Chapter 6 A Big Embrace
The young prince stood there, not at all out of place among the flowers, but rather like a plum blossom stretching out from the corner of the wall, silently displaying his proud demeanor.
Their eyes met, Yang Qing blushed, and quickly lowered her head.
She only dared to glare at him secretly, never daring to glare at him openly.
Hearing the Second Madam explain, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I'm much better now, but I've been out for a while, so I'm probably tired."
In public, Li Shangxuan didn't ask any questions, just nodded, and then took his leave. The Grand Princess was still waiting for him.
As soon as he left, Yang Qing asked impatiently, "Can we go home now?"
She had a bad feeling about it...
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a maid came over and told him not to leave in a hurry, but to wait until after the flower viewing banquet to say a few words to the Seventh Miss.
The Second Madam finally showed her first smile since meeting the Prince of Ning's heir. She politely dismissed the man and, seeing Yang Qing with her head down, assumed she was grieving over the Prince of Ning's heir. Feeling a pang of pity, she comforted her, "There's no need to get angry over someone like that."
He lowered his voice and said, "You don't need to worry about him daring to make a move on you."
The unmistakable meaning behind those words is: With His Highness the Crown Prince standing in front of you, who would dare to make a move against you?
Little did Yang Qing know that while the Prince of Ning's heir was unsuitable, Li Shangxuan was not a good match for her either.
But she couldn't say these words aloud; she could only lower her head and stubbornly resist the ground, refusing to look up no matter what.
As the sun began to set, the flower-viewing banquet came to an end.
The flowers and plants tended by the Second Madam, though she had put in a lot of effort, were still too early for the season. Only a few of the early-blooming ones had opened. Yet today, in the Grand Princess's residence, they were vying for attention and creating a lively scene, a testament to the extravagance of the royal family.
As soon as Yang Qing stepped out of the gate of the Grand Princess's residence, she was intercepted and boarded by the East Palace's carriage.
Almost everyone had left, but Yang Qing was still afraid of being seen, so she didn't dare to refuse outside and obediently went up to them.
I thought Li Shangxuan would be the last to come out, but I didn't expect him to be sitting inside already.
He was wearing a white round-necked robe today, and the magnificent sunset shone through the cracks in the car window, seemingly adding a touch of allure to the monotonous color.
Li Shangxuan: "Are you cured?"
Chi Yangqing initially nodded in agreement, but then suddenly remembered that Li Shangxuan was only an eighteen-year-old boy, while she had been reborn at the age of twenty-seven, making her more than ten years older than him. How could she continue to be timid and suppressed by him?
He immediately straightened his chest and raised his head, giving a loud "hmm" that made Li Shangxuan turn his head to look at him. "You seem very different today."
Yang Qing pretended to be clueless: "No, there's nothing different about it."
Li Shangxuan didn't pursue the matter further. "Did you eat the pastries from yesterday? If you liked them, I'll have someone send you a few more today."
Yang Qing politely declined, saying, "No need. It would be so bad if others found out."
He then suggested, "I should go back too; it's not right for me to do this."
Li Shangxuan called out, "Rongshan."
The eunuch waiting outside the carriage immediately said, "This servant will go and tell the madam to let them go back first."
Li Shangxuan gave a faint "hmm," looking at her furrowed brows with apparent confusion, "Who made you unhappy?"
Yang Qing just played with the ribbons on her skirt without saying a word. Who else could it be but him?
Li Shangxuan then said, "I brought a lot of trinkets from Jiangnan this time. How about I come to your house tomorrow and bring them to you to play with?"
As usual, Yang Qing refused: "This humble woman lacks nothing."
Her sudden coldness puzzled Li Shangxuan. He wasn't one to talk much, and an awkward silence fell between them until the driver outside asked, "Your Highness, it's getting late. Shall we take Miss Chi back to her residence?"
Li Shangxuan responded with a faint "hmm," glancing at Yang Qing, who seemed utterly bored. Yet, upon hearing this, the corners of her mouth turned up, which sent a chill down his spine.
Three months is neither a long nor a short time.
When he left the capital, Ah Xun clearly didn't have this attitude. Why is she ignoring him now that he's back?
Could it be that something else happened in these past three months? Did she meet some good young man and then forget about him?
Although the two were sitting in the same carriage, they had different thoughts. When the carriage jolted, Yang Qing, who was already reserved and not fully seated, almost fell over. Fortunately, Li Shangxuan reacted quickly and pulled her into his arms.
Although it was an accident, he still gave her a warm hug. As soon as the carriage stabilized, Yang Qing broke free from his arms and sat back down.
In their past lives, the two had countless intimate encounters, but a single hug was not enough to shake her heart.
Li Shangxuan stared at her for a moment, his ears turning slightly red, and then he scolded, "What's wrong?"
The driver outside hurriedly said, "Someone on horseback is cutting us off. If we don't stop, I'm afraid..."
Li Shangxuan then realized that some spoiled brat was riding his horse recklessly in the road again. Annoyed, he asked, "Did you see clearly which family's son it was?"
The driver replied vaguely, "The speed was too fast, and I didn't see clearly. I vaguely thought it was a young master from the Prince of Ning's mansion."
