Chapter 26 - Long Time No See

 The next day, when Ye Chuyan woke up, she found that her body was held by a big hand, and Pei Xiuyan had not left yet.

"Awake?" After a night's rest, Pei Xiuyan's slightly hoarse voice once again returned to its former clarity.

"Yeah." Ye Chuyan didn't want to talk too much with Pei Xiuyan. She planned to meet Wu Mu today.

"Wash up and go out with me."

Feeling the person in his arms stiffen for a moment, "Why? Don't you want to?"

"No, it's just a little unexpected." Ye Chuyan said it self-deprecatingly.

After three years of marriage, Pei Xiuyan never accompanied her out except for the palace banquet.

"You have to dress up for the palace banquet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. I will take you to Lanyue Pavilion later."

Lanyue Pavilion is the largest clothing pavilion in Kyoto. Ye Chuyan sneered in her heart. No wonder he took her to choose clothes in person. It turned out that he was afraid of losing the face of the Qing Palace in front of the Beirong people.

After the two were washed up, Pei Xiuyan did not let Bai Zhi follow but only arranged for a servant in his courtyard to follow and asked Yan Xue to drive them out of the house. After leaving the house, Ye Chuyan lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and stared blankly at the prosperous streets outside. She couldn't remember how long she had been out. The last time she went out was to the execution ground. In just a few dozen days, she came to the bustling streets again, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

Pei Xiuyan was reading documents. He looked up and saw Ye Chuyan's sad face. He said lightly, "Close the curtain; it's cold."

Ye Chuyan put down the curtain, picked up the teacup on the tea table, and took a sip. Pei Xiuyan lowered his head and continued to read the documents. The cold wind was blowing outside the car, and the car was quiet and warm. If it weren't for their own thoughts, it would really be a peaceful time.

In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the door of Lanyue Pavilion. Pei Xiuyan got off the car first. Ye Chuyan was about to get off the car when she saw Pei Xiuyan stretch out his hand in front of her. In front of everyone, she curled her lips, put her hand on Pei Xiuyan's hand, and let him lead her out of the car. As soon as he got off the car, Yan Xue whispered a few words to Pei Xiuyan. Pei Xiuyan's face changed slightly, and he said to Ye Chuyan, "I have something to do. I'll be back soon."

Ye Chuyan wished that he would never come back. With a faint smile on his face, "Hmm..."

Pei Xiuyan raised his eyebrows. Ye Chuyan was quite well-behaved today. He also told the servant to take good care of the princess and then followed Yan Xue to leave.

As soon as Ye Chuyan entered the store, she heard a malicious greeting from behind. "Ah, isn't this Ye Chuyan, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis? Long time, no see!"

"No, no, the Marquis's Mansion is gone."

Ye Chuyan looked up and saw two young women coming in. She couldn't help but laugh. They were all acquaintances. One of these two women was Zhang Xiuling, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Justice, and the other was Wu Mu's fourth sister, Wu Yuelin.

Wu Yuntai had intended to curry favour with Pei Xiuyan and wanted to marry Wu Yuelin to him. Unfortunately, Ye Chuyan got there first. In addition, Wu Yuntai hated Ye Chuyan because Wu Mu had run away from home for several years because of her. Zhang Xiuling didn't know how she got in touch with Wu Yuelin. Today, she was as close as a sister to her. 

Wu Yuelin's two sentences instantly attracted the attention of everyone in the store. Ye Chuyan was like being exposed naked in the sun, letting these people look at her. There was surprise, contempt, sympathy, etc.

The shopkeeper was an eunuch, who was once an eunuch in the palace. After being released from the palace, he came here to be the shopkeeper. He knew at a glance that these three people were not people he could afford to offend.

He could only bite his hair and say to Ye Chuyan, "Madam, you are here to choose clothes; why don't you come over here to see our new styles?"

