Chapter 89: Vying (I)
Chapter 89: Vying (I)
When Cheng Yujin turned around, she was taken aback upon seeing the incoming man. Li Chengjing had seen Cheng Yujin as soon as he walked in. He was surprised at first, but soon frowned: “You are still sick. Why did you come out?”
Cheng Yujin didn’t expect to see Li Chengjing so suddenly. Although she ambitiously accepted her future identity as the crown princess, in her consciousness, the Crown Prince and Cheng Yuanjing were two separated identities, as were the identity of the Crown Princess and a certain man’s wife.
She couldn’t imagine that she was about to marry, that she was about to spend the rest of her life with the former Ninth Uncle.
Cheng Yujin blushed. Fortunately, she was wrapped tightly with layers upon layers of winter gears, which made her face hard to see. Cheng Yujin subconsciously wanted to call ‘Ninth Uncle,’ but soon realized she could no longer call this man by this title. She lowered her eyes, bent her knees, and gave a formal curtsy towards an imperial family member: “This subject daughter greets Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Li Chengjing waved his hands, and others retreated swiftly. He walked towards Cheng Yujin and extended his hand to help her up: “It’s windy outside. Come in and talk.”
“Yes.”
Cheng Yujin really didn’t want to stay outside and being watched, so she followed Li Chengjing into the building. The earth dragon1 was burning all time. The heat was spreading over the surface, making the room as warm as spring. Cheng Yujin even felt a bit hot as she tugged the white fox fur scarf she was wearing.
Li Chengjing saw it. He extended his hand in a natural movement to help to untie her cloak. “Take off your cloak first. You are still recovering from a serious illness. If you are not careful and get too cold or too hot, your illness will get worse.”
Cheng Yujin hurriedly stepped back. Her eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment. Seeing this, Li Chengjing sighed and said: “Alright, you can do it yourself.”
The servant girls who followed Cheng Yujin had also been driven out by Li Chengjing, so Cheng Yujin could only do it herself. She had a fur scarf on her neck, a hand warmer in her hand, and a large cloak over her body. When she prepared to go out, a few servant girls helped to put on her winter gear. Now Cheng Yujin had to remove them by herself, which was very troublesome.
First, she took off the scarf with one hand. Her other hand was occupied by the hand warmer, making both full at once. Cheng Yujin was a bit at a loss. Seeing this, Li Chengjing took the scarf from her hand and motioned for her to pass him the hand warmer.
Let the Crown Prince help her? Cheng Yujin hesitated a bit, but at this moment, Li Chengjing was already very familiar with taking things from her. Cheng Yujin had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to take off the winter gears on her body.
The two cooperated pretty well, one passed the item, and the other received. Not long after, all of Cheng Yujin’s winter gears were in Li Chengjing’s hands. He casually touched the fluffy collar on the cloak and pulled off two strands of fur.
Cheng Yujin wanted to say something, but stopped in time. These clothes belonged to Li Chengjing. If he wanted to pull, just let him pull.
Li Chengjing wasn’t interested in these. He motioned Cheng Yujin to sit, then sat on the chair opposite her and asked: “How is your health? Have you gotten better?”
“Many thanks for Your Highness’ concern. This subject daughter is much better today.”
“I met Marquis Yichun when I departed from the palace today. He specifically asked about you. I said that you are recuperating and shouldn’t be disturbed by people visiting, so he didn’t come with me.”
Cheng Yujin’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Listening to Li Chengjing’s words, it should be Cheng Yuanxian. But what did he mean by Marquis Yichun?
As if seeing through Cheng Yujin’s puzzlement, Li Chengjing said again: “Yes, the Imperial Clan Court has issued the necessary documents. Your father is now the new Marquis Yichun.”
Cheng Yujin was stunned. Although Cheng family still had one generation of marquis title, their family had been in decline for many years. Even the succession of Marquis Jingyong title had been delayed for so many years on the ground of the heir’s young age, let alone Cheng family? It probably would take many efforts and favors for Cheng Yuanxian to safely inherit the marquis title. Originally, both Old Madam Cheng and Qingfu Junzhu felt that it would already be very good if they got a positive answer after three years of mourning period.
Who knew that the matter would have been done in just a few days.
Cheng Yujin couldn’t describe her current emotion. This marriage bestowment came out of sudden. Although her brain had registered the fact, Cheng Yujin still didn’t have any sense of reality. It wasn’t until she heard that Cheng Yuanxian had inherited the marquis title that she realized that she was really going to become the Crown Princess.
As the future Crown Princess’ father, how could he stay as a half-hanging shizi? There was no need for the Emperor or the Crown Prince to say a word because the people below saw where the wind was blowing and was eager to get things done.
- Earth dragon: Traditional floor heating system. A hole was dug on the ground outside to burn fire, and the heat was transmitted into the rooms via underground passages called earth dragon.