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  Eighth Brother looked at us going back and forth, finally the two of us stared at each other like fighting cocks, couldn't help but shake his head and smile, saying: "Stop staring! Fourteenth Brother, go back first! As for Yu Xi's matter, I'll handle it." Fourteenth glared at me with a look, turned to look at Eighth Brother, wanting to speak but stopping himself, finally turned back to glare at me again, then stormed off.

  Facing the fourteenth, I didn't have any feeling of fear. But as soon as he left, leaving only me and Eighth Brother, I started to feel tense. Lowering my head, fiddling with the cloak strap in my hand, I didn't know what to do.

  The eighth prince looked at me for a while, with a smile on his face: "The crown prince's joke is indeed apt. I think you not only have the same desperate energy as the thirteenth brother, but also the same style of being a carefree and unrestrained scholar like Wei Jin!" He laughed again and said: "Don't stand there!" After hearing this, I slowly sat down. He said: "Come over here, I want to talk to you." My heart became more and more tense, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I slowly walked over and sat down beside him with my head lowered.

  He let out a sigh after I sat down, turned his head back and gazed forward, falling silent.

  The two of us sat in silence for a while, when he suddenly blurted out: "Are you scared?" I was taken aback, not knowing what he meant, and could only look at him with confusion. He turned his head to the side, looking at me as he said: "Contestant girl, are you scared?" After hearing this, all I felt was that the sorrow that had long filled my entire body surged up again, and I silently nodded, lowering my head and furrowing my brow in distress.

  After a while, Eighth Brother suddenly muttered to himself: "I was fifteen when I first saw your sister." I quickly put aside my worries and listened intently. "That year, your mother returned to the capital to report for duty, and she also came along. It was spring, and the weather was exceptionally good, with a blue sky like it had been washed clean, and a gentle breeze carrying the scent of flowers that pierced one's heart. I and two young servants went horseback riding in the suburbs. From afar, we saw a little girl riding a horse on the mountain slope." He smiled and said: "You've also seen Ruo Lan's horsemanship, you should know how beautiful and stunning it was!" I nodded unconsciously, recalling my sister's elegant appearance on that day at the horse racing field.

  "He said: 'She rode better that day than she did on the racecourse, her laughter was like a string of silver bells, floating in the mountains and forests. It was full of joy, making people who heard it feel joyful too, wanting to laugh along.'"

  He fell silent for a moment: "I didn't dare to believe what I saw at that time. There are many beautiful girls in the Forbidden City, but Yulan is different." I thought that my sister was a happy woman in love at that time, thinking that she and her loved one could soar in the sky. Her happiness came from the deepest part of her heart, of course, it's different from those women in the Forbidden City who may not have a chance to experience love in their lifetime.

  He said, "After I returned, I was busy inquiring about your sister and thinking of ways to ask the Emperor to give her to me. While I was trying every means possible, my mother told me that the Emperor wanted to betroth the eldest daughter of the Ma Er Tai family to me as a secondary consort. At that time, I felt like I had never been so happy in this life. On the second day after the Emperor's edict, I ran all over the capital and spent more than half a year searching for a phoenix blood jade bangle, thinking of giving it to her on our wedding day."

  I looked down at the bangle on my wrist and couldn't help but raise my hand, asking: "Is this the one? The one to be given to sister?"

  He looked at the bangle on my wrist, held my hand and said: "I have been looking forward to it day and night, finally waiting for the big wedding day. But when I lifted the veil, I felt that things were not what I thought they would be. The person who made me miss for two years was completely different from the one in front of me. She never rode a horse and rarely smiled. I kept asking myself, what's going on? Did I mistake someone? Later, I sent someone to investigate in the northwest, and after many twists and turns, I finally knew the reason." He sighed with a bitter smile and stopped talking.

  I let out a deep sigh, the workings of fate are indeed mysterious! After a moment's thought, my heart suddenly began to pound wildly, holding back my breath, I asked with utmost tension and fear: "How did that person die?" He remained silent for a good while, took a deep breath and said: "The person I sent to investigate startled your mother, so she had him serve as the vanguard, then..." He stopped there, not continuing any further.

  I only felt my heart beating strongly. I pulled out my hand, wanting to take off the bangle and return it to him, but he covered my hand and said, "Don't take it off!" I looked down, staring at the bangle, and said, "This is for my sister." He gripped my hand tightly and whispered, "This is for someone I like." After saying that, his other hand lifted my chin, and he gazed into my eyes, saying, "Promise me, never take it off!" I looked back at his dark, bottomless eyes, filled with an unprecedented warmth, deep sadness, and overflowing emotions, as if they were about to spill over. My heart was moved, mixed with a tinge of sorrow, and I slowly nodded. He saw that I agreed, and he smiled slightly, releasing my hand.

  After a while, he smiled and said: "Don't be afraid! I will think of a way, there must be a way to let the Emperor give you to me."

  I let out a cry of surprise, staring at him in shock. He smiled at me again. I hastily shook my head, saying "No!" as I did so. His smile gradually faded from his face, which turned pale, and he suddenly asked, "You're willing to be the emperor's woman?" My heart was even more frantic, and I busily shook my head again. I didn't want to, I didn't want anything, I just wanted to live a good life, find someone who truly loved me, cherished me, and protected me, not just a plaything for when he had nothing better to do. Don't pass me back and forth like a gift, I'm a person, not an object.

  He looked at me with a pained expression, shaking his head violently, and then suddenly grasped my head in both hands, saying: "Don't shake anymore!" My eyes were welling up with tears, my heart was desolate, but I just stared at him with wide eyes. He looked at me for a while, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again, and let out a sigh, saying: "Fine, have it your way!" After a pause, he added: "I'll think of something." Having said that, he released me. Then he called Li Fu in and told him to take me back to my sister's place.