Chu Changhe had a personal acquaintance with Xie Lingyun.
To be precise, he was acquainted with the imperial son - in - law. As both of them were scholars, the imperial son - in - law was upright, and so was Chu Changhe. They hit it off immediately.
In the past, Chu Changhe disliked the atmosphere in his family, so he often hid in the academy and refused to go home. Later, he went to the south of the Yangtze River with his teacher and happened to make the acquaintance of the imperial son - in - law. By that time, the eldest princess had been married to the imperial son - in - law for several years. As time went by, he also got familiar with Xie Lingyun.
After learning that the queen had repeatedly tried to arrange marriages for Xie Lingqiao but all ended up in a hurry, she understood that the queen was just using Xie Lingqiao as a pawn, just like she used to be, a puppet manipulated in the palace struggle.
Xie Lingqiao had treated her badly in the past, but she herself wasn't exactly sincere towards Xie Lingqiao. Moreover, a large part of her good reputation was due to Xie Lingqiao.
She watched the children running and laughing merrily in the yard, and a gentle look gradually welled up in her eyes.
After becoming a mother, her heart had always been extra soft. Maybe it was just a momentary impulse, but she decided to help Xie Lingqiao one last time.
That was how the marriage between Chu Changhe and Xie Lingqiao came about.
However, she wasn't just making a random match. She had carefully questioned Chu Changhe. He was a free - spirited person. The Chu family was like a shackle to him, so he could simply stay away from home for several years. Whether to get married or not didn't matter to him at all.
In that case, instead of marrying a gentle and quiet wife to suffer the grievances from the Chu family, it would be better to marry the second princess who caused trouble every now and then. If his stubborn and fame - chasing father wanted to make trouble for him in the future, he could just let the second princess out to suppress him. It would be even better if it could anger that old man to death.
Xie Lingqiao stood there stunned on the spot. After a long while, she said with a half - crying and half - laughing expression, "I was wondering how such a good marriage could fall on me. So it was you..."
Xie Lingyun's expression remained as gentle as ever, but her words were heart - stabbing. "How does it feel to be manipulated?"
How could someone be so stupid after being manipulated for more than a decade and still not be able to see the situation clearly?
Xie Lingqiao seemed to be struck stupid. She just sat there blankly, with tears streaming down her face.
Xie Lingyun sighed softly. She stepped forward and gently wiped away Xie Lingqiao's tears with a handkerchief. Her tone was soft. "Forget it. Why am I saying all this to you? Since I've decided to help you, I'll see it through. When I got married back then, there were originally two princess mansions for me to choose from. I chose the one in the east of the city, and the other one was converted into real estate and has been vacant ever since. I'm going to give that house to you."
Xie Lingqiao opened her mouth, trying to say something. Xie Lingyun gave a soft laugh. "Are you going to say that the queen has prepared something for you?"
"The mansion of the Song family?" She raised an eyebrow and said casually, "That mansion is haunted. Who knows if the wronged souls will come to claim their lives in the middle of the night?"
Xie Lingqiao suddenly shivered. At this moment, she came to her senses. Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar Xie Lingyun in front of her, she felt a little scared belatedly.
"Don't be afraid," Xie Lingyun said with a smile. "The house I'm giving you is clean. Later, I'll ask Chu Changhe to choose the servants himself. He's smarter than you, so the people he chooses must be good. You just stay at ease and wait for your wedding."
Xie Lingqiao was silent for a long time. When the handkerchief left her face, she didn't even know when her tears had stopped. She still looked a bit lost, but she seemed much more likable than her former arrogant and domineering self.
Xie Lingyun didn't say anything more. She had done all she could to help, and the little bit of kindness she had left had disappeared during the conversation. "Well, second sister must be tired today. I won't bother you anymore. I'll take my leave first. No need to see me off."
After saying that, regardless of Xie Lingqiao's reaction, she walked out of the door on her own.
The sun was shining brightly outside, but it couldn't reach into the room for a long time.
A gust of wind blew in through the window. Xie Lingqiao, who was in the dark, suddenly shivered, looking flustered.
