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墨書 Inktalez
Yun Kexin was taken aback: the Crown Prince often mentioned her? What did that mean? She then smiled cleverly and said, "Consort Xiang, when I came under the Tong Mansion's care, I had a good relationship with the Crown Prince and the young master of the Tong Family. Perhaps the Crown Prince was referring to some amusing incidents we had back then."
"Maybe," Consort Xiang replied noncommittally. "With your intelligence and beauty, which man wouldn't be moved upon seeing you?" After a brief pause, she fluttered her long eyelashes and suddenly asked, "Would you like to enter the palace?"
Yun Cheng seemed to see through Consort Xiang's intentions and was somewhat worried about how Yun Kexin would respond. Unexpectedly, she said without hesitation, "Consort Xiang, the Duke of E's residence is a woman's home; I only like to stay in my own house."
Yun Cheng's tense nerves finally relaxed. A hint of a cold smile flickered across Consort Xiang's smooth oval face. After a moment, she murmured, "One day, I will make you 'willing' to enter the palace..."
Yun Kexin widened her eyes in surprise. Before she could ponder the meaning behind those words, Consort Xiang had already instructed the guards and servants waiting outside the pavilion, "See them out!" When the guards entered, she added, "Make sure to safely escort Fourth Master and Seventh Sister out of the palace without any mistakes."
Once outside the palace gates, Yun Cheng and Yun Kexin got into the carriage. Apart from urging the driver to hurry along, there was no further conversation.
"Fourth Uncle, what's wrong? Speak..." Yun Kexin said with concern as she shook his arm slightly.
"Seventh Young Lady, promise Fourth Uncle," Yun Cheng said, staring at the carriage curtain and avoiding her question, "that you will never have any dealings with the Crown Prince again."
It turned out that Yun Cheng had long sensed Consort Xiang's intentions and was thus anxious.
"I have nothing to do with the Crown Prince," Yun Kexin replied innocently with a smile. "He likes Zhen'er; I've met her, and she's really nice."
"No matter how good she is, as long as the Emperor and Empress do not approve, the Crown Prince cannot have his way," Yun Cheng said, unsure how to explain such complex relationships to a ten-year-old girl. He could only express his worries to Yun Kexin. "And if they take a liking to someone, even if the Crown Prince has no feelings for her, she will still be married into the palace."
Yun Kexin's eyes widened in astonishment. Connecting it with Consort Xiang's words made her heart tremble. She panicked and said, "Fourth Uncle, what should we do? I don't want to enter the palace—"
"That's why I want you to stay away from the Crown Prince," Yun Cheng appeared even more anxious than Yun Kexin. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Once she (referring to Consort Xiang) speaks a few words in front of the Emperor and Empress, it will be too late." He swallowed hard and rolled his eyes as if contemplating something. "So this time, Seventh Young Lady, let Third Brother propose marriage to the Yan Duke's residence for you; let that Young Marquis marry you."
Suddenly, the "calculations" of Zhou came to mind, making Yun Cheng increasingly anxious.
Yun Kexin was taken aback, her watery eyes shimmering: Proposing marriage now? To marry Feng Yinxiao?
"This... but Fourth Uncle, Xin'er is only ten years old..."
"What's wrong with that? We can have the Yan Guo Gongfu set the marriage first," Yun Cheng interrupted without thinking. "Seventh Young Lady, you just need to tell Fourth Uncle how you feel about Feng Yinxiao."
Yun Kexin was at a loss for words, stammering for a moment before shyly mumbling, "He seems quite nice." But she didn’t want to get married.
"That's good, that's good," Yun Cheng sighed in relief, his brows relaxing. "If Xin'er feels embarrassed, let Fourth Uncle help you talk to Third Brother and Sister-in-law, so they can choose a day to propose to the Yan Guo Gongfu."
Yun Kexin suddenly remembered something, her eyes brightening as she declined, "Fourth Uncle, Second Uncle left my marriage proposal in a brocade box before he passed away. This might be a good excuse and reason."
"That may be true, but I can't think of what means she would use to achieve her goal," Yun Cheng pondered. "Moreover, that brocade box won't be opened until you're fourteen, and we still don't know who you're promised to. Rather than wait for an unknown person, it’s better to marry someone Xin'er likes, don’t you think?"
Yun Kexin felt that Fourth Uncle's words made sense, but was it appropriate for her to marry at the age of ten? Besides, the brocade box represented her father's last wishes; wouldn’t doing this betray her father's intentions?
Seeing that Yun Kexin was still hesitating, Yun Cheng urged her further.
"Fourth Uncle, I will handle this myself," Yun Kexin said calmly. "And please don’t mention what happened between Father and Mother tonight—"
"Then how does Seventh Young Lady plan to proceed?"
"I will talk to Young Lord and decide what to do before involving Father."
In the first two days after returning home, Yun Kexin stayed in her boudoir deep in thought about how to deal with this tricky situation: If she truly used the matter of the "brocade box" to thwart Consort Xiang's intentions, she believed it could work. However, doing so would cause the incident of her being "adopted" to spread widely, which would be detrimental to the Duke's residence and could create discord between the Emperor and Empress towards Yun Yang. His position as Deputy Minister of Justice would be precarious. But if she didn’t take action, she might face the fate of becoming Consort Qin…
"Is there really no other way besides marrying Feng Yinxiao 'on time'?"
Yun Kexin rested her chin on her hands, gazing out at the continuous spring rain, lost in thought. Fu Yihang called her name several times without a response, and he couldn't help but speculate that she might be missing the Young Marquis, which made him feel a pang of jealousy.
