The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 71 - 70

Chapter 70

Mu Yingying turned back to face the tall man with an innocent look typical of a ten-year-old girl. "Thank you, Your Highness, for helping my sister."

"It’s nothing. It was my fault to begin with," Shin Wang replied with a polite smile, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "But how did you know Ben Wang is Shin Wang?"

"There are only two Wangs in the capital: one is Duan Wang, and the other is Shin Wang. Duan Wang is older while Shin Wang is younger. Earlier, you referred to yourself as Ben Wang. If you are not Shin Wang, then who else could you be?"

Mu Yingying lowered her eyes slightly, explaining her reasoning. Shin Wang couldn’t help but admire the intelligence of the little girl before him. However, his gaze remained fixed on Mu Qingxuan’s figure.

"In that case, my sister and I must take our leave. Our brother is likely looking for us,"

Mu Yingying did not wait for a response. She quickly turned, grabbing her sister’s hand and leading her away. At this moment, she didn’t know what Shin Wang’s intentions were, but it was best to avoid him for now. If anything happened, Mu Yingying didn’t think she was skilled enough to handle the enemy without a plan.

Retreating to form a defense strategy was better than facing an enemy without a plan...

However, as Mu Qingxuan was about to walk away, a large hand grabbed her delicate wrist, pulling her back to her original spot.

"Wait!" Shin Wang called out to the sisters. His eyes were fixed on the beautiful figure in front of him, sparkling with interest. "After all, this was Ben Wang’s fault. Please allow Ben Wang to escort you to the banquet as an apology."

"Your Highness, men and women should not be close to each other..." Mu Qingxuan said in a cold voice, her peach blossom eyes glancing at her wrist being held by the prince with a chilling look. Her beautiful face began to tense, losing the gentle demeanor from earlier. However, in Shin Wang’s eyes, the woman in front of him remained as beautiful as ever. When she was cold, she seemed even more mysterious and intriguing.

"Ah! A bug!"

Mu Yingying exclaimed in a panic before running over and slapping on the back of Shin Wang’s hand hard. Because Mu Yingying had practiced martial arts, the strength in her small hand was greater than that of an average child. When she struck the back of Shin Wang’s hand, which was caught off guard, it caused him quite a bit of pain.

"Ouch!"

"Get away! You filthy bug!"

The small figure continued to slap on the back of Shin Wang’s hand until he quickly withdrew it in shock. Seeing that her sister was free from the clutches of the despicable man, Mu Yingying rushed into her sister’s embrace, pouting and speaking in a trembling voice.

"Si...sister...I just saw a...a bug! I...I really saw it! It was huge! A...and disgusting!"

"Don’t cry, Ying’er. I know, I saw it too. It’s good that you swatted it away, so it didn’t crawl on me anymore," Mu Qingxuan comforted her younger sister with a gentle voice, her peach blossom eyes flashing with amusement. If she hadn’t known how cunning her sister was, she might have fallen for this act, fooled by Ying’er’s innocent face.

Shin Wang hissed softly from the sting on the back of his hand. When he looked down at his beaten, reddened hand, anger surged within him. However, when he looked up and saw the innocent face and sincere demeanor of the little girl, he couldn’t stay angry. It must have been his bad luck that a bug chose to land there.

What a tough, strong-handed child!

"Ying’er is still very young, and she didn’t mean any harm. I hope Your Highness can be magnanimous and not hold a grudge against a child," Mu Qingxuan said with a calm face and serene eyes, making it difficult to guess her thoughts. Her delicate hands continued to pat her younger sister’s back to soothe her.

"Ben Wang holds no grudge, you can rest assured," Shin Wang took a deep breath and forced a gentle smile.

Mu Yingying, clinging to her sister’s waist, couldn’t help but smile inwardly. The filthy bug she mentioned was him! How dare he touch her sister! If he tried again...she vowed to break his hand next time, just wait!

"In that case, we shall take our leave, Your Highness." With that, Mu Qingxuan took her sister’s hand and led her away. Shin Wang watched the slender figure until it disappeared from sight. The gentle smile on his face faded, and his dark eyes glinted with a peculiar light.

"Your Highness, your hand..."

