Xiao Zhen couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at Ling Hua, his expression screaming, "Are you joking with me?"
Ling Hua raised an eyebrow, "The Empress Dowager comes from the Marquis Duanjing Residence, and now only Yan Qing is left of her natal family. She dotes on him immensely, sharing the best things with him first. If he speaks on your behalf to the Empress Dowager, it won't be in vain."
Xiao Zhen thought there was some sense to her words, but why would Yan Qing help him?
As Yan Qing himself has said, he could live a carefree life as a do-nothing dandy without lifting a finger all his life.
For example, meddling in the affairs of princes, he would only do so if he were foolishly idle and extremely bored.
He looked at Ling Hua, "I have no relationship with Yan Qing, as you know."
Ever since Yan Qing wholeheartedly became the dandy, he even stopped attending palace banquets, and his friends were all fellow dandies. Oh, that also included Ling Hua's fiancé, the third son of Duke of Anguo, Qin Huan.
He looked at Ling Hua and tentatively asked, "Will you help me establish a connection through Qin Huan?"
Ling Hua huffed, "Do you think Qin Huan has enough clout in front of Yan Qing to persuade him to speak for you to the Empress Dowager?"
Xiao Zhen sighed.
Impossible!
Although Yan Qing was loyal, it didn't extend to getting involved with the Imperial Family's business, especially the selection of a prince's consort. He was a dandy with principles.
He looked at Ling Hua, "Then can you think of any other way for me?"
"I can't think of anything."
Xiao Zhen gave her a pitiable look and lamented softly, "If I hadn't clung desperately to your hand back then, you would have fallen off the cliff and likely lost your spirit. What was the use of saving you?"
Ling Hua: "..."
Clang, clang, clang! She really did owe him her life, which she had virtually sold to him! What was all her worry and effort these years for, if not to repay a life debt?
How can a life debt that has been repaid time and time again never seem to be settled!
She rubbed her temples and asked, "What do you think about me getting another fiancé?"
Xiao Zhen: "Change? Don't you mean cancel?"
"Cancel and then change."
"Change to whom?"
"Yan Qing?"
Xiao Zhen: "..."
Goodness, my lady, don't scare me!
He looked at Ling Hua, incredulous, "What joke is this? Yan Qing has vowed to remain a bachelor all his life."
Ling Hua blinked, "He's made such a bold declaration?"
Xiao Zhen nodded, "On his deathbed, his father wanted to arrange a match for him, and the Empress Dowager was present too. As long as he agreed, whether she was a princess or a commoner, whoever caught his fancy, he would be granted marriage on the spot. But in front of the Empress Dowager, he declared his intention to remain a lifelong bachelor, infuriating his father to death and nearly causing the Empress Dowager to pass out."
Ling Hua: "..."
Xiao Zhen looked at her, "I've also heard from people that when he was drunk, he said he would take anyone but Ling Hua."
Ling Hua: "..."
She was perplexed, "Why would he say that?"
"Because you are formidable! Who would dare to marry you? With your formidable reputation known across the land, who could endure being toyed with by you?"
Ling Hua: "..."
She laughed in exasperation, "Are you trying to take revenge on me by saying this? Did you say it on purpose?"
Xiao Zhen shook his head earnestly, "I didn't mean to, truly. If you send someone to investigate, you would know. He did say it, whether it was a year or half a year ago, it's easy to check!"
Ling Hua thoughtfully said, "You mentioned he was drunk?"
"Yes, drunk. Otherwise, we wouldn't hear such words from him. From his childhood to now, he never speaks behind people's backs about any woman, you're the first one."
"That's quite an honor!" Ling Hua chuckled, her eyes suddenly sparkling, "Well then, let him marry me. It will be his own face he's slapping, and it'll hurt."
Xiao Zhen: "..."
He suddenly sat up straight, "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
Xiao Zhen stared at her, noticing her mood had improved immensely out of the blue, which made him feel uneasy, "Have you met him?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Just after I returned, I ran into him on the road," Ling Hua said nonchalantly, "and a few days ago, on the way to Qiyun Mountain."
Xiao Zhen suddenly grew solemn, "So, after just two encounters, you decided you want to marry him?"
"Yes, a little bit."
Xiao Zhen stood up fiercely, angered, "I've known you for ten years, why don't you consider marrying me?"
Ling Hua dismissed his anger, "If marrying you could repay the debt of saving my life, why then have I been tirelessly busy for years doing all this work for you?"
Xiao Zhen: "Then why didn't you repay me with your body back then?"
Ling Hua was taken aback, looking at Xiao Zhen as though he were mad, "You saved me that year when you were ten, and I was six. Do you think 'repaying with my body' would have been appropriate?"
Xiao Zhen: "..."
It wouldn't have been. If the six-year-old her had offered to 'repay with her body,' he probably would have kicked her right back down the cliff after saving her.
This time it was Xiao Zhen who was left speechless, struggling for a while before he managed to say, "No, Yan Qing won't do."
Ling Hua raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"
"He said he wouldn't marry."
"Whatever he says doesn't matter. I'll find a way to make him marry."
"That still won't do!"
"Reason?"
"He lives a carefree life, without ambition; his temperament doesn't match yours, he's not right for you."
Ling Hua spoke leisurely, "I think it's quite nice. As he said himself, he doesn't have to do anything for the rest of his life, and he will still have no worries about food or clothes. As a child, all I wanted was to live such a carefree life. If it weren't for accidentally slipping off the cliff and being saved by you, I wouldn't be so exhausted now."
Xiao Zhen exploded, "That's not acceptable! Get rid of this idea right now, or do you believe that I would send someone to kill him?"
Oh wow, he's even talking about murder now!
Ling Hua remained unimpressed, "If I don't help you get through to Yan Qing, then you'll just have to marry the daughter of the Wen Family, becoming both a brother and a brother-in-law to the Crown Prince."
Xiao Zhen was infuriated, "Fine, I'll marry her then, but you cannot marry Yan Qing."
Ling Hua waved her hand, done arguing, "Okay, then you marry her. I'm done with this."
She yawned, stood up, and walked toward the house, "It's getting late, you have to attend the early court tomorrow, you should go back."
Xiao Zhen glared at her, but seeing her enter the house with such resoluteness, he flung his sleeve in anger and turned to leave.
Liuli sighed, she had known all along that the Second Prince wouldn't agree.