CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 556 ENVY

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion spoke in a soft voice.

Only upon hearing the laughter did Prince NanAn realize he had revealed his embarrassing past to Su Chong.

He had repeatedly warned the servants at the mansion not to speak of these matters outside.

Yet, he could not stop his own mother, the Princess Consort, from letting it slip during casual conversations, revealing everything.

A group of mischievous friends, it’s already good enough they didn’t take the initiative to disclose his past.

Su Chong looked at Prince NanAn and said, "Could your fiancée be that young lady we just saw?"

Prince NanAn’s expression froze.

"Impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!" he denied.

The Heir of Marquis Beining looked at him and said, "Maybe it’s quite possible."

Prince NanAn sat down abruptly, opened his folded fan and fanned himself, "There is no possibility!"

"My father and mother aren’t ignorant of the fact that she and I can’t see eye to eye. If they let me marry her, it would only mean they think the Prince Mansion is too peaceful and want to see chaos every day," Prince NanAn said.

"My father and mother wouldn’t be so thoughtless."

A few among the group thought for a while and felt that Prince NanAn did make a valid point.

It’s unlikely for Prince NanAn and Princess Consort NanAn to entrap their own son like that.

Su Chong suggested they were still too naive.

Can parents really negotiate when it comes to trapping their son?

If not for the fear that Prince NanAn would explode if he knew, why would Prince NanAn be so secretive?

His intuition had always been sharp.

And he was not alone in this.

Su Chong glanced at Xie Jingchen, whose thoughts aligned with his own.

The shop assistant brought the brocade box over and handed it to Su Chong.

Su Chong opened it, checked it briefly to ensure the jade hairpin was identical to the broken one, and paid the remaining balance.

Chu Shun and the others assumed the jade hairpin was bought to be gifted to Mrs. Tang and did not question it further.

Su Chong tucked the jade hairpin into his bosom and went to Drunken Immortal Pavilion for a meal.

Meanwhile, after Nie Yao left the Jinyu Pavilion, she wore a displeased expression.

Her maid said, "Miss, it’s rare for us to be out, shall we stroll elsewhere?"

"No strolling anymore!" she exclaimed.

"Lest we encounter him again!"

As long as the engagement is canceled, there will be other days to stroll the streets.

Thinking of Prince NanAn’s unreliability, Nie Yao cursed him silently.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Prince NanAn sneezed one after another.

"That silly girl is more ruthless than before, cursing me terribly," Prince NanAn said.

Chu Shun and the others stifled their laughter.

As Prince NanAn and his companions were dining, Nie Yao returned to the Nanyang Marquis Mansion.

She lived there with her grandfather, Marquis Yangnan.

Just the two of them, with not many maids and servants in the mansion.

Coming back from the bustling streets, the mansion felt even lonelier.

Nie Yao’s nose tingled with sadness.

Her grandfather was aging and in poor health, always holding on strongly for her sake.

She did not want to marry; she wished to stay with her grandfather forever.

Without an heir in the Nanyang Marquis Mansion, once she marries, once her grandfather...

The Nanyang Marquis Mansion would cease to exist.

She went to the study to find Marquis Yangnan, complaining, "Grandfather, I met Prince NanAn on the street, and he was particularly annoying."

"Please help me break off the engagement."

Nie Yao coquettishly shook Marquis Yangnan’s arm.

If Marquis Yangnan could agree, he would have done so long ago.

With only one granddaughter, how could he not hope for her future days to be peaceful and smooth?

In these past two years, he had felt increasingly powerless, concerned over the day he might falter, leaving his only granddaughter without support.

Though Prince NanAn did not get along with Nie Yao, Prince NanAn and Princess Consort NanAn were kind people and would not bully her solely because of the decline of Nanyang Marquis Mansion.

Even Princess Consort NanAn believed that with time, Yaoyao and Prince NanAn would develop feelings, so he had no reason to doubt it.

"Marriage is not child’s play, marrying you to Prince NanAn was your parents’ dying wish, and now that the engagement is set, it’s challenging to call it off," Marquis Yangnan said.

Nine Yao had heard this reasoning until her ears grew calluses.

Understanding her persuasion was in vain, Nie Yao drooped her face and returned to her inner room.

After more than half an hour, Prince NanAn finished eating and rode back to Prince NanAn Mansion.

They spent a few days residing at their own mansion and a few days at Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Upon returning, he happened to see Princess Consort NanAn discussing betrothal gifts with the embroideress.

