Chapter 28 But Miss Lin already had someone she loved. ...
Chu Heng was not surprised by this.
It's no surprise that he fell for someone as wonderful as Miss Lin.
Chu Heng was surprised to find that he was so oblivious that he had only just realized his true feelings.
"Your Highness?" Daiyu looked at Chu Heng in confusion.
Chu Heng subconsciously looked back at Daiyu. His face first flushed, then the blush faded, leaving him pale.
They were already engaged, but Miss Lin already had someone else in her heart.
Chu Heng looked away and said softly, "It's nothing... Miss Lin, there's one more thing. The Empress Dowager intends to select two governesses for you to teach you the rules of the palace. She won't send them over immediately, but you must remember that these two people may both be the Empress Dowager's spies, or perhaps only one of them is."
Daiyu nodded: "I understand, thank you, Your Highness."
Chu Heng continued, "The Empress Dowager holds absolute power in the inner palace, making it difficult for others to cause trouble. However, once outside the palace gates, the situation is entirely different. If Miss Lin is willing, I do have some ways to deal with such matters."
Daiyu glanced at him and whispered, "Judging from what Your Highness is saying, do you also have the Empress Dowager's spies around you?"
Chu Heng smiled and said, "It's inevitable that His Majesty would have such people around him, let alone me."
Daiyu's eyelids twitched. How many undercurrents were surging beneath the mask of royal harmony?
"It's nothing serious, Miss Lin, don't be afraid." Chu Heng noticed her tension and quickly reassured her, "I will protect you."
Daiyu wasn't afraid, but she found it shocking; the blood ties and affection of the royal family were truly insignificant.
Thinking about what she had heard, seen, and experienced in the Jia family, Daiyu felt that it was quite ordinary. If even a family in a declining duke's mansion could be so scheming and fighting, how much more so the supreme and noble royal family.
Daiyu smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Looking at her expression, Chu Heng said with admiration in his eyes, "Miss Lin is always calm and composed, but there are many things in the palace that you are not familiar with. If you have any questions, just tell me, and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge."
Daiyu curtsied and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Chu Heng looked helpless: "Miss Lin, you really don't need to be so polite. It is true that we are not very familiar with each other, but we have a long way to go. Miss Lin, it's too awkward to keep doing this. Don't you think so?"
They seemed to have discussed the issue of excessive or insufficient formality at Longhua Temple. Daiyu recalled that time, but she was no longer melancholy, perhaps because she understood Chu Heng better now.
Daiyu smiled and said, "Your Highness is right. It's getting late, and I'm afraid it's not good for Your Highness to delay any longer. It will be inconvenient to meet afterward. If you have anything to say, please write to me."
Chu Heng gazed longingly at Daiyu. It was already dusk, and he really couldn't stay any longer.
"Alright." Chu Heng nodded. "Indeed, there are still some matters to attend to. I will ask Zhao Qing to come to the residence tomorrow or the day after."
Daiyu quickly added, "Your Highness really doesn't need to send me such expensive gifts anymore. Just seal them in a box so outsiders can't see them. Your Highness can just give me a perfunctory gift."
"How could I possibly brush you off?" Chu Heng replied instinctively. "I mean... I have plenty of items like this in my storeroom, Miss Lin doesn't need to feel... anything about it..."
In a hasty attempt to recover his losses, Chu Heng realized he had said the wrong thing again.
Daiyu nodded. The ancient characters that Chu Heng had once taken out, which seemed extraordinary to others, were indeed ordinary to him.
Since these things would eventually return to Prince Duan's residence, Daiyu stopped arguing with him.
Chu Heng could only swallow back the words he was about to say. He had clearly chosen the gift carefully before giving it to Miss Lin, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, which was truly frustrating.
...
After seeing Prince Duan off, Daiyu returned to Grandmother Jia's room. Jia She and the others were still there. They all had something to say to her, but because of Prince Duan's intimidation earlier, none of them wanted to be the first to speak up.
They already knew perfectly well that Prince Duan's trip was to establish Daiyu's authority.
They've already lost a concubine and a noblewoman; Daiyu is someone the Jia family can't afford to offend.
Grandmother Jia waved her hand wearily and said, "You may all leave now. I want to have a word with Lin."
"Grandma..." Jia She hurriedly said, "The palace has already issued an imperial decree. We also need to have a plan for our younger brother and sister-in-law's affairs. Otherwise, I'm afraid the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress will think that we are trying to protect them. If the Emperor's wrath comes again, our family will really not be able to bear it."
"Second brother, don't you think this makes sense?" Jia She turned to look at Jia Zheng, whose face was ashen.
Jia Zheng felt deeply ashamed and resented Jia She for deliberately making a fool of him. He gritted his teeth and said, "What my elder brother says is absolutely right. Old Madam, what do you think is the proper course of action?"
Grandmother Jia said irritably, "Saying such things in front of the children is becoming increasingly unruly. All of you, get out!"
In Jia She's view, this was the old lady protecting the second son's family again, which made him extremely dissatisfied. However, he was powerless to do anything about it and could only reluctantly get up and say, "Yes."
Jia Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how he dealt with Madam Wang, at least he could lose less face in private behind the backs of the younger generation—although he had already lost almost all of his face by now.
But Jia Zheng breathed a sigh of relief too soon. Jia She took a few steps and suddenly came up with an idea. The second son's wife had framed her niece, and she would definitely be unhappy. Even if the old lady protected the second branch of the family, she was still afraid of Prince Duan and the imperial family. As long as the niece spoke up, the second branch of the family would definitely not get away with it.
