QT: LAC Chapter 139: Ninth World (4)

Chapter 139: Ninth World (4)
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Edited by Sulo

T/N: I’m very confused whether I should use her or him for the Second Princess. Think I’m going to stick with her until Bai Duan finds out lol

Bai Duan was already nervously observing the princess’s expression, along with that loosened dao contract, Bai Duan actually could sense his lover’s bad mood.

He didn’t know what he did wrong, he also didn’t dare to ask; he was so worried that he started sweating. At the end, the Second Princess quickly took control of the sour jealousy in ‘her’ heart, then ‘she’ smiled, “Aunty hoped that I would meet with you today and to get to know each other… Maybe, you can tell me about yourself?”

This was the most common start to a conversation. After listening to the princess, Bai Duan felt a bit more relieved, so he immediately talked about the subject. No matter what the princess asked, he told ‘her’ the truth, and even included some embarrassing moments in his childhood and even his poor literacy skills. He told ‘her’ everything.

The Second Princess seemed to be quite immersed in his stories, ‘she’ sometimes would laugh at his descriptions as well, it made Bai Duan put more effort into the stories. Bai Duan used all of his brain cells to get his lover to smile — probably even Imperial Counsellor Bai had no idea that his composed son of few words could be such a chatterbox.

While asking Bai Duan, the princess also talked about ‘her’ life in the palace. However, ‘she’ wasn’t the one who actually experienced the hardships, so ‘she’ didn’t have much feelings towards them. When ‘she’ was talking about ‘her’ life, ‘she’ sounded as calm as a mere spectator.

However, in Bai Duan’s eyes, the princess’s distant expression pained his heart. He wanted nothing more than to replace ‘her’ and shoulder all those hardships himself, or to pull ‘her’ out from the suffering right this moment.

He felt an impulse in his heart, and his mouth moved along with it, “Your Highness, please let me have your hand in marriage. I will treat you well, I will not let you suffer for even a second!” Only after saying it did he realize how sudden he was, but he was not going to take that back, so he could only continue speaking with his face all red, “Of course, I will ask my father to put forward the invitation to His Majesty… I… just want you to know that I have the will to marry you…”

Looking at the shy, but responsible and manly adult lover in front of ‘her’, the Second Princess was quite sure that no one would refuse his confession. Even ‘her’ who had already heard many confessions from Bai Duan, still felt ‘her’ heart skip a beat. ‘She’ could no longer keep ‘her’ temperament as a royal princess.

The Second Princess secretly licked ‘her’ lips, then ‘she’ raised ‘her’ hand up to wave Bai Duan over, “Come here.”

Bai Duan’s instinct told him that this was dangerous, but he didn’t put up his guard at all. Bai Duan innocently walked over to the princess as he was asked, then the collar of his clothes was grabbed by the princess, and he was yanked over towards the princess.

Bai Duan lost his balance, he almost fell straight into the other person’s embrace. He was afraid that he would hurt his crush, so he immediately held onto the small table nearby. Unexpectedly, he then felt something soft, warm, and wet on his own lips.

Bai Duan was so shocked that he almost lost his mind, he stiffly maintained his odd position, with one hand holding onto the table, while his back was bent forward. He stared as his crush leaned forward to kiss him, then returned back to ‘her’ original seated position, revealing a very sweet smile to him. After that the princess raised ‘her’ hand up, ‘her’ fingertip had some red powder on. ‘She’ applied the powder on ‘her’ mouth, ‘her’ movements teasing and flirtatious.

Subconsciously, Bai Duan licked his own lips; he tasted the sweetness of the red powder. As the princess watched him, ‘her’ eyes turned even more turbid.

“Your… Your Highness…” Bai Duan said, but he had yet to come out of the shock he just felt.

The Second Princess curved ‘her’ mouth upwards, ‘she’ extended ‘her’ index finger and placed it on Bai Duan’s lips, “I will allow you to call me YuYing.”

“Yu… YuYing…” Bai Duan stupidly repeated what ‘she’ said, and in return he received the princess’s laughter.

