Qingying was taken aback, her heart clenching with anxiety. "Is it Grand Tutor Jin?"
Xie Jiaoying shook her head regretfully and said, "It's Song Jia Sanlang."
"Song Family Sanlang?!"
Qingying recalled that the only person she remembered was someone her brother had mentioned at last year's autumn hunt, saying that the winner of the autumn hunt the year before was Song Jiasanlang, named Song Changrun.
"Although the third son of the Song family is not as talented or handsome as the Grand Tutor of Jin, he was once a third-ranked scholar, so he can't be too bad."
Even disregarding the deceased Prince Xian, the Emperor would not casually arrange a husband for the Princess who was not presentable, as it concerned the face of the royal family.
Qingying frowned. "I remember that Song Changrun is only twenty-one years old now, and he has already taken three concubines."
"But he hasn't married a proper wife yet," Xie Jiaoying teased. "The Emperor can't even remember all the names of his concubines, so why would he care how many concubines his subjects have?"
Qingying, however, only felt regret.
Despite experiencing so many twists and turns, Princess Yongning and Jinheng ultimately failed to be together.
Inside Yongning Residence at this time.
Wei Yinqiu smashed everything she could in the room to pieces. She sat amidst a pile of broken porcelain shards, tears streaming down her face, sobbing, "Why, why..."
She had already avoided being forced into a marriage alliance, so why wouldn't they let her go? Why wouldn't they let her be with the one she loved?
When Jin Heng arrived, she was barefoot on broken porcelain shards, holding a wolf-hair brush and drawing a turtle on the imperial plaque.
Her clothes were disheveled, and her hands and feet were covered with wounds of all sizes, bleeding profusely, some of which had already congealed, but she was completely unaware of it.
"Princess, please don't do this." He walked over and snatched the brush from her hand.
Wei Yinqiu turned her head and stared at him blankly, "You've come..."
"Yes, I'm here."
The next second, she grabbed the inkstone on the table and threw it at him. The heavy inkstone hit his chest with a dull thud before falling to the ground, the spilled ink staining his white clothes.
He winced in pain but didn't utter a sound. He just looked at her and asked, "Have you made enough of a scene?"
"That's not enough! I'm going to make a scene at the Hall of Diligent Governance! Why can he arrange my marriage at will? Just because he's the emperor? If it weren't for my father, he wouldn't be sitting comfortably on that throne!"
"Shut up! Princess, don't talk nonsense!"
"I'm talking nonsense?" Wei Yinqiu poked his chest and said coldly, "Jin Heng, you're just a dog he keeps! You've devoted yourself to him, and what have you gotten in return? He can use you when he wants and throw you away when he wants. The day he squeezes out the last bit of value from you, you'll probably be less than a stray dog on the street. Oh, no..."
She curled her lips sarcastically, "At least a wild dog can run, jump, and breathe. I'm afraid your final fate won't be much better than my father's."
When Prince Xian died on the border, his internal organs were removed, leaving only an empty corpse. This had always been a source of pain for Wei Yinqiu. She had never wanted to mention it before, but now she was tearing open her bloody wound to show him.
Jin Heng took a deep breath, grasped her wrist, and said in a deep voice, "Your foot is injured. Let me treat it for you."
Wei Yinqiu felt extremely frustrated, as if she had punched a piece of cotton.
Ignoring her resistance, Jin Heng picked her up and carried her into the inner room, placing her on the bed.
He had someone bring him a medicine box and a basin of water, and personally treated her wounds with gentle and meticulous movements.
Wei Yinqiu remained motionless, staring at him without uttering a word.
She felt she understood this man less and less. He had been intimate with her in that courtyard before, but in the blink of an eye, he seemed to have become a different person.
Some time ago, he was punished by the emperor and imprisoned in the Jin Mansion. She was anxious outside, like an ant on a hot pan, unable to eat or drink, feeling that she had dragged him down.
Later, the emperor finally ordered the lifting of his confinement. She happily ran to the Jin residence, hoping to see him, but was coldly turned away at the door.
He reappeared now, only to learn that she was about to marry someone else.
Wei Yinqiu lowered her eyes to look at the man in front of her who was carefully applying medicine to her feet, and asked, "Grand Tutor, did you ever love me?"
He paused for a moment, but did not answer.
"You must love me, right? It's just that you can't be with me, right?" She said to herself, "That must be it, Grand Tutor, you must have me in your heart."
"The princess is talking nonsense again."
"Grand Tutor, why won't you admit it?" Wei Yinqiu reached out, pinched his chin, and lifted it up, forcing him to look at her. "Grand Tutor, your eyes are only for me, only for me. Tell me, you love me, okay?"
"Princess, I am applying medicine for you."
"Never mind it."
"It needs to be addressed."
"Then why won't you take care of me for the rest of my life?"
Jin Heng pursed his lips, brushed her hand away, lowered his long, thick eyelashes, and said softly, "This is not the same thing."
Wei Yinqiu scoffed, "How utterly boring."
She withdrew her foot from his knee, stood up, and walked outside. She still didn't wear shoes, ignoring the shards scattered on the ground. Her wound, which had just been treated, was bleeding again, leaving a trail of blood with every step.
Jin Heng immediately chased after her, grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and pulled her into his arms. He looked down at her coldly and said, "How long are you going to keep making a scene?"
"What does my business have to do with you?" She struggled for a moment but couldn't break free. She glared fiercely at Jin Heng. "Let me go!"
The more she struggled, the tighter Jin Heng held her. Suddenly, she stood on tiptoe, grabbed his neck, and bit down hard on his shoulder.
She was determined; she bit down until blood seeped through the fabric, and even with the metallic taste in her mouth, she didn't let go. Jin Heng couldn't help but groan in pain, closed his eyes briefly, and in that position, he gripped her waist and lifted her up, taking her back into the inner room.
Wei Yinqiu finally relented, her lips stained with blood. She spread the blood with her fingertips, the crimson color resembling blooming petals. Her smile was wicked: "I'm afraid it will leave a scar, Grand Tutor."
Jin Heng ignored the injury on her shoulder and continued to treat the new wound on her foot. He used tweezers to carefully remove the small pieces of porcelain embedded in her flesh and said, "Don't hurt yourself like this anymore. If you want, you can bite me a few more times."
Seeing his expression, Wei Yinqiu suddenly lost her temper. She leaned back slightly and looked up at the canopy above.
After a long silence, he said calmly, "Can't you still forget her?"
Knowing who she was talking about, Jinheng's hand trembled slightly.
"Ouch—you're hurting me." She instinctively pulled her foot back.
"I'm sorry." He panicked for a moment and said, "I'll be gentler."
Wei Yinqiu glanced at him, then turned away and said nothing more.
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