Lu Qingyan coldly watched these people chatting and laughing. The Emperor teased Lu Qingshu, saying, "Shu'er, you seem to be very concerned about your sister's marriage. It seems you're also eager to get married. You're still young, so I'll find a good match for you. There's no rush."
"Father~" Lu Qingshu blushed and hid in the Empress's arms: "If Father says such things again, Shuer will ignore you."
The Emperor laughed heartily, but after a couple of laughs, he suddenly began to cough violently. Seeing his weakened state, Lu Qingshu cried out anxiously, "Father? Father! Someone, summon the imperial physician immediately!"
Lu Qingyan bowed towards the Emperor and said, "Father is unwell, so I will not disturb your rest any longer. I will take my leave now."
"Go!" The Empress waved her hand, not wanting to see Lu Qingyan at all: "You're no use staying here, and it'll save you from disturbing the Emperor."
Lu Qingyan looked up at the Empress, then at the Emperor, and turned to leave.
In that instant, she clearly saw how intense the suppressed emotions in the Emperor's eyes were.
In a daze, she seemed to recall how the emperor had been extremely fond of her when she was a child.
How could that be? Lu Qingyan shook her head, banishing the unrealistic thoughts from her mind. The Emperor only had eyes for his children, the Crown Prince and Lu Qingshu; what was she to him?
Shen Jiyan, are you going to marry Lu Qingshu?
Lu Qingyan looked up at the sky, forcing back her tears. The Emperor had said he was looking for a match for Lu Qingshu, but he probably already knew that the Shen family had their eye on Shen Jiyan for Lu Qingshu.
Otherwise, why would he refuse to speak of silence?
When Liusu saw Lu Qingyan emerge from outside the palace, she greeted her with a joyful expression: "Princess, is it because the Emperor—"
“Liusu,” Lu Qingyan interrupted Liusu, shaking her head, “Don’t mention it again.”
Liu Su responded with a "yes" and quietly followed behind Lu Qingyan. Judging from Lu Qingyan's expression, she knew that things had not gone well.
Back at Jianjia Palace, Liusu couldn't help but press Lu Qingyan for an answer: "Princess, what exactly did the Emperor say?"
"He didn't say much, just told me that he rejected Shen Jiyan's marriage proposal and asked my brother, the Crown Prince, to find me another husband." Lu Qingyan slammed her hand on the table in extreme anger: "If he cared about me even a little, he should have asked me what I thought. But he didn't even ask and just rejected me like that. What does he take me for?"
"Perhaps the Emperor is worried that you and the Empress don't get along and that if you are married into the Shen family, you might suffer some injustice and no one will stand up for you." Liusu thought of everything in a positive light.
Lu Qingyan sneered: "The Empress is the Empress. She already has enough to worry about in the palace. How could she possibly extend her reach to the Shen family?"
“But the Empress is, after all, surnamed Shen,” Liu Su stated the truth. “If the princess didn’t have such thoughts, why didn’t she explain everything to the Emperor? Even if the Emperor doesn’t like you, you are still a princess of noble birth. It’s just a matter of choosing a consort; would the Emperor refuse?”
Lu Qingyan said with a wry smile, "Liu Su, just as you said, the Empress is, after all, from the Shen family, and Shen Jiyan—is also from the Shen family."
"Let's just take it one step at a time," Lu Qingyan said dejectedly. "Although my relationship with the Crown Prince isn't very good, he's always been kind and compassionate, and he wouldn't really marry me off to someone who's not respectable. I'll be able to get by no matter what."
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