Chapter 50. I will pay attention in the future.
On the second morning after waking up at the Prince Duan's residence, Daiyu no longer felt any soreness in her body.
Although nothing else happened last night, Chu Heng insisted on holding her as she fell asleep, and Daiyu was still a little unaccustomed to it, so she went to bed late.
Fortunately, there were no elders in the Prince's mansion who required her to pay her respects morning and evening, so she could just sleep in and get up later.
Chu Heng woke up first and is still in bed with her.
Even sharing a bed with her newlywed husband, Daiyu was still not very comfortable, and her face turned bright red when she woke up and saw him.
"I've had breakfast prepared according to what you mentioned yesterday," Chu Heng said softly as he placed the book beside him on his pillow and lay down slightly after seeing her wake up.
"Hmm," Daiyu responded, "It's too dark; reading there will hurt my eyes."
Chu Heng grunted, "I'm just cramming at the last minute, I can't worry about anything else."
Daiyu asked in confusion, "What?"
Chu Heng turned over and picked up the book he had just been reading. It was a chess manual, an ancient chess manual that Daiyu had given him as a return gift before the New Year.
Daiyu chuckled: "I wonder how well Your Highness is doing with your Buddhist practice?"
Chu Heng smiled and replied, "That's something Miss Lin will have to investigate."
Daiyu pulled the brocade quilt around herself and said softly, "Then... I'm getting up."
"Mm." Chu Heng agreed and got up to call the maid outside to come in and serve him.
Daiyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After getting up, washing up, and changing into casual clothes, the two had breakfast together. Then, Chu Heng went to write a memorial to the emperor.
Daiyu said, "It wasn't all done yesterday. I'll go check on how they've put things away in the storeroom."
Chu Heng held her hand tightly: "I'll go with you to see it later. Now, you come with me to write this report. It's my first time writing something like this. Watch me and tell me if there's anything wrong."
Daiyu said helplessly, "Does that mean I've written it before?"
Chu Heng said confidently, "Although you haven't written it before, you are the daughter of a third-ranked scholar, and your teacher is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). This is something you can write in a flash."
“Your Highness, your teachers must all be Hanlin scholars, and which one of them wasn’t a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations)?” Daiyu said with a smile.
Chu Heng nodded: "Miss Lin, but my student is no match for you. No matter how many Hanlin scholars there are, they can't teach a piece of rotten wood."
Daiyu couldn't persuade him, so she laughed and said, "I'll go then, why bother talking to yourself like that?"
Chu Heng smiled broadly, took Daiyu's hand and slowly walked towards the desk, saying, "I'm not trying to belittle myself, I know my own limitations. In the future, if I take on the position of Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, or any other duties, I'll have to rely on your help."
Daiyu knew he had ulterior motives, so she deliberately smiled and said, "So what if I don't want to help you?"
Chu Heng scratched her palm: "Then I have no choice but to beg you, until you're willing."
There were still servants in the room, and Daiyu blushed with embarrassment. To prevent him from going any further, she complained softly, "How can you ask for favors like that?"
Chu Heng thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes and asked her with a smile, "Teach me how to ask you for help?"
Daiyu finally understood that no matter what, Chu Heng would always push his luck.
So she stopped talking and waited to see what he could do next.
"Hmm?" Chu Heng received no response and stared at her even more intently, nearly bumping into the corner of the desk as he approached it.
Daiyu quickly tugged at his hand and said, "Keep an eye on things."
Chu Heng chuckled: "I thought you weren't planning to talk to me anymore."
Daiyu was at her wits' end, feeling both annoyed and amused: "You were the one who said those things on purpose first. You weren't like this before."
She said the same thing yesterday. Chu Heng reflected deeply on himself. He really didn't mean to make Daiyu shy or deliberately provoke her. It was just that he couldn't help himself.
Chu Heng said earnestly, "You have to believe me. I never knew before... that I would be like this."
Daiyu looked up at him, her gaze intense with affection, her heart overflowing with love, and she could see it all in his eyes.
Overwhelmed by the deep affection shown to her, Daiyu was momentarily overwhelmed. She quickly lowered her head, bit her lip, and said, "I'll grind the ink."
"I'll do it." Chu Heng grasped her wrist. "You sit down."
Daiyu sat down at the desk following his pull. When she came to her senses, Chu Heng had already rolled up his sleeves and was standing by the desk with his head down, holding an ink stick with moderate force, clearly someone who was used to doing this.
Thinking of Chu Heng's beautiful handwriting, Daiyu couldn't help but ask, "Do you often grind your own ink?"
Chu Heng said, "I don't have anything else to do. Their ink isn't ground very well."
After waiting a while, Daiyu picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, wrote a line of words, and nodded in praise: "Your Highness's technique in grinding ink is indeed excellent."
Chu Heng stopped and gently pinched Daiyu's fair earlobe with his clean hand: "I wonder if I would have the honor of grinding ink for Miss Lin?"
He had barely finished making the gesture, and before Daiyu could speak, he hurriedly withdrew his hand: "In the future..." He lowered his voice as soon as he finished speaking, "If you don't like it, I'll control myself in the future."
Daiyu was taken aback. Her face was still flushed with shyness. When she looked up at Chu Heng, her eyes were filled with surprise and emotion. Involuntarily, she raised her hand to grasp Chu Heng's hand as he tried to withdraw it, and blurted out, "No..."
Chu Heng looked at her with bright eyes, a hint of expectation that he himself was unaware of.
