Chapter 34: A Small Ripple on Her Birthday 2

  The people in the jade sedan chair gently lifted the silk curtains and stepped down, but at the moment their feet touched the ground, they were completely stunned.

  Who would have told him that the one he had been thinking about day and night, the one he was worried about in every possible way, the one he thought he would never see again, would appear here, standing beside Huangfu Ling?

  Nalan Xiong did not dare to look directly at Dugu Han's scorching eyes that were filled with surprise and doubt. He slightly inclined his body, lowered his head, and slowly said: "General Nalan Xiong of the Allied Kingdom has come to welcome the Crown Prince of the Sacred Golden Kingdom."

  "Nalan Xino, how..." Dugu Han was about to interrogate, but was timely stopped by Huangfu Ling.

  "Dugu Taizi, let's go in first." Huangfu Ling smiled, with a host-like demeanor.

  Dugu Han looked at Nalan Xinnuo with a reluctant gaze, nodded to Huangfu Ling, and the two walked ahead. Nalan Xinnuo followed behind them, the atmosphere was extremely subtle. Nalan Xinnuo's heart was filled with mixed emotions. It turned out that imagining it was much easier than actually facing it. However, she was Nalan Xinnuo, so she must be able to do it perfectly. She was originally the Nalan Xinnuo who walked out of a pile of dead bodies, hiding her emotions and being icy cold was what she did best.

  Seeing Du Guhan's healthy legs, Nalan Xianyu put down her last worry.

  "Dugu Taizi will temporarily reside in Guangyuelou. I hope to satisfy the prince." Huangfu Ling's courtesy was indeed thorough and complete.

  "Thank you, Second Prince, for your concern. The Crown Prince is deeply grateful. However..." Dugu Han looked at Nalan Xianuo behind Huangfu Ling with a deep and inquiring gaze, then continued, "May I have a word with the General?"

  "General Nalan is an important general of the Allied Kingdoms. If he has a private conversation with the prince, it's likely to cause gossip." Huangfu Lingwu refused. If Nalan Xianyu really lost his memory, wouldn't that be like lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot?

  "Just a moment of time. The crown prince guarantees that he will not be involved in any political issues, just ask a few private questions. Please fulfill the second prince." Du Guo Han did not give up and asked again. That handsome face seemed to be slightly haggard.

  "Hmm..." Huang Fu Ling glanced at Nalan Xianyu, hesitating for a moment. Refusing again seemed somewhat inappropriate.

  "I also ask the Second Prince to agree. Mo Shang is also curious what Dugu Taizi will ask." Nalan Xianyu spoke lightly. Anyway, it's inevitable that they'll face each other sooner or later. It's better to settle everything at once today.

  Huang Pu Ling had no choice but to agree. "Alright, you two chat. I'll wait for you outside. In half an hour, I still have to go welcome the Princess of Luo Tian Kingdom."

  Nalan Xixi nodded slightly in response to Huangfu Lingyun's words.

  Huang Pu Lingji let out an inaudible sigh and walked out, closing the door behind him. Since things had already come to this point, he might as well just follow fate.

  Huang Pu Ling had just closed the door when Dugu Han grabbed Nan Lan Xian's wrist, his eyes wide with incredulity as he stared at her. His deep, lake-like eyes still held a hint of anger. He couldn't understand why she was so submissive to Huang Pu Ling. She was Nan Lan Xian.

  "Please take care of yourself, Prince." Nalan Xianyu roughly shook off Dugu Han's hand and looked at him with an icy face. This was her normal reaction originally. She had now simply returned to how she was before when she didn't know Dugu Han. There was no need for her to be special towards him.

  "Xiao Nuo." Dugu Han couldn't believe it at all. Just now, Nalan Xiao Nuo's eyes had a thick layer of icy coldness and a flash of murderous intent. Murderous intent! She actually had murderous intent towards him. Heh. From being heartless in the past to wanting to kill him now? A bitter smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. What was he insisting on from start to finish? At the moment when he smashed the jade pendant, wasn't he prepared to give up?

  "Are you and the prince very familiar?" Nalan Xixi asked lightly.

  "Fine, fine." Du Guo Han's bitter smile grew thicker at the corners of his mouth. "We're not familiar with each other. Not even a bit. So I'll only ask you this: why did you appear here? Why are you being so submissive to Huang Fu Ling?"

  "Flattery and flattery." Nalan Xinnuo was stimulated by these four words, and the acting became even more realistic. "The second prince is my bosom friend. That's just the way friends get along. Where did this 'flattery' come from? I, Nalan Xinnuo, have never had such a word in my life." The tone was extremely icy, and few people could withstand such iciness.

  "Close friend? With Huangfu Ling?" Dugu Han seemed completely unable to accept it. "Nalan Xianuo, what's wrong with you?"

  "Isn't it wrong to become friends with him?" Nalan Xixi had a very impatient expression. "I really don't know what the prince is getting excited about. Did... did the prince also have dealings with me in the past?"

  "What are you talking about?" Du Guo Han frowned. Nalan Xianuo: "What's wrong with that."

  "Nowadays, Nalan Xiong's mind only remembers things from a year ago to today." Nalan Xiong's icy tone slightly softened as he explained.

  "What's going on?" Dugu Han suddenly had a reaction. What are these words? Only remembering things from this year. Is she planning to forget about the past?

  "A year ago, I had a small accident and forgot about past events," Nalan Xixi said calmly. "So, if there were any past dealings with the prince, whether good or bad, please don't pursue them, nor bring trouble to me."

