Chapter 39: Chapter 39

When Xie Zhen finished, she found it unlikely.

Her handkerchief was lost at the Old Lady’s birthday party. How could he have picked it up?

She still didn’t know his identity, nor where he lived or what he was doing in the capital, so why did he suddenly ask her this question?

And after asking, he seemed to be in a worse mood.

Xie Zhen had thought her handkerchief was picked up by servants, or blown away by the wind, but by the way he put it, he must have seen that.

Whether it was in his hands or not, it would be bad for her if anyone found out, and Xie Zhen got up straight and extended her hand uncertainly. “Is it really with you?”

“Can you give it back to me? ’

Yan Yu stared at her for a while before spitting it out, “Not with me.”

If it was really like this, it would be good, for at least he wouldn’t cause so much trouble.

At this point, he was pretty much certain that the handkerchief in the crown prince’s hands was hers.

However, he couldn’t tell her, and that would reveal his identity. Thus, he could only sulk at himself.

That day at Duke Dingguo’s Mansion, Yan Tao said that he gave him the handkerchief but he refused, because he did not want trouble.

Now that he thought about it, he was regretting his decision.

He could not wait any longer and turned his horse back to return to the crown prince’s residence. If he was lucky, he might be able to stop Yan Tao before he could see the handkerchief.

As soon as he grasped the reins, Xie Zhen reached out a hand, hesitated, and looked at him carefully. “Not with you, then with whom?”

Yan Yu was actully in a bad mood. While he was angry at her for being careless, he was also angry at himself for not taking the handkerchief back then. Therefore, he said with a vicious tone, “You only now thought of asking this question?”

“Don’t you know that you lost a handkerchief?”

Xie Zhen was blamed for no reason. She knew she was in the wrong, so she’d been humbly apologetic, but she didn’t expect him to be so impatient.

She had a temper, too, and her little white hands clutched his sleeve and wouldn’t let him go. “If I knew, why would I ask you?”

“Why do you know I lost my handkerchief? What is your purpose? ”

Yan Yu was so angry that he huffed and puffed. He stared at her hand, then looked at her white and stubborn face, “What was my purpose?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“If I have any purpose, why am I here talking with you!”

This heartless little bastard, she actually suspected that he had some purpose?

Yan Yu looked fierce, as if he wanted nothing more than to swallow her whole.

The coachman stopped right behind a big banyan tree at the end of the street. There were few pedestrians and there were big trees blocking the way. Very few people noticed the situation behind the carriage.

Yet, how could it not be conspicuous? This young master was truly too rude to his master girl…

The coachman sat in the front, wondering if he should scold him.

However, he had attendants following behind him, so it was obvious that he was not someone to be trifled with.

Xie Zhen would not stop. She had to know the whereabouts of her handkerchief. Her two hands clutched his sleeve,“Then I don’t care. You have to get the handkerchief back for me.”

Her white and tender fingers rested on his navy blue clothes, contrasting with each other. The newly dyed redness on her fingernails was especially beautiful, making her hands even more delicate and fair.

He remembered that this pair of hands had been embroidering a handkerchief for the crown prince. He suddenly became angry, and coldly said, “Let go.”

Xie Zhen didn’t want to. She was about to use her trump card and call out ” Brother Xiao Yu”, but he shook his sleeve mercilessly and left.

Xie Zhen sat in the wagon, staring blankly in the direction he’d left, wondering how much he hated her.

Not even letting her touch his sleeve.

On the other side of the car, Xie Xun witnessed the whole conversation. She tried to comfort her, but she didn’t know how to start.

After holding it in for a long time, she moved to Xie Zhen’s side to touch her hand, “sis, don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Xie Zhen turned her head around, and pursed her lip. “Do you think he still remembers how I bullied him when we were young?”

Xie Xun had long since forgotten about this. She curiously asked, “What’s it?”

She thought about it carefully before counting on her fingers. “I called him Sister Xiao Yu, threw him a snowball and make him carry me …”

There seemed to be quite a lot of them …

There were many things she had almost forgotten, and she only remembered fragments of them.

Calling him “Sister Xiao Yu”, for example. Xie Zhen remembered only that the first time he met her, she had mistaken his gender, but had completely forgotten that she had touched his crotch and caused him to piss his pants.

However, Yan Yu remembered this very clearly.

Yan Yu rushed back to the crown prince’s residence without stopping. He found out from his subordinates that the crown prince was in the study room. He dismounted from his horse and strode in the direction of the study.

He often came to the crown prince’s residence, so he was very familiar with the layout here. Very quickly, he arrived at the entrance of the study room.

There were two servant maids guarding the door to the study. When they saw him, they bowed.

Just as he got close, the door opened from the inside and the Crown Princess walked out.

Ling Xiangwu ruffled her hair. When she lifted her head and saw him, the smile on her lips grew even wider. “Sixth Brother is here.”

Yan Yu nodded and called out to Second sister-in-Law, “Is Second Brother inside?”

Ling Xiangwu walked to the side. Seeing his hurried expression, she made way for him, “Here, is there something you need him for?”

Even though she asked this question, it was as if she already knew the answer. She didn’t need his answer, and she just wanted to see his reaction.

She had just sent a stack of handkerchiefs in, but then he had unexpectedly come over. It could be seen that what Yan Tao said was true. Those handkerchiefs were indeed for him to choose his wife.

However, he didn’t expect that he would be in such a hurry. He had just left, yet he came back so quick.

Yan Yu didn’t know what she was thinking, and was indeed a little worried. He didn’t have the time to chat with her, “Yes, if second sister-in-law doesn’t have anything to say, I’ll go in first.”

Ling Xiangwu nodded understandingly. “Go on.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed open the door and entered. It was clear that he was not just in a hurry.

