Counterattack of the Concubine’s Invincible Daughter

18. You Deserve to Be My Friend

Translator: Snowball

“Brother Sheng?”

Mu Yingxue froze for a moment and when she looked up, she immediately saw Xuanyuan Sheng watching Anning anxiously. Seeing Anning looking at Xuanyuan Sheng on the verge of tears, Mu Yingxue had roughly figured out her identity.

Of the emperor, Xuanyuan Lie’s many children, most were boys, and only a few were girls. Though the young lady in front of her was in a man’s attire, from her snow-white skin and tender hands, Mu Yingxue could tell she was of noble birth. Moreover, the texture of her clothes was of rare of exquisiteness, so she was highly probably Princess Anning.

Seeing Anning’s discomfited appearance, Xuanyuan Sheng was both distressed and angry. He immediately held her into his arms and comforted her gently, “Ning’er, no worries. With me by your side, everything will be all right.”

It turned out that she had guessed right. So this incident was far from an ordinary-civilian kidnapping. Looking at the siblings snuggling with each other, Mu Yingxue asked tentatively, “Princess Anning, do you know who’s behind the kidnapping?”

Xuyuan Sheng was busy comforting his younger sister and almost forgot to inquire her about what had happened. Hearing what Mu Yingxue said, he immediately asked, “Ning’er, how come you came out alone and are dressed like this? Where are your maidservants?”

Anning had recovered from the shock. She lowered her head and bit her lip for a while before she looked up at Xuanyuan Sheng as if she had made up her mind. “Brother Sheng, I escaped from the imperial palace without telling anyone.”

“What?”

Xuanyuan Sheng was stunned. Obviously, he didn’t expect it to be like this. Though Mu Yingxue had figured out part of the story, she was also surprised at Anning’s words.

As the youngest princess of the Xuanyuan dynasty, Anning had been doted on by both her father and her brothers since she was a child. However, instead of developing a spoiled character, she became gentler and more considerate as time went on. With the emperor’s indulgence, nobody dared offend Xuanyuan Sheng, but in front of Anning, he would become much more patient and softer. Everyone was green with envy when they saw how much he loved his sister.

As far as Xuanyuan Sheng was concerned, Anning didn’t dare even trample on an ant, so she wouldn’t have had the guts to leave the imperial palace secretly if she hadn’t been pushed too far. “Tell me who put you in this position. I’ll definitely chop him into pieces!”

Seeing how furious he was, Anning pulled his sleeve in haste. “Brother Sheng, calm down. I just wanted to go out to relax. Nobody forced me to do anything.”

Though she looked aggrieved, Anning refused to tell the truth, which made Xuanyuan Sheng can do nothing but being anxious. His sister was perfect except for her stubbornness. If she didn’t want to say or do something, no matter how hard people pushed her, she would keep her mouth shut, which was quite like Xuanyuan Sheng himself. Maybe that was why he treated her so differently from others.

Mu Yingxue was a little surprised when she saw Xuanyuan Seng blush with anger. It seemed this Seventh Prince cared about his sister even more than the rumor had it. What a super sister freak! Seeing that Anning was about to say something, but she finally lowered her head and fell silent, Mu Yingxue was suddenly struck with inspiration.

“Was it Prince Jin?”

Anning stiffened at her words and then turned to Xuanyuan Sheng with a nervous look. Xuanyuan Sheng froze for a few seconds before he suddenly shot to his feet as if he had figured something out. Flicking his sleeve, he glared in the direction of the Moonlight Pavilion angrily, like he was going to burn it down.

“It was him indeed!” he said resentfully, “Ning’er, even if you don’t tell me, I know it must have been Xuanyuan Jin. We all know what kind of  a person he is. I didn’t mean to meddle with him, but now that he’s picking on you, I won’t go easy on him!”

“Then why did you come out on your own? How come he sent people to kidnap you?” No sooner had Xuanyuan Sheng asked the question than he guessed the answer. “Was it because of your engagement?”

“I’m afraid so.” Anning nodded.

“But I remember our father has called off your marriage with the crown prince of the Baili Kingdom.” Xuanyuan Sheng had a spur to kill Xuanyuan Jin right now, but he had to make things clear first. Only when he had collected enough information could he find a better way to fight back.

Looking at him, Anning described the whole story about why she had escaped from the imperial palace and how she had fallen into the trap set by the crown prince.

It turned out that though Xuanyuan Lie had refrained from the idea of marrying Anning to the prince of the Baili Kingdom, Xuanyuan Jin had been trying in every way to make it happen. As Xuanyuan Lie showed no intent to change his mind, Xuanyuan Jin decided to send her to the Baili Kingdom secretly to flatter the crown prince. Anning had found out her brother’s scheme, but for fear that their father wouldn’t believe that his son could have done such a nasty thing, she decided to leave the imperial palace after thinking it over. Unfortunately, Xuanyuan Jin knew very well about her whereabouts, so after a few attempts, she finally failed to get away.

Mu Yingxue had never expected such a thing to happen between the royal siblings, so she really felt sorry for Anning. On the other hand, as Xuanyuan Sheng not only disclosed his displeasure with Xuanyuan Jin in front of her, but also cared about his sister so much, Mu Yingxue couldn’t help increasing her favorability for him.

“Prince Sheng, it’s not a place for a conversation. You’d better find a safer place for Prince Anning.”

