Yan Huisheng saw Duanhua back to Princess Qingping’s residence and left without disembarking from the carriage.
After Duanhua got off the carriage, she watched Yan Huisheng’s carriage go far away, her face fell, murmuring, "If you won’t agree, just say no!"
Did he have to ignore her completely? She wasn’t a child any longer, she wasn’t that unreasonable.
"What took you so long to come back? Your mother was getting ready to send someone to look for you." Her father walked out from inside, looking at his daughter, "The carriage that just departed looked like it was from the Eastern Palace? Where is your carriage?"
Seeing her father, her heart sank even further. Despite his age, her father still looked so handsome. Time truly spared the beautiful. Her mother truly had a discerning eye.
Envious of her mother, she walked up and took her father’s arm, coquettishly, "Dad, I am so upset."
"What’s wrong?" Her father looked at the daughter, who was still quite adorable despite no longer being head over heels for Zhou Gu. Although she wasn’t tightly wrapped in cotton wool, she still was very warm-hearted.
Duanhua said, "My carriage broke down on the way."
"We’ll have someone fix it tomorrow."
Duanhua then said, "It was the Crown Prince, my cousin, who passed by and gave me a lift home."
Her father immediately said, "We’re already at the front door, why didn’t you invite the Crown Prince in for a visit?"
Duanhua said dispiritedly, "He was busy, he had no time to come in."
From her memory, the Crown Prince rarely visited the Princess’ residence. Despite her mother being the Crown Prince’s aunt and him being her cousin, Princess Qingping’s Residence wasn’t as close to him as the Duke Residence, and he preferred to visit Princess Sheng An at the Duke Residence.
Her father said, "The Crown Prince just returned to the Capital, he’s swamped with duties."
Even he, who originally held an idle position, had gotten somewhat busy recently. He also just returned to the residence, and before he even had a chance to sit down, he heard Qingping saying Duanhua hadn’t returned home yet. Disturbed, he sent his guards to look for her. He planned to bring some men and go look for her himself. Even though the Capital was peaceful, it did not mean it was completely devoid of any mischief.
Duanhua sighed, "Yes, he is so busy, he didn’t even have time to agree to my request."
Her father paused for a moment, "What did you ask the Crown Prince for?"
He did not think that there would be something that his daughter might ask the Crown Prince for. Couldn’t her mother and he, being a Princess and Duke respectively, handle it? Was there a need to seek help from the Crown Prince?
Duanhua did not hide anything from dad, due to her habits from the childhood. Both her parents spoiled her and obliged to her every request, good or bad, and tried to fulfill her wishes as much as possible. As a result, she didn’t hesitate to voice her thoughts or secrets.
She sighed, "I told him to ask the Emperor, my uncle, to post a royal banner to choose a husband for me who would be easy on the eyes. If we search all over the world, we should surely find someone who looks almost as good as Zhou Gu. But he disagreed, saying it was impossible as there are a lot of affairs in court now and he told me to not stir up trouble."
Her father: "..."
He thought to himself, my girl, you really have some nerve! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Rendered speechless, he fell silent for a moment.
"Dad, what should I do?" Duanhua whined, "Am I never going to get married? They say an eighty-year-old man can still marry an eighteen-year-old woman, but an eighty-year-old woman can only find an eighty-year-old man, I can’t accept that. Su Rong once told me to quickly get married while I’m young, otherwise, when I get older and can’t get married, I may have to resort to force."
Her father’s lips twitched, "Su Rong...When did she tell you this?"
"When she stayed at our residence." Duanhua never felt the urgency before, but ever since her mother began discussing her marriage and rejecting each proposal one after another, because none met her satisfaction, she started panicking. As she held onto her father’s arm, a sense of fear welled up in her heart, "Dad, I’m worried that I won’t be able to find a husband unless I post a royal banner in search all over."
Her father was helpless, "Is it necessary to find someone handsome?"
"It’s not just that, he also needs to be like you, Dad, coming home every day, no matter how late, to accompany both Mom and me." Duanhua said.
Her father sighed, "That would be hard to find."
He was not bragging about himself, but indeed, there were few men who could do what he did. Even through years of arguing with Qingping, he never had affairs outside and always returned home, no matter how late it was.
Duanhua also sighed.
After a period of silence, Duanhua belatedly asked, "Huh? Why didn’t Mom come out to find me?"
If it was any other time, and she was late to return, her mother always grew restless and had to personally lead people to search for her.
Her father whispered, "Your mother is pregnant."
"Ah?" Duanhua’s eyes widened, and her voice rose, almost letting out a scream.
Her father quickly covered her mouth, "Hush, keep it down. The doctor said it’s only been a month. Your mother is afraid of startling the baby, and ordered us not to spread the news. You mustn’t tell anyone outside either."
Duanhua nodded repeatedly, excitedly.
Her father released his hand.
Duanhua hugged his arm, asking excitedly, "Dad, you’re really amazing, my mom is finally pregnant again, is it a younger brother?"
She knew that not being able to give birth to a boy for her father was a lingering worry for her mother. Even though they always loved her dearly, she was still a girl and was bound to get married one day. Her mother always felt like she had let her father down.
Her father blushed, this naughty girl, what’s this about amazing or not amazing, shaking his head, "We don’t know yet, it’s still too early to tell. But no matter the gender, it is a blessing."
"Alright then." Duanhua was happy, she tugged her dad’s sleeve, "Dad, let’s go, let’s go see mom." As they walked a few steps, she spoke again, "Su Rong is really something, her prescribed medication must have worked, and now my mom is pregnant. I was a little mad at her for not inviting me to her great wedding, but now I’m not mad at her anymore."
Her father nodded with a smile, "Yes, that’s what your mother also said. You can write to her to express gratitude tomorrow, it can be delivered to Nanchu."
Duanhua just nodded.
When Yan Huisheng returned to the Eastern Palace, the palace servants immediately came up to serve him. After dinner, Yan Huisheng went to the study. Qin Luan was quietly arranging tea and dim sum, grinding ink and other such tasks. She had already become proficient and dealt with it in an orderly fashion.
Yan Huisheng suddenly remembered something and pulled out a letter from the box and handed it to Qin Luan, "A letter from your brother just arrived today. Here, take it."
Qin Luan received the letter, her face full of joy, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Yan Huisheng didn’t look at her, just waved his hand.
Qin Luan held the letter and retreated. When she got to the outside, she opened the letter to read it. Qin Ruo’s letter was not lengthy, it was just two thin pages, he briefly asked about her well-being and then mentioned that the Princess was good. The King treated their entourage who followed the Princess to Nanchu very well, granted them official positions, and bestowed them with residences. He was very busy currently, couldn’t find spare time to bring their mother and Qin family members over. Once Nanchu’s court status stabilized and everything was back on track, and he was less busy, he would ask the princess to bring their mother to Nanchu. He believed that with the princess making the request, the Crown Prince should allow them to go to Nanchu. He asked her, if their mother and family members all went to Nanchu, would she go to Nanchu as well? Or would she stay alone in Daliang?
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