Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 67: Lost?!

Chapter 67: Lost?!

Li Qianxiao did not intend to have dinner with the Yun family, but he did so because of Yun Ruoyan's presence.

After dinner, matriarch Yun went to her room in exhaustion, leaving Madam An to host the crown prince.

Because it was early summer, the night air was cool and refreshing, and constellations dotted the night sky. Li Qianxiao toured the Yun family park with Yun Lan, Yun Ruoyan, and Yun Ruoyao.

Inside the garden were pavilions, small streams of water, and all sorts of exotic flowers. Pebbled roads, pavilions, and flowerbeds are all encrusted with shining moon rocks, providing a refined view of otherworldly qualities.

As soon as the party gathered in the pavilion, a servant came rushing over to Yun Lan to report on urgent matters. After hearing the report, Yun Lan immediately said goodbye to the prince and went to her own room.

Li Qianxiao was very happy. With a high-ranking official like Yun Lan present, he had to act as a noble crown prince, and maintaining the act was exhausting.

After Yun Lan's departure, the Yun Sisters were much more reserved than before. They all gathered at the crown prince's side as they comforted him with empty chatter. On the other hand, Yun Ruoyan was sitting alone on the other side of the pavilion, not joining, nor did she want to join the conversation.

Li Qianxiao wanted to sit beside Yun Ruoyan, but Yun Ruoyu caught him in time. Ever since she was ten years old, she had frequented the Yun household and had even invited Yun Ruoyu and the others for an excursion, so all of the Yun sisters were quite familiar with her.

This was why he had to be patient with Yun Ruoyu, even if she was sticky and somewhat troublesome. "Crown Prince, why haven't you been here for so long?" Yun Ruoyu asked sadly.

“I have to go for an official visit to the Yue kingdom, and I just came back,” Li Qianxiao replied.

"What are you doing there?"

“Don't mention it,” muttered Li Qianxiao, somewhat angry. "This is all the trouble my uncle is involved in!"

Her uncle? Isn't that Li Mo? As soon as Yun Ruoyan heard these words, she was immediately excited.

"King of Slaughterers!" Yun Ruoyu and the other two girls called out simultaneously.

“What kind of problem will someone as powerful as the Slaughterer King give you?” Yun Ruoyao asked curiously. Even Yun Ruoyan changed her position as she began to listen.

But Li Qianxiao stopped talking and suddenly turned to Yun Ruoyan. "Ruoyan, now that Officer Yun is gone, why are you still so quiet?"

The other girls saw Yun Ruoyan's correct and upright posture and ridiculed. What kind of action does he think he's doing now?

“That's right,” continued Yun Ruoyu. “What's wrong with you today, sister? Why are you acting so formal? What happened to all your eloquence from yesterday? Who are you doing this for ?!"

Yun Ruoyan did not want to cause trouble. All he expected was for this terrifying prince to leave, so that he could rest in his own room to cultivate. But if Yun Ruoyu wanted to provoke him and cause trouble, then she would happily accompany him.

He remembered how shy Yun Ruoyu was that afternoon and decided to use it as the basis of her attack.

“Sorry to have made such a mockery, Ruoyu, but I am not as lucky as you all. After all, this is the first time I've met the crown prince, and I still haven't been able to interact as closely as you all can. I was a little intimidated by his aura, you know, and I felt a little nervous inside."

"Ruoyan, don't worry!" As soon as Li Qianxiao heard these words, he immediately stood up. “We should have met a long time ago, but it's still not too late. I will definitely find you more often from now on.” He moved away from Yun Ruoyu and moved right beside Yun Ruoyan as he spoke.

Yun Ruoyan was sitting on the side of the pavilion closest to the lake, and the moonlight stone projected her beauty on the lake.

Li Qianxiao looked puzzled by her reflected appearance.

“Crown Prince, why are you standing? Please sit!" Yun Ruoyan smiled gently, even as she inwardly grinned coldly.

Li Qianxiao's gaze turned from the lake and directly onto Yun Ruoyan's face, his heart pounding so fast that he was sure he could hear it.

His gaze seemed fixated on her, as if he could not bear to turn away from her even for a moment.

Yun Ruoyan patted the stone bench by her side, gesturing for Li Qianxiao to sit down, and she did so obediently.

Yun Ruoyao pulled the sleeves of Yun Ruoyu's clothes to attract her attention as she gestured to Yun Ruoyan and the crown prince. Yun Ruoyu bit her lips as she looked at Li Qianxiao, her gaze filled with a complicated mixture of longing, envy, and hatred. He did not understand why the crown prince, who had always been close to him, looked so infatuated with Yun Ruoyan.

He must have been fooled by Yun Ruoyan's fake appearance, and he could barely resist rushing over and peeling off the gauze covering Yun Ruoyan's birthmark. If he did, he was sure his crown son would finally see the truth and return to him once more.

However due to the presence of his father Yun Lan, he did not dare to do anything.

