Chapter 83 You're being insolent!
With the matter of the deposed crown prince resolved and Emperor Gan Ning's birthday approaching, the capital city became lively again.
Gifts from all over Zhaoyan Kingdom flowed into the palace like a river. Emperor Gan Ning pondered for a long time and decided to keep the birthday banquet simple. Recently, there had been turmoil on the border, and Zhaoyan Kingdom's harvests had not been good in recent years. If he continued to be extravagant and wasteful, it would set a bad example for the lower classes and might shake the foundation of the country.
Upon learning of Emperor Gan Ning's intentions, all the civil and military officials also became frugal, even wearing old and worn-out clothes when they went out.
Shen Panyan also reduced the expenses of the princess's residence, and her whole demeanor became more and more plain. Even on the day of the palace banquet, she only adorned her hair with a hibiscus flower and did not wear too much jewelry. Only the emerald green on her wrist was particularly eye-catching.
After the palace banquet ended, Shen Panyan was about to leave, but Gu Jinyan stopped her.
He was certain she knew about what he had done in the capital recently, yet the princess's residence hadn't even sent a maid to inquire about it. He had endured it for many days, but finally couldn't help asking her.
However, seeing Shen Panyan's cold and indifferent demeanor, he ultimately failed to get the response he wanted.
The princess didn't care about him at all, even though he was now engaged to her.
She didn't care at all what he did; he had several women around him.
"well....."
Gu Jinyan turned and left, and the two parted on bad terms once again.
A few days later, Zhuzhi rushed over and said that the prince consort had gotten drunk a few days ago and spent the night on a painted boat with the woman he had rescued. Now the woman had become his concubine, but because he had not yet married the princess, she was temporarily kept outside the mansion without a title or status.
Before the marriage was even finalized, the prince consort already had a mistress. If this got out, not only would the Rongguo Duke's mansion lose face, but even the princess would lose face.
What does Gu Jinyan take the royal family for? What does he take the princess for?
Such disrespect towards the princess, if this were to reach His Majesty and become known to him, the Rongguo Duke's Mansion would certainly not fare well.
However, the Rong family suppressed the matter and it hadn't spread yet. But secrets can't be kept forever, and it was bound to leak out eventually. Sure enough, the day after the incident, the Duchess of Rong hurriedly went to the Princess's residence to apologize to her.
After listening, Shen Panyan remained calm. "Zhuzhi, go tell the Duchess of Rongguo that the woman is pitiful. Since she has followed Gu Jinyan, she should have a proper status. What kind of woman is she to treat as a mistress? Let him take her back to the manor and make her his concubine."
Zhu Zhi asked anxiously, "Princess, do you really not care about this matter?"
"The prince consort already has a concubine before the marriage... If this gets out, where will you put your face?!"
Shen Panyan shook her head: "Zhuzhi, my reputation in the capital has never been good, so one more thing won't make a difference. Go ahead and tell the Duchess of Rongguo that I don't care about this matter and I won't tell Father Emperor so that he can do anything to the Rongguo Mansion."
"Princess, you... sigh!" Zhuzhi sighed and turned to hurry back to reply.
When she learned that the princess did not care about the matter, the Duchess of Rongguo was first surprised and then delighted, and thanked her repeatedly. However, when she asked to see the princess, she was refused.
The princess is not seeing anyone now.
Having no other choice, she turned around and went back.
Upon returning home, Gu Jinyan hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Mother, what did the princess say? Did she tell me to send Ruoniang away, or did she say...?"
Lady Rongguo gave him a look of exasperation. "Princess, princess! You still know what a princess is, and yet you still caused such a mess. Do you even realize that if this gets to His Majesty, the entire Rongguo Mansion will have to pay the price for your foolish actions?"
"Back then, you begged your father, saying that you and the princess were truly in love, and asked him to take you to the palace to ask His Majesty for a decree to grant you marriage. And what was the result?"
"The princess doesn't like you at all; it's all just wishful thinking on your part..."
"Mother, stop talking about this. I know what I'm doing. What did the princess say?!" Gu Jinyan didn't want to hear any of this. He had heard enough of these words from the princess.
The Duchess of Rongguo said coldly, "You know, you know you still caused such a mess. From now on, until the marriage, you are not allowed to go out and fool around with your cronies. You must stay in the manor and not go anywhere."
"Regarding Ruoniang, the princess said she doesn't mind and wants you to bring Ruoniang into the manor and make her a concubine."
"What?!" Gu Jinyan staggered back a step, his pupils shrinking sharply. "The princess said... she said I should make Ruoniang a concubine?"
"Yes." The Duchess of Rongguo took a deep breath, looked at her good-for-nothing son, and earnestly advised, "Jinyan, just listen to your mother's advice. Whether the princess likes you or not is not important. You have already received His Majesty's decree of marriage and are now the princess's consort. Love cannot be forced. As long as time goes on, the princess will eventually fall in love with you."
