We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

The pavilion in the front courtyard of the Duke's Mansion.

Zhou Tiancheng saw Zheng Ye'er and blurted out something without thinking.

Let's break up.

"what?"

Zheng Ye'er was completely confused.

Zhou Tiancheng then realized that he had been confused by the two old men's stares and hadn't thought things through when he spoke.

He quickly changed his tune.

"If I fail to return from Northern Xia, you should marry someone else."

Zheng Ye'er was stunned, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"What do you mean by that? Do I need your permission to marry whomever I want? Who are you to me?"

"That's not what I meant. I originally wanted to marry you, but I couldn't. I don't even know if I'll come back alive from this trip to Northern Xia!"

Zhou Tiancheng quickly offered an explanation.

He wasn't one to drag things out; he had already decided to marry Zheng Ye'er, so how could he possibly regret it?

But this time, his brothers have staked their lives on him, so he can't really be a deserter, can he?

He came here to talk things out with Zheng Ye'er.

But Zheng Ye'er wouldn't give him that chance; she stepped forward and slapped him across the face.

Zhou Tiancheng was stunned.

Why hit someone?

Before he could react, Zheng Ye'er hugged him and kissed him.

When those moist lips touched his mouth, he was completely stunned and instinctively stuck out his tongue.

Zheng Ye'er was still angry, but at this moment her eyes widened suddenly, and she stepped back, trying to run away.

Zhou Tiancheng wouldn't give her that chance. He grabbed her waist and used one hand to press down on the back of Zheng Ye'er's head to prevent her from running away.

Bing'er, who was standing to the side, was stunned.

Zhou Tiancheng only let go when Zheng Ye'er could no longer breathe.

Bing'er asked curiously from the side.

"Is it really that delicious? Why are your faces all red from eating?"

"Shut up!"

Zheng Ye'er's cheeks flushed red, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She angrily yelled at Bing'er, then turned and glared at Zhou Tiancheng.

"Who told you to stick your tongue out?"

"Didn't you slap me first?"

Zhou Tiancheng was also unconvinced.

Zheng Ye'er stood with her hands on her hips, which made her waist look even thinner, and her chest swelled up and down with anger.

"I slapped you because you were talking nonsense!"

"Let me tell you, Your Highness—bah, Zhou Tiancheng—I, Zheng Ye'er, can marry whomever I want. No one has the right to interfere. And you're not allowed to have any wild ideas. Come back here right now!"

It was clear that Zheng Ye'er was really angry. She originally wanted to call him "Your Highness the Crown Prince," but felt that would lose her authority, so she simply called him by his full name.

Zhou Tiancheng muttered something unconsciously.

"You're probably not from Sichuan."

"What did you say?"

Zheng Ye'er took a step forward, clearly bluffing, since her face was still so red and her eyes were darting around.

Zhou Tiancheng quickly changed his tune.

"I mean, I'll try my best."

"Not 'as much as possible,' say it again, you must come back alive! Do you understand?!"

Zheng Ye'er became even fiercer, as if Zhou Tiancheng had said something wrong again.

But Zhou Tiancheng could tell that Zheng Ye'er was more afraid than he was.

She was afraid she wouldn't be able to come back.

Zhou Tiancheng didn't say anything, he just smiled and reached out to pat the girl's head.

Zheng Ye'er clearly wanted to dodge, but then, for some reason, she pressed her head against his palm.

Her face was no longer red, but her eyes were red.

"I'll say it one more time, you have to come back alive. If you don't, I'll become a widow!"

What kind of threat is this?

Zhou Tiancheng knew this girl was love-struck, but he never expected her to go this far.

"It's not worth it."

Zhou Tiancheng smiled, thought for a moment, and then added a sentence.

"I have many women around me. It's unfair to leave you a widow."

"Look, Hu Nuguli and Li Hua, the daughter of a Hu merchant, are both my women. It's not fair that you're devoted to me."

"I'll say it again: if I don't come back, you should find someone to marry, and you'd better forget about me."

Zheng Ye'er simply snorted and didn't express much opinion on the matter.

"Even if you die, I will still be the mistress of the house. It's not their place to be your widow."

"If you rush to your death, I'll sell them off one by one to be other people's concubines."

Zhou Tiancheng was stunned.

This isn't right.

Don't all women yearn for a lifelong, monogamous relationship?

Moreover, Zheng Ye'er is the daughter of a Duke, a woman of noble status. Why should she share a husband with others?

The reason he mentioned Hu Nuguli and Li Hua was to tarnish his own image and wake up Zheng Ye'er from her love-struck mind. But it seems to have no effect at all.

Manager Liu, who was following behind Zhou Tiancheng, coughed.

"Your Highness, it's time to go."

Zhou Tiancheng nodded, glanced at Zheng Ye'er with reluctance, and turned to leave.

He was halfway there when Steward Liu started talking to himself.

"Your Highness, only ordinary people talk about being with one person for life. For noble ladies, they have no choice from birth."

"Think about it, if they marry down, the daughters of their clan will also lose their status. They themselves know that they must find a young master or gentleman of equal social standing."

"And the young masters and noblemen of powerful families sleep in the same room with their personal maids when they are only teenagers. If we were to be so particular about this, these noble ladies would never need to get married."

At this point, Steward Liu looked up and glanced at Zhou Tiancheng.

"So for Miss Zheng, status is the most important thing. As long as you have her in your heart, that's more important than anything else."

"The fact that you wanted to cut ties with her just now shows that you care about her, so of course she won't really be angry with you."

Manager Liu's words conveyed the same message: Zhou Tiancheng wanted to sever ties, but his good intentions backfired.

Who knows, Zheng Ye'er might really become a widow after he dies!

at the same time.

On the other side, Bing'er tugged at Zheng Ye'er's sleeve.

"Miss, does it really taste good?"

"When I saw you eating the prince's mouth, you looked both uncomfortable and enjoying it. Your expression was so strange."

Zheng Ye'er was still feeling sad when she was asked this question, and her face turned bright red again.

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

"If you're curious, why don't you find a man and give him a taste of your tongue next time?"

Bing'er thought for a moment, then felt a shiver run through her body.

"Oh, I don't want to."

"Other people's spittle is so dirty. I've seen people spit when they argue in their hometowns, but I've never seen anyone eat their words like you."

Zheng Ye'er stammered and couldn't say anything.

Her eyes darted around, and she leaned closer, asking in a low voice.

"Bing'er, you're getting on in years, don't you have a man you like?"

"I remember someone even proposed to my dad last month!"

Bing'er seemed startled and immediately shook her head.

"No, no, none of them are good enough, they're too ugly."

Zheng Ye'er immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Then who isn't ugly?"

Bing'er immediately uttered two words.

"The Crown Prince isn't ugly at all!"