East Lin's fief.
After being made an Imperial Prince, Xia Qianhui had shed his former boyishness, gradually becoming reserved and cold.
Consort Xian nagged him every day. "You're well into your twenties, yet you still haven't married a Princess Consort. Do you want your mother to have no one to rely on in the future?"
Xia Qianhui smiled wryly. "Mother, you're hardly hoping I'll spread the branches and leaves of our family tree. You just want someone to play household intrigue with you."
Ever since his mother had fought the Ruler of Eastern Lin out of existence, her sense of accomplishment had only grown, and she went around looking for people to fight.
It was not that he did not want to marry. It was just that, after Duke Yan's death, that young woman had left all the strife behind and vanished to the ends of the earth. No matter what he tried, he could find no trace of her.
"Your Highness, look." An attendant hurried in with an embroidered handkerchief. The flowers stitched onto it were delicate, exquisite, and lifelike.
"You told us to keep an eye on embroiderers everywhere. At last, I found this embroidery in Hezhou City-it's worthy of the immortals. The young woman's age also matches what you described... Ah, Your Highness, where are you going?"
Before the attendant could finish, Xia Qianhui shot out like an arrow, calling loudly, "Something's come up! I'm going to Hezhou City!"
Hezhou City was in Great Xia. Surely he could not send a carrier pigeon asking Ninth Imperial Uncle to kidnap her for him. He had to go himself.
"What's gotten into him?" Consort Xian asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there's a young woman. She's a little headstrong, and she left when East Lin fell. His Highness has been