Cheng Yujin kept coughing, scaring the two servant girls. They quickly went forward to fetch water for Cheng Yujin.
Cheng Yujin really didn't expect to hear her name while listening to the commotion.
When she finally calmed down, she couldn't care about anything else. The first thing she asked was, "What did you say just now? Who is the Emperor bestowing a marriage to?"
Lian Qiao and Dugeaux looked at each other and whispered, "The Emperor bestowed the eldest legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yichun, Yujin, as the Crown Princess. She will marry the Crown Prince on a date. The imperial notice has already been posted, and the entire city is looking at it right now. "
Dugeaux was more mature than Lian Qiao. Although she was shocked at first, she didn't feel surprised when she thought about it. The Ninth Masters had always been indulgent towards the young lady, and the young lady also stuck close to the Ninth Masters. Other than the Ninth Masters, Dugeaux had never seen the young lady care so much about any other man or person.
If the Ninth Masters wasn't a member of the Cheng Family, then it would be logical for him to marry the young lady.
Cheng Yujin, on the other hand, didn't calm down so easily. She was stunned for a long time, and her mind was in a mess.
Although Lian Qiao liked to play around, she wasn't someone who didn't know the gravity of the situation. Besides, no one in the world would joke about this kind of thing.
How much did they want to die?
She didn't know if she should be shocked that Cheng Yuanjing would choose a Crown Princess who had no support from her family, or if she should be shocked that she would become the Crown Princess.
Whether it was Cheng Yujin or the Cheng Family, they wouldn't even think about it.
When she first found out that Cheng Yuanjing was the Crown Prince, Cheng Yujin was very shocked. However, she never had any ideas about Cheng Yuanjing. She had deliberately approached him and carefully tried to please him. Everything was so that the Crown Prince would take care of her in the future. However, she had never thought of using this opportunity to become the Crown Princess.
She never considered things that were disadvantageous to her, and felt that everyone in the world was the same. Moreover, marriage was a major event in one's life. The Crown Prince's marriage was related to the overall situation of the country and the stability of the imperial court. No one would joke about such things.
Cheng Yuanjing was not the kind of person who would delay business for love. Cheng Yujin believed that it was impossible in her heart, so she never thought about love between a man and a woman. After she fell into the water and was rescued by Cheng Yuanjing, she realized that she had been too careless.
Just because she didn't want to, it didn't mean that others didn't want to.
During the few days when she was sick, she was emotionally fragile. She said a lot of angry words to Cheng Yuanjing and even cried in front of him. When Cheng Yujin recalled the scene at that time, she simply didn't want to admit it. However, she vaguely remembered that Cheng Yuanjing seemed to have said something and flatly denied taking her as a secondary consort.
After Cheng Yujin slept, she couldn't remember many words clearly. After that, she didn't see Cheng Yuanjing for a few days. Cheng Yujin gradually forgot about this matter. However, these few days, he was preparing to restore his identity and bestow a marriage?
Today, he announced the imperial edict to the world. A monarch's words were not joking. Once this was said, there was no turning back. The imperial edict wasn't something that could be written in a short period of time. Finding the Crown Prince was an important matter. Clearly, it wasn't something that the Emperor could confirm just because he said so.
Presumably, the outside world had not been peaceful for the past few days. Unbeknownst to them, Li Chengjing had already fought several rounds with the Yang family, the cabinet, and even the Emperor. What they saw today was only the dust settling and the final result of the battle.
No wonder they hadn't seen him these few days. It turned out that he was busy with these things.
Cheng Yujin stared blankly for a long time. Although the impact was great, everything had already become an established reality. Cheng Yujin could only try to accept it. Moreover, Cheng Yujin didn't think this was a bad thing.
She just didn't dare to believe that a meat pie would fall from the sky and fall right into her lap.
For the first time, she examined the role of the Crown Princess. Although Li Seung-kyung had been in the capital these past few years, he had only truly returned these few days. His appearance had caused quite a stir. His experience was much more bizarre than a leopard cat swapping the Crown Prince. Even the opera didn't dare to write like this. It could be imagined that for a long time, the Crown Prince would be the focus of attention of the civil and military officials, and even the common people.
At this time, the Crown Princess was also pushed to the front of the stage. Compared to the other popular candidates for the Imperial Consort who had their families paving the way for them since they were young, Cheng Yujin, the prospective Crown Princess, had appeared out of nowhere. Previously, before Li Seung-kyung had returned, the Second Prince had already been decided as the heir apparent. Many people had secretly guessed who the Second Prince's imperial concubine would be.
Some people even thought that since the Yang Family had already produced an Empress Dowager and an Empress, would there be a third head of the imperial harem?
