Chapter 139: What else do you care about besides taking a concubine?
The windows are bright and clean, and the aroma of tea is wafting in the air.
Song Lingyi stared blankly at the man sitting opposite her, her eyes gradually changing from confusion to resistance, and she said flatly: "I will not marry you."
Despite such a blatant rejection, Xiao Mingyi's expression did not change. He still looked calm, with his eyebrows slightly raised, and his face remained motionless, as if everything was under his control and her opinion was not important.
Song Lingyi immediately panicked and couldn't help but shout, "Didn't I make it very clear last year? I want a lifelong couple. My future husband must not take concubines. If you can't do it, there are people who can. Why waste each other's time?"
Xiao Mingyi glanced at her indifferently. He was always gentle when talking to others, but in front of him, she was like a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment.
"When did I ever say I wanted to take a concubine?"
Song Lingyi's tone choked, and after a pause, she quickly added, "You didn't say it, but you are the crown prince of a country, and you will be the emperor in the future. Do you think Queen Shen and the court officials would want you to stay with only one woman in this life?"
The more she talked, the more upset she felt. She was already in a bad mood, and now she had to waste time arguing with him.
Xiao Mingyi looked at her, his brows sullen. "That's their business, not mine. We're living together, and as long as I don't agree, can they force a woman on me?"
"You also know that all this depends on your thoughts." Song Lingyi's breath was choked again, her eyes cold, "My beauty will fade and my love will fade. I will eventually grow old. I will get tired of looking at the same face all day long."
"When you get tired of it, you can have all sorts of beauties, from plump to slim, from stunning to stunning, with endless beauties. And what about me? I can only guard the empty palace, listening to others talk about which concubine's palace you visited yesterday, and which concubine you favored today. I can't even have the slightest jealousy, otherwise my reputation as a jealous woman will be engraved in the history books, and the girls in the Duke's Mansion will also be dragged down by me."
At this point, a complex melancholy flashed across his dark eyes, and then he became firm: "Appearance fades, and true love is also fleeting. I don't want to marry you."
If you marry someone else, you can still get a divorce. If you marry into the royal family, you will be a ghost of the royal family until you die.
Xiao Mingyi's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes darkening. "Who did you get these absurd things from? From the beginning to the end, you're the only woman I've ever had. I was always like this when I was full of energy. Can you still be obsessed with romance now that I'm old?"
"A gentleman's word is as good as gold. Since I dare to promise you, I will definitely do it in this lifetime. Saying so much is nothing more than not trusting me."
"You talk as if you are worthy of my trust..." Song Lingyi muttered weakly.
Moreover, in history, there are many emperors who worked hard in their youth but became incompetent and lawless in their old age. Life is so long, who can guarantee consistency?
The atmosphere around them suddenly grew colder, and the man sitting opposite them had a gloomy expression. "Aside from concealing my identity, I've never lied to you. How can I not be trusted?"
After a pause, his thick brows furrowed even deeper. "Besides, you've only met Pei Zhao a few times, yet you're so bold as to pledge your lifelong engagement to him. I've saved you so many times, yet I've never seen you be so gentle with me."
Song Lingyi was stunned by the serious tone and blinked very slowly. "You deserve it! Who made you hit me and despise me before?"
Xiao Mingyi choked.
"When did I hit you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he smiled meaningfully, as if he had thought of something. "Are you talking about the day when you led Xuanfeng and the others to act as bandits and rob people on the road?"
“…”
Song Lingyi's cheeks flushed with anger at his ambiguous gaze, and she subconsciously retorted, "No, I'm talking about the day at the Guanyin Temple!" He stepped on her knee and even called her dirty.
Unexpectedly, she could remember something so long ago. Xiao Mingyi patiently explained, "The situation was urgent at the time. Xiao Du's men were chasing me everywhere, and you had no idea where you came from... And if you didn't run, would I have stepped on you?"
"Before, you told Kong Hansheng that I wasn't steady enough and that I needed to change my personality. You clearly didn't respect me and looked down on me. Now you want to marry me. Isn't it just your possessive desire that's at work? Once I enter the palace, you might even turn against me!"
Song Lingyi seemed to be arguing with him and began to list all the old bad accounts.
"If I didn't respect you, I could have just ignored you and directly ordered Duke Jin and Old Lady Lu to come to the palace to discuss the marriage. Why would I go out of the palace to meet you secretly and ask your opinion? I admit that I didn't pay enough attention to you before, which made you feel resentful. Now that I have called off the engagement, you have to give me a chance to prove it, right?" Xiao Mingyi stared at her.
"Besides taking a concubine, what else do you mind?"
Song Lingyi lowered her thick eyelashes, twisted the fine cotton cloth on her knees, and said calmly for the first time, "You are the crown prince of a country, and the Song family is in decline. I am just a cousin living under someone else's roof. The gap between us is not a chasm, but a chasm."
"Besides, it was just for exploitation at first, and we later separated. This is enough to prove that the bond between us was shallow. We should learn from this, let each other go, and look forward to the future."
Xiao Mingyi's eyes flickered slightly, his fingertips stroking the teacup's walls as he spoke slowly, "Fate in this world is as thin as a cicada's wing. Shallow fate is just a false word to end affection. In my opinion, everything is in our hands, and there's no need to use the word 'fate' as an excuse for reunions and separations."
“…” Song Lingyi looked up in a daze.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, making the pair of narrow and long phoenix eyes sparkle and reflect her appearance shimmeringly, slightly touching the softest part of her heart.
After a long pause, she said, "...But there are many rules in the palace, and I just broke off my engagement, so I'm not suitable to be the Crown Princess at all."
Xiao Mingyi curled his lips, his phoenix eyes gazing deeply at her: "No matter how many rules there are in the palace, they can't bind the master. Besides, you're breaking off the engagement, not getting a divorce. Why are there so many taboos?"
Song Lingyi's mind froze slightly, and she suddenly realized that her originally firm willpower had been somewhat swayed by the man in front of her. She drooped her eyelids and stopped looking into his eyes.
"But I have no intention of getting engaged at the moment. Don't put your mind on me. Just listen to the Queen and go through the selection process and get married as soon as possible."
After she finished speaking, she quickly stood up and left the room.
The strong men in brocade clothes who were quietly guarding the lobby downstairs did not dare to stop her this time, and she left smoothly.
By the carriage, Hongju had been waiting anxiously. When she saw her daughter finally coming out of the teahouse, she hurried forward to greet her.
"girl."
Song Lingyi raised her hand to signal her not to ask any more questions, "Go back home first."
The carriage rumbled towards the Duke of Jin's mansion.
In the carriage, Song Lingyi specifically told Hongju not to tell anyone else about what happened today, and to pretend that nothing had happened.
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