The atmosphere between the two had become increasingly strange and cold in the past two days.
Xiao Chizhan also rarely came here anymore.
Ye Luan lay beneath a begonia tree in the courtyard, surrounded by maids.
The bright sunlight shone on her pale cheeks, giving her a fragile beauty.
"Miss."
Suddenly, an anxious voice came from outside the courtyard.
Ye Luan turned her head and saw Fu Dai and Nanny Fang being brought in by guards.
Her heart clenched, but her expression remained unchanged.
"Miss, we finally found you."
"How did you get here?"
Fu Dai wiped away tears and cried, "Nanny and I waited for you for several days. Later, people from the Prince's mansion found us and brought us here."
As she spoke, Ye Luan felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
Why did he bring them here?
Nanny Fang, however, held her hand tightly. "Miss, we have something urgent to tell you."
After entering the room, both of them were shocked into stillness upon seeing the shackles on her hands.
"Speak, what is it?"
Nanny Fang finally came back to her senses and quickly said, "We saw many notices posted in Changhe Village. The Bai family colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. They said they would be executed within ten days."
What?
Ye Luan was startled, her limbs turning cold.
"When did this happen?"
Fu Dai said, "When we were in Qizhou Commandery, there were so many notices talking about the Bai family colluding with the enemy. We didn't look closely. It's been a while."
Are all the people from the Bai family dead now?
Ye Luan's heart pounded. She roared angrily, "Dong Shuang, come in."
"Miss, what is it?"
"Open this for me, I want to see Xiao Chizhan."
Dong Shuang hesitated, not moving immediately.
Ye Luan said angrily, "Open it for me."
"Miss, please don't be angry. This servant will go and ask for the Prince's permission."
"Stop," Ye Luan said coldly. "The Prince once said I could move around the mansion, didn't he?"
"Yes."
Ye Luan said, "Then why aren't you opening it? I won't run away."
-----
As soon as she was freed, she rushed towards the study in the front courtyard, her maids and nanny hurrying behind her, afraid she would escape.
Long Tian was surprised for a moment when he saw Ye Luan rushing over and blocked her path.
"Miss Ye, the Prince is not here."
"Where did he go?"
"This subordinate does not know."
Ye Luan gritted her teeth and glared at him. "Is he in the mansion?"
Long Tian hesitated for a moment, then finally said in a low voice, "The Prince is in Ling Shui Pavilion."
Ling Shui Pavilion was a viewing platform in the Prince's mansion.
When Ye Luan ran over, she saw a woman in white standing by the window on the pavilion, adorned with pearl hair ornaments, exuding a gentle and beautiful aura like a secluded orchid.
Her footsteps involuntarily paused. When did this mansion get another woman?
"Ye Luan?" a surprised cry came from the pavilion.
Ye Luan looked up and saw Li Qiong Yu smiling and waving at her. "Come up."
The woman in white also cast her gaze upon Ye Luan, examining her with curiosity.
Xiao Chizhan was drinking tea indoors. He heard the commotion and paused for a moment. Just as he was about to go and see, he saw the woman hurrying up.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, as if remembering something, and made no move.
"Come sit," Li Qiong Yu said with a smile.
Ye Luan ignored him and looked at Xiao Chizhan. "Your Highness, I have something to tell you."
Before Xiao Chizhan could speak, the woman in white suddenly said with a smile, "Cousin, who is this?"
Cousin?
Ye Luan lowered her eyes. Xiao Chizhan had bloodied the entire Prince's mansion back then, and the ancestral home was rebuilt after being burned down.
Who was this cousin who suddenly appeared?
The man did not respond to her, and the woman in white's face paled.
Li Qiong Yu quickly smoothed things over and said with a smile, "This is Ye Luan, the eldest daughter of the Ye family from the capital."
Then, she said to Ye Luan, "This is Su Li, the daughter of Xiao Chizhan's paternal aunt."
Su Li?!
Ye Luan narrowed her eyes slightly. She had a deep impression of this person in the original book.
Su Li was the daughter of a concubine who had married out early from the Ding Bei Prince's mansion.
After Xiao Chizhan blackened, he had bloodied the Ding Bei Prince's mansion and slaughtered everyone. Yet, this Su Li was incredibly fond of him.
She had come looking for him.
There was a moment of awkward silence in the room.
"Get out."
The man's voice was cold and deep.
Li Qiong Yu quickly said to Su Li, "Let's go. I was just about to go out anyway, I'll escort you back."
Su Li's mother had married out of the region many years ago. When Xiao Chizhan was seven years old, she returned to Youzhou with her mother and met the young Xiao Chizhan in the Prince's mansion. She had never forgotten him.
This year, she finally managed to persuade her mother to return to Youzhou for ancestral worship. As soon as she had free time, she sent an invitation to visit.
But when she arrived, his attitude was extremely cold, as if he had already forgotten who she was.
If it weren't for her mother, she probably wouldn't have been allowed into the Prince's mansion.
As Su Li thought about it, her fists clenched. She had already inquired; for so many years, her cousin had never had a woman by his side.
Who was this woman who had suddenly appeared?
"Miss Ye, would you like to go out for a walk?"
Cousin had asked everyone to leave, so why shouldn't this woman leave?
Ye Luan said coldly, "I have something to discuss with Your Highness."
Su Li glanced back at Xiao Chizhan. Seeing that he had no intention of asking Ye Luan to leave, she bit her lip.
Her crimson eyes looked at Ye Luan with a chilling gaze, tinged with impatience.
She felt a tremor of fear in her heart, and her limbs felt involuntarily cold.
Cousin's gaze was terrifying.
"Let's go."
Li Qiong Yu forcefully led her away.
Inside the room, only the two of them remained.
Xiao Chizhan tossed aside his calligraphy brush and leaned back in the rosewood chair, a pair of subtly crimson lips curving upward.
"Weren't you unwilling to pay attention to this Prince? Why did you come here?"
Ye Luan clenched her hands hidden in her sleeves. "The matter with the Bai family was done by you? What did you do to them?"
The man raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with ferocity.
"As expected, you never bring good news when you come to me."
-----
He didn't speak and stood up to leave.
Ye Luan blocked his path and softened her tone. "It was my fault for leaving the capital back then. I was wrong, please spare the Bai family, Your Highness."
Her chin was abruptly lifted.
His sinister and fierce face met her gaze.
"I warned you not to think of leaving secretly, but did you listen? The Bai family must pay the price for their foolish actions on your behalf, this is your punishment."
Ye Luan said coldly, "Isn't being imprisoned by you day and night enough?"
The rough pads of his fingers stroked her chin, and his deep crimson eyes stared at her intently.
"Your temper is becoming more and more pronounced."
Indeed, ever since he had brought her back, relying on his affection, she had defied him in everything, completely lacking her former enthusiasm and appeasement.
In bed, she had also met him with cold mockery.
He now held her weakness and was forcing her to compromise and yield.
Ye Luan's hands trembled.
The man above her let out a cold laugh. He released her chin with his slender fingers.
"Take her back and lock her up. Anyone who releases her without authorization will be punished."
The nannies and maids outside the door trembled in fear.
"Yes."