In this generation of the Yang Family, there were no girls of suitable age. However, the eldest daughter of the Yang Family, Empress Yang's older sister, Yang Yan, had a daughter named Dou Xiyin. Her age was just the same as the Second Prince's. However, some people felt that since the Yang Family had produced two Empresses, no matter how good the Emperor's temper was, he wouldn't tolerate it indefinitely. The Emperor would definitely not allow the Yang Family to control the position of the Second Prince's imperial concubine. Therefore, by buying shares, the other women had a higher chance of winning.
The capital didn't lack noble families, nor did it lack ambitious people. Many officials had tried to create momentum for their daughters since they were young. They wanted to do the opposite and replace the Yang Family to become the next emperor's father-in-law.
However, no matter what the adventurers thought, compared to outsiders, the Yang Family naturally preferred their own niece. Dou Xiyin and the Second Prince were cousins, and she was often taken to live in the palace by Empress Yang and Empress Dowager Yang. She had more opportunities to interact with the Second Prince than the other popular candidates.
Dou Xiyin was very proud of this. When she was outside as a guest, she would always faintly show off. The noble ladies who secretly competed with Dou Xiyin were very angry, but there was nothing they could do.
Now, whether it was Dou Xiyin or the noble ladies who wanted to speculate, their calculations had all failed. Because the Crown Prince, who had been missing for many years, had returned, the position of Crown Princess had also landed on Cheng Yujin's head. Cheng Yujin could imagine how much precious porcelain would be wasted in the capital once the news of her and Li Seung-kyung's marriage was announced.
Cheng Yujin naturally knew Dou Xiyin. The capital was only so big. Who didn't know the Yang Family's niece? However, Cheng Yujin and Dou Xiyin weren't very familiar. Every time Dou Xiyin appeared, she would be surrounded by stars. Dou Xiyin also had a small circle around her. This circle was filled with so-called noble ladies who all had a strong sense of superiority.
Cheng Yujin never did free work. She didn't think that she would have any interaction with Dou Xiyin before, so she naturally didn't want to waste energy to enter their circle. However, now that she had become the Crown Princess, she also happened to block Dou Xiyin's path. In the future, she was afraid that there would be a lot of friction between her and Dou Xiyin's circle.
However, Dou Xiyin was only a prop. Dou Xiyin was only the daughter of an ordinary third rank military official. The reason she dared to be so arrogant was because she had the backing of the Yang Family. In the end, Dou Xiyin was only an extra. Cheng Yujin's true opponent was Empress Dowager Yang. Empress Yang.
Cheng Yujin silently sighed. It seemed that she still had a long way to go after her marriage. She had a stepmother who was suspected of killing her own mother and seizing the throne, and a powerful stepgrandmother who had helped the emperor succeed the throne.
However, these were two different things. If Cheng Yujin was asked to use her position as the Crown Princess in exchange for an easy married life, Cheng Yujin wouldn't do it. Every family had their own difficulties. The mother-in-law and sister-in-law of a small family might not be easy to serve. Since they also had to take every step carefully and manage the business carefully, Cheng Yujin felt that this deal was very worth it to change to a more difficult script and fight for power and benefits that could not be measured.
Moreover, Li Seung-kyung directly returned as Cheng Yuanjing. He didn't sever ties with Cheng Yuanjing. Whether the Cheng Family was willing or not, they were already firmly tied to the Crown Prince's ship. If the Crown Prince won in the future, it would be fine. However, if the Crown Prince lost, what awaited the Cheng Family would be the destruction of the entire family. Rather than placing her hopes on someone else, it was better to do it herself.
Cheng Yujin was suddenly full of fighting spirit, and her dispirited aura was swept away. She had made plans for herself when she was very young, including showing her talent at the age of 12 and becoming a model young lady at the age of 14. Then, she would rely on her reputation to marry a rich and powerful husband and realize the leap in the latter half of her life. After that, she would still be a model daughter-in-law and a model wife. Every step and every stage was standardized as if it were a fabricated illusion.
Before Huo Changyuan broke off the engagement, Cheng Yujin's progress was very much in line with her life plan. Although there were some small mistakes in the middle, she once wanted to find someone with potential to counterattack. Who would have thought that she would suddenly become the Crown Princess? Her plan was completed beyond expectations.
Cheng Yujin didn't reject this identity at all. She couldn't wait to start her daily life as the Crown Princess. Lian Qiao saw that the girl was stunned for a while and suddenly became energetic as if she was possessed. She almost jumped up immediately. Lian Qiao was shocked and asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine. I'm very good." Cheng Yujin said as she was about to stand up. "I haven't walked around this courtyard. I don't even know its full appearance."
