Baili Chen suddenly said, "Of course he did it, he did a lot of things." Baili Chen seemed to realize that he had lost control of his emotions, and his voice calmed down a bit as he said, "Yue'er, you once asked me if the First Killing Alliance was my organization, right? I didn't lie to you. It was indeed not my organization, but my third brother's. And after I grew up, I just helped my third brother handle some things."
Ouyang Yue wasn't surprised at all. Ever since Dongxue returned, she had been puzzled. Moreover, Dongxue had said that someone had hired her to protect her again, but she was certain that she hadn't, and neither had her brother. Who was that person? By carefully observing Dongxue's behavior, she could guess some things.
"In those years, my brother used the First Killing Alliance to gather all kinds of talents. There were many people in the First Killing Alliance who were proficient in medicine, and these people were all found for me. Later, with the efforts of my brother and Master Minghui, they refined medicine to temporarily relieve the cold poison in my body."
Ouyang Yue was taken aback and couldn't help but say, "Wasn't it the Emperor who collected medicinal herbs to treat you? How come it was the Third Prince?"
Baili Chen sneered, "Father was too busy; how could he possibly care about me? The fact that he sent me out of the palace to be cared for by Master Minghui was already a great act of kindness. I owe my adulthood to two people: my third brother and Master Minghui." The mockery on Baili Chen's face hadn't faded. He continued, "From childhood to adulthood, the person I respect most from the bottom of my heart is my third brother. I've never disobeyed him before, so I'm willing to clear the way for him, even if it means dying for him. Besides, some of his small requests were things I never paid attention to before; I thought they were perfectly reasonable."
Ouyang Yue looked at Baili Chen without speaking, and the latter looked straight at Ouyang Yue: "Yue'er, do you think what I did was right?"
Ouyang Yue pursed her lips tightly, then said, "No, of course it's wrong."
Baili Chen was taken aback, his expression turning sour. Ouyang Yue stared straight at him: "You are a person, an individual. You don't belong to anyone, and you shouldn't feel like you owe anyone anything. You have the right to live in this world, and no one can replace you. The Third Prince is good to you because you are brothers, connected by blood, the closest of brothers. But he can't be your whole life, nor can he live in this world for you. No one can. You have your own path to walk. The Third Prince is good to you, but he can't decide your path. You have to walk your own path step by step. You are not a puppet; you have thoughts and a soul. Even the closest two people are still separate individuals. What he thinks is right may not actually be right. You can be grateful for his kindness, but it may not be truly for your own good. Have you never considered that he might be wrong?"
Baili Chen fell silent: "..."
"So, is it the same with this incident? Do you think everything the Third Prince does is right? I know that from the Crown Prince to the Ninth Prince, since their marriages, at least two or three women have been forced into their residences under various pretexts, some even personally sent by the Emperor and Empress Dowager, which they couldn't refuse. The Third Prince takes good care of you and cherishes you. If these ten women are sent into your residence, you will have a way to refuse others from entering, because I am involved with the Xuanyuan Army, and the relationships within the residence are too complicated, which will cause endless trouble in the future. These ten women are all the Third Prince's own people. He feels that with this relationship, and since we are newly married, it will be impossible for the higher-ups to force anyone in for at least a year or two. This year or two is enough for you to make some efforts, right?" Ouyang Yue said slowly. Baili Chen looked at Ouyang Yue with some surprise, but Ouyang Yue pursed her lips tightly: "But this result makes me very angry and uncomfortable."
"Bai Lichen, I ask you, in the future, will you live with me or with the Third Prince?"
Baili Chen was somewhat stunned: "Of course it's about you. What does this have to do with my third brother?"
"Smack!" Ouyang Yue showed no mercy and suddenly reached out and slapped Baili Chen hard on the head. The force was so great that Baili Chen cried out in pain, his eyes reddening, but he didn't dare to say anything. Ouyang Yue's furious appearance was like that of a tigress, and he dared not provoke her.
"You don't want to be with him, regardless of his good intentions. We're going to live together in the future. Why don't you ask me if I'm willing? Do you just assume he's always right? Tell me, I'm very angry now, what are you going to do? I don't want to marry you now, what are you going to do? Anyway, everything your third brother does is right, and he'll definitely find you a better wife in the future. By the way, didn't your third brother dislike me before? We can use this opportunity to avoid being together and let him find you a better beauty. Then you won't have to worry about choosing between him and me." Ouyang Yue said angrily.
