CH 44.1

Chapter 44.1 – You’re Mine (1)

Qi Yang’s marriage was finally decided before the big meeting of the court. Everyone in the court had their own ideas. When those who wanted to make a big deal about her abducting someone from the street learned about this, they had to angrily throw the memorial note they had              written to the fireplace.

The Third Prince had been grounded by the Emperor for a few days – hearing this, his teeth itched in anger, “That little girl really knows how to stir the flames, and my punishment this time is also because of her doing. But when she got into trouble, she just acts spoiled in front of Royal Father, and he arranged a marriage for her.” He knew Qi Yang’s thoughts, so he never felt that the marriage would cause her any grief. He became more and more indignant, “Royal Father is too biased!”

As soon as he said this, the aide beside him quickly said, “Your Highness, please be careful your words.”

The Third Prince came to his sense. He did not dare to complain too much about the Emperor, but his expression was still full of anger.

The aide opened his mouth again and said, “Your Highness, please do not worry. In my opinion, there’s nothing bad about this marriage.” He saw the Third Prince look over and continued, “Previously, Your Highness was worried that Princess Qi Yang would marry into an influential family and give the Crown Prince more backing. But now, the person who was bestowed her hand in marriage is just a minor official of the sixth-grade. His family background is also ordinary, so what is there to worry about?”

The Third Prince’s expression slightly loosened, and he slowly looked back. “So what Sir is saying, is that compared to going to Rong State for a political marriage, it’s actually better that Qi Yang stays in the capital and marry into this kind of family. I am familiar with Qi Yang’s temperament; she’s proud to the bone and unwilling to bow down. If she were really sent to Rong State country, there’s no telling what would happen.”

It would be good if she caused trouble in Rong State, but if she managed to get a footing, it might lead to more trouble.

The aide was relieved to see the Third Prince calm down. After thinking for a while, he urged him again, “Actually, Your Highness do not need to worry too much. His Majesty is in his prime now, while the Crown Prince has grown up. The stronger the Crown Prince becomes, the more afraid His Majesty would be…”

The Third Prince waved his hand and interrupted the aide before he could finish speaking, “Sir, you want to persuade me to lay low again, but how can I not fight in this situation? The Crown Prince has won the Emperor’s favor. If I don’t fight, then he would be the only power in the family. And what would Royal Father fear anyways? It’s not like the Crown Prince’s power would exceed the power he has in his hands.

In fact, the aide had advised him from the start not to interfere in Qi Yang’s marriage, and even help her marry into high nobility. Everyone knew that Princess Qi Yang and the Crown Prince had a close relationship, and her husband’s family would certainly become the Crown Prince’s backer. At that time, the balance of the court would be broken. The first one who would want to suppress him would be the Emperor, whose move would cut deeper than theirs could ever do.

Unfortunately, to make such a situation happen, it would be necessary to increase the Crown Prince’s dominance even more. They would also have to give up some of their interests and the power they have obtained, to make the Emperor afraid of the Crown Prince.

But the Third Prince could not let go. He was unwilling to let go, and the forces behind him were also unwilling to let go.

When the aide saw his refusal, he didn’t try to persuade him anymore. After all, pretending to be a pig so you could eat a tiger also carried the risk of becoming an actual pig.

Other than the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, the other princes did not stand out much, but who would not have some ambition? Although right now bringing down the Crown Prince was the key to winning the succession race, if someone took advantage of the situation, all the blame might fall on him.

After thinking about it this way, the aide thought that Qi Yang being married to a minor official might have been the best situation.

The Third Prince was not the only one who thought this way; the other princes were also more or less relieved when they received the news. Seeing how the Emperor favored Qi Yang, it’s not that there were no one among them who had some ideas about Qi Yang’s marriage. But as long as it didn’t benefit their other brothers, it was not a loss to them.

The Crown Prince who seemed the most involved in this matter was also satisfied with the situation. On top of Qi Yang getting what she wanted, the Emperor deliberately taking control of the situation was much better than he starting to suppress him.

So everyone who were affected by Qi Yang’s marriage were determined to put the matter down, and no one mentioned her at the court meeting.

Lu Qipei didn’t know about the storm that were brewing in the court. Right now, she was just a sixth-grade minor official. She wasn’t even qualified to stand outside the hall to listen to the political discussions during the big meeting of the court. How could she have any involvement in the court’s overall situation?

Those things were too far away for her. Right now, it was just the small Hanlin Academy as far as she could see.

The news about Princess Qi Yang’s marriage spread quickly, but only among the upper circles. Just like back then when Qi Yang arranged to house Lu Qipei in her courtyard and Zhang Zhen came to make trouble – in the end, not many people in Hanlin Academy knew about their relationship. Even when Qi Yang’s carriage appeared outside Hanlin Academy to wait for her, these people did not dare to jump to conclusions.

It was the same this time. It was not until the third day that the news about the marriage spread in Hanlin Academy.

Everyone was surprised for a while, then Lu Qipei suddenly had a lot of people in front of her door. Some people were curious and wanted to see the new Prince Consort, some wanted to curry favor with her, and some people had all kinds of ideas.

Lu Qipei had experienced this situation before on her previous life, so she handled it calmly. In the end, the Academy head himself personally dispersed the crowd.

It was good now that everyone was gone. The door wasn’t blocked anymore, and the air circulation was much better. Lu Qipei relaxed and happened to look up, and caught a glimpse of a figure standing outside the door, staring at her with sinister and malicious eyes.

But seeing her look up, the man quickly withdrew his gaze just as their eyes met. He lowered his head and turned to leave.

It was Liu Chen.