“You’ve got guts, girl, throwing your weight around here in the Northern Territory when you don’t look like one of us yourself. You really dare to speak of the Princess’ marriage with the Young Marquis?” The man rolled up his sleeves, glaring at Liu Luoyi.
The people around them were drawn by their actions and came over to watch.
“Hey, be a bit gentler. That girl looks familiar, like the one the Princess brought back with her. Be mindful of that.” One of the onlookers chimed in with a well-intentioned reminder.
Hearing this, the man relaxed his grip on Liu Luoyi’s arm, his face showing surprise and his voice gradually lowering: “Even if she is, she insulted our Young Marquis and should pay for that.”
“I didn’t insult him, so there’s nothing to repay. Apologies, Young Marquis, but I am feeling unwell. I’ll take my leave.” Liu Luoyi pushed away the man holding her back and strode toward the door.
However, she was met midway by Baili Mingyuan, who had appeared out of thin air. He stretched out a hand to block her in front of the door.
“For you to say something like that, Miss Liu, there’s surely a reason.” Baili Mingyuan frowned. His expression was still warm, but he did not budge at all.
He waved the others away, then said with a volume only the two of them could hear: “I have bothered you these past few days, Miss Liu, but I heard that the Princess was quite fond of you. I thought to curry favor with you, so that you would put in a good word for me with the Princess. Rest assured, I truly had no intention to offend you.”
Liu Luoyi now had no desire to listen to him. She took a step back, nodded, then said: “Since no offense was meant, please step aside, Young Marquis.”
Baili Mingyuan tapped himself on the chin with his fan, shaking his head: “However, your behavior just now puzzles me. Miss Liu, you seem extremely dissatisfied with the matter between the Princess and myself.”
“You may not know, but my father has already discussed this with His Majesty in detail a few days ago. My family, of the surname Baili, is the largest marquisate in E’Gu and has the overwhelming support of the North. The Princess will soon become the Crown Princess, and the support of my family would be icing on the cake. The Princess and I are childhood sweethearts, and the king has said nothing to the contrary. It’s already been settled. So, Miss Liu, please tell me why you said that the Princess would not agree to marry me?”
Liu Luoyi felt stifled, unable to either speak her grievances nor swallow them back down. All she felt was a headache coming on.
Liu Luoyi was truly disinclined to exchange words with him and reached out to push Baili Mingyuan away. She used a lot of force behind her push, and Baili Mingyuan was not braced for it, so he staggered back, supporting himself against the wall to stabilize himself.
The space before her now empty, Liu Luoyi walked away. The burly man from before then could not hold himself back and moved forward to grab her, scowling, but Liu Luoyi dodged him.
Frustrated, Liu Luoyi grabbed a broom from the side and held it in front of her.
“W-what are you doing?” The man did not expect that Liu Luoyi, who looked delicate and weak, would beat them to the draw. For a moment, he was stunned.
“Young Marquis, would you even dare say those words directly to the Princess or the King.” From the beginning, Liu Luoyi never acknowledged the other man; she had her head turned to look at Baili Mingyuan, her voice light.
Baili Mingyuan opened his mouth but did not say a word.
He felt a little fearful now, that he indeed spoken thoughtlessly.
“I never had any intention of involving myself with the Young Marquis, but now that you all have taken the initiative to provoke me, I will speak bluntly: the Young Marquis should give up on becoming Fuma. Goodbye.” Liu Luoyi tossed the broom aside, sending the burly man a contemptuous glance.
“You!” The man was enraged by her look and raised a hand to seize her.
Just as the dangerous situation reached its peak, Liu Luoyi was pulled away and a person dressed in black took her place. Without budging, they grabbed that man’s wrist and snapped it upwards.
“Ahhhhh! Ow ow ow—” The man hollered, writhing as he struggled. He grabbed his wrist, blustering, “Who are you?! You dare act like this in the Marquis’ Estate?!”
Being pulled away so suddenly, Liu Luoyi almost lost her footing. Fortunately, the other person supported her with an arm around her back.
She looked up. The tenseness in her heart melted away, warmth flowing forth in its place. Her eyes grew teary.
“Take a look.” Yuchi Li said, her voice deep. With a slight movement, the man knelt on the ground with a thump. He stared at her in astonishment.
“S-Second Princess?” His jaw dropped. He even forgot about the pain for a moment.
Yuchi Li lowered her eyes to glance at him, then turned to look at Liu Luoyi again. Her eyes seemed to glisten, filled with gentleness. She said softly: “Are you okay?”
Liu Luoyi bit her lip, not saying a word. She pushed Yuchi Li’s arm away, glaring at her resentfully.
Her eyes and nose were red, and she looked extremely aggrieved. After a moment, she lifted a hand to wipe away her tears.
The onlookers started to look at each other, absolutely baffled. They all remembered that this girl had just been brandishing a broom at them with murderous intent, her bearing cold beyond reason. But now she looked so pitiable that even they could not help but feel tender.
Then, they all moved forward and bowed to Yuchi Li in obeisance.