"When your father and I married, there was no love between us either. But look at us now, your father and I are doing just fine. Mutual love is rare in this world. Don't do anything foolish again. Not only will you make a fool of yourself, but you'll also implicate everyone in the household. What will happen to your father's and your elder brother's careers? What will happen to your sister's marriage...?"
"The prosperity of noble families is shared by all, and the loss of one is shared by all. You are already blessed to marry the princess by His Majesty's decree, which is a fortune you could only dream of. So please do not ask for anything more, okay?"
Everyone was advising him to give up, but he just wouldn't give up.
That day, he was drunk and did something foolish, but it wasn't intentional. He just wanted the princess to pay more attention to him, but he never expected... to make such a big mistake.
From childhood to adulthood, there was nothing he couldn't get, except for the princess, with whom he repeatedly suffered setbacks.
Why, why couldn't the princess care about him a little more...? He would go and beg the princess for forgiveness.
"Mother, you don't need to say any more, I know."
Gu Jinyan strode out, and the Duchess of Rongguo's head throbbed. She shouted, "Where are you going?"
Gu Jinyan: "Go and beg the princess for forgiveness!"
Lady Rongguo: "Guards, stop him!"
She said sternly, "The princess doesn't want to see you right now. Don't go out and cause any more trouble. You're going to marry the princess in a few months. From now on, you'd better stay quietly in the manor and don't run around outside anymore."
Who knows what unpleasant incident might occur when he goes out to meet the princess, or what impulsive thing he might do? The Duchess of Rongguo really dared not let him go out again.
"If you want the princess to forgive you, you'd better stay home and study more. The princess is quiet and loves poetry and books. After you get married, try to do things she likes. One day, the princess will forgive you. There's no such thing as a grudge that lasts overnight between husband and wife."
"Mother..." Gu Jinyan pleaded.
"Even if you call me father today, it won't do you any good. Stop him!"
Gu Jinyan was confined to the mansion and unable to go out. Shen Panyan was happy to have some peace and quiet since she hadn't heard him cause any more trouble. However, Zhuzhi nagged her every day, which annoyed her.
"Zhuzhi, can you please stop saying this? I'm getting tired of hearing it." Shen Panyan put down her teacup and sighed.
“Princess, I’m only doing this for your own good.” Zhuzhi pleaded earnestly, “The imperial decree has been issued, and your marriage to the prince consort is a done deal. If you continue to ignore this, what will you do in the future? Do you really want to have a lifetime of quarrels with the prince consort? He will eventually be with you for life.”
"Zhuzhi, you don't need to say anything more. I've thought it through very clearly. I will not give Gu Jinyan any hope."
She had made up her mind from the beginning that, whether she married Gu Jinyan or someone else, she would never interfere with her husband's life.
If the prince consort wanted to take concubines, she agreed. She didn't mind taking two, three, or four, as long as they didn't bother her.
Seeing Shen Panyan's resolute expression and nonchalant demeanor, Zhuzhi remained silent for a moment before asking, "Princess, is it because of that bodyguard that you cannot accept the consort?"
Shen Panyan paused for a moment, then shook her head. "No."
Even without Lin Xiao, she would still find it hard to accept Gu Jinyan; at most, she could only accept him as her consort.
Because Gu Jinyan had no idea what she needed; from beginning to end, he was just indulging in self-pity.
"Princess, has that guard come looking for you?" Zhuzhi suddenly asked.
Almost a month has passed since that bodyguard disappeared.
Shen Panyan's eyebrows suddenly fell, and she gently shook her head: "...No."
She has absolutely no idea how he is doing, whether he has left the Dark Guard Camp, or whether he is doing well or not.
Sometimes, she felt that this was fine. Lin Xiao didn't come looking for her, and she didn't have to say those things that would make him sad. It was good that they parted ways quietly. But sometimes, she missed him very much.
All she wanted to know was whether he was safe; she just needed to know if he was safe.
Her fingertips unconsciously landed on the bracelet on her wrist. Shen Panyan bit her lip and lowered her eyelashes.
Seeing her like this, Zhuzhi understood everything. "Princess, if he comes looking for you, you must not be soft-hearted, otherwise, neither you nor he will have a good outcome."
Zhuzhi still hopes that the princess can live a good and peaceful life.
The princess was a kind person; she didn't want her to fall into a hopeless swamp.
The imperial edict has been issued, and there is no turning back now.
Continuing to argue will only be futile.
Shen Panyan pursed her lips and said softly, "I understand. I won't be soft-hearted this time."
"You can go now. Let me have some peace and quiet."
The princess's resistance to the prince consort is probably because of that secret guard. Otherwise, even if the princess dislikes the prince consort, she wouldn't be so cold to him. I just hope that the princess can really understand and not be soft-hearted.
