The Pearl on the Emperor’s Crown

Chapter 16 – Xie Ying Really Likes that Woman

“I’ll hire this female masseuse when we return later, and Your Highness can relax at any time,” Xie Ying said, taking Zhu Yi’s hand.

Return? Return to the palace? No, that wasn’t it. Zhu Yi understood, and asked somewhat frenetically, “What do you mean by ‘return’? What are you talking about?”

“Naturally, I’m talking about marrying you and bringing you back to Wei Province,” Xie Ying said. He didn’t give Zhu Yi any chance to pretend to be naive. “Your Highness will turn sixteen this winter, and that’s not far from now.”

Zhu Yi was surprised. He still knew her birthday? 

“But Your Highness also knows that I can’t make any decisions about my own marriage,” she pointed out.

She hadn’t realised it before, but she now knew the reason why she liked Xie Ying but still avoided him. It was because she was afraid of facing her future husband if the emperor didn’t betroth her to Xie Ying.

“Let me worry about this,” Xie Ying said. “Don’t think about anything, Your Highness, and just trust me.”

Zhu Yi looked at Xie Ying, and their eyes met. She felt like her soul was about to be sucked into those bright black pupils. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t.

Xie Ying grinned and said, “If we build a big bath for Your Highness, this official will be able to join you often in the future.”

Zhu Yi felt that Xie Ying’s level of nonchalance was really comparable to that of Zhu Chuo. She hurriedly covered Xie Ying’s mouth, afraid that he would continue to speak shamelessly.

“You’re not allowed to talk nonsense!”

Xie Ying gazed at Zhu Yi quietly, and she felt that his eyes were not quite right. Soon her palm was licked by something wet. It was the tip of Xie Ying’s tongue. An itchy and prickling feeling rushed into Zhu Yi’s limbs like electricity, and she quickly retracted her hand.

Zhu Yi immediately let out a gasp as Xie Ying bit her ear lobe, and sucked at it. An even more tingling sensation overtook her senses. Zhu Yi turned her head to avoid him but his palm was on the back of her head, not allowing her to dodge.

Zhu Yi wasn’t wearing earrings and the pitifully small piece of flesh became a delicacy in that mans’ eyes. Xie Ying seemed to think it was delicious, and he repeatedly tugged, bit, and licked it. The heat of his breath filled Zhu Yi’s ears and the touch of his soft and cool lips rubbing against her ear made her mind buzz, and she didn’t know how to react. If not for the iron grip of Xie Ying’s arms around her, she would have slipped down a long time ago.

When Xie Ying released her ear, Zhu Yi thought he would let her go. Instead, he rubbed her lips back and forth with his thumb as his gaze lingered on them. Zhu Yi understood what he wanted to do and she couldn’t avoid it, so she simply closed her eyes.

Please support the translator by reading this on sunkissed translations. Don’t support sites stealing my hard work. 

A loud male voice suddenly came from outside. “This king wants to meet guests here, so hurry up and clear out the people inside! When did the top floor of the Luminous Building become a place where anyone can go?”

The shopkeeper’s eyebrows were about to be twisted together. Although he had never seen the man inside before, he was afraid that he had a distinguished background judging from his posture and demeanour.

But outside, this was Zhu Zhen’an, the emperor’s nephew who had just inherited the title from the late old prince, and he was a famous dandy. The emperor’s family was in the palace, and there were indeed few people in the capital who could afford to provoke this aristocrat.

Xie Ying and Zhu Yi both heard who was outside, Zhu Yi hurriedly pushed Xie Ying away before Xie Ying’s lips fell. “It’s Zhu Zhen’an, what should I do?” She looked around, but there was no screen or anything to block her. She was alone in the room with Xie Ying and there were people guarding them outside. It would look like they were having a tryst.

Xie Ying was obviously displeased with the interruption. He gently rubbed Zhu Yi’s forehead with his lower jaw. After a while, he calmed down the desire that was clamouring to be released, and then said, “It’s alright, I’ll go out and have a look.”

Wen Yan stopped Zhu Zhen’an’s men who wanted to break in and said, “If you barge in, don’t blame me for being rude. ”

Zhu Zhen’an looked at Wen Yan up and down. “Hah, you have courage! Do you know who I am?”

Zhu Zhen’an would have recognised Shen Xing Liu as Xie Ying’s attendant but he had left earlier. Xie Ying had transferred Wen Yan over to protect Zhu Yi because she was a woman, and thus, Zhu Zhen’an had never seen her before.

“No matter who you are, you can’t barge in,” Wen Yan said calmly.

It was the first time Zhu Zhen’an saw such an emboldened guard, let alone one who was also a woman, but he was amused. “How interesting. This king now insists on seeing who’s in there, and what kind of person he is that nobody is allowed to enter. Is it possible that it’s the emperor or the crown prince?”

Yan Yu’er jumped out at this moment and intentionally followed up with, “Hey, it’s that woman who thought very highly of herself earlier. A maid who dared to show off her authority in the capital. Where did you come from? Let’s hear it.”

Zhu Zhen’an glanced scornfully at Yan Yu’er. “Who are you?”

At this moment, the door was pulled open and Xie Ying stood at the door, not saying a word as he stared at Zhu Zhen’an.

Zhu Zhen’an was dumbfounded but he reacted quickly. “Younger Cousin Ying? Younger Cousin, weren’t you at Sheng River Palace? Why did you suddenly return to the Capital?” They were all relatives of the emperor. Although they were three thousand miles apart, besides the crown prince, it was absolutely impossible to go wrong in following Xie Ying! No one could afford to offend Xie Ying, and Zhu Zhen’an’s legs trembled with fright.