“As for what you mentioned just now… this is my answer,” The princess retracted ‘her’ finger back, then, finally, just like how ‘she’ had wished to, ‘she’ got to touch Bai Duan’s cheeks and pinched it lightly, “I will wait for you to bring up marriage with His Majesty, the Emperor.”

“Yes, yes!” Bai Duan was still a bit shocked and couldn’t quite follow the situation, he instinctively said, “I will go report to my father about this immediately, once I get back.”

The Second Princess smiled as ‘she’ nodded ‘her’ head, ‘she’ lowered ‘her’ hand, then held Bai Duan’s hand which was still grasping the table. She put a bit of strength to ‘her’ arm and led Bai Duan to sit beside ‘her’ — closely beside ‘her’.

Bai Duan felt a crisp, clear odor linger in his nostrils. The next second, a… not especially soft body leaned on his shoulder, making Bai Duan stiffen up in shock.

Noticing her little lover’s tenseness, the Second Princess, Cao YuYing grinned in ‘her’ heart. ‘She’ half-closed ‘her’ eyelids, then fiddled with Bai Duan’s hand — ‘she’ compared it to ‘hers’, they were similar in size. Cao YuYing who was quite satisfied with the results raised ‘her’ head to look at ‘her’ blushing little lover, “If you marry me, you have to treat me well — even if I trick you, you will not get angry with me, you won’t abandon me.”

Bai Duan was long blinded by lust, so there was no way he noticed the deep meanings in what ‘she’ just said. He only instinctively nodded his head, “Of course! That is a must!”

Seeing that ‘her’ lover was so dazed by ‘her’, Cao YuYing was very happy and at the same time displeased. ‘She’ wanted nothing more than to push Bai Duan down and let him know what kind of a ‘lady’ he actually fell in love with.

If Bai Duan knew the real gender of the ‘woman’ he fell deeply in love with, then decided that he couldn’t accept it and chose abandon ‘her’ — Cao YuYing thought that maybe he could try deploying a small black house to lock him in, he had been wanting to try that for a long time anyways.

Poor Bai Duan knew nothing of his lover’s booking of a little black house. Bai Duan just had his ‘first kiss’ with the person he loved after all, so he was still in a daze and his heart was immersed in honey. He leaned against Cao YuYing as well, after the two of them spoke their hearts, they began discussing their future plans as a couple.

Bai Duan always thought that he would follow his father’s expectations and be a government official in a remote region. However, after he got married with the princess, being a government official would no longer be an option. Then how exactly Bai Duan could make a living, this was a very big problem. Although Cao YuYing was a princess, and they would get a lot of expensive wedding gifts, Bai Duan didn’t like the idea of relying on his wife to live.

He didn’t only think about their future life together, he also thought about their kids. For example, how many kids should they have, what about their kids’ education…?

The Second Princess who did not have the ability to bear kids: … Hoho.

The two who had just confessed to each other, leaned on each other and chatted with no end, as if they had so much to say that they won’t be able to finish in this lifetime. Sadly, their time together was fleeting.

The guards and the attendant sent by the First Princess thought they were just having a short meeting, and they should be done after a few greetings — especially since both the Second Princess and Bai Duan were known to be people of little words. They would never have thought the two would show no sign of stopping even when night fell. All of them were feeling impatient, so they decided to push someone in and cut the meeting short.

The attendant who brought Bai Duan had no choice but to walk up to the pavilion. She spoke outside the veil with a slightly elevated voice, “Your Highness, it’s almost time to head back……”

The chatting inside the pavilion stopped abruptly, and that was when he noticed that the sun was setting. Bai Duan gave Cao YuYing an apologetic look.

Cao YuYing who knew of what time it was all the way, feigned an innocent and shocked look. Reluctance to leave was written all over ‘her’ face.

“After I return… I will immediately ask my father to go into the palace and ask for your hand in marriage,” Bai Duan mustered up his courage and held his lover’s hand for the first time, promising once again.

Cao YuYing replied with a smile, “Yes, I will be waiting.”

