Chapter 348: Chapter 348: She Is Helpless, Without Family, and Pitifully Alone

After the recent commotion, news of the Holy Emperor bestowing a marriage upon Prince Qing had become common knowledge.

Huai Xu came to the Prince Mansion to deliver medicinal herbs for Song Lianhe. Upon seeing her, he offered his congratulations with a smile. “Should I be calling you Princess Qing now?”

“Sigh, I’m sure you know what’s going on between me and Zhou Cangyan. I’m just a tool for him and Prince Yi to divert attention. So, just call me by my name from now on. I’d be more comfortable with that.”

Huai Xu had been Zhou Cangyan’s military doctor, so their relationship was anything but ordinary. There was no need for her to put on a facade in front of him.

Huai Xu gazed at her and smiled faintly. “It seems you don’t really know him yet. No one can force Prince Qing to do something he doesn’t want to do.”

Song Lianhe gave a bitter smile. ’How could Huai Xu possibly know!’

’Indeed, no one can force him. But what if it’s for the person he loves?’

’Song Xilan took my place, becoming the savior who rescued him when he was trapped in Huaxu Square. Zhou Junlin will naturally find out as well, and this will inevitably affect the relationship between those two.’

’To avoid suspicion, Zhou Cangyan just went along with accepting me, this princess consort who fell into his lap. That’s the only logical explanation.’

—

“She thinks that?”

Zhou Cangyan sat on a bamboo chair, staring at E Jintang, who was holding a horse stance in the training grounds.

“At this point, you still care what she thinks?” Huai Xu looked at him with a wry smile, then sighed. “You should have seen the hurt, disappointed, and pained expression on Lianhe’s face when she said those things… It was truly heartbreaking! If I weren’t your friend, after hearing something like that, I’d definitely give her husband-in-name-only a piece of my mind!”

Zhou Cangyan shot him a sidelong glance.

He turned his gaze back to the training grounds and barked coldly, “Who gave you permission to slack off? Another incense stick!”

In the training grounds, sweat poured down E Jintang’s face. He gritted his teeth and shouted, “Yes!”

Huai Xu said sympathetically, “Tsk tsk, why take it out on the innocent?”

Zhou Cangyan frowned. “When did you get so chatty?”

“Fine! Looks like I’m a nuisance around here. I’ll see myself out!”

Just as Huai Xu was about to turn, Zhou Cangyan spoke again, his voice cold. “I don’t care what she thinks. Since she has become my Princess Consort, she must abide by the rules. Is my Princess Consort’s personal name something a man outside the family like you should be using?”

Huai Xu’s mouth fell open. He pointed his fan at him repeatedly. “Zhou Biwu! You’re going to lecture me about rules? Fine! Your Princess Consort owes me a good deal of silver. What do you have to say about that?”

He frowned. “She’s running a tab?”

Huai Xu scoffed. “She has no one to rely on, no family to turn to—she’s completely alone! She could have been making a living as a physician, but now that you have her cooped up in the mansion, where do you expect her to get any silver? If she wants to buy a few medicinal herbs, she has to run a tab with an ’unrelated man’ like me!”

Zhou Cangyan fell silent, but his expression grew grim.

Just then, E Jintang couldn’t hold back and piped up, “Granny doesn’t even have enough silver to treat me to pastries.”

Zhou Cangyan’s expression darkened further.

“You hear that? Just listen!” Huai Xu clicked his tongue. “She said you have someone you love and that you only married her to use her. To be honest, I didn’t believe it at first. Knowing my friend as I do, I thought he would never be so irresponsible. But now… sigh, it seems I was too quick to judge.”

He sighed as he walked away. “How pitiful!”

Zhou Cangyan narrowed his light brown eyes, grinding his teeth, and snapped, “Uncle Pang! Get him the silver! Whatever she owes, give it all to him!”

Uncle Pang replied, “Yes.”

Turning back, his ominous gaze landed on E Jintang again. The boy shivered, his horse stance becoming even steadier.

