CHAPTER 555: CHAPTER 555 VILLAIN

After taking a bath and changing clothes, Prince NanAn and his company went out.

Alongside them were Su Chong and Xie Jingchen.

Su Jin stayed behind to dine with Mrs. Tang.

Young Master Su protested this arrangement quite fiercely.

He wanted to go along as well.

However, being too young, he was deemed a burden, and no one was willing to take them along.

Young Master Shen and the Ninth Prince were very content.

After all, before meeting Young Master Su, their opportunities to go out were negligible.

Especially the Ninth Prince, who had to adhere to strict regulations in the palace, unlike the freedom found at the Jibei Marquis Mansion and Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

He was already thoroughly enjoying himself.

Young Master Su, however, was not so easily satisfied, poking at the food in his bowl while thinking longingly of the flavors at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

He had to wait until at least twelve years old before his parents would allow him to go out freely.

Still five more years.

Five years.

Why couldn’t his mother have given birth to him a few years earlier?

Young Master Su had a face full of melancholy.

...

The street was bustling with people coming and going.

In the sky, there were a few rare white clouds, and it wasn’t as hot as the previous days.

In the scorching summer, having such coolness was rare, and people who hadn’t gone out for a while came out to enjoy the breeze.

Prince NanAn and his companions rode their horses toward the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Halfway there, Su Chong remembered the jade hairpin he had asked the Jinyu Pavilion to recarve, so he got off his horse.

The hour was still early, so Prince NanAn and his group all went into the Jinyu Pavilion together.

Su Chong handed over the order form to a shop assistant, who said, "Please wait a moment, I’ll bring it right away."

Su Chong sat there waiting.

Prince NanAn and his companions looked around to see if there was anything they wanted to buy.

Jinyu Pavilion had two floors; the ground floor sold individual items, and the upper floor sold sets of jewelry.

A young lady selected a set of desired hair accessories and happily went downstairs with her maid.

Halfway down, she noticed Prince NanAn.

A small spark in her eyes instantly flared up.

Prince NanAn, with his back turned, did not notice.

But the Heir of Marquis Beining sensed it.

He thought the young lady looked familiar but couldn’t recall at the moment.

It seemed like she held a grudge against Prince NanAn.

He nudged Prince NanAn with the folded fan in his hand.

"Who’s that girl?" the Heir of Marquis Beining asked softly.

Prince NanAn turned and glanced over.

Hmm.

Just one look—

Revealed what it truly meant when enemies meet, their eyes blaze with fury.

"Isn’t that the silly girl from the Nanyang Marquis Mansion?" Prince NanAn raised his voice.

"When did you return to the Capital?"

The young lady was indeed the legitimate daughter of the Nanyang Marquis Mansion, Nie Yao.

Upon seeing Prince NanAn, she tried to calm the anger in her heart but couldn’t help cursing, "Despicable!" as she descended the steps.

Prince NanAn, "..."

Although they had looked at each other unfavorably for many years.

He’d been called base, shameless, filthy, and brazen, but being called despicable was a first.

They had been minding their own business for several years, yet when they met, she called him despicable.

Prince NanAn looked displeased, "How am I despicable?"

Nie Yao wanted to strangle him right there.

And he had the nerve to ask how he was despicable?

Didn’t he say he would dissolve the engagement once he got back the jade pendant?!

It had been painstakingly stolen back to return to him. She anxiously awaited at home, did he dissolve the engagement?!

She had never seen such an untrustworthy person before!

Nie Yao’s good mood from buying the head ornaments was utterly destroyed.

She and the maid had planned to go downstairs to pay and leave, but Prince NanAn was too close to the counter, and she didn’t want to be near him, so she decided not to purchase the head ornaments anymore.

Throwing the jewelry box to the shop assistant, Nie Yao snorted heavily and walked out.

Watching Nie Yao step out the door, the shop assistant looked pained.

The cooked duck had flown away.

Upstairs, the Heir of Duke Chong saw this scene and a playful smile crept across his lips.

Who would have thought there was someone in the Capital City who was so at odds with Prince NanAn.

And it happened to be the granddaughter of Marquis Yangnan.

Interesting.

Su Chong saw Prince NanAn fuming and turned to ask the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo, "Why is Prince NanAn so angry?"

"Probably thinking of those humiliating past events," replied the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo.

"..."

This response piqued one’s curiosity.

As the only one who didn’t know Prince NanAn’s embarrassing past, how could Su Chong not be curious?

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo chuckled, "This is quite a long story."

"Take your time to explain," Su Chong said while sipping his tea.

The story started with Prince NanAn’s curiosity.

When everyone was young, they were curious about where they came from.

Prince NanAn was no exception.

But could parents tell the truth?

Definitely not.

After being asked many times, Princess NanAn told Prince NanAn he was bought from the street and that if he didn’t behave, she’d buy another one.

A young Prince NanAn believed it.

That year, the Nanyang Marquis Mansion joyfully welcomed a daughter, and Prince NanAn’s parents went to congratulate them.

Prince NanAn, the only son of the NanAn mansion, was the apple of his mother’s eye.

As long as he was healthy, his parents would take him whenever they could.

When Prince NanAn saw Nie Yao lying in the cradle, the more he looked, the more he liked her, so he asked the Lady of Yangnan Marquis, "How much did you buy her for?"

The Lady of Yangnan Marquis was bewildered by the question.

She could more or less guess why Prince NanAn asked such a question.

The Lady of Yangnan Marquis chuckled, "A thousand taels."

Prince NanAn reached out and picked Nie Yao up, saying, "I’ll give you two thousand taels, sell her to me."

With that, he ran off holding Nie Yao.

The maids were genuinely afraid he’d drop her since he was only three years old.

Princess NanAn sat by the bed, massaging her forehead.

Seeing her son so fond of the little girl and thinking their ages matched, she considered arranging a betrothal, making them childhood sweethearts.

The Lady of Yangnan Marquis was more than happy; how could she refuse?

Just as she was about to agree, Prince NanAn came back with the girl.

The little girl had urinated all over him.

Prince NanAn felt disgusted and no longer wanted her.

Never mind offering twice the price, he wouldn’t take her even as a gift.

"And that’s how the grudge started?" Su Chong chuckled.

The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo struggled to hold back laughter, "It wasn’t so easy to bear a grudge; the real drama was yet to come."

When the legitimate daughter of the Nanyang Marquis Mansion turned three, her mother, the Lady of Yangnan Marquis, brought her to Prince NanAn Mansion.

Little girls love fluffy bunnies.

She happened to be holding one in her arms.

That particular day, Prince NanAn had just taken out his donkey, and the little girl was mesmerized by it, allowing the bunny in her arms to slip away.

Fortunately, she quickly pounced and caught the bunny.

She held it by its ears.

Seeing this, Prince NanAn asked curiously, "Why are you holding it by the ears?"

"Mother said rabbits have long ears to be held by," Little Nie Yao answered crisply.

Little Prince NanAn found the reasoning sound.

He looked at his donkey—

The ears weren’t small, and they were quite cute.

He reached out to grab them.

Startled, the donkey kicked him and ran away.

At this point, the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo could barely speak, laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

Su Chong suppressed a laugh and continued listening.

"Since then, whenever Prince NanAn saw the granddaughter of Marquis Yangnan, he couldn’t stand her," said the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo.

Understandably so.

After all, whenever he saw the legitimate daughter of Nanyang Marquis Mansion, Prince NanAn would remember getting kicked by the donkey.