sbdcsierra Chapter 252 Retreat
Chapter 252 Retreat
The prince lowered his eyes and looked at the bright-eyed girl, his gaze deepening.
A ripple of emotion stirred within me for no apparent reason.
He heard himself ask, "Why?"
Lu Yangyang felt her heart pounding under the Crown Prince's unfathomable gaze. She blinked and replied without thinking, "Because Your Highness, you are the most amazing person in my heart. If even you are helping me, what is there for me to be sad about?"
The crown prince chuckled softly.
Lu Yangyang looked at him and smiled, and felt her heart beat even faster.
She was a little confused, wondering if she had some serious illness. Her heart was beating too fast, which was usually due to nervousness or excitement. Why was she feeling so excited around His Highness the Crown Prince? Was this normal?
She quickly got up and put a little distance between herself and His Highness the Crown Prince, which finally gave her some breathing room.
Sure enough, getting too close to someone who is too good-looking makes it easy to lose focus.
She quickly changed the subject, asking him, "Your Highness, do I really have that much money and that much land? Am I dreaming? Will His Majesty regret it and take it all away from me?"
The crown prince pointed to the bookshelf and said, "Go and get that map."
Lu Yangyang quickly took the map and placed it on the table.
The Crown Prince spread out the map and pointed to a place in the southwest. "This place is called Changyang County. It is located in a remote area and the official registered households number eight hundred. I specially chose this place to be your fief. The Great Zhao has never allocated many fiefs to the royal family. Even princesses only have three to five hundred households. My aunt is a princess and has one thousand households."
Lu Yangyang was shocked, then realized something was amiss: "Then why would His Majesty give me eight hundred?"
Even if the achievement of preventing smallpox was great, it shouldn't be enough to surpass the treatment of a princess, right? That's clearly impossible.
"As I just told you, this place is located in a remote area in the southwest. In other words, the fiefdom of 800 households here is actually almost entirely barren."
"Huh?" Lu Yangyang was dumbfounded. She thought she had struck it rich, but it turned out to be an empty shell.
The Crown Prince chuckled, “Father rewards those who have rendered meritorious service handsomely, but he doesn’t grant fiefdoms easily. However, even if it’s just a title, he won’t be stingy with a place like this remote one. The reason I secured this place for you is that although it’s not suitable for growing crops, the climate is ideal for cultivating medicinal herbs. And since you’ve been given this place, given your contributions, he won’t take it back no matter what happens in the future. If you have the opportunity in the future, you can go and see it for yourself. The official seal will be sent to your princess’s residence as well. Once you have the seal, this place will be entirely yours, and you can do whatever you want there.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyang's previously somewhat disappointed mood instantly lifted, and she intently peered at the map, trying her best to memorize its location.
He muttered to himself, "Back then, I didn't even have a decent little house, just two drafty thatched huts. Later, my older brother gave me a house, and now I actually own a county! A whole county!"
Even though there was little output, Lu Yangyang became more and more excited as she thought about it. The key point was that this place was in a remote location and would not be noticed by anyone, right? Did that mean that in the future she could find an opportunity to send her aunt there and live with her aunt openly and honestly, without worrying about accidentally revealing her aunt's existence, and that she couldn't even mention the word "aunt"?
Seeing her excited expression, the Crown Prince said softly, "I do hope you don't have to go there."
That wasn't some fiefdom he specifically chose for her; it was a fallback plan, a legitimate fallback plan that would guarantee her absolute safety no matter what happened in the future.
Lu Yangyang was so engrossed in her joy that she did not notice the meaning behind the Crown Prince's words.
……
Lu Yangyang's coming-of-age ceremony was held in the princess's mansion that the emperor had bestowed upon her. Lan Yin finally recognized her daughter openly, but she did not hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony for Lu Yangyang. Instead, she only invited close relatives and friends.
Lu Yangyang's maternal grandmother personally served as her guest of honor, while the two sisters, Sheng Yunjiao and Li Duan, acted as the best man. Since neither of them was willing to give way to the other, they ended up having to do it together.
Although only close friends and family members attended, it was the most lively birthday celebration Lu Yangyang had ever had.
Since Sheng Yunzhu's coming-of-age ceremony, the matter of the real and fake daughters of the Sheng State Duke's mansion has caused a great stir in the capital. Almost the entire capital is discussing the Sheng State Duke's mansion, and the already popular play about the real and fake daughters at Xianyin Pavilion has become even more popular. However, everyone was dissatisfied with the original script, and many scholars personally took part in changing the second half of the original script. The play was changed so that the real daughter's parents finally realized their mistake, sent the fake daughter away, and the family was reunited.
It was a blatant irony, which angered the Duke of Sheng so much that he vomited blood again. This man, who had never been sick before, fell seriously ill as a result.
Lu Yangyang performed acupuncture on Mingruo twice more, forcing out some of his cold poison. Since Lu Yangyang started performing acupuncture on him, his cold poison has only flared up once in all this time.
Since His Majesty bestowed the Princess's Mansion upon her, even more people have come to seek Lu Yangyang's medical advice. To make things more convenient, Lu Yangyang moved many of her belongings over. After leaving the Duke of Sheng's Mansion, Lan Yin stayed at the Lan Mansion for a few days and then moved over as well. Being able to see Lu Yangyang often made Lan Yin feel much more at ease.
Near the end of the month, no sooner had Ming Ruo left the Princess's residence than Li Duan arrived, grabbing Lu Yangyang with great suspicion and asking, "When did you become so familiar with Young Master Ming? Why is he coming to see you too? Is he sick?"
Lu Yangyang didn't want to reveal that Mingruo had been poisoned, so she made up an excuse: "Last time I tricked Sheng Yunzhu out of a box of pearls for him, and he was very grateful. Recently, he said that too many wealthy families in the capital have invited Xianyin Pavilion to perform, and his throat is uncomfortable, so he asked me to give him a couple of acupuncture needles."
Hearing this, Li Duan breathed a sigh of relief: "You scared me to death, I thought something terrible had happened."
Lu Yangyang looked at her suspiciously, then suddenly remembered what Sheng Yunjiao had gossiped about with her before, and asked curiously, "You're still talking about me? What's going on between you and Young Master Ming? Why are you so concerned about him?"
“Ah, speaking of this…” Li Duan frowned, thinking seriously as she said, “I can’t really explain why, but I just feel a sense of familiarity with him, a kind of inexplicable closeness. I told my mother about it, and she said maybe we were family in a past life, that’s why we clicked. I think so too. Maybe I feel sorry for him, or maybe I just feel comfortable around him, I can’t really explain it. Oh, right, he also said that on my coming-of-age ceremony, he can perform at the Princess’s residence. You should come too, you don’t know, the Immortal Music Pavilion is fully booked lately, most people can’t get a spot.”