Then, under the flutter of her dense, raven-like eyelashes, which trembled like butterfly wings, Ying Xu heard Xie Jingchen’s voice, careful and tentative, as if afraid of touching some fragile treasure:
“…I like you, A-Xu.”
“I’ve liked you for many years.”
【Aaaaaahhh!】
Hearing Xie Jingchen’s words, at the very moment when the one being confessed to had yet to react, the system—previously silenced by Ying Xu’s order—could no longer restrain itself and screamed inside her mind, like a drugged chicken crowing deafeningly.
Facing such severe auditory pollution, Ying Xu immediately became impatient and said, “Shut up!”
So noisy! This useless thing can do nothing but shout!
Upon hearing Ying Xu, the dog-like sparkle that had been in Xie Jingchen’s eyes dimmed instantly. If he had ears, they would have drooped at that moment. Although he had guessed the outcome, he could not help feeling a bit disheartened.
A little dog that had long been abandoned by its master—how could it still harbor such luxurious expectations?
Yet perhaps heaven was still a little merciful; just as Xie Jingchen’s eyes grew dimmer and he was about to lose the last glimmer of light, and his head was about to droop, he suddenly heard Ying Xu say:
“I wasn’t talking to you!”
Having just scolded the system, she lifted her gaze and saw Xie Jingchen looking pitiful, like a defeated stray dog. Seeing him like that, Ying Xu felt an inexplicable irritation in her heart, and could not help saying this sentence, making it clear that the “shut up” was not directed at him.
Who was it directed at? She had no need to explain.
The moment her words fell, Ying Xu saw Xie Jingchen, who had just been drooping and as if he had no attachments left in the world, immediately lifted his head. His dog-like eyes stared at her without blinking, sparkling like stars.
Seeing Xie Jingchen’s gaze, Ying Xu felt an odd, indescribable sensation.
She shifted her eyes uneasily, calmed the strange feeling in her heart, and looked at him again, asking:
“Xie Jingchen… Do you want to marry me?”
Her words were blunt, without any softness or evasion, piercing straight to the heart of the matter.
Hearing this, Xie Jingchen’s breath caught reflexively, and he nervously held it.
Under the gaze of her beautiful phoenix eyes, he looked into Ying Xu’s eyes and gave a firm answer:
“I do.”
The single word hung in the air. Then he added, “I’ve dreamed of it.”
Upon hearing this bold statement, Ying Xu widened her beautiful eyes and asked fiercely, “You dare to have such dreams?”
“N-no…” Under her stern gaze, Xie Jingchen stammered, “I never… had any improper thoughts about you… I mean, I didn’t—”
His urgency made his words tumble faster, and soon he became increasingly flustered, losing track of what he was even saying.
Yet his flustered state amused Ying Xu; she could not help laughing, her lips curling into a faint arc, her delicate eyebrows forming a crescent moon. In that instant, she appeared extraordinarily gentle, stunningly beautiful.
Xie Jingchen was completely captivated.
Even though he had seen Ying Xu smile countless times, this kind of gentle smile was the first he had ever witnessed.
Amid this rare gentleness, Xie Jingchen seemed to remember something, and with hesitant, careful eyes, he asked her again:
“A-Xu… will you be my empress if I become emperor?”
Hearing this, Ying Xu withdrew her smile.
She swept her gaze over him and asked a question that struck at his very soul:
“You say you like me… then why four years ago didn’t you contend for the throne?”
She looked at him and said, “You knew I was going to be an empress.”
Since childhood, her Imperial Uncle had told her that position belonged to her. She was the most noble girl in the world.
With her commanding presence fully displayed, Xie Jingchen instantly felt like a wronged little wife, looking extremely aggrieved. He said, “I… originally wanted to compete.”
Hearing this, Ying Xu raised her eyes slightly, questioning why, if he had wanted to, he hadn’t.
Xie Jingchen replied, “Because I heard what you said, A-Xu.”
“What did I say?”
Ying Xu was puzzled, slightly annoyed, “Xie Jingchen, don’t play riddles with me!”
She had spoken so many words in her life, how could she remember them all?
Hearing this, the abandoned little dog drooped his head again, his low voice falling: “He was so useless… why would I like him?”
Upon hearing this, Ying Xu froze.
Indeed… she actually remembered that.
In the 25th year of Yongyuan, four years ago, the former emperor finally decided to appoint a crown prince in early spring.
When the news came out, no one—neither officials nor the high-ranking nobles of Jinling—doubted that Xie Jingchen, the eleventh prince who had gained the emperor’s favor, was the candidate.
But the outcome shocked everyone. When the emperor finally appointed the crown prince, it was not the eleventh prince, Xie Jingchen, who was most beloved, but the sixth prince, whose name Ying Xu could barely remember. Meanwhile, Xie Jingchen was exiled to the desolate northwest.
No one knew why the emperor made such a shocking decision—it was simply said that the emperor’s heart was unfathomable.
The very next day, an unexpected guest came to Ying Mansion—the new crown prince, who had no ties with any of the Ying family.
He came to see Ying Xu.
Not just to see her casually, but to confess his feelings and intentions.
By now, Ying Xu barely remembered what the sixth prince had said—he spoke at length, earnestly declaring that he had not expressed his feelings before because he felt unworthy of her. But now circumstances had changed, and he dared to confess. He promised that if she married him, they would be together for life, devoted only to her.
Not long before, General Ying, Ying Xu’s father, had lamented that his little girl, spoiled as she was, would struggle in marriage, fearing she might remain unwed all her life.
So Ying Xu agreed to the crown prince’s “proposal,” who supposedly had secretly loved her for many years, had no concubines, promised lifelong fidelity, and was reasonably handsome. She thought she could even show off to her father, and there were plenty of people who wanted to marry her.
Then, that very night, she received the emperor’s marriage decree, which even startled her father and elder brother.
Ying Xu and the sixth prince’s marriage was settled within a single day.
On that day, Ying Xu did not see Xie Jingchen.
For three days afterward, she still did not see him.
On the fourth day, when the marriage was formally set, Ying Xu—alongside her long-time attendant, Xie Jingchen, who was the most obedient and convenient to command among her attendants—was asked by someone during her outing with other “insincere” ladies of her court why she had so easily agreed to the crown prince’s engagement, without concern for the eleventh prince, exiled to the desolate northwest, who had been her closest companion.
The bright and beautiful young girl simply laughed clearly and said, “He was useless… why would I like him?”
…
Xie Jingchen lowered his eyes and said softly, “At that time, I was going to find you… and just happened to hear that.”
From then on, Xie Jingchen never appeared before Ying Xu again.
She did not like him. A useless thing like that was not worth her attention.
Much less revealing his feelings.
In truth, Xie Jingchen was not afraid that his feelings would go unreciprocated, or even be discarded outright—Ying Xu was so good; if he could not receive her response, that was only natural.
He only feared that his feelings might offend Ying Xu, making her dislike him.
That was the only thing he feared.
So when he heard Ying Xu say she didn’t like him, he obediently followed the former emperor’s orders, made no resistance, and went to the northwest in self-imposed exile.
Once, he thought he would never have a chance to confess his feelings in his lifetime—but he never imagined that something like this would happen later.
Before, he had feared being disliked by Ying Xu, and so never spoke of his heart to her.
But now he had already experienced a far greater despair: Ying Xu not being there.
In comparison, being disliked by her was nothing. As long as she lived, as long as she was safe, nothing else mattered.
So he mustered his courage and told her his heart.