Di Daughter's Strategy - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Luo Yi’er didn’t expect Fang Jinling to look over, although she was a bit surprised, she quickly revealed a smile, then put down the curtain and suppressed the deep emotions in her eyes. She knocked on the carriage window and said softly, “Return to the mansion.”

Linglong was a bit surprised, “Miss is going back to the mansion now?”
Hadn’t she seen the young master yet? At least… she should let the young master know that the Miss had come today.

Luo Yi’er glanced at her, “The Prince of Jing and my Elder brother will still have to go to the palace to see the emperor later, what’s the point of us staying?”

Linglong nodded hastily and leaned out to instruct the coachman to return to the mansion.

The coachman flicked the whip, and the carriage slowly started moving. Luo Yi’er held the book that Linglong had handed over, leaned against the carriage, and looked at it carefully. The noise gradually faded away, and it became quiet all around.
Her slightly furrowed brow relaxed a bit.

The carriage suddenly stopped, and Luo Yi’er wasn’t careful, she stumbled forward. Linglong quickly supported her, “Be careful, Miss.”

She sat back up, her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed, and put down the book in her hand. Before she could ask what had happened outside, she heard a faintly indifferent voice, “Is the Legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Qi’s mansion inside the carriage?”

Hearing this voice, Luo Yi’er’s eyelashes trembled slightly, but in an instant, she guessed who the person was. She was just surprised and curious in her heart, how did he appear here?

Outside the carriage, because many people had run to the city gate, there were not many people on this long street at the moment. Fang Jinling sat high on his horse, looking down at the carriage with slightly lowered eyes. He was alone. The coachman looked at him, but seemed to be intimidated, holding the reins tightly.

There was no sound from inside the carriage for a long time, but he didn’t show any impatience, sitting on his horse with an indifferent expression.

Inside the carriage, Linglong saw that her young lady didn’t speak and was a bit puzzled about who was outside.
She whispered, “Miss?”

Luo Yi’er bit her lip lightly and raised her eyes slightly, her voice soft, “In response to the Prince of Jing, it is this subject daughter.”

Linglong heard her Miss’s address and suddenly widened her pupils, her eyes filled with surprise. She hadn’t expected the person who stopped the carriage to be her Miss’s future husband, the Prince of Jing.

“This Prince has been away from the capital for three years, and since the imperial edict was issued, I haven’t seen Miss Luo once. What a coincidence to meet you today. I have something to ask Miss Luo.”

The person inside the carriage didn’t show her face, and Fang Jinling’s expression didn’t change at all. He asked in a calm voice.

Luo Yi’er’s eyes flashed slightly, “The Prince of Jing, please ask. I will naturally tell you everything I know.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fang Jinling’s eyes darkened slightly. He paused for a moment before asking, “Do you have any objections to the imperial edict from three years ago?”

When he asked this, Luo Yi’er’s surprise was slightly revealed in her eyes.
Objections?

That was an imperial edict.
Disobeying it would be a crime punishable by death, and her family might even be exterminated. She naturally couldn’t say she had objections.

In an instant, she realized that since it was impossible to object to the imperial edict, why was he asking her this question?
Luo Yi’er’s eyelashes trembled slightly. He was just telling her that the imperial edict had been issued, and the fact that he and she were betrothed was now a done deal.

Luo Yi’er’s eyebrows rose slightly, and she seemed to sigh lightly, “As for the imperial edict, Subject daughter dare not have any objections.”

Hearing her light sigh, Fang Jinling’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his thin lips pressed into a straight line. After a moment, he asked again, “Since you have no objections to the imperial edict, I ask you, are you willing to marry me?”

When he said this, his self-reference changed to “I”. Luo Yi’er’s heart was as delicate as dust, and she naturally noticed this. She curved the corner of her lip, but her heart was a bit puzzled.
She could be certain that she and the Prince of Jing didn’t have much interaction.
Why did he have this attitude towards her?

She thought for a moment without answering. The long street was silent, and there was no one around. No one noticed that the hand holding the reins was slightly tightened. His heart sank slightly, and the expression on his face became increasingly indifferent.

After a moment, he suddenly turned his horse around, facing away from the carriage, and left a sentence, “This Prince still needs to go to the Palace to see the Emperor. I will visit the Marquis’s mansion another day.”

With a flick of the whip, he rode away, leaving behind dust. Luo Yi’er raised her hand and lifted the curtain, revealing half of her delicate face. She looked at his back with a faint expression in her eyes. Unexpectedly, when he turned the corner, he suddenly looked back, and their eyes met for a moment.
They were both slightly stunned.

His horse stopped for a moment, but in an instant, his figure disappeared from sight. Luo Yi’er still held a corner of the curtain in her hand, and her brow furrowed slightly as if she was thinking about something.

Linglong bit her lip and reminded, “Miss, shouldn’t we continue back to the mansion?”

Luo Yi’er put down the curtain and retreated into the carriage, lowering her eyelids. She fell into deep thought. The carriage was silent, and no one dared to disturb her.

Luo Yi’er’s fingertips moved slightly, and she still couldn’t figure out why the Prince of Jing had this attitude towards her. She was used to having everything under her control, and now she naturally wanted to understand why the Prince of Jing treated her… Differently.

Fang Jinling hadn’t yet reached the palace gate when he caught up with Luo Qiheng and others. A deputy general beside him asked, “Where did the Prince just go?”

Fang Jinling didn’t answer, just calmly looked at the deputy general. The deputy general was a bit puzzled, not knowing what he had done to anger the prince. He looked at Luo Qiheng in confusion, but Luo Qiheng shifted his gaze, looking straight ahead, as if he hadn’t noticed the deputy general’s predicament.

It was a joke; with the Prince in a bad mood, who would dare to approach him?

