The Dandy's Duchess

Chapter 86: Off to Roast Fish (8)

"Still want to race? Lightfoot skills?" Ye Qingran asked.

"Yes!" Yun Qianyue responded, already springing lightly off her toes, gliding swiftly down the mountain.

Ye Qingran wasn't to be left behind; almost simultaneously, he took off beside Yun Qianyue. In a flash, the two of them sped past the group, disappearing dozens of meters away like a gust of wind, graceful and fast as a breeze.

Watching them leave, Ye Tianqing's face darkened, as if clouds had descended over a mountain. Yun Qianyue, am I invisible to you? How dare you ignore me and just walk away! His hand clenched inside his sleeve, and veins pulsed at his temple.

Ye Tianyu, who had been enjoying his meal, was startled to see them leave so abruptly, unable to intercept them even if he wanted to. Watching Yun Qianyue's departing figure, he murmured in surprise, "Since when did Sister Lan's lightfoot skills improve so drastically?"

Ye Tianqing's dark expression flickered in surprise. He noticed Yun Qianyue's elegant, breezy movements, completely different from her previous sluggishness, as if she had transformed. His lips tightened, and his dark eyes narrowed.

At that moment, Yun Qianyue suddenly seemed to lose control and, from a height of three meters, let out a frightened cry as she plummeted toward the ground. Her graceful composure vanished, and she shrieked, "Ye Qingran, save me!"

Ye Qingran seemed alarmed as well. Realizing she was falling, he rushed to her side with lightning speed, catching her just before she hit the ground, saving her from a rough landing. His voice filled with irritation as he chided, "You reckless girl! Playing around with lightfoot skills you haven't mastered. If I hadn't caught you, you'd be tasting dirt right now!"

Yun Qianyue, still shaken, patted her chest, her voice soft and fearful from the scare and Ye Qingran's scolding. "I thought it was going well, but I lost control somehow. This technique Grandpa taught me is so unreliable. I don't want to practice it anymore!"

"It's not the technique's fault; it's just that you're clumsy," Ye Qingran snapped, "You're hopeless!"

"You're the hopeless one!" Yun Qianyue retorted, glaring at him. "Fine! I'm hopeless. You're all so smart, aren't you? Then I'll just stay away from all of you, and you'll never have to deal with me again."

She angrily pulled away from him and stormed off.

"Hey, that's not what I meant..." Ye Qingran rushed after her.

"Yes, it is exactly what you meant!" Yun Qianyue ignored him.

"You're not hopeless at all; actually, you're quite smart! Just now, you looked graceful... if you hadn't fallen, that is... uh, even when you fell, you still looked graceful..." Ye Qingran stumbled over his words in his attempt to appease her.

"Stop talking!" Yun Qianyue's face turned dark.

"Alright, I'll stop. I didn't see anything just now—nothing at all," Ye Qingran offered, raising his hands in surrender.

"You'd better not have seen anything. If anyone dares mention this, I'll dig up their family's ancestors' graves!" Yun Qianyue threatened him with a glare, loud enough for the others to hear. She even cast a warning glance at Ye Tianqing and the others before striding away.

"Fine, I won't say a word. Anyone who dares mention you falling while practicing lightfoot skills, I'll help you dig up their ancestors' graves too!" Ye Qingran promised, glancing in the direction of the onlookers before hurrying after her.

"That's better," Yun Qianyue said with a pleased smile, her mood visibly lifted.

Ye Qingran mumbled something indistinct, and the two of them walked down the mountain side by side, no longer using their lightfoot skills.

Ye Tianyu, mouth agape, had been holding back a piece of fish, unable to swallow it until the two were well out of sight. Finally, he gulped it down and turned to Ye Tianqing, bewildered. "Did I imagine that? How did she suddenly get so good at lightfoot skills, only to flub it like that?"

Ye Tianqing regained his composure and replied calmly, "You didn't imagine it, but you didn't see anything either."

Ye Tianyu was taken aback. "Crown Prince Brother, are you actually worried that girl would dig up our family's graves? Not a chance! Even if Ye Qingran tried, he wouldn't dare dig up our family's resting place."

Ye Tianqing snorted, "Regardless, you didn't see anything. You're not to mention this. Understand?"

Ye Tianyu blinked, puzzled, but nodded. "Understood."

Ye Tianqing turned to Rong Linglan, Leng Shuli, and Qin Yuning, his tone authoritative. "The same goes for all of you. You didn't see a thing, and I expect absolute silence on the matter. You know the consequences if you don't."

"Yes, we saw nothing," the three women agreed immediately, lowering their heads.

Ye Tianqing then addressed Ye Tianyu again, "Since you've enjoyed their fish, you can help clean up. Make sure you extinguish the fire and erase any traces so the monks won't notice anything."

With a last look at the area Yun Qianyue and Ye Qingran had disturbed, Ye Tianqing turned and began heading back down the mountain. He would return to the Dharma Hall, where Rongjing and the Lingyin monk had continued their discussion of Buddhist principles.

Rong Linglan and Leng Shuli exchanged resentful glances. Women's hearts are keenly attuned to such matters; when the Crown Prince had suddenly decided to leave the Dharma Hall, they had suspected something was amiss and insisted on following him, only to discover that his concern had been for Yun Qianyue. And now, he was even forbidding them from speaking of her clumsy fall. The realization left both women uneasy and unsettled.

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