Chapter 38 I will be good to you too.
"That won't do!" Chu Heng was about to politely refuse when Yongkang spoke up first, "Mother, you can keep your own grandniece, but how can you keep your future daughter-in-law? What kind of example would that set if word got out!"
The Empress Dowager was taken aback. She looked at Yongkang, not expecting her to say such a thing. After a long pause, she said, "You said that? When did you learn anything about manners and etiquette?"
Yongkang pouted: "I'm my mother's daughter, don't I know manners and etiquette? I wonder who taught me badly!"
These words were truly disrespectful, and the palace servants in the hall all lowered their heads, not daring to listen closely.
Chu Heng glanced at Daiyu, his eyes conveying reassurance.
"You..." The Empress Dowager was stunned with anger, "You are becoming more and more lawless!"
Before Yongkang could speak, Chu Heng said first, "Yongkang, you and Miss Lin go to your room to talk."
Daiyu quietly tugged at Yongkang's sleeve, and she reluctantly pulled Daiyu out. The two Fang family girls were then led away by the female official at Shuangyun's signal.
"Yongkang has been in a bad mood lately, Mother, please don't take it to heart with a child." Chu Heng poured a cup of tea and handed it to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager didn't answer, but slammed her hand on the couch, angrily saying, "She's still upset! I've worried so much about her, and she keeps finding excuses to upset me!"
Shuangyun rubbed the Empress Dowager's chest to help her catch her breath: "The princess was indeed speaking without thinking, but it was all unintentional. Your Majesty, please don't take it to heart. It would be bad for your health if you got angry!"
Chu Heng placed the teacup on the table, thinking to himself that getting angry would only bring trouble upon himself, but he said aloud, "Mother, please calm down. Yongkang is not good; we can teach her slowly. After all, it's not a big deal. Why don't you just go along with her wishes..."
The Empress Dowager glared at him, no longer pretending to be out of breath on the pillow: "Keep going along with her, what does she know! Don't upset me here, let me have some peace and quiet."
Chu Heng respectfully replied, "Yes, Mother, please rest well. I will take my leave now."
Meanwhile, Yongkang was incessantly complaining about the Empress Dowager, who insisted on marrying her off to the Li family against her will. She was trying to persuade her nanny to tell the Emperor that she had taken a liking to the Li family. For Yongkang, marriage was secondary now; what mattered was that the Empress Dowager was determined to drag her into the center of this struggle.
Daiyu didn't need to carefully consider her words, because Yongkang didn't give her a chance to speak at all; she only needed to be a listener.
Daiyu thought that she just needed someone to listen to her vent her frustrations.
Not long after, Lu Hua came over and said, "Eunuch Zhao is here. Princess, the Prince and Miss Lin are leaving the palace to return to their residence."
Yongkang didn't linger, only saying, "Sister Lin, I'll see you off. Look how chaotic this palace is, you should come less often in the future. Fifth Brother doesn't like going to the palace on weekdays, except for paying his respects."
Daiyu said gently, "In the future, the princess will naturally have a vast world to explore."
“Actually, I’ve thought about it too. Fifth Sister isn’t bad either. If we can endure a few years, we’ll have a better life…” Yongkang said as she walked. But when she saw Chu Heng, she changed her mind again. “Why don’t I become a monk? That would be true peace and quiet!”
Chu Heng only heard the last sentence before saying, "Only men can be monks; you can only be a nun."
“Nuns or Taoist nuns are fine,” Yongkang said. “Fifth Brother, do you know where there are nunneries?”
Chu Heng said, "I don't know, and you can't possibly become a monk."
Yongkang said, "What if?"
“There’s no such thing as ‘what if’,” Chu Heng said firmly. “You can’t compete with the Empress Dowager, nor can you compete with the Emperor.”
Yongkang remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Who can prevail over whom, the Empress Dowager or the Emperor?"
Chu Heng remained silent for a while, then raised his hand and patted Yongkang on the shoulder: "Don't always make the Empress Dowager angry. If she takes it seriously, you'll be the one who suffers."
Yongkang nodded, his shoulders slumped.
As Daiyu watched the siblings part, she was filled with emotion. After she boarded the carriage and left the palace gate, she suddenly heard Chu Heng say, "I'm sorry, Miss Lin."
Daiyu asked, puzzled, "Your Highness... what does this mean?"
Chu Heng said, "Yongkang and I are both the Empress Dowager's children. Whatever she wants to do, we can just consider it as our birthright suffering. It's just that you've been implicated because of me."
Daiyu shook her head.
“I know that saying it again and again won’t help,” Chu Heng said with a wry smile, but he never knew how to express his guilt to Daiyu.
"Things have come to this, Your Highness... I choose to look forward." Daiyu looked at Chu Heng.
Looking into her unwavering eyes, Chu Heng slowly nodded: "Okay, let's look forward together."
"I remember, Miss Lin, we will both get what we want." This was the promise Chu Heng had made to her before.
However, besides granting Daiyu's wish, Chu Heng also wanted...
The beautiful girl was looking at him. Chu Heng felt a pang of sadness, wondering what kind of person she was looking for and what kind of person she would fall for.
Does Chu Heng have the qualifications?
After a short while, Daiyu asked, "Your Highness, is there really no way to resolve the princess's matter?"
Chu Heng snapped out of his reverie and shook his head. "The more Yongkang makes a scene, the more the Empress Dowager insists, and I can't..." He paused, then continued, "There is a risky method. Didn't Yongkang just say she wanted to become a nun? If she's willing to go all out, the Emperor and Empress Dowager might be afraid of making a scene and losing face, so they might stop pressuring her. However, Yongkang has to show them her determination to fight to the death, and there's an even worse outcome..."