Bai Lichen's face turned pale, and he gripped Ouyang Yue's hand tightly: "Don't say hurtful things."
“This isn’t just said in anger. There are many things we think about differently, and I can’t understand you. Living together like that would be very painful.” Ouyang Yue sighed and turned her head away from Baili Chen.
Baili Chen trembled: "Are you really going to do this? Don't be angry. If I've done something wrong, I can change. Are you going to abandon me?"
As soon as Ouyang Yue turned her head, she saw Baili Chen with his fists clenched at his sides, his face pale and his eyes red. Ouyang Yue said helplessly, "Why do you act so childishly towards the people you care about?" As she spoke, she hugged Baili Chen's head and let him lean directly into her arms.
Actually, Ouyang Yue had a vague feeling before that Baili Chen was very fragile inside, but in order to hide this, he would try his best to act clingy and affectionate towards the people he cared about, and try his best to make people accept him. At that time, she just thought that Baili Chen was really shameless, but after hearing his words just now, she suddenly understood this man.
This is a person who has lacked love since childhood. Because he had no father's love and his mother died early, he did not enjoy maternal love. Baili Chen lived alone in Chenyu Palace since childhood, surrounded by spies from all sides. He was once drugged with a drug that made him stupid and almost became an idiot. Ouyang Yue did not ask how he discovered and avoided it, nor did she want to know. But it was undoubtedly a painful torment for him when he was only two or three years old. Before the onset of the cold poison at the age of five, he had hardly seen Emperor Mingxian. The only person he cared about was the Third Prince.
The Third Prince became both an elder brother and a father figure, naturally holding a special place in Baili Chen's heart. However, Baili Chen's childhood was somewhat distorted. Even though he grew up normally, he forced himself to grow up, forcing his weak and fragile heart to be hidden and suppressed. He believed that if he obeyed the Third Prince, the Third Prince would care for him for life. It sounds ridiculous, but for Baili Chen, the Third Prince was his only family in the past, so it was normal for him to believe that.
And then, was she the second one?
Ouyang Yue fell silent, but Baili Chen pulled her into his arms and said, "My wife, I was wrong."
"What did you do wrong?" Ouyang Yue retorted.
"Everything I did was wrong," Baili Chen said hastily.
"Oh, so confessing all this to me is wrong, and meeting me is wrong too?" Ouyang Yue's voice seemed somewhat deep.
Baili Chen's expression was somewhat agitated: "Of course not, everything else is wrong except when I'm with you." Ouyang Yue glanced at Baili Chen; this guy's mind works fast.
"Specifically? I want to hear the specifics. Tell me where you went wrong?" Ouyang Yue said.
Bai Lichen was somewhat annoyed: "I should have come to explain these things to you five days ago, but I was five days late, which made you very angry. It's all my fault."
"Oh, so that's all you think?" Ouyang Yue narrowed her eyes.
Bai Lichen glanced at her and said, "I shouldn't have shown you the roster to test whether you could accept it. Actually, I had already thought that if you didn't accept it, I wouldn't want it. I originally thought that it would be fine to accept it based on the situation of my third brother and the others, since I only love my wife and I definitely wouldn't touch them. I felt that it didn't matter. But I was wrong."
Ouyang Yue said calmly, "Is that so? So you were testing me."
Baili Chen quickly replied, "No, no, it wasn't a test, I..."
"So, you think that's all there is to it?" Ouyang Yue looked at Ouyang Yue with displeasure.
Baili Chen muttered to himself, "I should have refused when my third brother sent them away. Don't worry, my wife, I sent them away as soon as I got back. I will never do anything to upset you again. Please forgive me this time."
Ouyang Yue reached out and poked Baili Chen's forehead: "You're always the most eager to apologize. What were you thinking before that?"
Baili Chen didn't dodge, letting Ouyang Yue vent her anger. Seeing Ouyang Yue nod as if to pull away, he grabbed her hand and said, "Don't worry, my wife, I'll be careful in the future and won't let this happen again." Then, still a little worried, he asked, "My wife, are you really not angry anymore?"