Although Cheng Yujin had lived in this courtyard for more than ten days, she rarely went out, let alone wander around the courtyard. Cheng Yujin originally thought that this was the Crown Prince's private property and had nothing to do with her. She didn't want to wander outside and accidentally see something she shouldn't see.
But now Cheng Yujin's mentality was different. This was the Crown Prince's private property and in the future, it would be part of her property. Cheng Yujin at least wanted to know the general situation of this courtyard.
Lian Qiao and Dugeaux were shocked to see Cheng Yujin going out. "Miss, why do you suddenly want to go for a walk? It's windy outside. You haven't recovered yet. Be careful not to be exposed to the wind and worsen your condition. "
"No, I've completely recovered." Although Cheng Yujin's face was still a bit pale, her eyes were bright and the gloominess between her eyebrows had disappeared. She looked completely different from the patient from a few days ago. Lian Qiao and Dugeaux didn't know what was going on, but Cheng Yujin wanted to go out. They couldn't change her mind and could only help Cheng Yujin put on a cloak, put on a hand warmer, and smoke a hand warmer.
No one could stop Cheng Yujin's enthusiasm for property. She couldn't even fall sick, let alone the cold wind. Everyone carefully followed Cheng Yujin's instructions to let her recuperate. When they heard that Cheng Yujin wanted to go out for a walk, they were all on guard and surrounded Cheng Yujin. In the end, it was the eunuchs from the palace who came up with an idea. They pulled up a brocade curtain at the wind gap to block the wind for Cheng Yujin.
When Cheng Yujin saw this when she went out, she was speechless.
As expected, the people who came from the palace were second to none when it came to currying favor with their masters.
Cheng Yujin walked along the corridor and walked through the two courtyards at the back, silently estimating their value. Lian Qiao saw that the young lady didn't seem like she was going out for a walk, but more like she was looking around the house. Although she didn't understand, she slowly relaxed.
She was scared to death. She thought that the young lady was upset and wanted to relax in the cold wind in the middle of winter. With such a strong wind today, it would be terrible if she continued to blow for a while.
When the eunuchs disguised as manservants saw that the Crown Princess didn't seem like she wanted to be sad in the garden, they could only resentfully close the curtain. Cheng Yujin was in high spirits. She finished looking through the two courtyards at the back in one breath and didn't show any signs of fatigue. She glanced at the front courtyard and hesitated.
A young eunuch who was a professional at reading expressions saw this and immediately asked, "Young Lady, why did you stop?"
Right now, Cheng Yujin hadn't been registered and was still unmarried, so she couldn't be called the Crown Princess. However, these eunuchs weren't stupid. The imperial edict had already been issued, so this mistress was definitely the Eastern Palace Consort. If they didn't take advantage of this opportunity to please the Crown Princess, what were they waiting for?
Cheng Yujin asked, "I haven't seen the front courtyard yet. Is it convenient for me to go?"
"How is it not convenient?" The young eunuch said with a flattering smile. "The entire courtyard belongs to Young Lady. You can go wherever you want. How can it not be convenient?"
Cheng Yujin raised her eyebrows. From what he said, this courtyard was under her name? Cheng Yujin instantly understood. Previously, she and Li Seung-kyung were uncle and nephew in name, so it was fine for her to stay in her uncle's courtyard to recuperate. However, it was obviously not possible now.
There was a strict separation between men and women. Even unmarried couples had to avoid arousing suspicion. Moreover, one of them was the Crown Prince and the other was the soon-to-be Crown Princess. They couldn't let their reputations be tarnished. Therefore, Li Seung-kyung simply gave this three-section courtyard to her. Cheng Yujin lived in her own house, and outsiders couldn't say anything.
Cheng Yujin was very envious of this three-section courtyard gift, but at the same time, she was also sure that the Crown Prince really had many private residences.
Although Cheng Yujin smiled, her eyes slightly narrowed.
Since the eunuch said so, Cheng Yujin didn't care and walked towards the front courtyard. There was a distance between the front and back of the residence, so women could only go past the second door. However, now that the entire courtyard was hers, Cheng Yujin didn't have to care about the inside and outside. To avoid arousing suspicion, she didn't enter the study or the main room. She only walked around the veranda, silently estimating the size of the residence.
And how much she could sell it for in the future.
This place was close to the most prosperous main street, and the location was first-class. The residence had always been in short supply. Moreover, this courtyard had three sections, a kitchen, an inner courtyard, and a back room. She didn't have to worry about the price. Cheng Yujin silently calculated in her heart. Suddenly, her ears twitched as she heard a voice behind her.
At the same time, the servants greeted her in unison. "Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince. Long live His Highness. "
Cheng Yujin was half a beat slower to turn around, and just happened to meet the gaze of the person who came.
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