Chapter 056
Chapter 56: Heir Apparent Consort
A needle tip gleamed silver as it pressed against Duan Yi Chen’s neck, and a voice said: “It’s me, it’s me.”
Seeing it was him, Xia Meng Yan snapped: “Why are you following me?”
He looked wronged; it had been a long time since he last saw her, and he had just helped her. He wanted to use this chance to ease things between them. He had watched her get pushed off a carriage, then saw her buying things along the street. Not wanting to ruin her mood, he trailed her quietly. He stepped close like he used to and said: “I wasn’t following you. I saw you happy and didn’t want to bother you.”
As if she expected it, Xia Meng Yan slid aside and said: “Heir Apparent Duan, please behave.”
He lowered his voice and pleaded: “Yan’er, don’t be like this. Can we go back to how we were?”
Thinking of how he had helped her just now, Xia Meng Yan decided to say things clearly somewhere else and said: “Let’s go to Bright Moon Pavilion.”
He answered at once: “Alright.”
She did not know his thoughts. Her own feelings were hard to untangle. The matter at Ping An Marquis Manor was still not explained, and then he turned around and helped her. [He even moved private Shadow Guard inside the Imperial Palace. If Emperor Xuan Ming noticed, the danger is obvious.]
Duan Yi Chen led Xia Meng Yan in through the back of Bright Moon Pavilion and took her straight to the fourth floor.
She glanced around and asked: “Do you know the owner of Bright Moon Pavilion?”
The fourth floor of Bright Moon Pavilion was quiet with a fine view. In the Capital, there was never a shortage of pleasure-seeking young masters, so it should have been packed. Yet both times he brought her here, the fourth floor was empty. She could not help suspecting he knew the owner.
His hand paused over the teapot, and he smiled as he said: “You guessed it. Yes, I do. Give me some face—whenever I come, they clear the floor.”
That was a reason she would not doubt. Duan Yi Chen was the Eldest Princess’s legitimate son and the emperor’s nephew. Not just in the Capital but across the Xuan Ming Empire, who would dare refuse him face?
He set a cup by her hand and said: “Your favorite tea.” Then he pushed fresh, warm pastries toward her.
He had always done these small things without a second thought. Today, for some reason, he felt a bit awkward. She felt it too. Xia Meng Yan lifted the cup, pretending not to notice his care.
Sunlight slipped through the half-open lattice window and spilled over the golden nanmu tea table. Pale fingers moved in the rising steam. The young woman lowered her eyes, long lashes casting a soft shadow, as if a tear might fall at any moment.
Caught by her sadness, Duan Yi Chen reached out and took her hand and said: “Yan’er, I’m sorry.”
He feared nothing, except the sight of her tears. That hurt more than death.
She drew her hand back and coughed lightly. In the past, when he grabbed her hand, she would smack his hand away in annoyance. Thinking on it now, the way they acted had been far too intimate.
She steadied her breath and said: “Thank you for what you did today. I’ll repay this favor.”
His heart sank like cold water thrown over a fire, and he said: “Do you have to be so distant with me? You know that if I can give it to you, even if it’s my life, I won’t hesitate. You…”
She cut in, sharp and calm, and said: “So what they want isn’t your life.”
He went silent: “…”
[Did I just bait him?]
She tapped her chin and studied him and said: “Only two people could force you to obey: the Eldest Princess or His Majesty. With your temper, if it were the Eldest Princess, you’d cry, make a scene, or starve yourself. But you were locked up, which even the Eldest Princess couldn’t shield you from. So it’s the emperor.”
Duan Yi Chen’s eyes widened: “…”
She asked softly: “You still can’t say it?”
He gathered himself, stung that one careless promise led to this, and said: “Don’t try to trick me. I won’t tell you.”
Xia Meng Yan lowered her gaze, the corner of her lip quirking. [So it is the emperor.] [What did he use to threaten Duan Yi Chen—me?] [The matter began with two hundred thousand taels of army pay. Does His Majesty want to swallow the Lin Family like the Huo Family?] She shook her head. [The emperor would not be that short-sighted.]
Duan Yi Chen paced and said, trying to be firm yet gentle: “Everything I do is for your good.”
“If it’s for my good, then tell me the truth,” she said. She knew part of it, but could not agree with how he handled things. [Those three words, for your good, often ruin close ties.] If she were alone, she could wait a year for an explanation. But behind her stood the Xia Family—hundreds of people—and she could not wait.
He raked his hair in frustration and said: “Can’t you be like the noble house ladies and turn a blind eye? If you keep drilling into the same horn, you’ll lose many friends.” He used to find her free spirit and strong mind far more interesting than any noble house girl. Now he wished she were more like the girls of the Capital.
Thinking of the last few days, he hesitated. Xia Meng Yan set down her cup with a sharp clack and said with a cool smile: “If Heir Apparent Duan dislikes my temper, you can keep your distance. No need to wrong yourself.”
Seeing her rise, he stepped forward to block her and said, half hurt and half angry: “What are you doing, leaving again? I’m not wronging myself. I just want things like before.”
She gave a bitter smile and said: “Heir Apparent Duan sold me out, then wants me to smile at him. Isn’t that a bit much?”
She moved to pass him, but his voice came from behind, low and tense, and said: “Today is only the start. If you keep being stubborn, the ones who get hurt won’t be only you.”
Her brows drew tight, a chill in her eyes, and she said: “What do you mean? The Lu Family and the Xia Family’s engagement—wasn’t Her Highness Consort Ping behind it?”
There were parts of that marriage that she had never been able to figure out. Hearing his words and stepping out of her old thinking, things started to make sense.
Realizing he had let something slip, Duan Yi Chen stamped his foot. Then, gritting his teeth, he blurted what had been in his heart and said: “Will you marry me?”
She froze: “…”
He hurried to explain and said: “Not that. I mean, marry into Marquis Xuan Ping Manor as the secondary consort.”
Hearing the words secondary consort was like red rain falling from the sky. Xia Meng Yan couldn’t help but laugh. But in Duan Yi Chen’s ears, that laugh was full of mockery.
He tried to soothe and said: “With your status you can’t be the Heir Apparent Consort. But don’t worry, the Heir Apparent Consort is only for show. Once you enter the manor, you can do whatever you want…”
Her voice cut like a blade as she said: “Duan Yi Chen.” From anyone else, these words would have meant little. From a friend, they stabbed like a knife into her palm. She drew a slow breath and said: “Thank you, Heir Apparent Duan, for thinking of me.”
She had never once thought of marrying Duan Yi Chen, much less as a secondary consort. A secondary consort was still a concubine. That was impossible.
He knew, with her nature, she would never agree. He still begged and said: “It’s the best plan I can think of. Please, agree, alright? As long as you enter Marquis Xuan Ping Manor, everything will be easy to fix.”
She looked at him without warmth and said: “So the best plan Heir Apparent Duan has is to make a legitimate daughter of the Xia Family a concubine.”
“You are a divorced woman, and you’re carrying a child. If not as a concub—”
A crisp slap cracked through the quiet loft.
Duan Yi Chen’s head tilted to the side, eyes blank. Xia Meng Yan did not want to see him again. She turned and walked out fast.
He stood there a long time without moving. Then he suddenly slapped his own cheek. [This isn’t what I meant. Why did I say such a thing?]
Xia Meng Yan’s mind kept circling his words. [So in his heart, after my divorce, I only deserve to be someone’s concubine.] How laughable. For a moment earlier, she had almost forgiven him.
The world dimmed at the edges. Her body gave way and she fell forward. Just before her eyes closed, she saw a shadow rushing toward her.