Chapter 86 Getting Married? So Direct!
To Chen Liangyu's surprise, during the preparations for the Fourteenth Princess's investiture ceremony, diplomatic envoys presented lavish gifts to Bei Yong in return, and told Zhai Ji that Da Lin had no princess to marry. Zhai Ji, knowing that Da Lin had an unmarried princess, easily gave up his marriage proposal.
Chen Liangyu said, "The fact that Zhai Ji so readily stopped asking the Emperor of Beiyong to marry the princess of Dalin can only mean that his original purpose was not this."
She pondered for a moment.
"He went to great lengths; it couldn't have been just to send his own sister, the emperor's sister, to a foreign land to be a concubine, unless there was a backup plan. He wanted to use the Fourteenth Princess for something."
Bei Yong did not establish a crown prince. Zhai Ji and the eldest prince had been vying for the throne for many years. After escaping from Da Lin and returning to Bei Yong, Zhai Ji, having survived a hostage situation in an enemy country and risked his life to bring back the Yin-Yang Three Scrolls of the He Family's military strategy, and personally leading troops on the border, enjoyed high prestige in the army and the court. The eldest prince of Bei Yong gradually lost ground. Sending his younger sister to Da Lin for a marriage alliance undoubtedly added another bargaining chip to his bid for the throne. But it seems there is more to it than that.
Chen Liangyu said confidently, "Zhai Ji must have other intentions. But what could they be?"
Xie Wenjun said, "I finally have a few days of free time, to ignore court affairs and spend some time alone with you, but you are never at peace. Your mind is either on the northern border or elsewhere. You have always been like this."
"When I was in the northern border and elsewhere, I often thought of Your Highness." There had never been a question of possession or loss between them, yet Chen Liangyu felt an extremely strong sense of loss and regaining.
Xie Wenjun said, "Miss me? What does General Chen miss about me?"
These outrageous words caught Chen Liangyu off guard, causing her to choke. She released Xie Wenjun abruptly, turned her head, and coughed violently twice, her face turning red from her neck down to her ears.
Xie Wenjun patted Chen Liangyu's back to help her catch her breath, "You're still so easily teased. How come you haven't improved at all? You blush as soon as you say a word."
A lantern grass in the corner matured early. Its fluff was blown away by the wind, and before it could land on Chen Liangyu's high-tied black hair, Xie Wenjun raised her hand to brush it away.
After Chen Liangyu calmed down from coughing, he said, "I choked."
“You wouldn’t look like this if the candle were out.” Xie Wenjun crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her head, and gave a half-smile.
The more Chen Liangyu looked, the more familiar Xie Wenjun's crossed-arms posture seemed. The weather in the northern border where she grew up was bitterly cold. In the past, when she felt cold in winter, she would naturally cross her arms over her chest. The weapons in the military camp were also very heavy. Sometimes when she was tired from practicing martial arts, she would relax like this. Over time, she developed the habit of crossing her arms over her chest when she had nothing to do.
It's obvious who Xie Wenjun learned her posture from.
Chen Liangyu turned to look out of the archway. The guards stood straight with their backs to the shooting range, motionless like scarecrows. There was a considerable distance of dirt road between here and the archway, and Xie Wenjun kept her voice low, so in theory, no one should have heard her.
Xie Wenjun said, "The guards outside the door are all my personal guards. They will not reveal that you and I are here today."
Chen Liangyu said, "In broad daylight. Does Your Highness have nothing else to say? Just to tease me a few times?"
"Of course not."
The blush on Chen Liangyu's face had faded considerably, as she had indeed been choked by the cold wind. A very faint honey-red hue had appeared under her eyes and on her brows, making her look like she had just applied makeup.
Xie Wenjun's eyes flickered, and she said, "I don't know what Zhai Ji wants to do with the Fourteenth Princess, but I really want to do something to you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Liangyu felt the cool fingertips moving across her face.
Then continue downwards.
Chen Liangyu practiced martial arts for many years, and his figure, wrapped in a long robe, felt quite nice to the touch.
Her delicate hand landed on her chest, and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster in her chest cavity.
Xie Wenjun leaned close to her ear and silently felt her heartbeat.
The sunlight poured down like gold tempered on broken stones, splashing onto the eaves and slanting into the pavilion.
This person has two faces: one under the bright sun and the other behind the silken curtains. Her emotions are like those of a nocturnal creature, darting among the dunes and bushes only in the dim moonlight. By day, she is always dignified and upright like a gentleman.
Xie Wenjun, however, did not want her to be a virtuous person.
She wanted to bring the subtle matters between them to light.
Xie Wenjun raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping lightly over Chen Liangyu's pupils.
The look in Chen Liangyu's eyes did not reveal the struggle or the effort to endure that Xie Wenjun had hoped for. Instead, she asked her, contrary to her usual behavior, "Does Your Highness wish to test whether I have made any progress here?"
The archery pavilion at the shooting range had wide eaves, under which several curtains were rolled up with silk ribbons to keep out the wind. Chen Liangyu had a few green leaves between his fingers. With a flick of his finger, as if picking flowers, the leaves instantly turned into sharp blades and shot out from between his fingers. The silk ribbons tore open, and the curtains cascaded down, covering three sides of the archery pavilion.
