Chapter 77: A Little Clingy

Xue Qingyin turned and walked out, but halfway through, she turned back to look at Mrs. Xue: “Mother, are you coming with me?”

Mrs. Xue took a deep breath: “I… I’ll just watch from afar.”

There were very few people in the capital who could stand in front of King Xuan without fear.

No matter whether she liked this marriage or not, at least for now, she couldn’t let her daughter lose face.

Xue Qingyin nodded and then, with her maidservant, gracefully walked towards the door.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw the familiar carriage.

“Miss Xue.” Du Hongxue, who was standing next to the carriage, bowed to her.

Xue Qingyin smiled: “You came so quickly.”

Du Hongxue quickly reached out to roll up the carriage curtain for her, saying: “Did the imperial edict arrive at the Xue Mansion? We were guessing, saying whether Miss was at the Xue Mansion or the Xu family. We thought of coming to the Xu family to take a look, and sure enough, you’re here.”

Xue Qingyin said: “That’s quite a coincidence.”

Du Hongxue chuckled: “Yes, His Highness and Miss are in sync.” He dared not say that he was in sync with them.

Xue Qingyin got into the carriage and saw the wooden box at King Xuan’s feet.

She pointed and asked: “Is there more Mu Li in here?”

The last one was still at her place.

King Xuan’s eyes first wandered over her face, as if he was trying to tell her mood at the moment.

Then he heard him say in a deep voice: “No. Open it and see.”

Xue Qingyin didn’t hesitate, bending down to open the wooden box.

The first thing she saw was a soft white.

Below that were colorful clusters of flowers.

“Clothes? Fabric?” Xue Qingyin asked in confusion, grabbing at random, only to discover it was a cloak.

She immediately realized: “Did Your Highness give this to me as compensation?”

As she spoke, she flipped through the rest.

Light, bright, dignified, and some adorned with gems and pearls, embroidered with gold and silver thread, cloaks of all kinds were piled together.

Are you wholesale buying these?

You don’t wholesale them like this!

Xue Qingyin licked her lips, couldn’t help but laugh: “Your Highness, next time you can tie a few more knots.”

King Xuan’s brows twitched, as if a hint of a smile appeared.

He said: “There’s more below.”

Xue Qingyin was puzzled: “I can’t wear all of them either.”

As she spoke, she lifted the cloaks above, revealing a smaller rosewood box below.

A Russian nesting doll?

Xue Qingyin was excited and opened the one below.

It was no longer cloaks inside, but a… tree?

A yellowish-brown trunk, emerald green roots, graceful yet not rigid in shape, with red beans dotted on the extending branches. It immediately reminded one of the red beans of love in poetry.

Xue Qingyin pinched one with her finger.

These were not beans.

They were red coral beads.

Because they were difficult to obtain from the ocean floor, coral was often referred to as a precious treasure and red gold in ancient times, and was often seen as a symbol of power and wealth.

What about the emerald green roots?

Xue Qingyin touched them, feeling smooth and cool, with a dense, even, and clean texture.

It was jade.

And it should be top-grade Hetian jade.

But what was the trunk made of… she had to admit, her knowledge was limited, and she couldn’t recognize it.

“That’s Tianshi.” King Xuan’s voice sounded beside her, as if he saw her confusion.

“Tianshi?” Xue Qingyin thought she had never heard of it.

“Tianshi is as smooth as jade but not jade, and its price surpasses gold.” King Xuan said.

Xue Qingyin thought the latter half sounded particularly pleasant! The price surpasses gold!

“It is further divided into Qingtian, Tianhuang, and Hongtian. Tianhuang’s price is more than thirty times that of gold, and Hongtian’s price is more than ten times that of Tianhuang. The rarest of them all is the ‘light-frozen’ of Qingtian. Its texture is like amber but its color is golden yellow, shining brightly, its price is beyond compare.” King Xuan paused here, then said: “The East Palace Seal is carved from it.”

Xue Qingyin was stunned.

Now she fully understood the value of this thing.

King Xuan continued: “You can use it to hang your jewelry.”

Xue Qingyin thought this was really extravagant, she had never used such a magnificent jewelry stand in her entire life.

Seeing Xue Qingyin not speaking, King Xuan couldn’t help but ask: “Don’t you like it?”

Xue Qingyin came back to her senses and said: “How could I not like it?”

Hearing this, King Xuan’s brows seemed to relax a little.

Xue Qingyin immediately asked him: “May I ask Your Highness, how did the imperial edict come down so quickly?” She paused and said: “His Majesty won’t be resentful of me right now, will he?”

She vaguely felt that Liu Yue’s illness was also unusual, there might be some connection.

But King Xuan’s tone was calm, giving people a feeling of immovability.

He said: “You don’t need to worry, Father will not have any resentment towards you. On the contrary, he will think that you have been wronged everywhere.”

Xue Qingyin looked at him in confusion.

Why?

Why would the Emperor think she was wronged everywhere?

But King Xuan didn’t seem to want to explain further, he untied something from his waist and then lowered his head to tie it around Xue Qingyin’s waist.

This time, he remembered not to tie a death knot.

“The auspicious day is not yet set, if anything happens, just send someone with this to King Xuan’s Mansion.” King Xuan’s tone was flat.

