"Oh! Then to make a long story short, Miss, I have come to call off our engagement. Since this match was decreed by His Majesty, I need your consent. If we dissolve the engagement by mutual agreement, His Majesty will not hold it against us," Li Lihua said softly, parting her vermilion lips.
"Ah, I understand Miss Li's meaning! You think marrying me is marrying beneath you, while I am aiming too high in aspiring to Miss Li! That is why you have come to my door today to force this prince into voluntarily breaking the engagement. That way, if my Imperial Father investigates, he will see it was done of my own accord, and your Li Family can rightfully claim you are not defying an imperial decree, is that it?" Zhao Lie said with a cold sneer.
"Is that any way to speak to my mistress? A mere deposed prince, don't be so shameless! Why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection? You want to marry my mistress — do you even have the right?" Xiaoyu scoffed derisively at Zhao Lie.
"Shut your mouth, you lowly slave! How dare a wretched maid act so insolently before a Prince! When I am speaking to your master, where does a servant girl get the right to interrupt? Miss Li, control your dog, or don't blame this prince for beating the dog to spite its master!" Zhao Lie shouted.
"You... Mistress, look at how he..." Xiaoyu stammered with grievance and fury, too angry to speak. She never expected that the usually spineless Zhao Lie would be so overbearing today.
"Xiaoyu! Shut your mouth right now! How dare you show disrespect to the Ninth Prince! Ninth Prince, Xiaoyu's loose tongue just now was entirely due to my poor discipline. I beg the Ninth Prince to forgive her!" Li Lihua said, bowing to Zhao Lie.
Then she turned to Xiaoyu and snapped, "Hurry up and apologize to the Ninth Prince, and beg for his forgiveness!"
Li Lihua had already heard about what happened at the morning court session today; her father had told her. Naturally, her maid Xiaoyu knew nothing of it.
Yet when her father told her that Emperor Yuan had betrothed her to the Ninth Prince, Zhao Lie, she had resisted fiercely. However, an imperial command could not be disobeyed. Unless both parties voluntarily dissolved the engagement, they had to fulfill it, regardless of which side was unwilling! Otherwise, it would be treated as defying an imperial decree — punishable by imprisonment at best, or decapitation at worst.
Therefore, Li Lihua had to keep a low profile, swallow her temper, apologize to Zhao Lie herself, and demand that her maid Xiaoyu do the same immediately.
Reluctantly, Xiaoyu muttered, "I am sorry, Ninth Prince. It was Xiaoyu's fault!"
Zhao Lie let out a cold hum. "In the future, you had better open your eyes and learn how to behave like a proper servant! I will spare you this once!"
By now, Xiaoyu dared not say another word, and could only repeatedly answer, "Yes!"
Li Lihua felt a bitter taste in her mouth, thinking Zhao Lie was going a bit too far, but she had not forgotten the purpose of her visit.
Stifling her anger, she turned to Zhao Lie and asked, "Ninth Prince, what do you propose we do about this?"
"Do you want to hear the truth, or a lie?" Zhao Lie smiled.
"Naturally, I want to hear the truth," Li Lihua replied.
"Very well! The truth is: this prince does not agree to calling off the engagement!" Zhao Lie declared.
"And the lie?" Li Lihua felt a heavy knot in her stomach.
Zhao Lie sneered. "The lie is: if you dare defy the imperial decree, you will be executed without mercy!"
"Oh! Ninth Prince, if I call off the engagement, it won't be for nothing. I am prepared to offer the Ninth Prince a huge compensation!" Li Lihua said.
"Oh! How much is Miss Li going to compensate this prince? If the sum is right, I might just reconsider our marriage..." Zhao Lie trailed off.
"One hundred thousand taels of silver. How does that sound, Ninth Prince? If you agree, it can be settled right now!" Li Lihua urged, clearly growing anxious.
"Splendid! It seems your Li Family is truly wealthy! In that case, let's make it a flat rate of three hundred thousand taels of silver, not a single coin less!" Zhao Lie stated.
Seeing Zhao Lie open his mouth like a lion demanding a huge sum, Li Lihua could not help frowning. Three hundred thousand taels of silver was no small amount, but if she refused, Zhao Lie would stubbornly reject breaking the engagement.