Chen Liangyu grabbed Xie Wenjun and pinned her against a pavilion pillar. He brushed the stray hairs from her face, gazed at her intently, and did not rush to kiss her. "Your Highness, it seems that I have lost you a thousand times."
The arms wrapped around Xie Wenjun's waist tightened their embrace, pressing even closer together. Chen Liangyu lowered her head, her cool lips brushing against Xie Wenjun's ear. She could feel Xie Wenjun's body stiffen for a moment, and then the arms around her neck tightened even more.
A moment later, Xie Wenjun said, "If you don't like being in the daytime, you don't have to force yourself."
Chen Liangyu laughed at her for being two-faced and hypocritical, saying, "Didn't His Highness already barely manage to get through that in the side hall of the Southern Hunting Horse Ranch?"
"If you don't like it, you won't in the future."
"like."
Chen Liangyu ran his fingers through Xie Wenjun's hair near his temples, placed his palm behind his head, and said, "As long as it is Your Highness, I like you."
Xie Wenjun's throat tightened, as if she was considering something. When she finally spoke, she was unusually stammering, "You, you said..."
"If you wish, we can also go to the mountain valleys, the waterside, the alleys and meadows, the sandy willows and fields. You can choose whether it is day or night, wherever you want to go and whatever time you want to go, Your Highness."
Xie Wenjun's lips twitched, as if there was something he needed to confirm. Chen Liangyu couldn't wait and lightly covered his lips with hers. The moment their lips touched, it was like a spring breeze brushing against peach branches, embracing and entwining them tenderly. The kiss was long, so long that it seemed endless.
For many long years, Chen Liangyu couldn't discern whether her uncontrollable feelings for Xie Wenjun were love or lust. It was lust, yet it seemed more than that; was it love? It felt unreal and strange, at least in her opinion. She feared Xie Wenjun would find it absurd and bizarre, so she repeatedly examined it in her mind, repeatedly approaching a conclusion, only to retreat and deny it time and again.
Only then did she realize that the love she cherished so deeply had finally gained a tangible warmth.
The breeze stirred the hem of their skirts, making them sway lightly. Their breaths were slightly disordered as their noses touched and gently brushed against each other. Chen Liangyu asked, "Does Your Highness truly have nothing else to say to me?"
Sooner or later, someone has to speak up first. If Xie Wenjun is unwilling to be the one to break the ice, then she should be the one to express her feelings. She is open and honest, as clear as day.
"Yes," Xie Wenjun said.
"What is it?"
"Marriage alliance".
Chen Liangyu's breath hitched for a moment. Marriage? So direct!
Xie Wenjun said, "I think we should ask for your opinion on this matter."
"I have no objection."
Chen Liangyu suddenly adopted a very serious expression, as if they were about to discuss a matter of life and death concerning the court. "This matter is not to be taken lightly. Shouldn't we sit down and talk, instead of lying down?"
Xie Wenjun considered for a moment and said, "We can also lie down and talk."
"There's nowhere to lie down, and the ground is cold."
Chen Liangyu adjusted Xie Wenjun's slightly loose cloak, retied the sash, and gently combed some of Xie Wenjun's stray hairs. Her gaze kept shifting as she thought about what kind of golden phoenix crown would suit her. Xie Wenjun would be a unique and dazzling beauty in a wedding gown.
But what should I wear?
The wedding robe should be exactly the same as Xie Wenjun's. The headdress will have some subtle differences: three tails make a phoenix, and two tails make a phoenix. The headdress worn by the eldest princess when she is married is usually a three-tailed phoenix crown, while her own crown should have one tail removed.
Chen Liangyu kept calculating in his mind, and after cuddling with the person for a while, he finally sat down to talk properly.
Xie Wenjun sat down first on the nanmu chair in the arrow pavilion, and Chen Liangyu followed closely behind and sat opposite her. The two people, who were reluctant to part just a moment ago, suddenly became solemn like envoys from two countries negotiating a peace treaty.
Xie Wenjun asked, "Has Chen Xingqian finalized his engagement?"
Not yet.
"What? Still holding out?"
Chen Liangyu suddenly looked up, "Your Highness, what did you say?"
"I say, Chen Xingqian is also a devoted lover," Xie Wenjun said. "Ali, the person he likes will never be his for the rest of his life unless the world is turned upside down. Chen Xingqian has such a handsome appearance, inherited a marquisate from his family, and is a rising star in the court. How can people not have doubts about him after so many years without a wife?"
"Your Highness, please do not make unfounded speculations. This matter is not to be taken lightly."
Xie Wenjun's eyes were bright and clear, full of confidence, and she said, "Why are you so nervous? It's just the two of us here. Is it that I'm making unfounded assumptions, or is Chen Xingqian deceiving himself into thinking that this matter is completely hidden?"
Chen Liangyu stared in disbelief.
"It seems my guess was correct."
