What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?

Chapter 469 - 456: Liangzhou Continued—Tang Ziqian Side Story (Part 5)

In the early morning, the sound of horse hooves urged a departure.After seeing off Wenren Jia, when Tang Ziqian turned around, his gaze swept the area and unsurprisingly caught a glimpse of someone in white.

Before he could take a second look, the figure in white dashed away with a clinking sound left behind.

Tang Ziqian smiled and leisurely walked inside.

Turning northwest, passing through the Xinyi Forest, he saw a girl in white squatting into a small group among the flower fields.

As soon as his gaze fell on her, she swiftly darted to the other side of the flower field, facing Tang Ziqian from a distance, as vigilant as a young animal in the wild forest.

Tang Ziqian smiled at her, "Come here!"

Lu Yuan took a wary step back.

Tang Ziqian waved his hand at her again, "Ah Yuan, come!"

Lu Yuan blinked and stepped forward half a step, then suddenly became alert and stepped back.

Tang Ziqian folded his arms and laughed, "You were chasing me to unlock your anklet before, and now you avoid me unlocking it. What’s going on in your head?"

"You refused to help me unlock it earlier and now you’re so eager to give me the key, are you up to some mischief?" Lu Yuan had learned a bit from experience.

Tang Ziqian laughed heartily, "What mischief could I be up to?"

Lu Yuan snorted, "How would I know? I’m not as bad as you."

Tang Ziqian sighed, "What mischief is there? I’m just afraid of being threatened."

Lu Yuan didn’t believe him.

"Are you coming over here?" Tang Ziqian asked.

"No!" Lu Yuan flatly refused.

He even called her "Ah Yuan," surely up to no good.

After receiving the refusal, Tang Ziqian stepped into the flower field.

Lu Yuan was contemplating which direction to escape in when she saw Tang Ziqian squat down in the flower field, reaching for one of the flower buds.

Upon seeing his movement, Lu Yuan was so frightened that she rushed over at lightning speed, "Don’t—"

Like a swift sparrow, she abruptly stopped in front of Tang Ziqian.

But it was already too late.

Tang Ziqian’s fair and beautiful fingers deftly held a flower bud.

Pulled out too violently, the roots and stem had already broken.

Lu Yuan’s lips trembled, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

Tang Ziqian was taken aback.

He had deceived her, teased her, tied her up, imprisoned her, and even made her eat the poisonous Xinyi Fruit, yet she never seemed upset. Why cry over a picked flower?

Lu Yuan snatched back the flower, examined it carefully, and upon realizing it couldn’t be saved, the tears truly fell.

"Why... why are you so mean..."

Tang Ziqian, a bit annoyed, "It’s just a flower—"

Before he could finish, Lu Yuan glared at him, "Wine Heart Bud is not an ordinary flower! I’ve been nurturing it for four years! Four years! It was going to bloom next year!" She raised her hand, almost pressing the soil-covered root to Tang Ziqian’s face.

"Look! The roots are broken! It can’t survive!"

Tang Ziqian leaned back slightly, his gaze drifting toward the flower fields, "Aren’t there many more?"

Lu Yuan got even angrier, "If you have many children, can someone just kill one at will?"

"It’s just a flower—"

"It’s not just a flower! I told you it’s not just a flower!" Lu Yuan’s face was flushed with anger, "Wine Heart Bud is not an ordinary flower; it is medicine!"

Tang Ziqian glanced at her red eyes and seriously asked, "What kind of medicine?"

"It’s the medicine I take." Lu Yuan sniffed, looking pitiful.

Tang Ziqian gazed at her in surprise.

With her fair complexion tinged with red, bright and lively eyes, and such high martial arts skills, why would she need medicine?

"I was born in poor health and have to always use Wine Heart Bud for medicine. It’s rare, and I use a lot, so I started growing it myself..."

"But it’s very difficult to grow and also very precious. My mother said that if I didn’t have good martial skills, I wouldn’t be able to protect it. Even if I grew it, it would be taken away, so I practiced martial arts diligently..."

"I wanted to go down the mountain to have fun but was worried they wouldn’t be cared for, so I took them with me. Unexpectedly—" She gave Tang Ziqian a tearful, resentful glance.

Tang Ziqian felt a tingling on his scalp under her gaze, "Is one less and you won’t have enough?"

"No, my body has long since recovered."

