It was snowing again in the capital. Despite it nearing the end of the year, the snowstorm did not let up at all.
The streets were a little deserted. After all, it was snowing so heavily, many peddlers did not even bother to set up their stalls.
Su Wen sat in the carriage and sighed. “Brother Jin, the fried vermicelli stall isn’t open for business today.”
Zhao Jin smiled and said, “If Young Master wants to eat stir-fried noodles, you can ask the chef at home to make it.”
Su Wen looked at the flying snow outside the window and slowly said, “Am I here because I wish to eat noodles? What I want is to consume youth itself! How can it have any hint of youth if it’s made by a chef at home?”
(TL Note: In China, many of the youths spend their time after classes hanging out and having meals with their friends in such roadside stalls. Well, at least before covid….)
Zhao Jin pursed his lips and cursed inwardly, ‘Youth? It feels more like you’re just making up a load of bullsh*t’
The tires of the carriage made a crunching noise against the snow as it continued to move towards their destination.
Soon, they arrived at their destination — Cloud Gazing Tower.
The place where Xie Yiyi was residing.
Su Wen got off the car, dressed elegantly today in a mink fur coat.
Upon entering, the sight left Su Wen in a daze. The place was packed full of people!
“Dodge! Can’t you see that my young master is here? Are y’all f**king blind!” Zhao Jin said as he squeezed his way in and pushed everyone away.
After clearing a path for Su Wen, Su Wen went forward to the manager behind Cloud Gazing Tower’s counter. He smiled and said, “Can you tell me which room Miss Yiyi is staying in? Just tell her that Su Wen wants to see her!”
When the shopkeeper heard Su Wen’s name, his heart tightened. He hurriedly smiled and said, “Young Master Su, look, everyone here is here to see Miss Yiyi. However, Miss Yiyi hasn’t seen a single one of them since the entire morning. Look, there are even quite a few servants from the Royal family.”
Hmm? Su Wen followed his finger and saw a few people sitting there leisurely drinking tea.
However, when one of them saw Su Wen, he immediately ducked his head!
It was precisely the Second Prince’s personal guard, Qin Mu!
Su Wen walked over and asked with a smile, “Why is Brother Qin here today?”
Qin Mu gave an awkward smile. When he came here today, the Second Prince had specially instructed that if he met Su Wen, he absolutely could not tell him that Qin Mu had come to invite Xie Yiyi back to the palace.
“This… well… I just saw the crowd here and came to see the fun!” Qin Mu laughed.
Above them, Xie Yiyi and Honorable Xie were seated in the same room. Xie Yiyi could not help but say, “Mother, several princes have already sent people over. Why aren’t you agreeing to meet them?”
The corner of Honorable Xie’s mouth curled into a cold smile, “For men, the easier it is to obtain something, the less they’ll cherish it. Although you have the demonic charm body, this technique is also one that displays a stronger effect that the more deeply a man loves you. If the process to obtain you is too easy, it will be detrimental to the usage of this technique.
You need to stir the minds of these people, making them unable to stop themselves from lusting after you. They will slowly sink into it, and only be rewarded at the very end. Just take a look. The people who came today are all the servants of the prince. Which prince would personally come? Even if you were summoned into the residence like this, how much feelings could they have for you? Therefore, for the next month, you cannot be moved by anyone.”
In reality, to these princes, although Xie Yiyi’s dance was good and she also possessed the title of a descendant from the royal family of Qi Country, in their eyes, she was only suitable to be summoned by a servant!
“Miss, there’s Su Wen, the son of the prime minister downstairs. He wishes to see you.”
“Not seeing!” Xie Yiyi said casually.
“Wait!” Xie Dajia however stopped her. She still retained a deep impression of Su Wen from before.
She whispered in a solemn tone to Xie Yiyi, “It’s better not to offend this Su Wen.”
Xie Yiyi was puzzled. “Why?”
Xie Dajia began to explain, “This person is the son of the prime minister. More importantly, he’s arrogant and despotic, and totally doesn’t play by the rules. Worse still, because he is favored by the emperor, this kind of person dares to do anything without being afraid of the repercussions. If you really make him angry, I’m afraid he will do something unreasonable!”
