Chapter 686: Chapter 687: Side Story: Using Me as Bait_1 Chapter 686: Chapter 687: Side Story: Using Me as Bait_1 “I’m doing quite well. It doesn’t matter much to me which brother ascends to the throne. You’ve been in Qilian Kingdom for so long, you must know that by now. I’m now in this royal mausoleum, performing the funeral vigil for my Father Emperor. My days are peaceful. You don’t need to worry about whether I’m doing well or not. You should leave before someone discovers you. This place is not for you,” Nangong Anan said, then lowered her head.

Yu Jin’s heart ached. She had really changed. If it had been before, she would have rushed into his arms happily upon seeing him return. But now, she showed no emotion. Had his decision to leave her in the past chilled her heart to such a degree?

Yu Jin stood still, and Nangong Anan became anxious quickly, reaching out to push him: “Hurry up and go! Even though my brother isn’t in Capital City right now, this place is full of his men. Once you’re discovered, he definitely won’t let you off easily!”

Yu Jin grabbed Nangong Anan’s hand in response, and she was suddenly stunned, standing there: “You…”

“I don’t want to go. I’m afraid you’re not doing well, I’m afraid you’re sad inside, I’m afraid I miss you. Anan, after I left that time, I realized I can’t let you go, so I came back. I came back against all odds. Anan, let me take you away, okay? I know you’ve suffered a great deal, and I don’t want you to stay in this sorrowful place any longer. Can we go live our own life?”

Nangong Anan was stunned for quite a while, unable to calm down. Over the years, she had grown accustomed to chasing after him, always believing that as long as she persistently pursued him, he would eventually hold her in his heart. But when he decisively left her, she was utterly unprepared and was left behind. All her confidence crumbled in that moment, compounded by successive blows, she was no longer the Nangong Anan of the past.

Nangong Anan regained her composure, forcefully pulling her hand from Yu Jin’s grasp. Her tone carried a sense of finality: “But you have already made your choice, Jin. I don’t want to like you anymore. I’m too tired. All the effort I put in over the years doesn’t compare to that slight memory of another woman in your mind. You’ve let go, so don’t come back. I don’t want to be troubled by you anymore. I just want peaceful days.”

“But you still like me!”

Anan defiantly met Yu Jin’s gaze: “Not anymore, maybe after a month, a year, or even a lifetime, I will someday no longer like you. What’s the point of saying these things now? I’ve decided to give up on you, with the same determination as when I decided to chase after you. I mean what I say!”

Yu Jin felt as if his heart was being clawed at, his exhausted and bloodshot eyes turned even redder, but his voice was so weak: “You still blame me, don’t you?”

Large tears rolled down Nangong Anan’s cheeks as she pushed Yu Jin away fiercely: “Yes! I don’t just blame you, I hate you! I hate that you ignored my affection all these years, I hate that you left me so resolutely, and I hate you most for not being by my side when I was at my most desolate and in need of you! What are you doing back here now? Do you think I still have any feelings for you? Yu Jin, do you really think my heart is made of stone? So strong that it can be trampled at will?!”

“Anan…” Yu Jin panicked, wanting to get closer, but Nangong Anan backed away several steps.

“Don’t come any closer; I don’t want you to stay here any longer, and I don’t want to see you again. Go as far away as you can. Our fate ended the moment you left. Talking about it now is utterly meaningless!” Nangong Anan shouted loudly.

Yu Jin stood still, just staring at her resolutely. Annoyed, Anan grabbed a book from the table and hurled it at him: “Go! I told you to leave! I don’t want to see you! I just want peaceful days now. What are you doing here? Must you disturb me? I was not sad anymore, but with your arrival, all those painful memories have come flooding back. You are simply my nemesis; I will always remember that sorrow when I see you!”

Yu Jin’s eyes reddened as Nangong Anan’s shrieking voice hammered on his heart, tapping at the pain within him. He fought back the tears, took a couple of steps back in a daze, and ultimately turned and left.

Watching his receding figure, Nangong Anan finally collapsed to the ground, powerless, covering her face and sobbing quietly.

Xiao Yu had sensed the commotion as soon as Nangong Anan had started screaming and had peeked inside, but she couldn’t bear to disturb Anan. However, seeing the princess like this again, her heart ached.

“Princess, why must you do this? Although it was wrong for Yu Jin to leave you in the past, if the prince can’t let go in his heart, why push him away? By tormenting Yu Jin and getting your revenge, what have you gained?” Xiao Yu spoke with difficulty.

Nangong Anan shook her head; her face wet with tears: “Xiao Yu, we can’t go back to how things were before. Everything can’t be reversed. But I don’t hate him; how could I bear to hate him? Revenge is out of the question. I just can’t face him anymore. I can’t bear the past any longer.”

Xiao Yu understood. The princess had gone through so much recently; pampered all her life, suddenly facing such blows was unbearable. Loved ones left her one by one, how could she let go so easily? Yu Jin’s return meant that seeing him would remind her of the past she had struggled to forget. The princess had been trying to escape those shadows, but facing Yu Jin undoubtedly brought all of them back in front of her.

“But Princess, you clearly hold him in your heart. It breaks my heart to see you sacrifice your happiness because of past sorrow. I don’t want to see you like this. I miss the bold and wilful princess of the old days even more. Is Yu Jin the only one who can bring out the princess’s former temperament in this lifetime?” Xiao Yu cried as well, having grown up with the princess, she knew her the best. Although the princess appeared calm and seemed able to let go of the past, the quiet woman she had become was clearly not happy.

Nangong Anan propped herself up to stand, and Xiao Yu quickly went to help her. Nangong Anan sat on the soft couch and wiped her tears away, speaking softly: “Nangong Qian won’t let me go easily. I didn’t understand why he stationed so many guards around the mausoleum, but now I know. He’s using me as bait, wanting to trap and kill Yu Jin.”