A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 396 The Truth

"My lord, that Prince Yingchu has come with the little prince and princess."

Early in the morning, in Shangguan Mansion of Xuanmeng Kingdom, Shangguan Jiuyi was having breakfast with Luoying and Yingyan. The housekeeper came hurriedly with a frown and a sigh and reported.

"This is the fifth time that Prince Yingchu has come to visit us. Today he even brought the little prince and the little master along. It seems he will not give up until he sees our aunt." The three people sitting under the pavilion were surprised and helpless when they heard this. Ying Yan first secretly glanced at his teacher Jiuyi and then shook his head and sighed at his aunt Luoying.

"Jiuyi..." Luoying turned to look at Shangguan Jiuyi in distress, but before she could open her mouth, her left hand was gently held by him, and then a gentle voice slowly sounded in front of her:

"Don't worry, I'm here."

This sentence always made Luoying feel at ease. Of course, the most important thing was that it came from the mouth of Shangguan Jiuyi, the person she trusted most in the world.

"Hehe, now is not the time for you to be affectionate, right? The king's favorite little prince and princess are standing outside the Shangguan Mansion. Teacher Jiuyi can't just turn them away this time, right?" Seeing the two people in front of him exchanging glances as if no one was around, Ying Yan and the butler who was still standing outside the pavilion waiting for words looked at each other silently, then coughed twice and smiled slightly.

Luoying realized that the housekeeper was still there, and she immediately pulled her hand out of Shangguan Jiuyi's hand and lowered her head shyly.

"I'll be back soon." Shangguan Jiuyi pretended to be calm and put away his hand. He then stood up and spoke gently to the aunt and nephew before walking out of the pavilion and going to the front yard with the housekeeper.

The little prince Ying Ning and the little princess Ying Yue that Ying Chu brought today are only seven years old this year, but they are the dragon and phoenix twins most beloved by King Ying Ye. Although Shangguan Jiuyi is the national teacher, he can ignore Prince Ying Chu, but he cannot neglect the king's most beloved princes and princesses.

"Hey, have you informed the Imperial Master that this prince is taking the little prince and princess out for a trip and passing by the Imperial Master's mansion, and that the little prince and princess are tired and want to come in to rest and have a cup of tea?" At the same time, Ying Chu, who was still waiting anxiously outside Shangguan Mansion, became impatient when he saw the two cousins ​​who were tricked out of the palace by him, and shouted at the servant who stopped them.

"Prince, please calm down. The butler has already gone to inform them." The servant couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard Prince Yingchu's nonsense reasons, but he soon nodded and lowered his eyebrows and replied respectfully.

Since Prince Yingchu saw Luoying's stunning beauty, he was unable to marry her but was obsessed with her all day long. He struggled between despair and madness for a while but still couldn't bear the pain of missing her, so he often visited the Imperial Master's residence under the pretext of asking for advice and learning from him.

Although Shangguan Jiuyi was puzzled at first, he did not know that the purpose of Prince Yingchu's visit was to see Luoying. He just thought that this little bully was looking for trouble. He always looked down on such unlearned and unskilled playboys, and was too busy with military affairs to deal with them. Therefore, he was either out of town or asked his butler to refuse every time.

But unexpectedly, more than two months later, this little bully still didn't give up. Such unprecedented persistence naturally made Shangguan Jiuyi alert.

It was at this time that Luo Yingcai learned from his nephew Ying Yan that Prince Yingchu had visited him many times in the past two months. He vaguely guessed something and felt a sense of fear in his heart, so he remembered to tell Shangguan Jiuyi about the incident when Yingchu embarrassed him in the street on the Flower Festival.

After listening to Luoying's words, Shangguan Jiuyi suddenly realized what was going on, and then he felt angry. No wonder this little bully frequently visited his Shangguan Mansion. It turned out that he was thinking about his wife who had not yet married. Of course, he still didn't know that Yingchu had asked his father, the Prince of the Sea, to ask Luoying to marry him. Fortunately, he was now a national teacher that the king relied on very much, so Yingchu didn't succeed.

From then on, Shangguan Jiuyi would never let Prince Yingchu set foot into Shangguan Mansion, and asked Chen Ming and several other secret guards to protect Luoying.

After Luoying knew that Prince Yingchu had improper thoughts about her, she naturally didn't dare to go out again.

Just as the servant guarding outside the mansion gate had finished replying to Prince Yingchu, Shangguan Jiuyi came out with his butler in person to welcome the little prince and princess. However, he still acted indifferent towards Prince Yingchu, even though the other party tried to curry favor with him.

Seeing the Imperial Master's contempt for him, Prince Yingchu was not angry. After all, he was already overjoyed at the thought that he could enter the Imperial Master's Mansion and have the opportunity to see Princess Luoying again. How could he care about anything else?

"No, I have to go and see too!" In the pavilion in the backyard, Luoying suddenly stood up and shouted not long after Shangguan Jiuyi left.

The little prince and princess were only about ten years old. They must have been tricked by Prince Yingchu into leaving the palace to serve as his banners. So she was worried that Prince Yingchu would embarrass Jiuyi under the guise of being the king, and she didn't want to implicate him because of herself.

"Aunt, this is a fight between men. If you show up, it might make things worse..." Before Ying Yan finished persuading her, Luo Ying pointed at her forehead and said angrily:

"What do you know at such a young age?"

Ying Yan looked at his aunt who was leaving in a hurry and gave a helpless smile. He was almost twelve years old, how could he be young?

"Does the King and the Queen know that your two princes have left the palace so early in the morning?" In the front hall of Shangguan Mansion, after the maids served tea, Shangguan Jiuyi smiled and looked at the little prince and princess sitting in front of him and asked softly.

"Well, it's our father and our mother's permission for Brother Yingchu to take us out of the palace for a tour." Prince Yingning was only interested in the cakes on the table, so in response to the Imperial Master's question, he just nodded vaguely, and then continued to pick up a piece of cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

Princess Ying Yue on the other side was as quiet as the moon, looking at the Imperial Preceptor Shangguan Jiuyi with a silly smile. Anyone would want to take a few more glances at this peerless young man who looked like a god.

"Cough cough..."

Prince Yingchu, who was sitting opposite Shangguan Jiuyi, felt very uneasy since he entered the front hall. He didn't want to just sit there. Seeing that his greedy cousin and his sister, who couldn't take their eyes off the national teacher, had forgotten what he had told them before, Prince Yingchu became anxious and couldn't help coughing lightly.

Princess Yingyue remained unmoved, and Prince Yingning, after his cousin's hint, finally remembered the purpose of entering the Imperial Master's Mansion. He quickly swallowed half a piece of cake in his hand and drank most of a cup of tea. After a while, he spoke to Shangguan Jiuyi:

"I heard from my cousin Yingchu that there is a stunningly beautiful woman hidden in the Imperial Master's mansion. Today I am bringing my sister out of the palace to see this beauty. Can the Imperial Master fulfill our wish?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highnesses. That is my unmarried wife, not the beauty hidden in the mansion. Also, my fiancée has been ill recently and is unable to meet guests. I hope Your Highnesses can forgive me." Shangguan Jiuyi naturally knew that the prince's words must have been instigated by Prince Yingchu, so he stood up calmly, bowed slightly, and said with a smile.

“Oh, so that’s the case…” Prince Ying Ning curled his lips in disappointment, and as he spoke, his eyes shifted to his cousin Ying Chu.

"What? The Imperial Master already has a fiancée?" Without waiting for Ying Chu to speak, the silent Princess Ying Yue suddenly looked at Shangguan Jiuyi aggrievedly and asked in a muttered voice.

"Yes." Shangguan Jiuyi didn't say much, just smiled and nodded.

"Princess, you don't know that the Imperial Master and his fiancée are childhood sweethearts!" Ying Chu was already extremely jealous at this time, so he sneered with ill intentions and tried to add fuel to the fire.

However, Princess Yingyue was only a ten-year-old child and didn't understand love. She just admired the beauty of the imperial teacher. She was not yet at the age of falling in love, so she didn't react much after hearing this, but she felt a little disappointed and sad, just like a beautiful flower that was unfortunately not in her hands.

Seeing that Princess Ying Yue did not attack Shangguan Jiuyi as he wished, Ying Chu curled his lips in disappointment. Seeing that Shangguan Jiuyi was looking at him with contempt, he became even more annoyed. In a rage, he blurted out:

"I have heard that the Imperial Master was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable since childhood. When he was eight years old, he was recruited by the late Emperor of Lang to be a teacher for the young grandson of the Emperor. For a time, the Shangguan family was deeply blessed by the Emperor. The royal family of Lang was so kind to the Imperial Master, but he was able to flee when the country was destroyed and his family was ruined. After the death of Emperor Lang Ning Xi and his wife, and Prince Xian Li Xu, their bodies were whipped by the King of Han of Xiyue and hung on the wall of the imperial palace for three days and three nights, but the Imperial Master turned a blind eye to the humiliation?"

Prince Yingchu's words not only made Shangguan Jiuyi's face turn cold, but also made Luoying, who was hiding in the back hall to find out what was going on, feel like she was struck by a bolt from the blue when she learned the truth. Her eyes went dark and she fainted. Fortunately, Chen Ming appeared in time and carried her back to the room.