AWB Chapter 299 Still Not Enough Acting
Chapter 299 Still Not Enough Acting
"The key is to make sure everyone knows that Young Master Yan is sick, and exaggerate the situation in the Southwest. The more people talking about it, the better," Lu Yangyang instructed.
Xiao Liu nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, Master, I understand."
After Xiao Liuzi left, Yan Yue was dumbfounded. "Well, it's not that exaggerated, is it?"
Lu Yangyang turned her head: "I heard about it too. Tell me, what is the Southwest like?"
Yan Yue scratched his head: "Well, it seems about the same, but they are indeed very different."
Lu Yangyang looked at him curiously.
Yan Yue then began to talk to her at length.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study of the Palace.
The emperor was reviewing memorials, while Consort Xue, Xue Wanyue, knelt beside him, bowing her head as she ground ink and served him tea.
Grand Eunuch Feng strode over and whispered to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the messenger has returned, and the princess has accepted the imperial decree of marriage."
"Oh?" The emperor chuckled. "I knew it. This marriage was a match made in heaven. But that brat A-Que is so stubborn. He insists that I make the decision for him. If we wait for him to take the initiative, all the good girls will probably be taken by someone else."
Grand Eunuch Feng replied with a smile, "His Majesty has discerning eyes and has arranged a good marriage for Your Highness."
The emperor turned to look at Xue Wanyue's lowered eyes, somewhat dazed: "If Xianyue were still here, she would be very happy to know that I did this. Back then, she talked every day about wanting to betroth that unborn little girl to Aque."
"Go, send someone to deliver some rewards to the Empress. That girl is sensible. I have no other expectations. I will be content if she and A-Que can live happily together in the future."
Grand Eunuch Feng bowed and replied, "Your Highness will surely understand His Majesty's intentions."
The emperor gently stroked Xue Wanyue's cheek with his fingers, his fingertips landing on her eyebrows and eyes: "I have done everything I promised Xianyue. I have done it."
He slowly closed his eyes, and his eyelids trembled slightly as if he were thinking of something.
After a while, he opened his eyes, waved his hand, and said, "Go and send a copy of the imperial decree of marriage to the Crown Prince."
"Yes."
……
East Palace.
Grand Eunuch Feng personally delivered the imperial edict, and after reading it aloud, he gave the Crown Prince a reminder.
"Your Highness, this is the late Empress's last wish. The Princess has already received the decree and is very satisfied with this marriage. His Majesty has been talking about it all day. Once Your Highness is married, the late Empress can rest easy."
The crown prince gazed calmly into the distance, neither responding nor speaking.
Eunuch Feng put down the imperial edict and respectfully withdrew.
After he left, the prince's hand, which had been resting on the table, gripped the cup tightly.
With a crack, the cup shattered.
Blood trickled down between his fingers.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!" Cao Cheng rushed over anxiously, hurriedly brushing the shards from his hand, muttering, "Your Highness, why are you doing this? Others may not know your feelings for the Princess, but don't you know them yourself? The masks and hairpins you've given her over the years were all made by your own hands. With such devotion, don't you look forward to the day of your marriage?"
"marry?"
The Crown Prince chuckled self-deprecatingly: "How can a cripple like me get married? Over the years, she has searched through medical books and classics. In order to cure my leg, she did not hesitate to use herself as an experiment for acupuncture. She has been sincere to me in every way, without the slightest falsehood."
"But what exactly is this marriage?"
Cao Cheng knelt on the ground, tenderly cleaning the crumbs from his hands, and couldn't help but lower his voice, "Your Majesty is too impatient."
"He just guessed that I wouldn't let Yan Yue marry Sixth Sister, so he's forcing me to make a choice. He timed it perfectly. If I don't comply with his wishes, he'll have Yan Yue deposed as a warning to me." The Crown Prince sneered. "Deep father-son affection. After all these years, he still hasn't had enough of this act."
"In that case, I'll give him a generous gift as well."
The crown prince clenched his fists, his eyes filled with indifferent coldness.
……
The next morning, Yan Yue went to the palace to see the imperial physician.
Meanwhile, news of Yan Yue's serious illness quickly spread throughout the capital. Even maids and servants from the Yan family came forward to testify, saying that the sores on Yan Yue's body had a foul odor.
The news spread like wildfire, and the Sixth Princess naturally found out very quickly.
So before nightfall, the Sixth Princess ran crying to find Consort Xiao.
"Mother, Mother, please help me! I don't want to marry into the southwest. What's the difference between marrying into that godforsaken place and a political marriage? I won't even know how I died! And that Yan Yue, he has that kind of evil thing on his body, and it's contagious. What if I get infected by him? Will I be disfigured?" The Sixth Princess knelt down in front of Consort Xiao, sobbing on her lap.
Consort Xiao lifted the Sixth Princess's face with her sharp nail guards, examining her from left to right: "Why are you crying? She's not disfigured yet, is she? Others who are disfigured aren't afraid, so what do you have to be afraid of?"
"Mother..." the Sixth Princess pleaded.
"Alright, stop being so temperamental. It's just about getting married. Yan Yue is young and promising; you won't lose out by marrying him. The Yan family is the maternal clan of the Crown Prince. If your third brother becomes the Crown Prince in the future, what role will the Yan family play? When Yan Yue dies, you can come back, and your mother will have your brother find you another good one. Isn't that good?" Consort Xiao smiled and patted her face. "Ru'er, I raised you not so you could be picky about marriage. You don't want to marry Yan Yue, so you want to go for a political marriage? That's not impossible. There are plenty of foreign tribes begging our Great Zhao to go for political marriages. I'll find one for you. What do you say? Hmm?"
The sixth princess stopped crying abruptly and stared blankly at Consort Xiao.
"His Highness the Third Prince has arrived!"
The Third Prince entered and greeted Consort Xiao, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
Consort Xiao beckoned to him with delighted eyes: "Chen'er, come quickly! What made you decide to come see your mother today? I heard that your father has arranged a marriage for the Crown Prince with that ugly girl with the scar on her face. What about you? What do you think? I've been telling you to get to know those noble ladies better. Is there anyone you like?"
As she spoke, she frowned again: "Sheng Yunzhu was a good girl before, but I didn't expect her to be an imposter. I heard you even kept her in the villa. Could it be that you've really fallen for her? With her background, she's not even qualified to be your bed warmer. Just let her go. If you really like her, erase her identity and keep her in the mansion as a maid. Just play with her for a while."
The Third Prince walked over with a smile and sat down beside her: "Mother, you are overthinking it. Your son knows what he should do."
Consort Xiao glared at him: "You have a sense of propriety, you have a sense of propriety! You brought that girl Xue Wanyue into the palace. When I look at her, it's like seeing the late Empress alive. My heart pounds with fear, it's like seeing a ghost."