Chapter 45: Arranging a Ghost Marriage for Prince Jin (Part 1)

"Although Zhen'er is no longer fit to be my secondary consort, since she once saved my life, I will naturally reserve a place for her by my side. Didn't you previously oppose me making her a secondary consort? Then let us change it to a tertiary consort."

In the Great Qi Kingdom, although there is only a one-character difference between a secondary consort and a tertiary consort, the gap in status is vast. A secondary consort has an official title, and the children she bears are eligible to inherit titles.

A tertiary consort, however, is just like a concubine in an ordinary household; her status is low. Furthermore, the children she bears have no titles. Even if Dongfang Yan were to become Emperor in the future, the children of a tertiary consort would have no right of succession.

Lin Qingyue said, "I do not agree to a tertiary consort either."

Dongfang Yan: "Lin Qingyue, you..."

"If you can agree to one condition of mine, I will agree to you taking a tertiary consort. How about that?"

Dongfang Yan did not expect her to change the subject so quickly, and she had actually agreed.

"Very well, speak." In Dongfang Yan's eyes, when a woman makes a condition, it is nothing more than wanting some benefits.

As long as Lin Qingyue was willing to speak properly, he was willing to pamper her a little.

"There are still many treasures in my storehouse; I will have Zhao An take you to choose some. It doesn't matter if you choose a few more."

"I do not want things; I only want the Prince to accompany me to a place tonight."

"What place?"

"Am I not serving as a Deputy Envoy of the Xuanjing Division? Lord Xie has entrusted me with a case, and I must leave the city tonight. But I am, after all, a woman, and the dignified Princess Jin. Leaving the city privately in the dead of night, even for official business, would ultimately affect my reputation. If the Prince were to accompany me, it would be different."

"Lin Qingyue, you aren't trying to harm me, are you?" For some reason, the moment Dongfang Yan heard Lin Qingyue refer to herself as "your humble wife," he had a feeling he was being plotted against.

Lin Qingyue smiled like a flower: "How could that be? If the Prince is worried, you can bring more guards. Besides, I am your legal wife; if I were to get you killed, wouldn't I become a widow?"

After a round of cajoling, Dongfang Yan boarded the carriage leaving the city.

Sitting inside the carriage, Dongfang Yan asked, "What is the case Lord Xie assigned to you? Will it be very dangerous?"

"Of course it won't be dangerous. It is just a poor young girl who died unjustly in the river; I am going over to help resolve her obsession so she can leave. Compared to that matter with the Lin family a while ago, it is not even worth mentioning."

"Lin Qingyue..." Dongfang Yan felt that the Lin Qingyue of this moment seemed to have retracted all her thorns, so he couldn't help but want to say a few more words to her.

"I did not know before that you had suffered so much..."

Lin Qingyue was stunned for a moment by these sudden words: "What are you trying to say?"

There was only one small lamp in the carriage, and the bright yellow light cast upon Dongfang Yan's face did not look as cold as usual.

His tone was also a few degrees gentler: "I will treat you well in the future."

Lin Qingyue blinked her eyes and said, "Oh."

Dongfang Yan wanted to say something more, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a cat meowing.

The carriage curtain moved, and the tabby cat darted in, meowing as it rubbed against Lin Qingyue's feet.

Dongfang Yan's face was full of disgust: "Why did this cat get into the carriage? Drive it out."

He truly hated those furry things, especially the disdainful look in this cat's eyes when it looked at him.

Lin Qingyue said, "The cat is afraid of the cold; perhaps it wanted to come into the carriage to warm up. Does the Prince hate cats very much?"

Dongfang Yan nodded: "I was scratched when I was young, so I don't like them—if you really like this cat, let it stay in the carriage. Just don't let it get near me."

Since they were married, there hadn't been many times they could talk properly, and Dongfang Yan did not want to ruin the harmony between them for a cat.

"In that case, then many thanks, Your Highness." Lin Qingyue smiled, her whole demeanor much gentler.

So this is what it feels like to talk properly with her; it is so comfortable. Dongfang Yan suddenly felt that this trip was well worth it.

He was even considering whether, after tonight, he could bring their relationship closer and make Lin Qingyue his true woman.

Thinking of this, his gaze toward Lin Qingyue became a bit ambiguous.