Ouyang Yue snorted, and Baili Chen couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, my wife, I'll transfer the person away from the manor as soon as I get back. I'll talk to my third brother. I won't make things difficult for you."
"Stop! Did I say I wanted to transfer them out?"
Bai Lichen was stunned: "If we don't send them out, won't that upset my wife? What should we do then? Just kill them?"
Ouyang Yue glared at him: "Your third brother and I don't like each other at all right now. If we kill them now, won't he hate me even more? I'll be his sister-in-law in the future. Do you think we should just ruin our relationship?"
Baili Chen said, "That's not what I meant."
"Let's leave the people at the manor for now." Baili Chen frowned. "What about the ten people the lady chose..."
"Oh, since you've chosen someone, keep them. This is a test for you."
Bai Lichen said with a dark face, "My wife, I only love you. It's not good to have so many women in the house."
"No, very good, excellent." Ouyang Yue said with a smile, but her eyes narrowed slightly. Once Baili Chen made up his mind, it was hard to change it. He thought the Third Prince's starting point was entirely for his own good, but Ouyang Yue didn't think so. Even if it was for Baili Chen's good, it didn't mean he was good to her. The Third Prince was young, not mentally deformed, and didn't need anyone's care or attention. His growth and development were perfectly normal. Didn't he understand what it meant to send women before marriage? Although they were just a few servants, whom she could manipulate and control as she pleased, it was clearly aimed at her. This Third Prince was really stingy.
Hearing Ouyang Yue say that, Baili Chen felt a little depressed, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't help but think about how he would deal with those idle women once he entered the manor! He still felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about it.
"My lady, when you wanted to find women in Prince Chen's mansion, didn't you ever think that I might actually be seduced by some shameless wild woman, and you would be heartbroken?" Ouyang Yue glanced at Baili Chen, wondering if this was something a man should say. She reached out and patted Baili Chen's head. "There's nothing I can do. You have women in your mansion, so I have to work hard to secure my own position. If you ever get tired of me, these women will be my bargaining chips in the competition for favor."
Bai Lichen said anxiously, "No, I won't. How could those women compare to you? Do you think I'm that blind?"
Having grown up in the palace, Baili Chen had seen all sorts of beauties, and it was truly rare for someone to catch his eye. Ouyang Yue smiled and said, "Keep her; I have a use for her."
"There's still another test," Baili Chen said with a bitter face.
"Of course, don't you have confidence in yourself? I made it clear beforehand that if you really don't like it, I'll just give it away. Are you too lazy to even pretend?" Ouyang Yue snorted. Baili Chen said helplessly, "Alright, whatever you say, my wife." But in reality, he was gritting his teeth. Anyone who dared to ruin their relationship would be dealt with one by one.
Seeing the dark glint in Baili Chen's eyes, Ouyang Yue smiled. Although she had been a little angry before, Baili Chen's past had indeed moved her. At this moment, Baili Chen suddenly grasped Ouyang Yue's face and turned her towards him: "Wife, I have something else to give you."
"What is that?"
“Wife, extend your left hand.” Ouyang Yue did as she was told, and Baili Chen took something out of his purse. Ouyang Yue was taken aback: “There’s also a gold bracelet.”
"Of course, these were originally a pair. They were left to me by my mother, who said they would be given to my wife in the future. This is actually the most precious thing among my mother's belongings." Baili Chen held Ouyang Yue's fair and beautiful hand, which was as white as the finest jade, and couldn't help but kiss it lightly. Then the two gold bracelets touched lightly, tracing an eerie arc.
"Snap." Suddenly, the gold bracelet made a crisp sound. Ouyang Yue was stunned and picked it up: "This... it just opened like that?" Ouyang Yue had tried everything to open this gold bracelet before but couldn't. Now it was open just like that. This bracelet had been with her for more than two years.
"From now on, these gold bracelets belong to my wife. She will pass them down to our daughter-in-law, then to our granddaughter-in-law, and then to our great-granddaughter-in-law, and so on, generation after generation," Baili Chen said with a smile that almost made his eyes water.
