NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 76: Known to All
Chapter 76: Known to All
Seeing no trace of fear for the west side of the city on Qiao Nian’s face, Prince Ming became curious about where she wanted to take him.
He nodded slightly, a contemptuous smile on his lips.
He didn’t believe Qiao Nian could escape his control.
How could prey handed to him by her own parents possibly escape his grasp?
But he hadn’t expected Qiao Nian to take him to the Yuanlai Tea House.
It was the place where they had originally agreed to meet, but Lin Ye had switched the letters, resulting in them never meeting.
The tea house had two floors. In the center of the ground floor hall was a small stage where songstresses usually performed or magicians showed their tricks.
But today, there was a storyteller on the stage.
The story seemed fascinating, with the surrounding tea guests listening intently.
Qiao Nian and Prince Ming were seated by a tea house waiter.
But as soon as the waiter finished serving tea, Prince Ming’s expression changed.
Because the storyteller wasn’t telling just anyone’s story, but his!
Even though the characters’ names in the story were unfamiliar to him, he could clearly understand that the ‘eunuch’ the storyteller was embellishing about was him!
Anger immediately surged in his chest, and Prince Ming made to smash his cup and flip the table.
But then Qiao Nian’s voice came slowly, “I advise Your Highness to sit quietly, otherwise, you’ll be exposing yourself.”
Prince Ming was stunned and looked at Qiao Nian again.
He saw her lips curved in a smile, and even her eyes were filled with a faint amusement.
So faint that it could hardly be called a contemptuous smile!
He finally realized, “This storyteller, you arranged this?”
No wonder she wanted to bring him to this tea house!
Qiao Nian didn’t deny it. Looking at the storyteller not far away, she asked very seriously, “What does Your Highness think? If there’s anything unsatisfactory, I can have them change it.”
This was tantamount to directly admitting that she had arranged the storyteller.
Prince Ming was furious beyond words.
If he could, he would have kicked Qiao Nian to the ground and beaten her severely.
But in public, he absolutely couldn’t do that!
He just gritted his teeth and hissed, “You think you can protect yourself with this storyteller?”
“Not just this storyteller, I’ve bought off all the storytellers in the capital,” Qiao Nian’s voice was still light, not hurried at all, but her words could make Prince Ming choke with anger.
She continued, “Of course, Your Highness can also buy off these storytellers, but besides them, I’ve also contacted several theaters, and the scripts are almost done. There are also various storybooks… As long as I don’t die, Your Highness’s little secret will be spread through countless channels.”
And Prince Ming absolutely didn’t dare to kill her!
Prince Ming almost crushed his own fist. He gritted his teeth and snarled, “What exactly do you want!”
Qiao Nian looked at him and laughed coldly, “What I want is simple. From now on, rein in that perverted desire of yours. Not just me, if I find out you dare to take anyone to the west side of the city, then the next day, Your Highness’s little secret will be known to all!”
The Emperor loves Noble Consort De so much, why would he send their child to Gu City, so far from the capital?
Because he’s afraid of losing face.
Afraid of others knowing that the son of the ruler of a country is actually a eunuch!
If this matter eventually became known to all, Prince Ming wouldn’t just be unable to marry into the Marquis’s family, even if he were to marry into the family of the most powerful minister, he’d never be able to return to the capital in this lifetime!
And by then, for Prince Ming, whether he could return to the capital or not wouldn’t matter anymore.
What would matter is his face, his dignity as a man!
His physical defect absolutely cannot be known by anyone!
Prince Ming’s entire body was trembling, that anger tightly suppressed in his heart, not daring to let out even a bit.
But he didn’t understand, “How did you know?”
Not many people knew about his physical defect!
Qiao Nian didn’t answer, but Prince Ming quickly thought of something, “Is it that palace maid who was transferred from the laundry to serve Mother? What was her name, Liu Niang?”
He thought only someone by his mother’s side could possibly find out some of his matters!
Qiao Nian’s heart skipped a beat for a moment.
She couldn’t implicate Liu Niang.
But she didn’t show it on her face, only saying, “Liu Niang is just a palace maid responsible for cleaning. Your Highness’s private matters, I’m afraid she doesn’t have the ability to know.”
Hearing this, Prince Ming also felt it made sense. If such a lowly palace maid could know about his matters, wouldn’t his secret already be known to all?
But if it wasn’t Liu Niang, who could it be?
Who could know the secret of his injury from back then?
Another figure appeared in Prince Ming’s mind.
At that moment, his entire aura darkened.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, staring at Qiao Nian, “Is it Xiao Heng?”
Qiao Nian felt that if Prince Ming were to go after Xiao Heng, it would be better than going after Liu Niang.
So she didn’t respond, only smiled at Prince Ming, then picked up her tea cup and took a sip.
This gesture seemed like an affirmation to Prince Ming.
He suddenly stood up from his seat, his chest heaving violently due to extreme anger.
Facing the strange looks from around, he forcibly suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, “This Prince has urgent matters to attend to today. Farewell.”
With that, he strode away.
As he left, the tea house began to discuss in low voices.
Qiao Nian held her tea cup, sipping slowly, the mischief in her smile growing stronger.
Tsk, he really can’t keep his composure.
Didn’t she say not to expose himself?
After dealing with Prince Ming’s matter, Qiao Nian leisurely finished her tea before returning to the mansion.
Before she could reach her own Fanghe Court, she saw Madam Lin leading Lin Yuan quickly approaching her from afar.
A chill rose in her heart, and her previously good mood cooled considerably at the sight of the Lin mother and daughter.
But Madam Lin hurriedly came before her, looking her up and down, front and back, “You’re alright?”
Her tone conveyed disbelief.
So, in Madam Lin’s view, she should have returned covered in injuries after leaving with Prince Ming today.
Her earlier words about Prince Ming being considerate of the Marquis’s family and her relationship with Noble Consort De were clearly not believed even by herself.
Thinking of this, Qiao Nian’s lowered eyes were covered with another layer of coldness.
She also felt somewhat fortunate.
Fortunate that she no longer believed their lies, fortunate that she had found a way to survive.
Seeing Qiao Nian not speaking, Lin Yuan suddenly came forward and grabbed Qiao Nian’s hand, “Sister, did Prince Ming beat you again? How about this, I’ll take the beatings for you in the future, and you spare Xiao Cui, alright?”