Chapter 272
“It has a royal seal engraved on its dangling,” the other guard said. “You can go in.” He handed her the sachet and let Liu Jin Yu walk inside the palace. However, before going in, she was checked by a female servant to make sure she had no weapons with her.
Liu Jin Yu soon reached the Crown Prince’s manor and took a deep breath before ascending the stairs. She gave the message to the bodyguard appointed to the chief door of the manor.
“I want to see the Crown Prince. Please tell His Royal Highness that Liu Jin Yu has come,” she requested. She again took out the perfume sachet and handed it to the bodyguard. “You can show it to the Crown Prince. He will understand,” she stated. The bodyguard took the sachet from her and asked her to wait.
Liu Jin Yu had noticed that security in the palace had risen earlier. Even the bodyguards appointed outside the Crown Prince’s manor were new.
“Please come with me.” Ten minutes later, Sun Fuguo came with the bodyguard and took Liu Jin with him.
This was the first time Liu Jin Yu went to the pavilion of the manor instead of the Crown Prince’s chamber. She rarely had the opportunity to explore this area while living at the manor. It was indeed beautiful, and as the servants had described it, it was no less than heaven.
She saw the Crown Prince in the pavilion when Sun Fuguo asked her to go ahead. She wondered if he would not follow her. But she didn’t ask. She took the stairs and reached up. Xiaoming, who was looking at the garden before him with a small pond in the middle, heard her footsteps and turned to her.
Liu Jin Yu bowed before him and greeted him with the utmost respect.
.....
“You don’t need to do that,” Xiaoming said. He was nervous. What if she refused to marry him? No!He must not think that way. He did his best to convince her. However, a slight fear still existed in his mind.
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness, for the proposal. At first, I was unable to decide how to react to it. His Highness was right. I lied to him about having a man whom I was supposed to marry. I apologize for that,” Liu Jin Yu said and lowered her head while resting both of her hands on her belly.
“I will marry the Crown Prince,” Liu Jin Yu said, and it brought a wide smile on Xiaoming’s lips, “but under one condition.”
“Condition?” Xiaoming arched his brow. Her strange expressions bewildered her. She didn’t look like the same cheerful Jin Yu to him. “Tell me. I will indeed fulfil it,” Xiaoming stated.
“The Crown Prince will never have a second woman in his life. He must not have any concubines and he must stand for himself. I know that His Majesty has told him that he didn’t have to take the concubines, but that was valid until he chose to marry a noble woman from a strong political family. However, I am a woman whose family status is unknown, so the Crown Prince will surely be pressured to have more women. Will His Royal Highness be able to fight for me?”
Xiaoming took a step towards her and without any hesitation, he answered, “I have told you this earlier too, that there would be only one woman in my life and that would be only you. You will become my wife, and apart from you, I will not accept anyone else,” Xiaoming stated.
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “Jin Yu, I will fight for you until the end. I won’t have any consort or concubine in my life. I will have only you. I assure you this. I want you in my life as my other half, who will hold my hand until the end of my life,” Lóng Wei affirmed, and a tiny smile appeared on his lips.
He saw she didn’t look happy. Her expressions were plain and he wondered what could be the reason.
“Jin Yu, is everything good? “You seem troubled,” Xiaoming said as he drew his hands away and lowered them.
“Nothing,” Liu Jin Yu said and stepped back. “I must take my leave,” she said, and bowed. She turned to leave when Xiaoming caught her wrist and pulled her close for a hug, shocking her.
She pulled away, but he drew her closer. “Let’s stay this way for a few minutes,” Xiaoming said.
Liu Jin Yu’s eyes filled with tears and she slowly moved her hands up. She clutched the fabric of his overcoat at his waist.
“I tell you everything related to myself, yet you are not even ready to tell me why you are bothered. Tell me,” Xiaoming urged, “else, I will find my own way.”
“My Master, Wu Jin, is no more,” Liu Jin Yu said, and promptly, Xiaoming withdrew from the hug. He saw tears in her eyes, but she didn’t shed those tears.
Xiaoming put his arm around her shoulder and said, “Let’s go to the chamber. Then, we can talk out.” He didn’t care how many eyes were on him. The only person he cared about at the present moment was Liu Jin Yu. He never saw her this way, and it was shocking to him that Wu Jin suddenly died.
Once they entered the chamber, Xiaoming asked Sun Fuguo not to let anyone in. He nodded his head and stood outside the door. But he feared to think what would happen if someone reported to the King or Queen that Xiaoming hugged a woman with no class.
Inside the chamber, Xiaoming filled the glass with water and then handed it to Liu Jin Yu. She refused to drink it when Xiaoming asked her not to refuse. “Take a sip,” he said as he sat beside her on the broad chair.
Liu Jin Yu took a sip of water and Xiaoming put it on the table. She wiped the tears from the edges of her eyes and took a deep breath. “I was in the market and when I returned I found the lifeless body of my master and the place was burned down into ashes,” she stated, and she tilted her head.
“People in the restaurant said that several bandits came in the middle of nowhere and looted the place. Some people were injured too, and my master, when he tried to stop them, lost his life,” Liu Jin Yu narrated to Xiaoming.
“I don’t think they were bandits,” Xiaoming stated.
“I think the same,” Liu Jin Yu said.
“Was it Kang Huijuan’s doing?” they both said at the same time.
“That’s why I want to marry the Crown Prince. Because I will become the Crown Princess and then I can punish him to death with the help of the Crown Prince,” Liu Jin Yu proclaimed. She didn’t want to keep him in the dark. She had feelings for him, but those feelings weren’t strong. “I would not have accepted His Royal Highness’ proposal if my master was alive,” she affirmed and waited for his response.