"I seem to have stumbled into the wrong place, please forgive me, young lady."
A refined gentleman, courteous and polite.
The maiden parted her ruby lips, "Ignorance is no offense."
"Are you alone, young lady?"
The maiden shook her head, "The person I'm waiting for has arrived."
Yan Zhao: ...
Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the door, followed by a tremendous force that kicked it open. To say it was kicked open would be an understatement; it was more like it was shattered into pieces.
A maiden clad in vibrant red appeared, holding a whip, and exclaimed, "This county princess is here today to see which little slut dares to seduce Young Master Yan! This county princess will blind her eyes!"
Yan Zhao was somewhat bewildered. Why was Xue Yunlan here?
Before he could ponder the matter, the maiden at the table trembled in fear. "Your Highness, please spare me! This commoner truly had no idea how this gentleman ended up here. This commoner... this commoner has no face to be seen..."
With that, the maiden rushed towards the window and, to everyone's astonishment, leaped out.
Everyone froze.
Xue Yunlan quickly rushed to the window, but there was no sign of anyone below.
"This..." She was somewhat perplexed.
However, Xue Yunlan didn't dwell on it. She wasn't one to overthink things. Fortunately, someone had tipped her off beforehand that Young Master Yan was here meeting a beauty.
Luckily, she believed it and came, otherwise, wouldn't someone else have gotten there first?
How could the person she, Xue Yunlan, had taken a liking to, escape her grasp?
"Young Master Yan, you cannot like anyone else," Xue Yunlan turned and walked towards Yan Zhao.
At this moment, Yan Zhao felt a headache coming on, but he patiently replied, "Your Highness, you are mistaken. I merely walked into the wrong room."
"Then... with so many rooms, how did you happen to walk into this one?" Since she didn't know which private room Yan Zhao was in, she had to search room by room.
Meanwhile, chaos was unfolding outside. If she weren't the Regent's daughter, she would have likely been thrown out long ago.
"Your Highness..." Yan Zhao's voice finally deepened, carrying a hint of coldness.
Xue Yunlan bit her lower lip and stomped her foot petulantly, "This county princess simply forbids you from having other women."
Yan Zhao sneered, "I doubt that is something Your Highness can control."
Xue Yunlan looked up, enraged, "Who is it? Was it that person just now? Tell me, who was that person?"
Yan Zhao remained silent. Today's events were clearly amiss.
"See, you're outright lying!" Xue Yunlan stomped her feet in anger.
Yan Zhao looked at Xue Yunlan, his gaze cool and indifferent. "What I said is the truth. If Your Highness does not believe me, I can do nothing more."
"If you won't tell me, this county princess will have someone investigate!" Xue Yunlan angrily turned and left.
Yan Zhao rubbed his temples. It had been a chaotic day.
Stepping out of the flower house, Yan Zhao subconsciously looked up and saw a gaze meeting his from a private room on the second floor. The gaze was crystal clear, utterly transparent, yet its depth was unfathomable.
He froze slightly as the maiden with the gaze slowly smiled at him, like the awakening of all things, a hundred flowers blooming.
And the young man beside her looked at him with undisguised hostility.
At this very moment, he understood completely. Everything was under the maiden's control.
While he was setting a trap, he himself was caught in someone else's scheme.
"Your Majesty, he saw you," Hua Yunjin whispered from beside her.
The maiden smiled faintly, "So what if he saw? So what if he knows? He won't speak of it."