New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

After waiting outside the gate for almost half an hour, Tang Qian finally saw a figure flash in front of the screen wall in the mansion. Zhao Yingluo and Rong'er walked out of the corridor one after the other.

"Can you rest assured now, young master?"

Without any attempt to hide the helpless looks from the two guards, Tang Qian cupped his hands in greeting, then took Zhao Yingluo's hand and led her home. Even after the three of them had passed through the hall and returned to their bedroom, Tang Qian did not let go of Zhao Yingluo's hand as he closed the door.

Upon noticing Zhao Yingluo's flushed cheeks, Tang Qian realized his actions were inappropriate. In a hasty release, he pressed her down to sit at the round table, saying, "Tell me everything the Seventh Princess said to you, word for word."

"Young master, you're really shameless! How dare you pry into your daughter's private matters?"

Despite Rong'er's ridicule, Tang Qian was not angry. He just stared intently at Zhao Yingluo, making her feel her cheeks burning even hotter. "The Seventh Princess didn't say anything. She just asked if I was used to living in Youzhou and if I needed to hire two maids. On the contrary, I dared to say some nonsense. I don't know if it will ruin my husband's plans."

Tang Qian was puzzled, but not worried that Zhao Yingluo would betray him. They were all in the same boat; if the boat capsized, no one would survive, unless she had no intention of fleeing south.

“I have been calling the Seventh Princess my sister. Although I am no longer a princess, my status is still there, so I don’t think I have disgraced her. However, as my husband said, the princess has a very good temperament and has not put on any airs because of my status as a hostage.”

"She accepted you as her sister?"

While acting like a rogue outside the princess's residence, Tang Qian considered dozens of possibilities in his mind, but he never expected that the two princesses could get along so well and even become sworn brothers.

"Hmph, isn't it all so that you, young master, can enjoy the bliss of having two women? My young lady has sacrificed so much for you, yet she doesn't receive any affection from you. Rong'er feels sorry for her."

"The blessing of having multiple wives?" Tang Qian was completely bewildered. "What does that mean?" Could it be that what Zhao Yingluo meant by addressing each other as sisters...?

Thinking about this, Tang Qian wanted to slap himself. Two princesses sharing one husband? He was dreaming.

"Rong'er, do you think the young master is too easygoing, to the point that you speak so recklessly?" Zhao Yingluo's gaze had just swept over Rong'er when she was so frightened that she immediately stuck out her tongue and hurriedly walked towards the door. "Rong'er will keep watch for the young master and young lady."

After the bedroom door closed again, Zhao Yingluo gave Tang Qian a slight bow with an apologetic expression: "Rong'er is still a child, please don't take offense, husband."

"It's alright." Tang Qian waved his hand generously. "Miss Rong'er is simple-minded by nature. I know she was just trying to speak up for you, but there are some things she really shouldn't know."

“I understand my husband’s concerns.” Zhao Yingluo sighed. “Now I understand that the ones who want to keep you in Youzhou City are Wanyan Xun and Princess Wanyan Xi. Neither of them is someone we can afford to offend right now.”

“That’s right. If we want to leave safely, we’ll have to outwit and outmaneuver these two.” Tang Qian frowned slightly. “Previously, to protect myself, I made some boastful claims in front of Wanyan Xun, which led to his house arrest. My original plan was to use the Seventh Princess, Wanyan Xi, to counterbalance him, but things went wrong, and by sheer chance…”

Tang Qian hesitated to say what was next, but Zhao Yingluo winked at him and asked, "So the result is that the Seventh Princess favors your husband?"

“This is really not the outcome I wanted. The Seventh Princess is now the Lord of Youzhou City, appointed by the Emperor of the Great Jin. If I could maintain a friendly relationship with her and have her keep me in the Princess’s residence, even if Wanyan Xun is the commander of the Youzhou army, he wouldn’t be able to cause trouble at the Princess’s residence. However, I have gone too far now. Even if Wanyan Xi wants to protect me, she will probably have to avoid suspicion and cannot keep me in the residence to serve her. Otherwise, she simply cannot bear the anger of her father, the Emperor. I cannot harm her.”

Zhao Yingluo nodded in understanding: "Today, Wanyan Xi summoned me, ostensibly to inquire about my daily life, but in reality, it was to show the people the Great Jin Emperor had placed in the Princess's residence. However, I can also see that the Seventh Princess is truly bewitched by you, my husband. Otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed so readily when I told her that I hoped to be called her sister."

What puzzled Zhao Yingluo was what methods Tang Qian had used to make Wanyan Xi so devoted to him.

“As for Wanyan Xun, he is indeed a troublesome person.” At this point, Zhao Yingluo’s face began to turn red again. “This morning, he came to my house to see me, so I know very well what he’s up to.”

What did he say to you?

“He…” Zhao Yingluo felt it was too embarrassing to say, but she had to. She could only bite her lip lightly. Tang Qian had to hold his breath to hear her soft voice. “He asked me to seduce my husband, preferably to give birth to a son or daughter to continue the family line. In reality, he just wanted to use me and the child to control my husband.”

Tang Qian sneered: "From the moment I learned that my wife was going to marry me, I had already figured out Wanyan Xun's intentions. If we don't go along with him, our future days will definitely not be easy."

Zhao Yingluo's face was flushed red all the way to her ears: "Then what should we do? Wanyan Xun needs us to be harmonious as a couple, but how should we explain this to Wanyan Xi?"

Isn't this just choosing between two people who can decide their life or death?

"We don't need to worry too much about Wanyan Xi," Tang Qian said, believing that she was still just a minor. "We still need to be more wary of Wanyan Xun."

"How can we deceive Wanyan Xun?" Zhao Yingluo pretended not to understand. Tang Qian said that the two of them could pretend to be a loving couple in front of others, but they couldn't have offspring just by pretending.

Tang Qian stroked his chin: "To prevent the servants from tipping me off, I really can't sleep in the study all the time. So I'll prepare an extra quilt in the bedroom. As for offspring, it's not something you can just have whenever you want. It shouldn't be too difficult to wait a year or two."

If he still couldn't escape Youzhou by the second year of the Jingkang era, he would probably have no choice but to stay in the Jin Kingdom and look for opportunities to rebel for the rest of his life.

"Since you're going to pretend to be in perfect harmony, I happen to have a new piece of music. I noticed that my wife has a guqin in her dowry, so she must be a connoisseur of music, right?"

"A new piece?" Zhao Yingluo's eyes lit up again upon hearing this. "I never imagined that my husband could compose music. It truly makes me look at him in a new light."