Hua Chongyang was completely baffled.
"Rose was the same. Even though she became my wife, she still secretly opposed me for the sake of her son, Shangguan Rongzhi, and even plotted to kill me."
Rose? The princess's given name, Xie Qiangwei?
As Situ Yebai spoke, he put down the book in his hand, stood up, and stood under the wisteria trellis with his back to Hua Chongyang:
"Back then, to protect Shangguan Rongzhi, Qiangwei didn't hesitate to poison me so that the guards could help him escape the palace. What she didn't know was that what bothered me wasn't that she had a son, or that Shangguan Rongzhi was still alive; what bothered me was that her son bore the surname Shangguan instead of Situ. Every time I saw him, I was reminded of how she disregarded our twenty-year relationship to protect the Xie family's power, convinced I would rebel. She didn't know that if she were willing to give me even a little sincerity, I would gladly kneel before her and submit to her for the rest of my life."
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to hear it," Hua Chongyang suddenly stood up. "What do you want? To use Fu Shun to blackmail Lan Wuxie? You're dreaming. Lan Wuxie has never known anything about Fu Shun. He just thinks you're delusional."
Situ Yebai turned around and looked at Hua Chongyang:
Do you know why Qingliu fell in love with you at first sight and is so obedient to you?
Hua Chongyang tried his best to remain silent and kept quiet.
Situ Yebai raised his hand and cupped her chin, slowly lifting her face, his gaze softening.
"The Xie family's previous generation had two outstanding daughters, Qiangwei and Qingmu; now, the current generation has several daughters, all of whom are considered exceptionally beautiful, but none of them bear even a slight resemblance to Qiangwei and Qingmu as you. Is this why Lan Wuxie took a liking to you?"
Having had enough of Situ Yebai's rambling, Chongyang flung his hand away:
"You madman, Situ Yebai!"
Situ Yebai casually put his hands behind his back:
"I don't intend to use the child to blackmail Lan Wuxie, nor will I harm the child. Lan Wuxie isn't qualified to be dealt with using such methods. But there's a condition."
"explain."
"The Ningjing Prince's Mansion has been empty for too long, lacking a princess consort." Situ Yebai looked quietly at Hua Chongyang, his tone calm and gentle, "Would you be the Ningjing Prince's Consort?"
Hua Chongyang remained silent for a long time before finally nodding:
"good."
Situ Yebai narrowed his eyes slightly.
Sure enough, Hua Chongyang raised his head:
"I also have a condition."
"Speak."
"I want to return Fu Shun to Lan Wuxie."
80. Phoenix Wing Hairpin
Hua Chongyang felt like he was going crazy.
The terms were agreed upon that morning, and by noon, Situ Yebai's betrothal gifts filled the brothel's main hall. Looking down from the third floor, all one could see were red papers and flowers, and rows of mahogany cabinets stood neatly arranged.
The guards who came to deliver the betrothal gifts personally handed a small wooden box to Hua Chongyang:
"The prince said he would personally deliver this to Master Hua."
The guards bowed and left. Hua Chongyang glanced at the box and handed it to Ye Laoqi.
Liu Da, Huang Sanye, and Lao Qi stood right behind her. Huang San exclaimed exaggeratedly:
"Heavens above! If someone offered me even half of this dowry, I'd gladly be their concubine!"
Liu Da and Ye Laoqi didn't say a word.
Early in the morning, as soon as Hua Chongyang returned to the brothel from Anzhitinglan, the first thing he said was:
Don't ask me anything.
The second sentence is:
"Situ Yebai wants me to marry him and become Princess Ningjing."
The third sentence is:
"I've already agreed."
Standing there, looking at the chests and cabinets overflowing with betrothal gifts sent by Situ Yebai, she felt nothing but unreality. After standing there for a long time, she covered her face with her hands and pressed her forehead against a pillar:
"Don't try to persuade me. Don't ask me anything."
Huang San and Liu Da exchanged a glance and cautiously began to speak:
"If you ask me, marrying Situ Yebai was the right choice! First, he's more handsome than Lan Wuxie; second, he's richer; third, he's more powerful; and fourth, he proposed to Lan Wuxie earlier. Chongyang, you didn't do anything wrong; it's no wonder Lan Wuxie is single."
Hua Chongyang lay quietly against the pillar, not uttering a sound. The moment she closed her eyes, the words Lan Wuxie had spoken as he held her waist echoed in her mind:
"I have nothing left but you."
She struggled to hold back her tears, and after leaning against the pillar for a long time, she suddenly said:
"There are two things I regret most in my life."
