The prince is more stable

Chapter 643 Shattered Moonlight
Zhao Xiaoqian has only ever seen one woman in his two lifetimes who always has a background music playing when she appears.

Every time she gets close to him, it's like flipping a switch; BG and M automatically start playing in his mind, even more dazzling than the special effects of the top fan entering the live stream.

Zhao Xiaoqian always felt that this was a very magical physical phenomenon, and sometimes he even wanted to study it in depth. However, if he studied it in depth, he would have to open his head open, which would be too painful, so he couldn't bear to do it.

It's very strange. Was this woman a resentful woman abandoned by a wealthy family in her past life? Otherwise, why would she be so broken?
Zhao Xiaoqian slowly turned around, and the first thing he saw was that cold yet broken face.

His face was expressionless, and the light in his eyes was like a stagnant pool of water, without the slightest ripple, as calm as an unfathomable abyss.

But for some reason, her eyes, which were clearly devoid of any emotion, always gave people the feeling that she had experienced many hardships and suffered a lot in her life, easily arousing a man's protective instincts.

"Your Highness," Zhao Xiaoqian smiled, "It's been a long time. How have you been?"

Yelü Nanxian said coldly, "When you left, you didn't even say goodbye before abandoning me."

Zhao Xiaoqian paused, thinking, "These words sound so resentful, they really have that air of a wronged woman abandoned by a wealthy family."

Thinking about it, something does seem off. After all, she was inexplicably kidnapped to the Song army camp by him, and she was all alone and helpless. Perhaps the only person she could be somewhat close to was him, but he didn't take her seriously at all and didn't even say goodbye when he left the Juma River camp.

Blinking, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly straightened his face and said, "I abandoned you, why don't you look for the reasons within yourself?"

Yelü Nanxian's usually impassive expression finally changed slightly, as if he was somewhat shocked that he could say such unreasonable things.

Zhao Xiaoqian continued calmly, "There are different levels of closeness and distance between people, right? Sometimes we don't even want to greet people we don't know well, but we will do anything to protect the people next to us, the people we share our lives with. That is the difference between closeness and distance."

"If you were my woman, would I abandon you? I would take you with me wherever I go. But you're not, so is it crazy that I left you without a word?"

Swayed by Zhao Xiaoqian's logic, Yelü Nanxian subconsciously nodded: "No problem."

Zhao Xiaoqian shrugged: "So, what reason do you have to criticize me? Wasn't it a perfectly normal choice for me to leave you here? Haven't you reflected on yourself these past few days?"

"What... should I reflect on?"

"I should reflect on why I didn't seize the opportunity, sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night, and after we made it a done deal, my treatment improved, I had a powerful backer, my endocrine disorder was cured, and if I'm lucky, I might even become a mother."

"With so many benefits, all you need to do is take the first step decisively. I've already taken ninety-nine steps to climb into my bed in the middle of the night, is it really that hard for you to take this one step?"

Yelü Nanxian couldn't hold back any longer; she felt a little dizzy.

After being subjected to Zhao Xiaoqian's twisted logic, Yelü Nanxian couldn't understand it and kept asking herself, "He was the one who abandoned me, so why does it seem like I'm the one who's wrong now?"
What exactly is wrong?
Should we apologize to him?

Fortunately, Yelü Nanxian was aloof and never suffered from internal strife.

He doesn't want to think about problems he can't understand, but he wants her to climb into his bed on her own initiative... Ha!

Unable to resist rolling her eyes at him, Yelü Nanxian turned and left.

Zhao Xiaoqian raised an eyebrow; the way that little girl rolled her eyes really hit his heart.

It has to be said that the broken, beautiful image of a woman is incredibly powerful for men. Every expression and every movement is a stunning painting, every moment worth treasuring in memory, spending the rest of one's life reminiscing about that youthful figure, and then arguing and getting a divorce with the aging, haggard woman beside them.

Following Yelü Nanxian's steps, Zhao Xiaoqian asked with concern, "Have you suffered any hardship while living in the backyard these past few days? Have you had enough to eat and wear?"

Yelü Nanxian said without turning her head, "It doesn't matter. I'm not picky about food or clothing. One of your Song people, Xu Jiang, sent me a few maids to serve me, which is quite thoughtful."

"You stay in the courtyard every day, don't you ever go out for a walk? I told you, as long as you have the Imperial Guards with you, you can move around freely in the vicinity."

Yelü Nanxian said, "Going out for a walk occasionally is not very interesting. Staying in the courtyard allows you to read books by the Song people."

As she spoke, Yelü Nanxian suddenly stopped, and Zhao Xiaoqian, who was walking behind her, bumped into her back unexpectedly. It felt soft and comfortable.

Yelü Nanxian didn't care; she seemed indifferent to everything.

"I heard that the Song army is going to start another war against the Liao?" Yelü Nanxian suddenly asked.

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded: "That's right. The Song Dynasty is preparing to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. There's nothing to hide. Both the Song and Liao Dynasties know that this war is unavoidable."

Then Zhao Xiaoqian cautiously asked, "...Are you going to shatter again?"

Yelü Nanxian: "???"

"National hatred and family feuds, not only is there no way to serve the country, but you also have to watch helplessly as the enemy slaughters your country's soldiers and their families, and you have to live under the roof of the enemy camp. How can your life be broken when it has fallen to such a state?"