Prince NanAn had a gloomy expression, "Mother, the month’s deadline hasn’t come yet, do you not trust me to find the Jade Pendant?"

The maids kept their heads down, fearing their laughter would be discovered by Prince NanAn.

Princess Consort NanAn closed the list of gifts and said, "Mother certainly trusts you, but even if you break the engagement, you will still have to marry someone else, and these items will be needed sooner or later."

Prince NanAn looked at Princess Consort NanAn, "Mother, the one you’ve chosen for my engagement isn’t the silly girl from the Nanyang Marquis Mansion, is it?"

Princess Consort NanAn, "...."

Did this boy figure it out?

"Do you want to marry her?" Princess Consort NanAn pretended to be calm.

"Who would want to marry her?!" Prince NanAn retorted vehemently.

Princess Consort NanAn laughed and said, "If it’s not her, you won’t break off the engagement?"

"I absolutely would," Prince NanAn said.

"Then why do you ask so much?" Princess Consort NanAn teased.

"...."

That’s true.

No matter who it is, he plans to break off the engagement.

Prince NanAn stated his purpose for returning, "Princess Fu Yun made Brother Su two pairs of shoes, since I’m engaged, let her also make two pairs for me."

Princess Consort NanAn, "...."

She frowned slightly and said, "Do you not have shoes to wear?"

Prince NanAn looked at Princess Consort NanAn, "Before the engagement is called off, she is my fiancée, asking her to make me two pairs of shoes isn’t excessive, and it has nothing to do with whether or not I have shoes to wear."

Princess Consort NanAn could not refuse.

Princess Fu Yun had made for Su Chong, and only then did Prince NanAn come back asking.

He must have felt envious upon seeing it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said such things.

Unexpectedly, Princess Fu Yun could do needlework; Yaoyao probably couldn’t, could she?

Prince NanAn voiced his request, "They must be durable, not falling apart with just a wear."

Having given his instructions, Prince NanAn left.

After leaving the door, Prince NanAn somewhat regretted it.

It would be better if they weren’t durable.

Wearing them on the street, embarrassing himself, he could rightfully call off the engagement.

But it would tarnish the lady’s reputation...

Thinking of the shoes made by Princess Fu Yun, Prince NanAn dismissed the thought.

Because they wouldn’t even last until he got to the street.

Once confirming Prince NanAn had gone far, a maid looked at Princess Consort NanAn and said, "Should I go to the Nanyang Marquis Mansion to deliver the message?"

"Not yet," Princess Consort NanAn replied.

"He might just be waiting outside, you’ll be leading him directly there."

Truly, no one understands a child better than a mother.

Prince NanAn squatted in the tree for half a day, but saw no one sent by Princess Consort NanAn to deliver any message.

The one who delivered the message to Marquis Yangnan was Prince NanAn himself.

After the court session, Prince NanAn had a brief chat with Marquis Yangnan about court matters and casually mentioned this request.

"That scoundrel envies the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion for getting shoes from Princess Fu Yun, clamoring for them as well. You can just have the embroideress make two pairs to appease him," Prince NanAn said.

Prince Yun happened to pass by.

Upon hearing this, he quickly walked away.

In case he got cornered for questions, how embarrassing would that be?

Marquis Yangnan agreed.

But he did not ask the embroideress to do it; instead, he wanted Nie Yao to make them with her own hands. Given their goodwill, the Nanyang Marquis Mansion could not be inconsiderate.

Nie Yao originally disliked needlework, and now she was asked to make shoes, making her so angry that she sat on a small couch needle-pricking voodoo dolls.

"And they have to be durable?"

"The more durable, the better?"

"I’ll paste one together for him with paper!" Nie Yao said angrily.

Her maid looked at her and said, "Miss, paper shoes would infuriate the Old Marquis to death."

Thinking of her grandfather, Nie Yao dropped the idea.

"I haven’t even made shoes, how am I supposed to make durable ones? It’s not as if he’s barefoot without shoes," Nie Yao was indignant.

This was purely a deliberate torment as he didn’t like her.

The maid had no suitable response.

Nie Yao brooded for half a day.

And then—

A smile bloomed on her face.

The maid, curious, asked, "Miss, what are you smiling about?"

"Isn’t it just about durable shoes?" Nie Yao’s eyes sparkled.

"I’ll send him two pairs that can withstand the grind!"