The young duke was stunned, at a loss for how to react.
It was Lin Muci who sighed softly.
Her tone was laced with a hint of helplessness.
“You see?”
“The Crown Prince is already… in this state. No matter how much he struggles, it’s futile. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Brother, you should… you should try to be more accepting.”
The young duke was still too shaken by the surrounding funeral dirges to recover his senses.
His mind was buzzing, his breathing uneven, unable to react in any way. Lin Muci, on the other hand, felt hungry and intended to ask a maid for some osmanthus cakes.
As she rounded the corridor, Lin Muci saw her Duke father rushing towards her, his voice filled with extreme anxiety!
“Where is Xiao Ci?”
“I have something to tell you…”
Without hesitation, he tightly grasped Lin Muci’s wrist, and she then heard him earnestly say to her.
“You must protect the child in your womb!”
“This is the hope of our Duke’s mansion, the entire household!”
A moment later, Lin Muci sat in the Duke’s mansion. She quietly raised an eyebrow, looking at her father opposite her. His expression was peculiar, a mixture of worry and perhaps a touch of excitement. He gazed at his daughter’s ethereal and pure, unadorned face.
Rubbing his hands, after a long pause, he asked her.
“Tell your father honestly, what is your relationship with… with His Highness Prince Yan?”
Asking what her relationship with His Highness Prince Yan was?
Lin Muci pondered for a moment, then shook her head. Her naturally elegant appearance, however, exuded a certain weariness of a beauty.
“It’s probably just ordinary.”
“He is a prince of the Northern lands, and known for his prowess on the battlefield. How could he possibly fancy a pampered young lady like me?”
The Duke opposite her expression stiffened.
He then asked her cautiously, almost disbelievingly.
“He is so… so blind? Everyone in the capital praises your loveliness and beauty, the pampered daughter raised in wealth. He actually remains indifferent?”
Lin Muci continued to nod obediently, her tone devoid of even the slightest hesitation or doubt. She said earnestly.
“It’s only natural that he remains indifferent to me.”
“What he wants is a warrior daughter who can accompany him into battle. A girl like me, who can’t even lift a chicken, is naturally beneath his notice. After all, he despises the decadent ways of the capital, and I was raised amidst such decadence and lascivious music.”
“From childhood, Father and my brothers doted on me. I am a girl raised in a sugar jar. If he doesn’t fancy me, what’s so strange about that? It’s only natural and proper, not worth mentioning!”
Hearing Lin Muci say this, the Duke opposite felt a jolt. His complexion turned exceptionally grim.
“If that’s the case… how could you be carrying his child?”
Yet, a sliver of hope still lingered in his heart.
Perhaps His Highness Prince Yan still held some affection for his daughter.
To his surprise, his daughter shook her head and told him with a serene tone.
“That’s because he got drunk one night and forced himself upon me… and I could hear him calling out the names of other women the entire time.”
“After that, I cried day and night – he never had me in his heart.”
“He would only find me annoying. In his eyes, there is only the battlefield and conquest; how could he accommodate me?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the Duke’s expression turned ugly in an instant.
He never imagined that His Highness Prince Yan would have no feelings for his pampered daughter.
This child was also an accident. How could Prince Yan not like his precious daughter? Was he blind?
However, with the Crown Prince’s death, Prince Yan was bound to become a strong contender for the throne. Thinking of this, the Duke could only sigh helplessly once more.
He truly couldn’t think of any other solution.
This Duke of the Crown Prince’s mansion, looking at his daughter, still held some hope and asked her cautiously.
“Do you think, if you are carrying his child, he might relent and soften towards you?”
His daughter then tilted her face up, her tone suddenly earnest, causing the master of the Duke’s mansion to feel his heart sink further and further. He heard his daughter seriously ask him.
“If… if he encountered the barbarians on the battlefield, would he show mercy to the barbarians?”
The Duke of the Duke’s mansion immediately became indignant.
“What kind of talk is that? How can you compare yourself to the barbarians? Don’t speak such nonsense.”
The young princess opposite, however, shook her head. She spoke.
“Father, you simply don’t know what kind of person he is. After killing for so long on the battlefield, he himself is a stern and ruthless person. In his eyes, he shows no gentleness to anyone he doesn’t love.”
“Isn’t that how most men in the world are?”
She looked up at her father. The Duke of the Duke’s mansion, about to say something, upon hearing her words, managed a wry smile and suddenly found himself unable to speak. He had to admit that what she said was the truth.
Indeed.
Most men in the world are indeed cruel to women they do not love.
They are only gentle to their beloved.
His Majesty is also like this.
Regarding the Crown Prince’s death, he felt that His Majesty did not seem overly pained or sad. Instead, it was said that the Empress in the palace was grief-stricken to the point of collapse.
The Duke of the Duke’s mansion sighed, shaking his head with great helplessness. He said in a low voice.
“We have to try something.”
“Father is only doing this for your own good.”
“In any case, you should rest well and nurture your pregnancy. Currently, the situation in the imperial court is unpredictable; no one can say in which direction the future will develop. It all depends on His Majesty’s wishes.”
“Furthermore, the assassin who assassinated the Crown Prince has not yet been apprehended. The entire capital is in a state of panic and unrest.”
“During this period, you should remain in the mansion and focus on your pregnancy. No matter what, your father and brothers will find ways to protect your peace.”
These words were spoken with utmost sincerity, a genuine plea to the young lady before him. The young lady, however, maintained her composure and replied with a “Yes,” her innocent and pure expression causing one’s heart to ache.
Someone from the palace arrived.
The Duke was summoned by His Majesty and left in a hurry, leaving his most cherished and pitied youngest daughter alone in the study.
Outside the window, a small fox leaped lightly into the empty study and transformed into the appearance of a man. He glanced at the young lady before him, let out a soft snort, but then his voice became aggrieved again.
“Who says I don’t like you?”
“Who says I have someone else I love? My heart is clearly only for you.”
His Highness Prince Yan had been eavesdropping from the side, and hearing this young lady lie with a blink of her eyes had truly wronged him!
Who wouldn’t like a sweet and tender young princess?
He loved her so much that he was practically dying!