Yun Ruoyan glanced at Yun Ruoyu suspiciously. She stared back at Yun Ruoyan, her small face and her furrowed brows making her look like a chrysanthemum flower. Both of his hands were clenched, and he almost shook as he tried to restrain himself.

“T-Of course.”

Yun Ruoyan and the others did not bring their servants. There was about a ten-minute walk from the pavilion to his residence, and the prince's eyes brightened at the thought of being able to spend time alone with beauty.

Li Qianxiao quickly jumped off the stone bench. Yun Ruoyan reached out to him, letting him help her up. He immediately clasped his hands carefully, as if he was a fragile piece of jade. His voice sounded carefree as he exclaimed, “Ruoyan, your body must still be weak! I shouldn't have taken you on a night excursion through these gardens with me.”

A smile hung on Yun Ruoyan's face as she glanced at Yun Ruoyu once more. His face turned deathly pale. It's about time.

“Crown Prince, please don't say that. It's my poor health that ruined your pleasure tonight.” Li Qianxiao helped her out of the pavilion, but she stumbled on the stone steps.

"Oh!" Her body tilted to the side, but Li Qianxiao was nimble enough to hug her.

“Ruoyan, are you okay? It's all my fault, I don't see" Li Qianxiao continued to blame himself for his slump, his tone and gaze filled with self-accrimination for nearly hurting the beautiful Yun Ruoyan.

"Enough!" Just then, Yun Ruoyu suddenly shouted from within the pavilion.

Li Qianxiao looked at her, not understanding. He dashed out of the pavilion and reached out to grab Yun Ruoyan's face!

"Aah!" Yun Ruoyan screamed and buried her head in Li Qianxiao's lap.

"What are you doing?!" Li Qianxiao rumbled as he grabbed Yun Ruoyu's wrist.

"I'm, I'm gonna tear off the mask." Yun Ruoyu's eyes were red. “Crown Prince, she's an ugly girl in disguise. Don't be fooled!”

"What disguise?"

Yun Ruoyan curled up on Li Qianxiao's lap, muttering pitifully, “Ruoyu, I know you like the crown prince, and I didn't mean to snatch it away from you. I just wish she could help me back to my residence, but if you don't like her, I won't force.” She tried to let go of Li Qianxiao's embrace, but she just hugged him even tighter.

“Ruoyan, don't worry about him. I must have spoiled him too much during my previous visit.” He pushed Yun Ruoyu aside, and she fell into Yun Ruoyao's embrace. "Ruoyan, let's go."

Li Qianxiao did not even turn around to see if Yun Ruoyu was okay. He gripped Yun Ruoyan in his hand and continued walking away from the pavilion. Behind them, Yun Ruoyu exclaimed, “Yun Ruoyan, do you dare to take off the gauze on your face, revealing your birthmark to the crown prince ?! You will always be ugly, no matter how hard you try to hide it!”

Hearing Yun Ruoyu's crazy cry, Li Qianxiao completely stopped. As if he saw a glimmer of hope, Yun Ruoyu continued, "Crown Prince, aren't you curious as to what the patch is hiding?"

Li Qianxiao looked back at Yun Ruoyan in his arms. He turned around and frowned, asking, "Isn't the trend lately wearing gauze patches like that?"

Li Qianxiao had sent the lotus leaf-shaped patch that Yun Ruoyan had thrown away for inspection, hoping to identify its owner. However, the guards assigned to investigate reported that such a patch had taken control of the capital, and there were too many noble women with such a patch to allow identification.

"No no!" Yun Ruoyu hurriedly exclaimed. “The other girls did it to accentuate their features, but Ruoyan did it to hide the ugly birthmark on her right cheek! If you don't trust me, you can ask Sister Ruoyao or Sister Qianying!”

Li Qianxiao's gaze swept over the two quiet girls. Yi Qianying could only take a step back, as if there was something she did not dare to say.

Yun Ruoyao also did not answer this question directly. "Don't you know if you took off the gauze?"

“It is true that there is a birthmark on my face,” Yun Ruoyan said suddenly.

"You admit it!" Yun Ruoyu clapped her hands. "You know you can't hide it, right?"

"... but, after my treatment, it's completely gone now." Yun Ruoyan's follow-up made the three girls daze. "The birthmark on my face has been removed."

"What?!" Three separate voices come together into one. “Your birthmark is gone?!”

"That's right. I took the antidote my grandfather gave me, and my birthmark slowly disappeared. There are still traces of him at this time, but everything will soon be lost.”

“I don't believe you! None of us will believe you, unless you take off the gauze and show it to ourselves". Yun Ruoyu continued, unceasingly. After all, he had just seen his scar a few days ago when they had afternoon tea with their grandmother. There was no way the birthmark could disappear that fast!

But even if the girls didn't believe it, someone really believed it.

Yun Ruoyan tilted her head to look into Li Qianxiao's eyes. “Crown Prince, it's not that I'm willing to take off my rag, but there are still a few birthmark marks left, and I don't want you to look at it and have a bad impression of me. However, if you insist, I will remove it .. ”

As Yun Ruoyan fell silent, she actually placed her hand on her right cheek.