When a princess marries into a commoner's family, it's always a grand occasion. Although Chu Changhe was going to be the imperial son - in - law, all the formalities of betrothal and proposing marriage had to be carried out properly.
Although he was a scholar, he had also achieved some success in archery and horse - riding. On the day of proposing marriage, he even hunted a pair of wild geese. People who knew about these things immediately had a glint in their eyes and said that this was the strongest and bravest pair of wild geese they had seen in a long time.
Chu Changhe just smiled faintly and said nothing. Whether this was true or not, no one really cared or bothered to find out. Anyway, this day was a joyous occasion. The old master of the Chu family finally got to show off in front of everyone. He was so happy that he even showed a rare smile when he saw Chu Changhe, his so - called unfilial son.
The emperor had been in poor health since the day he had a fit of rage and spat out blood. It was already early March, but he still dressed thickly. As soon as the wind blew, his face would turn pale, and he would cough continuously, as if he were about to cough out his lungs.
The eldest princess accompanied him, looking worried. "Father's illness never seems to get better. Are the imperial physicians in the imperial hospital just good - for - nothings? Why don't we look for a miracle doctor in the folk? Maybe there's still a way to cure it."
The emperor shook his head. The lively scene in front of him couldn't add a bit of color to his pale face. "If the imperial physicians can't cure it, how could a miracle doctor do it? I'm afraid this is how it's going to be for me."
There was a tinge of regret in his tone, and his words were full of emotion.
No one knew whether he was lamenting that his days were numbered or that he could no longer enjoy all the glory and wealth.
The eldest princess frowned and retorted, "Father will surely live a long and healthy life. Don't listen to those imperial physicians' nonsense. Yun'er once heard that recuperating from an illness is actually about nourishing one's vital energy. Once the energy is sufficient, the body will get better. I think it makes a lot of sense. Father is the Son of Heaven, the real dragon emperor. Naturally, he has more vital energy than others. So as long as Father takes good care of himself, he will surely recover!"
The old emperor's expression gradually softened as he listened to the eldest princess's words. His cloudy eyes looked at Xie Lingyun, and he couldn't help reaching out to gently stroke her hair bun. "After all these years, you're the only one who's the most considerate."
Although Xie Lingqiao was also considerate, she was always arrogant and willful. She was never as gentle and understanding as Xie Lingyun.
Xie Lingyun lowered her eyes and smiled, looking a bit shy. "After all these years, only Father has treated me the best."
The old emperor was delighted and joked, "Oh? So, does that mean the imperial son - in - law treats you badly? Then Father has to punish him severely!"
The imperial son - in - law was accompanying Chu Changhe at this time. Xie Lingyun blushed. "Father!"
Although she knew it was a joke, Xie Lingyun still explained seriously, "The imperial son - in - law treats me very well, and he's also very good to our children. Father, please rest assured."
Speaking of the children, Xie Lingyun couldn't help looking towards the middle of the crowd. The two children were very smart for their age. At this moment, they were pestering Chu Changhe for wedding candies.
Although it was the day of proposing marriage, people always wanted to have a joyous occasion on such an occasion. Chu Changhe wasn't short of money, so he simply brought two big bags of wedding candies. After the proposing - marriage ceremony, everyone gathered there laughing and joking, and he would also take out some candies from time to time to distribute to everyone.
No matter what was really going on behind the scenes, from this scene, it seemed that the royal family was very satisfied with Chu Changhe.
Just look at the old master of the Chu family, whose mouth was almost grinning from ear to ear.
[PS. I like to write a few little foreshadows and then reveal them at the end. The pace of this book is not very fast because I always get entangled in the logic of the plot and hope to make it all make sense. I think the process of gradually revealing what happened in the previous life is quite interesting. Maybe some readers don't like it, but it's hard to please everyone, so I can understand. However, reading a novel is a process of liking it and continuing to read or disliking it and leaving. I'm easily affected by some negative comments, so I will report and delete some misunderstandings and negative comments.🌹]