Chapter 120: Don’t you want a status?

In the side hall of Shaohua Palace.

The wife of the Duke of Weiguo entered with a cheerful smile on her face. Everyone at today's Hundred Flowers Banquet knew that the purpose of the Banquet was to select a Crown Princess for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

After the banquet, the Queen summoned her alone. Perhaps the Queen also listened to the advice.

The wife of the Duke of Wei hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings to the Queen and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhao Yun said, "No need to be polite, aunt."

Queen Wei looked at the wife of Duke Wei and said, "I summoned you here because I want my brother to recognize the future Crown Princess as my eldest daughter, so I specifically want to tell you this."

The wife of the Duke of Weiguo asked in confusion, "What do you mean by recognizing the future Crown Princess as your eldest daughter? Sister, I don't understand what you are saying."

Queen Wei sighed and said, "Yun'er wants his maid Ye Wanhe to be the Crown Princess. Her family background is low after all. One day, they will say that she is the eldest daughter of his younger brother who lived away from home and recognized his younger brother as her father. They will let her marry into the palace as a daughter of the Wei family."

The wife of Duke Weiguo was furious. "Sister! You are also a daughter of the Wei family. You would rather let a palace maid be the Crown Princess than let your own niece be the Crown Princess? A lowly maid..."

Before Lady Weiguo finished speaking...

Zhao Yun then said angrily, "Madam Wei, do you think you can arrange the future Crown Princess? I call you aunt because it is a sign of respect for my elders. How dare you treat yourself as an elder in the palace?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yu pulled the wife of Duke Weiguo to kneel down.

After hearing what Zhao Yun said, Lady Weiguo knelt down tremblingly, "Your Highness... I..."

Queen Wei said: "I told you that I would recognize Ye Wanhe as my daughter. I just informed you in advance, not discussed it with you."

"Back off."

The wife of the Duke of Wei said hurriedly, "Yes, Queen."

The wife of Duke Weiguo and Wei Xi walked out of the palace and got into the carriage. The wife of Duke Weiguo was filled with anger.

"The Queen is so foolish that she would rather let a maid be the Crown Princess than let her own niece be the Crown Princess."

Wei Xi frowned and said, "The maid Ye Wanhe mentioned by Aunt Queen is Yun Xiangye's cousin."

Wei Xi recalled the time on the pleasure boat. No wonder her cousin the Crown Prince was so furious...

Yun Xiangye was really capable. Wei Xi felt very aggrieved. Why did she keep taking away her good marriage opportunities?

She would have accepted it if she had lost to the Lin family, the Xu family, or the daughter of the Fu family. But why did Yun Xiangye, a girl from a merchant family, have such good luck?

Her sister was just a lowly servant. Why did she claim to be the eldest daughter of the Wei family?

The more Wei Xi thought about it, the more indignant he became.

…

Inside the East Palace.

Yun Xiangye saw that her sister's complexion had improved a lot, so she whispered in the Yongxing City dialect, "Sister, what happened to the injury on your hand?"

Ye Wanhe looked at the wound on her hand and said, "The other day in the temple, my hand was burned by incense ash. Su Zhan came to apply medicine to me and told me that if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was unwilling to give me a status, he would wait until I left the palace, no matter if I left the palace at the age of forty, fifty, or sixty...

As long as he and I are still alive, we can be husband and wife for a day."

Ye Wanhe smiled bitterly and continued, "The Crown Prince heard this and wanted to chop off Su Zhan's hands that were applying medicine to me. In a hurry, I grabbed the knife and wanted to chop off my own hands to save Su Zhan's hands..."

Yun Xiangye said: "No wonder, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to grant marriage to my cousin and Xu Mengqi. Fortunately, His Royal Highness is not hopeless. He knows that someone has snatched you from him, so he is still willing to give you a status."

Ye Wanhe just smiled bitterly again.

Yun Xiangye looked at Ye Wanhe's expression and said, "Sister, don't you want a status?"

Ye Wanhe said: "At the beginning, I did want a status, especially six years ago when I knew I was pregnant. I never thought about status in these years. I just hoped to leave the palace as soon as possible. I finally waited until the age of 25...but I will be trapped in the palace forever."

