After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 135 Qinghe: I'll stay in the palace and become your concubine.
Linjing Hall.

Chu Yan looked at the memorial in his hand, which requested that those whose homes were confiscated be exiled to the border, since the border region had only recently become peaceful.

Upon seeing the memorial, he thought of someone and asked the eunuch serving beside him, "I heard something. Princess Qinghe was planning to marry the son of Marquis Anyuan?"

The eunuch hurriedly replied, "The princess is destined to marry the son of Marquis Anyuan. I heard that before His Majesty enters the capital, Her Majesty the Empress intends to send the princess out of the palace."

"Ah."

Chu Yan nodded and instructed, "Go and tell Qinghe that I will have dinner at her place."

The eunuch hurriedly went to deliver the imperial decree.

Speaking of which, the new emperor has some habits that are different from those of the former Shun emperors. He likes to visit the concubines in the palace, either to have meals with them or to have sex with them, rather than summoning the concubines to the Linjing Hall.

Although concubines were sometimes summoned to the Linjing Palace.

Whether the emperor summons his concubines to his palace each night or sends them to other palaces depends entirely on his whim, and even the eunuchs can't figure out his preferences.

In the evening, Chu Yan arrived at Yuqing Palace.

Princess Qinghe and her many young princesses were already waiting outside the palace gates. When they saw him arrive, they all knelt on the prayer mat to greet him. Her delicate and clear voice mingled with the children's voices: "Welcome, Your Majesty."

"Be flat."

Chu Yan said that he only looked at Qinghe after the princesses got up.

She dressed up specially for the evening, with a phoenix hairpin in a high bun, looking dignified and elegant. A pearl necklace adorned her fair neck, and she wore a high-waisted dress that perfectly accentuated her slender chest.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "Qinghe looks very beautiful today."

Qinghe blushed slightly and lowered her head, only to see him walk straight inside.

She felt a little disappointed; he always held her hand before, but he didn't do so today.

Chu Yan sat down in the hall and looked at the little princesses, who were between four or five and seven or eight years old. Seeing the fear on their little faces, he said, "You may all leave."

They obediently withdrew.

Qinghe added, "Practice your calligraphy in the room. I'll check on you later."

"Yes, Auntie." The little princesses bowed again before withdrawing.

The palace maid Shuyu glanced at the emperor quietly, and only felt relieved when she saw that he was not angry.

The princess doesn't know what it means to serve the emperor in bed?
The emperor came to her palace, presumably to bestow favor upon her. How could the princess then say that he would be checking the little princess's studies later?
The princess, being an unmarried young woman, was unaware of these things…

While Shuyu was rambling on, Chu Yan took a sip of tea and asked Qinghe, "How have you been doing in the palace lately, Qinghe?"

The relationship between the two is somewhat delicate.

Chu Yan was the enemy who caused her country to be destroyed, her family to be ruined, and her parents, brothers, and relatives to be imprisoned. But he was also the benefactor who showed her kindness, spared her life, and bestowed upon her wealth and honor, making her his concubine. He was also her future husband.

Qinghe's beautiful face was filled with complex emotions. After a long while, she replied softly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am doing well. I pay my respects to the Dowager Consort, my mother, and my sister-in-law every day. In my spare time, I chat with Consort Qin or take a walk in the Imperial Garden to relieve my boredom."

He then smiled and said, "When Miss Yun and Miss Bao enter the palace, I will chat with them for a while and accompany them to stroll around the palace."

Chu Yan nodded, "It's better to play with girls your own age than to stay cooped up alone."

As he spoke, he looked at her and said, "I heard that the Empress wants to marry you off when she enters the city?"

Qinghe's delicate face, which had been smiling, turned pale with fright upon hearing his words. She hurriedly stood up, lowered her head, and dared not reply.

Chu Yan seemed to be deep in thought: "I remember now. You said before that you were betrothed to the son of Marquis Anyuan and that you did not want to marry anyone else in this life. You even begged me to let you leave the palace."

Qinghe was in great turmoil.

She said these words when Chu Yan had just entered the palace. At that time, she had not yet recovered from the hatred of the fall of her country, so she said those angry words.

However, after Chu Yan settled her parents in the palace and dealt with the Shun Dynasty's imperial family, she gradually realized that if she offended him, her parents, brothers, nieces, and others would all suffer. Therefore, she had long since given up the idea of ​​leaving the palace and was just waiting for the day when he would make her a concubine.

