Ji Mingchen realized that perhaps the perfect relationships around him had set unrealistic expectations for his own love life.
He felt he must have a love as enduring and affectionate as his father and mother’s, or as vibrant and colorful as his sister and brother-in-law’s.
This fear of choosing wrong or heart-changing had paralyzed him.
But he hadn’t considered that love isn’t a perfectly planned arrangement from the start. It’s two people stumbling, adjusting, and supporting each other. How could he have the rest of the story if he was too afraid to take the first step?
Ji Mingchen left Hai Qing’s courtyard.
Hai Qing stared at the falling leaves outside her window, sitting alone for a long time.
The next day, as she prepared for her usual practice, a servant rushed in, saying, “Miss, someone from the palace has come to propose marriage.”
Her lips twitched as she lifted her skirts and headed to the main courtyard.
It wasn’t the Emperor and Empress who had come, but Ji Mingchen himself. He wasn’t dressed as the Crown Prince but as an ordinary young master. However, the courtyard was filled with so many betrothal gifts that they could barely fit.
Master Hai sat in the main seat, his expression unreadable. Ji Mingchen stood before him, bowing with utmost sincerity. “If I ever treat her poorly in the future, Father-in-law, feel free to come to the palace with a knife. No one will stop you.”
“We haven’t married yet. Don’t call me that,” Master Hai rubbed his face. “This matter depends on Qing’er’s wishes.”
“She’s angry with me and won’t believe I sincerely want to marry her. That’s why I’ve come, thick-skinned as I am, to ask for your help,” Ji Mingchen bowed deeply to both parents.
As he was the Crown Prince, they couldn’t accept such a deep bow and hurriedly rose to stop him.
Madam Hai frowned, asking, “How can we help?”
Without a word, Ji Mingchen pulled out a rattan cane from behind his back.
So when Hai Qing entered behind the screen at the side door, she saw her father raising the cane high, with Ji Mingchen kneeling motionless before him.
Her heart tightened. She rushed forward to grab her father’s arm, exclaiming, “What are you doing?”
Master Hai snorted coldly. “He has wronged you and still dares to come proposing. Even if he is the Crown Prince, I’ll give him a beating and then report him to the court.”
“This is unnecessary!” Hai Qing shook her head repeatedly, using her other hand to push the kneeling man. “What are you doing? Leave!”
Ji Mingchen stubbornly replied, “I won’t leave unless he agrees to marry you to me.”
Hai Qing was stunned.
Ji Mingchen was truly heaven’s favored child. Although he had suffered in his youth, no one in the Six Cities would dare to harm him. How could he offer himself up to be beaten by her father just to marry her?
“Don’t stop us. We’ve long resented him too,” Madam Hai chimed in. “He wasted so many years of your life, and now he dares to come proposing.”
Without thinking, Hai Qing retorted, “Isn’t it because he wasted so many years that he’s come proposing now? Even if you two are unhappy, how can you beat him? He’s the Crown Prince.”
Master Hai raised an eyebrow. “You don’t hate him?”
“I… why would I hate him? At most, I’m annoyed by his fickleness,” she muttered.
Ji Mingchen pressed his lips together, unable to resist arguing, “I’m not fickle.”
“You dare say that again?” Hai Qing turned to glare at him. “Wasn’t it you who threw my things out of the palace?”
“My lady, I had everything carefully packed in fine boxes and personally delivered to you. How is that throwing them out?”
“The meaning is the same,” Hai Qing fumed, taking the cane from her father’s hand and glaring at Ji Mingchen. “How many years have we known each other, and how many days did you know her? Are you so fond of novelty?”
“It’s not about novelty. I’ve said I just wanted to see what other women were like. Wouldn’t it be more outrageous if I looked after we were married?”
“Smooth talker. You even kept her in the palace quarters where I used to live, so close to your chambers.”
“You know how close it is,” he pressed his lips together. “You lived there much longer than she did.”
Blushing, Hai Qing angrily struck the ground with the cane. “Just tell me, didn’t you have any feelings for her at all?”
“No, I had more for you.”
“…”
Inwardly spitting at his bluntness, Hai Qing tossed the cane aside and knelt beside him, saying softly, “Father, Mother, please give us your blessing.”
With such a grand gesture, everyone inside and out knew the Crown Prince had come to propose. If he left empty-handed today, he’d be the laughingstock for a long time. Hai Qing searched her heart and knew she still had feelings for him. So she decided to stop tormenting him and give him a way out.
Ji Mingchen’s eyes brightened as he turned to ask her, “You agree?”
Hai Qing rolled her eyes impatiently. “Yes.”
The Hai couple secretly sighed in relief. They helped the two up and had a long talk with Ji Mingchen before having the marriage contract written.
Ji Mingchen was overjoyed, but Hai Qing’s happiness was more subdued.
She looked at the man beside her, wondering when the next “Wei Ling” would appear.
The Crown Prince’s grand wedding brought the most joy to the Emperor and Empress, not because their son was finally getting married, but because Ji Bozai had set a rule that the heir apparent would officially ascend the throne after marriage.
He could finally roam freely with Mingyi, without this burden!
Of course, they couldn’t show this sentiment too openly. Ji Bozai still attended his son’s grand wedding properly, joining Mingyi in showering their daughter-in-law with endless treasures, and even handing over the key to Ji Mingchen’s private treasury.
“Royal women are different from commoners. They can’t freely go out to forge weapons or make a living, so you must hold onto these things yourself,” Mingyi carefully instructed Hai Qing. “If he ever mistreats you, take all of this and leave.”
Hai Qing stared at the key in her hand, momentarily stunned.
Could there be such a wonderful mother-in-law in this world?
Even better, after giving her the money, her mother-in-law didn’t set any rules for her. Instead, just a month after their wedding, she set off on another journey of mountain and water exploration.
As the new Emperor ascended the throne, everything was renewed.
In the first year, Hai Qing felt Ji Mingchen treated her well and behaved admirably.
In the second year, he continued to cherish and protect her.
By the third and fourth years, Hai Qing was puzzled: “Aren’t you tired of pretending for so long?”
Ji Mingchen nearly coughed up blood in frustration. “What pretending? I truly have you in my heart.”
“Oh,” Hai Qing responded, but her expression showed she still didn’t quite believe him.
So while the new Emperor was diligently governing the country, his greatest worry was how to make his Empress believe that he genuinely loved her.
He even went so far as to pressure the court historians to write extensively about his feelings for the Empress in the official records. Although the historians firmly refused, the new Emperor’s lifelong devotion to his Empress eventually earned her a place in the historical records.
Empress Xiao Xian of the Hai clan, beloved by the Emperor for life, and a model for the nation, was buried with the Emperor in the imperial mausoleum.