A shadow in black, the prince’s personal shadow guard, emerged and knelt before his master. He had been hiding nearby all along. Seeing that the two young misses had left, he revealed himself to await orders.

"Never mind my hand. The eldest young miss of the Mu family seems quite reserved. Approaching her directly may take some time," Shin Wang smirked, revealing his cunning nature. There was no trace of the gentlemanly demeanor from earlier.

"But right now, the Mu family is powerful. Mu Gongzhen is highly favored by His Majesty. If Your Highness doesn’t hurry to form ties with the Mu family, that power might fall into someone else’s hands,"

The shadow guard advised earnestly. The Mu family was like a delicious prey eyed by the tigers of the capital. If Shin Wang could ally with the Mu family and secure that power, it would be highly beneficial.

Shin Wang nodded in agreement. Initially, when he saw the two sisters walking towards the park, he had secretly entered from another direction, hoping to pretend to meet the eldest young miss of the Mu family by chance. His aim was to establish a relationship with her and win her heart, thus securing the Mu family’s support. However, it seemed the beautiful maiden had no interest in him at all. So, he had to resort to other methods...

"Select some valuable items and present them as gifts to the Left side Deputy Chancellor. Then arrange a meeting with him. I believe discussing the engagement directly with her father will be much easier than trying to approach the daughter," Shin Wang said with a sly smile. What he wanted was the power of the Mu family; the beautiful maiden was merely a plaything that came with it!

"When should I schedule the meeting with the Left side Deputy Chancellor, Your Highness?"

"The sooner, the better. Let’s say three days from now," Shin Wang replied nonchalantly before heading back to join the banquet inside the palace, as if nothing had happened. The black-clad man also used his lightness skill to discreetly leave.

Once the area was devoid of people, two frail figures emerged from behind the artificial waterfall next to the path. Mu Yingying watched Shin Wang’s departure with icy eyes, while Mu Qingxuan gripped her dress tightly, trying to contain her anger.

So, it turned out that Shin Wang’s desire to marry Mu Qingxuan in their past life was driven by ulterior motives!

He had never truly liked or admired Mu Qingxuan. What he wanted was to use her as a tool to leverage the Mu family’s power. No wonder in the past life, Shin Wang had turned to cooperate with Mu Luofei instead. It was because after Mu Gongzhen’s death, Mu Luofei would become the favored daughter of Mu Cui Ming. Marrying Mu Luofei would ensure Shin Wang’s full support from Mu Cui Ming.

Finally, the truth was revealed...

Mu Yingying reached out to hold her sister’s hand to comfort her. She understood how her sister felt. It was fortunate that they had planned to fake leaving but instead came back to hide behind the artificial waterfall to observe Shin Wang. This allowed them to uncover the enemy’s intentions. Knowing the desires of that vile man, Mu Yingying wasn’t surprised at all by his despicable actions in their past life because everything had always been a part of his deceitful act!

Only his vile actions later had revealed his true nature. That filthy bug thought he could use her sister as a tool to leverage the Mu family’s power?

Dream on!

"Sister...let’s go back to the banquet,"

Mu Yingying turned and said to her sister, standing beside her, with a gentle smile. Mu Qingxuan blinked rapidly to dispel her tears and then nodded in agreement. The two sisters held hands and walked back to the banquet, pretending that everything was normal.

However, they were unaware that shortly after they left, a tall young man stepped into the spot they had previously occupied. His handsome face remained expressionless, giving no hint of his current emotions, but his sharp eyes glinted with a somber intensity.

"Never thought that the little kitten I’ve been raising since she was small would have someone bold enough to try and snatch her away right before my eyes. How wonderful..."

The close eunuch glanced at his master’s face and laughed softly. "If Your Majesty doesn’t want Shin Wang to propose to the eldest young miss of the Mu family, then just beat him to it and propose to her yourself, Your Majesty."

"Who told you that I wanted to propose to her? I’m just annoyed, that’s all," Chen Feng Yue retorted irritably.

He had witnessed the entire incident from start to finish, especially the moment when Shin Wang embraced his little kitten’s waist, which had made his heart boil with anger to the point where he wanted to separate the two on the spot.

"If Shin Wang has so much free time, perhaps assigning him some tasks outside the city to earn merits would be a good idea."

