Rarely seeing Ye Xi in such a sharp and straightforward manner, Yi Yuan slightly raised his long eyebrows, and a layer of smiles rippled from the corners of his eyes and brows.
"My A Yuan," he drawled.
Tsk... It sounded so nice.
Unexpectedly, Ye Xi showed no sign of the regret and pain he had anticipated. Instead, she was so sharp - tongued. Her words not only excused Yi Yuan but also left him speechless.
The crowd that had been waiting to watch Ye Xi's show instantly shifted their gazes to him. Cao Sheng's face flushed beet - red.
"Even if he was on official business,"
Unable to answer, Cao Sheng simply evaded Ye Xi's question and changed the subject.
"It's a fact that he hugged a prostitute intimately in public. Besides me, there were others who saw it. There's absolutely no mistake."
"Humph - don't delude yourself for the position of the Princess of Yu'an. We all saw clearly how our noble prince put his arm around that beauty and cherished her!"
Just as Ye Xi was about to retort, a clear male voice sounded beside her.
"Really? There's such a thing?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Shen Zhou walking leisurely over, covering his lips with a fan and smiling. His delicate face was like a painting, and there were glimmers of light in his peach - blossom eyes, making many women and girls around blush.
"As expected of our Prince of Yu'an. He's truly romantic and charming, unmatched by others."
Ye Xi was already annoyed at seeing Cao Sheng, and now there was this annoying Shen Zhou, adding fuel to the fire and making the situation worse. It was really exasperating.
Yi Yuan's face was as cold as ice. He stepped to the side and blocked most of Ye Xi behind him. He said coldly:
"I can't compare to Young Master Shen. I was just forced to go there due to official business. I'm as pure as snow with others."
"Unlike Young Master Shen, who has different thoughts in his heart from his companions. He's not restricted by the love between men and women at all. Only he can truly be called a suave and romantic young master."
The two of them were at odds with each other, and an invisible undercurrent of hostility surged in the air.
The on - looking crowd was buzzing with discussions, speculating whether Shen Zhou would be the next Cao Sheng.
Cao Sheng, who had become a well - known figure in the capital for his duplicity and extramarital affairs, naturally couldn't stand others using his disgraceful deeds as topics of conversation. Although he felt embarrassed, seeing the way Shen Zhou and Yi Yuan were at odds, he naively thought that Shen Zhou was on his side. He immediately counterattacked:
"Then how do you explain that the prince seemed not to care about Ye Xi's ugliness on the surface and only loved her whole - heartedly, but then hugged a beautiful prostitute?"
"How to explain?"
Yi Yuan gave him a cold look.
"Show me the evidence first."
"If what you said is true, since you saw it with your own eyes in the Drunken Moon Tower, who was the prostitute I hugged? And who else witnessed this with you? Why didn't he come with you to testify for you?"
"He... I..."
Cao Sheng was rendered speechless.
The one who witnessed it with him was naturally his friend Sun Liu, but Sun Liu didn't dare to offend Yi Yuan and naturally refused to come with him. And last night, he was forced to flee in a hurry by Mian Xiao. The prostitute was wearing a veil, and he didn't see her clearly at all. After Mian Xiao left, he went back and searched carefully, but he couldn't find that elegant and charming prostitute.
Cao Sheng was not willing to give up. Just thinking about how Ye Xi had the marriage contract annulled and then Yi Yuan had publicly and high - profilely accepted her betrothal letter, and how sweet they were together made him grind his teeth in hatred. He was so eager to see Ye Xi and Yi Yuan fall out, and Ye Xi regret and cry. So even though Sun Liu had tried to persuade him many times, he still came.
Facts proved that although Sun Liu had always been a dissolute and idle person, he was still clear - headed when it came to self - preservation and not easily offending others.
Cao Sheng's face turned pale and red alternately, and he stammered for a long time without saying a word.
Just when he was in a dilemma, the yamen runners came out of the sealed mansion, escorting Qian Fangxue and the others.
As soon as Ye Jueyao saw Cao Sheng, she didn't know where she got the strength. She immediately pounced on him like a crazy woman and grabbed him tightly.
"Brother Sheng, Brother Sheng..."
Like grabbing a life - saving straw, Ye Jueyao laughed and cried. Her hair was in a mess, and she looked haggard, like a crazy woman.
"Are you here to save Yaoyao? Are you here to marry me? Yaoyao knew that Brother Sheng loves Yaoyao the most and must be reluctant... Ah!"
Before she could finish her words, Ye Jueyao was mercilessly pushed away by Cao Sheng and fell heavily to the ground.
"Get out of the way!"
Cao Sheng was furious and vented all his anger on Ye Jueyao. He spat:
"What dirty thing dares to touch this young master."
Then he pointed at the following yamen runners:
"What are you good for? You can't even stop a weak woman. Hurry up and drag her away!"
Everyone couldn't help but sigh at his heartless and cold - blooded appearance.
Ye Jueyao was still struggling.
"Let go! Let go! Brother Sheng, Brother Sheng..."
"How can you be so heartless? Didn't you say I was the woman you loved the most? You promised to marry me!"
By the end, she was speaking recklessly.
"Brother Sheng! Hurry up and save me! If you don't marry me, do you still want to marry that bitch Ye Xi? I tell you, she's a wild girl, a lowly slave picked up! Only I'm the most noble young lady of the Ye family..."
"Ah - "
Yi Yuan and Shen Zhou both took action at the same time. Two stones hit Ye Jueyao's sallow cheeks from the left and right. Immediately, the skin was broken and blood flowed. The yamen runners, who were afraid of offending Yi Yuan and getting themselves into trouble, gagged her and quickly dragged her away.
Ye Jueyao suddenly revealed such shocking news. The on - looking crowd watching the show shouted that it was wonderful. The crowd, who had been whispering in consideration of their identities just now, suddenly became noisy.
One person said:
"No wonder the Ye family didn't take Miss Xi seriously. It turns out she's not their biological child..."
Another said:
"Good heavens. If Miss Xi was picked up, wouldn't she not even be a commoner? With an unknown identity and origin, how can she be the Princess of Yu'an? What if she's of foreign blood?"
There was also someone who thought more comprehensively and pondered:
"The Ye family didn't like Miss Xi so much. Why did they pick her up and raise her for more than a decade? Judging from the words and deeds of the Ye family, they don't seem like kind - hearted people..."
Cao Sheng was also extremely shocked. As if he had regained some face, he exaggeratedly sneered and despised.
"Tsk - so she's a lowly hidden household. Fortunately, the marriage didn't happen. Otherwise, the faces of our ancestors for eight generations would have been lost..."
"Slap!" "Slap!"
There were two more crisp sounds. Cao Sheng let out a miserable cry, opened his mouth, and spat out a mouthful of blood foam, which seemed to contain a broken tooth.
Yi Yuan and Shen Zhou were calm and composed. For the first time in history, they didn't quarrel with each other but united against Cao Sheng.
Shen Zhou laughed and said:
"Look, Shengyu. As the old saying goes, a dog's mouth never spits out ivory."
Yi Yuan said coldly:
"Xiao Xi left the Ye family and established her own household. She has a proper household registration in our Great Yin. You can check it in the government office. If anyone dares to make trouble or spread rumors about this, don't blame this prince for being merciless!"