63 Fall Into the River (1/2)

Ye Jiayao's alcohol tolerance was high and no one could keep up with her as she drank to her heart's content.

After they had finished their meal, Wang Mingde, who was still sober, offered to take her home. Ye Jiayao looked down at the mess of a guy on the floor and waved her hand in dismissal.

She said, ”That's alright, I'm not drunk. You'd already have a hard time carrying these drunkards to the house with Old Guan. Oh, and make some sobering soup for them to drink, alright? Shopkeeper Li would go ballistic if no one would be able to work tomorrow.”

In truth, Ye Jiayao knew that she had drunk too much. She had only been forcing herself to act as if the alcohol didn't affect her one bit. However, as soon as she left the restaurant, she gave up the pretense and allowed herself to stagger home, occasionally burping loudly.

In her drunken stupor, she thought of Little Jing. He didn't come to the restaurant today, and perhaps, Ye Jiayao thought sadly, he wouldn't come in the future either. Cute Little Jingjing, I don't know what is wrong with your brother! Ah! Forget it. It's better this way. You, Young Royal Highness, should be looking for something respectable to do. Hanging out all day in the restaurant will only make people think that you're just a good-for-nothing royalty.

As for Dumb Donkey, it was good that he didn't come again. She could not stand to see him staring at her so lovingly. What was up with that? Did he forget what he had done? Did he think that after ripping her heart in two, he could just apologize and everything would be a-okay again? Ha! I'm not that easy, you stupid donkey.

Ye Jiayao's gaze was already a bit blurry so she didn't notice the small stones on the road. On one particularly bad step, she slipped. She braced herself for the pain of falling, but just as her butt was about to hit the ground, a pair of arms caught her around the waist and pulled her up.

”Th…thank you!” Ye Jiayao exclaimed.

”Dead drunk at midnight. Are you really a woman?” an angry male voice retorted.

Xia Chunyu had come to the restaurant earlier and waited outside for Yaoyao. An hour passed before he saw her walk out of the establishment drunkenly.

She was really getting wilder and brasher these days. Did she think that dressing like a man automatically made her untouchable? She even dared to drink with a bunch of men! The mere thought of that made Xia Chunyu hate the nameless guys. It made him want to close the restaurant down and put all the people inside there in a big prison.

Ye Jiayao turned sideways to look at her savior. Was she really that drunk? She had to be hallucinating, because why else would Dumb Donkey be here?

Xia Chunyu swore under his breath, his grip on her tightening in fear that she might fall over. He was unbelievably angry but he couldn't exactly unleash that on a drunk woman.

”You…are you Dumb Donkey?” Ye Jiayao, bleary-eyed, poked her tongue out and pointed it at his nose.

Xia Chunyu furrowed his brows. This woman.

”Chunyu,” he corrected her. ”It's actually remarkable that you can still recognize me since you can barely even walk.”

Oh. It's really him.

Ye Jiayao immediately pushed his hands away from her, tottering a few steps back. ”I already told you not to bother me. Why are you here?”

Xia Chunyu noticed that she was swaying dangerously close to the river.

”Yaoyao, come here. You're going to fall into the river if you go further back,” Xia Chunyu told her, his eyes darting to her feet nervously. If he thought that she wouldn't move away from him the second he goes near her, he'd go over to her pull her back right now.

Ye Jiayao waved away his concern impatiently. ”I don't need you to take care of me.”

”Okay, okay. Can you just explain to me why Helian Royal Highness came looking for me?” asked Xia Chunyu.

He had known that before Helian Xuan came to find him that night, he had gone to Heavenly Residence and apparently left there angry. Xia Chunyu went to ask Little Jing about it, but he, too, knew nothing because Helian Xuan had been keeping him close to his side these days. Helian Xuan claimed that he was teaching him how to manage general affairs, but it seemed to Xia Chunyu that it was just a ploy to keep Little Jing from leaving the palace.

With no one else that could answer his question, he could only come to Yaoyao.

Yes, that's a very good excuse. Xia Chunyu told that sarcastic voice inside his head to shut up.

Ye Jiayao was slightly embarrassed, remembering how she used Chunyu's name as a shield.

”Why would I know that? He is crazy!” Ye Jiayao exclaimed in exasperation, beyond tired of thinking about the rude Helian Royal Prince.

”How is he crazy?” Xia Chunyu squinted at her, his body tensed and prepared to rush over to her at any second if she falls.

”First, he offered me money to leave Jin Ling and to never contact his brother again. When I refused, he said he'd kill me. What kind of idiot does that? What, just because he's a prince, that automatically gives him the right to bully people?” Ye Jiayao ranted angrily.

Xia Chunyu could feel his forehead crinkling in confusion. Why would Helian Xuan do that? What could possibly be his reason for wanting Yaoyao out of the city?

”He even said that I had made Little Jing bad - that I'm a bad influence. Me. I'm telling you, that prince is mental,” Ye Jiayao continued.

Xia Chunyu didn't know what to make out of this.

”Well, in that case, I agree that he is very detestable. Do you want me to help you vent?” asked Xia Chunyu with a smile.