If Line (9) I wish to marry your daughter as my queen. ...
Chen Dingyao stood frozen in place, his deep eyes fixed on the slender figure kneeling before him. The palace fell into a deathly silence.
Guo Kai's clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and he held his breath tightly. After a long time, he finally heard the emperor's low shout.
"Everyone get out!"
Everyone quickly lowered their heads and retreated, leaving only Chen Dingyao and Chan Zhen.
Chan Zhen remained kneeling on the ground, unwilling to rise. Seeing her insistence, Chen Dingyao felt the rage within him nearly uncontrollable. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before finally managing to control himself. He walked over to Chan Zhen and extended his hand. "Get up first and talk."
His tone was so gentle that it made Chan Zhen's heart tremble, and a feeling of bitterness welled up in his eyes.
"Your Majesty," Chan Zhen looked at his hand, "I am just an ordinary woman. Why do you have to be so..."
"You are not an ordinary person. You are the only one I love." Chen Dingyao leaned over, trying to help her up from the ground. "I summoned you to the palace because I want to get along with you, not to force you."
Zen Zhen couldn't bear it, so he slightly avoided his hand, stood up and moved further away from him.
Seeing this, Chen Dingyao said helplessly, "What did I do wrong that caused you to resist like this? Chanzhen, tell me, and I can change for you."
Chan Zhen raised his head and said softly, "Your Majesty is fine, but...I am not worthy of your Majesty's love."
"You can handle it," Chen Dingyao said, looking at her deeply. "In my heart, you are the best woman in the world. I know I am much older than you, and my temper is not the best..."
Seeing Chan Zhen's silence, he paused and continued, "When I was young, I was too frivolous and not very restrained when it came to women. I have many concubines in the harem, so it's understandable that you dislike me. However, my sincerity towards you is evident to all the sun and moon. I will change for you wherever I failed in the past."
"You want to be with someone for the rest of your life. I promise you that I will never look at anyone else again. Chan Zhen, please don't reject me again."
His Majesty, who always looked down upon all living beings and everything, spoke such affectionately and from the heart in front of him that Zen Zhen could not remain indifferent.
She suppressed the bitterness in her heart, looked at him with slightly red eyes and said, "I believe your majesty's feelings at this moment, but people's hearts are fickle. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, can your majesty still guarantee that you will treat me the same way as you do now?"
Chen Dingyao said anxiously, "I can guarantee it."
"Your Majesty, you can't!" Chan Zhen interrupted him. "Your Majesty has three thousand beauties in your harem. How many of them were once cherished by Your Majesty, only to be lost in the depths of the palace, never to be summoned again?"
"I..." Chen Dingyao paused for a moment, "I treat you differently from them."
"But I dare not gamble." Chan Zhen shook his head. "I cannot pin my future on your Majesty's empty promises."
When Emperor Wen of the previous dynasty married Empress Dugu, he also promised that he would never take a concubine in his life. However, he still favored a palace maid afterwards. This shows how unreliable the emperor's promise is.
If she married an ordinary person, she would still have a way out if he broke his promise. She could ask her mother and brother to apply for a divorce on her behalf. But if she married His Majesty, if His Majesty broke his promise one day, the only outcome waiting for her would be death in the palace.
Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. She doesn't want to live the rest of her life in endless worry and fear.
"Your Majesty, please let me go."
Chen Dingyao felt more and more painful and embarrassed when he heard her firm voice, her thin back straightened, and her eyes looking at him stubbornly.
"When you leave, do you plan to never look back?"
Zen Zhen's body trembled, and he nodded through gritted teeth: "The minister has made up his mind."
The next moment, Chen Dingyao suddenly walked straight towards her, grabbed her arm, leaned over and pushed her against the wall. Chan Zhen had never experienced such a posture before, and immediately struggled desperately, "Let me go!"
"I can't let go." Chen Dingyao lowered his voice and clamped her between himself and the wall. "How can I let go?"
Zenzhen couldn't resist and glared at him angrily: "You promised not to force me."
"I won't force you, but Chanzhen...putting aside my identity, do you dare to say that you have no feelings for me at all?" Chen Dingyao lowered his face, his tall nose almost touching her face, and even their breathing was inseparable.
Zen Zhen lowered his eyelashes in panic, feeling guilty and not daring to meet his eyes, his heart beating like a drum.
Seeing this, the violent emotions in his heart were suddenly calmed down. He loosened his grip on her hand and said with certainty, "You like me."
"I didn't!" Zen Zhen immediately raised his head, but because the distance was too close, his lips accidentally brushed against his lower lip.
Zen Zhen froze for a moment, his cheeks suddenly burning, and he stumbled to explain, "I... I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay," Chen Dingyao chuckled, then leaned down and kissed her, "I did it on purpose."
Zen Zhen opened his eyes wide in surprise, and before he could react, he was kissed so hard that he felt dizzy and even forgot to resist.
When he let go, Chan Zhen's eyes were still confused, wet as if they were about to drip water, and his cheeks and ears were all red.
How could this be a sign of dislike for him? Chen Dingyao looked at her reaction with a mixture of love and pity. He hugged her tightly and whispered seductively in her ear, "Chanzhen, promise me, okay?"
There was a subtle touch on his ear, and Chan Zhen suddenly shuddered. He regained his consciousness and reached out to push him: "No, I want to go home!"
