Chapter 650

Chapter Eleven—The Three Little Ones: Niannian 11

“Princess, what’s wrong?” Cuiguo asked worriedly when she saw Niannian repeatedly knocking on her own head.

“Aunt Cuiguo, do you remember whether I ever borrowed something from the Third Prince when I was little?” Niannian asked excitedly as soon as she saw Cuiguo enter.

“Borrowed something?” Cuiguo was stunned. For a moment, she couldn’t remember when Niannian had ever needed to borrow anything from anyone.

And that person had been the Third Prince, no less.

Most importantly, Niannian had never wanted for food or clothing since she was born. How could the young lady and Prince An possibly have allowed Niannian to borrow something from someone else?

“Princess, could there have been some misunderstanding?” Cuiguo pondered. Her little Princess was everyone’s darling.

Who would ever let her go without something?

“But the Third Prince himself asked me about it,” Niannian said with a troubled expression.

She didn’t think the Third Prince had any reason to deceive her over something like this.

He was a dignified prince. Surely, there was no need for him to lie to her?

“Princess, what exactly did the Third Prince say?” Cuiguo asked cautiously after thinking it over.

“He said he wanted to know whether I had forgotten something I once said.” Niannian thought for a moment, then answered honestly.

“Princess, could it be that you said something to the Third Prince when you were little, and he took it seriously and remembered it all these years?” Cuiguo asked carefully.

“I don’t remember.” Niannian looked troubled.

At the Palace

“Oh, so you finally decided to come back?” the Empress asked teasingly when she saw that her son seemed to be in a particularly good mood.

“Mother, did Father not come here to freeload another meal today?” The Third Prince glanced around. He found it a little strange not to see Zhu Jingchen.

After all, his father loved coming to his mother’s palace whenever he had nothing better to do.

“You child, what nonsense are you talking about? How is your father freeloading?” The Empress glared at the Third Prince. She felt that this child was becoming increasingly insolent.

“Mother, if I remember correctly, Father said he had found me a princess consort, didn’t he?” The Third Prince sat down and tossed a grape into his mouth.

He said it as though it were something completely insignificant.

“Oh, you remember that now? Weren’t you dead set against it back then? Your father withdrew the proposal because of your refusal,” the Empress said, raising her eyebrows with some regret.

“Withdrew it?” The Third Prince immediately grew anxious. “Mother, how could that engagement be withdrawn?”

“Why shouldn’t it have been? You were the one who refused it no matter what, saying she was ugly.” The Empress shot him an irritated look.

She was also rather puzzled. Why had her son suddenly brought up that engagement?

Back then, the Emperor had merely mentioned it casually, and Prince An had never agreed to it.

Besides, Prince An and his wife had spent all these years away from the capital, and the children had gone with them to Jiangnan.

As a result, she and the Emperor had never brought up the matter again.

In any case, Prince An had rejected the proposal from the very beginning.

After all, Prince An’s household had only one young commandery princess.

Prince An would certainly find her the very best husband.

As for her own son?

The Empress looked the Third Prince up and down.

She couldn’t help thinking that Prince An might not even consider her son good enough for his daughter.

“I... I didn’t!” The Third Prince’s denial lacked confidence. After all, he still remembered that when Niannian had just been born, she really had looked like a little monkey. Back then, Xu Qingshi had even said he would give his little sister to him, but he had refused.

If he had known that Niannian would grow up to be so adorable and beautiful, he would have brought her back to the palace to raise her right then and there.

He absolutely would not have given Prince An’s household the chance to take her away.

Unfortunately, no matter what he said now, he could not undo the words he had spoken before.

Nor could he get his father and mother to use their former agreement to continue the engagement.

What ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‍the Third Prince did not know was that Prince An had never taken those words seriously in the first place.

He had no intention of letting his precious daughter marry some immature young Third Prince.

“All right. Why did you suddenly bring this up?” the Empress asked curiously.

She couldn’t help wondering whether her son had finally come to his senses.

Did he want to find himself a wife?

“Oh, have you taken a fancy to some young lady? Tell your mother who she is, and I’ll certainly bring her to you. There are plenty of young ladies in the capital,” the Empress said, patting the Third Prince’s hand with delight.

“There is someone,” the Third Prince said.

At the thought of Niannian, a lovestruck smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“Tell me about her. Which family does she come from? Who is this fortunate young lady to have caught the eye of our Third Prince?” the Empress asked teasingly.

“The Xu family.”

Thinking of Niannian, the Third Prince couldn’t help wondering whether she would be willing to marry him.

He also wondered whether Prince An would be willing to marry his daughter to him.

“The Xu family? When did another Xu family appear in the capital?” The Empress frowned and thought for a long while, but she couldn’t recall when there had been another Xu family in the capital.

“Your Majesty, could he mean Prince An’s household?” Nanny Chang finally asked cautiously after thinking it over.

Even she felt that she must have misunderstood. After all, Prince An’s family had not been in the capital.

Her young master had clearly met a young lady and fallen for her.

“Impossible. If Prince An and his wife had returned to the capital, there’s no way I wouldn’t know,” the Empress immediately dismissed the idea.

“Mother, I’m not marrying Uncle Prince An.” The Third Prince rolled his eyes inwardly.

He had no idea what his mother was thinking.

“Could you mean that Niannian came back on her own?” the Empress asked irritably.

“Your Majesty, the Young Commandery Princess of Prince An’s household requests an audience.” Eunuch Li’s voice came from outside, and the Empress froze.

“Nanny Chang, am I imagining things?” the Empress asked uncertainly.

“Your Majesty, you heard correctly. The Young Commandery Princess of Prince An’s household really is here.” As Nanny Chang spoke, she raised her eyebrows at the Third Prince.

It seemed that her young master’s happy occasion was close at hand.

“Oh, no wonder I heard magpies calling this morning. It turns out my Niannian has come back!” The Empress rose to her feet and did not spare the Third Prince another glance.

“Mother, your actual daughter is the Eldest Princess!” The Third Prince looked displeased when his mother simply abandoned him and walked away.

“You don’t need to remind me. Niannian is coming, so as an unrelated man, you should leave!” The Empress deliberately raised her voice when she said “unrelated man.”

“Mother, I saw Niannian earlier today. There’s no need for me to leave.” Even the Third Prince had not expected Niannian to enter the palace so soon.

The Empress gave her son an exasperated look.

Nevertheless, she hurried to the reception hall.

“This daughter pays her respects to Your Majesty the Empress and to His Highness the Third Prince!”

Niannian obediently curtsied to them both.

“You child, why are you still being so formal with me? When did you return to the capital? Why didn’t you let me know in advance so I could send someone to receive you?” the Empress said warmly.

“Your Majesty, I returned two days ago,” Niannian replied shyly.

She truly couldn’t remember what she had promised the Third Prince when she was little. Today, she had come bearing a gift to apologize, after all, she would be returning to Jiangnan to find her parents tomorrow.

“Now that you’re back, stay for a few more days. You’ve lost weight after being out all this time.” The Empress thought that if her son had taken a liking to a girl, then she naturally had to build a good relationship with her.

“Your Majesty, I have to return to Jiangnan in the next couple of days. I came to the palace today to apologize.” Niannian rose and bowed to the Empress and the Third Prince.

“You’re leaving again?” Hearing this, the Third Prince was displeased.