"Li Yi".
The Crown Prince's guards led the two to a secluded garden in the Li residence. The young girl, Helan, had eyes that seemed to hold a galaxy, especially under the moonlight. She looked at the man in front of her and softly called his name.
The man swallowed hard; his heart was pounding.
"I like you."
Upon hearing this, Lan Youxin punched her husband beside her a few times and pointed at Yuwen Helan with an excited expression.
Do people from your Yuwen family like to play the straight game?
Li Yi was completely stunned, standing there speechless.
Perhaps it was her first time confessing her feelings to someone, and the girl was a little shy. But shy as she was, her experience as a princess told her that she should do everything with confidence and grace.
She buried her face in Li Yi's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Li Yi, I know you have feelings for me too."
The girl, who trained at the Ministry of War every day, had her slender waist wrapped in Yuwen Helan's arms. She could clearly feel the man's firm muscles and heat beneath his clothes.
Does the fact that he didn't push her away mean that he likes her too?
"Your Highness, I..."
Before Li Yi could finish speaking, he simply hugged Yuwen Helan tightly, his heart filled with even greater worry.
Lan Youxin stopped laughing when she saw this and frowned as she looked at Li Yi.
What's wrong with him?
“Li Yi is a man of impeccable character and outstanding ability, but it would be a waste for him to become the emperor’s son-in-law,” the crown prince said from the side.
"The princess has taken a liking to him, and he's still feeling wronged?"
The man didn't know how to talk to his wife about this.
Giving up one's future for a relationship is unfair.
"He and Helan, it's impossible."
“You are the Crown Prince, and from now on… even you, sitting in that position, can’t give Li Yi the position he deserves?”
The question was very direct, but the Crown Prince did not want to lie to Lan Youxin.
He shook his head and said:
"No, not that I can't, but that I dare not."
“Li Yi is the son of the Minister of War. If he is properly trained, he should be a marshal. How could the son-in-law possibly command troops?”
The child that crawls out of the princess's belly is a legitimate royal bloodline. If someone rebels and supports their own child to ascend the throne, I'll ask you if this child is a legitimate royal heir.
At that time, none of the ministers will have anything to say.
Hearing this, Lan Youxin looked somewhat forlorn as she gazed at Yuwen Helan, who was blushing and talking to Li Yi. She wondered how she would tell her this news later.
Today should be considered the day the two of them confessed their feelings.
In fact, if Lan Youxin hadn't brought Yuwen Helan out, the princess would have been delayed even longer, and she would have been even more heartbroken on the day of their separation.
"But I can't let her and Li Yi only have one day together," the Crown Princess muttered.
"Youxin can tell your aunt later."
"Won't she feel even worse if it's late?"
That night, Lan Youxin tried to persuade Yuwen Helan again, explaining the pros and cons to her in detail, but who could stop a young girl whose heart had just begun to flutter with romantic feelings?
The only answer Lan Youxin gave was one sentence.
“Li Yi said he’ll take me out of the palace the day after tomorrow. Can you lend me Aunt Cen then? She’s more reliable than anyone else in my palace.”
The Crown Princess nodded reluctantly; she understood that feeling of someone who wouldn't listen.
Her father was like that back then, advising her not to marry the crown prince.
The crown prince will become the emperor in the future, and he will have a lot of concubines in his house. I can't stand this kind of thing.
Lan Youxin had struggled with this issue before, but she still took the gamble.
Deep within the palace, in all four directions, her first day here was filled with trepidation.
Fortunately, the Empress is a very good person; she is the kind of woman who truly treats her like her own daughter.
The Empress said:
"The Crown Prince told me that he only wants you as his woman in this lifetime."
After saying this, the Empress lowered her head and smiled.
The envy and pride in her smile were impossible to conceal.
Although the father of my child is the emperor, and although my husband has other women in his harem.
But my son isn't.
I raised my son very well.
He will be very devoted and will cherish his wife.
"But Si Heng is the Crown Prince, the heir apparent."
Hearing this, Lan Youxin felt a chill in her heart. She knew that the Empress would say that the Crown Prince had no choice in the matter.
"It's inevitable that you're not in control of your own destiny. Even without political connections, there will be women who want to climb the social ladder and become phoenixes coming to throw themselves at you. You grew up in a family of military generals, so you don't understand these intricacies."
“I have trained a palace maid since she was a child. She is efficient and intelligent. From now on, she will be your aunt and help you deal with the Crown Prince’s affairs.”
hold head high?
The Crown Princess was somewhat bewildered by what she was being told.
Is this even possible?
Then, Lan Youxin met Cen Ang upon returning to the palace.
The Empress is right, that's true. But after Cen Ang came along, it felt like these problems were easily solved, and the women disappeared on their own before they even reached me.
Therefore, the Crown Princess understands Yuwen Helan's current feelings very well.
They were talking about love, exchanging love letters, and were only one step away from pledging their lives to each other.
The mistake lay in their promise to spend their lives together.
Li Yi was unwilling to become a prince consort, and Yuwen Helan could not possibly give up her position as a princess.
Neither option is fair to the other party.
The longer their affair went on, the more difficult it became to keep quiet. Almost everyone in the capital knew about it, including Li Yi's own father, who was then the Vice Minister of War.
"Li Yi, you're gambling with the future of the men in our family!"
Li Yi knelt before his father, receiving his teachings.
"You think being a prince consort is so easy? You think you can just stay away from politics and that's it? Let me tell you! Every man in our family has to do the same, only then will the Emperor feel at ease! Only then will the Yuwen family feel at ease!"
"Rebellious son!"
His father's words seemed to jolt Li Yi from his beautiful dream, but he couldn't bear to give up Yuwen Helan.
"Tomorrow, you must go and explain things to the princess, then return to meet her! The wedding will take place after spring!"
"Father? You can make me break off all ties with the princess, but marriage is absolutely out of the question!"
“My son, the marriage is not to make you give up, but to let the princess…”
How could those privileged sons of heaven, nurtured by imperial power, easily let go of their beloved? Take a recent example.
At that time, the Crown Prince had only accompanied Lan Youxin, who was accompanying his father to the capital to report on his duties, for less than half a month before directly pursuing him to the Southwest Prince's Mansion to propose marriage.
Lord Li didn't believe that Yuwen Helan could give up so easily; such things are all a matter of fate.
When it comes to breaking up, it's best to talk about it face-to-face.
Li Yi and Yuwen Helan made their conversation clear.
"Helan, let's just call it quits here..."
The girl didn't find it as unacceptable as she had imagined; she had envisioned this day many times.
Yuwen Helan knew from the beginning that the chances of her being with Li Yi were slim, but she still wanted to give it a try, just in case.
What if they grow old together? What if...
If he can't live without me, he's willing... willing to be my husband for life...
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