The Mayling is not large. Even if they walk slowly, there will always be a time when they reach the end.
Chu Huan stopped first and said, "I'll watch you go."
Su Jun's hand, hidden under her sleeve, was cold, and her fingertips trembled lightly. But she still said this sentence, "Chu Huan, we are not suitable."
"Where is it not suitable? I like you, and you also like me. It is the most suitable."
Su Jun glared at him; he was deliberately dodging the issue, "I'm already married!"
"Unh——" Chu Huan clapped his hands and said, "I understand, Jun'er is urging me to act faster. Don't worry, I won't let Jun'er wait for too long."
Chu Huan said while his smile flowed out from his voice, clearly with the intention of teasing Su Jun's eagerness to marry.
Su Jun was angry, "Chu Huan, don't think you can fool me into changing the subject. I am already your sister-in-law."
Chu Huan smiled and said, "Originally, did you like this kind of role-playing? I don't mind it, well, it's just that when we get married in the future, we can't let others hear such a name. Otherwise, people might think that Jun'er has some strange habits."
Su Jun took a deep breath, aaaah, damn it, why was she fooled by the previous two kings of Qi?
Chu Huan is still that dog!
But so thinking, Su Jun was more indignant.
She actually fell for this scoundrel!!
Two years have passed, and I actually blinded myself... no, wait, how could she possibly be wrong?
This must be because Chu Huan was too good at pretending in the first two encounters!
Su Jun angrily said, "Playing dumb!"
Chu Huan's eyes twinkled, and he understood what Su Jun was thinking. He smiled and said, "Same here. Elegant, graceful, dignified... sister-in-law."
The last two characters seemed to linger on his lips several times before being spoken, adding a lot of ambiguity.
Before, these two words were like a sharp blade inserted into the heart, causing pain without touching them, and pain with contact, bleeding and devouring the life and everything of the King of Qi. But now, these two words are just a playful thing between them.
Because, Jun'er likes him.
Su Jun glanced at him sideways. Previously, Su Jun would retort without mercy, but now how should she respond?
Should she mention the Crown Prince? Call Chu Huan 'uncle'?
But wouldn't this hurt Chu Huan's heart?
Su Jun couldn't say it out.
She could only feel angry, but couldn't bear to utter a word, fearing that she might really hit Chu Huan's sore spot.
Chu Huan was incredibly soft-hearted. Because they were too familiar with each other, he could easily feel Su Jun's care.
He couldn't help but lift his hand to touch Su Jun's fair cheeks, but halfway there, he thought of the servant girls behind him and raised his hand a little higher, intending to stroke the plum blossom on her hairline.
But this is too impolite.
The long sleeves rose and fell, and Chu Huan could only touch the cold air of winter.
"Su Jun, I am fond of you. Chu Huan wants to marry Su Jun as his wife."
Chu Huan spoke too seriously. Two years ago's lesson was that he should not delay and not always wait for a good time, like when Su Jun reaches the age of majority to express his own feelings.
He should cherish every chance to meet with Su Jun.
In youth, one always feels that there will be plenty of time, and then it becomes an unattainable distance.
Su Jun was a bit stunned. The cold wind blew through the branches, and plum blossoms fell everywhere. The cold wind swept over her face, but it couldn't dispel the warmth in her heart.
"Are you serious? Have you really thought it over?"
Chu Huan was serious, "There is no clearer consideration than now. Every word I say comes from my heart."
"But, we are not suitable."
Su Jun avoided Chu Huan's gaze. It's really not suitable, she was in a mess of heart.
From realizing her affection for Chu Huan to their mutual understanding now, everything happened too quickly.
Before entering the plum forest, Su Jun had never thought that she would be with Chu Huan, let alone consider him as her husband.
The time it takes to go through a plum forest is far too short for Su Jun to think about her lifelong affairs.
Su Jun said, "Chu Huan, I am the Crown Prince's consort. I honor the heavens and ancestors. I accompany the Crown Prince to worship heaven and visit the tombs. The heavens know me, and my ancestors in the afterlife know me. I am different from others."
The emperor has not appointed a queen for many years and loves the Crown Prince, so he has improved the Crown Prince's status in all aspects.