But now, the emperor has brought up the old matter again and is holding her accountable for trying to escape the palace.

"Do you still want to leave the palace now?" Chu Yan smiled. The Qinghe Princess in front of him was beautiful and gentle, even more so than a lady from a prominent family. She was a noble princess raised by the royal family.

"Just tell me what's on your mind. I'm not going to eat you, so what are you afraid of?"

Chu Yan said.

His words lessened Qinghe's fear, but she also felt a pang of sadness. Stubbornly holding back her tears, she said, "Even if I said I wanted to leave the palace, would His Majesty allow me to leave? It's better not to say anything!"

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Princess, you still have the audacity to say such a thing. I am quite impressed... How about this, I will call your fiancé, Marquis Anyuan, in. If you still want to marry him after seeing him, I will exile you both to the frontier. What do you say?"

Qinghe's temper was also provoked. After all, she was a princess of noble birth, and had never suffered any humiliation since childhood. So she pouted and insisted, "Your Majesty, just call him in. If he agrees, I will go with him tonight!"

Chu Yan then gave the order: "Bring the princess's fiancé. There is no need to change his clothes or groom him. He should be dressed the same way he came to see me."

Qinghe's heart skipped a beat. He really summoned the son of Marquis Anyuan to the palace to see her?

I was in a state of confusion for a moment.

The emperor, however, remained unhurried, ordering someone to bring up the meal and inviting her to sit down and eat with him.

"Are these dishes what the princess likes to eat? What are they made of?"

Chu Yan asked the palace maid beside him.

Qinghe raised her head and looked at Shuyu. Her maid exchanged a glance with her and quickly answered the emperor:

"The princess prefers light flavors. This dish, 'Three Crispy Soup,' is said to be a Song Dynasty dish. It's made by stir-frying bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and tender wolfberry sprouts before simmering them into a soup. This 'Lotus Seed Pod Fish Dumplings' is made by stuffing mandarin fish meat into the holes of lotus seedpods, steaming them, and then serving them..."

Shuyu introduced several dishes that Princess Qinghe liked to eat.

Tonight, the emperor issued an order in advance to come here for dinner, so the dishes are the two people's usual favorites.

"The princess ate with elegance."

Chu Yanchao Qinghe laughed and said, "Eat more now, because if you and your husband are exiled to the frontier in the future, you won't be able to eat these palace delicacies anymore."

Shuyu couldn't help but chuckle softly. She had seen through the emperor's intentions. She wondered if the princess had.

Qinghe was still sulking and refused to eat the dishes she used to love. Instead, she used her chopsticks to pick the dishes that Chu Yan liked!

After the meal was finished, about half an hour later, a eunuch came to report: "Your Majesty, Liang Qi, the son of the Marquis of Anyuan of the former Shun Dynasty, has arrived." Chu Yan then took Princess Qinghe from the back hall to the front hall, asked her to sit behind a screen, and ordered someone to bring a mirror so that she could see her fiancé's appearance.

A moment later, Liang Qi was brought in and knelt on the ground two zhang away from Chu Yan, respectfully kowtowing.

"..."

Qinghe met her former fiancé.

He was not tall, nor was he particularly handsome; he was quite ordinary-looking. Because his family had been raided, he had completely lost the air of a nobleman's son. His beard was unkempt, and his hair was disheveled; he looked even more miserable than the common people she saw on the streets when she left the palace.

Is this the man she's fiancé?

She was exiled to the border with such a man and married him?
Qinghe had been held and kissed by Chu Yan before, so she knew a little about the relationship between men and women. But the thought of being held by the man in the mirror made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Her future husband shouldn't be like this!

"I heard you're engaged to Princess Qinghe?" Chu Yan asked Liang Qi, who was kneeling on the ground, as he sat on a nanmu wood chair carved with dragons.

"Your Majesty, this servant is indeed engaged to the princess. Your Majesty is wise and powerful, bringing peace and stability to the people. This servant dares not conceal the truth!"

Qinghe wasn't surprised that the response came first, followed by praise; many people fawned over the imperial family in this way.

Chu Yan then asked, "I heard that before entering the city, the Empress sent someone to your house, intending to marry Princess Qinghe to you. Is this true?"

Liang Qi's thin face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, that day the palace suddenly sent someone to my home, saying that they wanted to marry the Seventeenth Princess to my family. My father refused on the grounds that the wedding date had not yet arrived. Everything I have said is true. Your Majesty, please make the right decision!"