Liu Dahuang and Ye Laoqi stood behind, not daring to say a word.
"The first thing is knowing Lan Wuxie." She looked up from the pillar, her expression desolate. "If I hadn't known him, my mother wouldn't have been murdered, and not so tragically. I wouldn't have to live such a difficult and cautious life now."
"The second thing is that I didn't marry him. I always thought there would be no one else but him, I never imagined things would turn out this way."
"It's alright, it's alright, Chongyang," Huang San said, running to her with a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. "We know you had no choice but to marry Situ Yebai. You still have a long life ahead of you. When you die, you can marry Lan Wuxie later, it'll be the same!"
Hua Chongyang gently pushed away the handkerchief in her hand, and smiled through his tears:
"I'm afraid that day will never come."
She turned and went into the room.
Just after noon, Situ Yebai arrived at the brothel again.
Hua Chongyang was sitting at the table, flipping through a book in a daze, when Situ Yebai quietly entered the room, approached, stood behind her, and softly read aloud:
"Strategies for Pacifying the South."
Hua Chongyang was startled, and upon regaining his senses, he threw down the book:
"Prince Ningjing."
There was a faint smell of alcohol in his nose, and upon closer inspection, Situ Yebai appeared slightly tipsy.
Situ Yebai picked up the book on the table, sat down beside it, and casually flipped through it with a smile:
"You actually read this kind of book."
"Just flipping through it randomly."
She had specifically asked Ye Laoqi to get some military strategy and medical books and put them in her room.
Situ Yebai looked up and smiled:
"I can memorize this book."
"Well?"
He turned to the first page and handed the book to Hua Chongyang:
"Listen to me."
"In the beginning, the world was divided into two..."
It took nearly half an hour for Situ Yebai to actually memorize a book on military strategy for pacifying the south. He only paused once when Ye Laoqi came in to bring tea. He stopped, drank half a bowl of tea, and after finishing the recitation, he looked at Hua Chongyang with a smug expression.
Hua Chongyang was somewhat dumbfounded:
"You...you read this book often?"
"I loved it when I was young, and I even tried reciting it once, which I memorized. I haven't looked at it for twenty years now."
Hua Chongyang finally believed that there was such a thing as "genius" in the world.
Situ Yebai looked at her, still smiling:
"I was reading when Rose suddenly came into the study and bet me that I couldn't memorize as fast as she could. To my surprise, the next day I recited an entire book to her. From then on, she never dared to compete with me in memorization again. So much time has passed—I don't even remember which year it was."
Silence fell over the room.
Situ Yebai, who had been engrossed in the meeting for a long time, came back to his senses, took a sip of tea, and smiled at Hua Chongyang:
"Have you looked at what I gave you?"
Hua Chongyang recalled that small wooden box:
"not yet."
Old Master Ye quickly found it and placed it on the table:
"Here."
Situ Yebai personally opened the wooden box, took out a phoenix-wing hairpin, and stood up:
"I'll put it on you."
Hua Chongyang's heart pounded.
The phoenix wing hairpin in Situ Yebai's hand was exactly the same as the purple-gold phoenix wing hairpin she wore when she dressed up as Ren Ruhua at the Heroes' Banquet in the brothel.
She suddenly remembered the story Lan Wuxie had told her later.
This is a family heirloom of Princess Guoyue, and it is her favorite possession.
But according to Lan Wuxie, the Phoenix Wing Hairpin isn't in Situ Yebai's possession, is it? To be precise, the hairpin should be in Lan Wuxie's possession!
Princess Guoyue's belongings, her own mother's keepsakes, how could Lan Wuxie let anyone take them away so easily?
Hua Chongyang tilted his head to avoid Situ Yebai's hand:
"Is this hairpin fake?"
"Really? What does it matter?" Situ Yebai gently pressed her hair, his voice suddenly becoming soft and tender: "I've finally waited for this day to put it on you myself."
Hua Chongyang felt a chill run down his neck and couldn't utter a word. Situ Yebai turned and went to the dressing table, took a mirror, and returned to place it in front of Hua Chongyang.
"Look."
A blurry, aged shadow was reflected in the ancient bronze mirror. The purple-gold beads hanging from the phoenix-wing hairpin swayed gently. Situ Yebai gently reached out to touch Hua Chongyang's face reflected in the mirror, and sighed softly, lost in thought.
"……rose."
Ye Laoqi watched in stunned silence, while Hua Chongyang's arms broke out in goosebumps. After a long while, Situ Yebai finally put down the bronze mirror and gently cupped her shoulders: