An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 121

Yun Shang heard him and her anger grew. She was so mad that she smiled, "Filthy? I've seen much filthier businesses than that! Now that Hua Jing is out of jail, she would be the first person that Prince Qingsu would visit. How could I miss that rare chance? And also, uncle, don't you think that I can mind my own business? I don't need you to worry about me."

Prince Jing whacked the table. "Mind your own business? If you really knew how to mind your own business, you wouldn't be so foolish as to go near Prince Qingsu! I've done a lot of business with him, and I know what he is capable of. And what do you mean by not worrying about you? I'm your uncle, and also your fiancé. Am I not allowed to worry about you?"

Yun Shang's mouth curved into a smile. "Well, as for that, I still have my doubts. The very reason that you asked for the imperial marriage edict from father is unknown. But I do know that your purpose can't be pure. In that case, we both have something that we want, so the marriage is nothing but a business deal. I'll make myself clear. Don't intervene with my arrangements anymore."

Seeing her so stubborn, Prince Jing sighed. He thought about how worried he got when his servants reported that Yun Shang had gone to Hua Jing's Palace. His whole heart had jumped to his throat. The only thing that occurred to him was to bring Yun Shang back and scold her. And he had done so. It just seemed that Yun Shang wasn't buying his kindness. Well, yeah, he had his thoughts and plans about the marriage, but what he felt for Yun Shang was true. He wouldn't admit it earlier, but with more denial, his feelings for her grew stronger.

Prince Jing hesitated and kept silent for a while. He calmed down and walked to a chair. After a while, he said, "Since you brought it up, let's make it clear. You and I need to talk it through."

Seeing that Prince Jing suddenly became serious, Yun Shang found her peace, too. She sat down, but still showed no expression on her cold face. She said in a low voice, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you think that all I have done for you is fake and just part of a plan? Including what happened at the frontier? And also the marriage that I asked for?" Prince Jing rolled his jade ring, and asked in a steady tone.

Yun Shang smiled, "Am I wrong?"

Prince Jing wasn't mad at her reply. Since he had made up his mind to talk it through, he certainly needed to tell her the truth. "Not exactly. I do have a purpose to ask for the imperial marriage edict for us from brother. Since you've always wanted to know what my purpose is, I'll tell you today. The main reason that I asked for the marriage is that I want to come back and stay in the Imperial City. You guessed about my ambition regarding the royal position, and I didn't hide it from you. And even your father is aware of my ambition. But your father feared me for two reasons. One is my military talent, and the other reason is the half of the Hufu that I own. And even though he feared me, he had to put me in an important position. Otherwise the Li clan will take over complete power from him. Without the checks and balances, the Li clan will start chaos."

Yun Shang was expecting to hear Prince Jing making up some random reasons to palter with the question, but instead, he appeared quite sincere and almost told Yun Shang everything she wanted to know. Yun Shang frowned. She became serious, too.

"But still, your father feared me so much that he didn't allow me to come to the Imperial City. It is hard for me to come here once in a decade. Without my physical existence here, everything I planned for the Imperial City will be reduced to nothing."

Yun Shang was smart enough to understand his ideas. Knowing what Prince Jing had been planning, she asked, "So that's why you asked for the imperial marriage edict from father? Just to ensure that you stay in the Imperial City?"

Prince Jing nodded.

Yun Shang bit her lip. "But, if father knew what you were up to already and feared you that much, why would he agree to your proposal?"

Prince Jing curved his mouth and said, "After all this time in the Imperial City, I believe that you have noticed how Grand Councilor Li controls the Court and how much power he has gained. If Grand Councilor sticks to his position in the Court, the Empress will survive, the Li clan will grow stronger, and their roots will spread deeper. Your father fears that, too. That's why he needs my help. And the second and the most important reason that he agreed to our marriage, is my promise to return my half of the Hufu to him on the day of our wedding."

Yun Shang was quite surprised, "Half of the Hufu?" 'It was a shock that Prince Jing should make such a promise. No wonder father agreed to his proposal, ' she thought.

