Chapter 169 Princess Consort Yu

Chapter 169: Prince Yu

After the meal, everyone moved to a more casual small parlor for tea. The table was cleared, replaced by light tea and a few not-too-sweet pastries.

The hall was bright with candlelight, the air filled with the fragrance of tea, and the atmosphere felt more intimate and familial than during the meal.

Liu Wenyuan picked up his teacup, gently blew on the floating leaves, and let his gaze linger for a moment on the two young men sitting side by side across from him before speaking slowly:

“Your Highness’s visit today makes my wife and me very happy. There are some words I hadn’t intended to bring it up now, but since we’ve come this far, I’ll be bold and ask a few more questions.”

Xiao Yan set down his teacup, sat up straight, and replied with a serious expression: “Uncle, please feel free to ask.”

Liu Wenyuan took a sip of tea, put down the cup, and looked at Xiao Yan. “Both of you are men. If we talk about marriage... it’s inevitably different from an ordinary wedding. I wonder how Your Highness plans to proceed?”

The question was direct, yet not out of place.

Xiao Yan’s expression grew more solemn. “Qingci and I have discussed it. We don’t want a grand, elaborate wedding. Qingci doesn’t like ostentation, so we’ll only invite close family and friends for the banquet.”

Although the Emperor had long declared that the wedding banquet should be splendid, with guests as if filling an entire street, such a scene would draw many who came not with genuine blessings.

Xiao Yan knew well that given his and Liu Qingci’s status, if they invited all court officials to a grand feast, who would dare not come?

Such a wedding wouldn’t be a wedding—it would be a social arena, a ledger of favors, a room full of smiles hiding ulterior motives.

Moreover, Qingci had always preferred quiet and disliked such empty formalities.

It was Xiao Yan who had insisted on this wedding in the first place, to secure a title for himself. So the ceremony couldn’t be omitted.

“Good. That arrangement is excellent.” Liu Wenyuan nodded in satisfaction.

He pondered for a moment, then spoke again: “Your Highness, since we’re on the subject, I, as a father, will be bold and ask a bit more. How do you two... plan to proceed? Qingci now holds an official position in the court. After marrying Your Highness...”

Liu Wenyuan, a man nearing fifty, found some words hard to say. His wife, Madam Liu, was more perceptive. She took over the conversation, her tone gentle yet filled with a mother’s concern:

“Your Highness is a respected prince. The prince’s mansion has high standards and strict rules. The inner quarters require a mistress to manage affairs. After Qingci and Your Highness marry... he has a quiet nature, his mind set on official duties and scholarship. He may not be skilled at—or fond of—handling household chores and social niceties.”

She paused, as if hesitating whether to continue, fearing she might anger the esteemed Prince Yu.

But Madam Liu pressed on: “It’s not that we fear Qingci can’t do it. We’re afraid... afraid he’ll be distracted by these things and neglect his true work.”

After saying this, Madam Liu teared up. She lowered her head, pressed the corner of her eye with her handkerchief, and said no more.

They did not want their son to use marriage to climb the social ladder. They only hoped he could carve his own path in officialdom through his own abilities.

Marrying Prince Yu was their son’s own choice. They respected it, but they also feared the storms this choice might bring, ultimately hurting their son.

Xiao Yan took in the expressions of the two elders.

He didn’t immediately make promises. Instead, he thought carefully for a moment before speaking slowly, his tone sincere and insightful:

“Uncle, Aunt, I fully understand your concerns. To be honest, Qingci and I have privately considered these matters.”

He looked at Liu Wenyuan and his wife, his gaze clear. “First, regarding the notion of a ‘mistress of the prince’s mansion’—that has never existed for me. Qingci is a court official. His domain is the court and the people’s welfare. As for the affairs of the mansion, there are stewards to handle them. It will be the same as before. Qingci will not be troubled by any of it.”

Xiao Yan had said long ago that he would never let Liu Qingci be the Princess Consort of the Prince Yu mansion.

He would rather go to the Liu house and be the young master’s wife...

After hearing this, Liu Wenyuan was silent for a long time, merely gazing deeply at Xiao Yan.

Finally, he let out a long sigh, as if exhaling all the pent-up worries and anxieties of the past days.

“Your Highness has this intention and sees things so clearly... I am relieved.” Liu Wenyuan’s voice carried a sense of release.

Xiao Yan, as if suddenly remembering something, dropped another bombshell in a relaxed, natural tone:

“Oh, by the way, Qingci’s new residence is almost fully renovated. I was thinking, once the house is completely ready and slightly decorated, the wedding banquet... we’ll hold it at the new residence.”

These two pieces of information combined struck Liu Wenyuan and Madam Liu like silent thunderclaps, leaving them momentarily stunned, almost wondering if they had heard correctly.

The cup in Liu Wenyuan’s hand trembled almost imperceptibly, the tea inside rippling slightly.

His Majesty's most favored and esteemed Prince Yu was getting married, yet the wedding banquet would not be held at the Prince Yu mansion, but rather at Qingci’s newly completed official residence as a newly appointed official?!

What did this mean?

It meant that not only did Prince Yu not require Liu Qingci to enter the mansion as princess consort, but he himself...

Just as the atmosphere in the hall grew tense and Liu Wenyuan’s heart surged, a clear, curious, and excited voice suddenly rang out:

“Wow! Is Your Highness going to marry my elder brother?”

Everyone was startled and turned to look.

Liu Qinghe popped out half her little head and continued, shocking everyone with her words: “Then from now on, should I call Your Highness ‘sister-in-law’?”

At the word “sister-in-law,” the hall fell into dead silence.

Liu Wenyuan and Madam Liu’s faces changed instantly. They quickly bowed in apology:

“Our daughter is ill-behaved. I have failed in teaching her. Please forgive her, Your Highness!”

Liu Qinghe pouted off to the side. She had a feeling that her future sister-in-law would never blame her for something like this!

Only her parents were too oblivious to see that Prince Yu was eager to become her sister-in-law.

At that moment, a sudden, light laugh sounded.

Xiao Yan cast a sidelong glance.

Liu Qingci was slightly bent forward, one hand forming a fist against his lips, his shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly.

Though he tried hard to press his lips together, the corners of his eyes uncontrollably crinkled upward.

This laugh, like ice suddenly cracking, it shattered the suffocating tension.

Liu Wenyuan and Madam Liu grew even more flustered. Why was their son laughing?!

Xiao Yan looked at the man beside him, whose eyes were crinkled with laughter, and couldn’t resist reaching under the table. His fingertips lightly tickled Liu Qingci’s palm.

Liu Qingci’s laughter faltered. He felt the tingling in his palm, like a faint electric current, traveling from his palm up his arm and straight to his heart.

The smile he had barely managed to suppress was interrupted by this sudden, intimate act.

He tried to pull his hand back, but Xiao Yan held it tighter, even boldly interlacing their fingers.

Beneath the table, they had a silent, playful skirmish. Xiao Yan's face gave nothing away.

“Uncle, it's fine. Qinghe's right. She can call me whatever she wants. Titles are just words.”

Liu Wenyuan looked at his son laughing, his daughter delighted, and Prince Yu's expression, which held a hint of indulgence. Dazed, he felt that the principles he'd lived by as an official for decades had been turned upside down tonight.