Chapter 31: I Will Marry No One But Xue Chen!

In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the procession was ready to depart.

Ning Xuan’s mouth twitched slightly as he glanced at the young man, his expression helpless as he asked Ning Shengsheng, “Why is he here?”

Xue Chen’s smile was harmless.

Ning Shengsheng rubbed her fingers together and said guiltily, “Brother, it’s two months this time.”

“If I don’t see Xue Chen for so long, I’ll miss him…”

Ning Xuan: …

If Ning Xuan knew the term “love-struck fool,” he would definitely use it to describe the Ning Shengsheng in his eyes. He had thought the little girl’s fancy was a passing one. How did it feel like his little sister was getting a little serious?

He turned back to look at Xue Chen, and everything about him seemed wrong. His nose wasn’t right, his eyes weren’t right. He scanned him up and down.

Face: too beautiful, will surely attract bees and butterflies in the future.

Body: too thin. How can he protect An’an if he’s not strong?

Cultivation: too poor, just an Earth Aperture.

He would do as a male concubine, but not as a prince consort.

Ning Shengsheng and the others just watched as Ning Xuan stared at Xue Chen, one moment clicking his tongue in disapproval, the next shaking his head in disdain.

Songgao and Zaoni exchanged a bewildered look.

Xue Chen stood there calmly, letting him look him over.

Ning Shengsheng glanced at the sky. “Older Brother, it’s getting late. Shall we depart?”

Shuangxi chimed in, “Your Majesty, if we don’t depart now, we won’t be able to reach Qionglin Garden before sunset.”

“Hmph!”

Ning Xuan flicked his sleeve and said in a deep voice, “Depart!”

Just as Ning Shengsheng and Xue Chen were about to get into the same carriage, Ning Xuan stuck his head out from behind the curtain.

“An’an, come here.”

“Coming!”

She turned back and instructed, “Songgao, you stay behind and take good care of Xue Chen.”

She then lifted her skirt and trotted over to Ning Xuan’s carriage.

Xue Chen watched her retreating figure, his fingertips tapping on the side of the carriage. After a long while, he let out a soft laugh and turned to get into his own carriage. Once inside, he closed his eyes to cultivate, occasionally speaking to Songgao with polite courtesy.

On the other side, as soon as Ning Shengsheng got into the carriage, the hair on her arms stood on end. She looked up and saw Ning Xuan’s two eyes glaring at her, his face serious.

She swallowed and sat at the back, keeping a distance as she asked, “Older Brother, what’s… what’s wrong?”

“Have you really fallen for that boy from the Heavenly Phoenix Nation?”

“Hehehehe…” Ning Shengsheng gave a dry laugh. “Should I answer that I have, or that I haven’t?”

“What do you mean, should you or shouldn’t you?”

A surge of anger rose in Ning Xuan, and his temples throbbed. “I’m asking for your true feelings!”

Mmm…

Ning Shengsheng thought for a moment. “I suppose I have…”

“You… suppose… you have—?”

Crack. Ning Xuan crushed the teacup in his hand. This sister of his, her ability to give him a headache was only increasing. “Then what if I make him your prince consort?”

“Huh?!!”

She was stunned. Her head shook like a rattle.

“No, no, don’t! You really don’t have to!”

Ning Shengsheng was also getting a headache. Her situation was complicated, and she was caught in the middle of the system’s missions. She had to be on guard against Ning Xuan discovering anything from time to time.

At this very moment, she wished the female lead, Yun Huaiyue, would hurry up and appear. When Yun Huaiyue and Ning Xuan were entangled in their mutual torment, Ning Xuan wouldn’t have time to bother her. But once Yun Huaiyue appeared, it probably wouldn’t be long before the “Princess Ning An” in the book died.

Sigh—

“Why the sigh? You don’t want him to be your prince consort?” Ning Xuan was pleased, raising his brows as he asked, “How about… I arrange for him to be a male concubine in your Zhaoxia Palace?”

“!!!”

“Older Brother, are you mad!”

What is wrong with her brother’s train of thought?

“You don’t want a prince consort, and you’re against a male concubine. What are your feelings for Xue Chen then?”

