IDWBE -Chapter 360 It Just So Happens I Need a Princess Consort

Hu Miaoyi looked at the two maids standing respectfully behind Lin Yi and the guards filling the courtyard. Then she looked at Lin Yi himself, lazily reclining in his chair.

She seemed to understand something—yet didn’t dare confirm it.

“Your servant greets Your Highness! May the Prince live for a thousand years, ten thousand years!”

Hu Zhen dropped to his knees with a thud and shouted, “Please forgive this subject for failing to recognize you!”

He was not a fool after all.

Although the man before him was simply dressed, every accessory on his body—the tea bowl in his hand, the jade thumb ring on his finger, the golden-thread nanmu wood chair beneath him—none of it exceeded proper rank.

If an ordinary person dared use even one of these items, it would mean confiscation of property and extermination of the clan.

And they were inside Prince He’s residence!

Who else could this person be but Prince He himself?

Seeing his daughter still standing there, he whispered urgently, “Kneel!”

Hu Miaoyi saw Lin Yi’s smile.

She felt there was disdain and mockery hidden within it.

By her nature, she would rather die than bow her head.

But when she glanced at her trembling father, her heart softened. Her knees weakened, and she knelt as well.

“Your Highness, may you live for a thousand years.”

“Prince He Shun, why such courtesy? Rise and speak,” Lin Yi gestured toward a nearby chair. “Sit. Our meeting is fate—wonderfully so.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Supported by his daughter, Prince He Shun struggled to his feet. But he dared not sit in the dragon-scale patterned nanmu armchair beside him. Bowing slightly, he said, “To behold the Regent Prince is this subject’s blessing.”

Originally, he had hoped to see Prince He, though he held little expectation. It had been a desperate gamble. Even if he ended up on the streets afterward, he could at least console himself that he had tried.

But now that he had actually met him, he was overwhelmed with nervousness.

“I’ve heard of Prince He Shun’s misfortunes,” Lin Yi said, though his gaze remained on Hu Miaoyi. “I deeply sympathize. You have suffered greatly.”

“Your Highness…”

Hearing this, Prince He Shun thought of the past two years—falling from immense wealth to utter poverty, from mansions and concubines to wandering homeless, uncertain of his next meal.

Tears nearly welled up.

It had been too hard!

He was a prince!

Vaults of gold and silver, vast fertile lands, concubines in abundance!

“My, my, Prince, no need for such emotion,” Lin Yi comforted him. “Now that you’ve seen me, and I am here, your hardships end today. I will arrange everything for you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Prince He Shun dropped to his knees again and knocked his head loudly three times.

This time the tears flowed freely—tears of joy.

Prince He was truly benevolent! Without even asking, he had taken the initiative to resolve his difficulties!

“No need for thanks. We’ll soon be family,”

Lin Yi said with a smile. “If you lose face, I don’t look good either.”

“Your Highness means…?”

Prince He Shun wondered if he had misheard.

Prince He was now Regent, and might one day ascend the throne.

And he? Even at his height, he had only been a prince. His daughter was merely a county lady.

Though the Emperor had arranged their marriage, the disparity was immense.

He had come seeking Prince He only in hopes that the Prince, recalling this engagement, might disdainfully annul it.

If his daughter couldn’t become a princess consort, she was still a county lady. Countless wealthy families would clamor to marry her.

Then he could once again live comfortably.

“This is the Emperor’s will. Do you intend to defy an imperial decree?”

Lin Yi frowned.

That frightened Prince He Shun badly. He kowtowed repeatedly. “This subject would not dare!”

“This daughter is but a humble willow—how could she be worthy of Your Highness?”

Hu Miaoyi said neither servile nor arrogant. “Please choose another virtuous consort.”

“I am burdened with countless affairs of state. I don’t have time to choose a consort,”

Lin Yi smiled. “You happened to come—and I happen to need one.”

It was the truth.

Whether Shan Qi or Xie Zan, their recent letters constantly urged him to take a princess consort.

Even that old fellow He Jixiang nagged him daily, elevating it to a matter of military morale and public sentiment.

He was no longer young. Marriage was unavoidable.

And if he must marry, it could only be Prince He Shun’s daughter—because his father had arranged it. He must uphold filial piety and not defy it.

Hu Miaoyi clenched her teeth. “I beg Your Highness to reconsider!”

What did he mean by “happen to need a consort”?

What was she to him?

Never in her life had she suffered such humiliation!

But fearing to implicate her father, she endured it in silence.

“Do not be insolent!”

Hu Zhen scolded sharply. “In the presence of His Highness, where is your place to speak? Kneel!”

“That’s enough,” Lin Yi waved his hand. “It’s settled. He Hong, have the Ministry of Rites arrange matters for the Prince. Choose an auspicious date to welcome the County Lady into the residence.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Prince He Shun was beside himself with joy!

If his daughter became empress one day, wouldn’t he be the imperial father-in-law?

Who would dare disrespect him again?

Names flashed through his mind—Wu Lin, Du Rong, Shen Junru…

“By your command,” He Hong responded, then said to Prince He Shun, “Your Highness, this way.”

“Much obliged.”

After knocking his head three more times to Lin Yi, Prince He Shun followed He Hong out of the residence.

“Prince, County Lady, please.”

He Hong lifted the carriage curtain for them.

“There’s a carriage?”

Hu Zhen was delighted. “Many thanks, many thanks!”

Sun Chengde drove the carriage, with He Hong seated beside him.

As the carriage exited Prince He’s street, Jiao Zhong rode up. Behind him came Chen Jingzhi, Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, wobbling precariously on horseback, as though he might fall at any moment.

Sun Chengde said curiously, “Matters of the imperial clan aren’t under that old fellow’s jurisdiction, are they? He inserts himself into everything.”

“That’s why he lives so long,” He Hong sighed. “Originally, the Prince intended to send him as envoy to Wadan. But on the fifth day, he delivered two hundred thousand taels of silver to the residence. The Prince couldn’t bear to punish him. It’s said that to gather that sum, he pawned all his houses and lands, even intending to retire home. The Prince refused and kept him in office. Now his entire family of more than ten lives in shacks in the southern district. They share a latrine with commoners. People in the south now boast they’ve seen the bare backside of a fourth-rank official.”

“What a ruthless man,” Sun Chengde laughed. “No wonder the Prince couldn’t bear to kill him. Though I imagine Prince Yong’an didn’t earn any less from that deal.”