It was also only at this moment that he discovered Lin Qingyue seemed to have become much prettier. Indeed, the Wangfu nourishes people better than the Lin family.

"Qingyue..." As amorous thoughts arose in his heart, Dongfang Yan couldn't help but move a little closer to Lin Qingyue.

He thought: She is my wife; it has been so long, and I haven't even properly been intimate with her.

Lin Qingyue was looking out the window and did not notice Dongfang Yan's approach, much less that he was reaching out to touch her face.

Just as the hand was about to touch Lin Qingyue's face, a cat's paw suddenly swung out and fiercely scratched Dongfang Yan's hand.

Dongfang Yan hurriedly withdrew his hand in pain, and looking down, he saw three bloody scratch marks on his hand again.

"You beast!" Dongfang Yan's expression changed instantly, and he was about to lose his temper.

But he heard Lin Qingyue say, "You stepped on his tail. Sigh, weren't you sitting over there just now? When did you move over?"

Dongfang Yan: "..."

After leaving the capital, the carriage swayed along for more than half an hour before finally arriving at Wang Family Village under Wan'an County.

Upon learning that the Xuanjing Division was coming to exorcise evil tonight, the entire village gathered at the entrance to watch the excitement.

There were also those well-informed ones who heard that the last wish of Wang Kuang's daughter, who drowned, was to get married, and it had to be to a noble.

At first, everyone did not believe such an absurd idea could come true.

Even the aggrieved couple, Wang Kuang and his wife, felt this was wishful thinking, and even very sensibly said to Xie Shouzheng: "My Lord, why don't you let her mother and I go and persuade her? We are just common folk; how could we possibly be associated with nobles? Besides... besides, it's a ghost marriage?"

Just then, a luxurious carriage approached through the night, surrounded by guards in armor, looking majestic and awe-inspiring.

Someone in the village who could read saw the character "Jin" printed on the carriage and gasped: "A four-horse golden harness; this is a configuration only a Prince has. This, could this be Prince Jin?"

The crowd began to whisper, and most people did not believe it: How could the Prince's carriage arrive in this rural place?

The carriage stopped, and Steward Zhao sang out loudly: "His Highness Prince Jin has arrived!"

It really was Prince Jin!

The commoners knelt and kowtowed one after another.

Wang Kuang and his wife were stunned, while Xie Shouzheng stroked his beard and said with a chuckle: "Look, your son-in-law has arrived."

With one sentence, Wang Kuang and his wife were so frightened they collapsed to the ground—let Prince Jin have a ghost marriage with their daughter? They wouldn't dare even if they were killed!

"Why are there so many people?"

Dongfang Yan looked coldly at the commoners.

He had always held himself in high regard and rarely interacted with the masses. Seeing everyone's reverence, he felt it was only natural. But why did those people's secretly prying eyes carry a hint of strangeness?

"This place is small and can't hide anything; if anything happens, the whole village knows, so of course they came to watch the fun." Lin Qingyue calmly led Dongfang Yan toward the riverbank.

The boat had long been prepared, painted entirely in red lacquer, with red silk ribbons tied to the bow.

Dongfang Yan asked suspiciously: "Why is this boat red?"

Lin Qingyue said off the cuff: "Red wards off evil. Let's go, get on the boat first."

"Why should I get on the boat?"

Nonsense, if the groom doesn't get on the boat, how can he pick up the bride?

"Let's watch the fun together!" Without waiting for Dongfang Yan to agree, Lin Qingyue pushed him onto the boat and jumped on right after him.

Xie Shouzheng had already boarded the boat first, and seeing Prince Jin board, he didn't even wait for him to stand steady before pushing the boat away with a pole, with such speed that even Prince Jin's guards couldn't keep up.

"Lin Qingyue, you aren't trying to take me to the middle of the river to murder me, are you?" Dongfang Yan couldn't help but recall the time he was held hostage by A Heng, when Lin Qingyue seemed to have said she wouldn't mind being a widow?

"Our Xuanjing Division executes evil and suppresses demons to protect the peace of the region; we would absolutely never commit such harmful acts!"

Lin Qingyue said this righteously, looking like a person of integrity. But the more she was like this, the more uneasy Dongfang Yan felt.