Chu Yan nodded. "At that time, I had not yet entered the capital. The Empress was worried that I would massacre the imperial family and humiliate the princess, so she wanted to marry the princess to you. Although her family was also raided, at least she was able to save her life."

Liang Qi kowtowed again: "This servant dares not conceal the truth. At that time, my household was in complete chaos, and I dared not have any connection with the royal princess!"

Hidden behind the screen, Qinghe let out a silent snort, realizing that this man was unreliable.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "The princess is a woman of unwavering loyalty. She is engaged to you and is determined to marry you. Now I ask you, do you still dare to marry the princess?"

Qinghe felt a pang of bitterness in her heart at these words. They were indeed the words she had said, but they were just words spoken in anger. He had kissed her, removed her skirt, and exposed her undergarments, and yet he still said these things…

"Slave dare not!"

Liang Qi kowtowed and said.

Chu Yan got up and walked behind the screen, then smiled at Qinghe and asked, "Do you still want to marry him now?"

Qinghe, holding back her tears, said, "Since Your Majesty has said so, I... I will marry him... This servant thanks Your Majesty for your mercy!"

She bowed respectfully, her heart filled with grievance, yet she never lost the demeanor of a royal princess.

Looking at her, Chu Yan said slowly, "If you leave this screen, I will allow you to be exiled to the border with him!"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned the border. The more he brought it up, the stronger the resentment in Qinghe's heart became. He held back his tears, bowed again, and walked out without saying a word.

But with each step, the weight underfoot felt like a thousand pounds.

Leaving the palace meant she would never see her father and mother again, never again enjoy the luxuries of the palace, and would have to stay with that irresponsible man; even the emperor didn't want her anymore...

After taking three steps, Qinghe couldn't help but turn back, her clear eyes glistening with tears.

They refused to walk any further.

Chu Yan said calmly, "Come back."

Qinghe neither came back nor went out; he just stood there, stubborn and aggrieved.

Chu Yan smiled at her pitiful appearance, reached out and pulled her back, one hand around her slender waist, the other wiping away her tears, and said with a smile, "I was just teasing you, you actually took it seriously. Even if you walk out of the screen, I will pull you back."

How could someone he sets his sights on easily escape his grasp?

With Chu Yan holding her waist, Qinghe burst into tears and threw herself into his arms, her slender shoulders trembling with sobs.

Liang Qi, standing outside the screen, was taken aback, vaguely guessing that it was his fiancée, Princess Qinghe, inside.

"Okay, okay, stop crying. You won't be pretty if you keep crying."

Chu Yan coaxed her.

Qinghe raised her tearful eyes, her voice softened, and she blushed as she said, "I... I was just being stubborn with you. I don't want to leave you... Please don't send me away next time. I'll stay in the palace and be your concubine."

The most touching words are those spoken from the heart by a young girl.

Chu Yan gazed at her beautiful and delicate face, lowered his head and kissed her, then reached down to hug her legs, lifted her up by the waist, and strode towards the back hall.

Qinghe buried her face in his chest, her delicate hands clutching his clothes tightly, knowing that he intended to take her back to the inner palace to be favored by him...

"Your Majesty, spare my life!"

Liang Qi suddenly shouted and kowtowed repeatedly, knowing that if he missed this opportunity, he would never have another chance to plead for mercy.

Chu Yan continued walking, casually saying, "Your family has been exiled to Lingnan."

Being exiled to Lingnan is much better than going to the north to guard the border.

"This servant kowtows to thank Your Majesty for your grace!" Liang Qi was overjoyed and kowtowed again.

When he looked up again, he could only vaguely see the tall Emperor Daqian holding a girl in a palace dress in his arms, who was probably his former fiancée, Princess Qinghe.

Liang Qi could only manage a bitter smile.

His former fiancée, Princess Qinghe, was being held in the emperor's arms. He could only see a wisp of her high-bun hair and her small embroidered shoes. As the emperor walked, her little feet swayed back and forth, perhaps clutching his clothes tightly in his arms.

Before long, the two left the back hall through the passageway.

Seeing the emperor so eagerly carrying the princess away, how could Liang Qi not know that his former fiancée was to be favored by the emperor tonight and enjoy his company on the dragon bed?

But he could only be exiled to Lingnan, truly a case of unpredictable fate that leaves one helpless.

"Your Majesty, this humble servant respectfully sees you off!"

Liang Qi kowtowed again, and was then taken away by the eunuchs and left the palace.

(End of this chapter)