Chapter 110: Such Great Acting—Worthy of an Oscar
Nan Xun reached out and lifted little Cui Huan’s chin, smiling at her. “What, do you think your lady is too lewd?”
Cui Huan shook her head vigorously and hurriedly said, “No matter what Her Highness does, in Cui Huan’s heart, Her Highness is always the very best!”
Nan Xun felt that this little girl’s loyalty bordered on blind devotion. If she herself were some great villainous consort, Cui Huan would definitely be the kind of poisonous maid who helped her do bad things—the sort who’d get pelted with rotten eggs.
But right now, Nan Xun needed exactly this kind of loyal maid. Otherwise, things would really be hard to handle.
When Yan Han came for the third time, Cui Huan’s gaze toward him became rather subtle. Then she unobtrusively withdrew, leaving the small courtyard to the two of them.
Nan Xun ignored him, and Yan Han did not disturb her either.
After more than ten days like this, Nan Xun really couldn’t take it anymore.
This time, after finishing a set of sword forms, she walked straight toward the masked man.
Seeing her approach, the masked man’s eyes lit up slightly as he stared straight at her.
Nan Xun frowned, her tone impatient. “What exactly do you want? You keep barging into my Chimu Palace again and again—aren’t you afraid of bringing disaster upon me?”
Yan Han hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. I already figured out the patrol frequency and timing of the guards here. I avoid them, and besides, your Chimu Palace is in a remote area—hardly anyone comes this way.”
Hearing this, Nan Xun let out a cold laugh. “So you’re mocking me for being cast into the Cold Palace now, abandoned and miserable?”
“You know very well that’s not what I mean!” Yan Han said irritably.
“Then what do you mean?” Nan Xun looked at him expressionlessly. “If it’s because of the so-called life-saving grace from last time, there’s no need. If you hadn’t threatened Cui Huan’s life, I wouldn’t have saved you. And even after saving you, I took compensation. We’re already even. If it’s because of that nonsense about taking responsibility—there’s even less need. That was nothing more than me teasing you.”
“That’s only your one-sided view,” the man said. “You think we’re even, but I don’t.”
“Yan Han!” Nan Xun snapped, placing her sword against his neck. “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”
Yan Han was not frightened by the sword at his throat. He clenched his fist slightly and said in a low voice, “That jade hairpin is a family heirloom of the Yan family. Since you accepted it, that means you acknowledged becoming the Yan family’s wife.”
Furious, Nan Xun immediately pulled the jade hairpin from her bosom and threw it back at him.
However, Yan Han did not reach out to catch it. With a clack, the delicate jade hairpin fell to the ground and split into two.
“It’s broken,” Yan Han said flatly. “Do you know how much this hairpin is worth?”
Nan Xun was beside herself with anger. “You’re the one who didn’t catch it—what does that have to do with me?”
Yan Han kept staring at her. After a long pause, he said, “I don’t want you to compensate me. I only hope you won’t drive me away.”
“Do as you please!” Nan Xun threw out those words and left.
After she was gone, the man’s lips curved slightly, cold, thin, and mocking—utterly devoid of the affection he had just displayed. A glint of light flashed through his long, narrow black eyes. Paired with the exquisite silver mask on his face, he looked especially chilling and severe.
The man turned, leapt into the air, and his tall, slender figure quickly disappeared from Chimu Palace.
From that day on, every night, the man who called himself Yan Han would come to Nan Xun’s Chimu Palace.
When Nan Xun practiced swordplay, he would stand quietly to the side watching her in silence. When Nan Xun sat on the swing, he would walk behind her and gently give her a push from time to time, so she could swing higher and higher without having to exert any effort herself.
Such days went on for a full month. The man’s gaze toward the woman grew more and more ardent, deep within his eyes surging with powerful, turbulent emotion.
Nan Xun was practicing the Qin family’s sword technique as usual, but this time, as she practiced, she suddenly performed a move incorrectly. One mistake led to another. She stared at the sword in her hand in a fluster, then with a clang threw it to the ground.
“Yaoyao.” Yan Han looked at her with concern and moved to approach her.
“Don’t come over!” Nan Xun shouted at him, her eyes filled with confusion and complexity.
Seeing her obvious loss of composure, a sharp gleam flashed quickly through Yan Han’s eyes. He sighed helplessly. “Yaoyao, if you truly don’t want to see me, then I… I won’t come and disturb you again.”
After saying this, he left in a daze, his retreating figure looking lonely and desolate.
Cui Huan, who had witnessed their entire emotional entanglement, couldn’t bear it anymore. She moved closer to Nan Xun and whispered, “Your Highness, Young Master Yan is so pitiful. Are you really just going to drive him away like this?”
Nan Xun’s mouth twitched. The little maid she had raised for so long was actually siding with an outsider.
The Void Beast sobbed pitifully. “He looks at you with such deep affection, his gaze burning like fire, wishing he could swallow you whole—but damn it, why hasn’t the malice value dropped even a single point?!”
Nan Xun replied indifferently, “As expected. Because everything he’s doing right now is an act.”
The Void Beast continued to whimper. “Then his acting is way too good—he could go win Best Actor.”
What it didn’t understand was that it clearly sensed fluctuations in the other party’s emotions, and those fluctuations were growing stronger—happy one moment, angry the next. There was no reason for the malice value not to drop.
Nan Xun patted Cui Huan’s head and continued to bring out her own Best Actress–level acting skills, her gaze complicated. “Cui Huan, you don’t understand. He and I are impossible.”
Cui Huan stamped her foot angrily. “Why is it impossible? Your Highness said before that if you ever met a man who truly treated you well, you wouldn’t mind putting a green hat on the emperor. Now such a good man is right in front of you, yet Your Highness wants to disappoint him!”
Nan Xun: …
“I did say that,” Nan Xun replied, “but Cui Huan, have you thought about it? If the emperor were to discover that I’m with him, wouldn’t that be giving that tyrant the perfect excuse to deal with the Qin family? And given that tyrant’s vindictive nature, he wouldn’t let us go. Yan Han is no match for him at all.”
Hearing this, Cui Huan burst into tears. “So Your Highness has been bearing so much in your heart. Your Highness, this servant didn’t even know—sob, sob…”
For several days in a row, Yan Han did not come again. Cui Huan could sense that her lady’s mood had grown very low.
Her lady really had… fallen for him. But for the sake of the Qin family, for the sake of Young Master Yan, she swallowed everything alone.
“Your Highness, this servant saw that the white lotuses in the pond outside Chimu Palace are growing quite well. Shall I pick some and place them on your windowsill?”
Nan Xun was resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought. Hearing this, she merely gave an unenthusiastic hum.
But not long after, Cui Huan rushed in with a panicked expression. “Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Terrible! This servant heard—heard that last night the patrolling guards captured a black-clad assassin!”
