Xi Jin released his hug and took Shen Yunya by the hand as he walked towards the building. He then asked gently, “You look like you’re heading out. Where are you going?”
“I wanted to give it a shot at the palace gates. I wanted to see if I could go to meet you,” Shen Yunya said in a faint voice. Shen then shut her eyes and cried again. “I haven’t seen you ever since you were in a coma. I wanted to see you, but…”
The emperor had retracted Shen Yunya’s rights to enter the palace freely. If she wanted to be summoned, she had to make a request. The empress stopped bothering with her. Therefore, there was no way for her to enter the palace to visit Brother Jin.
Only heaven knew how afraid she was that Shen Qingdai would be a step ahead of her and tell Brother Jin the truth.
Xi Jin pulled her to the chair and asked her to take a seat while wiping the tears at the corner of her eyes gently with a handkerchief. “After what happened last time, my parents must be very angry, which was why they treated you like this. If you make more trips to the palace to beg them, their hearts will be softened, and they will allow you to go in and out of the palace freely once again.”
She just had to surrender herself to the palace by kneeling more often and enduring a bit more torture. Even if the price was just a pretentious gentleness, she must now pay it.
“Brother Jin, did he look for you?” Shen Yunya looked at him worriedly. She was afraid that Shen Qingdai had come before her and told him the truth.
“Him?” Xi Jin looked at her, confused.
“The youngster who ruined our marriage on our wedding day. Did he look for you and spout some nonsense to you?” Shen Yunya asked anxiously.
Xi Jin took note when he saw her in a flustered state. “What could he have told me?” he asked.
Shen Yunya was so concerned about that youngster. It seemed like Xi Jin would have to conduct an investigation to find out what happened between the two of them.
Shen Yunya looked at him and explained anxiously, “I was forced that day. I owed him my life. Therefore, I gave him my word and promised him one thing. I didn’t expect him to make such a request on our wedding day. I couldn’t be ungrateful, so I had no choice but to agree to what he asked of me.”
She must explain what happened that day well. She couldn’t let Brother Jin misunderstand her. Otherwise, she would never be able to get married to Brother Jin.
“Is it?” Brother Jin said faintly as he put the handkerchief aside with disdain.
“Yes.” Shen Yunya grabbed his hand immediately. “Brother Jin, you will believe me, right? After all, we have known each other for more than a decade and I have liked you for that whole time. Besides, he is just a stranger who you have never met before.”
Xi Jin lowered his head as he listened to Shen Yunya speak. He looked at her hand, which was resting above his, and wore a smile as he said, “Of course I believe in Ya’er.”
Because he had believed in her previously, he was kept in the dark for three years. He was almost too ashamed to face Dai’er.
Fortunately, he had come to a realization and looked for the state preceptor. Otherwise, he never would have known the truth. He might only have found out what really happened after he died and met Dai’er. How would he have faced her then?
“I knew you would believe me.” Shen Yunya was shedding tears of joy as she looked at the gentle and patient side of Xi Jin that she rarely saw.
Although she almost lost Brother Jin this time, his attitude towards her had changed completely. His gentleness no longer belonged to Shen Qingdai alone. She felt as if she had suddenly risen above the clouds and was floating.
Xi Jin looked at her with his gentle eyes and smiled as he said, “Let us find an auspicious date to make you my consort.”
“Make me your consort?” Shen Yunya looked at Xi Jin, confused. Was he making her his Crown Princess Consort? She hadn’t guessed incorrectly, right?
Xi Jin replied softly, saying, “Uh-huh. He only said that you can’t get married to me. He didn’t say that you couldn’t become my consort. Can’t you just be my second consort or concubine?”
