Hua Manman feigned shyness and said with a blush.
"I belong to you. Isn’t it only natural that I care for you?"
Li Ji lifted her chin, looking directly into her eyes.
"Then tell , when will you truly be my woman?"
Hua Manman’s face imdiately turned even redder.
"How can you say such things in broad daylight? You’re terrible."
’This lecherous dog of a man thinks of nothing but my body all day long. So shaless!’
Li Ji was left speechless.
Seeing he was silent, Hua Manman thought he was angry.
She fidgeted with her fingers and said coyly.
"Can you wait another four months?"
In four months, it would be her birthday.
She would be turning sixteen then.
’Although sixteen is still a minor in modern society, this was the ancient world. A sixteen-year-old was already a young woman.’
’Besides, she couldn’t ask Prince Zhao to wait until she was eighteen. That would be asking too much.’
’She was already Princess Consort Zhao, so she had to fulfill her duties. She couldn’t just occupy the latrine without taking a shit, could she?’
Li Ji’s expression twitched.
’Make it clear,’ he thought. ’Who is the latrine and who is the shit?’
Hua Manman noticed his gaze turning a little dangerous and assud he was unhappy with her request.
She looked at him with puppy-dog eyes and pleaded.
"Just four more months, okay? Please?"
Li Ji laughed in exasperation. "You’re making sound like so sex-crazed degenerate. Never mind four months, I can wait even four years. As long as you stay by my side obediently and stop thinking about leaving, that’s all that matters."
Hua Manman muttered under her breath, "I never thought about leaving..."
Li Ji gave her a look that was not quite a smile.
"Is that so?"
’Even if she never said it, he wasn’t a fool. She had been forced to marry into the Prince Mansion from the very beginning.’
’Even if she put on an act of being hopelessly in love with him, her mind was always clear.’
’If all those things hadn’t happened later, if the two of them hadn’t grown closer...’
’He believed that with her personality, she would have definitely found a chance to get far away from him.’
Hua Manman instinctively shrank back.
’Here it cos, here it cos! That feeling of being seen right through by Prince Zhao is back again!’
She stamred, "Of course... it’s true."
Li Ji chuckled.
He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
It was a reassuring kiss, gentle and tender.
The Ministry of Industry spent two months and finally finished rebuilding the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
At the sa ti, the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince officially moved into their own residences.
The Fifth Prince was also supposed to move out of the palace, but because of his injured right foot, he still needed ti to recuperate. Thus, the Emperor made an exception and allowed him to continue living in the palace to recover.
Consort Liu went to accompany her son every day.
She hoped for a miracle, that her son’s right foot could return to normal.
Unfortunately, her wish was not granted.
Li Yan tried many tis, but he still couldn’t walk normally as he had before.
His right foot was like a broken part, unable to be controlled at will.
Every ti he put his right foot down, his ankle couldn’t support his leg, causing it to buckle instinctively.
He had to rely on the strength of his left leg to barely maintain his balance.
This caused him to pause with every step, and his gait was extrely awkward.
Anyone with eyes could see that he was a cripple.
Li Yan couldn’t accept the reality of falling from being one of heaven’s chosen to a cripple.
He scread and drove everyone out, then shut the doors and windows, locking himself in his room and refusing to see anyone.
Consort Liu pounded on the door, crying and begging.
"Yan’er, open the door! Let Mother in! No matter what you beco in the future, you will always be my son. I will always be by your side. I’m begging you, don’t give up."
Her only reply was a single word.
"Begone!"
Consort Liu collapsed against the door, sobbing uncontrollably.
...
After the reconstruction of the Imperial Ancestral Temple was completed, the laborers could also go ho to reunite with their families.
Before they left, the Ministry of Industry paid all the laborers their wages.
The laborers had worked so hard for so long and were finally getting paid. Every one of them was as happy as if it were the New Year, their faces beaming with joy.
Once the paynts were settled, the laborers shouldered their bundles and headed ho in high spirits.
Chen Wangbei stood on the steps, watching the laborers leave.
Only after everyone was far in the distance did Chen Wangbei turn and walk into the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
The newly built Imperial Ancestral Temple looked exceptionally exquisite. The spirit tablets of the past emperors had been returned to their original places. Incense burned slowly in the censer, wisps of blue smoke curling upwards.
Li Ji was standing before the incense table, looking up at the tablets.
His gaze rested on the nearest tablet—
That of the late Emperor.
After learning that the late Emperor’s tablet had been tampered with, the Emperor had soone replace it.
The one placed here now was a brand-new tablet for the late Emperor.
Chen Wangbei cupped his fists toward Li Ji’s back and said respectfully.
"Reporting to you, Prince, the laborers have all gone ho. As per your instructions, I have also sent n to follow them in secret."
Li Ji stood with his hands clasped behind his back and answered without turning around.
"Mm."
...
Among the many laborers was one nad Hong Hui.
He was not tall, but he was sturdily built, with dark skin and an honest-looking face.
The kind of face that would disappear in a crowd.
After leaving the Imperial Ancestral Temple, he split off from the other laborers and walked alone down a path between the fields.
He walked for more than four hours.
Seeing that it was almost dark, he made a sudden turn and ducked into a small grove of trees nearby.
The Royal Guard who had been secretly tailing him saw this and imdiately followed him into the grove.
However, the terrain inside the grove was complex, and the Royal Guard was unfamiliar with the area. With the sky growing darker, he chased for a while but ultimately lost his target.
Left with no other choice, the Royal Guard dejectedly turned back the way he ca.
Only after the Royal Guard was long gone did Hong Hui slide down from a large tree.
He had hidden in the tree just now to shake his tail.
Hong Hui brushed the leaves off his clothes, shouldered his bundle, and left the grove from a different direction.
The moonlight was nice tonight.
Hong Hui arrived at a dilapidated temple with practiced ease.
It was originally a mountain god temple, but having been long abandoned and exposed to the elents, it had fallen into utter ruin.
At this mont, however, a lantern hung under the temple’s eaves.
When Hong Hui saw the lantern, he knew the person he was there to et had already arrived.
He imdiately quickened his pace and ran inside.
Inside the ruined temple, a young man was studying the broken statue of a deity before him.
Seen from behind, he had a tall and slender figure. Even in his very plain clothes, he could not hide his noble air.
Hong Hui knelt down, facing the man’s back.
"This humble one pays his respects to the Fourth Prince."
Li Ying turned around, his dark eyes glinting with a cold light in the darkness.
...
One Chapter for now, the remaining two will be posted tomorrow.
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