The eunuch said nothing in response, only smiled and shook his head. He could somewhat guess how His Majesty felt about the eldest young miss of the Mu family. It seemed that only His Majesty himself refused to acknowledge the truth...

Meanwhile, Mu Yingying and Mu Qingxuan, who had re-entered the banquet, found that it had already begun. Now was the time for guests to freely converse. The two of them walked around looking for Mu Gongzhen until they saw two familiar figures walking side by side.

Mu Yingying raised her eyebrows in surprise and stared at the two familiar figures talking for a long time. Once she was certain that one of them was the person she was looking for, she led Mu Qingxuan over to them immediately.

"Miss Fei Yang."

"Brother."

Mu Yingying stepped forward to greet Meng Liting and Mu Gongzhen with a bright smile. Meng Liting, who had not seen each other for over five years, rushed to embrace the small figure with joy. The beautiful face of the fifteen-year-old girl lit up with genuine happiness.

"Yingying, I haven’t seen you in years. Finally, we meet again!" Meng Liting tightened her hug without caring about the stares from the guests around them. Due to their difference in size, the much smaller Mu Yingying started to have trouble breathing from the strength of the embrace.

"Cough, cough. Si...Sister Liting."

"Oh! I’m sorry. I was just too happy," Meng Liting quickly released her tight grip and gently patted the little one’s head affectionately. "Did you miss me, Yingying? I even prepared your favorite treats."

"Thank you, Sister Liting. Ah...Miss Fei Yang," Mu Yingying replied with her usual adorable manner.

"What’s with lady? Just call me Sister Liting like before. There’s no need to be so distant," Meng Liting said with a smile. She turned to Mu Gongzhen beside her and said, "I’ll have to borrow Ying’er for a bit, Master Mu."

"Feel free, Miss," Mu Gongzhen nodded in agreement, allowing her to lead Mu Yingying into the palace. He then turned to look at his other sister standing beside him. "Nothing happened, right?"

"Yes, there is, but let’s discuss it back at the manor," Mu Qingxuan replied with a slight smile to her older brother. She led him to an empty tea table, where she poured a cup of tea for herself and another for him. She sipped her tea to quench her thirst, then teasingly said to her brother,

"By the way, why did you and Miss Fei Yang seem so close earlier? Did something happen?"

"Don’t be silly. Miss Fei Yang was merely asking about Ying’er with me, so we walked together to find you two," Mu Gongzhen replied nonchalantly, downing his tea in one gulp and placing the cup back on the table.

"I see," Mu Qingxuan nodded with a sly smile. She was certain she hadn’t been mistaken earlier. She had seen the two walking side by side, surrounded by an unusually warm atmosphere.

Mu Gongzhen frowned slightly at his sister’s incredulous expression. "Stop those silly thoughts right now, Xuan’er. I was merely discussing with Miss Fei Yang about the illegal salt trade that Ying’er had asked for her help with."

"I didn’t say anything yet," Mu Qingxuan shrugged lightly and then laughed. Her brother’s unusual behavior was clear enough. Could he still deny that nothing was going on?

Mu Gongzhen sighed in resignation. The thoughts of women were the hardest to control. He turned to pour more tea and sipped it slowly, waiting patiently for the banquet to end. Meanwhile, Meng Liting had brought Mu Yingying to a pavilion by the water in her private area and ordered the servants to bring the prepared snacks specifically for Mu Yingying. Once the snacks and tea were ready, the two of them began eating and chatting comfortably.

"Yingying...I had the cooks practice making these treats for a long time until they tasted just like the ones in Qingyun City. Do you like them?"

Meng Liting handed another plate of snacks to Mu Yingying and poured tea into her cup. Even though the servant beside her had protested that she shouldn’t do it herself and risk losing her dignity as a lady, Meng Liting refused immediately. She genuinely enjoyed taking care of the little girl before her.

"They’re delicious." Mu Yingying swallowed the snack and sipped the tea. However, when she saw a dozen plates of snacks before her, she felt a bit overwhelmed. Although she truly liked snacks, both her brother and sister had been constantly feeding her so many treats lately that she felt she was getting plumper.

And now, seeing Meng Liting had prepared so many snacks for her, she feared that if she didn’t eat them, Meng Liting would feel hurt. But if she ate them all, she would surely turn into a steamed bun...

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