He had white powder on his face, his teeth were white, and his voice was shrill. As long as he didn't let the three people fight in the store, he would be a perfect shopkeeper.

Wu Yuelin shouted, "Boss, take a look and see who is the VIP today."

The shopkeeper smiled flatteringly and said, "Miss Wu, you are too kind. Everyone who comes to our shop is a VIP. Your presence today makes our shop shine. Please take a look at the clothes in the shop, and I will give you a discount later."

Wu Yuelin frowned.

"Boss, don't fool me. The Wu family doesn't need your discount. You can drive away the annoying people now, and I will buy all the clothes in your shop."

Zhang Xiuyu pulled Wu Yuelin's sleeve. She felt that it was inappropriate for Wu Yuelin to attack Ye Chuyan like this.

But Wu Yuelin pulled Zhang Xiuyu's hand away and continued to scold. "Boss, did you hear that? You know who the annoying person is, right?"

It was very cold, and the shopkeeper's forehead was sweating because of these words. He hesitated for a while. Just because Miss Wu can offend someone doesn't mean he can afford to offend her. Although Ye Chuyan is the daughter of a criminal, she is still the Princess of Qing. How can she be driven away casually?

Ye Chuyan saw the shopkeeper's embarrassment and just smiled. "Shopkeeper, don't be embarrassed. I'll come back another day."

After saying that, she left with the servant. As soon as she left, the people in the store began to murmur.

"After the Ye family fell, Ye Chuyan is now so humble that she was not angry when she was driven away in public."

"That's right. She has nothing except the title of Princess Qing. But everyone knows that Prince Qing has always hated her."

"Alas, it's a pity, sad, and lamentable."

"If Ye Chuyan had married the young master of the Wu family and now became the young lady of the Wu family, she wouldn't be so embarrassed."

Wu Yuelin was instantly dissatisfied when she heard someone mention the words "young lady of the Wu family." She said viciously, "If you keep gossiping, believe it or not, I will tear your faces apart!"

The people around her shut up immediately.

Zhang Xiuyu stepped forward to comfort her. "Yuelin, don't be angry. These people are still jealous of the Wu family's power. Who among the women in the world doesn't want to be the young lady of the Wu family?"

Wu Yuelin glanced at Zhang Xiuyu. "Does that include you?"

Zhang Xiuyu choked and blushed. She did make friends with Wu Yuelin with the purpose of becoming the young lady of the Wu family. Wu Yuelin's words at this moment embarrassed her as if she were slapped in the face in public. Fortunately, Wu Yuelin did not continue to discuss this matter. She just suppressed her displeasure and began to let the shopkeeper introduce her clothes one by one.

Ye Chuyan came out slowly with the servant.

"Did the prince say that if we don't go to Lanyue Pavilion, where should we go?"

The servant was a servant in Pei Xiuyan's courtyard. He came out today because the prince asked him to keep an eye on the princess. When Ye Chuyan asked him this, he hesitated, scratched his ears and cheeks, and didn't know how to answer. Ye Chuyan knew that the servant was of low status, so she was not prepared to let him make the decision.

"Why don't we go to Zuiqiu Tower across the street and wait? The private room on the second floor can see Lanyue Pavilion, and when the prince comes to look for us later, we can also see it."

The servant didn't expect the princess to be so considerate, and he wanted to kowtow to thank her, so he agreed immediately. The two of them went to Zuiqiu Tower and asked for a private room on the second floor. The servant waited outside the private room consciously.

Ye Chuyan said that she wanted to eat snacks from Chenxing Tower and asked the servant to run a trip. The servant dared not disobey and ran away. Not long after the servant walked away, Ye Chuyan said to the screen in the room, "Come out."

A young man in black slowly walked out from behind with a smile on his face and eyes as bright as stars. Ye Chuyan's heart seemed to be filled with clouds, extremely soft. She wanted to smile at him, but tears burst out of her eyes. She whispered, "Little Wood, long time no see."