“Send someone to summon the Crown Prince,” Emperor Tianqi said with a frown. “I must get to the bottom of this.”
It was one thing if there was no explanation, but to bring a young woman back to the East Palace in the middle of the night—didn’t she care about her reputation?
—
East Palace.
When Huang Quan woke up, she immediately saw Di Qin sitting by her bedside.
“Qin Qin?”
She paused for a moment as her gaze rested on him. “You didn’t rest?”
If he had rested, he definitely wouldn’t be wearing the same clothes from yesterday.
Di Qin smiled gently. “Mmm.”
Huang Quan asked, “Did you stay up all night watching me?”
Di Qin smiled and nodded. “I was too happy to sleep.”
After all, the Crown Prince had spent the whole night watching the woman he loved after their hearts were finally connected.
Huang Quan looked at him and smiled. “You really are…”
It sounded a bit exaggerated to hear how Di Qin had spent the night, but she was genuinely happy.
Huang Quan sat up and looked at him. “Are you going to rest later?”
“It’s fine, I didn’t sleep the whole night.” Di Qin reached out and gently touched her head. “Quan Quan, go wash up and have breakfast. I’ll take you to meet Father Emperor.”
“Okay,” Huang Quan responded.
“I’ll wait for you outside.” Di Qin said, standing up and walking out.
Huang Quan watched his retreating figure, and her smile grew brighter.
—
Soon, after Huang Quan finished washing up and changed clothes, she came out.
Di Qin was waiting outside, and when Huang Quan emerged, she saw that he had changed his clothes as well.
“Crown Prince.” A palace maid stepped forward respectfully. “Breakfast is ready.”
“Mmm,” Di Qin responded and took Huang Quan’s hand to go have breakfast.
The palace maid followed behind, sneaking glances at the two of them.
The young woman the Crown Prince brought back was truly beautiful…
It was the first time she had seen such a beauty.
Her celestial beauty was unforgettable to anyone who saw her, and what was most surprising was that she could actually be with the Crown Prince, and nothing had happened!
The palace maid, filled with disbelief, followed the two of them to the dining area.
After they finished their meal, Di Qin took Huang Quan to the Imperial Study.
There were many people moving about in the palace, especially palace servants. When those servants saw Di Qin walking with a young woman toward the Imperial Study, they were shocked.
As they bowed, they wondered, Could this be the future Crown Princess?
Soon enough, Di Qin and Huang Quan arrived at the Imperial Study, and the news of them holding hands and walking together spread quickly…
—
Shuhe Palace.
Nangong Yue put down her teacup when the palace maid who had gone out to gather information returned. She asked, “How is it?”
“Your Majesty was right. It’s indeed a young lady from the Nangong family, the one named Huang Quan.”
“Ha…”
Nangong Yue chuckled lightly. “I didn’t expect it to really be her.”
Emperor Tianqi valued Di Qin the most, and she had only given birth to a princess, with no prince. Her father, thinking the Nangong family couldn’t gain any further benefit from her, had long been pushing for Nangong Qingyue to marry Di Qin.
But she never expected that Di Qin had already given his heart to someone else.
Nangong Qingyue couldn’t marry Di Qin, which was quite a relief to her. But who would have thought…
Nangong Qingyue’s identity was fake, and the one Di Qin truly loved was the real daughter of the Nangong family!
“Where is she?” Nangong Yue said coldly. “Bring her to see me.”
The palace maid responded, “Your Majesty, the young lady from the Nangong family and the Crown Prince have gone to meet the Emperor.”
Nangong Yue replied, “In that case, let her meet the Emperor first, then bring her to see me.”
407
“Yes.” The palace maid replied, then withdrew.
On the other side…
The Imperial Study.
Emperor Tianqi looked at the two standing before him, his brow furrowed, his expression stern, as if he were about to erupt in anger at any moment.
Huang Quan and Di Qin stood together, silent.
After a long pause, Emperor Tianqi finally spoke to Di Qin, his voice filled with displeasure. “This is ridiculous!”
Di Qin remained calm, standing quietly without reacting.
Emperor Tianqi continued, “The girl from the Nangong family is a young woman, with her innocence intact. How could you bring her back to the Eastern Palace like this?”
“If this gets out, won’t it… tarnish her reputation?”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
If it were anyone else, that would indeed be an issue. But when it came to the Crown Prince, he could take anyone into the Eastern Palace… there was no issue of reputation for him.
It was only because it was Di Qin that Emperor Tianqi had such concerns.
Huang Quan, although not very familiar with Emperor Tianqi, could tell that he doted on Di Qin. It was clear that Emperor Tianqi was very fond of him.
But now…
How should she respond?
Should she say that she didn’t care about her reputation?
Or something else?
It seemed like no matter what she said, it wouldn’t sound quite right.
“Father, last night, Huang Quan came to help suppress the death energy in my body,” Di Qin said expressionlessly. “It exhausted a lot of her spiritual energy, so I brought her to the Eastern Palace to rest.”
Emperor Tianqi frowned, “You carried her back?”
Di Qin calmly responded, “She’s my fiancée. Is it wrong for me to carry her?”
Emperor Tianqi was momentarily speechless.
“…” Then why all the talk earlier?
He thought Di Qin was going to claim that they were just ordinary friends and that there was nothing to worry about.
Huang Quan couldn’t help but smile after hearing their conversation.
In just one night, her identity had been elevated to that of a fiancée.
It was fast, but she liked it.
“So… this is your fiancée now?” Emperor Tianqi looked at Di Qin, his expression somewhat complicated.
His son had grown up, and now he was in a hurry to get married.
“Yes,” Di Qin answered calmly.
Emperor Tianqi sighed inwardly. “This is happening too fast!”
What could he do, though? His son had found someone he liked, and what could be done about that?
What else could he do?
He might as well issue the decree!
Emperor Tianqi looked at the two of them and said, “Since that’s the case, I will issue an imperial decree to bless your marriage.”
He looked at Huang Quan with a serious expression before a faint smile appeared on his face. “When Nangong Qingyue first appeared, Nangong Qian told me that she had the bloodline of the spirit clan.”
“Nangong girl, since you’re with Qin’er, you must know about his condition.”
Huang Quan nodded. “Yes.”
Emperor Tianqi continued, “Qin’er cannot casually make contact with others, but the spirit clan’s bloodline is special. Nangong Qian said that Nangong Qingyue could briefly come into contact with Qin’er.”
“At that time, Qin’er had no one he liked, and I thought since she had the bloodline of the spirit clan, a brief contact was better than none at all. That’s why I thought of arranging a marriage for them.”
“But after Qin’er found out, he rejected it,” Emperor Tianqi said. “Once, Qin’er told me that he could marry a girl from the Nangong family, but only the real Fifth Miss of the Nangong family.”
“At that time, your relationship with Qin’er had already spread, and I thought to myself, how could Qin’er be so reckless…”
“Until your true identity was revealed, I finally understood why Qin’er said those things.”
He could marry a girl from the Nangong family, but only the real Fifth Miss.
Because the real Fifth Miss of the Nangong family was the one he truly liked.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” After hearing Emperor Tianqi’s words, Huang Quan sincerely thanked him. “But there’s no rush for the marriage decree.”
Emperor Tianqi was a bit confused. “No rush?”
“Yes.” Huang Quan nodded. “Your Majesty, my parents and one of my older brothers are still missing, so I would like to wait for them to return before we marry.”
If the marriage was arranged at a young age, it would be okay to wait until adulthood to actually marry.
But if a marriage was arranged at the age of fifteen, the time for marriage would be just around the corner.