Ling Xiangwu could not help but laugh as she turned around and walked back. She thought about the many girls she had met at the banquet just now and wondered which one was the most suitable for him.

In terms of cleverness, it definitely belonged to the Third Miss of the Xie family …

However, the Third Miss of the Xie family had a calm personality and was not very lively. If she stood next to equally inanimate Sixth Brother, they would be just like two sticks of wood …

On the other hand, the fifth girl of the Xie family were rather quick-witted and obedient, and her appearances were very beautiful. It was a pity that she seemed to be poor at embroidering, and she wondered if Sixth Brother would be able to take a fancy to her.

While she was thinking about this, Yan Yu had already entered the study.

Opening the Pearl Curtain, he saw Yan Tao sitting at the head of the table with two piles of handkerchiefs on the table.

When he came in, Yan Tao was studying a handkerchief embroidered with dragonflies.

Seeing him, Yan Tao was rather surprised. He placed the handkerchief on the table and asked, “Why did you come back?”

Yan Yu was not in the mood to beat around the bush. He asked straightforwardly: “Does second brother find it?”

Yan Tao didn’t expect he was actually asking this. He did not expect him to be even more anxious than him. Yan Tao smiled and invited him to sit across from him. “How can it be so easy?”

Didn’t the sixth brother know how many daughters and girls there were in the capital?

“This handkerchief is embroidered in all sorts of strange ways, my eyes are all dazzled by it.”

Hearing this, Yan Yu breathed a sigh of relief, but his face remained impenetrable, “Even if the master of the handkerchief came, the pattern she embroidered today might not be the same as the one you picked up. How can you find it, second brother?”

Of course, Yan Tao also thought about this question. He only said, “Let’s try our luck.”

“The scent of each woman is different, and the scent of her hands is different. If you smell them carefully, you will see that they are different.”

Yan Yu had not studied women, nor did he want to. He lowered his head and took a glance. He clearly wasn’t interested, but he still pretended to be interested, “Second brother, if you trust me, why don’t you let me help you find it?”

He would probably spend quite a bit of time looking at each of these pads.

“Besides, wars were going on in Western Yi. You still need to keep an eye on the situation there. You shouldn’t be distracted by these things.”

Western Yi was originally vassal state of Da Jing. It had not been docile since it had been independent from Da Jing more than ten years ago.

In the last two years, it had eaten the guts of a leopard, constantly increasing its military force, sending troops to attack several cities at the border. All day long, the citizens there had been in a state of unrest.

Emperor Yuan Hui was worrying about this all the time. He sent the General of Agile Cavalry guard the border and won a few battles. Western Yi had only recently become more docile.

In order to test the Crown Prince, Emperor Yuan Hui handed over several cities along the border to Yan Tao to govern.

After the war, the construction of houses and the food and shelter of the people needed his advice.

Yan Tao and Yan Yu had been stationed at the border for several months. They had just returned a while ago, and they had pretty much recovered. However, they still couldn’t be careless.

As soon as there were any new questions, the official on the other side would bring the letter to him and ask for his opinion.

The few cities run by Yan Tao proved to be in good shape.

He was a very capable Crown Prince, and the Emperor Yuan Hui did not hesitate to praise him.

It was precisely because of this that the Third Prince was so anxious that his eyes turned red, taking advantage of the opportunity he had when the Crown Prince left the palace to have people ambush him to kill him.

Fortunately, the guard was able to protect him in time. He only got a small amount of injuries and didn’t let anyone know.

Everything was settled. As long as there were no more troubles made by Western Yi, they would no longer need to travel every day. All they needed to do was to maintain the peace on the surface between the two of them brothers.

Yan Tao did not trust him. “Does Sixth Brother know the difference between the girls’ fragrance?”

Yan Yu really didn’t know how to answer.

Yan Tao explained to him with a chuckle, “This girls’ scent has several types, including jasmine, rose and osmanthus …”

“Forget it, you don’t understand either. I’ll do it myself.”

As he spoke, he saw Xie Ying’s embroidered silk handkerchief. He took a closer look at it and realized that the embroidery was quite good. Unfortunately, the fragrance of the handkerchief was too strong, making him choke.

He only took a glance at it before putting it aside.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and a servant said from outside, “Your Highness, there’s someone outside seeking an audience.”

He asked, “Who’s that?”

The servant said, “He didn’t say anything about his background. He only said that he could give you some advice. He should be a strategist.”

The Crown Prince valued the talented men. As long as it was someone who was capable, he would value them.

Without much doubt, he got up and walked to the front. Before he left, he said to Yan Yu, “Sixth Brother, wait for me for a moment.”

Yan Yu stood up, “Second brother, go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”

After he left, there was only Yan Yu left in the study. When he arrived at the main table, he picked up one of the topmost handkerchiefs and looked at it.

He looked through them one by one, but still couldn’t find Xie Zhen’s name. He frowned and flipped through the stack that Yan Tao had seen, but still didn’t find Xie Zhen’s name.

On the other side of the road, Yan Tao was on his way to the front yard. He took out a silk handkerchief with a simple alamo leaf embroidered on it.

He turned it back and saw no embroidered name.

He handed it to Liang Kuan, the attendant behind him. “To find out who embroidered it.”

Liang Kuan had followed him for more than ten years, and he was loyal. He was a trustworthy person.

He felt at ease to leave it to him.

As he spoke, he arrived at the central room. There was indeed a person sitting inside.

It was a pity that Yan Tao was disappointed. This person was not an intelligent and resourceful strategist. Instead, he was like a charlatan running around with his mouth full of mules. What he said was all empty words.

Yan Tao shook his head and had him sent away.