  "It's impossible... How could it be..." Dugu Han was severely struck, his soul lost and scattered as he fell into the purple wood chair. His eyes were unfocused. "How can such an absurd thing happen? Xianuo, you're lying, aren't you?"

  "The truth is, it's up to the prince whether you believe it or not." Nalan Xianyu gave a cold glance at Dugu Han. "If the prince has nothing else to say, I'll take my leave first." Nalan Xianyu said, turning around and walking towards the outer door. Before opening the door, she turned her head back to give a light glance at Dugu Han, silently praying for his well-being. Then, she opened the door and walked out with Huangfu Ling towards the palace gate.

  The first one is paid off. There's still the second one. Nalan Xianyu felt a bit of a headache. Shouldn't he have reached the level of a professional actor by now?...

  "Dugu Taizi, what did you tell him?" Huangfu Ling walked on the road, thinking about how to ask, and finally asked in the most direct way.

  "There was no specific discussion. Dugu Taizi was probably curious why I became the Great General. His emotions were slightly agitated. I directly said that I couldn't remember things from before. If I had offended him in any way, please forgive me. After that, I left." Nalan Xianyu's seemingly ordinary response actually gave Huangfu Ling a reassurance, hoping he wouldn't think too much about it.

  "Report to the master, Princess Luotian will arrive in about half an hour." Yuemeng suddenly appeared before Huangfu Ling. She had gone to check on the estimated time and then reported back to Huangfu Ling, so that he wouldn't have to stand at the palace gate for too long.

  "How much longer?" Huang Fu Ling furrowed his brow. Logically speaking, it should have arrived already.

  "I don't know about the moon. I was probably delayed on the road." Yuè answered with her head down.

  "Let's go to the pavilion in the garden and take a rest for a while. We've been walking back and forth for a bit, you must be tired too." Huang Fu Ling said as he walked towards the nearby pavilion.

  "Have you forgotten who I am? A great general. Walking such a short distance and yet feeling tired. However, since you said rest, then resting for a while is fine." Nalan Xianuo smiled lightly and followed up.

  The palace maids quickly served us pastries and tea, then retreated one after another, leaving only Yuan Yue standing beside Huang Fu Ling.

  Nalan Xixi chose a relatively cool pastry and put it in her mouth, lightly savoring it. Unintentionally, she glanced at Yuan Yue, that silly woman who was staring blankly at the back of Huangfu Ling. She couldn't help but curve up a faint, imperceptible smile.

  Yue's moon. Huangfu Ling's dead soldier. This was only known by Nalan Xian after being with Huangfu Ling for several months. Although he knew that Yue had been devoted to Huangfu Ling, he did not expect that she would be a dead soldier. A dead soldier is someone who unconditionally listens to their master and must be willing to sacrifice their life at any moment. They are also completely human puppets, not allowed to have any emotions. And yet, this poor puppet had fallen in love with her own master.

  However, the only benefit is that she will be even more devoted to Huangfu Ling, through thick and thin.

  Dead man. No self.

  Nalan Xiner suddenly thought of herself. Wasn't she also willing to do anything for Nangong Jin? The only difference was that she was happy because her Nangong Jin loved her, protected her, and pitied her. But Huangfu Ling didn't even put her in his eyes. Such heartache, Nalan Xiner couldn't imagine. She didn't know how she would feel if Nangong Jin didn't love her. So, suddenly felt that Yuan Yue was quite pitiful.

  But I think she's pitiful, it doesn't mean I'll sympathize with her. The enemy is the enemy, sympathy for the enemy is cruelty to oneself. Nalan Xixi is absolutely not someone who will let herself be taken advantage of.

  "You like eating this kind of cake?" Huang Fu Ling asked with some surprise.

  "How can you tell? I just tried it." Nalan Xixi smiled faintly.

  "You've never had a sweet pastry like this before, yet you managed to finish an entire piece of thin mint cake today. What's not to like?" Huangfu Ling was indeed meticulous in every way.

  "This is mint cake." Nalan Xiong said with a smile. "I thought this cake had a cool feeling, just looking at its green color, it might not be too greasy, so I tried a little. It was very refreshing and cooling when I put it in my mouth, and before I knew it, I had eaten the whole piece." Nalan Xiong was also surprised that he had eaten a whole piece of sweet cake. Probably thinking about Yuexi's affairs, the coolness of the mint cake when entering the mouth just felt comfortable, without even thinking carefully what flavor it was, let alone thinking it was mint flavor.

  "It's also good to eat some pastries in moderation. In the future, when there's nothing going on, I'll ask the imperial kitchen to make more mint cakes." Huangfu Ling said excitedly. That's right. He had finally discovered Nalan Xianyu's hobby, even if it was just a small one.

  "Never mind, don't worry about it. Eating too much of this thing is probably going to make me sick of it anyway." Nalan Xinxiao never really liked it that much to begin with, and eating it frequently would probably make her nauseous.

  "I'll let others handle it from now on." Huang Fu Ling said undeterred.

  "Suit yourself." Nalan Xixi glanced at Yuan Yue's somewhat pale face, and could only shake her head in dismay. She could only watch from afar. Not getting what she wanted was a kind of sorrow. The emotional debt owed was too great, and it wasn't easy to bear either...

  Repressing emotions for a long time, it's inevitable that one day they will be resolved. Originally being a meticulous and intelligent person with a mind full of thoughts and plans. Adding to that their own bitter and resentful feelings. The force of the explosion is quite strong.