Feng Yunshu noticed that Helan Yanting's expression was getting worse and worse, and her heart grew more and more uneasy. However, the storyteller kept chattering on and on, which was really annoying.
"Your Highness, this storytelling is so unpleasant. How about we go somewhere else? We can play arrow - throwing or do something else. Anyway, let's not listen to this anymore..."
Feng Yunshu was a bit anxious. She pulled Helan Yanting's hand, trying to drag him away. At this moment, she was quite worried that Helan Yanting might do something rash out of anger.
But Helan Yanting was much calmer than she expected. His expression quickly returned to normal. "It's okay to listen a bit more. I'm quite curious about where they got all these so - called secrets."
Feng Yunshu was stunned for a moment. She thought he must be mad with anger, and her worry grew deeper. "Your Highness, really, don't listen anymore. It's not nice at all. Let's just go..."
Helan Yanting suddenly hooked his lips into a faint smile and looked at her. "Aren't you, my lady, curious about how much truth there is in the storyteller's words?"
"This..." Come to think of it, Feng Yunshu belatedly realized that she didn't know much about Helan Yanting's background. As his princess, it seemed a bit irresponsible of her.
"Then..." Feng Yunshu hesitated and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, is what the storyteller said about you true or false?"
"What do you think, Princess?"
"This..." Somehow, Feng Yunshu had an intuition that there was some truth in the storyteller's words. But on second thought, if it was true, her Highness's life experience seemed a bit too tragic.
She originally thought the original owner had a hard life, but it turned out there was someone with an even more tragic fate.
Perhaps Feng Yunshu's look was too full of pity. Helan Yanting's heart softened. He looked up at her, hooked his lips into a smile, and ruffled the little lady's hair in front of him. "My lady, if you keep looking at me like this, I might not be able to control myself."
"Can you stop being a rascal... Aren't we talking about something serious?"
Feng Yunshu rolled her eyes in annoyance, blushing and taking a step back.
"So, how much of what he said is true?"
Helan Yanting took a deep look at the still - enthusiastic and gesturing storyteller. After withdrawing his gaze, he slowly nodded.
The moment he turned his head, Feng Yunshu caught a flash of loneliness and bitterness in his eyes. Although it was just a fleeting moment, her heart felt as if it had been pricked by something, suddenly aching and swelling.
"Your Highness, if this is an unpleasant memory, let's not talk about it today. A day like this is more suitable for being happy."
"If it were in the past, I would never have brought this up. But in front of you, my lady, I don't need to have so many concerns. Do you want to know about my past?"
Feng Yunshu hesitated for a moment. After coming back to her senses, she slowly nodded. "Yes, I'd like to hear about your past, Your Highness."
"I am the real blood of the Emperor of the Yuan Kingdom."
Feng Yunshu's heart tightened. Helan Yanting's expression remained unchanged. He picked up the tea and took a sip, then continued.
"However, the story is not as the rumor goes."
"My mother was not originally a concubine of the Emperor. She was forcibly taken by the Emperor. My mother and the Great General Who Pacifies the State were childhood sweethearts and got married. It should have been a happy event. But the Emperor sent the Great General to guard the border. He was away for several years. When he came back and saw my mother, he died in the battlefield soon after."
Feng Yunshu unconsciously held Helan Yanting's hand. "And then? Wouldn't your mother have to be a widow?"
"After the Great General died, the Emperor took my mother into the palace regardless of the opposition of the court officials. Coincidentally, my mother became pregnant soon after entering the palace."
"Since the time was almost the same as when my mother last saw the Great General, some people in the harem suspected that the child my mother was carrying was not the Emperor's but the Great General's. The Emperor also began to suspect. My mother threatened to kill herself if the Emperor didn't let her give birth to me."
"The Emperor planned to do a blood - relation test after I was born. If I was not his son, he would kill me and my mother together. After the blood - relation test, it proved that I was his blood. But after this incident, the Emperor always had a grudge against me and my mother."
Feng Yunshu could guess the following things from the storyteller's words. "So later the Emperor found an excuse to send you here as a hostage? What about your mother now?"
Helan Yanting nodded, looking a bit solemn.
"When I was sent here, my mother knelt in front of the palace hall and begged the Emperor for a whole day and night to take back his order. But the Emperor was determined. I was still very young when I was sent out of the Yuan Kingdom. I only remember that my mother hugged me tightly and cried bitterly, refusing to let go..."
At this moment, Helan Yanting's frowning made Feng Yunshu feel even more heart - ache. She finally couldn't hold back her emotions. She stepped forward, opened her arms, and gently hugged him. "Your Highness..."
Helan Yanting was stunned for a moment, then smiled tenderly. He pulled her hand and let her sit opposite him.
"My lady, I'm fine. It's all old history."
"After I came here, I secretly swore that one day I would return powerfully and make those who once bullied me and my mother pay the price! In fact, I've been secretly developing my own power over the years."
"Since I left the Yuan Kingdom, my mother's health has been getting worse and worse. She was always frowning. I've always been very worried about her, but I couldn't see her."
"A few years later, I heard that my mother was pregnant again. It was my younger brother, Little Eleven. He almost got killed right after he was born. If I hadn't sent people to secretly protect my mother and my younger brother in the palace in advance, Little Eleven might have died in his infancy."
Although Helan Yanting's expression was not very intense when he said these words, Feng Yunshu felt shocked when she heard them.
"This... Is it always so full of intrigue in your royal palace? Even the life of a little prince has become so humble?"
Helan Yanting nodded. "The Queen and the Crown Prince regard me and my mother as thorns in their sides. In fact, it's not just in the Yuan Kingdom's royal palace. Look at the royal palace of the Dan Kingdom. It's also full of intrigue. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince have been fighting openly and secretly."
"Well, that's true..."
Feng Yunshu came back to her senses and remembered something. "Speaking of intrigue, Your Highness, you should be careful of my father and the Crown Prince. They are all planning to deal with you together."
"What about you, my lady?" Helan Yanting suddenly asked her. "If one day I have to deal with Prime Minister Feng, will you hold a grudge against me?"
Feng Yunshu was stunned for a moment. Her first reaction was to shake her head. Just as she was about to speak, another strong emotion suddenly welled up in her heart, as if fighting against her thoughts.
"Your Highness, if possible, I hope you won't take his life... After all, no matter what, he is my father."
In the end, Feng Yunshu sighed, feeling deeply helpless.
She originally wanted to say that the old Prime Minister Feng had done so many bad things and had nothing to do with her. But perhaps the emotions of the original owner still remained, so she changed her words at the last moment.
So, how long would the original owner's emotional instincts in this body last? It was like a time - bomb, and no one knew when it would explode.
Helan Yanting nodded slightly. "Yes, I know."