Chapter 653

Chapter Fourteen — The Three Little Ones, Niannian 14

“You child, if you refuse to marry, then don’t—”

“Xu Niannian, don’t think you can erase everything with a simple ‘I don’t remember.’” The Third Prince glared at Niannian, clearly displeased.

He cursed her for being so heartless. He had thought of her for so many years, and she had dismissed it all with one airy claim that she had forgotten.

“Your Highness, I never meant to erase anything. But please don’t be angry. Perhaps I was too young when I said those things, so they shouldn’t be taken seriously.” The more Niannian spoke, the more reasonable she felt her argument was.

After all, how could a child’s words be taken seriously?

“Besides, if it were true, my parents would have reminded me of it long ago.” As she said this, Niannian looked aggrieved, as though saying, Don’t think that just because I was young and didn’t understand anything, you can bully me.

The Third Prince instantly lost the imposing anger he had displayed moments before.

This really had been nothing more than wishful thinking on his part. After all, Prince An had never agreed to it.

At that thought, the Third Prince felt even more wronged. Did she really like Wen Yiheng that much?

“What do you like about Wen Yiheng?” the Third Prince asked through clenched lips.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

Seeing the Third Prince’s eyes suddenly redden, Niannian felt at a loss. She wondered whether she had said something wrong.

Why did the Third Prince look as though she had bullied him?

“What do you think?” The more the Third Prince thought about it, the more unwilling he became to accept it. In his opinion, he was no worse than Wen Yiheng in any respect.

Yet Niannian would rather choose him than himself. Why?

Was it simply because Wen Yiheng was younger?

“Your Highness, I should be going home.” Seeing the Third Prince like this, Niannian felt uneasy.

She thought it would be wisest to leave as quickly as possible.

“Xu Niannian, you won’t escape me.” The Third Prince clenched both hands into fists. This time, he absolutely would not let Niannian leave so easily.

Niannian felt somewhat flustered, but she still hurried away.

The Third Prince, meanwhile, headed toward the Imperial Study. If he wanted to marry Niannian successfully, he would need his Imperial Father’s help.

After leaving the palace, Niannian remained unsettled for a long time. She had always believed that she and the Third Prince had barely interacted, yet his words had still left her bewildered.

Did the Third Prince like her?

How was that possible?

She had followed her parents around while traveling outside since she was very young.

She had hardly made any close friends in the capital.

So how could the Third Prince possibly like her?

Could he have set his sights on the power in her father’s hands?

But compared with the Emperor, what power did her father even possess? It was practically nonexistent, wasn’t it?

Then what exactly was the Third Prince after?

When Niannian arrived at the Li residence, she happened to run into Li Tingzhou, who had just returned home.

“Niannian?”

Li Tingzhou happily called out when he saw his niece.

“Greetings, Uncle!” Niannian hurried forward and bowed to him.

“What’s wrong?” Li Tingzhou had noticed from a distance that Niannian looked troubled, and he asked worriedly, “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Niannian shook her head. She felt too embarrassed to speak of these matters.

“If something is bothering you, you must tell your uncle,” Li Tingzhou said, patting her shoulder.

“Uncle, how did you and Aunt marry?” Niannian asked curiously as she looked at him.

“Why are you asking about that? Children shouldn’t concern themselves with such things.” Li Tingzhou cleared his throat awkwardly.

He certainly couldn’t tell his niece that he had been completely captivated by Wen Xiu the very first time he saw her, could he?

“Uncle, I’m not a child anymore.” It was rare for Niannian to see her uncle looking so awkward, and she complained with some dissatisfaction.

“All right, all right. Your parents should be returning to the capital very soon.” Afraid that Niannian might overthink things, Li Tingzhou quickly changed the subject.

“My parents are coming back?” Niannian was startled.

Her parents had not mentioned anything about returning.

“You only hurried back here by yourself. Have you forgotten that your older brother is old enough to marry now?” Li Tingzhou was very fond of Xu Qingshi as well.

“My brother is engaged?” At that, Niannian suddenly remembered what Cheng Qingli had said about Gu Nuonuo earlier that day.

Could that really be her future sister-in-law?

“What do you think Xu Qingshi comes back to the capital every year for?” Li Tingzhou said with a smile, amused by his niece’s astonishment.

“Wasn’t my brother returning to the capital to report on his duties?” Niannian thought about it. That was what her parents had always told her.

“All right. You’ll find out soon enough,” Li Tingzhou replied with a smile.

“Oh, so everyone knew about this and kept me in the dark!” Niannian crossed her arms and complained.

“What? You don’t want your parents to return to the capital?” Li Tingzhou had only meant to tease her.

Unexpectedly, he had hit upon the truth of Niannian’s worries.

She really was afraid that the Third Prince would come looking for her to honor that promise.

Besides, how could something she had said when she was young be taken seriously?

But she couldn’t very well tell Li Tingzhou about that.

“Uncle, you’re bullying me! I’m going to tell Grandfather!” Unable to win the argument, Niannian pouted unhappily at Li Tingzhou.

“All right, all right, little ancestor. You win, okay?” Li Tingzhou raised his hands in surrender, looking utterly afraid. The two of them then entered the inner hall of the Li residence, chatting and laughing.

“Father!” A sweet, coquettish voice interrupted their conversation.

A young girl rushed to Li Tingzhou’s side and eyed Niannian warily.

The newcomer was Li Tingzhou’s daughter, Li Mingyue.

Li Mingyue had just returned from Shu with a close friend. From a distance, she had spotted a young woman who was even prettier than herself standing beside her father, laughing and talking with him.

Li Mingyue had assumed that yet another young lady from some prominent family was trying to seduce her father.

“Mingyue, when did you return to the capital? Why didn’t you tell Father? I could have sent someone to fetch you.” Li Tingzhou looked at his daughter with delight.

Li Mingyue was Li Tingzhou and Wen Xiu’s eldest legitimate daughter.

Before this, she and Niannian had not seen each other for many years.

“Cousin Mingyue, it’s been so long. You’ve truly changed so much as you’ve grown up.” Niannian smiled and greeted her.

Li Mingyue had been fuming just moments ago, but Niannian’s words left her momentarily dumbfounded.

This person had called her Cousin?

She had only one older female cousin—the Young Commandery Princess of Prince An’s household, Cousin Niannian.

“You’re ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‍Cousin Niannian?” Li Mingyue asked uncertainly. Then, seeing that Niannian’s smiling face resembled her own aunt’s, she finally lowered her guard and let out a sigh of relief. “Father, I thought she was some wild woman who wanted to marry into our household and steal you away from Mother.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? What ‘wild woman’? You’ve been running wild for so long that you’ve forgotten how to speak properly.” Li Tingzhou was both amused and exasperated by his daughter’s words.

“Oh, I only mistook you for someone else. Sister Niannian, you’re not going to hold it against me, are you?” Li Mingyue asked innocently, sticking out her tongue at Niannian.

“It’s all right.” Niannian was taken aback at first, but she still shook her head.

“Mingyue, is this your cousin? She’s so beautiful.”

Another voice came from behind Li Mingyue.