Chen Liangyu quickly recalled a few past events. The Empress had once personally made a pair of shoes and entrusted her to deliver them, but Xun Shutai had taken them without permission. After that, the Emperor Emeritus issued an imperial edict to bestow a marriage upon the Empress and the current Emperor, who then hastily married and went to Linxia as a fief.
No one else knew about this except her and Xun Shuheng. She was certain she hadn't mentioned it to anyone, not even her second brother. She realized her second brother's feelings for Xun Shuheng at the Shenwang Mansion in Linxia.
However, it is likely that neither of them knew the other's feelings.
The last time Chen Liangyu remembered seeing the two of them was on the day of the empress's coronation ceremony. Chen Xingqian knelt among the civil and military officials, and together with other officials, he waited for the empress to leave the carriage. He watched as the emperor, dressed in a dragon robe and crown, descended from the east steps to welcome the empress into the inner palace. Afterward, the emperor and empress went together to the Fengxian Hall to pay their respects at the temple.
After that, Chen Xingqian became even more cautious, and even at home he would try his best to avoid mentioning the Empress, and would never do anything out of line.
How did Xie Wenjun guess it?
"The Prince Shen's residence in Linxia," Chen Liangyu said with great certainty.
Xie Wenjun said, "That's right."
Chen Liangyu quickly went through every person and every place in the Prince Shen's mansion in Linxia in her mind. The flower hall? The bamboo forest? Apart from Xie Wenjun, who else could see anything?
Xie Wenjun said, "I didn't see anything between the two of them. It's you who's acting strangely."
"I?"
Chen Liangyu wondered if Xie Wenjun had said something in his sleep while they were sleeping together, something he shouldn't have.
Xie Wenjun thought for a while, "I can't quite put my finger on it. I only noticed that there was a moment when your expression was a little off, and the way you looked at Chen Xingqian and my sister-in-law seemed uneasy. Chen Xingqian has not married for so many years, surely he can't be too busy with court affairs to take a wife? Thinking back to your eyes at that time, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm guessing."
Chen Liangyu was utterly bewildered and confused. "How could you guess that... Wait a minute!"
What did Xie Wenjun just say? Was it "to form a marriage alliance" or "to get married"? These two terms have slightly different meanings.
"Is Your Highness seeking my opinion on my second brother's marriage?"
Xie Wenjun nodded and said, "Who else could it be but Chen Xingqian? The marriage proposal in Huai'an will have to wait for more than ten years."
Chen Liangyu was indignant. Besides her second brother and An'er, was there no one else in the Xuanping Marquis's mansion? With such a living person sitting right in front of her, was Xie Wenjun pretending to be blind, or did she not consider her a human being?
"I……"
She had barely opened her mouth when Xie Wenjun interrupted her, "Do you remember that I have an adopted daughter?"
"Hengyang".
The Heng family of the Southern Border.
When Prince Qi plotted his rebellion, she and Heng Zhao, the young marquis of the Heng family, were both in Yongdu. After Heng Miao imprisoned his father, Heng Jinan, and raised an army to quell the rebellion, Heng Zhao was dragged to the front lines by Prince Qi and bled to sacrifice to the flag. Heng Yang was with the Empress Dowager at the time. Xie Wenjun ordered the Inspectorate and a lieutenant of the Imperial Guard to cooperate from both inside and outside to escort the Empress Dowager and Heng Yang to escape outside the city.
Heng Jinan has been living in seclusion in the southern border by Heng Miao. The direct line of the Heng family has been out of power for a long time. Heng Miao, the current head of the Heng family, looks down on families of low social standing who want to marry into the family, while families of high social standing dislike the Heng family's murky waters and are unwilling to get involved. As a result, Heng Yang's marriage has not yet been settled.
Chen Liangyu's expression was complicated as he said, "If I may ask, Your Highness, what are your thoughts? Heng Yang is about the same age as Your Highness, so why did you choose to recognize her as your goddaughter instead of your god-sister?"
If Heng Yang becomes her second sister-in-law, Chen Xingqian should follow Heng Yang's example and call Xie Wenjun "godmother".
Therefore, she herself was naturally a generation younger than Xie Wenjun.
Xie Wenjun was speechless for a moment when she heard her question, and after a long while she said, "You really don't remember whose idea this was?"
"It can't be me again, can it?"
"I would also like to ask you what you were thinking when you asked me to recognize Heng Yang as your goddaughter."
Chen Liangyu remembered.
The situation was urgent, and it was necessary to win over the Heng family. Considering that the adopted daughter was closer to the family than the adopted sister, she decided on this arrangement. Roughly speaking, Xie Wenjun was not yet twenty years old at that time, still waiting for a good match in her secluded chambers, and yet she became a mother in such a bizarre and unconventional way.
Chen Liangyu, though unreasonable, was also arrogant. He sat up straight and said, "How can we judge things from that time in today's context? Isn't that right, Your Highness?"
"Oh!"
brazen!
She dug the hole herself, and now she has to find a way to fill it herself. Chen Liangyu moved closer to Xie Wenjun and tentatively asked, "Can this be changed?"
Author's note: I'm quietly updating a chapter; I hope no one notices.
This is locked too!!
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