“En,” Xie Ying grunted indifferently in greeting.

Knowing that he had spoken badly before, Zhu Zhen’an continued to deflect. “Look at my luck, I’m so happy to meet my younger cousin Ying, hahaha!”

The shopkeeper was stunned. It was the first time he ever saw that dandy Zhu Zhen’an flattering someone.

Yan Yu’er held her breath as she looked at the face of the young man in front of her, her heart racing. After her initial trance, she squeezed next to Zhu Zhen’an. “What was he saying about ‘this king’, ‘palace’, and ‘Younger Cousin Ying’?” She asked excitedly. “Are you Xie Ying? Are you really Xie Ying?”

Xie Ying would never announce himself to someone he didn’t know.

“I-I am Yan Yu’er!” Yan Yu’er said hurriedly. “Xie Ying, have you forgotten my name? King Jinghai is my father, and the empress dowager is my aunt!”

At these words, even Zhu Zhen’an turned to stare at her with surprise.

The Provinces of Wei, Jing, and Yong could be said to be united in spirit by helping each other in the fight against the imperial court’s cutting of the domain. Wei and Jing Provinces had planned to unite with marriage, but the emperor naturally wouldn’t allow it, and he had directly vetoed it. Because of Yan Yu’er’s identity, Xie Ying did give her one more look.

Yan Yu’er bit her lower lip shyly, but her gaze towards him was very bold and her smile was coquettish.

Xie Ying withdrew his gaze indifferently.

“It turns out that we are all relatives!” Zhu Zhen’an laughed. “It’s also a kind of fate that we met by chance.”

“Then, Younger Cousin…” Zhu Zhen’an began with some hesitation. “Shall we go in and sit together?”

Xie Ying stood at the door, neither speaking nor moving, which meant that he didn’t intend to let Zhu Zhen’an in.

This behaviour was really rude, but Zhu Zhen’an wasn’t annoyed at all. As a dandy, he immediately understood, and said with a smile, “I understand, I understand. It’s this brother who has no eyesight. Please, Younger Cousin Ying, don’t delay your interest because of this elder brother.”

Zhu Zhen’an was curious about the woman in Xie Ying’s room, but he didn’t dare to push Xie Ying away and look inside. Yan Yu’er knew who it was, and she sneered almost imperceptibly.

“Younger Cousin, I’ll go down and settle the account for you! Take your time to enjoy the scenery and play slowly. Let’s get together again when you are free.”

When Zhu Zhen’an left, he didn’t forget to help Xie Ying call Yan Yu’er away. Alas, it seemed that Brother Xie had gotten into trouble with another lover, which made him envious.

Please support the translator by reading this on sunkissed translations. Don’t support sites stealing my hard work. 

Yan Yu’er went downstairs and said goodbye to Zhu Zhen’an. She asked for a tea room on the second floor where she opened the thin strips of the bamboo curtains and watched the exit of the luminous building. After about a cup of tea, she really saw Xie Ying and Zhu Yi walking out side by side.

Xie Ying seemed to like Zhu Yi very much. From time to time, he turned his head to look at her. His hands were also unruly. He tried to tease the hair on the girl’s forehead but she raised her hand and knocked his own off. When they got to a crowded place, Xie Ying pulled her to his side, preventing others from bumping into Zhu Yi.

Yan Yu’er held the bamboo curtain, and only when Xie Ying disappeared into the crowd did she withdraw her hand. More than two years ago, her father and King Wei Ning discussed marrying her to Xie Ying. Xie Ying had agreed, but the emperor had refused to allow it.

After watching the wonderful performances such as the Iron Rope and the Fire Lion, Zhu Yi’s throat was parched, so they went to buy food and drinks. She was greedy for coolness, and when she saw the white mashed dumplings and sweet peach sorbet at the stalls, she immediately ordered a bowl of each. Xie Ying was afraid that she would have a stomach ache after eating too much ice. When she walked to the next stall and wanted to drink pear snow cream again, Xie Ying said, “I’ve run out of money ”

Zhu Yi didn’t believe it, knowing that he didn’t want to buy it for her anymore. She knew that it was useless to be entangled with Xie Ying, and she didn’t dare to lose her temper with him, so she could only glance at the pear snow cream.

The boss was a young man, and he blushed and held up a bowl of pear cream, wanting to hand it to Zhu Yi. “Miss, I’ll give it to you.”

Xie Ying’s sullen eyes swept over and coldly glared at the boss. The man’s hand trembled and the snow cream bowl overturned.

“Thank you, boss, there’s no need,” Zhu Yi said, taken aback. She glanced at Xie Ying and walked to the front by herself while Xie Ying silently followed.

After walking for more than half a mile, Zhu Yi pretended to casually ask, “This is Beiting Street, right? Is there a clothing shop called Thousands of Brocades nearby?”

“Yes, it’s just across the street in front and it’s quite big,” Xie Ying confirmed. “Do you want to shop there, Your Highness?”

Zhu Yi hummed in agreement. When they arrived in Thousands of Brocades, Zhu Yi took advantage of the conversation between Shen Xing Liu and Xie Ying to find the shopkeeper there. She then sent Wen Yan away to help her fetch some clothes before she spoke a strange sentence to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was slightly startled. He looked at Zhu Yi for a while, and asked, “What message does the young lady want me to deliver?”

“Tomorrow at noon, please invite Third Master Rong over to this shop,” Zhu Yi said.

The shopkeeper glanced at Zhu Yi twice more and guessed that this young lady in front of him was the mistress of the palace eunuch who used to ask him to send the messages.

 “Very well, I’ll bring the third young master over,” he agreed.

When Zhu Yi returned to Xie Ying’s side, Xie Ying studied her for a while.