sbdcsierra Chapter 276 Nalan Yunyan
Chapter 276 Nalan Yunyan
The prince chuckled.
"You said you only went there, not that she was actually there. If there really was someone like that, do you think Ah Que would be more anxious than I am?"
The palace maid continued to massage her hands, saying, "I don't know what others are thinking, but I only wish Your Highness to be well."
"Sister, you are the only one in this world who treats me well." The prince reached out and gently placed his fingers on the side of the palace maid's face.
"Your Highness, Aunt Xueyan, Princess Yunyan has arrived," a young eunuch ran over to report.
The palace maid, Xueyan, looked up in surprise: "Princess Yunyan? Is she the princess from Northern Yan? Why is she here in our manor?"
The Crown Prince's residence has always been quiet, with very few visitors on ordinary days. Now that the Crown Prince is under house arrest, he has closed the door to visitors, and no one comes to visit unless necessary.
Princess Yunyan is currently enjoying great popularity. It is said that His Majesty intends to choose one of the princes to marry her, but unfortunately, none of the eligible princes are quite suitable.
Let's not even mention the First Prince, who is currently embroiled in trouble. His Majesty would never bestow Princess Yunyan upon the Crown Prince. The Third Prince is even less likely to do so. The Fourth Prince is far away on the frontier. The Fifth Prince has just turned eighteen, making him a barely suitable candidate and the most likely to be granted a marriage.
Xueyan asked the young eunuch, "Did she come alone?"
The young eunuch replied, "I only brought my personal maid."
Xueyan looked at the Crown Prince, whose expression was inscrutable. "Please let her in."
A moment later, Xueyan pushed the Crown Prince back to the banquet room, just as the little eunuch led Nalan Yunyan in.
Nalan Yunyan glanced at the Crown Prince and asked curiously, "You are the Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince nodded: "May I ask what brings Princess Yunyan to my residence?"
Nalan Yunyan raised her chin, her expression haughty: "This princess is just curious. Your Emperor said he would bestow a marriage upon me and asked who I liked. But I am not familiar with any of you, so I can only look at you one by one! I have met the other princes, but I haven't seen you, so I came here by myself."
The prince was taken aback by her bluntness and coughed weakly twice. "I have been in poor health since childhood and rarely go out. I have troubled the princess to make this trip."
As he spoke, he smiled and asked, "After reading this, Princess, who do you think you like?"
Nalan Yunyan sat down next to him, tilting her head to look at him: "I didn't expect you to be so direct. Others wouldn't ask me this. Well, I'll tell you then, I like His Highness the Crown Prince, but they say his legs are crippled and he can't even stand up. Although I value looks, I can't possibly serve a cripple and live a life of widowhood, can I?"
"Cough cough," the prince coughed twice.
"Am I wrong?" Nalan Yunyan asked, puzzled.
The prince shook his head. "Continue."
"Then I thought the Third Prince was a good person, but he said he already had a fiancée and couldn't marry a principal wife. Your Great Zhao has so many rules. We in Great Yan don't have that. If you really like someone, you can marry two principal wives at the same time. My cousin, Prince Yi, just married your Princess Zhaohe. He also had a fiancée who was destined to be the principal wife, and he still married your princess. Why can't you marry two principal wives here?" Nalan Yunyan rambled on, pouting in dissatisfaction.
She didn't actually come to the First Prince's residence unprepared. It was just that after wandering around for a while, she found that the Crown Prince was no good, the Third Prince wouldn't marry her as his principal wife, the Fourth Prince wasn't in the capital, and the Fifth Prince was just a reckless fool with a lot of blemishes, and no one liked him at all. So she had no choice but to come to the First Prince.
She couldn't possibly be that unlucky as to not be able to choose from among so many princes, could she? She couldn't possibly marry the old emperor, could she? It wasn't impossible, but she had heard that women in the palace couldn't remarry. If the old emperor died in a few years, wouldn't she have to become a widow early? That was definitely not an option.
She's already starting to regret it. It's all that Prince Chongwen's fault. He kept saying how prosperous and wonderful their Great Zhao was, and she specially squeezed in a few of her sisters to enjoy the good life. And this is what happened?
I should have gone back with my cousin.
If she doesn't get married, she'll definitely be laughed at when she goes back.
Thinking of this, she turned her gaze to the Crown Prince. Looking at his sickly face, she hesitated and was alarmed. He looked alright, but his health seemed to be poor. She had heard that he had some problems with his feet.
The Crown Prince looked into Nalan Yunyan's eyes and guessed what she was thinking.
He remained outwardly calm, but a hint of sarcasm flashed through his mind.
So that's how it is. It turns out he just had no other choice. Let's see what's left for him.
How dare a mere princess be so picky with him? What does she take Da Zhao for, allowing her to act so presumptuously!
A hint of shame appeared on his face. He cupped his hands and said to Nalan Yunyan, "Your Highness speaks frankly, and I greatly admire your character. I would like to be friends with you. However, I will soon be setting off for the southwest to seek medical treatment and will not be able to present you with a congratulatory gift. I would like to wish you a speedy success in finding a suitable husband."
Princess Yunyan's eyes lit up: "You're going to the southwest for treatment? Are you sure you can get better?"
The eldest prince is quite good-looking, and he seems alright too. If he can really be cured, it's not something we can't consider. He's certainly better than that reckless fifth prince, right?
The prince smiled and said, "I also heard that a medical genius went to the southwest, so I wanted to try my luck. If I can cure him, then it will be my good fortune."
Princess Yunyan looked at him thoughtfully. After a moment, she stood up to take her leave: "Then I wish you good luck. I've seen it all, so I'll head back now. Goodbye."
Then he left with his maid.
Xueyan poured a cup of hot tea for the prince and placed it in his hand. "Does Your Highness wish to marry Princess Yunyan?"
"Marrying her will allow me to leave the capital. The Crown Prince is almost investigating me, and I don't want to get involved at this time," the Crown Prince suddenly asked, holding a warm cup in his hands.
"By the way, any news about Sheng Yunzhu from the Sheng family lately?"
Xueyan shook her head: "After that Miss Lu scratched my face last time, it was revealed that she deliberately switched the two of us back then. She is so scheming at such a young age. Her reputation, which she had built up in the past, has been ruined overnight. It seems that she can no longer marry the Third Prince. Originally, she was hiding in the Duke of Sheng's mansion, but after hearing that the Heir Apparent of Sheng had returned, the Duke of Sheng was worried that the Heir Apparent would cause trouble, so he sent someone to secretly send her out. Now it seems that she is hiding in the Third Prince's villa."
"Make arrangements, I need to see her," the Crown Prince ordered.
Xueyan nodded: "Yes, this servant will make the arrangements immediately."
……
As night fell, a sedan chair took Sheng Yunzhu out of the villa.