Daiyu realized what she had done and was about to let go of his hand, but Chu Heng grabbed hers instead. He rested one hand on the table, leaned close to her, and whispered, "You don't dislike it, do you?"
Daiyu did not dislike him; she never rejected Chu Heng's approach. She was just too shy and not used to it yet. But how could she say such a thing out loud?
However, Chu Heng didn't necessarily want her to say anything; her blushing reaction had already given him the answer.
Chu Heng said even more softly and gently, "I will be more careful in the future."
Upon hearing this, Daiyu glanced at him with suspicion.
On this point, she didn't really trust him.
Chu Heng understood her gaze and smiled rather embarrassedly: "Actually... I'm not confident in myself either, but I will try my best."
"If I can't do it, will you be angry with me?" Chu Heng asked, pushing his luck.
Daiyu felt both sweet and helpless. She was once again certain that, on many occasions, she truly had no way to deal with Chu Heng.
Daiyu simply changed the subject: "Are you still going to write your memorial? If not, I have other things to do."
Chu Heng smiled gently at her and replied, "Write."
Daiyu got up and offered him her chair. After Chu Heng sat down, she took over the task of grinding the ink. Chu Heng was about to speak when Daiyu quickly interrupted him, "Shall we write?"
Chu Heng smiled, his eyes crinkling: "Write, I'll write it right away."
Daiyu lowered her head to grind the ink, a slight smile playing on her lips. Although it was a fluke, it turned out there was a way after all.
After finishing writing a memorial, Chu Heng handed it to Daiyu, who was now sitting on an embroidered stool.
Both of them were novices, and after deliberating several times, Daiyu felt it was not quite right, so she said, "Why don't we ask two experienced teachers to teach us? If we present it to the Emperor and then find out that there is a mistake, wouldn't that be troublesome?"
"I didn't criticize him in the memorial, so what trouble could there be?" Chu Heng said nonchalantly. "If His Majesty thinks there's something wrong with me, he can find someone to teach me, so we don't need to worry about it."
Daiyu was silent at first, but after thinking for a moment, she nodded: "That makes sense. You have never been exposed to these things before, so it would be bad if you wrote it without any flaws."
"Your Highness is wise," Chu Heng said with a smile. "Then I shall copy it?"
Daiyu smiled and said, "Go ahead and copy it. I'm going to get busy."
This time, Chu Heng didn't pester her, but simply said, "Okay, I'll come find you in a bit."
Daiyu left the main room with her maids and nannies. Chu Heng then carefully copied the memorial and had Zhao Qing hand it over to the chief clerk, who would then present it to the Ministry of Justice so that it could reach the emperor. Afterward, Chu Heng instructed Zhao Qing to investigate the Jia family's affairs.
Zhao Qing asked, "Your Highness, what are you investigating?"
Chu Heng said, "Investigate everything, but be careful not to let the Princess Consort know."
Zhao Qing accepted the order, then looked at his master with surprise and uncertainty. They had just gotten married, and the prince and princess seemed to be very loving. There didn't seem to be any conflict between them. What did the prince mean by this?
"Say what you want to say. What's with that look?" Chu Heng said unhappily.
Zhao Qing hurriedly bowed and said, "This servant dares not, but I am just curious why Your Highness wants to investigate the Jia family at this time?"
From the arranged marriage to the prince's growing affection for the princess, the two grew closer day by day, and he never questioned the Jia family. What is the reason for this?
Chu Heng said, "In the past, I didn't investigate the Jia family without permission because I was afraid of hurting the Princess. Now... I'm afraid they will hurt the Princess."
Zhao Qing asked, puzzled, "This servant...does not understand what Your Highness means."
"Do I need to explain this to you?" Chu Heng raised an eyebrow.
Zhao Qing hurriedly replied, "This servant wouldn't dare."
Chu Heng said calmly, "Go ahead, I'm not in a hurry. Investigate carefully."
"Yes." Zhao Qing bowed and carefully withdrew.
A moment later, Chu Heng instructed someone to prepare some snacks and drinks, while he went to the back storeroom to find Daiyu.
In addition to the two rows of houses used as storerooms, the Prince Duan's mansion also had a building at the back. After asking several servants, Chu Heng finally found Daiyu looking at an ancient zither in a room on the west side.
“This one isn’t as good as the one I gave you.” Chu Heng walked to Daiyu’s side. “Besides, it’s been sitting unused for a long time. You’ll have to take good care of it before you use it.”
Daiyu stroked the strings of the zither and said regretfully, "This one is not as good as that one, but it is still a fine antique. It's a pity to leave it lying around."
Chu Heng held her fingers and instructed the people around him to take the zither out: "Let me take a look in a bit. Are you done here? I've asked someone to prepare some snacks for you, so take a rest."
Daiyu smiled and said, "I wasn't tired at all."
Chu Heng took her hand and left, saying, "I have already asked the chief clerk to submit the memorial. We should have news from the palace in about three to five days. At that time, a special eunuch and a master of ceremonies will go to Suzhou to deliver the imperial decree."
"Hmm." Daiyu didn't say anything more in thanks, but simply said, "We should also go to the palace to express our gratitude then."
Just as Chu Heng had said, five days later, the emperor issued an edict posthumously conferring the title of Duke on Lin Ruhai, the father of Princess Duan and a deceased official of the Imperial Academy, and the title of First-Rank Duchess on Lady Jia, the mother of Princess Duan.
This imperial decree first alarmed the Empress Dowager at Renshou Palace, and then startled Grandmother Jia of the Rongguo Mansion.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com