Ouyang Yue snorted softly. These were relics of the former empress, naturally exceptionally valuable. However, the two gold bracelets seemed rather ordinary. Moreover, Su'er could reside within the jade bracelets before, so why was that? Ouyang Yue held the two gold bracelets, swinging them around to examine them. Suddenly, she noticed a strange seam between the two separate bracelets, visible only when the two bracelets were placed together. With a thought, Ouyang Yue directly placed the two gold bracelets together and then twisted them.
"Crack, crack, crack." The gold bracelets suddenly made a cracking sound. As Ouyang Yue twisted them, the two gold bracelets seemed to peel off, and they actually cracked. Ouyang Yue and Baili Chen were both stunned. Ouyang Yue asked, "What happened?"
Bai Lichen also looked somewhat bewildered: "This, I don't know, this is how it was when the Empress Dowager passed it down."
Ouyang Yue lifted the jade bracelet beneath the gold bracelet. The jade was flawlessly white, its surface smooth and lustrous, a truly exquisite piece, a rare gem. But surely the former empress, as the ruler of a nation, wouldn't possess a plethora of treasures? While this jade bracelet was undoubtedly valuable, was it really necessary to conceal it with a gold bracelet? Judging from Baili Chen's reaction, even he was unaware of this hidden layer. Did the former empress herself not know, or did she feel it unnecessary to tell Baili Chen, or was there some other significant secret at play?
"This gold bracelet is actually a family heirloom of the Bai family. When my mother got married, my maternal grandmother handed it to her, and my mother has always worn it by her side," Baili Chen suddenly said.
Ouyang Yue responded, but a question lingered in her mind. Since this was a family heirloom, shouldn't it be passed down only to sons? Although the Bai family was now in decline, there was still one branch of the family. While the current head of the Bai family was somewhat incompetent, he was still a man. If this heirloom had been passed down to the former empress, it would inevitably be left to a prince. Wouldn't this mean the Bai family heirloom would be lost forever? Could it be that the old lady of the Bai family doted on her daughter so much that she prepared this heirloom solely for her daughter's marriage?
Ouyang Yue was filled with questions. These gold and jade bracelets were indeed very peculiar. She had tried everything to remove them but hadn't been able to. When the two were put together, they could not only peel off the skin but also be removed from the wrist. It was truly amazing and worthy of being the Bai family's heirloom. It definitely deserved to be passed down through generations.
“This bracelet looks like a rare treasure,” Ouyang Yue concluded. Baili Chen said, “My mother once said that if I were to choose a woman in the future, and she wore this bracelet, she would be my destined wife.”
Ouyang Yue glared at him: "Do you need an external object to choose the person you like? What if someone else had worn this bracelet back then?"
Bai Lichen chuckled: "But in fact, this bracelet was chosen for you, my wife. It's not like no one has tried before, but none of them worked. I feel that it's my mother's blessing from heaven. She is very satisfied with you as her daughter-in-law, so she brought you to my side."
"Hmph, spouting such superstitious nonsense, they're just trying to fool people," Ouyang Yue said, somewhat annoyed.
Baili Chen held Ouyang Yue's waist and said softly, "To say that this bracelet is how we met wouldn't be entirely true. As you probably guessed, Madam Xi came from the Bai family, but after my mother's death, she obeyed my and my third brother's orders, and later I took her under my care. It was then that I heard about your deeds and noticed you. I wondered what made this woman, who was once infamous, suddenly change. My feelings for you went from curiosity to testing, and then to falling in love. It was absolutely from the bottom of my heart." Baili Chen stroked Ouyang Yue's head and said gently.
Ouyang Yue didn't speak, but slowly put the jade bracelets on her hands. Then she stretched out her hands, and the pair of jade bracelets radiated a warm and moving luster under the moonlight. Ouyang Yue's heart suddenly skipped a beat. This feeling was so familiar and reassuring.
Baili Chen held Ouyang Yue in his arms, his head resting slightly on the top of her head. Suddenly, Ouyang Yue sniffed and turned around. She noticed that the wound on Baili Chen's neck from the dagger earlier was gradually healing. Although she was furious at the time, she hadn't intended to hurt Baili Chen and had acted with great restraint. The wound wasn't deep, so it was natural that it was healing now. But why could she still smell blood?