Ning Xuan’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Well, Ning Shengsheng didn’t expect him to understand. If Ning Xuan had even the slightest understanding of love, he wouldn’t have broken up and gotten back together with Yun Huaiyue dozens of times.

“Older Brother, don’t meddle in my affairs with Xue Chen.”

She turned her head, a faint blush coloring her earlobes.

“We can talk about the prince consort thing later.”

For now, she had to create the illusion that she liked Xue Chen a little, but wasn’t in a hurry to get married. If others knew she had no feelings for Xue Chen, the people in the palace would bully him even more. Then the plot would develop just as it had in the original, and Great Ning would be crushed by Xue Chen’s army, and Ning Xuan would live a life worse than death.

As long as she stopped the people of Great Ning from bullying Xue Chen, his hatred wouldn’t be so intense, and she could save herself and Great Ning.

“Alright then. If An’an doesn’t want to choose a prince consort now, then we won’t. Older Brother just wants to tell you that as long as you like someone, forget Xue Chen, even that Hua Qingxue from the Qingling Sect, I will have him captured and brought to you to be your husband in a heartbeat,” Ning Xuan said with great arrogance.

Hua Qingxue? That was a god-like figure. He spent all his years cultivating on the sword-testing platform where the snow never melted. He had no room in his eyes for love or worldly affairs. He was the most outstanding direct disciple of the Qingling Sect. If it weren’t for his lack of interest in worldly affairs, the original male lead, Ling Hegui, would not have become the new sect leader.

At this thought, she shrugged. “Older Brother, don’t be ridiculous. I can’t handle someone as cold as Hua Qingxue.”

“Don’t you like pretty things? I saw him at the sect competition five years ago. His face is no worse than Xue Chen’s. He is the chosen one of the Qingling Sect, a perfect match for the most-favored princess of our Great Ning. How about that?”

“Or Ling Hegui? His looks are a little inferior, but he is the most promising to inherit the position of sect leader. And his personality is not as cold as Hua Qingxue’s!”

The more Ning Xuan spoke, the more excited he became. Seeing that he was about to order someone to send a message to the Qingling Sect, Ning Shengsheng grew anxious. “Older Brother, I will marry no one but Xue Chen! Alright? Don’t recommend any Hua Qingxue or Ling Hegui to me.”

Why is he playing matchmaker? She clutched her head in a headache.

Outside the carriage, Xue Chen, who was about to have Shuangxi report to him, froze in place. He had heard everything inside.

Shuangxi glanced at the carriage behind him and asked, “Hostage Prince Xue, do you still wish to see His Majesty and the princess?”

“No need.”

Xue Chen paused, then turned and went back to his own carriage. He closed his eyes to cultivate, but his mind was restless. Hua Qingxue and Ling Hegui were the cream of the crop among the younger generation. Their family background and cultivation were several times stronger than his.

A discarded son from a weak nation like him… was he worth her giving up such a good prince consort?

A slight loosening occurred in the young man’s dead heart, as if something had broken through the soil. But there was too much unwillingness and hatred in his heart, and he forcefully suppressed the strange feeling.

“Songgao, where is Xue Chen?”

As he was forcing himself to cultivate, he heard the girl’s voice asking her maid. The spiritual energy he had gathered dissipated…

Xue Chen lowered his head and pressed his lips together, displeased with his inability to enter a state of cultivation.

“Hostage Prince Xue has returned to his own carriage.”

“Alright, I’ll go and find him.”

She’s coming over?!

Xue Chen quickly chanted the heart-calming incantation twice, but to no avail. His mind was filled with distracting thoughts. He stared at the curtain in front of him, actually looking forward to her bright eyes when she lifted it.

Her footsteps grew closer and closer. Just as she was about to arrive, someone said, “Your Highness, Master Nangong is looking for you.”

“Hm? Do you know what it is?”

“This servant does not know.”

The girl’s footsteps paused, then changed direction. It wasn’t until her footsteps had faded into the distance that Xue Chen’s expectant heart gradually settled. He suddenly came to his senses. He shouldn’t have had such a thought just now.

He closed his eyes again and quickly entered a state of cultivation.