Chapter Seventy-Five: A Fake Marriage
She resisted the urge to pull her hair back; she couldn't afford to confront him head-on at this moment.
He deliberately softened his tone, pretending to compromise:
“Your Highness, I was not thoughtful enough before and failed to understand your profound meaning. Now the situation is pressing, Minister Wang is in imminent danger, and the succession to the title is also hanging by a thread. I… need Your Highness’s help.”
She tilted her head slightly, letting a strand of hair slip naturally from Xiao Yongjing's fingertips.
"If Your Highness has any good ideas, please speak frankly. Yi Qiu... would like to hear the details."
This half-hearted bowing seemed to please him.
He withdrew his hand, no longer keeping them in suspense:
"The best way to break this deadlock is to give you an unshakeable identity, one that will make those who want to exploit your grandmother's situation hesitate to act."
He looked at Song Yiqiu intently:
"Song Yiqiu, marry me."
What? !
Song Yiqiu was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped. Had the Crown Prince lost his mind?
Looking at her expression, Xiao Yongjing added:
"Of course it's a fake marriage, just a transaction where each party gets what they want."
He further explained:
"I will help you secure your succession to the title and, with the help of the Crown Prince, secretly investigate the case of Vice Minister Wang, doing my best to protect him and at least buy you some time."
"And you, after becoming the rightful Marquis of Yongjia, will marry me as a marquis. At that time, you will be a meritorious marquis, and I will be the crown prince. No one can criticize our union, whether it is moral or legal. And the greatest benefit this marriage can give you is access to the palace."
He began to tempt:
"Haven't you always wanted to find out the real cause of your grandmother's death? According to some scattered clues I've found so far, before General Shen passed away... he secretly entered the palace and met my birth mother."
"And my birth mother also passed away mysteriously not long after General Shen's death. Is it merely a coincidence that these two events occurred?"
Grandmother had met the Crown Prince's birth mother? This was indeed an important clue she had never considered, but she immediately calmed down and flatly rejected it:
"No! Marriage is a serious matter, how can it be treated so lightly? Especially not a fake marriage! The risks are too great, I..."
Xiao Yongjing interrupted her:
"Of course I'm not saying we should get married right now. Even if you were willing to marry me now, I might not dare to. What use would a girl from a humble family without a title be to me?"
"Of course I also want to get some benefits. After you inherit the title. At that time, you will have a status, I will have a reason, and we will be of one mind, which will be a natural thing to do."
"This marriage is your shield to uncover the truth about your grandmother's death, and it's also an excellent tool for me... to purge certain forces in the court. Our goals may differ, but our paths are aligned. What do you say?"
Song Yiqiu fell silent... What would be the price of trying to negotiate with a tiger?
After a long while, she finally raised her eyes and spoke cautiously:
"This matter is of great importance. Please allow me a few more days to consider it, and I will certainly give Your Highness an answer then."
Xiao Yongjing seemed to have anticipated her response, and instead of pressing her, he readily untied a smooth, lustrous white jade pendant from his waist and casually tossed it to her.
"Alright. If you've thought it through, bring this to Nanfeng Pavilion, and someone will naturally bring you to see me."
Song Yiqiu took the jade pendant; it was warm to the touch and indeed of superior quality.
She suddenly seemed to remember something and looked the crown prince up and down.
This seemingly respectable Crown Prince sounds like a regular at the Nanfeng Pavilion? Is he here to find men or women? Could he really have homosexual tendencies?
Xiao Yongjing saw the disdain in her eyes, as if he had guessed what she was thinking. A vein throbbed on his forehead, and he squeezed out her name through gritted teeth:
"Song! Yi! Qiu!"
Song Yiqiu immediately composed herself, carefully put away the jade pendant, and regained her composure.
"I have some trivial matters to attend to at home, so I will not disturb Your Highness any longer. Farewell."
After saying that, he turned around without looking back and quickly left the private room with Bai Mei and Qing Zhu, who were full of gossip and curiosity.
No sooner had they left than a figure floated down from the beam of the private room—it was Mo Yu, the Crown Prince's secret guard.
He walked to the table with a grin, picked up a piece of untouched pastry, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled:
"Tsk tsk, I've never seen His Highness so patient with any noble lady. This General Song is quite something, daring to refuse His Highness time and time again, and now he won't even give a straight answer. I heard he's also having an ambiguous relationship with the owner of Dousheng Manor. This... wouldn't you call this raising fish?"
On the other side, the bed curtains fluttered slightly, and the female bodyguard Honglan also flashed out, accurately catching another piece of pastry that Mo Yu tossed over, and teasingly remarked:
"What's Dousheng Manor? I think our prince's true intentions are not what they seem. On the surface, he's talking about cooperation, but he might already have his heart set on General Song."
Xiao Yongjing, his face grim, swept his gaze over the two audacious subordinates and spoke in a cold voice:
"The prison is currently short of two fresh corpses. I wonder if either of you... would be interested in making up the number?"
Mo Yu and Hong Lan immediately fell silent, exchanged a glance, quickly packed up the remaining pastries, and disappeared into the shadows again.
The private room returned to silence.
Xiao Yongjing poured himself a cup of wine, drank it slowly, and looked in the direction where Song Yiqiu had left, his eyes filled with determination.
“Song Yiqiu…”
He gave a meaningful smile. "I have plenty of time to wait for you."
...
The horse-drawn carriage rumbled along.
Inside the carriage, Song Yiqiu took out the mutton-fat jade pendant again and examined it carefully. The jade was of excellent quality, and the carving was simple yet grand, clearly an item from the palace.
After a moment's thought, she finally handed the jade pendant to Bai Mei:
"Keep it safe and be very careful so that no one finds it."
Seeing her young mistress's solemn expression, Qingzhu couldn't help but mutter to herself:
"This Crown Prince is really strange. It seems like I run into him everywhere... Could it be that he... has a crush on my young lady?"
As Bai Mei carefully tucked the jade pendant into her inner pocket, she continued:
"Even if it's a crush, that's understandable! I think our young lady is even three points prettier than that so-called number one talented woman in the capital, Situ Ran!"
"Besides, our young lady isn't one of those pretty faces who can only recite poems. She's skilled in both literature and martial arts, and incredibly intelligent. It's perfectly normal to fall in love with her, isn't it? I certainly have!"
She even exaggeratedly clutched her heart as she spoke.
Qingzhu was amused by her and pretended to be horrified, clutching her chest.
"Sister Bai Mei!! I knew you hadn't taken your Chinese medicine!"
The two maids started laughing and playing, completely unaware of the throbbing veins on their master's forehead.
"Miss, shall we go straight back to the main courtyard?"
After the laughter subsided, Qingzhu asked.
The carriage stopped in front of the Song residence.
Song Yiqiu pondered for a moment, then shook her head:
"No, let's go to the front hall."
Logically, the play should have started by now, so why is the mansion so quiet?
The group had just rounded the screen wall and hadn't even reached the entrance to the front hall when they saw Third Brother Song Haochu rushing out like a headless fly. He spotted Song Yiqiu immediately, took three steps at a time, and grabbed her wrist.
"My dear sister Yiqiu! My good sister! I've finally found you!"
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