Chapter 357: The Duke of Qin is the worst (3) (1/2)

Long Feiye left while holding hands with Han Yunxi, so she didn’t even have time to catch the crown prince and empress dowager’s expressions, much less Mu Liuyue. But that was all right. Zhao mama would help her by taking down all the details before telling her at length! Perhaps it’d be better to move on to that rich and arrogant Li Leyuan instead, who considered himself top of the world. He always thought that his family was the richest one in Tianning, but now he realized that wasn’t the case…

Worse, he still hadn’t grasped the severe implications of his previous actions. He could only sigh with emotion as he watched the Duke of Qin’s retreating figure. How he wished he could spend as freely as His Highness Duke of Qin! Unfortunately, even a silk pants rich boy like him felt that 5,000,000 taels of silver was really too extravagant. Most likely, even the reigning emperor would be unable to provide such a sum.

As for the noble, dignified esteemed empress dowager, her mouth was still hanging open in the aftermath of the shock. She wanted to show off a bit more, but now there was no chance for that. The crown prince’s expression was even more ghastly. He had no idea how the imperial uncle and his imperial father would lose their tempers at him once he returned to the palace. Today he’d come to represent the imperial clan, but he not only lost imperial uncle’s silver, but also imperial father’s face.

One may say that he gave his enemy a wife and lost soldiers to him to boot–he paid a high price for his cunning. He always knew this was a trap, but wanted to use the trap as a justified example to take funds from the imperial uncle’s estate. He never expected, however, that within the trap was yet another trap! Despite his pent up feelings, however, he still felt the utmost admiration for His Highness Duke of Qin. If possible, he really didn’t want them to be enemies.

Mu Qingwu’s lips were drawn into a grin. He shouldn’t be smiling, but he really couldn’t help it. If he had known this would happen, he should’ve surrendered sooner to the crown prince so they could bankrupt the imperial uncle’s estate to the end! Behind him, Mu Liuyue was utterly gobsmacked. Parts of her soul had left her body to chase after His Highness Duke of Qin. Her soaring admiration for the crown prince had all but disappeared. Compared to His Highness Duke of Qin’s wealth, the crown prince and imperial uncle were nothing! Mu Liuyue grew more and more unsatisfied the more she looked at Long Feiye. If it wasn’t for Han Yunxi ruining her reputation, perhaps she would still have a chance to marry into the Duke of Qin’s estate.

Before General Mu’s estate had sided with the crown prince, the Duke of Qin had never taken any major actions. Now that he had, it was proof that the Great General’s estate held some weight in his heart. The more she thought, the more jealous she grew. Mu Liuyue was close to infuriating herself to death.

Han Yunxi, ah, Han Yunxi. What did I owe you in my past life to meet you in this one?!

A long time later, Mu Liuyue’s gaze finally settled on Long Tianmo, her husband-to-be. She finally began to worry about the state of her betrothal gifts. If the imperial uncle’s estate had to pay up that much silver, could they still support the costs for her wedding with the crown prince? Mu Liuyue’s fears grew as she thought deeper. After all, there were only a few days left before her wedding day!

It wasn’t just the crown prince’s faction that were left stunned. Everyone else felt restless at the recent developments–even those who were on the Duke of Qin’s side. Nobody knew the Duke of Qin possessed wealth equivalent to an entire nation! His Highness Duke of Qin’s actions stirred up thousands of waves amongst the political circles.

While everyone was still stunned, Long Feiye took Han Yunxi slowly through the paths in the flower gardens. Although Han Yunxi loved the feeling of quiet strolls with this man, she enjoyed talking with him more.

“Your Highness, where did your money come from?” Truthfully speaking, she was curious, too. It was a question that everyone else was wondering too, so she might as well ask him herself.

“A secret,” Long Feiye replied.

“Am I allowed to know?” Han Yunxi asked timidly.

“If you knew, would it still be a secret?” Long Feiye asked back.

The glib-tongued Han Yunxi was left a momentary loss for words. If she said, ‘no,’ Long Feiye definitely wouldn’t tell her. She thought it over a bit before asking, “Could it be that only Your Highness knows the answer to this question?”

Long Feiye seemed to be in a good mood, because he led Han Yunxi to pergola before sitting them down. With a nod, he answered, “It’s something only your lordship knows.”

Han Yunxi immediately seized on the chance to express her feelings. “Chenqie is willing to keep this secret safe with Your Highness!”

Long Feiye furrowed his brows, emanating a deep, profound look from his lofty form.

“Your Highness…doesn’t trust chenqie?” Han Yunxi asked.

“Han Yunxi…” Long Feiye seemed to hesitate, before he trailed off into silence. Han Yunxi waited carefully. She felt like this fellow was preparing to tell her something important. It’d been ages since he’d called her by name. Usually he didn’t call her by name at all-but when he did, it was always her full name.

When he still didn’t speak, Han Yunxi asked doubtfully, “Mhm?”

Finally, Long Feiye spoke up. “Han Yunxi, a secret that’s shared won’t be a secret anymore.”