Eternal Night - Chapter 120
Crown Prince Yan entered the private room, but Feng Yangxi silently withdrew and stood at the door, truly resembling a dutiful guard.
Prince Duan's heir, the Marquis of Yong'an, had been raised as a boy due to his frail health. However, Emperor Youqing decreed that Princess Yongye's status be restored. Crown Prince Yan Man had expected to see a graceful beauty with her hair piled high in a cloud-like bun, but instead, he found Yongye still wearing a golden crown and a purple robe, her every move devoid of any charm or coquettishness. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
"Ahem!" Yongye coughed lightly, waking Crown Prince Yan. He sighed, "So Yongye isn't a marquis but a princess. Yan is blind!"
"Your Highness, please don't blame Yongye for concealing the truth!" Yongye took the main seat. His gaze fell upon Crown Prince Yan, who wasn't wearing his official robes, but a pale yellow shirt, his hair tied up with a jade hairpin. His face was still as pale as ever, and he was as thin as a bamboo stalk. In Chen Kingdom, when he wore court attire, he exuded some of the dignity of a crown prince. Today, in casual clothes, if one didn't know his identity, one would only perceive him as a noble young master, lacking any regal air in his demeanor.
Yongye sighed. Was this the reason why Qi wanted to ally with An? Because of Crown Prince Yan's weakness, they sought a marriage alliance with An to maintain a balance of power. But he said something else: "The fish at Gu Ya Garden in the capital are scaleless, fine fish, a specialty of the Qin River. The other dishes are also very unique. Since the Crown Prince is coming to the capital, Yongye has no choice but to host him."
Crown Prince Yan smiled as he looked at Yongye, a hint of excitement in his eyes. He said meaningfully, "Yongye, I won't call you Princess, and you don't need to call me Your Highness. My name is Murong Yan. We don't need those formalities."
Yongye raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Prince Yan wasn't as weak as he appeared; in fact, he was quite carefree. She nodded generously, and once all the dishes were served, she introduced them to Prince Yan one by one.
The two seemed to hit it off immediately, chatting happily about everything from food to entertainment. Yongye glanced at Feng Yangxi, who stood ramrod straight at the door, and asked softly, "Your Highness is quite capable, managing to hire Master Feng as your bodyguard!"
Crown Prince Yan glanced back at Feng Yangxi and lowered his voice, saying, "I saved his life in Chen before he agreed to help me. He's been inseparable from me all this way."
As expected, Feng Yangxi was rescued by Prince Yan in the State of Chen. Yongye smiled and invited Prince Yan to eat. The two had already gotten along well in the State of Chen, and Yongye, wanting to befriend him, shared some amusing anecdotes from his past life with Prince Yan. They chatted from the rising moon to its zenith, and Prince Yan developed a sense of mutual respect. He wasn't a heavy drinker, and as he drank more, he became quite drunk.
He gazed at Yongye and sighed, "If it weren't for His Majesty the Emperor of your country decreing that you be granted the title of Princess, I would never have believed that Yongye was such an extraordinary woman!" He stood up unsteadily and said, "Let's go, we must go and see my royal sister!"
Feng Yangxi slipped inside and calmly helped the Crown Prince up, saying, "I will escort Your Highness back."
Crown Prince Yan leaned against him, glancing at Yongye and laughing, "Yongye, come with me to see my imperial sister!"
"Your Highness is drunk. Please return to the inn to rest early. I will definitely come to visit you tomorrow night!"
Feng Yangxi escorted Prince Yan to his carriage, then, glancing at Yongye, suddenly lowered her head and whispered, "The Crown Prince seems to really like the Princess!"
Yongye stared at him and said softly, "Yongye also admires His Highness the Crown Prince's erudition and talent."
"That's excellent."
What does that mean? Yongye looked at Feng Yangxi suspiciously.
He said in a low voice, "You'll know when the princess returns to the manor." He then laughed heartily and escorted Prince Yan's carriage back to the post station.
Yongye frowned slightly. What did Feng Yangxi want to remind her of?
"Eternal Night?" A strange voice, tinged with doubt, called out to her.
Yongye turned around and saw a young man wearing a jade crown and a scarlet robe. His brows revealed his heroic spirit, and he stood on the corridor with an imposing presence.
"I am Tianxiang. What, don't you recognize me?" The newly appointed King Wucheng, Tianxiang, gazed at her with a smile, secretly startled. Ever since he learned that Yongye was a woman, not a man, memories flooded his mind. In the few years since they last met, she had blossomed into such a captivating beauty.
Yongye snapped out of his daze and quickly bowed. He then saw two young women walking gracefully behind Tianxiang.
One of them looked remarkably like Prince Yan, with a small, delicate face, a pointed chin, and a shy air that seemed to defy the cool breeze, instantly evoking pity in anyone who saw her. She wore a light yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) and stood gracefully.