Thus, Li Lihua replied, "Very well! It's just that I only have one hundred thousand on hand. I will have the other two hundred thousand gathered and delivered to you in full three days from now. What do you say, Ninth Prince?"
"Very well! No problem at all!" Zhao Lie smiled.
With that, Li Lihua handed the banknotes for one hundred thousand taels over to Zhao Lie.
As Zhao Lie took the banknotes, he thought to himself: *I am in urgent need of money right now. This little girl is truly my savior, sending charcoal in the midst of snow.*
He tucked the banknotes into his tunic, making sure to pat them down, and then looked with an enigmatic smile at Li Lihua, who was about to turn back. "Many thanks for the banknotes, Miss Li. I accept the conditions you proposed just now, but I also have a condition of my own. I hope Miss Li will agree to it as well; otherwise, I'm afraid this engagement cannot be called off!"
"You..." Xiaoyu wanted to curse again, but when she caught Zhao Lie's piercing gaze, she felt a genuine chill run down her spine. She immediately clamped her mouth shut and dared not utter another word.
"Ninth Prince, what do you mean by this? Surely a prince of your standing wouldn't dare to go back on your word and play tricks?" Li Lihua's pretty face turned pale, and a measure of fear gripped her heart. If the Ninth Prince took this massive sum of money and then reneged, she would truly lose her virtue and her money into the bargain!
"Hahaha! Miss Li, please don't misunderstand! This is how I see it: My Imperial Father has issued an imperial decree explicitly naming the two of us to be wed. If the engagement were simply canceled because of thirty thousand—ah, three hundred thousand taels of silver from Miss Li, it would completely ruin this prince's dignity! How could this prince ever show his face in public again? Therefore, next spring, Miss Li shall accompany me to the Yelang country, pretending to travel alongside me! This will satisfy my Imperial Father, deceive the world, preserve this prince's dignity, and protect the Li Family's reputation so you won't be regarded as a woman marrying a second time. Miss Li, this is a single stroke that accomplishes four goals! What do you think, Miss Li..."
Looking completely harmless, Zhao Lie spoke while gazing at the black veil covering Li Lihua's face.
Hearing this, Li Lihua felt a towering rage ignite in her chest. Given her usual spoiled and arrogant temper, she would have already attacked Zhao Lie.
However, the Zhao Lie before her was a prince. Even though he had lost his power, reality told her that today this man had dared to brutally beat the Eighth Prince and curse the Prime Minister Qin Kui, yet Emperor Yuan had openly shielded the brat! And right now, he was being so overbearing that he had tricked her into handing over one hundred thousand taels in banknotes! All of this was more than enough to prove that the Ninth Prince's usual cowardice had all been an act.
He was playing the pig to eat the tiger!
Li Lihua was infuriated at having fallen into Zhao Lie's "treacherous plot," but she did not dare vent her anger and had no choice but to swallow her humiliation. As for her maid Xiaoyu, her heart burned with fury, but she dared not voice her discontent.
Li Lihua took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and only after calming her inner turmoil did she reply, "The Ninth Prince is certainly thorough in his thinking. Let it be as the Prince says! In three days, I will send over the remaining two hundred thousand taels of silver, and at that time, the two of us will sign an agreement!"
"Good, good, good! Of course there is no problem with that! I hope Miss Li delivers the money on time. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from mentioning the matter to Imperial Father, and if things get out of hand, we'll all be utterly screwed! Hahaha!" Zhao Lie laughed heartily.
"Rest assured, Ninth Prince. As soon as my Li Family borrows the funds, they will be delivered within three days without fail! My word is my bond!" Li Lihua replied.
"Good! This prince trusts Miss Li! If there is nothing else, Miss Li may take her leave. In such bitter and harsh weather, making Miss Li suffer the cold over such a trivial matter would weigh heavily on this prince's conscience!"
Zhao Lie was in high spirits. With this sum of money, when he went to Yelang next year, he would be able to carry out his plans.
"Very well! Farewell!" Li Lihua forced herself to depart with a natural demeanor.
Her maid Xiaoyu closely followed behind, and the two figures quickly vanished into the howling wind and snow.