The room was deathly silent.
The door was wide open, yet Li Wanming felt no breeze.
The words Xiao Jingnan had just spoken were like a curtain forged from steel, shutting out all signs of life. She could neither hear nor see anything.
Li Wanming wanted to say something, but her voice failed her.
She knew she couldn't blame Xiao Jingnan.
The Xiao family had staked their entire family's future and destiny to save her.
Nor could she blame Zhao Yanke.
Zhao Yanke had been forced to marry a woman he didn't love into the palace. Knowing she was a spy sent by the Empress Dowager, he still had to keep her by his side.
She certainly couldn't blame Prime Minister Fang and Grand Tutor Lü.
Prime Minister Fang had been scolded by the Empress Dowager because of this incident, and Grand Tutor Lü had even given up the chance for his daughter to become the queen...
In this whole affair, their side had suffered a crushing defeat. No one had emerged victorious.
Only the Empress Dowager Kang had achieved a resounding victory.
Taking advantage of this incident, she had won the support of the Xiao family, given a warning to the restless Lü and Fang families, and managed to restrain the emperor. She had even managed to send Lü Songyuan into the emperor's harem.
Li Wanming let out a bitter laugh.
At a time like this, did she still have the heart to think about others?
She herself had suffered a total and complete defeat in this battle. There was no way she could have lost more.
The wine shop she had painstakingly managed for two years, the academy she had racked her brains to preserve, as well as her inn, pawnshop, and paper - making shop... all had vanished overnight.
The power struggles among the nobles of the Dacheng Dynasty were like a violent storm. She was just a tiny boat, a pitiful pawn.
In the eyes of many, those were just a few shops, far less important than the fates of the noble families.
But only Li Wanming knew that these few shops were the only things that truly belonged to her.
Now, with just a single word from the powerful, everything was gone.
"When will the imperial edict for the confiscation be issued?" she heard her own voice, faint and unearthly.
"Tomorrow..."
Xiao Jingnan replied bitterly.
He hardly dared to look into Li Wanming's eyes.
In the past two years, he had witnessed firsthand how Li Wanming had built up these shops, and he knew how much effort she had put into them.
Especially the Li family's wine shop and the Zhaoyu Academy. They were not just a shop and an address; they were her dreams and hopes.
She had given everything she had, only to obtain the title of the princess of the heir apparent - which was exactly what she didn't want!
How ironic...
Before entering the palace today, Xiao Jingnan had thought he could at least save the Zhaoyu Academy.
He knew that it was against the etiquette and law for the princess of the heir apparent to engage in business, so the Empress Dowager Kang would surely confiscate all the shops. But running an academy should have been fine.
However, he hadn't expected the Empress Dowager Kang to act so swiftly and decisively. In her great anger, she had first forced his father to hand over the roster, then used Li Wanming's life to force him to agree to enter the court as an official. Finally, she had scolded Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang and ordered Zhao Yanke to agree to let Lü Songyuan enter the palace...
By the time he had realized what was happening, their side had been completely routed and had no chance of fighting back.
Each move was closely linked, and every one was a deadly one.
In the end, he had failed to save anything.
The wine shop, the academy, the Xiao family, and... himself.
...
Xiao Jingnan remembered that when he had left the palace, Zhao Yanke had stood on the tall Zhengyang Gate to see him off in person.
The afternoon sun was blindingly bright. He couldn't see Zhao Yanke's expression clearly.
But he could feel that the figure in bright yellow standing on the city tower was so distant and lonely.
Would Zhao Yanke blame him?
He didn't know.
Now his surroundings were full of the Empress Dowager Kang's people, and he had no way to ask Zhao Yanke.
Maybe he would...
Because for a long time to come, this young emperor would have to walk alone.
Just like that spring many years ago, when he had run to the Prince Ning's Mansion with red - rimmed eyes in the heavy snow, saying, "Big brother, my mother is gone..."
Infinitely noble yet extremely lonely.
Xiao Jingnan's heart ached as if being stabbed by a knife.
But all he could do was wave gently at the figure on the city tower.
My Majesty, my brother, if you still trust me, please bide your time and wait for the right moment.
Maybe one day, we will meet again.
...
"Is there anything else?" Li Wanming asked.
Xiao Jingnan was still in a daze and subconsciously asked, "What?"
"I mean, are there any more bad news?"
Xiao Jingnan came back to his senses and shook his head. "No more..."
Finally, there was no more.
Li Wanming let out a sigh of relief.
She had now calmed down.
When things got to the worst, she found a glimmer of clarity in the dull pain of numbness.
No one could stop the Empress Dowager Kang from confiscating what she wanted. Instead, she should think about how to live in the future.
The imperial edict for the marriage had been issued. So the next thing would be...
"When are you going to marry me?"
Li Wanming looked up at him.
Xiao Jingnan stared blankly at her face, as if he hadn't heard her.
The young girl's face was as fair as jade. Although looking a bit haggard, her eyebrows were still full of vitality, and her expression was stubborn, just like when he had first met her.
A gentle smile slowly spread across Xiao Jingnan's lips.
Yes, the cold knives and frosty swords were not terrifying. As long as people's hearts remained united, there would eventually be a day of victory.
He replied softly, "The wedding of the heir apparent's princess in the prince's mansion is different from that of ordinary people. The Ministry of Rites needs to choose an auspicious day first, and then the three letters and six etiquettes are all indispensable. Calculating like this... it will be at least two or three months later."
Li Wanming raised her eyebrows. "Two or three months? But half of the capital already knows that I got married two years ago!"
The incident of her capturing a son - in - law right after the imperial examination had caused quite a stir. And in the past two years, she had never stopped causing a ruckus. She had been a regular topic of conversation among the people in the capital during their leisure time.
And now, it was said that she was going to get married again?
What was this?
A second marriage...?
Was she going to marry into the Prince Ning's Mansion with the reputation of a woman who had been married before?
"It doesn't matter."
Knowing what was on her mind, Xiao Jingnan quickly explained, "I've already discussed it with my father. We'll ask the storytellers to turn the story of you capturing a son - in - law after the imperial examination into a legendary story, emphasizing that it was a predestined good match made in heaven... What we're going to do now is just to make up for the ceremony of conferring the title of the princess."
That was true.
In the world of storybooks, if the emperor took a fancy to someone during his incognito visits, he could just sleep with her boldly. All he needed to do later was to marry her into the palace.
People would even say that the woman was lucky to have found a good husband, and it was a wonderful marriage.
No one cared that the two of them had had an illicit relationship without matchmakers in the civilian world...
Come to think of it, the affairs in this world were really strange.
If a woman slept with an ordinary man without a proper wedding, she would be regarded as a slut, a wanton woman, and a woman who didn't abide by the virtues of a woman. She would even be drowned in a pig cage.
But if the man she slept with was the emperor, a prince, or the heir apparent... then it would be不得了. She would become the envy of the whole world.
Li Wanming tilted her head slightly, letting her thoughts wander.
Great. She was about to have such a wonderful and legendary love story.
Capturing the heir apparent of the prince's mansion right after the imperial examination. How awesome!