After a few goodbyes, both of them stood up together. Cao YuYing picked up ‘her’ robes slightly as Bai Duan led ‘her’ outside. They walked out while the attendant lifted the drapes up for them. The second they were outside, they saw the carriage waiting for them.

“Then… I will be going first,” After saying that, Bai Duan watched as the princess went into the carriage with the attendant’s support.

Bai Duan watched as the carriage speedily went into the forest trail, he was in low spirits, but very soon he perked up. He quickly walked back home — he couldn’t wait to tell his father the good news, he also couldn’t wait to marry his love, he was already thinking about cohabiting, and being together until death did them apart.

On this side, Bai Duan was busy preparing for the proposal, while on the other side, Cao YuYing went straight to the First Princess’ quarters. After ‘she’ got out of the carriage, ‘she’ went to see the First Princess who helped ‘her’ make this meeting possible.

The First Princess already got news of ‘her’ arrival, she also heard that Bai Duan and her niece had a great time chatting together. Seeing her niece visiting, she immediately smiled brightly, her face was loving and gentle, “How was it? Are you pleased with the suitor your aunt chose for you?”

Cao YuYing lowered ‘her’ head, showing a blushful smile, showing none of the strength and royal aura ‘she’ had before with Bai Duan. ‘She’ moved her feet gently, walking towards the First Princess and gave a small bow. Her voice was soft and sweet, “Thank you, Auntie.”

The First Princess looked at the fragile jade that was Cao YuYing, she did not have the attitudes of a royal princess at all. The First Princess felt pity for her, she also felt more and more hate for the concubine who led her little brother astray, the concubine who was stirring up a lot of troubles in the palace harem. She raised her hand, then gently patted Cao YuYing’s back, “The Bai family is a simple one, their household is modest, and it’s nothing like the palace harem that’s shrouded in haze. This princess trusts them, they will treat you well if you marry to their family. More importantly honorable Bai had always been faithful to his wife, even after she died, he never remarried. He really is a special man in this filth of this world. Under his education, Bai junior will surely not be like other unfaithful men. Even if his feelings for you fade, he will not mistreat you.”

“Hmn,” Cao YuYing’s cheeks were red, ‘her’ eyes were sparkling. ‘She’ had the look of a teenage girl in love, “Niece believes in auntie, also… believes in him…”

Seeing her niece like this, the First Princess couldn’t help but to tease ‘her’ a bit more. After that she started talking about what ‘she’ needed to change after becoming his wife, hoping that ‘she’ would have a happy married life.

Cao YuYing’s face looked serious, but in fact ‘she’ was daydreaming. ‘She’ listened till it was late at night after they had dinner. ‘She’ grasped the chance and showed a tired look, which was noticed by the First Princess, who shooed ‘her’ out of the room, wanting ‘her’ to get some rest.

They did not talk after that, and the next morning, Cao YuYing left the First Princess’s quarters. Just like how invisible ‘she’ was when ‘she’ left, ‘she’ returned to the palace just as invisibly. The First Princess was also very quick in matters, she contacted Imperial Counsellor Bai and discussed the two’s marriage.

Imperial Counsellor Bai had also confirmed very early on that his dear son would marry no one but the Second Princess. So, he had long mentally prepared himself for this. The two sides’ ‘parents’ got along well, after some discussion, they decided to further their conversation inside the royal palace.

Imperial Counsellor Bai was always a good and modest government official, he had earned His Majesty’s praises quite often. As the Emperor’s elder sister, the First Princess, was also here to suggest the marriage, the Emperor naturally felt more compelled.

After hearing Imperial Counsellor Bai’s request and the First Princess’s approval, the Emperor agreed to it very quickly. Obviously, he would not oppose a daughter whom he barely knew existed to get married. It was also a good way to show his reward towards Imperial Counsellor Bai, encouraging others to be more like him.

Everything went smoothly, so this marriage was decided with just a few words. However, the three in the room never would have thought that, the second this was decided, Cao YuYing who was in the cold palace harem already got the news.

Obviously, even though the time ‘she’ spent in this world was short, ‘she’ had already developed ‘her’ own net of getting information. ‘She’ almost got every little detail that went on in the palace in ‘her’ grasp.