This is too much. Your Majesty is so careless with her. How can this be the way he loves her? The more Chan Zhen thought about it, the more wronged he felt. His voice was tinged with tears. "I don't care. I want to go home!"
Chen Dingyao didn't expect that he had made her cry again. He quickly let her go and coaxed her helplessly: "Don't cry, it's all my fault."
"Of course it's your Majesty's fault!" Zen couldn't stand the slightest bit of injustice, so he immediately jumped on the bandwagon and put all the blame on him. "You treat me so casually and don't respect me at all."
Chen Dingyao was so frustrated by the criticism that he said with a lack of confidence, "I just couldn't help myself..."
After he finished speaking, he was glared at by Zen Zhen, so he quickly changed his tone, "I was wrong, you can scold me harshly, and if that doesn't work, you can also come back with frivolous words..."
Zen Zhen's crying stopped abruptly. If she flirted with him, wouldn't that mean he was taking advantage of her? Besides, how could a girl like her flirt with His Majesty?
Thinking of this, many unspeakable images suddenly emerged in Zen Zhen's mind.
No, no. Zen Zhen shook his head vigorously, and it took him a while to regain his composure. However, he couldn't squeeze out a single tear, so he could only sob deliberately, "I don't want to stay in the palace anymore. I want to go home."
After she finished speaking, she squinted her eyelids and glanced at him tentatively. Seeing that he remained silent, she wailed heartbreakingly at the top of her lungs, "Your Majesty doesn't like me at all. He doesn't even let me go home..."
Zen Zhen cried a few times and then stole a glance at him from across the room. Although there was no tear in the corner of her eyes, she looked very pitiful, and her shoulders shook like a candle in the wind. Anyone who saw her would have to say that she was a beautiful woman who made people feel pity for her.
Although Chen Dingyao could see that she was pretending to cry, he felt sorry for her throat that must be sore from pulling it for so long, so he finally couldn't help but compromise: "Okay, okay, I'll ask someone to take you home right away."
Chan Zhen immediately raised his head and looked at him with a piercing gaze: "A gentleman's word is as good as gold!"
Chen Dingyao thought to himself, "I don't want to act like a gentleman in front of you." However, he finally managed to coax her and could only go along with her.
"I'll call someone now."
Zen Zhen achieved her goal and immediately pushed him away, saying aggrievedly, "If Your Majesty doesn't agree sooner, your minister's throat will be sore from crying."
"Where does it hurt? I'll ask the imperial physician to come and take a look." Chen Dingyao said nervously.
Chan Zhen was afraid that he would regret it later, so he quickly stopped him and said, "I was just joking. It doesn't hurt now."
Chen Dingyao looked at her helplessly, having no idea what to do with her.
Zen Zhen finally got on the carriage home as he wished. When the carriage started moving, he immediately lowered the curtain to block the sight of His Majesty seeing him off. He held his burning cheeks with both hands and cursed in a low voice: "Bad guy."
Anyway, she left the palace today and would never come back no matter what excuse he used. If he forced her again, she would... she would imitate the eldest princess and pretend to be sick.
Chan Zhen also realized that in front of His Majesty, pretending to cry and act pitiful was always more effective than putting on a cold face. The colder her face was, the more he would cling to her. On the contrary, when she pretended to be pitiful, he would let her go helplessly.
Humph, no matter how powerful Your Majesty is, he is still completely defeated by her.
After seeing Chan Zhen off, Chen Dingyao couldn't help sighing as he looked at the empty palace.
Yu Zhen saw that her brother, the emperor who had always been high-spirited, now looked like he was hurt by love, but she could not feel any sympathy in her heart.
Who told her brother, already nearly forty, to still be thinking about eating young grass, and the one he wanted to eat was the one she had carefully nurtured. She and her husband were in love, so naturally she didn't want the younger generation she loved to fall into the clutches of her heartless brother.
"You said that Chanzhen clearly has me in his heart, so why did he reject me again and again?" Chen Dingyao couldn't help but confide in Yuzhen.
Yu Zhen took a sip of tea slowly and said, "I think I can understand. Please don't blame me, my royal brother. If I were Chan Zhen, I would naturally not want to enter the palace."
"Why?" he asked puzzled.
Yu Zhen said, "Chan Zhen comes from a marquisate, and with such a temperament and appearance, do you think that Chan Zhen will be without suitors? From what I know, after the coming-of-age ceremony last month, many families have expressed their intention to marry into the Jing'an Marquisate."
Chen Dingyao's eyes turned cold: "Who dares to covet my people without knowing what is good for them?"
Yu Zhen knew he would react like this and said, "Zhen Zhen has plenty of options. Why would he bury himself in the deep palace?"
"I will protect her and give her the highest honor and favor." Chen Dingyao said.
"Words are not enough," Yu Zhen smiled slightly, "Why should Chan Zhen believe the emperor's promise?"
Chen Dingyao fell into deep thought, and after a while he said, "So I just want her to see my determination."
"Sincerity can move even metal and stone." Yu Zhen lamented this unbreakable fate. "If my royal brother can let Chan Zhen see your sincerity, I think she will not be able to refuse."
Chen Dingyao found his direction again and regained his confidence: "I will definitely make her willingly become my queen."
So the next day, he disguised himself, left the palace with a few guards, and went to visit the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion with gifts.
He went straight to the point when facing Mrs. Wei, who was being so respectful for no apparent reason.
"I came here today for only one thing."
"I wish to marry your daughter as my queen. What is your opinion, Madam?"
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