The other woman, though wearing a long dress, was dressed in red with narrow sleeves, and had a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, exuding an indescribable liveliness and playfulness.
Yongye raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Yongye greets the Princess and Miss An Si!"
Princess Luoyu was somewhat surprised that Yongye recognized them. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she glanced over furtively. Miss An, however, stared intently at Yongye.
Yongye smiled. The two beauties, one serene and the other lively, were actually quite suitable for the Emperor and the Third Prince. She admired the late Emperor's foresight. Even if it was a matter of using them, he was still considering his son's well-being.
Li Tianyou is a man of deep thoughts and needs a gentle and considerate empress. As for the Third Prince, he's said to be a brilliant military leader. He's the same age as Li Tianyou, yet he went to Qin Chuan to seize military power from Empress Luo's brother, clearly a formidable figure. It's good to have a straightforward person by your side as a military leader.
"Yongye has always admired you two, and it is truly a blessing for Yongye to see your beautiful faces today."
"Are you really a woman?" Miss An blurted out.
Tianxiang felt somewhat embarrassed, and his gaze towards Miss An held a hint of affectionate reproach. He coughed lightly and said, "So, His Highness Yan's date tonight is Yongye."
Miss An insisted on eating Kyoto delicacies, but Prince Yan said he had another appointment. Miss An was embarrassed if the two were caught having a secret rendezvous, so she dragged Luo Yu out with her. Unexpectedly, they met at Gu Ya Garden.
"It's late today. Tomorrow, Yongye will visit the princess and the fourth young lady at the post station! Your Highness, I'm already too drunk to drink anymore, so I'll take my leave now!" Yongye was still thinking about Feng Yangxi's words and felt uneasy. He was in a hurry to return to his residence, so he cupped his hands and left.
No sooner had she left than Luo Yu sighed, "There really is such a woman in this world, with the spirit of a man and the beauty of a woman, no wonder..."
"No wonder what?" Tianxiang asked casually.
"I've heard that Princess Yong'an looks remarkably like the Princess Consort. No wonder Prince Duan raised her as a boy and couldn't bear to let anyone beg for her!" Xiao Si pouted and chimed in. Having been in Anguo for many days, the most frequent rumor she heard was about this woman who had been changed from Marquis to Princess. She felt a surge of curiosity about Yong Ye. Knowing that she had negotiated with Chenguo, forcing them to pay gold and silver and almost losing her princess, and later served as an envoy to Chenguo, she greatly admired Yong Ye's manly spirit.
Luo Yu sighed softly, "What are the Four Beauties of the World compared to Princess Yong'an's charm? No wonder my brother is so obsessed with her... Third Prince, I'm a little tired. Would you like to return to the inn early?"
Tianxiang recalled the admiration in his elder brother's eyes when he spoke of Yongye, and the daily visits of the palace attendants to the Prince Duan's residence. Looking at Luo Yu's delicate appearance, he sighed inwardly. His elder brother probably knew all along that Yongye was a woman, which was why he opposed his second brother and always protected her.
"It is Tianxiang's fault. There is still the coronation ceremony for the empress to be held in three days. It was Tianxiang's oversight to bring the princess to these places. Please forgive me, Princess." Tianxiang smiled and bowed. It was none of his business, and he couldn't control it anyway.
Luo Yu walked lightly down the corridor and said softly, "It's good to be out here. After we enter the palace in three days, we can no longer go out to play like this. Xiao Si, you should come to the palace to keep me company more often in the future."
An Xiaosi looked at Luo Yu and felt a pang of pity for some reason. He quickly stepped forward, took her hand, and said, "I only have the princess as my good friend in An Kingdom, so of course I will visit you often."
When Yongye returned to the manor, Prince Duan and his wife were sitting in the hall waiting for her. The princess winked at Yongye, who was taken aback, not understanding what she meant.
She was already four or five parts drunk. She looked up at the moon and suddenly realized, then said with a grin, "The moon has already moved east. Father and Mother are planning to sit and admire the moon until dawn?"
"Sit down!" Prince Duan ordered sternly.
Yongye was taken aback. The princess had already pulled her close and was looking at the prince reproachfully: "Why are you yelling at her? Yongye is beautiful and the emperor likes her. What does it have to do with her?"
Yongye suddenly sobered up and asked in confusion, "What happened?"
"His Majesty is hesitant. Today he sought my opinion, wanting to change the title of Consort Luo Yu to Imperial Consort and ask to marry you as Empress. Tell me, what happened?" Prince Duan was furious, recalling the scene in the Imperial Study. "Beauty is a curse! If you become Empress, we will immediately face the Anqi War, and the Chen Kingdom will take advantage of the chaos to plunder! I will definitely marry you off!"
"It's not my fault that I'm pretty!"