Chapter 147: Best Friends Forever! (3000)

After lunch, ignoring Heling Feng's strong protests, Jin'er left the imperial palace on her own and headed to Xiangrui Restaurant.

Regretting that she hadn't remembered where Ying'er and the others were staying, she had no choice but to try her luck at the restaurant. Upon entering, Jin'er went straight up to the second floor.

"Brother Yifan, please stop drinking. No matter how much you drink, she won't come back. Come back with me," Ying'er pleaded, trying to snatch the wine flask from Chu Yifan's hand.

"Leave me alone!" Chu Yifan frowned impatiently, dodging her hand. "I refuse to believe I can't wait for her!"

"Stop drinking. Jin'er only married the Crown Prince yesterday; how could she possibly leave the palace today? Besides, she is now the Crown Prince's Consort, and perhaps the future empress. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't give up a secure position as empress to come here and take such a risk," Ying'er said with a frown.

Jin'er was married to the Crown Prince? The news was so sudden. Why hadn't Jin'er mentioned it at all before?

At that moment, the door creaked open. Both Chu Yifan and Ying'er frowned and looked toward the entrance, freezing in utter astonishment when they saw that the newcomer was none other than Jin'er.

Jin'er closed the door with a faint smile. Ignoring their stunned expressions, she walked over and sat down on the other side of Chu Yifan, pouring herself a cup of wine.

"You really came," Chu Yifan said, recovering from his shock and letting go of his astonishment with a smile.

"It seems you've been waiting for me for a long time?" Jin'er glanced at him with a smile and took a small sip from her cup.

"Ever since we parted last time, I've been waiting here every day," Chu Yifan said openly with a smile, then turned to Ying'er. "Ying'er, go guard the door outside."

Although she desperately wanted to stay, Ying'er knew that whatever they were about to discuss could not be leaked. She had no choice but to stand up and keep watch outside the door.

"This toast is for the Crown Prince's Consort. Wishing you a happy marriage and everlasting bliss," Chu Yifan said, raising his cup with a faint smile.

"Are you certain this is what you truly think?" Jin'er glanced at him sideways, wearing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Chu Yifan paused slightly, then gave a dry, helpless laugh. After a long moment, his laughter subsided. He narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on Jin'er, as if trying to see right through her.

"What is the purpose of your visit today? In my opinion, since the Princess is now honored as the Crown Prince's Consort, you must have lost interest in what I proposed before, right?" Chu Yifan emptied his cup in one gulp, a flash of fleeting disappointment seemingly crossing his eyes.

"If that is so, why did you continue to wait here today?" Jin'er did not answer his question, but instead threw one right back at him.

Chu Yifan smiled, lifting his gaze to meet hers. The amusement on his face gradually faded, replaced by a slight frown. "I simply wanted a definitive reply or an explanation. Call it intuition, but I believed you would agree."

"It seems your intuition is quite accurate," Jin'er smiled, reaching out to pick up the wine flask and refill the empty cup before him.

"What do you mean?" Chu Yifan tilted his head slightly, staring unblinkingly at Jin'er, his eyes filled with probing curiosity.

"I agree," Jin'er said, looking back at him with a solemn expression.

Chu Yifan stared at her in astonishment, feeling a mix of shock, joy, and lingering doubt. "But right now..."

"I did not become the Crown Prince's Consort of my own free will. It won't be long before I leave this place," Jin'er said calmly, toying with the wine cup in her hands.

Hearing this, Chu Yifan was deeply shocked. It took him a long while to process her words. After falling into deep thought for a moment, he frowned and said, "Indeed. To restore the nation and ascend the throne, one must naturally shed their current identity." Once she became a monarch, who would dare dwell on the fact that she had previously been married to another?

Jin'er could roughly guess what he was thinking, but she couldn't be bothered to explain and smoothly changed the subject. "I have one condition."

"What condition?" Chu Yifan asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"My actions cannot be restricted. I still have matters of my own to attend to and cannot spend all day tied down with you people."

"That is easily done. I have temporarily placed the news of the little prince's death under a strict embargo, and our subordinates do not yet know of it. We will handle the plotting for the rest, so you won't need to worry much. When the proper opportunity arises in due time, I will have you appear before everyone."

Hearing this, Jin'er nodded. "In exchange for curing the Earth Kingdom's Emperor, he promised to grant me one hundred thousand taels of gold. Tomorrow at dusk, send your people to the palace gates to collect it and use it to recruit soldiers and horses."

"One hundred thousand... taels of gold?" Chu Yifan's jaw nearly dropped in shock, and he looked at the woman before him with entirely new eyes. With such a massive fortune, how could their forces fail to grow?

Jin'er nodded and warned, "I am warning you now—if you dare squander it, I will not forgive you!"

Chu Yifan chuckled and replied, "Rest assured! I will not disappoint you."

After chatting for a little longer, Jin'er called Ying'er in from outside to join them in drinking, eating, and reminiscing. However, the moment the past events at the Liu Estate were brought up, dark clouds of hatred washed over Ying'er's face. Jin'er quickly cut in, changing the subject while urging her to raise a toast together.

Yet, Ying'er gripped her wine glass tightly, grinding her teeth as she said, "We must not only restore our nation, but also annihilate that damned Jin Kingdom!" Suddenly turning her eyes to Jin'er, tears welled up and brimmed in her eyes. "Jin'er, I know it was wrong of us to let you serve as a maid in our household back then, but none of us knew the truth at the time. For the sake of the bond we shared as sisters, can you please help my Liu Estate avenge the slaughter of over two hundred family members?"

Jin'er clasped her hand, frowning. "What kind of talk is this? If not for the Liu Estate taking me in back then, I would have had nowhere to go, to say nothing of how well you treated me. Where is the grievance in that? The enmity of the Liu Estate is my enmity as well; didn't my wet nurse also die in that catastrophe? So speak no more of grievances or favors. I hope we remain just as we were before—true and close sisters. Let us not grow distant, all right?"

"Sisters! Forever good sisters!" Ying'er choked out, nodding as tears finally streamed down her face.

"Look at you, a grown maiden and still crying like a child. You never used to be such a crybaby; how are you getting younger the older you get? If this continues, you'll never find a husband," Jin'er teased with a smile, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"You wretch, what are you saying?" Ying'er laughed through her tears, playfully throwing a couple of light punches at Jin'er in mock annoyance.

"That's right, this is the Ying'er I know—fierce and overbearing," Jin'er continued to tease with a smile.

Ying'er didn't know whether to laugh or cry, teardrops still hanging on her face. The sight was indescribably comical, prompting both Jin'er and Chu Yifan to burst into continuous laughter.

In the small private dining room, laughter echoed endlessly, and the atmosphere was exceptionally relaxed. It wasn't until the hour grew late that Jin'er rose to bid them farewell and returned to the imperial palace alone.

"Jin'er, you're back. Hmm? Why is there the scent of wine?" Heling Feng leaned in, sniffing the air with a frown.

"I gathered with a couple of friends and had a little to drink," Jin'er replied, using her hand to push his encroaching face away.

"A man or a woman?" Heling Feng asked, his tone turning somewhat nervous.

Jin'er rolled her eyes at him with a smile. "You've already monopolized me completely; surely you aren't going to be so unreasonable as to forbid me from even seeing a friend."

Hearing this, Heling Feng chuckled, wrapping his arms around Jin'er and pulling her protectively into his embrace. "It's just that I missed you! You see, even when you go to see friends, you don't let me tag along. Left all alone in this palace with my mind full of you, how could I not let my imagination run wild?"

Seeing him look as aggrieved as a young bride, Jin'er couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm hardly to blame, am I? How could I possibly dare to casually smuggle the Emperor's precious son out of the palace?"

"Nice try. I hardly think there is anything in this world you wouldn't dare to do." With that, Heling Feng raised a hand and affectionately pinched Jin'er's soft, rosy cheek. "I'll let it slide this time, but the next time you leave the palace, no matter what, I am coming with you."

Jin'er smiled noncommittally. "Oh, that's right. Go tell your father the Emperor that my one hundred thousand taels of gold must be paid out tomorrow. That's why I went to see my friends today—I've arranged for them to collect it at the palace gates tomorrow evening."

"You're already the Crown Prince's Consort; the royal family's money is your money. Why bother moving it out?" Heling Feng asked in puzzlement.

"What? You mean you only married me so you could swindle me out of that one hundred thousand taels of gold?!" Jin'er arched a brow in displeasure.

"No, no, no! How could that be?" Heling Feng hurried to explain. "Wasn't I just speaking the truth? Since you're in the palace every day, wouldn't it just sit there untouched? What if someone with ulterior motives swallowed it up and you didn't even know?"

"You don't need to worry about that. The royal family's money may be yours as well as mine, but this one hundred thousand belongs strictly to me. How and where it is spent is entirely my decision."

"Fine, fine, fine, your decision. Don't be angry anymore. I was only asking, you miser," Heling Feng said with an indulgent, helpless smile, reaching out to flick her dainty nose.

"That's more like it." Jin'er lifted her chin and smiled with satisfaction.

After dinner, Heling Feng pulled Jin'er along to take a stroll through the front courtyard. After walking a large circle, he led her to sit on a stone bench.

The moment she sat down, Jin'er sprang right back up, patted her backside, and said, "There's frost on the stone stool. It's freezing."

Without a word, Heling Feng smiled and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to sit directly on his lap. "This way, you won't be cold."

Jin'er smiled and turned her head, finding herself face-to-face with him at a distance of barely ten centimeters. The proximity was ambiguous, yet close enough for her to clearly see every detail of his handsome face.

"I find you more and more pleasing to the eye," Jin'er said, playfully pinching his cheek. "The very first time I laid eyes on you, you looked simply disastrous."

Heling Feng allowed her to pinch his face as she pleased and chuckled. "Marrying me hasn't wronged you, has it? There must be countless maidens across the entire Earth Kingdom lined up hoping to marry me..." The second half of his sentence—*“too bad I only have eyes for you”*—was abruptly cut short by the unconvinced Jin'er.

"Many more maidens want to marry *me*! Are you prettier than I am? Are you? Are you??" Jin'er challenged, leaning aggressively close to Heling Feng's face as she demanded an answer.