Perchance to Dream

26: One Lead to Another

Because Mei Yanran's group was so close to the other characters, it wasn't convenient for her to talk. She could only send helpless looks to Xiao Xue and Chen Xiao, both of whom echoed her sentiments with a mixture of bewilderment and resignation. These were original NPCs that she'd customized from the Goddess of Fates for this world. Though they didn't hold the knowledge of the plot or its main characters like their mistress, Mei Yanran had caught them up on pieces here and there, which was why they hadn't expected the scene to play out so unexpectedly, either.

Mei Yanran narrowed her eyes as the beggar boy left, leaving the group of three main characters, one cannon fodder, and two servant girls to dawdle on the streets. They made a perfect love line, with Chu Yeguang staring at Li Siyan staring at Chu Yexuan staring at Wei Wanru, who was quietly checking her basket.

If I recall, the crown prince was interested in Li Siyan once. They almost formed an alliance against the male and female lead.

Fortunately, fate had intervened and eliminated the crown prince before that could happen. Or rather---his future wife, the princess of the western kingdom, had killed him in a fit of jealous rage, then went after each and every one of his supposed lovers. Li Siyan had narrowly escaped death herself by framing the female lead to take the blame in her place. Meanwhile, the death caused political unrest in the country and its bordering nations before devolving into all-out war, forcing the male and female lead to flee for their lives. Countless lives had been lost simply because of Chu Yeguang's philandering ways. Mei Yanran looked at the distracted expression of the crown prince and gave a mental snort.

Never accept overtures from a playboy. You'll only end up hurting yourself!

Meanwhile, Chu Yeguang was staring gloomily at Li Siyan's chest. After the girl had gotten up, she'd wrapped her dark purple cloak around herself, complete with hood. The only visible part of her clothing inside was the pale yellow fabric peeking out from her chest and neck. Though the design and cut were different, it made him instantly recall Mei Yanran's dance dress at the Snow Festival. He hadn't thought much of such bland hues before, but now they seemed warm and soft. Naturally, thoughts of Mei Yanran soon made him remember how he'd lost sight of her after the brothel window, and his face fell again.

Am I raising rice buckets for guards? They can't even track down a single girl and her maidservant, so worthless!

At this moment, the three guards in question landed in front of the trio with a respectful bow. Their leader cast a cursory glance at Wei Wanru and Li Siyan before proceeding to make a report.

"Your Highness, we were unable to locate the targets."

Wei Wanru's eyes flickered with curiosity, but she remained silent. Li Siyan had stayed in the palace for awhile, so she was more bold in the presence of the princes. Out loud she asked, "Your Highness was looking for someone?"

Irritation flashed in Chu Yeguang's eyes as he swept an eye over his guards. "It's nothing important." Immediately after that, he paused in thought, then added, "I left an item behind with a certain person and was trying to track that person down."

Both Mei Yanran and her servants tensed, the former because Xiao Xue was tugging on her sleeve, the latter because they recognized the qi signatures from those guards. It was the crown prince who'd sent men to tail them! Mei Yanran took a little longer to connect the dots, but as Xiao Xue's meaningful eyes darted between her and Chu Yeguang, she finally figured things out. She flushed immediately at the implications. First sending his guards after her, then asking her for his token back when she was going to return it discreetly?

Don't drag me into this, Chu Yeguang. The last thing I want is to get involved with you.

In her agitation, she shifted backwards and bumped against a pile of empty baskets, causing the whole stack to sway slightly and scatter dust on their heads. That would've been fine, but the next thing Mei Yanran knew, she sneezed!