V2C127

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“You say? Coming back home tomorrow? If so, it would really be like a dream…” Xueying laughed bitterly, with a miserable look in her eyes, “but unfortunately I can’t wait. Father is already planning to marry me off to that… old man who is almost fifty.”

At the end of the sentence she shuddered a little and whimpered.

“How can that be?” Zhu Yan was startled, “You should never agree!”

“What’s the point of rejecting it?” Xueying smiled bitterly, “Among my father’s legitimate daughters, the only one who has not yet gotten married is me… At this moment of political turmoil in Kongsang, besides using me for an alliance, what else can I be chosen for?”

“Run away!” Zhu Yan blurted out, “I’ll help you escape!”

Xueying winced for a moment, a glimmer of light swept through her eyes, only to dim away a moment later, and shook her head: “This idea… can only be something to dream about. I understand my father’s abilities very well, no matter how far I escape, he would still be able to catch and bring me back. And… I’m not even capable of doing anything, so what can I do if I escape?”

Zhu Yan knew that her best friend had grown up to be soft and submissive, so she could only sigh helplessly – everyone had their own destiny, how could anyone else interfere with it?

“I’ve been stuck at home for days, and today I took the opportunity to have some relief by coming over to deliver the bridal gifts, so now that I’ve talked to you about these things, I feel much better…” Xueying murmured, looking a bit disoriented, “I… I’m really afraid that if I’m suffocating at home for too long, one day I won’t be able to think straight and I’ll really kill myself.”

“Don’t you dare!” Zhu Yan couldn’t help but get anxious and gripped her friend’s hand, “Don’t do anything foolish on the spur of the moment. Bear with it, everything will be fine.”

“Hmm. I’ll try to endure it. My life doesn’t belong only to me now… and I will definitely use all my strength to live on.” Xueying smiled bitterly, shook her head meaningfully, glanced at her best friend with reddened eyes, and choked out, “Ah-Yan, you have a better life than I do… don’t become like me.”

“Where do I have a better life than you do? You don’t know me at all…” Zhu Yan couldn’t help but smile bitterly as well, biting her lips and pausing; Xueying, do you know that I am not much better than you? I was also forced to part with someone I didn’t want to leave and will soon marry someone I don’t want to marry? I didn’t even have the chance to protest, but had to simply put on a smile and act as if nothing happened and marry him willingly!

No matter what their personalities and talents were, aren’t both of them like birds in a cage locked in golden chains, never able to spread their wings and fly up into the sky?

In the White King’s residence, after the bridal offering had been delivered to the Red King’s residence, the atmosphere turned somewhat gloomy. Bai Fenglin’s face turned cloudy and doubtful, and after thinking and pondering, he finally spoke his thoughts to his father: “Father, I think we should discuss this marriage a little more carefully.”

Unexpectedly, the White King was really rattled and almost flared up.

“What are you talking about? Do you want to retract from the engagement?” The White King frowned at his eldest son, and his voice filled with dissatisfaction, “All the betrothal gifts have been sent to the Red King’s residence today, but now you suddenly raise objections and want to put the marriage on hold, what do you possibly have in mind? Is it because you don’t want to tie the knot? How dare you!”

“Father, appease your anger.” Bai Fenglin whispered, and his face turned a shade of blue, “I just feel that there is something off about this matter, and it might be a good idea to hold off for a while before doing it.”

“Why is it not okay again?” The White King’s eyes were subtly angered, and he almost snarled at his eldest son, pointing at his head, “You proposed this marriage by yourself, and I let you do it – now the emperor’s decree has been issued, and you come claiming there is something wrong? Is it possible for an alliance marriage between two clans to go back against their word? In the beginning, this matter might have been considered poorly managed by my son. Now instead, it would look like, in case this marriage goes wrong, is rather laying the seeds of misfortune for the entire White Clan.”

Bai Fenglin cast a somewhat sour expression towards his father, waited for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Regarding this marriage, what does my cousin… no, His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince, think of?”

“You mean Shi Ying?” The White King stared startled for a moment, “What does this matter have to do with him?”

“…” Bai Fenglin hesitated for a moment, not entirely certain what to say.

He was a thoughtful, meticulous man who pondered over everything, and naturally had his own calculations in mind. But how should he make it clear to his father? Should he tell him that he suspected the woman Shi Ying loves is in fact Zhu Yan, and therefore he is worried about entering into this marriage?

This cousin was originally just a Great Priest who disregarded the political affairs, so he just intended to piss him off, and with the great power of the Bai Clan, he didn’t really have much to worry about. Now, this man has suddenly become the Crown Prince and the future Emperor of Yunhuang!

If he were really to take the other man’s beloved, this marriage could turn out to be a great disaster for the White Clan! But how could he tell his father about this suspicion without having any evidence?

“Then… has the Crown Prince’s consort been selected?” After a moment of hesitation, he could only raise his head and ask a question politely changing the strategy, “Has the Crown Prince agreed to take one of my younger sisters as his concubine?”

Yes, if Shi Ying was going to appoint a Princess of the White Clan as his concubine, that would prove his suspicions to be wrong. Moreover, as long as the Princess of the White Clan will become the Crown Prince’s Consort, he will no longer have to be on his guard.

“Of course.” The White King appeared surprised that his son would ask such a question, and glanced at him, “All the generations of Empresses were always required to be chosen from the White Clan, and if Shi Ying is to be crowned, there will naturally be no exception – I have arranged a lantern viewing parade in the Royal Palace in three days from now, and the Crown Prince will be attending the event; one reason is to express his interest in your wedding on behalf of the emperor… The second reason is to pay an informal visit to your sisters, so that he can choose one of them to be the Crown Princess.”

“Is that so?… fantastic!” Hearing such a response, Bai Fenglin could not help but let out a long sigh of relief as his expression loosened up, “Then it seems that I was overly concerned.”

The White King eyed his eldest son with some confusion and frowned, “What exactly are your doubts about this matter?”

“There is nothing… no more worries.” Bai Fenglin shook his head, relieved, “If the Crown Prince has really chosen one of the younger sisters as his concubine, then I have nothing to worry about.”

“I really don’t understand what you have in mind.” The White King shook his head and gave his son a look, “All in all, this is a critical time, no mistakes can be made! It is in our best interest to complete this union as soon as possible.”

“Yes.” Bai Fenglin lowered his head, “Your son understands.”

“Besides, don’t you also like that girl? You’ve always been flirtatious and self-indulgent, but you fell in love with that girl at first sight.” The White King looked at his eldest son, shook his head and sighed, “However, after the marriage, you should stop making trips to the Green Tea Pavilion to avoid embarrassing the Red King’s reputation – he treats his only daughter like a jewel in his palm. If you don’t want to put yourself at a disadvantage, stay put, you can marry a few more concubines in the future.”

“Yes, yes,” Bai Fenglin nodded hastily, “I will follow Father’s guidance.”

The White King waved his hand, “Alright, you can go now and get yourself busy – the Crown Prince is coming to the residence in three days to enjoy the lanterns, there are many things that need to be taken care of.”

“Yes.” The Governor of Yecheng retreated.

After Xueying left, Zhu Yan remained alone in the garden, staring at the pool of water in a daze.

After counting the number of betrothal gifts from the list, Grandma Sheng came back to report to the Princess, and when she saw her from a distance, she couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling in her heart – these days, she often caught the Princess in a state of stupor, just sitting there for half a day, completely unlike her lively and cheerful former self, and wondered what kind of things she was hiding in her heart.

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