After a long moment, he asked, “…You call her Granny?”

“Oh, she told me to call her Granny.”

Zhou Cangyan lowered his gaze. ’I don’t understand, but this sort of strange behavior fits her personality.’

“Alright, you can get up.”

At his word, E Jintang collapsed onto the ground, unable to get back up.

“Yin Huan.”

The person hiding in the corner eating fruit immediately stepped out obediently.

“Take him to the training posts.”

“Oh.”

A short while later, Uncle Pang came forward again to ask about the wedding arrangements.

Zhou Cangyan seemed distracted, leaving all matters, big and small, for Uncle Pang to decide.

After a moment of silence, Uncle Pang said respectfully, “My Prince, are you dissatisfied with the Princess Consort?”

Zhou Cangyan froze, his gaze falling slightly. “Whether I am satisfied or not is unimportant.”

Uncle Pang sighed, as if he had gathered great resolve before speaking. “My Prince, please listen to this old servant’s advice. Nothing good will come of you and that Princess Consort Ling. Rather than be dragged down by her, you would be better off cherishing the person right in front of you.”

Given Zhou Cangyan’s previous temperament, if anyone had dared to speak of Song Xilan this way, he would never have let it slide.

Not even if that person was Uncle Pang, who had served him for many years.

But now, he just sank into deep thought, his mind wandering.

’The person right in front of me…’

His mind filled with images of Song Lianhe’s every frown and smile. He was supposed to find her repulsive, yet her presence always carried a strange sense of familiarity, one he didn’t find himself pushing away.

“The Princess Consort is forthright and kind-hearted, and she treats everyone in the mansion as an equal. Everyone in the Prince Mansion, from the top down, is very fond of her. Even if her origins are a mystery, this old servant would rather believe she has her own hardships than that she harbors ulterior motives.”

Uncle Pang looked up at him. “I’m afraid the one with ulterior motives is someone else.”

Uncle Pang was one step short of saying Song Xilan’s name aloud.

His dislike for her wasn’t a recent development. It wasn’t just Uncle Pang; previously, even the Shadow Guards had kept a respectful distance from Song Xilan.

The fact that she’d risked her life to save him in Huaxu Square was the only reason everyone’s opinion of her had softened slightly.

But when Uncle Pang had heard about it, he had merely sneered and retorted, “Are you sure it was her who saved the Prince?”

’Such a passionate and decisive act… that’s not something Princess Consort Ling is capable of!’

No matter what the Shadow Guards said, Uncle Pang simply refused to believe it.

Now that Emperor Cheng Xiao had decreed the marriage, Uncle Pang was the happiest and most relieved of all.

The Prince Qing Mansion finally had a mistress!

He had taken a particular liking to this Princess Qing, so he couldn’t bear to see the Prince treat her poorly.

The tall, dignified man slowly rose, his half-lidded eyes unreadable.

“She certainly knows how to win people over.”

Xuan Mei, Yin Huan, E Jintang, and even Huai Xu and Uncle Pang… one by one, the people around him were being won over by her, doing things for her and speaking on her behalf. She certainly had a knack for it.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw Song Lianhe and Ah Jun walking out of the courtyard.

“…There’s a new bun shop on West Street. I hear their meat-filled buns are to die for! We’ll go check out the shop in the east end first, then head to West Street for buns! Oh, right, Ah Jun, what kind of filling do you like?”

“Ah Jun likes whatever you like.”

“Oh, you’re still such a sweet talker!”

Zhou Cangyan watched their retreating figures with a cold gaze, a chill seeming to emanate from him.

He suddenly said, “Does she not realize she’s about to get married?”

’She’s completely shameless with everyone she’s with!’

Uncle Pang kept his gaze fixed respectfully downward. “My Prince, the Princess Consort said that all wedding arrangements are up to you to decide. Whatever you want is how it will be. She will follow all of your decisions.”

Zhou Cangyan: “…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep