"Your Highness? How could you treat me like this? She was the one who hit me! Instead of helping me, you're helping her? Your Highness, I've admired you since I was a child! Besides, my father has already agreed to our marriage. Once my father gets the imperial decree from the Emperor, we'll be engaged!"
"You actually treated me like this for such a worthless country bumpkin?"
Princess Shuhe was coldly reprimanded by Li Xiaochen. Her eyes were filled with sadness and tears. She looked at Li Xiaochen and said aggrievedly.
It's as if Li Xiaochen is a heartless man.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuxin turned to look at Li Xiaochen, her eyes asking him:
Your fiancée?
When Li Xiaochen saw the way Lin Yuxin looked at him, he felt a chill run down his spine and quickly shook his head!
Turning to look at the aggrieved Princess Shuhe, he spoke coldly:
“Princess Shuhe, please stop talking nonsense. When did we ever have a marriage agreement? As for the imperial decree, since no decree was issued, it must be baseless. Does the princess not care about her reputation at all? Besides, I already have a fiancée, and we will be getting married soon. The princess doesn’t need to waste her energy!”
Li Xiaochen showed no mercy and directly shattered Princess Shuhe's illusions.
"Wha...what? You have a fiancée? Who?"
Upon hearing that Li Xiaochen had a fiancée, Princess Shuhe's face turned deathly pale, and she lost all her previous arrogance. She looked at Li Xiaochen in disbelief and questioned him.
"Shui Mei!"
Li Xiaochen ignored her and instead called out to the outside.
Shui Mei, who was standing outside the door, heard the prince call him. He looked at the door, which was blocked by those young ladies, walked to the window, pushed it open, and jumped in.
Only then did he walk to Li Xiaochen's side and respectfully greet him:
"Your Highness!"
Lin Yuxin looked at the master and servant pair, her lips twitched, and she suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Take out the imperial edict and read it aloud!"
Li Xiaochen raised his chin and said, his tone full of arrogance.
Shui Mei remained silent for a moment, then resignedly took out the imperial edict and solemnly began to read it aloud:
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Princess Pingning is virtuous, gentle, kind, and of outstanding character and appearance, which I find very pleasing. Now that the Regent is of marriageable age, a virtuous woman should be chosen as his consort. I hereby bestow upon Princess Pingning, Lin Yuxin, and the Regent, Li Xiaochen, a match made in heaven. To ensure the happiness of this beautiful union, Princess Pingning is betrothed to the Regent as his Princess Consort. All ceremonies shall be jointly handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Director of the Imperial Observatory, and the wedding shall be held on an auspicious day."
The proclamation was made known both domestically and internationally.
So be it!
Lin Yuxin's embarrassed expression was impossible to hide; she just wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Why does he carry an imperial edict around? Doesn't he worry about it getting stuck in his skin? What is Li Xiaochen thinking?
Poor Shui Mei who follows him! Even on a mission, she has to carry an imperial edict with her at all times! And this kind of edict at that?
No, we'll have to confiscate the imperial edict when we get back. If we keep doing this, doesn't she have any dignity?
Lin Yuxin was bewildered in the wind, while Princess Shuhe and the other young ladies were also quite frightened.
When Shui Mei produced the imperial edict, they were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground and listened respectfully to it.
Princess Shuhe also knelt down stiffly, listening numbly to the imperial edict.
Even after the imperial edict was read aloud and Shui Mei had put it away, the people kneeling on the ground were still in a daze.
Princess Shuhe knelt on the ground. When she heard the news of the betrothal to Li Xiaochen and Lin Yuxin, she felt as if the sky had fallen. The person she had longed to marry actually had a fiancé! And someone else at that!
Why? Why is Li Xiaochen's wife this despicable woman who is inferior to him in every way?
In what way does she fall short of her? And it was an imperial marriage bestowed by the Emperor? Is the Emperor blind?
No, this must be fake, it's fake!
"This imperial edict must be fake, fake!"
Princess Shuhe suddenly raised her head and looked at the imperial edict that Shui Mei had put away, her eyes red and she vehemently denied it.
"Whether it's fake or not is none of the princess's business. Princess, get out of here! I still need to cultivate my relationship with my fiancée. You really have no sense of propriety!"
Li Xiaochen reprimanded him impatiently with a cold face.
Why is this never going to end? He just wants to spend some time with Xin Xin, why is that so difficult?
"You...you all...! I'm going to tell Father! Waaaaah!"
Shuhe was utterly humiliated by Li Xiaochen's rebuke. She got up crying, covered her face, and ran away.
Seeing that the princess had left, the other young ladies who were following her also quickly stood up, bowed to Li Xiaochen, and then withdrew.
They dared not linger here and risk the prince's wrath. Didn't they see the murderous intent in his eyes? If they stayed any longer, they would be courting death!
However, what surprised them the most today was that the Regent and Princess Pingning's marriage was bestowed by the Emperor! If Princess Shuhe wanted to marry the Regent, she could only be a concubine or a secondary wife!
Moreover, both of them are princesses. Although Lin Yuxin's status is somewhat lower, it doesn't matter because the marriage was arranged by imperial decree, making her the principal wife.
Even if Princess Shuhe marries into that family, she will still be inferior to them. It looks like there's going to be a good show to watch.
Everyone left, each with their own thoughts. Only then did Lin Yuxin look at the smug-looking Li Xiaochen and say in an annoyed tone:
"Not bad! You're quite smug, aren't you! The dignified Regent Prince doesn't even care about his dignity, treating this imperial edict like a toy! Taking it whenever he wants! And you even made Shui Mei read it aloud? What? Are you afraid others won't know we've been betrothed? Are you going to go door to door announcing the edict?"
"Hehe! I was just seeing that princess talking about having her father petition for the imperial decree. I'm already Xinxin's woman, so I can't let them succeed. That's why I read the imperial decree aloud and made them give up!"
"Moreover, I truly wish that everyone in the entire Xia Kingdom would know that you belong to me! That you are my future queen!"
Li Xiaochen held Lin Yuxin's hand tightly and said earnestly.
What he didn't say was that the imperial edict had originally been with him, but he had been busy with palace affairs these past few days, so he had temporarily entrusted it to Shui Mei.
He had originally planned to keep the imperial edict on his person and take it out to look at it whenever he missed Xinxin, in order to ease his longing.
He did exactly that in the North City, and I never expected it to be of this use today. Hmm! This imperial edict was placed in the right place!
Hearing Li Xiaochen's words, Lin Yuxin softened again. Oh well, so be it if I lose face. With Li Xiaochen by my side, it's not so bad!
The two lingered for a while longer, then Li Xiaochen looked at Lin Yuxin, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
"Is there something you need?"
Lin Yuxin looked at him helplessly. What couldn't he tell her?
Do you know about Xiao Hao's background?
Li Xiaochen looked at Lin Yuxin's face and spoke slowly.
Although he knew that Lin Yuxin knew about Xiao Hao's background from the beginning, he had to pretend that he didn't know and couldn't let her know that he heard all of this from her inner thoughts.
Lin Yuxin looked at Li Xiaochen in surprise, her expression stiffening and turning serious as she asked earnestly:
"What do you mean?"
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