Chapter 117: Chapter 117 Why Not Allowed
Ye Yiheng sneered inwardly, believing that she drank yesterday out of jealousy.
Now it seemed she had not been jealous at all.
Yesterday’s drinking was simply because the girl craved it.
Just then, Ji Qingyu’s voice came from the direction of the Eastern Palace gate, “Ah Yan, wait.”
Seeing Zheng Liqi beside Ye Yiheng, Ji Qingyu hesitated for a moment then chuckled lightly, quickly stepping beside Leng Yu Yan, “Not happy?”
“How could I be unhappy?” Leng Yu Yan pursed her lips and confessed honestly, “I am quite unhappy, I can’t feel happy thinking about having to return here every day.”
Ye Yiheng, having good hearing, caught every word she said.
Ji Qingyu unfolded his fan and fanned himself, “I heard you’re going to the Imperial College, let’s go, I’ll celebrate for you.”
“How will we celebrate?”
“Go out for a meal, my treat.”
Leng Yu Yan shook her head, “That man is a madman, if I go out to eat with you, who knows what madness might occur.”
“Indeed, great minds think alike!” Ji Qingyu closed his fan, “No matter, we must go out to eat today, I must celebrate for you! You being able to attend the Imperial College makes you the first woman in Tiancheng to do so, even I haven’t been there.”
Unable to refuse Ji Qingyu, and from her perspective, the woman seemed particularly close to Ye Yiheng.
Leng Yu Yan spat out the word and turned to head straight for the great gate of the Eastern Palace.
“That’s right!” Ji Qingyu hurried after her.
Their long legs moved quickly, and it didn’t take long for them to exit the great gate of the Eastern Palace.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had no reaction, Zheng Liqi felt pleased and said with a charming tone, “Miss Lai seems to have a special relationship with Prince Qing.”
“That’s true.” Ye Yiheng admitted.
His tone was even, undisturbed, showing that the ugly girl meant nothing to the Crown Prince.
A smile formed on Zheng Liqi’s face, realizing she had been overthinking the day before.
Leng Yu Yan followed Ji Qingyu to his restaurant.
The shopkeeper, very astute, quickly instructed his staff to serve the restaurant’s signature dishes.
After closing the door of the private room, Ji Qingyu finally spoke, “The woman you saw just now is named Zheng Liqi.”
Leng Yu Yan sighed, “I saw her with the Crown Prince yesterday, and again today. It seems she did it especially for me to see, which shows she is interested in the Crown Prince.”
“You guessed right, she is Ye Yiheng’s childhood sweetheart.”
“Wasn’t Fan Minmin his childhood sweetheart?” Leng Yu Yan was puzzled.
Ji Qingyu shook his head and served her some dishes, “Ye Yiheng’s true childhood sweetheart is Zheng Liqi.”
“What’s her background?”
“The Zheng family belongs to the Left Minister’s Mansion, and Zheng Liqi is the Left Minister’s legitimate daughter. When Ye Yiheng was still healthy, the Tian Family intended to betroth her to the Crown Prince. So, in previous years, she was considered the designated Crown Princess Consort,” Ji Qingyu explained.
Leng Yu Yan gave a cold smile, “I see, so now I am bearing the title that originally belonged to her.”
Tiancheng has both a Left and a Right Minister, the Right Minister being elderly, and his granddaughter of marriageable age.
The Left Minister was middle-aged with considerable influence in the court, therefore highly valued by the Emperor.
So the woman was the daughter of the Left Minister.
Indeed, if Ye Yiheng were not blind and frail, how could it be her turn, a mere daughter from Marquis Mansion, to be the Crown Princess Consort?
Ji Qingyu consoled, “Let’s not talk about this; I specially wanted to celebrate for you today, let’s not discuss such depressing matters.”
“How did you know I was going to the Imperial College?”
“I keep track of your affairs, naturally, I knew,” Ji Qingyu smiled warmly, “The key is, once you’re in the Imperial College, you’ll have an opportunity to enter the Six Ministries, by then you could gain experience in the Ministry of War.”
Leng Yu Yan nodded, “That’s exactly why I agreed.”
Ji Qingyu nodded, suggesting, “Would you like a drink?”
Recalling the embarrassing state she had been in after drinking the previous night, Leng Yu Yan shook her head, “No more for me.”
After a pause, she added, “By the way, I want to leave the Eastern Palace, in a legitimate way. Can you help me with that?”
Upon hearing this, Ji Qingyu was delighted, “Of course!”
He knew she didn’t want to stay by the side of a blind man.
“But I’ve encountered a difficult problem.”
Leng Yu Yan leaned closer, lowering her voice, “He knows about the spots I’ve been placing on my face and is using that to force me to stay in the Eastern Palace. That’s the tricky part. If I leave, he will use the fact that I faked spots to break off an engagement as a crime against the Emperor and have me killed.”
Ji Qingyu slammed the table, causing the dishes and utensils on top to shake, “Madman, he’s a madman!”
Leng Yu Yan sighed, “When I was applying those spots, I didn’t think about this, nor did I realize that he doesn’t care whether I have marks on my face or not. Now that he knows there are actually no spots, the problem has become even more troublesome.”
“You rest assured, I’ll figure out something about the spots.”
“Thank you very much!”
“Never mind.” Ji Qingyu smiled, shaking his head.
He actually wanted to say that aside from also having a cold disease, he wasn’t blind, he wasn’t incapable. Except when the cold disease flared up and his body became icy, he was warm at all other times. Also, his parents liked her too. Could she choose him, to be with him?
But now, saying this seemed somewhat like taking advantage of the situation, so he didn’t speak up.
After the meal, Ji Qingyu escorted Leng Yu Yan back to the Eastern Palace.
On the way back to Tingfeng Garden, music from stringed and woodwind instruments wafted from the fluttering light gauze of a palace.
Noticing her mistress’s puzzlement, Miao Zhu, who was walking beside Leng Yu Yan, casually grabbed a little eunuch and asked, “What’s going on over there?”
The little eunuch answered respectfully, “Miss Miao Zhu might not know, the Crown Prince has specifically kept Lady Zheng for dinner tonight, and that is music to enhance the mood.”
Miao Zhu waved her hand, and the eunuch immediately withdrew.
“Miss, shall we go over and have a look?” Miao Zhu suggested.
“No, let’s not disturb their reunion…”
Leng Yu Yan shook her head and quickly walked toward the direction of Tingfeng Garden.
Thinking that she and Ji Qingyu had already enjoyed their meal outside, someone in the Eastern Palace only had their dinner half done.
Truly childhood sweethearts, their affection was extraordinary!
Leng Yu Yan laughed self-deprecatingly, it seems she needed to choose a more convenient time to ask that person to agree for her to go to the Imperial College.
Song Guo also couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince had kept Lady Zheng today.
And it was only after Miss Lai had returned to the Eastern Palace that the Crown Prince said he wanted to rest and had someone send Lady Zheng away.
Could there be some connection between these two events?
But upon further reflection, there didn’t seem to be any connection.
It was certainly very late now, it was time to send Lady Zheng back home.
As Fuyeye Yiheng was walking back to his bedroom, Song Guo couldn’t help asking, “Your Highness, it is said that Miss Lai has been invited by the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer to attend the Imperial College and to become the calligraphy master there. Do you agree to this?”
Ye Yiheng responded indifferently, “Not allowed.”
Halfway through, upon hearing that Zheng Liqi had returned home, Leng Yu Yan turned back to look for Ye Yiheng.
Just in time to hear the Crown Prince’s conversation with Song Guo, Leng Yu Yan was infuriated, “Your Highness, why don’t you allow it?”