"Seventh Sister, Seventh Sister," Fu Yihang called out from the doorway, not giving up. "What are you thinking about?"
Interrupted from her thoughts, Yun Kexin frowned in annoyance and dismissively replied, "Nothing. The rainy season has arrived, and there's nowhere to go. It's a bit stuffy."
"Then can I keep you company, Seventh Sister?" Fu Yihang said in a low and humble tone. "Just right, I have nowhere to go either."
Just because you have nowhere to go doesn't mean you can disturb others! I didn't ask for your 'company'!
Yun Kexin silently criticized him! Fu Yihang couldn't wait for Yun Kexin's invitation and took the liberty of stepping inside. Approaching the desk, he smiled and said, "Seventh Sister, if you have any worries, you can share them with me. Let's see if I can help."
"Aren't I already talking to Fu Shizi?" Yun Kexin replied impatiently. "It's nothing; I'm just feeling bored."
Fu Yihang remained calm and unbothered, his face full of smiles, unlike the person who had slapped Yun Ran earlier.
"Alright then, I'll share something cheerful to lift your spirits. What do you want to hear?"
"I don't know," Yun Kexin feigned boredom with a lazy shrug. "Whatever you want to talk about."
"Cousin, I want to know if you have any wishes," Fu Yihang said, staring at Yun Kexin with eager eyes.
My biggest wish is to serve you a cup of Death-Ending Drink on your Wedding Night!
"I don't have any grand ambitions as a woman," Yun Kexin realized that even being with Fu Yihang for just a moment felt torturous. "Isn't it said that 'a woman's lack of talent is virtue'? I just want to live a stable life and be content."
Her half-serious, half-casual demeanor was taken seriously by Fu Yihang, especially the last sentence, which made his eyes shine brightly and his lips move as if he were ready to make a promise at any moment.
"Seventh Sister, you will definitely be a virtuous wife and good mother in the future," Fu Yihang's gaze was already deeply glued to Yun Kexin's face, seemingly praising her, "From the first moment I saw you as a child, I knew this."
Did he really think she had chosen him as the best candidate?!
"Seventh Sister, do you know what my wishes are?" Fu Yihang glanced at Yun Kexin and answered himself, "First, to achieve success in the imperial examinations; second, I hope my cousin grows up quickly. I have already discussed with my father and mother about proposing to you when you turn thirteen, and they agreed." He paused for a moment and suddenly lowered his voice, "I know my cousin's situation is special, but I will do everything I can..."
Yun Kexin, who had originally been looking down and pretending not to hear, suddenly raised her head upon hearing this, unable to believe what Fu Yihang was saying: So fast?! This shouldn't be happening; didn't the Han royal family want to marry into the Jin royal family and have Fu Yihang marry Princess Li Yurong? Why had they suddenly compromised? Could it be that the brilliance of the Second House had caused them to "change course"?!
What should she do? There was still Consort Xiang to deal with, and now Fu Yihang had come along. It seemed she had to act decisively and could no longer hesitate.
"Heir Apparent, I'm tired and need to rest," Yun Kexin said lightly with a smile. "Also, I am already over ten years old; please do not casually enter my boudoir in the future. It would cause gossip and be bad for both of us."
Fu Yihang thought that his "confession" would change Yun Kexin's perception of him and even hint at her willingness to commit herself to him. However, he was met with this dismissal instead. He felt awkward but realized she had a point.
"Alright, Seventh Sister, I won't disturb your rest," Fu Yihang said with a smile as he took his leave. "But remember, if you have any worries, just tell me so I can share them with you."
Yun Kexin wished he would leave quickly but maintained a smiling face as she sent him off. She truly felt that "being human is difficult."
In the evening, after the rain stopped and Fu Yihang returned to the Han royal residence, Yun Kexin called for three maidservants—she wanted to find Feng Yinxiao to discuss her current situation with him. She had never been so eager to see him before; she wished she could pour out all her troubles to him.
She knew he was currently at the training grounds outside the palace and needed to find him immediately.
At the entrance of the training grounds, two soldiers blocked her path.
"This is a military restricted area; no unauthorized entry is allowed. Please take another route," one soldier said rudely.
"I'm sorry, General, our sister is looking for Young Lord regarding an urgent matter. Please notify him."
"Young Lord?" The soldier was taken aback, unable to respond. "We only have Palace Front Commander Qingyuan Marquis here."
"Yes, yes, that's him, Qingyuan Marquis Feng Yinxiao," Shanling couldn't stand the delay and said anxiously, "Please go inform him that Duke of E State Mansion Seventh Sister is here with important news."
The guard saw that the four in front of him were all women and felt suspicious. He knew Qingyuan Marquis's temperament well; over the years, he had never seen any woman appear by his side. How could four women suddenly show up? Doubtful, he said "Please wait a moment," and turned to enter the Training Ground camp.
"Commander, there are four women outside looking for you with urgent news," the soldier reported respectfully to Feng Yinxiao, who was focused on reading documents at his desk.
Feng Yinxiao had not expected Yun Kexin to come to the Training Ground. Without looking up, he continued flipping through the papers in his hand.
"What four women? Are you sure they're looking for me?"
"Yes, three look like maids, and one is dressed like a young lady. They referred to her as 'Seventh Sister...'"
Feng Yinxiao paused, suddenly looking up and saying, "Where are they? Take me to them quickly!"
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