Tang Ziqian sighed in relief, "Then why are you so anxious?"

Lu Yuan lowered her head and softly said, "I took such care to nurture it, and you just plucked it without saying anything..."

Tang Ziqian smiled, "Then should I compensate you?"

"How will you compensate?" Lu Yuan looked him over, as if assessing what he had to offer as compensation.

Tang Ziqian moved slightly closer, whispering with a smile, "How do you want me to compensate you?"

Lu Yuan suddenly blushed, "How would I know!"

Tang Ziqian chuckled helplessly, raising his left hand. Somehow, he already had the chain between her anklet in his hand.

And with his right hand, he revealed a key, "I’ll help you unlock the anklet—"

Before he could finish, Lu Yuan darted away again, disappearing in a flash.

Tang Ziqian remained in place, holding the key, and burst into laughter.

"Young Master," Ah Jin, who had been standing behind him for a while, spoke up at this moment, "A letter from the Capital City—"

...

A letter from the Capital City, inquiring about the date of return.

"Depart on the fifteenth—"

Tang Ziqian arranged various matters for his departure.

After finishing, Ah Lin asked, "Is Miss Lu returning to the Capital with us?"

"Miss Lu is not from the Capital City, so it’s not a return to the Capital." Ah Jin said coldly.

Tang Ziqian dismissed the attendants with an ambiguous wave.

He stayed in his study reviewing documents for a while, then put them down and stepped outside.

A thick layer of snow lay upon the eaves, giving him the strange illusion that perhaps a girl in white was hidden within it.

That girl had avoided him for quite some time.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t had the chance to meet, but there really was no opportunity to talk.

Even if they could talk, he wasn’t sure if he should mention his return to the Capital.

If he mentioned it, would she think he was inviting her to return with him?

If he really took a girl back to the Capital—

Tang Ziqian chuckled and shook his head.

Taking a girl back could possibly lead to misunderstandings of unknown proportions.

He looked up at the snow on the eaves for a moment and suddenly said, "I’ll return to the Capital on the fifteenth and come back after the Lantern Festival."

Perhaps she was hidden among the snow.

Perhaps she heard.

...

When Lu Yuan awoke, she found Tang Ziqian was gone.

Even during the time for training, he had not returned as usual.

She sneaked quietly to his study, ran to the main courtyard of the Governor Mansion, and still couldn’t find him.

Lu Yuan searched almost the entire Governor Mansion but still couldn’t find Tang Ziqian, yet she discovered Ah Jin in the Xinyi Forest.

He was tying colorful silk to one of the Xinyi trees, his expression focused.

"Where is your Young Master?" Lu Yuan asked.

"Returned to the Capital."

Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment, "When?"

"Departed this morning at dawn."

Lu Yuan felt as if she had been hit with a heavy blow, her voice becoming muffled, "Will he, will he come back?"

"We’ll know after the New Year when the letters arrive."

Lu Yuan felt a sour ache in her heart, tears welling in her eyes; she suddenly yearned to return home.

"Miss Lu, are you not going home for the New Year?" Ah Jin asked, but his gaze remained on the Xinyi tree.

"My parents have passed away..." Lu Yuan said despondently.

After her parents passed, she had lived alone in the mountains for a few years; feeling truly lonely, she came down the mountain to explore.

There were so many people at the foot of the mountain, and every day felt lively and bustling to her.

But at this moment, she felt lonely again.

Even lonelier than in the mountains.

"Why haven’t you returned to the Capital? Isn’t your home there?" Lu Yuan usually thought Ah Jin was overly silent and cold, but seeing him alone, she felt a sense of shared loneliness.

"I killed someone in the Capital and am afraid of being recognized if I go back."

Lu Yuan gasped in surprise and quickly asked, "Why did you kill someone? Does Tang Ziqian know? Did he leave you in Liangzhou specifically to protect you?"

She asked a series of questions, but Ah Jin didn’t answer. He was winding a section of lotus-colored silk around the bare branch slowly and intently.

A simple action, but he did it slowly, with great focus.

"What are you doing?" Lu Yuan couldn’t help asking.

"It’s almost New Year; time to make new clothes."

Lu Yuan paused, suddenly understanding, "Do you like Xin Yi?"

Ah Jin’s movements paused for a moment, "Xin Yi is the Young Master’s concubine—"