Yelü Nanxian coldly replied, "What can a weak woman like me do when two countries are at war?"

"If one day the Song army breaches Shangjing and the Liao Kingdom is destroyed, what will you do?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked curiously.

Yelü Nanxian shook his head: "I am just a prisoner of the Song Kingdom. I can't even control my own destiny. How can I have the mind to care about national and personal vendettas?"

Zhao Xiaoqian gave her a thumbs up: "Open-minded!"

"It's just a helpless resignation to fate," Yelü Nanxian said calmly. Glancing at him indifferently, Yelü Nanxian said, "Your Highness has returned to camp weary from your journey. How about I roast a rabbit for you to welcome you back? You are the highest-ranking official here, so I can't offend you and must even try to please you."

Zhao Xiaoqian asked in surprise, "You can roast rabbit?"

"I didn't know how before, but after being locked up here, I had nothing better to do, so I learned how."

The two walked to the north wing of the backyard, where a row of small cages were placed. Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at them and was shocked to find that there were more than a hundred rabbits of various sizes in the cages.

"Did you catch this?"

"You caught it, have you forgotten? It's just that it's been breeding for the past few months, giving birth to brood after brood," Yelü Nanxian said calmly.

Zhao Xiaoqian then remembered that he had indeed taken her to catch rabbits before returning to Bianjing, and they had caught more than a dozen and kept them in cages.

I never imagined rabbits could reproduce so quickly; in just a few months, there are already over a hundred of them.

Yelü Nanxian squatted by the rabbit cage, her cool gaze sweeping over the rabbit for a while before selecting a relatively plump one and lifting it out.

How about this one?

What else could Zhao Xiaoqian say besides "okay"?
Yelü Nanxian nodded, walked to the middle of the courtyard, and then Zhao Xiaoqian saw her pinch the rabbit's head with her bare hands, twist it expressionlessly, and the rabbit stopped struggling and immediately died.

Zhao Xiaoqian gasped. This youthful, aloof, and broken girl, the white moonlight in the hearts of countless men, who could imagine that she was actually a woman like an eagle who could twist off a rabbit's head with her bare hands?

Judging from her skillful and efficient movements, she has probably done this job more than once or twice.

"Bunny is so cute, why would you eat a bunny..." Zhao Xiaoqian looked shocked.

Yelü Nanxian frowned: "They're already dead, so are we going to eat or not?"

"eat."

White smoke rose from the charcoal fire on the grill. The innocent rabbit, stripped of its skin, was turned over and sprinkled with cumin, releasing a rich aroma of meat.

Yelü Nanxian's roasted rabbit skills were also quite good. During the boring days of being confined in the Song army camp, the broken white moonlight seemed to have learned a lot of technical knowledge.

After the rabbit was roasted, Yelü Nanxian took the initiative to tear off a piece of tender meat and hand it to him.

Zhao Xiaoqian took a bite and immediately praised it highly.

"Not bad, not bad, your skills are really good. I can imagine how bored you've been these past few days."

Yelü Nanxian hummed in agreement, still focused on roasting the rabbit, and said casually, "It's not boring. At least it's easier here than in the capital. Life isn't as tiring."

Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at her and said, "I heard that you are a member of the Liao royal family. You were originally a county princess, but were later made a princess because of a marriage alliance. Is your family very strict with you?"

"It's very strict, and I'm not valued by my family, otherwise they wouldn't have pushed me out for a political marriage," Yelü Nanxian said calmly.

"If I use you as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Yelü Hongji, offering you in exchange for a city, would Yelü Hongji agree?"

Yelü Nanxian's pretty face revealed a mocking smile: "A city? Ha, you'd be lucky to get a cow in exchange for that."

Zhao Xiaoqian was taken aback: "So cheap? Is this the price in your Liao Kingdom?"

Yelü Nanxian ignored him, staring intently at the rabbit sizzling and dripping oil on the charcoal fire. Suddenly, her eyes reddened, and she sighed softly, "I am a captured Liao princess. The capital doesn't care about me at all. Even if you are willing to let me go back, I'm afraid I will never be able to return to my homeland in my lifetime."

"Zhao Xiaoqian, I have no home anymore."

Zhao Xiaoqian gazed at her intently for a long time before whispering, "I'll give you a home."

"This is the Juma River, a war zone between the two countries, and it is no longer safe. Tomorrow I will send someone to take you to Zhengding City, where my Prince's Mansion is located, with six ladies in the mansion."

"I will send someone to escort you to Zhen Ding City. From now on, you will be my guest, and my wife will take good care of you."

"Of course, if you really want to go back to Liao, I won't stop you. To be honest, you're not very valuable to the Song Dynasty now. We kidnapped you to stop the Liao-Xia marriage alliance. Now that war is about to begin, whether you're here or not won't affect the overall situation."

Yelü Nanxian lowered his head and pondered for a long time before saying, "I will not return to the capital."

"Why?"

“Back in the capital family, I became a commodity again. When the right people and the right time come, I will be traded away by the family again to get the benefits they want.”

Yelü Nanxian let out a long sigh of relief, and then a bright smile suddenly appeared on her face as she looked at him.

"Your Song army kidnapped me, but it might not be such a bad thing for me. It's like I've escaped that cage. Why should I go back?"

(End of this chapter)