Xue Qingyin nodded and looked down.

It was a jade pendant about the size of a finger joint, and when you lifted it up, you could see the word Xuan’’engraved underneath.

“Your Highness is thoughtful, I’ll take them all.” Xue Qingyin smiled with her eyes narrowed.

It seemed that King Xuan had finished all the things he wanted to say today. The carriage fell silent again.

Xue Qingyin pondered, should I leave now?

She rolled up the curtain with one hand and said: “Your Highness, I’ll take my leave.”

King Xuan didn’t say anything to keep her.

Xue Qingyin got out of the carriage.

Two guards from King Xuan’s Mansion immediately carried the box for her, walking towards the gate of the Xu family.

But Xue Qingyin remained standing in front of the carriage.

She was thinking, both times King Xuan came to see her, he brought her gifts.

Last time it was golden leaf cards, this time it was cloaks and a treasure tree…

So Xue Qingyin asked with a smile: “Will Your Highness come tomorrow?”

King Xuan paused, meeting her eyes.

Du Hongxue sighed beside him: “Your Highness has military affairs to attend to tomorrow.”

Xue Qingyin was disappointed: “Oh.”

King Xuan saw her disappointed expression, the joy and excitement in her eyes seemed to fall away.

Did she hope he would come see her every day?

King Xuan had never liked any woman, he had only vaguely heard Liu Hou complain that his newly married wife was too jealous, wishing to be with him day and night, fearing that he would go to his concubines, and fearing that he would sleep around outside.

Liu Hou’s words were full of dissatisfaction, and he also accused his wife of not being virtuous, of marrying the wrong person. She was so clingy that it made him disgusted.

Miss Xue seemed to be a little clingy too.

But where did she make him disgusted?

It seemed like she didn’t make him disgusted anywhere.

King Xuan said: “I’ll come the day after tomorrow.”

Xue Qingyin immediately became happy: “Okay, see you the day after tomorrow, Your Highness.”

She then turned around and went back to the Xu family.

As soon as she entered the gate of the Xu family, she saw Mrs. Xue standing there, her face full of complexity: “You seem to be very happy after seeing King Xuan.”

Xue Qingyin thought, of course I’m happy.

Who wouldn’t be happy to get so much money?

If there are any changes in the future, this will be her fortune to support herself and her mother!

Mrs. Xue asked again: “Were all those things in the box brought by King Xuan?”

Xue Qingyin nodded.

Mrs. Xue said: “I’m relieved that he can treat you well. I just hope he won’t be like your father, and you don’t repeat your mother’s path.”

Xue Qingyin thought, I just like his handsome appearance and the brilliance of his money, who would be angry, it wouldn’t be me.

Mrs. Xue sighed: “It’s really fate’s play, I never thought it would be King Xuan… You said you didn’t like the Lin family’s son, I was thinking that young general named Du Hongxue was a good choice too.”

Xue Qingyin: “Pfft.”

“Never mind.” The imperial edict has been issued, discussing it further might reach the ears of those above.

Mrs. Xue closed her mouth.

But then she began to worry about another matter.

She had already felt that it was inappropriate to marry Xue Qingyin to the eldest son of the Xu family. Qingyin’s personality, how could she withstand those constraints?

Now that she’s entering the royal family, wouldn’t it be even more difficult than being in the Xu family? Mrs. Xue felt that she was not a clever, resourceful, and scheming person. Her daughter was naturally the same.

Could Qingyin withstand those open and covert attacks?

Mrs. Xue was worried on this side.

On the other side.

Emperor Liang De woke up from his nap.

He hadn’t dreamed of King Xuan’s mother for a long time.

He pressed his chest, feeling like he had had a nightmare.

The eunuch beside him saw his bad complexion and quickly knelt down to offer him a bowl of iced yogurt.

Emperor Liang De glanced at it and asked: “Have all those coral beads been sent to King Xuan’s Mansion?”

The eunuch nodded: “They have been sent, His Highness ordered people to string the coral beads on the tree. They were taken to give to Miss Xue.”

Emperor Liang De ‘s expression was complex: “He really loves her.” He paused and then said: “King Xuan’s personality is cold and taciturn, I told you to recite that poem about red beans in front of King Xuan, did you recite it?”

The eunuch stammered: “We recited half of it, then His Highness left.”

Emperor Liang De : “…” He couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t help but be a little worried, could King Xuan really coax a woman? Red beans express the meaning of love. If Miss Xue points to the coral beads and asks, what is this, won’t King Xuan just blurt out two words: “Stone”?

That would be a real buzzkill!

At this time, Du Hongxue was also stumbling over his words to King Xuan: “Your Highness, you said too little to Miss Xue.”

“Hmm?”

“Treating Miss Xue so coldly, I’m afraid she will be heartbroken in the future.”

King Xuan remained silent for a moment, then asked him: “Besides important matters, what else should be said?”

Du Hongxue opened his mouth, gradually scratching his ears and cheeks: “… I, I haven’t married yet, I… I can’t think of anything for a while.”

After all, the soldiers under King Xuan’s command, from top to bottom, were mostly bachelors who didn’t understand love at all.

Then the master and servant fell into deeper silence.