Zhu Zhi sighed inwardly, bowed, and said, "Yes."
*
That night, the moon was bright and the stars were few. Just as Shen Panyan was about to rest, a black figure silently appeared in her room.
The candlelight flickered, and the sound of footsteps, neither too light nor too heavy, rang out, accompanied by the tinkling of the beaded curtain.
"Your Highness, I'm back."
He knelt down, his voice slightly hoarse, and even though his face was pale, he couldn't hide the joy in his eyes.
This time, he was no longer An Jiu, nor did he have any other identity; he was simply Lin Xiao, His Highness's Lin Xiao, returning to her side with an identity that belonged solely to her.
Hearing Lin Xiao's voice out of the blue, Shen Panyan thought she was hallucinating. He hadn't appeared for a long time... After a long while, she turned around. When she saw that familiar figure, joy flashed in her eyes. She wanted to go forward and help him up, but soon she remembered what she had to do. She stopped abruptly, suppressed her joy, and forced herself to remain calm.
"Lin Xiao, you're back."
"Yes, I'm back."
He looked up at her, his eyes crinkling, "Your Highness, from this day forward, I will never leave your side again."
His smile was so pure, so pure, that she could clearly see his thoughts. Shen Panyan quickly looked away, biting her lip, not daring to meet his gaze. "You should get up first!"
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Lin Xiao stood up, his dark hair tied up high and hanging down his back. He was still dressed in black as before, but he looked very different from before.
He seemed much more relaxed.
He took out a few thin, folded sheets of paper from his pocket and handed them to her, his smile as clear as a moonlit stream. “Your Highness, these are some special incense recipes I came across on my way back to the capital. Most of them are not available in the capital. I thought you might like them, so I bought them and gave them to you.”
A fragrance recipe?!
Shen Panyan paused, turned around, and looked at him in surprise.
Special incense formula?
Incense recipes are expensive to begin with, and special incense recipes are even more expensive. Such things are either priceless or have no market value. They are usually the foundation of a person's livelihood and they would not give them up easily. Where did he get the incense recipe?
"Where did you get this from...?"
"On the way back to the capital, I helped a wealthy merchant and resolved a matter for him. He sold it to me at a low price, so Your Highness need not worry."
Seeing that Her Highness did not take it, Lin Xiao handed the incense recipe to her again, "Your Highness?"
"Don't you like it?"
He remembered that when they were at the royal villa, His Highness liked to make incense balls when she had nothing to do, so he specially sought them out and gave them to her.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Although they were just a few thin sheets of paper, Shen Panyan felt as heavy as a thousand pounds under her fingers.
She wanted to refuse, but looking into his sincere and smiling eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
The incense seemed to still carry his body heat, warm and hot, making her fingertips sting a little.
Shen Panyan's knuckles curled slightly, and she used almost all her strength to control herself and prevent herself from shedding tears.
She carefully put away the incense stick with her trembling fingers and asked, "Lin Xiao, how did you leave the Dark Guard Camp?"
Lin Xiao said, "After the deposed crown prince fled the capital, I chased him all the way, forced him to a cliff, and then fell off the cliff with the deposed crown prince. Now everyone in the Dark Guard Camp thinks that I am dead, and no one knows that I am still alive."
"So that's how it is..." Shen Panyan murmured.
After being chased all the way to the cliff fall, deceiving the Dark Guard Camp will probably not be an easy task.
"You..." Seeing his pale face, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Were you injured when you fell off the cliff?"
Lin Xiao: "I'm fine, just a minor injury, it's been taken care of."
"Mmm," Shen Panyan said softly.
She didn't really believe it, but she couldn't care less about him anymore. The more she talked, the less he wanted to let go.
His feigned death to escape the secret guard camp and return to the capital was already a very dangerous thing. The capital was full of the emperor's men. If he continued to stay in the capital, he might be discovered by the emperor's men. She could not let him stay any longer.
Now that we have seen him and know he is safe, there is nothing more to hesitate about.
Shen Panyan slowly stated what she had decided before, "Lin Xiao, you should leave!"
"Now that you've left the Shadow Guard camp, you no longer need to be a shadow guard. You can go and pursue the life you want. Go."
The joy in Lin Xiao's eyes slowly froze. "Your Highness, what did you say?"
Shen Panyan took a deep breath and said coldly, "I said, I don't need you to stay by my side. You can leave!"
She turned her back to him, afraid that if she saw him, she would still be unable to resist softening her heart.
“Lin Xiao, actually, from the very beginning, the reason I wanted to take you away from Father Emperor was to give you freedom, not to keep you by my side.”
"I just didn't expect you to do it yourself. So Lin Xiao, you are free now, and you don't need to stay by my side anymore. I don't need any bodyguards either. You can leave."
