Ronghe got on his knees and prostrated in front of her, with his nose touching the ground. "Please do not send me back."
His stance before Yinyue showed absolute submission of a subject to a ruler. Yinyue's grip tightened on the seed in her hand.
She sighed in both sympathy and discomfort. "Get up."
"I can't. I must not go back," he whimpered in a bare whisper.
Yinyue narrowed her eyes at his answer. To any Prince, it sounded like a threat never to get up. She wondered what could push him to such desperation.
Was it Shoula?
The same Shoula Yinyue hated to the core but the time for revenge hasn't arrived.
Any mention of Shoula's name brought a sense of loathing to Yinyue. It also triggered memories of how Shoula tried to kill her in her first lifetime. And that annoying smug look on Shoula's face. Those memories ignited Yinyue's slow but simmering anger, resentment, and a deep-seated desire for revenge.
The time was not right to deal with the Empress's brood. Yinyue can't touch both Huqi and Shoula now. Not when their maternal family is strong. She needed to bide her time in wait.
Yinyue took a deep breath to compose herself. She couldn't afford to let her personal feelings cloud her judgment, not when the stakes were so high.
Only Ronghe's cover up of Hushiyi's killings warranted Yinyue's action and the easiest action meant killing him.
As a Grand Prince, she had a right to hold him back from returning to the Capital. Yinyue needed a good reason to justify such a decision. If Yinyue held him back, the empress would be suspicious. Yinyue pinched her forehead, thinking of the Dayan Empire's complicated political landscape.
Ronghe has done no deed for her to offend Shoula prematurely.
Yinyue read the letter again to make sure she didn't misread. Usually, a concubine's son like Ronghe had no right to be in the husband selection for Shoula. She had little doubt that someone must have sent Ronghe's painting with the rest of the candidates to Shoula.
If Shoula was one of her other half-sisters, then Ronghe benefited. In Shoula's hands, life would be hell for him.
"Being a princess's husband is an honor. You don't need to worry about any real official duties because the allowance alone is higher than your magistrate's salary."
Ronghe continued his stance. His refusal to say a word made her curious. Shoula wasn't ugly. Her personality and character were another matter.
And Shoula's countless male companions would be enough to cuckold any poor, unsuspecting husband of hers.
Shoula had one great weakness — pretty men. She would lift her skirt for any face which pleased her, Yinyue recalled. At sixteen, Shoula used to take young men, both willing and unwilling, into the palace.
Yinyue also thought of the incident a few years ago when Shoula took an interest in 01, only to be disappointed when Yinyue refused to give 01 to her. Being the empress's daughter allowed Shoula more leeway with her audacious behaviour than the rest.
"If you tell me why, I will consider helping you," Yinyue said.
"I …I'm not worthy of such honor."
Yinyue rolled her eyes in exasperation. Typical official speech annoyed her. Neither here nor there, that speech avoided answering her question. "I won't tell anyone what you say about her. Even if you call her a hideous hag."
"I just can't marry her."
"You have someone in mind?" She asked. That could be another reason. With Ronghe's looks, Yinyue had little doubt about his attractiveness to the young unwed women in Bian town.
"No."
His quick, unwavering answer left no room for doubt.
"If you actually have someone in mind, I have the power to confer a marriage if the other party is willing."
"No one in mind. All I want is just to live my life in peace, away from the political scenery of the Capital," Ronghe said.
"That…" Yinyue trailed off, politely coughing. "Any reason?"
"They say one should not air the complaints about one's family," Ronghe replied.
She waved her hand in amusement. He was airing a hidden complaint. Probably that primary wife of his father.
For an official's son to be a Dayan princess's husband, especially one whose mother is the empress, the conditions made it hard for someone, like Ronghe, to qualify.
She thought about the possibility of Jiaowei transferring Ronghe's name to the primary wife's record in his ancestral book. That would make Ronghe a legitimate son.
"Hard to fill conditions for selection, but easy to disqualify yourself," she mused.
Ronghe raised his face from the ground with a puzzled look. "Please show me a way to disqualify."
"I mentioned the first earlier - marry someone here," Yinyue replied. The laws of Yandi overwrote the marriage laws of the Capital. "And never return to the Capital."
No one could force a marriage or a divorce in Yandi without the explicit agreement of both parties. In theory, the law worked to equalise the rights of both parties. In reality, hard to enforce unless it came to her attention.
"I do not wish to marry to avoid this situation. I prefer if both parties share a mutual liking," Ronghe mumbled.
Three families in Bian town had proposed their daughters for marriage to Ronghe, but those girls were not to his liking. One too soft and timid. Another too ignorant to the point of being stupid. And the third fell in love with his rank, not his person.
"Another method is to disfigure yourself. But you know, scholarly officers like you cannot have any facial disfigurement. Only the military officers may bear scars because of their military service," Yinyue said, watching his expression with interest.
What a waste of a pretty face, she thought while her gaze lingered on Ronghe's face.
He frowned. "Any way not to throw my post away?"
"Go to a brothel and get one of the flower diseases. But it also means humiliation."
"I prefer not to," Ronghe muttered.
"Spread a rumour in town that you can't function in bed. I will spread it to the Capital."
Ronghe nearly choked at her suggestion. The humiliation of contracting a flower disease did not differ from the humiliation of being impotent. Was she being serious? Why did he feel like she cracked a joke at his expense?