin was an important part of it.
Ya Moqin was arrogant, and Ao Mingwan had never liked her, so Ao Mingyu didn’t expect that Ao Mingwan would ask father for an imperial edict for Ya Moqin one day.
“Get me a horse. I’m going down the mountain.” He gnashed his teeth and said. At this moment, he must go down the mountain and enter the imperial palace to prevent this from happening. Otherwise, after Ya Moqin gave birth to a son, he and the Ya family would definitely separate from each other.
“Third Prince, my master invites you in for a talk.” After receiving Ning Qingshan’s order, Caifen hurriedly rushed out in an attempt to stop Ao Mingyu and ask him to enter the room and have a talk with Ning Qingshan.
“Get out!” Ao Mingyu lifted his leg to kick her aside and then strode away with his lackeys. He was so anxious at this moment that he was in no mood to care about Ning Qingshan’s emotions. Compared with a concubine’s daughter of Lord Protector’s Manor with a ruined reputation, Ya Moqin was much more important now.
In the room, with a livid face, Ning Qingshan clenched her fists, trembled all over and shouted at Mammy Luo with a sharp voice, “I want to meet him!”