Xuanyuan Sheng had calmed himself down. He knew he had to be patient if he wanted to deal with Xuanyuan Jin, so he nodded to Mu Yingxue with his hands clasped in front of his chest. “Thank you, Miss Mu! I owe you one.”

“Prince Sheng, you’re welcome. Princess Anning and I were predestined meeting with each other, so you don’t have to bear such a trifle in your mind,” Mu Yingxue said casually.

However, Xuanyuan Sheng had a different perspective. “Miss Mu, you deserve to be my friend. If you have any trouble in the future, just come to me,” he looked serious when he spoke.

To Mu Yingxue’s surprise, the uninhibited Seventh Prince looked majestic when he was serious. “Just call me Yingxue,” she said with a smile.

“Miss Shuilan and Miss Yueli are back!” Someone cried out.

Two pretty girls walked slowly into the gate of the Mu’s Mansion with their maids following them, the one on the right was more brilliant.

These two were no other than Mu Shuilan and Mu Yueli, who had just come back after accompanying Princess Xian on her trip of praying for the blessing at the Temple of Eternity.

Needless to say, since they were eligible to pray with Princess Xian, their status in the mansion was high. As Marquis Mu’s legitimate daughter, the fifth young lady, Mu Shuilan, was not only of noble birth but of gentle disposition as well, so she enjoyed a good reputation both in and out of the mansion. All the other young ladies in the mansion had always bullied Mu Yingxue as she used to be a mentally handicapped girl, but Mu Shuilan had never found fault with her or Ouyang Ruo.

As she had so many advantages, everyone took it for granted that Mu Shuilan had been chosen to accompany Princess Xian to go to the temple for praying. Though Mu Yueli was only a concubine’s daughter, as she was adept at scheming and was favored by Xu Min and Mu Shuilan, plus her aggression, no other concubine’s daughter dared offend her. Of course, she would never miss such a chance to outshine others!

It was a great honor for the Mu family to have their daughters accompanying Princess Xian. Hearing them back, Xu Min immediately walked out of the hall with those female masters and servants from each courtyard to greet the two young ladies.

Before Mu Shuilan reached her side, Xu Min had walked over to her. “Sweetheart, it must have been a long day!” she stroked her daughter’s face gently with a handkerchief, her eyes full of concern.

“Miss Shuilan, Miss Yueli, you must have had a tiring day!”

Marquis Mu’s concubines and their daughters immediately followed Xu Min’s suit. Mu Shuilan had been used to it, so she showed nothing special on her face. On the contrary, Mu Yueli thought that she had become the big shot in the mansion, so she couldn’t help smiling triumphantly.

Surrounded by a bunch of women, the two of them walked into the hall. Mu Yueli put on airs of a noble young lady and nodded to everyone before she shifted her attention to Ouyang Ruo.

Ouyang Ruo stiffened when she sensed someone gazing at her, but after a short moment, she regained her composure. She and her daughter had been used to people looking at them provocatively. Every time those people cast them such a malicious look, they would try to make fun with them by being sarcastic and picking on them. She knew as long as she held on for a while, everything would go back to normal.

As she expected, Mu Yueli asked in surprise, “Eee? Where’s Mu Yingxue?”

As Mu Yingxue was elder than her, Mu Yueli should call her ‘sister’ at least. However, nobody in the mansion had taken a moron seriously, so Mu Yueli thought that she had already shown enough respect for Mu Yingxue by calling her name. Actually, when she talked about Mu Yingxue privately, she always addressed her as ‘the idiot’.

Ouyang Ruo sighed inwardly. “Miss Yingxue took Liu’er out in the morning. They’ve been away for hours, so I guess they’ll be back soon,” Mammy Qiao, who was standing next to Ouyang Ruo, answered.

Mu Yueli didn’t notice that Mammy Qiao said Mu Yingxue led Liu’er out, not the other way around. In her mind, Mu Yingxue was still that retarded girl. At the thought that the moron, who seldom left the mansion, had gone out for a walk, she couldn’t help sneering.

“What a coincidence! She should have known Sister Shuilan and I would come back today, but she still went out. How unruly! Antie Ouyang, you must have had a hard time educating her, haven’t you?”

Watching Ouyang Ruo’s face turn pale, Mu Yueli grew even more excited. Staying in the mansion everyday was boring, so she had always been bullying Mu Yingxue and her mother for fun.

“Sister Shuilan is nice to everyone, so she wouldn’t blame her for her impoliteness. I’m younger than her, by rights, I shouldn’t accuse her. But if the outsiders know she’s so unruly, they may think that our mother is incapable of disciplining the harem of our mansion, which is unfair!” By mother, of course she meant Xu Min, the marquis’ legal wife. Xu Min was busy showing her concern for Mu Shuilan when she heard what Mu Yueli said, which gave her an excuse to condemn Mu Yingxue.

“Humph! How dare I lecture her?” At the thought that Mu Yingxue pierced little Jingle’s leg with her hairpin, Xu Ming suddenly felt a chill rise inside. “We just wanted to play a game with her, but she broke little Jingle’s leg! My poor Jingle is still whining in its kennel.”

“What? Sister Yingxue broke little Jingle’s leg?” Hearing that, Mu Shuilan, who had been silent, couldn’t help asking in surprise.