The Crown Prince and An Yu Yong were holding a glaring contest; the former had a displeased expression with a pair of eyes that flashed indignation while the latter was charmingly smiling and had irreverence in his eyes.
An Bing Qing had never seen her eldest brother with such defensive standing. With Xue Zi Hui and when he met Wang Shu in her previous life, he only had ever had a serious poise of disapproval and with an I-am-watching-you meaning in his eyes. This time, she could clearly feel his aggressiveness; his attitude was as though he was going to war.
Seconds passed went by through this weighing contest.
An Bing Qing had just snapped out from her wonder and was about to intercede when she saw the Crown Prince lowering his sight before raising it again with a weird glitter shining in his eyes and putting his arrogant smile back.
She felt that something was quite not right. Then, she saw him ignoring her eldest brother and turning his sight towards her with wolf-like eyes.
She knitted her brows a little, 'What is the Crown Prince up to?' She understood that the Crown Prince wanted her and she also knew the way in which he dealt with this kind of thing. He wasn't an air-headed man that only held his position as the Crown Prince due to being the son of the Empress, he was a genius in cultivation and a cunning but arrogant man; therefore, he can pull out many schemes. He seemed as though he had something in his sleeves already, making her intrigued and uncomfortable.
Once again, the Crown Prince stepped forward towards her.
An Yu Yong furrowed his brows tightly and his devilish smile faded.
He was about to step between them and block the Crown Prince path when a cheerful voice made its way towards them.
"His Imperial Highness, it's been a while since our last meeting. It seems that nowadays someone has to be a beautiful damsel to be granted the pleasure of your visit. Sigh, my Li Family will never receive such a blessing as it has none". It was Li Hao Shan whose merry voice had flowed like spring water but the mockery it had was obvious to those that understood his hidden meaning; the indulgence and means of the Crown Prince with beauties was something that many people knew about.
Moreover, he had also implied other things. He had taken advantage of this situation to cut the opportunities of his sisters born from concubines which were a bunch of insidious snakes, he had broadly called them ugly and in this ancient society, beauty was one of the things they look up to, though it wasn't all.
Li Hao Shan was the only son born from the main wife of Li Family's Patriarch and the relationship with his siblings born from concubines was not good. Even though he had involved every maiden in Li Family, he was sure that the people around will know the females he was referring to and the damage wouldn't be that great.
A sentence full of thorns needed a rose to be beautiful. Therefore, his hidden praise to the beauties of An and Ouyang families was perfect.
The first person to react at his words wasn't the Crown Prince nor An Yu Yong but An Bing Qing, 'This trickery speech and voice... Hao Shan?' she thought before turning her head around.
An Bing Qing confirmed her guess when she saw a handsome young man in his twenties clad in an elegant dark blue attire with shiny emerald and amber patterns. She recognized the peculiar joking lustre in his inky eyes and his black hair that was always knotted with a dark green jade ornament.
As she regarded him with remembrance, the corner of her eyes caught an incoming white figure.
She shifted her line of sight and she was met with a bright and gentle gaze; it was Wang Shu.
Her heart skipped a beat and she felt goosebumps all over her body.
Before her mind could react, her body sidestepped and she swiftly hid behind her eldest brother.
Ouyang Qiao Qi had been nervous all this time and when she was left uncovered, her heart jolted and she quickly followed An Bing Qing's steps.
When she reached her side, she asked with a low and anxious tone, "Big sister, what is it?"
An Bing Qing's body trembled at her question, she supported her head on An Yu Yong's back before saying with a flushed face and in a low voice, "I am digging my own grave".
She felt ashamed and like dying.