"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Kang."
Kang Rui felt uncomfortable under the gaze: "I take my leave."
"Won't you come in for a while?" Lin Qingyuan watched him leave, lost in thought. His behavior just now didn't seem like he had come to see him.
Prince Qi? Of course Prince Qi had ambitions – who didn't have ambitions?
"My lord, you've returned to the residence. The stables have just been cleaned, I'll take the horse in."
…
Lin Qingyuan had never lived in such a large mansion before. It took the time to finish a cup of tea to walk from the main gate to his living quarters. Looking out from every gap along the corridor revealed picturesque scenery. The garden offered new views with every step, with water features visible within three paces, artificial mountains with extraordinary rocks, and rare flowers and plants. Even a single pot of peonies with blooms as large as bowls was incredibly valuable.
Yet the Duke's residence had given him this mansion.
"Lord Lin, Young Master Cao has arrived."
Lin Qingyuan grabbed Cao Zhao as he approached and urgently asked: "Is the Duke's residence trying to pull a honey trap on me?"
Cao Zhao quickly made him let go, straightening his collar: "Isn't it a bit late to be thinking about this now?" The wedding was next month!
Lin Qingyuan had been thinking about it every day, and no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see why the Princess should choose him: "The whole situation is just strange."
"It is indeed strange. Ah!? Do you think the Princess might prefer women, so she wants to marry someone randomly? Or maybe she's in love with someone she can't marry! It couldn't be that she's pregnant, could it! How outrageous, and they even gave you such a large mansion – clearly trying to buy your silence! No, Brother Lin, maybe you should call off the engagement! Do it now!"
Lin Qingyuan's eyes hurt – he must have been blind to take a liking to Cao Zhao!
"Brother Lin, it's not impossible. If the Princess didn't have some problem, why would she marry you? Brother Lin, I'm not saying you're not good – you're excellent, highly talented – but the Princess doesn't know that, right? Call off the engagement, brother, or maybe just run away?!" Better than becoming a cuckold!
"The Duke's residence isn't that kind of family!"
"Appearances can be deceiving."
"The Princess has treated me quite well…" At Cian Palace, the Princess had genuinely gone out of concern for him, and afterward even provided him with a carriage: "Maybe she's taken a liking to my appearance?"
Cao Zhao wasn't sparing with his bluntness: "Brother, do you believe that?"
Lin Qingyuan didn't quite believe it either, but the Princess's concern had seemed sincere, not like she had ulterior motives: "What's done is done. A promise is a promise."
"You just don't want to call it off. Be careful they don't even let you into the bridal chamber. But this mansion should be enough to buy your silence."
"Don't you have anything better to do? You can leave now!"
…
The Duke's residence wedding drew increasingly closer.
The Emperor and the Grand Princess grew more anxious.
The Grand Princess didn't dare face her imperial brother: "Your Majesty should just consummate the relationship with her directly. What could the Duke's residence do then!"
The Emperor glanced at his incompetent elder sister: "You can't even handle such a small matter properly."
The Grand Princess immediately fell silent. How could she have expected things to go wrong despite bringing so many guards? "These commoners are becoming increasingly insolent!"
"The commoners are almost all gone – your blame comes rather late!" This matter displeased him even more. How much public wealth had these people embezzled under imperial authority!
This was the empire the Empress Dowager governed – all self-serving individuals! They should execute the leading officials as an example to others!
"Your Majesty grew up with her since childhood, yet you still couldn't win over a mere girl."
"How dare you!"
The Grand Princess turned her head away and said nothing! She had risked offending the Empress Dowager for whom? And ended up gaining no benefits while getting herself into trouble.
"Do not be angry, elder sister. It was my fault for speaking improperly, but isn't Lin Qingyuan unsuitable for the Princess?"
The elder princess looked at him puzzled: "What do you mean?"
"Several foreign nations have offered tributes of extraordinary beauties. Please take them back with you, elder sister."
…
The wedding of the legitimate Princess of the Duke's residence was both hastily arranged and grandly celebrated.
Before dawn had broken, the Duke's residence was already a sea of red silk and floral displays, with music, dance, and crowds creating a bustling, festive atmosphere.
Children darted through the crowds, their laughter and play adding to the lively scene.
Madam Song was beaming with joy, repeatedly adding to her daughter's dowry. Though the list had already been finalized, she constantly felt it was insufficient. One moment she would admire the breathtaking phoenix crown and ceremonial robes, only to decide they looked too plain on her daughter and that another set of head ornaments should be added.
Song Chuyu instinctively glanced at her newly-wedded sister-in-law. In her previous life, she hadn't paid attention to her sister-in-law's reaction.
Her sister-in-law came from a respectable but modest family—prestigious in name and reputation, yet unable to assemble a decent dowry. Coincidentally, Chuyu had married just six months after her sister-in-law, instantly overshadowing the latter's dowry to the point of obscurity. It was no wonder her sister-in-law hadn't been pleased.
And indeed, she wasn't. Not yet having taken charge of the Duke's household affairs, she hadn't learned to conceal her emotions, and now her face was practically frozen in stiffness.
Song Chuyu slightly lowered her head, adjusting her skirts, pretending not to notice.
This sister-in-law of hers was formidable. Just one month after Chuyu's own wedding, she had joined forces with Chuyu's elder brother to seize control of the Duke's household, using the excuse that their mother had given all the valuable things to an outsider. The estate didn't prosper under her management; instead, her own family grew increasingly wealthy. So then she was no longer an outsider, was she?
"Mother, I love that set of red coral sculptures you have." Eighty-one pots of exquisitely carved red coral, each unique in form, worth a fortune. In her previous life, her sister-in-law had taken two pots back to her own family, using them to secure a fifth-rank official position in Shangjing City for her nephew.
This time, she would take them all! "And the glass mirror as well.""
"Good, good, I'll add them all for you."