Chapter 1 Is There Any Discipline?

"Su Qing! Do you have any sense of propriety?"

The furious male voice cut through the air. Before Su Qing could clearly see the 'concubine's' appearance, a large hand suddenly grabbed her neck from behind and threw her out heavily.

"Xie Jin Yan, are you crazy!" Su Qing shouted angrily.

Yu Qingwu put on her outer robe and poked a hole in the window paper, looking into the courtyard with lingering fear.

Inside the courtyard, Su Qing sat on the ground unconvincingly, while Zhou Shuangshuang stood aside with her neck shrunk, her face full of fear. She looked tremulously at the man in the dark purple python robe and choked, "Seventh Brother, don't... don't be angry. Fourth Sister just wanted to see what the beauty looked like."

"We... we have no malicious intentions." Tears welled up in her eyes, and her whole body trembled like a quail.

She had never seen Seventh Brother so fierce.

Su Qing was the same. Although she stubbornly cursed Xie Jin Yan, she was still a little afraid when she saw his gloomy face.

She painfully got up from the ground and, emboldened, shouted at him again, "She's just a concubine, why can't she be seen? Do you need to treat us like this for an outsider?"

Outsider?

How could she say such a thing?

Xie Jin Yan didn't know if Su Qing had guessed it, but at this moment, he was completely infuriated.

He closed his eyes, and a sharp look floated on his deep features. He pointed to the door and said, "Get out! Take your things and stay at the inn!"

"You... what did you say?" Su Qing looked incredulous.

Zhou Shuangshuang's eyes also turned red, and she stammered, "Seventh Brother, are... are you driving us away?"

"What do you think?" Xie Jin Yan replied coldly, with an unprecedented sense of estrangement.

Zhou Shuangshuang pursed her lips tightly, feeling extremely wronged.

She had been dragged here by Fourth Sister, but now Seventh Brother had misunderstood...

But she was shy, and seeing Xie Jin Yan so resolute and cold, she didn't say anything more and went back to her room to pack her luggage, wiping away tears.

Su Qing stood in place for a moment, then also ran out of Qingning Courtyard in a fit of anger.

Yu Qingwu watched her two junior sisters leave one after another before slowly stepping out of the house.

In the desolate and chilly courtyard, the cold wind gently blew past the winter sun, causing a strand of Xie Jin Yan's dragon whiskers in front of his forehead to flutter.

He was good-looking, especially in profile. Beneath his high, straight nose, moderately thick lips were shadowed by a strand of black hair, adding a touch of etherealness to his sharp temperament.

Perhaps because of the unprecedented intimacy last night, both of them felt somewhat awkward at this moment.

"Why are you so angry?"

After a moment of silence, Yu Qingwu spoke first.

She lowered her head, deliberately avoiding the man's gaze, and called him in a low voice, "Your Highness, why be so fierce? Fourth Sister and Ninth Sister are both young women. If you let them stay at an inn alone, what if something happens?"

Her voice was soft, and her unadorned face vaguely revealed a hint of unease.

Xie Jin Yan reached out and raised that beautiful face, his eyes warming as he stared at her flickering eyes and asked unhappily, "Then, according to Senior Sister's idea, should I have let them barge in and see what this beauty of mine looks like? Is that right? Hmm?"

The deep, magnetic voice deliberately lengthened the end of the sentence, and his gaze was scorching, causing Yu Qingwu's heart to beat wildly.

It had to be said that if Xie Jin Yan was intent on seducing a woman, it would be extremely easy to succeed.

But soon, she came to her senses.

She gently moved away his cool hand and said seriously, "Xie Jin Yan, I'm not joking with you. Su Qing and Shuangshuang, one likes to meddle in other people's business, and the other has no opinion of her own. Letting them stay at an inn alone will probably cause trouble."

"You also know that Su Qing likes to cause trouble?" Before Yu Qingwu could finish speaking, Xie Jin Yan interrupted her in a deep voice. A hint of maturity that didn't match his age flashed across his handsome face as he retorted in a reprimanding tone, "It's precisely because of this that I want her to suffer a little outside. Otherwise, with her ignorant and reckless behavior, who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause in the future."

Hearing this, Yu Qingwu fell silent.

Su Qing's character was indeed like that.

But... she was still her junior sister. Master had said that their senior and junior brothers and sisters should take care of each other.

She couldn't ignore Su Qing and Shuangshuang. Besides, they had had a conflict with Xie Jin Yan because of her.

Yu Qingwu raised her eyes and took a deep look at Xie Jin Yan, saying, "What Your Highness said is very true. Su Qing will cause a disaster sooner or later, but now she's under my nose, and I can't ignore her. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain it to Master in the future."

"In that case, I'll go find them and bring them back now."

"You care about her a lot. Why are you so ruthless to... to Yue'er?" Recalling Yu Qingwu's usual attitude towards him, Xie Jin Yan suddenly felt a bit jealous and sarcastically brought up their little junior sister, A Yue.

Yu Qingwu's face darkened when she heard him mention A Yue.

As the two were at an impasse, Granny Xun suddenly walked in from outside the courtyard. She looked at Yu Qingwu, then at Xie Jin Yan, with a somewhat awkward expression. "Well... Your Highness, the gatekeeper just reported that... the Third Miss of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion has come to visit."

Why did Shen Rou suddenly come? Could it be to complain to Xie Jin Yan?

Yu Qingwu frowned slightly, and as she was wondering, she turned her head and found that Xie Jin Yan had already stepped out of Qingning Courtyard.

After hesitating slightly, she still carefully followed him, entering the front hall of the Crown Prince's Mansion through a small door.

At this time, Xie Jin Yan and Shen Rou were sitting opposite each other behind a screen painted with landscapes.

Xie Jin Yan held a bowl of clear tea in his hand, took a light sip, and asked Shen Rou with a smile, "Why does Miss Shen Rou have time to see me today?"

His smile was extremely captivating, and coupled with that handsome and stunning face, it made Shen Rou's face flush with excitement.

However, she hadn't forgotten her business.

Pouting, Shen Rou looked at him intently, her face showing grievance. "Crown Prince Brother, is that Yu Qingwu still in your mansion?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" As the Crown Prince, Xie Jin Yan never felt ashamed of his romantic affairs and didn't hide anything from Shen Rou.

Shen Rou felt very uncomfortable seeing him so frank.

Why didn't Crown Prince Brother coax her a little?

She bit her lip, her almond-shaped eyes filled with tears, deliberately using a affected voice. "She... she bullied me. She actually said that you gave my dowry to her. That's my dowry. How could you give it to her?"

"Crown Prince Brother, can you ask her to return my earrings? That's my mother's heirloom! And... you don't know, that Yu Qingwu is... she's actually very dirty. I heard from my friend in Shu that when she was studying art outside, she and her junior brother did that thing in the bathroom. The two of them were inside all night, making a lot of noise..."