Su Jun accompanied the Crown Prince to worship heaven and visited the tombs of Emperor Taizu. For the past two years, she has been in charge of the New Silk Ceremony —— this should have been the responsibility of the Queen, but since the emperor has not had a queen for many years, it was previously hosted by Empress Dowager —— she can say she has taken on some of the responsibilities of a queen.
With such an identity and such treatment, she is not an ordinary Crown Prince's consort.
The emperor's favor for the Crown Prince also allows Su Jun to have some of the Queen's treatment in advance.
In a way, Su Jun symbolizes the face of a part of Great Qi.
Queen, the mother of the nation, is in name the mother of the vassals, but she has transcended the category of a vassal and can have some treatment befitting a monarch.
Such an identity cannot be compared with the simple Royal Prince's consort.
In the future, if Chu Huan wants to take Su Jun into the palace, there will be countless subjects who will die to stop him. Let alone that he wants to marry Su Jun.
"Former Emperor Gaozong could appoint a martial queen, so I can certainly marry you."
Su Jun said, "It's different. Wu was just a concubine before, but I am the Crown Prince's consort who has left her name in the eyes of heaven and ancestors. Only barbarians who do not know etiquette will marry their sister-in-law after their brother's death."
"You are challenging the bottom line of everyone in the empire. After all, our dynasty is different from the previous one. The ministers do not look down upon the recklessness of the royal family in the previous dynasty at all."
The present dynasty has been established for a hundred years, and the throne has always been inherited by the eldest son, with no struggles over the succession. Each emperor, even if he is of ordinary talent, also works diligently to fulfill his duties as emperor.
The ministers of this dynasty do not have the strong nerves of their predecessors in the previous dynasty and cannot withstand such a situation.
Su Jun said lightly, "Chu Huan, I cannot be a concubine."
When Former Emperor Gaozong welcomed Wu to enter the palace, he first used the identity of a concubine and only a few years later was elevated to the position of empress.
Su Jun couldn't do that, at least she didn't want to see Chu Huan marry someone else and then bow down to another woman as a concubine.
She also doesn't have that much patience, expecting to be elevated to the position of empress through giving birth again and again.
Such a time is too long, and there are too many variables.
With any slight mistake in the process, it would be Su Jun's entire life at stake.
Moreover... Su Jun lowered her eyes, what she didn't say was that she and Chu Huan together, whether as a wife or a concubine, would ruin the reputation of the Su family.
If she were to be a wife, the Su family could still be the imperial house of Qi. As a concubine?
It's likely that her father would ask her to end her own life.
Su Jun could not do such a thing that was unfavorable to the Su family, nor could she abandon morality and shame, stepping on the Su family and Chu Huan together.
Chu Huan said firmly, "Of course, you will only be my wife, my first wife."
The wife of life and death, fate will make them old together.
Su Jun sighed, "Do you know the difficulty of this? It's something that has never been done by anyone before."
With the knowledge base of Chu Huan and Su Jun, they can naturally find one or two examples in history, but those predecessors are not worth letting Chu Huan and others refer to.
First, exclude the barbarians, then a unified dynasty with a long history of over a hundred years, and finally exclude the fallen emperors and incompetent emperors...
The only example that can be counted is Former Emperor Gaozong and Wu.
But compared to Wu, Su Jun's status is more problematic because she is the Crown Prince's consort of Great Qi.
Chu Huan said, "Jun'er, two years ago I also asked. I have loved you since two years ago. That winter, I went to ask the emperor to grant us a marriage, but he didn't allow it."
Su Jun trembled slightly.
Chu Huan pouted pitifully, "I knelt for a whole night, and my knees have left me with a lingering illness. In the winter months, my legs hurt, like ants biting, it's excruciating."
As he spoke, he couldn't stop looking at Su Jun.
Is Chu Huan the kind of person who silently gives and doesn't expect Su Jun to know?
He isn't at all!
He wasn't afraid of giving Su Jun psychological burden before, but now their relationship has changed!
Chu Huan said, "So this is not a hasty decision on my part. I have spent two years pondering over this matter, and I will never regret it. Former Emperor Gaozong never regretted making Wu his empress until he died, and I consider myself no worse than him. Therefore, many years later, I will also never regret going against the established norms and marrying you!"
"I will never suspect you because you are the Crown Prince's consort, or harbor regrets in the future. Because this is my fault, not yours. Two years ago, I couldn't marry you because of my own shortcomings, not because of Jun'er."
