Yongkang blushed as she apologized to Daiyu. “I’m sorry, Sister Lin. I was only thinking of myself and didn’t consider your feelings.”
Daiyu smiled faintly and said, “It was only a small matter. Your Highness need not take it to heart.”
Yongkang blinked as she looked at Daiyu for a moment, then said, “Sister Lin, don’t worry. I won’t ask Mother to force an invitation for you to enter the palace. However, when it comes to my birthday, if you don’t come, others might think I’m slighting you. Sister Lin, I still have to send you an invitation.”
Daiyu smiled and replied, “Since it is Your Highness’s birthday, I will naturally come to offer my congratulations. Thank you for Your Highness’s kindness.”
Yongkang nodded somewhat dejectedly. She was not a naive child and naturally understood that, given her status as a princess, even if Daiyu harbored some resentment, she could hardly voice it openly.
If there were opportunities in the future, she would have to do something properly to make amends to Sister Lin.
Yongkang resolved this silently.
As she stepped onto the carriage, Daiyu suddenly realized that those words had not been spoken casually at all—they were truly Prince Duan’s promise.
After settling into the carriage, Chu Heng comforted her. “Yongkang isn’t the type to hold grudges. Since she apologized to you face to face, don’t worry. She won’t come looking for trouble over this in the future.”
As a princess, Yongkang inevitably had a pampered and willful side, but whenever she had a temper, she vented it on the spot and never waited until the next day.
Though Daiyu had not known Yongkang for long, she had already grasped her temperament. Smiling, she said, “I know. I must also thank Your Highness.”
Her smile was proper and composed, generous and magnanimous. Chu Heng knew she was a good girl—but did being a good girl mean she had to suffer grievances?
Did she even have any other choice?
From the engagement itself to Yongkang, she had no choice at all.
Chu Heng said softly, “It is within my duty. There is no need for your thanks.”
Within my duty…
Daiyu’s heart skipped a beat. Did that mean… Yongkang was within his duty?
Yes, Daiyu nodded to herself with certainty. After all, they were full-blooded siblings.
Chu Heng looked at Daiyu and continued, “In the future… if there is anything else that is inconvenient for you to handle yourself, Miss Lin, just send someone to the Prince’s Residence to inform me.”
“I have already instructed Eunuch Zhao that as soon as the words ‘Miss Lin’ are heard, those below will certainly not dare to be negligent.” Seeing Daiyu look over, Chu Heng hastily added.
Perhaps the only thing Chu Heng could do was to let her suffer fewer grievances in the future.
Prince Duan was being so kind. Thinking of their recent interactions, and of the fact that there was nothing about her worth scheming over, Daiyu did not suspect that Chu Heng had any ulterior motives. She only felt that her understanding of Prince Duan had been refreshed once again.
Whether they went on to live their own separate lives, or maintained an appearance of mutual respect in public, they would surely get along quite harmoniously.
Daiyu smiled in satisfaction and bowed slightly. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
Chu Heng smiled, lowered his gaze to think for a moment, and then suddenly said, “If…”
The sentence stopped at the beginning. Chu Heng pressed his lips together and did not continue.
Daiyu asked in confusion, “Your Highness…?”
Chu Heng shook his head, forced a smile, and said, “It is nothing important. Miss Lin, I will rest my eyes for a while.”
After saying this, as if he did not dare face Daiyu, he turned his body to the side.
Daiyu tilted her head slightly. What was wrong? Had she suddenly become frightening?
Chu Heng indeed did not dare face Daiyu. He did not need to ask that question to know that if this engagement could be canceled, it would surely be a joyful thing for Miss Lin.
Once this thought arose, it lingered in Chu Heng’s mind. Did he dare to try?
The engagement had been bestowed by an imperial edict. What would be the consequence of defying it?
Death meant little to Chu Heng.
However, even if Chu Heng alone defied the edict, it would likely implicate Miss Lin as well. After all, in the Empress Dowager’s eyes, the two of them were already bound together.
When Chu Heng had just awakened, if he had refused this marriage outright and spoken against it directly, then even if His Majesty punished him, it would not have involved Miss Lin.
But at the time he had just awakened, Chu Heng was indifferent to everything and did not care in the least about the person on the other side of the bestowed marriage.
As for defying the edict, the thought had never even crossed his mind.
In the brief half month at Longhua Temple, when Chu Heng recalled his former self, he found it quite unbelievable.
So it turned out that in this lifetime, he could care so deeply about someone.
Chu Heng wanted to do something for her.
But Miss Lin did not like others making decisions on her behalf. Chu Heng remembered this clearly; he had to seek Miss Lin’s consent first.
…
The convoy entered the palace city. The emperor led the consorts, imperial sons and daughters, and the various members of the imperial clan to welcome the Empress Dowager. The rituals were elaborate, and both His Majesty and the Empress Dowager bestowed rewards. By the time everything was settled, the sun was already setting.
In the Palace of Benevolent Longevity, the Empress Dowager ordered Chu Heng to rest in the palace, but Chu Heng said, “I will escort Miss Lin back to her residence.”
The emperor looked at his brother—who had always been impervious to persuasion—in surprise. Was this really something he could say? The Empress Dowager truly had her ways; had she really brought about a fine match?
The Empress Dowager smiled at the emperor, then said to Chu Heng, “Very well. You may go first. On another day, come into the palace again to keep this old woman company.”
“Yes,” Chu Heng rose and replied.
The two of them saluted together and slowly withdrew from the Palace of Benevolent Longevity.
The setting sun shone on the palace walls as they gradually receded into the distance. Seeing this, Daiyu could not help narrowing her eyes; life within the palace was truly suffocating.
