Chapter 657

Chapter Eighteen—The Three Little Ones: Niannian 18

Seeing that everything that needed to be explained had been settled, Niannian followed Gu Nuonuo to meet the Grand Princess without a care.

Along the way, Gu Nuonuo kept sneaking glances at Niannian, clearly curious about her.

“Niannian, when will your elder brother be back?” Gu Nuonuo finally asked in a quiet voice.

“Big Sister Gu, you don’t know?” Niannian asked with a sly smile.

“He didn’t say.” At the thought of it, Gu Nuonuo felt a little displeased.

Xu Qingshi knew perfectly well that her family was planning to find her a suitable match, yet he had chosen to play dead.

The more she thought about it, the more irritated Gu Nuonuo became. Xu Qingshi was always stirring things up when there was nothing else to do, but when it really mattered, he had completely let her down.

Walking ahead of them, the Third Prince pricked up his ears, trying to hear what the two young girls were saying.

“You’re a grown man. Isn’t it embarrassing to eavesdrop on us girls?” Niannian asked, glaring at the Third Prince unhappily.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Caught by Niannian, the Third Prince looked slightly embarrassed.

Still, he thought he had just heard the name Xu Qingshi.

What had happened to Xu Qingshi?

He was extremely curious.

Unfortunately, the young girl was refusing to let him listen.

By the time they arrived at the Grand Princess’s residence, the Grand Princess had already been waiting for them for quite some time.

“Greetings, Great-Grandmother!” the Third Prince said respectfully.

“Greetings, Grand Princess!” Niannian also curtsied obediently.

“Greetings, Grandmother!”

“Why has the Third Prince found time to visit today?” the Grand Princess asked warmly, looking at him with affection. She was rather curious. She had heard that the Empress intended to find the Third Prince a suitable bride.

Could it be that the Third Prince had come to the Grand Princess’s residence because he had taken a liking to Nuonuo?

At that thought, the Grand Princess began wondering whether Nuonuo should marry the Third Prince or Prince An’s Heir.

“I happened to be passing by, so I thought I’d come in and pay my respects to Great-Grandmother,” the Third Prince replied with a smile that was perfectly composed and proper.

“How thoughtful of you,” the Grand Princess said before turning her attention to Niannian.

“When did the young commandery princess return to the capital?”

“Grand Princess, I only returned a few days ago. I came especially to visit you today while attending Big Sister Gu’s flower-viewing banquet.” As she spoke, Niannian took a small box from Cuiguo and presented it to the Grand Princess with a smile. “Grand Princess, this is a small token of my affection.”

“How thoughtful of you, young commandery princess,” the Grand Princess said with a smile.

“Nuonuo, make sure you entertain the young commandery princess properly later. Don’t let us lose face,” the Grand Princess instructed Gu Nuonuo.

“Yes!” Gu Nuonuo already had a favorable impression of Niannian, so she happily agreed.

“All right. Today’s banquet is for you young people. You may go out and enjoy yourselves,” the Grand Princess told them.

After they had left, the Grand Princess sat down, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“Your Highness, could it be that the Third Prince has taken a liking to the eldest young lady? Is that why he came to the residence at this time?” Nanny Qi asked cautiously as she stood beside the Grand Princess and massaged her temples.

The Grand Princess sighed and shook her head. “There’s no evidence of that. Don’t make careless assumptions.”

She herself was deeply puzzled.

If the Third Prince truly had feelings for Nuonuo, why had she not heard even the slightest hint of it?

But if he had no such intentions, why had he come to the Grand Princess’s residence?

The Grand Princess could not make sense of it.

“I heard that Prince An and his wife, along with Prince An’s Heir, are already preparing to set out for the capital,” Nanny Qi said after a moment, carefully reminding her.

After all, it was no secret that Prince An’s Heir had his heart set on their eldest young lady.

“That little rascal has been plotting to win Nuonuo over ever since he was a child.” At the thought of Xu Qingshi, the Grand Princess felt both annoyed and amused.

He had been so young, yet he had already figured out how to take something from his grandmother and give it to Nuonuo.

“All right. Don’t mention this to Second Madam for now. We don’t want her getting the wrong idea,” the Grand Princess instructed.

In the front hall

The moment Niannian entered the front hall, she saw Li Mingyue trembling in a cloak.

“What happened?” Niannian asked anxiously as she hurried over.

Li Mingyue shook her head, her eyes red-rimmed.

Xie Yanzhi and Jiang Yu were nowhere to be seen either.

“What happened?” Gu Nuonuo quickly pulled over a young servant nearby and asked.

“Miss Li and Miss Xiao got into some sort of argument just now. They both accidentally lost their footing and fell into the lake.” The servant pointed toward Xiao Tao in the distance.

“Is Miss Li all right? Take Miss Li and Miss Xiao to the side hall to change into dry clothes,” Gu Nuonuo ordered.

Very soon, several maids led the two women toward the side hall.

“Find out what happened just now,” the Third Prince instructed a nearby eunuch.

He had never expected that someone would dare to play such a dirty trick in the Grand Princess’s residence.

And to target the Li family, of all people—they clearly had a death wish.

The little eunuch acknowledged the order and hurried away.

The people surrounding them began discussing the incident among themselves.

The Third Prince’s face darkened as he thought about how useless Xie Yanzhi and Jiang Yu were. They could not even protect a young woman.

“Your Highness, where is Miss Li?” Xie Yanzhi asked anxiously as he hurried back.

After rescuing Li Mingyue just now, he had remembered that the jade pendant she had dropped was still in the lake. That was why he had rushed back to search for it.

Before jumping into the water, he had even taken off his cloak and wrapped it around Li Mingyue.

“She went to change her clothes. What were you looking for in the water?” the Third Prince asked, staring at Xie Yanzhi, who was soaked from head to toe.

“Nothing.” Xie Yanzhi shook his head before looking around for Jiang Yu.

“Your Highness, have you seen Jiang Yu?” Xie Yanzhi asked with a frown.

“No. I didn’t see you or Jiang Yu after I came back. I only saw Miss Li trembling here.”

“Go change your clothes first. We’ll discuss anything else later.” Seeing Xie Yanzhi in such a state, the Third Prince frowned.

Xie Yanzhi nodded and turned to leave.

There were spare clothes in his carriage, so he would be back shortly.

Niannian supported Li Mingyue as they walked toward the side chamber.

Although Li Mingyue’s clothes were completely soaked, Xie Yanzhi’s cloak concealed them well enough that no one could tell.

Xiao Tao behind them had not been so fortunate.

She was drenched from head to toe and walked along in a miserable state, water dripping continuously from her clothes and leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her.

The people around her pointed and whispered.

Xiao Tao had never felt so humiliated in her life.

She wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it, never to show her face again.

Then she remembered that Li Mingyue was the reason she had ended up in such a state.

Clenching her fists, Xiao Tao rushed up to Li Mingyue, her eyes filled with hatred, and demanded, “Mingyue, I’ve always treated you as my friend. Why did you push me into the water?”

Li Mingyue froze when she heard Xiao Tao’s accusation.

It had clearly been Xiao Tao who pushed her into the water.

Xiao Tao had merely lost her balance and fallen into the lake alongside her. How could she now turn around and blame Li Mingyue for pushing her in?

If Xie Yanzhi had not arrived in time to save her, Li Mingyue’s corpse might already have been floating on the surface by now.

And Xiao Tao still had the nerve to accuse her?