Chapter 648

Chapter Nine—The Three Little Ones and Niannian 9

Niannian had originally intended to leave, but when she heard them mention the Third Prince, she stopped in her tracks.

Only then did she quietly take a closer look at the several young men.

The Third Prince was close to her elder brother. Since these men were also friends with the Third Prince, she ought to know these two as well.

Niannian glanced at the refined and elegant Xie Yanzhi, then at Jiang Yu, who wore a somewhat foolish grin. It did not take her long to match the two men with their names.

Her eldest brother was in Jiangnan, and he missed his close friends very much.

“Are you Brother Yanzhi?”

“Are you Brother Jiang Yu?”

Niannian looked at the two of them as though she were still uncertain and asked the questions.

At first, the two men had assumed that this young lady had only recently come to the capital on business.

They had not expected her to know them.

“You are…” Xie Yanzhi looked at the beautiful girl before him. She was so astonishingly beautiful that he was certain he could not possibly have forgotten her if they had met before.

And yet, if she did not know them, how had she called out both their names so accurately just now?

Xie Yanzhi regarded Niannian with a trace of wariness.

“Old Xie, what are you doing?” Jiang Yu was displeased by the way Xie Yanzhi was looking at Niannian with such a grim expression.

“Jiang Yu, don’t you find it suspicious that we’ve never met this young lady before, yet she knows both our names?” Xie Yanzhi asked with a frown, leaning close to Jiang Yu’s ear.

“Old Xie, don’t you think this young lady looks familiar? We must know her somehow.” Jiang Yu disagreed.

His instincts told him that he knew the girl standing before them.

Jiang Yu thought to himself that it would be wonderful if he could marry this young lady and bring her home as his wife.

“Nowadays, you’d praise even a female mosquito for being pretty!” Xie Yanzhi rolled his eyes.

“Brother Yanzhi, if you talk about Brother Jiang Yu that way, you’ll hurt his feelings.” A bright, bell-like laugh rang in their ears.

Xie Yanzhi frowned and looked at Niannian.

Who exactly was this young lady? Why could she distinguish him from Jiang Yu so precisely?

Could it be that she really did know them?

“Exactly!” Jiang Yu nodded in agreement.

Being so openly affirmed by a beauty, Jiang Yu was unbearably pleased with himself.

Xie Yanzhi looked at Niannian’s radiant smile, and an idea suddenly occurred to him.

“Are you Xu Qingshi’s younger sister, Xu Niannian?” Xie Yanzhi asked, though there was still some uncertainty in his voice.

He had not heard that Xu Qingshi had recently returned to the capital.

But after observing her more closely, he noticed that Niannian looked somewhat like Li Zhiwei, while also bearing a slight resemblance to Xu Heming.

“Brother Yanzhi, you’re right.” Niannian smiled.

“You’re Sister Nian Nian?” Jiang Yu was the one left dumbfounded this time.

If this girl had belonged to another family, he might have asked his mother to arrange a marriage proposal on his behalf.

But if she was Xu Qingshi’s younger sister…

He could forget about it.

“Brothers, would you mind letting me join you for a meal today?” Niannian asked with a smile.

The main reason was that Qingyu Pavilion’s reputation was simply too great.

Niannian wanted to sample some of the restaurant’s famous dishes.

“Of course,” Jiang Yu replied without a moment’s hesitation.

He thought that although he could not marry Niannian, with her around, he would certainly be able to eat several extra bowls of rice.

“Then stay with us,” Xie Yanzhi said. Niannian was not an outsider, after all, and the Third Prince ought not to mind.

“Sister Nian Nian, when did you return to the capital? Why didn’t you tell us?” Jiang Yu asked curiously.

“Steward Liu fell seriously ill, so I came back to see him.” Niannian’s voice carried a hint of sadness.

“Is Steward Liu all right?” Jiang Yu thought of Liu Ming, who always greeted them with a warm smile whenever they visited the Anwen Residence, and asked with concern.

“He’s already reached that age. I’m afraid he won’t last much longer.” Niannian sighed.

“I’ll go visit him later, too,” Jiang Yu said without hesitation.

Xie Yanzhi shot Jiang Yu a look, thinking that no one needed him to go and pay a visit.

He was deeply annoyed. Could Jiang Yu really be trying to pull off a toad’s attempt to eat swan meat by setting his sights on Niannian? Had he even considered whether he was worthy of her?

He was definitely going to write Xu Qingshi a letter and tell him about this.

The two of them had completely forgotten that they had arranged to meet the Third Prince that day. By now, they should have gone downstairs to wait for him.

“Oh? Young Master Xie, Young Lord Jiang, you’re here?” A Nan, the Third Prince’s attendant, finally spotted the two of them and heaved a sigh of relief.

“Oh dear, look at me—I completely forgot!” Jiang Yu hurriedly rose when he saw A Nan.

“Has His Highness arrived?” Xie Yanzhi also quickly headed toward the door.

“You two rascals were hiding here? I thought I was going to be stood up today.” The Third Prince walked in from outside with a smile, speaking as he came.

“Please forgive us, Your Highness!” Xie Yanzhi immediately bowed to him and spoke in a solemn, proper tone.

“All right, there’s no need for such empty formalities between us.” The Third Prince waved his hand dismissively.

After sitting down, he finally noticed the exquisitely pretty young girl seated to one side.

At precisely that moment, Niannian raised her head as well, and their eyes met.

“Niannian greets His Highness the Third Prince.” Niannian rose and gave him a poised, graceful bow.

“You… are Niannian?” The Third Prince froze.

He had never expected that the unbelievably beautiful young woman before him would actually be Niannian.

“It’s been ten years since we last met. It’s only natural that His Highness the Third Prince didn’t recognize me.” Niannian smiled faintly.

“People say that a girl changes eighteen times by the time she grows up, and becomes more beautiful with every change. It seems that saying truly is accurate.” The Third Prince sighed with emotion.

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness,” Niannian replied.

“We were lucky today,” Jiang Yu said with a grin from the side. “We happened to run into Sister Nian Nian downstairs after she couldn’t get a reservation.”

“Then we really are quite lucky,” the Third Prince said with a smile.

He looked once more at the exceptionally demure Niannian, and suddenly remembered how his father had once suggested that she become his wife.

“Niannian,” the Third Prince said, turning to her. “Will you be leaving again after returning this time?”

“My parents are in Jiangnan, and my brothers are there as well. I should still be going back.” Niannian had not understood the implication behind his question. After thinking it over, she answered with complete seriousness.

“Oh…” The Third Prince was somewhat disappointed.

He wanted to keep Niannian in the capital, but for the moment, he could not come up with a suitable reason.

“Your Highness, isn’t this the young lady whose carriage crashed into ours earlier?” A Nan suddenly exclaimed excitedly when he recognized Niannian.

Everyone turned to look at her.

At A Nan’s words, the Third Prince’s cheeks flushed.

He remembered how he had rushed straight to Prince An’s residence that day. If Niannian found out about it, would she…

“I didn’t realize the carriage I struck belonged to Your Highness. I’m truly sorry.” Niannian looked embarrassed when she heard this.

She had been in such a hurry at the time that she had failed to notice the carriage and accidentally crashed into it.

“It’s fine!” The Third Prince waved his hands repeatedly, looking extremely flustered. He did not want Niannian to know just how anxious he had been at the time.