"His Majesty has more than one sister, Yongkang. The Empress Dowager wants a daughter, whether she is biologically related or not is not necessarily that important," Chu Heng said coldly.
Yongkang also had two younger sisters from the same father. Since the late emperor had passed away, their mother's words carried little weight, and the Empress Dowager could easily influence them.
Daiyu couldn't help but shiver: "...I understand."
Seeing her frail shoulders trembling slightly, Chu Heng's heart softened. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but fearing he might offend her, he could only say gently, "Yongkang is a princess after all. No matter whose family she marries into, she can't bear to be wronged."
Daiyu nodded: "I know, but seeing how unwilling the princess is, I can't help but feel sorry for her."
"You're a good girl," Chu Heng assured her softly. "Don't be afraid, I won't let you suffer any more injustices in the future."
Daiyu was taken aback, and after a moment she realized that Chu Heng was connecting Yongkang to her.
Having known Yongkang for a while and listened to her complaints, Daiyu couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Being kind and soft-hearted, she wanted to help Yongkang and relieve her worries, but she really didn't think of herself.
But there was one person who thought of Daiyu all the time.
He was someone Daiyu never expected.
“…Thank you, Your Highness,” Daiyu said, bowing her head and choking back tears.
Chu Heng felt a pang of tenderness in his heart. He could already sense Daiyu's emotions at that moment. After hesitating for a long time, Chu Heng gently placed his hand on Daiyu's wrist through her clothes.
Inside the carriage, only the breathing and heartbeats of two people filled the air, slowly drifting in a tranquil and warm atmosphere.
When they arrived at Ningrong Street, Chu Heng remembered that there was something important he hadn't mentioned: "The Empress Dowager brought up the matter of the governesses today. She was in a bad mood when we left the palace and didn't think about it, but we can't pretend that it didn't happen. I'll go to the palace again tomorrow and bring the two governesses here."
Daiyu immediately tensed up and nodded earnestly, "Okay."
Chu Heng added, "I'll find out about them for you first."
Daiyu nodded again.
The two exchanged a few more words, and then the carriage arrived at the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.
"Your Highness..." Daiyu suddenly said before getting out of the carriage, "I will also be good to you."
Chu Heng was taken aback.
Daiyu had already helped Zhao Qing out of the carriage. When Chu Heng realized what was happening, he lifted the curtain to look. Daiyu, sitting in the sedan chair, nodded to him and then ordered someone to lift the sedan chair.
The sedan chair carried Daiyu away, and Chu Heng watched her leave with tender eyes.
On the way back, when Zhao Qing handed the charcoal to Chu Heng after changing the hand warmer, he didn't see his master reach out. He spoke up to remind him, "Your Highness..."
Looking up, I saw my master laughing nonstop as he stared at the empty carriage.
Zhao Qing: "..."
...
The next day, Grandmother Jia was taking medicine because she had caught a chill a couple of days earlier. When she heard that Prince Duan had come again, she had no choice but to send someone to call Daiyu and have someone change her clothes to greet him.
Grandmother Jia originally thought that Prince Duan had come to curry favor with Daiyu again, but she did not expect that as soon as he arrived, he called the two nannies who were following behind him to come forward.
"The Empress Dowager said that Miss Lin's etiquette and manners have always been very good, but she is not very familiar with the palace. Whenever she enters the palace, she does not have a proper person by her side, which makes her feel uneasy. Granny Zhao and Granny Wang are veterans in the palace, so they can accompany Miss Lin from now on, which will make it easier for her to enter the palace in the future."
Before Grandmother Jia could react, Daiyu had already kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Empress Dowager."
Chu Heng bent down to help Daiyu up, and said with a smile, "Miss Lin, please rise."
Grandmother Jia then came to her senses, forcing a smile: "The Empress Dowager truly dotes on Lin girl, bestowing such a great favor..."
Two old women stepped forward to greet her, and Daiyu was about to curtsy in return when the two women quickly knelt down and said, "We dare not accept your greeting, Miss."
Daiyu quickly bent down to help the two women up, and said with a smile, "You are the Empress Dowager's people, I am not worthy of your courtesy."
Granny Zhao smiled and said, "We used to be people from the palace, and from now on, Miss will be our mistress. It would be too much of an honor for us to have Miss greet us."
Wang Mama also said, "Yes, we will be the young lady's people from now on, which is also the Empress Dowager's intention."
“Alright.” Daiyu nodded and smiled. “Since it is the Empress Dowager’s wish, I have no choice but to accept it, so as not to fail the Empress Dowager’s grace.”
Both nannies bowed to show their obedience.
Daiyu invited Chuheng to sit down and then offered seats to the two nannies, but they declined repeatedly. Daiyu then asked Zijuan to take them away to settle down.
Grandmother Jia slowly helped Yuanyang sit down, thinking to herself, "Lin's posture is getting more and more upright. Fortunately, those who were gossiping were punished a few days ago. Now the house is much more peaceful. Otherwise, if something were to reach the ears of the nanny sent by the Empress Dowager..."
Despite the freezing weather, a few beads of sweat appeared on Grandmother Jia's forehead from the cold. Having lived to such an old age, she had personally witnessed the Empress Dowager's ruthless methods in her youth. Even now, in her old age, she was still someone that their small Duke's mansion could not afford to offend.
With a Prince Duan and an Empress Dowager, their family will probably have to take care of Lin Yatou from now on.
No one hoped that Daiyu would get married sooner than Grandmother Jia did.
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