Chapter 84: Overly Sweet Smile
In Cloud Gazing Tower, Xie Yiyi gently held her cheeks.
Her eyes were fixed outside the window.
On the other side facing her, the Third Prince was talking to himself.
"Miss Yiyi, this capital"s delicacies…"
Xie Yiyi answered without missing a beat.
But inwardly, she thought to herself, "How boring."
Although the Third Prince was only proficient in cultivation, he was not a crude boor. After all, he came from the royal family and was rather polite in front of Xie Yiyi.
However, Xie Yiyi wasn"t too interested in the topic he was talking about.
Xie Yiyi"s thoughts involuntarily returned to that day. She thought of Su Wen"s shameless and indolent appearance, and then she thought of the Eldest Imperial Prince"s aggrieved expression, but his helplessness at the situation.
Although Xie Yiyi was at a loss when it happen, she couldn"t help but let out a laugh when she thought about it.
This smile stunned the Third Prince.
"Miss Yiyi, is there anything funny about what I just said?" The Third Prince was confused.
Xie Yiyi hurriedly waved her hand and said, "No, no. I just thought of something interesting."
Third Prince said with a smile, "Then why don"t you tell me, Miss Yiyi? Let me hear it too."
"This…"
"You idiot, she"s clearly trying to get you to scram, why are you still being so serious?" At this moment, a figure appeared at the door. It was Su Wen.
The Third Prince turned around and frowned, "Who allowed you to come up?"
Su Wen rolled his eyes. "What? Is this your house? Do I have to tell you that I"m here?"
As he spoke, he walked to the side of the table and sat down. He turned to Xie Yiyi and instructed, "I"m thirsty. Get me a cup of water."
He behaved as if it was only right and proper. Those who did not know would think that Su Wen was the owner of this place instead.
The Third Prince frowned even harder.
However, Xie Yiyi still went to get some water. After all, Su Wen was a guest and it was not overboard to get a cup of water.
She picked up the teapot on the table and gently filled it up before placing it in front of Su Wen.
Su Wen raised his head and said seriously, "I can"t drink this water."
Xie Yiyi was taken aback. She couldn"t help but ask, "Why?"
"Too sweet."
Xie Yiyi smiled. "Young Master Su, this is tea. There"s no sugar inside."
"You"re the one smiling too sweetly."
Such mushy love words might have been commonplace and even awkward in the later generations, but to a girl like Xie Yiyi who had never heard of such things in this age, it sounded very interesting.
People, in particular, liked to be praised.
Xie Yiyi couldn"t help but smile.
The Third Prince said angrily, "Su Wen, you are too impudent!"
Su Wen turned to look at the Third Prince and asked with a smile, "Isn"t Miss Yiyi"s smile sweet?"
Another loaded question.
If he said that it was sweet, how could he say that Su Wen was being impudent? However, if he said that it was not sweet, it would cause Xie Yiyi to be unhappy.
The Third Prince did not think too much and immediately replied, "Of course not…"
After saying those three words, he suddenly reacted. If he said that it wasn"t sweet, would it not be equivalent to digging his own grave?
He forcefully turned back. "Of course not… for you to say! Miss Yiyi"s smile is indeed very sweet, but you and I are both court officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty. We must abide by etiquette, so how can you say frivolous words?"
At this point, the Third Prince regained his senses. He had just praised Xie Yiyi for her sweet smile. Wasn"t this also a frivolous phrase?
After all the twists and turns, he still ended up digging his grave!
As expected, Su Wen playfully said, "Your Highness, you seemed to have praised Miss Yiyi for her sweet smile as well."
"Hmph! Su Wen, you better not be so sharp-tongued. It"s better for you to be more polite!" After saying that, he turned to look at Xie Yiyi and said in a deep voice, "Miss Yiyi, I still have something on. I"ll take my leave first!"
The Third Prince could tell that if he continued to stay, he would not be able to gain any advantage from Su Wen.
Seeing the Third Prince leave angrily, Su Wen picked up the cup on the table and took a sip. He smiled and said, "This child gets angry too fast."
Xie Yiyi stared at the cup in Su Wen"s hand and asked, "Young Master Su, didn"t you just say that Yiyi"s smile was too sweet and you can"t drink this? Why are you drinking it now?"
Su Wen chuckled and said, "Because there was an outsider here just now, I naturally had to be more reserved. Now that an outsider has left, I would like your sweetness to seep all the way into my heart."
Xie Yiyi smiled. "Young Master Su, do you even know how to be reserved?"
The two of them started chatting.
In another room, Honorable Xie gritted his teeth. "This little rascal is full of frivolous words. He actually managed to make Yiyi happy!"
As Xie Yiyi"s mother, she naturally knew that Xie Yiyi was truly happy, and not giving a fake smile.
However, she also realized that the Crown Prince and the Second Prince had not come for the past two days. Even their servants had not been dispatched.
Clearly, they had already withdrawn from the fight for Xie Yiyi.
On the other hand, the Third Prince was very diligent.
Initially, Xie Dajia thought that the three princes had come to an agreement because Su Wen never came back after that day. Xie Dajia also thought that Su Wen had also left.
However, Su Wen came again today and from his words, it was clear that he had no fear of the Third Prince.
At this moment, Xie Dajia realized that the Crown Prince and the Second Prince might not have come to an agreement with the Third Prince. After all, whether it was in terms of reputation or influence in the imperial court, the former two had no reason to give way to the latter.
"If Su Wen can make the Crown and Second Prince concede, it seems like Su Changqing"s power is even greater than I imagined," Xie Dajia muttered to herself.
She actually didn"t know much about the situation in the royal court. After all, for someone like her, the royal court was but a distant thing. In her impression, royal power was paramount, so she subconsciously set her sights on the princes. But now, it seemed like the difference between a prince and an emperor was too great.
She could also tell that Su Wen, the son of the Prime Minister, was truly fearless in front of any prince.
Most importantly, her main target, the Crown Prince, seemed to have withdrawn. Only the Third Prince was still hanging around.
Just like what Su Wen said on the first day, whether a prince could ascend to the throne was the most important. If a prince couldn"t become the emperor, he would at most remain as a prince.
And most of the princes were akin to idle Kings with no power nor positions.
For a moment, Xie Dajia hesitated in her selection.
Choose to control Su Wen? Or the Third Prince?
This was the choice she needed to make at the moment.
But was this choice difficult to make? One was the current prime minister, with authority over the court, while the other was a prince whose future was uncertain.
From the looks of it, Su Wen seemed to fit her choice better.
On one hand, Su Wen and Xie Yiyi were chatting happily, and on the other hand, Xie Dajia was calculating. Time slowly pa.s.sed in Cloud Gazing Tower.
By the time Su Wen left the Cloud Gazing Tower, it was already very late.
Chu He and Zhao Jin were waiting outside the building the whole time.
Upon returning to his residence, Ning Shuang came forward to report, "Young Master, Master is here. He has been waiting in the front hall for a long time."
"My father? What is he doing here? Is he giving me money?"
Su Wen immediately ran into the front hall.