After years of reforms, Azure Cloud no longer imposed such stringent demands on women's chastity. However, Hai Qing had been raised in a respectable family. Even if momentarily overcome by passion, she ultimately stopped short of crossing the final line.
She rose from the Soft Couch, smoothing her disheveled hair with clean hands before stepping outside to find a basin placed beneath the eaves. Carefully, she washed away the traces from her fingers.
Ji Mingchen remained lying on the pillow, still dazed. This was his first taste of pleasure so profound it seeped into his bones. Looking at Hai Qing now, she seemed different from before.
In the past, he had seen her as boisterous and domineering. But today, the light falling on her profile outlined her face with an extraordinary delicacy.
His throat tightened as he slowly pushed himself up from the Soft Couch.
Hai Qing handed him a cup of tea, her expression unreadable. "Your Highness grew up tempered by hardships. How could you lack even this basic caution against others?"
Just as Ji Mingchen was about to respond, she scoffed and nodded. "Then again, a tender young girl calling you 'Your Highness' would melt your bones. Who could think of caution then?"
Wei Ling had been desperate, needing someone to rely on, and Ji Mingchen was the perfect target. Though her methods were dirty, they were understandable.
"You..." Ji Mingchen couldn't comprehend it. "This is your reaction?"
At the very least, encountering such a situation for the first time, shouldn't she blush even a little?
Hai Qing gave him a puzzled look. "What reaction does Your Highness expect from me? This time it was me, but if it had been someone else, the Queen would have forced you to marry them."
Ji Mingchen narrowed his eyes. "So if it's you, I don’t have to marry you home?"
"You’ve never seen me as a woman anyway. Consider it a favor between brothers. I’m not so desperate to marry that I’d use this to threaten you into it." Hai Qing waved her hand, her nonchalance tinged with discomfort as she turned away, muttering, "Consider it a lesson. Next time someone around me is tricked like this, I’ll know how to—"
Before she could finish, her wrist was seized forcefully.
Surprised, Hai Qing turned back to see Ji Mingchen’s eyes dark with anger as he said coldly, "You are not to help anyone else like this!"
Hai Qing chuckled, slightly taken aback. "Your Highness has quite the reach in your commands."
"I..." Ji Mingchen faltered, looking at her helplessly. "I’ll return to the palace now and ask His Majesty and Her Majesty for their blessing to marry you."
Her expression cooled as she half-closed her eyes. "I’ve said I have no intention of forcing marriage through this. Your Highness may leave and pretend nothing happened."
"That’s unacceptable. You’re a noblewoman—how could I let you suffer such indignity?" He stood, straightening his robes as he strode toward the door. "Wait for me!"
Hai Qing reached out to stop him, but he was gone like the wind, vanishing in an instant.
In the past, had Ji Mingchen been so eager to marry her, she would have been overjoyed. But under these circumstances, she couldn’t even muster a smile.
Outside, the night was heavy, and the palace lay in silence. Ji Mingchen walked swiftly, lost in thought. Perhaps it was because he and Hai Qing had grown up together, too familiar with each other, that he couldn’t yet accept her becoming his wife.But when the two grew closer, he found it wasn’t so hard to accept after all. When the medicine took effect, he couldn’t bear Wei Ling’s proximity, yet he could travel all the way out of the palace to find Hai Qing. So in his heart, Hai Qing was still the only one he truly considered his own.
Just the thought of Hai Qing being so intimate with someone else in the future made his chest tighten unbearably. Rather than regret it later, he might as well marry her now.
A smile gradually lit up his eyes as Ji Mingchen excitedly rushed to Zhaoyang Palace, pushing open the hall doors and calling out, "Mother—"
Before his voice could fade, a Mystic Dragon charged out, slamming him into the courtyard outside the hall. Its deep blue eyes fixed on him as it snorted angrily.
Then, someone swiftly emerged from inside, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him far away.
"What are you doing?" Ji Bozhai glared at him darkly.
Ji Mingchen was aggrieved. "Your son came to discuss something with both of you."
"Does the underworld also fall under your jurisdiction, that you must come to discuss matters at midnight?"
"...No, it’s just that I’ve decided who I want as my crown princess."
"I don’t care who you choose, but barging in and disturbing your mother’s sleep in the middle of the night is asking for a beating." Ji Bozhai kicked the back of his knee.
Ji Mingchen dropped to his knees, torn between laughter and tears.
How could he have forgotten? His mother was a light sleeper, and once she drifted off, his father guarded her like a fierce tiger, forbidding anyone from disturbing her. The fact that his father hadn’t ripped his head off for barging in and shouting was purely out of paternal mercy.
With a resigned sigh, he knelt properly. "Then I’ll wait until Mother wakes up."
Ji Bozhai disdainfully pointed to a corner before turning to leave.
"Father." Ji Mingchen suddenly called out to him, puzzled. "With so many people in the world, how did you know from the start that Mother was the only one you wanted?"
An awkward silence filled the air for a moment.
Ji Bozhai turned back, lifting his chin proudly. "That’s because I have excellent taste. I knew your mother was the one at first glance."
"But after that, did you never meet anyone else who made your heart flutter?" Ji Mingchen tilted his head. "After all, they send portraits and people from all over every year."
"No." Ji Bozhai didn’t even hesitate. "Those common powders and paints couldn’t hold a candle to your mother."
Ji Mingchen suddenly felt his father was truly remarkable—to have recognized his mother at first glance and spent a lifetime with her, never once straying. Such unwavering devotion was as steadfast as gold.
However, before he could praise him, the distant hall doors opened again.
"Your father has seen all kinds of women, so of course he could pick the best." Mingyi, wrapped in a cloak, lazily yawned.
A chill ran down Ji Bozhai’s spine as he shot his son another glare before striding over to tighten her loosely draped cloak. "Did we wake you?"
"I wasn’t really asleep anyway." Mingyi walked over and looked down at the kneeling Ji Mingchen. "The crown princess you’ve decided on—is it the Hai family’s girl?"
"Yes." Ji Mingchen nodded. "I want to marry her."
Mingyi nodded, sitting on the chair brought by a palace maid and studying him seriously. "Granting your request isn’t difficult, but first, tell me—what about the Wei family’s girl in the palace?"Thinking of Wei Ling, Ji Mingchen's face darkened halfway: "She has too many tricks up her sleeve. What she's after isn't me as a person, but my status and position. I can't afford to marry such a woman. It's better to give her some dowry and find her a good family."
Mingyi snorted with laughter: "Now you're seeing sense. Then why did you drive the Hai family out of the palace in the first place?"
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