Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

93. We Have Met Before

Translator: Flying Lines

“Sure.” Gongsun Yi froze for a moment, then nodded. However, he led Zhou Zaiyue and Su Jie to another mansion he had under his name. After all, a cunning rabbit had three holes as his burrow. Even though he, Gongsun Yi, was not a cowardly man, he had to leave himself with a few escape routes.

“Xuan Wu and Shang Liu aren’t here?” Zhou Zaiyue asked, the lids of his eyes twitching, as he saw no one in the courtyard.

“They’ve gone out to do something.” Gongsun Yi smiled. He had never interacted with Zhou Zaiyue before, so he was on his guard around him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought Zhou Zaiyue and Su Jie here.

However, Zhou Zaiyue was extremely knowledgeable and could read people. Not to mention, he knew Ju Liandao’s son was a rare talent in terms of leading troops. Gongsun Yi was young, promising, and somewhat arrogant. Naturally, he wouldn’t believe Zhou Zaiyue that easily.

Nonetheless, Zhou Zaiyue didn’t care about this. There was something more urgent, so Zhou Zaiyue simply cut straight to the chase. “You are the one who kidnapped Prince Xian?”

When he heard this, there wasn’t a hint of guilt in Gongsun Yi’s demeanor. He was extremely self-confident. The corner of his lips twitched, and a disrespectful smile appeared. “What Prince Xian? Why could I kidnap him? I am State Yanling’s Vice-general. Coming all the way here to kidnap a prince when I’m bored? Why on earth would I do that?”

Gongsun Yi’s tone carried disdain and arrogance as if it really wasn’t him who had done this.

Zhou Zaiyue choked. No one had ever spoken so impolitely to him before. Even though Zhou Zaiyue knew that Ju Liandao’s son was impolite to everyone, this was the first time Zhou Zaiyue had experienced Gongsun Yi’s importunacy first-hand.

Gongsun Yi was arrogant, however, he was also cautious. Besides, he had the right to be arrogant. He would even talk back to his own father, Ju Liandao, let alone Zhou Zaiyue.

Therefore, when Gongsun Yi denied that he kidnapped Prince Xian, Zhou Zaiyue was also somewhat stunned.

“Not quite.” Right at this time, Su Jie, who had been silent, suddenly said.

“Oh?” Gongsun Yi’s eyebrows rose. His gaze rested on Su Jie.

Gongsun Yi did indeed take a shine to Su Jie… He felt that this handsome red-robed youth had a special charm that captivated him. Gongsun Yi’s criteria for his lover was simple. First, his lover must be easy on the eyes. Also, the other party couldn’t just be a pretty little thing who was useless and only knew how to act coquettish and throw tantrums. Second, his lover must be moderately intelligent. He, Gongsun Yi was stately, handsome, calm, and wise. So, his other half naturally couldn’t be too stupid. He wasn’t afraid of his enemies plotting against him, he was only scared of his people being a burden and betraying him.

Now, he took a fancy to Su Jie at first glance. Su Jie had a clear gaze, and he didn’t seem like the type to pester others endlessly. The only thing he didn’t know about was the youth’s character and how he behaved.

Just as Su Jie spoke, a few hints of interest bloomed within Gongsun Yi’s heart. He looked at Su Jie, traces of a playful smile present in his eyes.

Gongsun Yi wore a simple black robe. His posture appeared casual and lazy, but in reality, he was filled with alertness and caution towards his surroundings. This was a habit he had formed over the years. No matter where he was, Gongsun Yi was always careful. Furthermore, he was in State Yanhui’s territory.

“Gongsun Yi…” Su Jie’s expression was calm, completely unbothered by Gongsun Yi’s defiant stare. A glimmer of an unknown look flashed through his eyes. His mild voice was as clear as a mountain stream as he said to Gongsun Yi, “You have four mansions in City Yang. Two of them are under your name, and the remaining two are brought using someone else’s name. The mansion we are in right now is the place you visit the least. The mansion you frequent most is the one on the east street of Chengnan alley. I wonder if Prince Xian is there?”

“You——” When he first heard someone else say these words, Gongsun Yi unleased a faint hint of killing intent.

Suddenly, he remembered that Su Jie was with Zhou Zaiyue. He shouldn’t be an enemy, so Gongsun Yi’s killing intent wavered. He was dumbfounded. Looking at Su Jie, his gaze was full of complexity. Doubt and wonder meshed together. How did this red-robed youth know about his homes in City Yang in so much detail?

Not waiting for Gongsun Yi to get over his astonishment, Su Jie added with an unchanging expression, “You are friends with the young master of City Yang’s Counselor Zhang’s family. You once saved Young Master Zhang’s life. Am I correct?”

Gongsun Yi could no longer be indifferent about this. As State Yanling’s proud Vice-general, Gongsun Yi always believed that his ability to evade attention and blend in was exceptional. However, as Su Jie told him the exact details of his trips to City Yang, Gongsun Yi couldn’t tell what he was feeling. The shock and confusion at the very depths of his heart merged together. In the end, it formed a sentence, “How do you know this?”