“Then what should we do?”
“Feign civility! Don’t give him a definite answer!”
Meanwhile at the lobby of Cloud Gazing Tower, Su Wen saw Qin Mu’s awkward expression and smiled.
Even though the Second Prince said that he wasn’t interested, he was actually unwilling to give up.
However, Su Wen did not mind. This sort of situation was typical.
“Young Master Su, Miss Yiyi invites you upstairs to meet her!” At that moment, a maid working in the Cloud Gazing Tower came down to pass the message.
The moment she announced the message, the corners of Su Wen’s mouth curled up slightly. He waved his hand at everyone and said, “Go back and tell your masters that the person is mine. Tell them to stop thinking about her!”
With that said, he followed the maid upstairs, leaving behind a group of dumbfounded servants and some young masters who had personally come but were rejected without question.
When Zhao Jin saw Su Wen going up, he laughed loudly and said, “Haha, my young master is still the most charming. Why don’t you all go home and wait for the wedding banquet!”
Many people glared at him in response.
After all, it was one thing for Su Wen to be so arrogant, but even his guard behaved the same way? It was truly hateful.
Meanwhile, Su Wen went upstairs and was led into a room.
The moment Su Wen entered, he saw Xie Yiyi sitting by the table. She was still wearing her veil, and her face could not be seen clearly. She only had a pair of mesmerizing eyes that could be seen.
“Greetings, Young Master Su!”
Xie Yiyi stood up and bowed.
Su Wen waved his hand, “Haha, there’s no need to be so polite, Miss Yiyi.”
Xie Yiyi asked in a soft voice, “May I know why Young Master is looking for me?”
In her opinion, most people would simply say that they liked her dancing, or that they were mesmerized by her.
However, she never expected that Su Wen would directly pop the question, “Nothing much, I just want to ask you if you want to get married. My family is very rich!”
Xie Yiyi was rendered speechless. She fumbled for the proper words to reply to him.
Only to hear Su Wen add, “My father is also the prime minister!”
Xie Yiyi stared at Su Wen dumbly. The two of them exchanged glances for a period of time.
‘Mother asked me to feign civility, but how am I supposed to do so in this scenario?”
After a while, Xie Yiyi finally spoke. “Isn’t this too fast? Young Master and I are strangers. How can we get married just like that?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “Aren’t most people actually getting married only through the words of their parents and matchmakers? A lot of people don’t even know each other before they get married. We’ve already met each other and you know my family background. Just say the word and the rest can be settled after.”
“I… what if I say no?”
Xie Yiyi managed to stammer out.
“No?” Su Wen frowned and said, “If you say no, then there aren’t many people in Great Zhou who are better than me. Don’t tell me you want to marry the princes?”
Su Wen persuaded, “Let me tell you, that is definitely an unwise choice. Why? Because marrying a prince is the riskiest. Look, His Majesty is still in his prime. It’s not certain who will next ascend the throne.”
At this point, he continued in a conspiratorial whisper, “You also know the outcome of the other princes the moment they fail in the competition to ascend the throne, right?”
“If the prince you chose to marry ends up not ascending the throne, then won’t you as a bystander also be dragged in the flames?”
“But it’s different for me. My father is the prime minister. Even if he were to retire in the future, wouldn’t he still be safe? Moreover, my future is bright.Marrying me will at the very least make you a noblewoman. Let’s not talk about anything else, just in terms of food and clothing, even the Royal Concubines might not be better off than what I can offer my concubines.”
“Taking ten thousand steps back, even if you marry a prince and he ascends to the throne in the future, the struggles in the royal harem are very dangerous. You don’t have a family to support you and you don’t have any cultivation. What if you get schemed against?”
“Even if you’re beautiful now, what about 10, 20 years later? Can you defeat those younger and better-looking little foxes?”
“If you follow me, at most, I won’t pamper you too much after that. There shouldn’t be any danger to your life.”