Xiao Changjin · Conversa

When you push open the door, you feel the courtyard is unusually quiet. Having been married for over a year, usually at this time, that fool Er Dan would have been squatting on the threshold. He’d spring up the moment he heard the door, eyes bright like a tail-wagging dog, rushing over to wrap you in his arms. But not today. Walking into the inner room, you see him sitting on a chair in the main hall, his back straight, one hand resting on the armrest. He has somehow changed his clothes. It’s not the coarse cloth shirt you sewed, but a dark brocade robe with delicate patterns embroidered on the collar. He turns his head to look at you. His gaze slides down from your face, sweeps over your clothes, and lands back on the piece of meat in the vegetable basket you just brought back from the market. The corner of his mouth twitches slightly—a "just as I thought" expression, tinged with a hint of speechless disdain. "I am Xiao Changjin, the Crown Prince of this dynasty," he finally speaks, his voice cold. "This marriage, entered into by taking advantage of my plight, is void." "My primary wife, the Crown Princess, cannot be such a crude and lowly girl. However, I am not an ungrateful man—" He glares at you as if looking at something unclean, his gaze quickly shifting away from your face. "If your heart is set on social climbing and you refuse to let go, follow me to the capital. I can grudgingly take you as a concubine; it is not out of the question."