Chapter 15 The Elopement Offer
Soon after, the wedding date for Zhao Yan and Zhang Ruhua was set.
It would be at the beginning of next month.
Spring outings, apricot blossoms filling the air.
It was the most beautiful time of the year.
Naturally, he no longer had any mind to worry about my own marriage.
Afraid of causing more trouble, I stayed shut inside my residence.
But Lu Yinchuan came to find me, saying his birthday was approaching.
He asked if I could grant him one wish.
Thinking that this man had taken an arrow for me and had been lying in bed for more than half a month, I felt quite guilty.
“What do you want?”
“But let me say this first—I don’t have much silver.”
A hint of laughter appeared in Lu Yinchuan’s eyes.
“Don’t worry, I don’t want your money.”
“I just want you to spend one day with me.”
What a coincidence.
His birthday happened to be the day before Zhao Yan’s wedding.
Once Zhao Yan was married, it wouldn’t be long before I left for Jinling.
Everything seemed perfectly arranged.
That night, I left the house on the day we had agreed upon.
But instead of Lu Yinchuan, I met Zhang Ruhua.
She looked at me and asked,
“Lord Chu.”
“If I had a way to avoid becoming Crown Princess and give up all this so-called glory and wealth.”
“Would you take me away?”
I looked at the woman in front of me—my former love rival.
“Why?”
She said, “Your Highness doesn’t like me. He has someone else in his heart.”
“And I… Have you forgotten? You saved me twice.”
I was stunned for a long time before I remembered that the girl I had saved on the Lantern Festival night was actually Zhang Ruhua.
Could it be that she liked me?
In this second life, why had everyone gone mad?
I kept my patience and said, “But Your Highness will come to like you in the future. You two will be deeply in love and grow old together.”
She bit her lip.
“You really don’t want me?”
I nodded.
I couldn’t have her anyway.
She pressed her lips together, studied me carefully for a while, then smiled. “Are you afraid I would mind that you can’t perform?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t…”
“If I marry you, I will find a way to help you.”
The Zhang Ruhua who became the Noble Consort in my previous life had always been known for her dignity and steadiness. I never expected her to be so impulsive and bold when she was young.
I said, “Go back. It’s not because of that.”
“Being Crown Princess is the best future for you.”
Believe me, your husband will love you one day.
After Zhang Ruhua left, I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
When a voice came from the shadows.
“It seems I have come at a bad time.”