Three “yes”es!

This showed just how low Jing Xuan’s status had become!

If this were her former personality, how could she be so obedient?

She would definitely have resisted.

But having experienced so many things, she was no longer that willful and capricious young lady.

So she obediently left with her people.

Gong Shilin had been standing behind the Third Prince the whole time. When she passed by Gong Shilin, she didn’t even glance at him and walked straight past.

However, Jing Xuan didn’t know that just as she passed by Gong Shilin, his gaze had been following her.

His eyes were complex.

Very difficult for people to discern what they meant?

Only after Jing Xuan’s figure gradually disappeared did Gong Shilin step forward to say to the Third Prince, “A’Tuo, isn’t treating her this way rather inappropriate?”

The Third Prince was called Na Tuo.

That was the national surname!

Na Tuo snorted, his eyes flickering as he said, “What’s inappropriate about it? I’ll do as I please.”

Willful!

Gong Shilin said in a low voice, “But she is your Princess Consort after all.”

With a tone of reminder.

The Third Prince was dismissive. “This kind of Princess Consort is completely useless to have around. Why should I treat her well? If she had even a bit of use value, I wouldn’t treat her this way.”

When it came down to it, it was still about interests!

For people in the imperial family, only interests were paramount.

Regarding the Third Prince’s words, Gong Shilin couldn’t say much.

After all, she wasn’t his own wife.

So he closed his mouth and stopped talking.

Na Tuo glanced at him. “You don’t need to worry about my affairs. I heard your father has already proposed marriage to Marquis Pingyang on your behalf. That Li Wenshu from the Li family—haven’t you always been thinking about her? Now it’s good. When she returns, you two will be getting married.”

However—

Gong Shilin didn’t seem very happy at all.

He lowered his eyes slightly and walked forward.

Na Tuo asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

No one knew that actually, Gong Shilin didn’t like Li Wenshu at all. When he was young, he had indeed felt that Li Wenshu was a talented woman and admired her greatly, but admiration was admiration—it was definitely not the kind of romantic affection between men and women. And he was someone who never liked to explain too much. His own father and the people around him all said he liked Li Wenshu. He remained silent, so others assumed he had tacitly agreed.

In truth, even if he confessed his true feelings and clearly told his father he didn’t like Li Wenshu, the person he would have to marry would still be Li Wenshu.

Because his father and Marquis Pingyang had always stood in the same camp.

To make the connection between the two families even closer, they would definitely arrange a marriage alliance.

So whether Gong Shilin liked her or not, he had to marry Li Wenshu.

This was already predetermined!

Precisely because he had been clear about this since childhood, he had never spoken his true feelings until now.

After staying at the Third Prince’s Manor for a while, Gong Shilin left.

The rear courtyard of the Prince’s Manor.

Ever since meeting the Third Prince earlier, Jing Xuan’s heart could no longer be calm!

She didn’t know what kind of feeling it was?

She also didn’t know why she felt panicked in her heart?

And she no longer had any interest in planting flowers.

The maid looked and asked, “Princess Consort, shall we plant them here?”

Jing Xuan came back to her senses, looked at the empty patch of ground the maid was pointing to, then nodded. “Here is fine.”

“Yes!”

Jing Xuan crouched down, grabbed those flower seeds, and began burying them.

She called out, “Qi’er?”

The maid called Qi’er looked at her. “What are the Princess Consort’s instructions?”

Jing Xuan was silent for a moment before saying, “What kind of person is… the Third Prince?”

“The Prince?”

“Yes.”

Qi’er organized her thoughts for a while before saying, “The Prince is… very intelligent.”

“Besides being intelligent?”

“This… this servant doesn’t know how to say? This servant has always served in the rear courtyard and has never been close to the Prince.”

Jing Xuan’s thoughts sank slightly.

Qi’er looked at her and suddenly said with a smile, “The Princess Consort finally saw the Prince earlier. In the future, hopefully the Prince will pay more attention to the Princess Consort.”

But she smiled bitterly.

She continued burying the flower seeds in her hands.

She said nothing more.

All the flowers in this garden—she had planted them one by one!

They were all flowers from Da Lin.

It was clear her heart still held some longing.

And the only people she could miss now were her Seventh Imperial Brother and that Miss Ji.

…

Marquis Pingyang’s Manor.

After Gong Chi finished discussing with Li Wenship, he left.

At this moment, Li Wenship sat alone in the pavilion.

He continued drinking tea.

After a while, a man hurried over.

“Lord Marquis.” The man bowed with cupped hands.

Li Wenship took a sip of tea, asking without looking sideways, “How is it?”

“Reporting to Lord Marquis, the heir and young miss are staying in the border town of Yiwu and won’t be departing for now.”

At this, Li Wenship’s brows immediately furrowed. “What do you mean they won’t be departing for now?”

“The heir has taken on a murder case in Yiwu.”

“A murder case?”

“It seems to be a skeleton case from a theater hall. Because the Yiwu County Magistrate judged it incorrectly, the heir took it over. Right now, he should still be investigating.”

Li Wenship flew into a rage.

The teacup in his hand was heavily placed on the table.

“Absolutely absurd! How can he casually meddle in official court matters?”

He was furious.

The messenger waited outside, not speaking.

Li Wenship said, “All he knows is playing around all day. How would he know how to solve any cases? Such nonsense.”

The man said, “The heir seems to have met someone who can actually draw the pre-death appearance of the skeleton. Everyone in Yiwu knows about it.”

“Oh? What kind of person is that?” Li Wenship was curious.

“It’s unclear. We only know they’re traveling merchants from Da Lin.”

“Go investigate clearly who those people are. Then have the heir and young miss hurry back.”

“Yes.”

The messenger immediately left.

Li Wenship sat in the pavilion for a long time—

On the other side.

Not long after Gong Chi returned home, Gong Shilin also came back.

A servant said, “Young Master, the master asks you to go to the side hall.”

Gong Shilin seemed to already know what his father wanted to see him about.

He nodded and went.

Upon arriving, he saw Gong Chi sitting inside with a grave expression.

“Father.”

“Sit.”

Gong Shilin respectfully sat to the side, not saying a word.

“You went to the Third Prince’s Manor again?”

“Yes.”

“Go there less in the future.”

Hm?

Gong Shilin didn’t understand. He said, “Why?”

“Recently some matters have occurred in the court that will have some impact. So before things are resolved, don’t go to the Third Prince’s Manor again.”

“Yes.”

“Also, your marriage with Wenshu—once she returns, I’ll arrange it for you two as soon as possible.”

“So soon?”

Gong Chi looked at his son and said, “Shouldn’t you be happy?”

Happy?

He had never said he liked Li Wenshu.

But—

He still nodded. “Of course your son is happy. Miss Li is a very good person.”

“This is your good fortune. From now on, our two families will be one family.”

“Yes.”

From childhood to adulthood, no one had truly understood him. Even his best friend, the Third Prince Na Tuo, didn’t understand him.