Proofread by Claire.KK

Huangfu Xuan was a smart person. He had temporarily lost his mind, but now that Ye Qingyi had pointed something out he naturally knew the overlapping concerns in this matter. Huangfu Xuan gritted his teeth so hard in forcing himself to calm down that his teeth almost shattered. His eyes emanated a coldness, like a sharp edge of a knife. He stared at Ye Qingye with his glaring gaze, seemingly to pierce her soul. Somehow, ever since Ye Qingye had regained her consciousness, he felt that something had changed about this woman.

Huangfu Xuan pondered for a moment and his heart suddenly jolted, a spark of contempt flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes. He sneered, "Ye Qingyi. Don't ever try to play hard to get in order to impress me. You'd better drop it now!"

Ye Qingyi frowned slightly. It was not so surprising that Huangfu Xuan should interpret it in this way, since the original owner of this body obviously had been extremely infatuated with him, according to her memory. Ye Qingyi did not bother to explain too much as the two women kneeling down on the floor became impatient. They pulled the fringe of Huangfu Xuan's clothing, tears trickling down their cheeks as they were sobbing and begging in front of him.

 "Your Highness, please save us. We don't want to die yet!"

"We are willing to serve Your Highness for life. Help, Your Higness!"

Huangfu Xuan stared at Ye Qingyi, grinding his teeth. "Ye Qingyi, what do you want for letting them go?"

Ye Qingyi glanced faintly at him, looking at Huangfu Xuan who was boiling over with the desire to save these two prost.i.tutes. Ye Qingyi curved her mouth into a sneer disparagingly. "Your Highness is so gallant towards ladies but what a pity that they are merely ladies of the night, what's more, they were trying to harm me. It's a difficult decision to spare them! But, if they can be admitted into the Mansion of Prince Xuan and become the women of Your Highness, I might do you a favour and spare them."

The two who were kneeling down heard Ye Qingyi's words and suddenly saw a ray of hope. They then pulled Huangfu Xuan's clothing even harder and begged him piteously. "Your Highness, I'd like to be your servant and slave for life, please save us!" They cried with tears streaming down their faces, begging humbly.

Huangfu Xuan stared at Ye Qingyi gloomily with a complicated tint in his eyes with his well-trimmed eye-brows knitted together. He never had expected to see Ye Qingyi bring up such a proposal. No matter how unwilling he was to marry Ye Qingyi, it was an imperial edict which gave him no other choice.

Ye Zuohou had made great achievements in warfare, so even his father, the Emperor, respected him, and as Ye Qingyi was the most doting daughter of Ye Zuohou, if he brought two prost.i.tutes at this time to his mansion he would surely be publicly criticized. His sanity told him not to complicate matters at such a critical time, but once he looked at Ye Qingyi's challenging gaze, Huangfu Xuan could not calm down at all. 'Is this woman challenging me?'

Huangfu Xuan simmered with anger on the spot, acting rashly. "Ye Qingyi, you thought I dare not?" He then sneered, turned to the two prost.i.tutes and said, "I'll have my housekeeper bring over some money and buy back your freedom tomorrow. What are you waiting for? Get up!"

"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." The two hurriedly got up, thanking Huangfu Xuan for his favour and looking overwhelmed with happiness.

Ye Qingyi lowered her head and hid away the cunning in her eyes. The original owner of this body died due to Huangfu Xuan so she must let him pay! This was just a start.

Huangfu Xuan then left in a rage, but on the other side of the wall, Huangfu Yi, who had listened to a brilliant show, gave a rare smile. His jade-like finger tips tapped lightly on the table.

Ye Qingyi, the eldest daughter of the General's Mansion, with absolutely no merits, was a domineering sort of lady that no one could put up with. But just now, he somehow saw a different Ye Qingyi, who had a delicate mind and a good sense for handling matters tactfully.

Huangfu Yi sighed to himself emotionally. 'I shall not worry that there is no entertainment for me back in the capital this time.'

When Ye Qingyi and her maid went out of the door, Huayue said worriedly, "My lady, you seem utterly bewildered. You and Prince Xuan's wedding is just around the corner. How can you bear to let prost.i.tutes go to his mansion?"

Ye Qingyi shook her head and said plainly, "I am not bewildered. I was. As others say, forced love does not last. Huangfu Xuan's never loved me. I am not worth as much as a prost.i.tute in his mind. Even if I marry into the Prince's mansion I won't be happy. I have absolutely no interest in such a playboy."

Huayue looked at her ladys.h.i.+p with astonishment. She could not believe it at first, but then she felt so happy for her.

Prince Xuan didn't care about her ladys.h.i.+p at all, so she would not be treated well even if she married in, but in the past her ladys.h.i.+p wanted to marry no one but Prince Xuan, so Huayue could only wish her happiness. Now her ladys.h.i.+p had suddenly figured everything out, which was such a relief.

After a short while, Huayue became a little worried. "But my lady, this is a marriage arranged by His Highness; what should we do?"

Ye Qingyi swiftly raised her slim eyebrows and said complacently, "Your lady has a plan already. Didn't Huangfu Xuan just threaten to divorce me before the marriage? Ha, I will give him a divorce announcement and annul my engagement to him first and I will ask His Majesty to affix his jade seal on it!"

Ye Qingyi spoke firmly, which awed Huayue. From the past to the present, only men had the right to divorce their wives. What her ladys.h.i.+p just said was mind-blowing but it also sounded so invigorating. Prince Xuan was going too far and he deserved to be treated this way.

Still, her ladys.h.i.+p's plan sounded very difficult putting into practice, but Huayue didn't know why. The current lady somehow bore a magic power which was so convincing that one would buy anything she said to any extent.

Maybe it was because the wound was bleeding so much that, when she came out, Ye Qingyi felt dizzy every few steps. She could not help frowning and said, "Huayue, I have a headache. Call the doctor to attend to my wound. It hurts so much!"

Huayue panicked when she heard that Ye Qingyi felt uncomfortable, saying, "Yes," and was about to go downstairs when Ye Qingyi called her again. "Take off all my jewels and accessories and give them to the Madam. Tell her to arrange the best guest room and the most delicious food and drinks for me, with some girls who sing well. Although brothels are men's ethereal paradise, I am going to have fun myself here tonight!"

The following morning, Ye Qingyi left 'Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion' fully satisfied and content. Not long after there was shocking news spread throughout the capital that Prince Xuan had stayed in a brothel, playing with two girls at the same time and stood by as prost.i.tutes harmed his fiancée. The most unbelievable thing was that he took the two prost.i.tutes home. It didn't take long before it gave rise to a big scandal in the whole city.

Of course, it was Ye Qingyi who hired others to spread the story around. The people lamented this and their att.i.tude of disdain towards Ye Qingyi immediately turned into pity and sympathy. Hua Yue could not help admiring her ladys.h.i.+p's resourcefulness.

Ye Qingyi said faintly, "It's too tiresome to be brave and ruthless all the time. When necessary, we should also act fragile to win favorable public opinion for ourselves; only in this way can we get unexpected results."

Huayue admired her ladys.h.i.+p even more.

The opinions of the people put a certain pressure on Huangfu Xuan. Ye Qingyi was in such a great mood, but when she returned to the General's Mansion, she could not help but frown as she saw the woman in purple at the gate.