When the old lady deals with the second son's wife, the power to manage the Jia family will naturally return to the eldest son's family, and Jia She will no longer be so strapped for cash.
Jia She thought for a moment and then said to Daiyu, “Niece, you must be feeling very wronged. Just say what you have to say. It’s alright. Your eldest uncle, grandmother, and second uncle will all help you.”
Daiyu was taken aback by this turn of events, but before she could speak, she heard Grandmother Jia pound the bed and angrily shout, "Are you still fooling around here? Aren't you afraid the children will laugh at you?!"
Jia She sneered inwardly, but bowed his head and said, "How can you say such a thing, Madam? As your uncle, I should show some concern for my niece. How could that displease you?"
Grandmother Jia was stunned with anger. She was extremely dissatisfied with her eldest son, who only knew how to quarrel with his brothers. Now that the second branch of the family was suffering a loss, did the eldest branch of the family benefit?
We prosper together, and we suffer together! The eldest son and the second son are like blood relatives, their bones are still connected, and they can't be written with the same stroke of the pen!
He even instigated Daiyu to deal with the second wife; he was utterly stupid!
Daiyu had no intention of getting involved in the Jia family's internal turmoil, so she took the opportunity to say, "Thank you, Uncle, but with the imperial edict and decree in place, I dare not say more."
Jia She choked.
This time, Jia Zheng could no longer easily put his mind at ease, fearing that some other unexpected changes might occur.
Fortunately, Grandmother Jia, having recovered her strength, urged them to hurry up and leave. Jia Zheng readily complied and asked his elder brother to go first, while Jia She snorted.
Daiyu watched indifferently as her two uncles walked past her one after another. It wasn't just the royal family; in the eyes of some people, blood ties were simply worthless.
Exhausted, Grandmother Jia leaned against the pillow. All she wanted to do was rest, but there were some things she had to say to Daiyu.
Grandmother Jia said softly, "Yu'er, come and sit next to your grandmother."
Daiyu silently went over and sat down, then whispered, "What are your instructions, Grandmother?"
"What are your orders?"... Grandmother Jia gave a bitter smile. Now, let alone giving orders, everyone in the Jia family, including herself as the Duchess, had to curry favor with Daiyu.
She originally thought that after marrying into the royal family, Daiyu would need the Duke's mansion as a backer, and would naturally know who to side with.
However, the second son's wife, that fool, had a sudden inspiration that brought about such a big change. I wonder what Daiyu must be thinking.
Not to mention, there's also Prince Duan...
Grandmother Jia's eyes flashed, and she forced herself to sit up straight, asking, "Yu'er, there's no one else here. Tell your grandmother the truth: were the imperial edict, the imperial decree, and... and the matter concerning the Empress, all obtained by the Prince from the palace?"
Even if the Empress Dowager liked this fiancée very much, it wouldn't have led the Emperor and Empress to issue decrees one after another. It would only make sense if Prince Duan used the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's favor to achieve this in order to protect his fiancée.
Daiyu hadn't expected her to be so direct. After a pause, she tried to downplay the issue and said, "Grandma, how can the Prince, as a son and a subject, influence the Empress Dowager and the Emperor?"
"Yu'er, Grandmother, aren't you going to tell the truth?" Grandmother Jia said in a low voice, her eyes filled with undisguised disappointment.
Daiyu felt quite helpless. She knew what the old lady hoped for, but she was truly powerless to help. Even a noble concubine couldn't lift up the Jia family, so what could she, a powerless princess, do?
All Daiyu could do for the Jia family was to ensure that the marriage arrangement wouldn't go wrong because of her, but if the Jia family insisted on courting death, she was helpless.
Daiyu said, "Grandmother, this is my mother's family home, and I grew up here. I would never wish for anything bad to happen to the Jia family."
Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia perked up and hurriedly said, "In that case, Yu'er, is there anything you can't say to your grandmother?"
"Does Grandmother have something to say to me?" Daiyu asked.
Grandmother Jia was taken aback: "What?"
“Grandmother, both my second aunt’s title and the Empress’s position as a Noble Consort were caused by my second aunt alone, not by me,” Daiyu said. “Grandmother, are you asking me this because you blame me for bringing Prince Duan into the family and causing trouble for the Jia family?”
Grandmother Jia knew that her granddaughter was eloquent, but she never expected that one day these sharp words would be directed at her.
Grandmother Jia stammered, "It really has nothing to do with you. I... I was just wondering, how could our own family matter have alarmed the Emperor?"
"Now that many people know about this, His Majesty may have heard it from someone," Daiyu said. "Grandmother, why don't you investigate how these words got out and how they spread so quickly?"
Grandmother Jia nodded subconsciously: "It must be investigated thoroughly, it must be investigated very carefully..."
Looking at the old lady's gray hair and wrinkles around her eyes, Daiyu said, "Grandmother is getting old. It would be better to leave such mentally taxing tasks to the servants."
Grandmother Jia, at her advanced age, still had to clean up the messes left by the younger generation. She felt utterly exhausted, and with her eyelids drooping, she responded in a daze, "Okay..."
Seeing this, Daiyu said, "You rest, I'll take my leave."
Grandmother Jia was getting old and had been busy lately, so she couldn't keep up and was unable to stop Daiyu from leaving.
"well……"
Yuan Chun lost her position as Imperial Concubine, Daiyu remained uninvolved, and none of her children and grandchildren were capable. At her age, who could she rely on?
Grandmother Jia covered her head and fell back onto the pillow, sighing helplessly.
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