Li Shangxuan frowned and said nothing, but then he saw Yang Qing's expression change when she heard about Prince Ning, so he couldn't help but ask, "Does A-Xun also know Prince Ning?"
Yang Qing said, "How could I possibly know Prince Ning? I simply caught a glimpse of Prince Ning's son at the flower-viewing banquet just now, and it left a deep impression on me."
Li Shangxuan gave a very faint smile and didn't say anything more until he saw her off the carriage. Then he said gently, "Don't go out tomorrow. I'll come to find you, okay?"
Yang Qing paused as she alighted from the carriage, but still refused, "Your Highness is very busy, there's no need to trouble yourself."
Without waiting for Li Shangxuan's reaction, he dashed into the Chi family's gate.
The driver was a handsome young man. Yang Qing knew him from her previous life; he was Huo Lu, Li Shangxuan's confidant.
Huo Lu asked with a hint of schadenfreude, "Did Your Highness say something wrong in front of that young lady and make her angry?"
Li Shangxuan remained silent for a long time, and the carriage stayed in the same spot, only looking in the direction she left. His usually calm gaze now revealed a hint of suspicion. After a long while, he said, "Send someone to investigate what happened to the Chi family during the days I was away from the capital. Focus on investigating who Yang Qing met."
Huo Lu agreed, but in his heart he thought, "So he suspects that the future Crown Princess has fallen in love with someone else."
Yang Qing ran home, lifting her skirt. She was extremely dissatisfied with her mother and sisters for leaving her with Li Shangxuan without waiting for her, especially since she had to face Liu Ye'er's teasing as soon as she got home, "Miss is back? What did you say to the Crown Prince?"
Yang Qing didn't even take off her coat before lying down on the bed in a huff, saying irritably, "You have the nerve to ask me? How can you be like this? I haven't even left yet, and you've already run off?"
Liu Ye'er was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected that Yang Qing would return in a huff and the first thing she would do was to interrogate her. This kind of thing had happened many times before, and she was already used to it...
But it was indeed her fault. Liu Ye'er quickly lowered her voice and admitted her mistake, "It's all my fault. I went out with Miss, but I left Miss alone."
She admitted her mistake so quickly and sincerely that Yang Qing knew she was taking her anger out on Liu Ye'er, who was just a maid and naturally did whatever her master told her to do.
But she was still feeling frustrated, and she couldn't help but think of Li Shangxuan's appearance in the carriage. No, she couldn't let things continue like this. She had to find an opportunity to make things clear to him, and it would be better if the two of them broke off all contact.
Yang Qing was thinking about the time, but she didn't expect to receive such shocking news the next day: the Prince of Ning had let go of the Fifth Miss Rong Yue, but was now inquiring about the Sixth Miss Chu Ying and the Seventh Miss Yang Qing.
The Third Madam was skilled at socializing and had friends all over the capital. When the Prince of Ning inquired about her, word spread to her.
Yang Qing has already found a partner, but isn't it just that Chu Ying is left all alone and at the mercy of others?
A strange scene unfolded in the Chi family: the usually cheerful Third Madam was holding her daughter and crying her eyes out. She even vowed never to do any more matchmaking work, saying it was harmful to both herself and others!
Yang Qing was also very annoyed. She hadn't even dealt with Li Shangxuan yet, and now the Prince of Ning's heir had appeared. She didn't want to marry either of them.
After dinner that evening, the second madam made several special remarks, showing that she was no longer in a hurry for Rongyue's marriage. She only instructed her three daughters, who were in their prime, not to go out and to stay at home during this period, until they could walk normally after the Emperor's birthday celebration.
Master Chi thought it was making a mountain out of a molehill: "Ridiculous. You can't force a cow to drink water. Marriage is a major event. Since ancient times, it has been decided by parents and matchmakers. If you and I don't agree to marry off our daughter, would Li Hebi dare to forcibly take away the daughter of an official of the imperial court?"
The second wife rolled her eyes at her. Ever since the second master Chi took a concubine but failed to produce a son, she had disliked this man. It was clearly his own incompetence that made him drag her down.
He retorted sarcastically, "If I didn't know better, I'd think he was some high-ranking official. He's just a lowly Director of Studies, with no real power and no prestige. I really don't know how you can be so confident, sir. I don't care. If that Prince Ning's son really comes up with some crooked idea, if I had such a son-in-law, I'd rather be dead!"
Master Chi stared wide-eyed, speechless. Yang Qing wanted to laugh, but she had to force herself not to laugh out loud and could only try to press the corners of her mouth down.
Although parents are not the type to dote on their children, they would not do something like selling their daughters for personal gain.
But that fat man, Li Hebi, was the heir of the Prince of Ning, the emperor's own nephew. His marriage was arranged by his parents and a matchmaker, so how could it compare to an imperial edict?
The worst-case scenario is that if Princess Ning were to plead with the Emperor, and the Emperor were to issue an imperial decree without considering the circumstances, Yang Qing would have nowhere to turn for help.
A few days later, everything calmed down, and the Chi family finally settled down. The second wife became more active and, upon hearing that the Duke of Lin was going to remarry, she secretly wanted to take Rongyue to meet him.
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