Chu Heng turned his head and saw her expression, and his resolve only grew firmer.
Once they were seated in the carriage and had left the imperial city, Chu Heng said, “Miss Lin, I know that this engagement was not of your choosing.”
Daiyu, whose mood had just improved slightly after leaving the palace, was taken aback. “Your Highness, what do you mean by this?”
“The Empress Dowager’s intentions are difficult to change now, but with His Majesty, I can still think of a way. This engagement… it is not impossible to dissolve.” Chu Heng looked at Daiyu, secretly clenching his fist.
Suppressing her anger, Daiyu asked as calmly as she could, “Why does Your Highness suddenly say this…? Have I offended Your Highness in some way?”
It was not that Daiyu was clinging to this marriage at all costs; rather, she could not afford to take such a risk. The consequences of defying an imperial edict were not something Daiyu could bear, nor could the Jia family bear them.
No matter what, the Jia family had raised Daiyu. Whether well or poorly was one matter, but they had at least given her a place to live. Even if she had her dissatisfactions, Daiyu would never wish for the Jia family to be ruined prematurely.
Otherwise, when the edict was issued, Daiyu would have defied it on the spot—why wait until today?
Chu Heng hurriedly shook his head. “No, of course not. Miss Lin, you are not at fault in the slightest. I only thought that this engagement does not make you happy. If it did not exist, I believe you would be more… happier.”
Daiyu’s expression was so unpleasant that by the end of his words, Chu Heng almost did not dare to continue.
He thought that no matter how reluctant Miss Lin might be about this engagement, what he had just said was entirely wrong.
Unable to hold back, Daiyu let out a cold laugh. “Thank you, Your Highness, for thinking of me. It’s just that my status is low and my words carry little weight—I dare not act rashly. Such a grave crime as defying an imperial edict is something Your Highness can speak of lightly, without regard for the consequences, but I cannot gamble the hundred-odd lives of my maternal family to indulge Your Highness in a joke!”
Chu Heng wanted to explain. What he meant was certainly not to brazenly go to the emperor and declare that the engagement should be dissolved, but to proceed gradually. There were still less than ten months until the wedding; if he searched carefully, he would surely find something to exchange with His Majesty.
As for what Miss Lin wished to do afterward, he would naturally make arrangements in accordance with her wishes.
In Chu Heng’s plans, there were only the two of them. But Daiyu still had to consider the maternal family that had raised her.
As long as Chu Heng raised the matter of canceling the engagement, the Jia family would inevitably be affected. For a noble family already in decline, this would be nothing short of a bolt from the blue.
Chu Heng did not know whether this counted as good intentions gone awry, but in Miss Lin’s eyes, he perhaps did not even possess good intentions at all.
He had just told Yongkang not to make things difficult for Miss Lin, yet now he himself was making things difficult for her.
With a bitter smile, Chu Heng said, “I’m sorry, Miss Lin. I thought too simply. This matter… I will never mention it again.”
“I would not dare,” Daiyu replied stiffly. “Your Highness may say whatever you wish. I dare not offer any comment.”
Because of this sudden engagement, how many grievances had Daiyu swallowed? These days, she had been cautious at every step, as if walking on thin ice, fearing the slightest misstep.
She had invested so much effort to maintain the future she could obtain under this engagement.
Yet with just a single sentence from Prince Duan, all of Daiyu’s efforts could be reduced to nothing.
Daiyu nearly felt like giving up entirely. If nothing she did mattered, she might as well save herself the trouble and wait for death!
“Miss Lin…” Chu Heng opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said, “Miss Lin, I swear to you that in the future I will never mention such things again.”
But Daiyu was still unwilling to accept it.
She looked at Prince Duan. His sincerity, from his expression to his gaze, was beyond doubt. In these days, had Daiyu not also felt that he was a good person? Yet today, had he not still said those words?
After some thought, Daiyu decided that whether it meant life or death, it would come down to a gamble. She said, “Your Highness may of course speak and act without restraint, but there is no need to say it to me. I also dare not accept Your Highness’s oath.”
There was truly no way for Chu Heng to prove himself to Daiyu. He racked his brains, and in the end could only say, “Miss Lin, whatever you ask me to do in the future, I will obey without exception. I only ask that you believe me in this one thing.”
“I would not dare,” Daiyu replied, her face still tense.
Clearly, she intended to keep up this cold treatment toward Chu Heng today to the very end.
Chu Heng knew this was the result of his own actions. He only dared to sigh inwardly, not letting a trace of it show on his face.
But every road has its end. Remaining in this stalemate was not a solution, so Chu Heng tried once more to speak. “Miss Lin, if this matter is left unresolved, I fear you will be uneasy every day. This is truly not what I wish. Why don’t we make things clear—what do you think?”
Daiyu said stiffly, “Your Highness, please speak.”
Chu Heng then said, “This matter is entirely my fault. Miss Lin, I failed to consider things properly. I know my mistake and will never repeat it. I ask that you trust me this once and see how I conduct myself in the future.”
Hearing him say this again and again, and thinking it over carefully, Daiyu only believed him three or four parts out of ten—but looking at his attitude…
Daiyu thought that this risk was worth taking. At the very least, Prince Duan showed no intention of turning hostile.
Daiyu said, “I have only one question to ask Your Highness.”
Chu Heng hurriedly replied, “Please ask.”
Daiyu looked at him and asked, “Your Highness, does the alliance between you and me still stand?”
Chu Heng was taken aback, then immediately nodded. “It stands! Of course it stands!”