"It's very late tonight, so you can stay at the Princess's residence for the night. I'll have Zhuzhi give you some travel expenses. Tomorrow, once the city gates open, you should leave the capital and go as far away as possible. Don't ever come back!"
"Your Highness!!"
Lin Xiao strode forward, grabbed her arm, his dark pupils fixed on her, his brows furrowing, and said, word by word, "Why are you saying these things to your subordinate again? Your subordinate will not leave."
He had gone to so much trouble and devised so many methods to escape the Dark Guard Camp without any repercussions, all to be by her side. He didn't understand why she suddenly wanted to send him away again.
“If Your Highness is only worried about my safety, then there is no need for that. My disguise is excellent, and no one will discover that I am hiding in the capital.”
Shen Panyan tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but failed. She turned her head and said coldly, "But I don't want to keep you by my side anymore."
Zhu Zhi had taught her how to make him give up. "Lin Xiao, I'm about to get married. Even if you stay by my side, you'll never be able to show your true face, hiding in the shadows, forever unable to be seen by anyone..." At this point, she could no longer control her emotions, her eyes reddening. "Why do you do this? Go. From now on, we'll be completely cut off..."
"Your Highness!!" He interrupted her forcefully, his eyes as dark as ink as he looked at her. "Your Highness, I have never cared about these things. All I have ever asked for is to stay by your side, whether I am hiding in the shadows and never be seen by anyone, or become something else, as long as I am by your side, that is enough."
"Your Highness, I will not leave. You don't need to say any more." He tried his best to keep his voice calm. "You know that once I make a decision, even you cannot change it."
He was determined to stay by her side, and Shen Panyan was in pain and despair. She really didn't want to say those hurtful things to him. "Lin Xiao, I've said it before, I'm getting married. Even if you stay by my side, it won't make any difference. I won't be with you. I'm a princess, and you're a bodyguard. Don't you understand why I rejected you?"
"Lin Xiao knows, Lin Xiao has never dared to hope to be with you, Your Highness!" He really didn't understand. Last time she came, Your Highness was not like this. Why did she insist on leaving by herself this time?
“Your Highness, Lin Xiao said before that he did all this just to have a place by your side.”
"Lin Xiao is very clear about his identity..."
"If you know your place, then leave!" Shen Panyan stretched out her hand, pointing to the door, her voice trembling. "You leave. Leave tomorrow, leave the capital. This is an order!"
Lin Xiao's eyes suddenly darkened, his black, icy pupils freezing inch by inch. He practically forced his voice out, "Your Highness, why are you so insistent on making me leave?"
"I've already said it, it's impossible for you and me..."
Before he could finish speaking, he reached out and grabbed her neck, then lowered his head and kissed her.
She indulged him, and he has come this far step by step; he will never let go.
He returned to the capital during the day and already knew about the engagement between His Highness and Gu Jinyan. He didn't care about that; he just wanted to stay by her side.
Caught off guard, Shen Panyan's eyes widened in surprise.
Lin Xiao is becoming more and more audacious; she absolutely cannot let him continue as before.
Shen Panyan reached out to resist, but he wouldn't let go, so she had no way to break free. His figure enveloped her, as if he wanted to devour her completely, and she could only respond passively.
"No....."
His breath was so hot that her consciousness gradually became hazy. For a moment, she wished she could just succumb to him, but what would the consequences be...? Would she watch him hide in the darkness forever, never to be seen by anyone, or would she one day have her secret exposed and watch him die?
She had too many worries and too much sorrow in her heart, and she couldn't make the same firm choice as him. This was a mistake, a mistake that had to be severed.
The moment Lin Xiao finally let go of her, almost simultaneously, a loud "slap" resounded as a hand slapped hard across his face.
"How dare you!!"
"Who gave you permission to do this!"
Lin Xiao lowered his eyelashes, as if he hadn't been the one hit. He took her hand, looked at her slightly red palm, and said in a low, husky voice, "If Your Highness wants to punish me, why do you have to do it yourself? I can do it myself."
"Who told you these things!"
Facing him, she always felt powerless, like hitting cotton. No matter what she said or did, he only listened to or did selectively. What could she possibly do to make him give up?
It was her fault. She had been too good to him in the past, which led him to repeatedly defy her.
She exhaled, her voice as cold as lake water, "Lin Xiao, I'm telling you now, you have to leave. I won't keep you here. If you stay, don't blame me for not showing you any mercy."
"Now, get out!"
Her face was flushed with anger as she pointed to the door. This time, she was serious. Lin Xiao looked at her, his dark eyes slightly reddening, and knelt down. "Your Highness, Lin Xiao knows he was wrong. Please don't send Lin Xiao away, okay?"
Shen Panyan looked away, her knuckles clenching tightly. "Don't make me say it again, get out!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com