Baili Mingyuan was all the more stumped. He had only heard from the people of the palace that she was valued by the Princess and presumed that they were simply friends. Now it seemed, however, that the Princess cared for her more than anyone else.
But he could not afford to overthink it. Now he had a hard-to-come-by opportunity to see the Princess and he had to use it wisely. And so, he straightened his clothes, strode forward, and paid his respects to Yuchi Li: “Second Princess, it’s been a while.”
He smiled, looking expectantly at Yuchi Li.
Yuchi Li impatiently moved her gaze away from Liu Luoyi to scrutinize him with narrowed eyes. She looked him up and down, then finally said with an awkward expression.
“And you are?”
Baili Mingyuan’s smile froze on his face.
Yuchi Li turned her head and tugged on Liu Luoyi’s hand. Her sharp eyes were filled with distress and sorriness. She released her left hand, and the man still crying out in pain collapsed to the ground.
“What’s wrong, what did they do to you?” She anxiously wiped away Liu Luoyi’s tears.
“He said you had a childhood betrothal.” Liu Luoyi sniffled, opened Yuchi Li’s hand, and turned around to leave, not desiring to talk. She actually had not been so aggrieved originally. She knew that Yuchi Li had nothing to do with this, but for some reason, upon seeing Yuchi Li herself appear, a multitude of indescribable emotions welled up inside of her.
“Childhood betrothal?” Yuchi Li was dumbfounded but quickly reacted, looking at Baili Mingyuan with a frown.
Baili Mingyuan quickly took a few steps back. He thought that Yuchi Li was like an entirely different person then before. Not her appearance, but rather the way she looked at others, her bearing. They made him dare not speak more.
“P-Princess, have you forgotten? When we were kids…”
“Sorry, I really did forget.” Yuchi Li smiled apologetically, telling him the truth.
Baili Mingyuan was rendered speechless. His fan fell to the ground. He had a sinking feeling, like the dream he had had for so long was slowly crumbling.
“Young Marquis Baili?” Yuchi Li seemed to remember something and nodded, but the conversation suddenly changed direction, “This Princess remembers now. The year I left, you’d just married the number one beauty of the Northern Territory?”
“Uh…’ Baili Mingyuan had never in a million years thought that Yuchi Li would bring this up. He hurriedly picked up his fan, smiling embarrassedly, “Just a concubine. If that bothers Your Highness…”
“No, no, no, that has nothing to do with this Princess, it does not bother this Princess. May the Young Marquis and his Young Marquise have a long, happy life together.” Yuchi Li smiled with a distant courtesy, blocking any reply.
Everyone else did not dare speak and just stiffly watched the scene unfold.
“Everyone, please be at ease.” Yuchi Li smiled kindly. She lifted her arm and brushed her sleeve across Baili Mingyuan’s shoulder, signaling for him to walk away.
Once Baili Mingyuan numbly got out of the way, Yuchi Li suddenly threw out a kick, sending the man who had just threatened Liu Luoyi flying. She did not put full force behind her kick, but the strong, burly man was still sent sliding some distance across the floor.
After the man let out a miserable cry, everyone sucked in a cold breath, but no one was brave enough to approach.
“From now on, if anyone in E’Gu—no, in the Northern Territory—dares bully Miss Liu, they will meet the same fate. Now, everyone, let’s continue. It’s all good, no need to worry.” Yuchi Li maintained her kind smile.
Upon seeing this pitiful sight, everyone in the courtyard nodded their heads like their lives depended on it.
“Don’t cry, Xiao Liu’er.” Seeing Liu Luoyi crying like this, Yuchi Li felt useless. With the gentlest of movements, she wiped away each of Liu Luoyi’s tears, “I don’t want to marry him, I didn’t know. It was my fault, okay?”
“You’re so difficult to coax once you get jealous like this.” Yuchi Li heaved a fake sigh but was smacked by Liu Luoyi. Even though it stung a bit, she was still smiling happily.
The others were all stupefied. No one had ever seen the Second Princess, famous for her willfulness and unruliness, wear this patient look, not returning the hit tit for tat.
“You can’t marry anyone else. You also can’t be anyone’s childhood sweetheart.” Liu Luoyi mumbled, uncaring about if anyone saw. Her words were utterly unyielding and unreasonable.
“Of course I won’t marry someone else. My Fuma’s name is Liu Luoyi.” Yuchi Li said, ruffling the hair on her forehead, but was knocked back by Liu Luoyi.
Liu Luoyi disregarded everything else, the gazes on them, and threw herself into Yuchi Li’s embrace, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly. She murmured in a hushed voice: “Princess, I don’t want to wait. I’m scared they’ll steal you away.”
“Huh?” Yuchi Li’s eyes widened.
“Then…you agree to tell the world about our marriage?” Yuchi Li grinned. After exhausting herself over these last few days and on her journey back, she had not expected to get this piece of good news.
Her physical weariness also seemed to disappear.
Liu Luoyi nodded vigorously in her embrace. The tears on her face smeared onto Yuchi Li’s clothing as she sobbed.
“I want to get married, the sooner the better.”
Thank you for the update 😊