"But without the Hufu, how are you going to protect yourself, if one day father deals with the Li clan and decides to come after you? And you really want to give it to him?" Yun Shang was still in shock.

"Ha. Why wouldn't I want to? The Hufu is of no use to me at the moment. Without the other half owned by His Majesty, I don't have the authorization to command the army. But don't worry. All these years, I didn't fight those wars at the border for nothing. I planned early, so I already have a troop of my own. Though it does not have many soldiers, I guarantee you that they are all elites. Even without the secret troops, I can still get help from the soldiers of the national army. Having fought so many wars side by side with them, those soldiers value me so much more than the Emperor. If the time comes, I can still take a number of soldiers with me even without the Hufu." Prince Jing raised his eyebrow. His eyes were filled with confidence.

Yun Shang was shock again by his frankness. Although she was slightly surprised by his purpose, the whole secret troop news was astonishing to her. How could he...... How could he tell her that...... She is the Princess of the State of Ning after all...... How could he trust her like that......

Prince Jing noticed the shock in Yun Shang's eyes. He knew how disturbing his words were to her, but he didn't give her much time to recover. He continued. "That day at the border, when we were watching the sunset, I meant what I said. That royal position is not so attractive to me now."

He hesitated. Seeing that Yun Shang still doubted him, he added. "As I told you, if I really want that position, I can have it easily. There are not too many people in my way. And I could have let every pregnant woman fail their delivery, but I let your mother go. After all these years of preparation, there are certain things that are under my control. But my proposal for our marriage only allows me to stay in the Imperial City. I wasn't coming for that royal position. I came for the Li clan. They are getting greedier than ever before. It's time to put a stop to them. Also, after you left, I thought about it and decided. Although I miss the splendid view of the border, it is still good for me to have you by my side here. Even though that means I get dragged into the unnecessary fights here in the Imperial City.

Prince Jing looked at Yun Shang's face. "If I don't tell you this, maybe you'll never know. Back at the border, when I thought about how Prince Qingsu would beg for the Emperor to marry you, I couldn't stop worrying that His Majesty would agree to him under the burden of his responsibilities as an Emperor. And the more I thought about it, the more worried I got. I know that you are smarter than normal people and you can definitely find a way to get out of it. But still, I couldn't put you at risk. So, I rushed here to visit you before I went back to my own mansion. Who would have thought that you would stab me without a blink? And right after I left Qingxin Palace that night, I risked being sentenced to prison by going to find brother in Qinzheng Hall to exchange half of the Hufu for our marriage."

Yun Shang had some doubts in her mind. She was well aware that for Prince Jing, leaving his position without permission and breaking into her Palace in the middle of the night were both felonies. If father wanted to pursue the matter, he could place a crime of attempted murder of the Royals on Prince Jing. Besides, she almost believed most of his words.

Being so young and not having cultivated her own strong power yet, she couldn't stop Prince Jing if he really wanted to poison Lady Jin. And if he went further, he could even poison her father.

"Aren't you afraid that I will tell father about all this?" Yun Shang put a faint smile on her face and asked Prince Jing.

Prince Jing raised his eyebrow and smiled. "You wouldn't. Even if you tell him, you don't have solid evidence to prove any of it. And even if brother believes you, he still can't find a way to deal with me."

"So why did you tell me all this?"

Prince Jing smiled reluctantly. "Because of you. I've noticed that you've become a different person than who you were at the border. You were gentle and obeyed rules in the camp, but now you're acting like a hedgehog and you target me all the time. Now that I have feelings for you, I don't want that kind of thing to happen again. That's why I am explaining everything to you. Besides, we have our deal. We need to form an alliance to get rid of the Empress and the Li clan together."

Even though Yun Shang had lived two lives, she still felt embarrassed about Prince Jing's frank and straightforward confession. Yun Shang blushed and lowered her head. Then she murmured, "Please give me some time to think it through......"