On the other side, Luo Yi’er had just returned to the Marquis’s mansion when she was called to see Madam Chu. She changed direction halfway and headed towards Fang Yun Hall. Jin Su was already waiting at the door. As soon as she saw Luo Yier, she revealed a kind smile and lifted the curtain, “The Miss is here! Come in quickly, the Madam is waiting.”

Luo Yi’er nodded at her and lifted her hem, entering the room. She saw that beside Madam Chu sat a man wearing a cyan robe. He was thin, with an unhealthy pale complexion, but his eyebrows and eyes were full of gentleness. He sat upright in the chair, with one hand casually resting on the table, revealing the blue veins on the back of his hand.

He occasionally responded to Madam Chu’s words, and when he heard the sound, he turned to look over. Seeing Luo Yi’er, his eyes smiled, and he waved at her, “Yier, come over.”

Luo Yi,er was a bit surprised and quickly walked over, “Second brother came back so early today?”

Luo Qiyan’s eyebrows and eyes were similar to Luo Yi’er’s, delicate and refined. When he smiled, he didn’t lose his masculine charm. He was gentle by nature, which was perhaps why Qingya, that girl, had fallen in love with him.

“Today, Elder brother came back, and Father let me come back first.”

Luo Qiyan currently worked in the Ministry of Works, one of the six ministries. Although it was part of the six ministries, there was a hierarchy, and the Ministry of Works naturally couldn’t compare to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. His daily work wasn’t very busy, which exactly suited Madam Chu’s intentions.

Luo Yi’er bowed to Madam Chu and then sat down beside Luo Qiyan, chatting with him about daily matters. Madam Chu interrupted their conversation, “You just went out, did you see your elder brother?”

Luo Qiyan shook his head with a smile. Luo Yi’er covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled in her eyes, “Mother, why are you so anxious? Elder brother is now in the Palace to see the Emperor. When he comes out, he’ll naturally come back.”

After saying this, she saw that Madam Chu was still anxious and quickly comforted her, “I saw him, sitting on horseback, looking majestic and imposing. He looks stronger and more robust than three years ago. Mother, don’t worry.”

Madam Chu was amused by her, “I’ve not seen your elder brother for three years, and I just can’t put my mind at ease!” At the end, she sighed lightly, hiding her emotions.

The atmosphere in the room was harmonious. Suddenly, Luo Yi’er thought of something and looked at Luo Qiyan, asking puzzled, “Second brother, you’re back, where’s Father?”

Luo Qiyan took a sip of tea, “Today, after the court session, Father was detained by the emperor. He should come back with Elder Brother.”

Just as he finished speaking, Jin Su quickly walked in, “Madam, the Eldest miss and others have arrived.”

Madam Chu composed herself and said calmly, “Let them in.”

The maids standing aside had already refilled the tea for Luo Qiyan and Luo Yi’er.

Luo Qiyan turned his head and looked at Luo Yi’er, his eyes filled with gentle concern, “On the way back to the mansion, I heard that Juman Tower’s suet pastry is unlimited for three days. Second brother asked Zizhu to buy some and had it sent to your courtyard.”

Juman Tower’s suet pastry was one of Luo Yi’er’s favorites. As her second brother, Luo Qiyan naturally knew this. Usually, Juman Tower would limit the quantity of these pastries, making them not so easy to get.

Coincidentally, with the Prince of Jing’s triumphant return to the capital, Juman Tower was also joining in the excitement, and the pastries were unlimited for three days.

Luo Yi’er’s eyes curved slightly, “Thank you, second brother.”

“Do you really like it that much? When Elder Brother has some free time, we’ll go to Juman Tower together.” Luo Qiyan saw her expression and couldn’t help but smile.

Juman Tower was elegantly decorated and often attracted dignitaries and cultured people. If they wanted to go out and gather, Juman Tower wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Luo Yi’er propped her chin up and hummed softly, “I’m afraid that when Elder Brother has some free time, Second Brother will be busy again.”

Luo Qiyan tapped her forehead lightly, shaking his head with a smile, but didn’t refute her words. Now that he and Elder Brother were both officials, they indeed didn’t have as much freedom as before, and couldn’t accompany her as often as they used to.

He knew that although she seemed to get along well with the other sisters in the mansion, their relationship wasn’t as good as Qingya’s.

As they chatted, Luo Qian and the others had already walked in, bowed to Madam Chu, and saw the warm atmosphere between the two. Regardless of what they thought, they lowered their heads and greeted, “Second Brother.”

Luo Qiyan nodded at them, his smile fading slightly. Luo Qian pretended not to see it and nodded at Luo Yi’er, “Third sister.” After getting a response, she sat down on the other side, hands folded and sitting properly, lowering her head and remaining silent.

Luo Qiyan had moved to the front courtyard when he was ten years old. This was the first time Luo Qian had seen him in a long time. He was slightly surprised by her attitude but didn’t show it. Instead, he looked at Luo Yi’er with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
Luo Yi’er just smiled lightly at him.

Luo Fu and the others also sat down. Luo Ying sat below Luo Yier, holding her face and smiling coquettishly, “Second Brother, I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

Luo Qiyan smiled slightly, “I’ve been a bit busy with work recently.”

“Ah? Then Second Brother must take good care of himself.” Luo Ying instantly bit her lip, looking worried and concerned. She was young, but her facial expressions changed naturally.

Madam Chu raised her eyelids and coughed lightly, and the room fell silent instantly. She glanced at Luo Ying indifferently, and Luo Ying lowered her head, feeling guilty.

Luo Yi’er’s mouth curved into a slight smile. Madam Chu felt a bit guilty about Luo Qiyan’s health and knew that Luo Ying was trying to make things difficult for Luo Qian, which naturally touched her bottom line.