Ye Wanhe whispered, "Now that we have a child, it's better to have a status than no status. But if I have to abandon my parents and recognize other people as my parents to get this status, then I don't want it."

Ye Wanhe coughed twice and said, "Xiangye, I have been dreaming about our childhood a few days ago. I dreamed that I was in the school and Mr. Li taught us that girls don't have to be confined to the backyard, and should have a broad world and should not accept their fate.

But I have learned from Mr. Fu Li's teachings and have accepted my fate. I used to only want to be a slave in the palace for the rest of my life. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. I have to serve my master carefully all day long and dare not be negligent in the slightest. Every time I say something, I have to carefully consider what I mean.

But in my heart, compared to having a status, I actually yearn for the free life outside the palace more..."

Ye Wanhe fumbled for the fake death drug hidden in her purse, "If I can become the Crown Princess with the identity of Ye Wanhe, for the future of the child in my belly, I will accept my fate of being trapped in the palace for the rest of my life.

If I have to give up my identity and change my name, then I just want to leave the palace and go home to reunite with my parents. I miss my hometown so much."

Yun Xiangye said, "I miss home too. There are so many delicious spring foods in Fangqiao Town. I can't eat them after I come to Chang'an."

As the two were talking, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came in. Yun Xiangye was startled when she saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince coming in, but then she remembered that they were speaking the dialect of Fangqiao Town, which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince certainly couldn't understand.

After all, the accent in their hometown is different every ten miles, and there are many dialects in Yongxing City.

Zhao Yun walked in and came to Ye Wanhe's side and said, "What were you talking about just now? Why can't I understand a word you said?"

Ye Wanhe whispered, "This is our local dialect, which is different from Mandarin."

Zhao Yun smiled faintly and said, "It is said that your Jiangnan dialect is the soft Wu dialect, but when I hear you speak the Yongxing dialect, it is not soft at all."

Ye Wanhe said: "The soft and sticky Jiangnan dialect is spoken in the Gusu area. I am from Yongxing City..."

Zhao Yun said, "Someday, you can teach me the Yongxing City dialect."

Ye Wanhe responded, "Yes, Your Highness."

Zhao Yun looked at Xiao Nuonuo who was eating cakes with puffed cheeks, and walked forward to pick up Xiao Nuonuo.

Perhaps it was the joy of becoming a father for the first time, as he was holding little Nuonuo in his arms, Zhao Yun was thinking that by this time next year, he would be able to hold his own child.

Zhao Yun said to Ye Wanhe, "My father and mother have agreed to let you be the Crown Princess. Tomorrow, my mother will discuss with my uncle and ask him to recognize you as the daughter of the Wei family."

Zhao Yun looked at Ye Wanhe's face without any joy, and he couldn't help but frown and asked, "Don't you want to be the Crown Princess?"

Ye Wanhe said: "I am not so hypocritical as to not even want the most honorable position in the world."

Zhao Yun said: "Then why are you not happy at all?"

Ye Wanhe looked directly into Zhao Yun's eyes and said, "Because I only want to marry Your Highness as Ye Wanhe, not to change my name and surname and deny my origins. If Your Highness insists that I become the Crown Princess as a daughter of the Wei family, then please forgive me for not obeying your order."

Zhao Yun frowned and his face darkened when he heard this. His voice was low and quiet, yet full of majesty and chilling: "Wanhe, do you dare to disobey my order?"

Seeing his severity, little Nuonuo in Zhao Yun's arms was so scared that she burst into tears.

Yun Xiangye felt extremely distressed, but due to etiquette she could not take Nuonuo back from Zhao Yun's arms.

Ye Wanhe took Nuonuo from Zhao Yun's arms and handed her to Yun Xiangye, saying, "Xiangye, take Nuonuo back to the princess's mansion first."

Yun Xiangye glanced at Ye Wanhe worriedly.

Ye Wanhe smiled softly towards Yun Xiangye: "Go back quickly, I will be fine."

"stop."

Zhao Yun said slowly, "You hid your pregnancy from me, so I won't pursue it. I won't pursue Jingyu's hiding it from me either. But Yun dared to lie to me and committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. I can't help but pursue it..."