Suddenly, Ouyang Yue grabbed Baili Chen's hand, causing his face to twitch. Ouyang Yue immediately pulled his arm away and gasped, "How did you hurt your hand?" She then deftly began to untie the white bandage, which was already seeping blood. Ouyang Yue had smelled blood before, but she had always thought it was related to his neck. She hadn't expected that Baili Chen was actually injured.
After she removed the bandages, she couldn't help but widen her eyes and gasp: "How could he be injured so badly!"
The scar stretched from Baili Chen's wrist to near his elbow, almost the length of a palm. The wound was so deep that it almost connected to an artery, which was extremely dangerous. Even so, the injury must have been very serious at the time, as there are many blood vessels in the arm. Ouyang Yue quickly took out some wound medicine and applied it to the wound, saying, "How did you get so badly injured? What were you doing?"
Bai Lichen pursed his lips and whispered, "We were just going to pick up the betrothal gifts. There was a little accident, but it's nothing serious, just a minor injury."
Ouyang Yue looked up: "So you really haven't been in the capital for the past five days."
"Yes, I just got back today and went to the princess's residence with the betrothal gifts," Baili Chen nodded.
"You!" Ouyang Yue's eyes widened, but she didn't know what to say. "Even if it's for the betrothal gifts, you shouldn't have been injured so badly. If things had gone wrong, you would have bled to death. You were too impulsive."
Bai Lichen grinned: "Hehe, my wife is afraid that if something happens to me, you won't be able to marry me, right? I knew my wife liked me the most. Don't worry, my wife, for your sake, I won't easily let anything happen to me and make you sad."
"Yes, it's good that you know." Ouyang Yue carefully applied the medicine, and finally pulled a piece of cloth from Baili Chen's inner clothes to temporarily bandage him.
Bai Lichen gently touched his wound, then suddenly looked up and said, "However, when I was retrieving the materials this time, I discovered something because I disguised myself as someone from the First Killing Alliance to rob them."
Ouyang Yue was taken aback: "What happened? Why did those people hurt you? What object did you take?"
"That material is the same diamond from the Lady's phoenix crown."
"Yes, that diamond is priceless. Even if it existed in the Western Regions, it wouldn't be released so easily. How did you obtain it?" Ouyang Yue asked.
Bai Lichen squinted: "I received the news from a merchant who travels around, but someone in between wanted to rob this item of mine."
"Who is it?"
Bai Lichen sneered, "Fu Lin! Moreover, I discovered that Fu Lin values this item highly. If I had arrived any later, the goods would have already been handed over."
Ouyang Yue was taken aback: "Fu Lin? Although the Fu family is large and wealthy, they have many properties but not much cash. The Fifth Prince gave them a set of diamonds before, which was probably funded by the Fu family. How could he possibly come up with so much money to buy another one?"
Bai Lichen nodded: "So, where did he get such a large sum of money? It's worth investigating!"
Ouyang Yue narrowed her eyes, suddenly remembering that Fu Meier had once tried to force her way into her Meiyi Pavilion shop, and she had subsequently asked Leng Can to investigate. Could this be related to that incident? Ouyang Yue felt a chill in her heart. Fu Meier, you better not let me find out anything, or I will make you pay for what happened before with interest!
☆、174、The Wedding Ceremony!
Ouyang Yue said, "It is truly amazing that Fu Lin was able to develop the Fu family to its current state on his own. To become the number one imperial merchant in the Great Zhou Dynasty, both opportunity and ability are indispensable."
Bai Lichen also smiled: "There's another point."
Ouyang Yue nodded, squinting her eyes: "Yes, and there's another point, which is that his business is not legitimate."
The two exchanged a knowing smile, both secretly thinking that Fu Lin had most likely been involved in illicit business. However, Fu Lin had been a cunning and ruthless man all these years, and it wouldn't be easy to find any dirt on him. It was too early to think about such things now.
Baili Chen looked at Ouyang Yue and said softly, "Let's look at the night sky for a while longer."
Ouyang Yue nodded slightly, not refusing. The two didn't stay long before Baili Chen took Ouyang Yue back. Baili Chen then left, but his expression remained uncertain throughout the journey. When he returned to Chenyu Palace, he had dismissed all the servants and was sitting alone in the main hall. Baili Chen looked somewhat irritated, rubbing his face roughly and letting out a sigh.