Chapter 278: Requesting His Majesty to Grant Marriage between Me and Xiao Yuzhen

Chapter 278: Requesting His Majesty to Grant Marriage between Me and Xiao Yuzhen

Prince Su, now in his eighties, appeared frail and aged. At the moment, he was reclining on a couch with a beautiful woman in her thirties sitting beside him.

Prince Su had recently caught a cold. Though he was almost recovered after taking medicine, he still had a cough. As he listened to the beautiful woman speak, he began to cough again.

The beautiful woman quickly held a handkerchief to his mouth, watching as Prince Su expectorated into it. Without changing her expression, she balled up the handkerchief and tossed it into the nearby spittoon. Then she offered him tea to rinse his mouth, provided a spittoon for him to expel the rinse water, and used another handkerchief to dab the water from the corners of his mouth.

The care provided was truly meticulous to the finest detail.

Prince Su, comforted by the attentive service, patted the lady's arm with his aged hand and said, "Rest assured, I will keep Hui Xin's matrimonial matters close to my heart."

Li Hui Xin, Prince Su's beloved daughter born in his later years, was fifteen this year. Despite being a concubine's daughter, Prince Su had bestowed upon her the title of a princess, though without any fief.

The beautiful lady, also known as Consort Rong, Prince Su's nineteenth concubine, smiled upon hearing his words and said, "This servant knows that your Highness holds Hui Xin dearest, it's just that..."

Consort Rong hesitated, prompting Prince Su to frown and say, "Speak your mind."

With a troubled expression, Consort Rong said, "It's just that Hui Xin has set her heart on the heir of Duke Dingguo. As you know, with his looks, many ladies in the capital pine for him. Our house seldom interacts with Duke Dingguo's, and employing a matchmaker might not outcompete others. Therefore... perhaps your Highness could speak to the Emperor about granting them a marriage decree."

Prince Su furrowed his brows upon hearing her suggestion, "The heir of Duke Dingguo is not suitable."

He understood the Emperor's intentions well; the Emperor was keen on eliminating Xiao Huai but lacked a pretext. However, with the power of life and death at his disposal, the Emperor had many ways to dispose of a subject.

Therefore, he couldn't allow his cherished daughter to marry into the Duke Dingguo's household.

"Why not?" Consort Rong inquired.

"Don't ask further, it's simply not possible," Prince Su replied, visibly irritated.

"I wish to marry Xiao's heir," a girl's voice chimed in.

Princess Hui Xin ran over and, throwing her arms around Prince Su, coaxed, "Father, I want to marry Xiao's heir. Could you please ask the Emperor to grant us marriage?"

Prince Su, exasperated, said, "Apart from Xiao Yu Chen, choose anyone in the capital and I'll arrange it. Is that acceptable?"

"No, my heart is set on Xiao's heir, and I wish to marry none but him."

Princess Hui Xin was the daughter born to Prince Su in his sixties. To a certain extent, she symbolized his enduring vigor, and thus he doted on her immensely, granting her every wish.

Yet, this time, Prince Su refused. His expression turned stern as he said, "Hui Xin, no more nonsense."

Softening his demeanor, he continued, "Father promises you, apart from Xiao Yu Chen, you may choose any gentleman in the capital. Whomever you fancy, I'll request the Emperor to grant you marriage."

"I wish to marry Xiao Yu Chen," Princess Hui Xin insisted, drawing a dagger from her sleeve and pressing it to her neck, she looked at Prince Su and said, "Father, if you refuse to request the Emperor to grant marriage between me and Xiao Yu Chen, I shall end my life. After all, not marrying him is akin to death for me."

"You... cough, cough, cough..." Prince Su, infuriated, started coughing again. Consort Rong hurriedly patted his back and, with a look of urgency, said to Princess Hui Xin, "Put down the knife, Hui Xin. If anything happens to you, what would your aunt do? What about your father?"

She never expected that Li Huixin would threaten her life with a knife.

"You might as well let me die. If I can't marry Xiao Shizi, there's no point in living," Li Huixin said, applying some force to the knife, which instantly cut her skin, and blood flowed out at once.

"Ah..." Rong Aunty screamed in fright. She couldn't care less about the Prince of Su and walked up to Li Huixin, carefully saying, "Huixin, listen to your auntie, put the knife down first, and let's talk this through."

Li Huixin shook her head, "Father, Aunty, I won't be able to serve you in the future."

As she spoke, she applied more force to her hand, deepening the wound on her neck and causing more blood to flow, staining the front of her garment.

Rong Aunty screamed again and then fell to her knees before the Prince of Su, "Your Highness, are you going to watch her die? Please, Your Highness, just agree to her wish."

The Prince of Su was so angry that he saw stars, pointing at Li Huixin he said: "Do you really want to marry that Xiao Yuchen, no matter what happens in the future, you won't regret it?"

Hearing this, Li Huixin's eyes lit up, "I won't regret it, no matter what happens, I'll never regret it."

The Prince of Su looked at her deeply and waved his hand, "Go back now, I'll visit the Emperor in the palace in the next two days."

"Thank you, Father." Li Huixin removed the dagger from her neck, the blood still flowing from the wound, but she seemed not to feel the pain and said again, "Father, please hurry, many people are going to propose marriage at Duke Dingguo's residence."

The Prince of Su waved his hand, "I know, go dress your wound."

Rong Aunty hurriedly stood up, went to Li Huixin's side, covered the wound with a handkerchief, and said, "Why put yourself through this?"

A smile was on Li Huixin's face; after all, she had achieved her goal. With the Emperor's decree, Xiao Yuchen would have no choice but to marry her even if he didn't want to. Last year, she happened to see Xiao Yuchen on the street and was smitten at first sight.

Later, she wanted to ask the Prince of Su for an imperial marriage decree, but Xiao Yuchen went on a journey, so she didn't mention it. A few days ago, Xiao Yuchen returned, and with the revival of Duke Dingguo, many noble ladies in the capital wanted to marry Xiao Yuchen, and many families wanted to form alliances with the Duke Dingguo's residence, making her anxious, which led to today's incident.

…………

Tang Shuyi and the others naturally didn't know what happened in the Prince of Su's residence. After returning home from the Marquis of Wuyang's residence, Tang Shuyi said to Xiao Huai, "What are your thoughts about Yuchen's marriage?"

"It all depends on Yuchen and Madam's wishes," Xiao Huai said.

It's not that he's irresponsible or doesn't care about his eldest son's marriage. It's just that he hasn't been in this family for long and is unclear about many things. Moreover, it's obvious that Madam already has her plans.

Tang Shuyi was used to his attitude, but he was now a father, and some things still needed to be made clear to him. She recounted the incident between Xiao Yuchen and Liu Biqin and then said, "Although it's been almost a year, I'm not sure what Yuchen is thinking."

Mainly whether the emotional wound had healed.