Fu Suiyan, the least favored of the ninth princesses, attached herself to Yan Lingbai, the young prince who had just come first in the imperial examinations.
Everyone in the capital said the Ninth Princess wanted the young prince to marry her.
But Yan Lingbai was a favorite of the emperor and his own nephew. If he were to marry a princess, it would be the beloved Third Princess, or perhaps the Fifth Princess, born of the empress.
There was no way it would be the Ninth Princess, who lived worse than a daughter of a noble family.
When those words reached Fu Suiyan, all she heard was that she was delusional, reaching for a branch far above her station.
Yan Lingbai was outside when the palace attendants reported this to her.
Fu Suiyan already disliked him, and this only made her angrier.
By the next day, the rumors in the capital had changed.
The young prince himself said that he had asked to marry the Ninth Princess, that he was the one reaching above his station, and that she had only agreed to keep him by her side out of regard for their kinship.
Later, Yan Lingbai petitioned for an imperial decree. The new emperor was delighted, bestowed the title of Princess Yong'an on Fu Suiyan, and decreed their marriage.
On their wedding night, the Ninth Princess didn't let the young prince into bed. He held a lamp, his voice warm and gentle.
"It's all right, Yuanyuan. We have a long life ahead of us."
Theme: Love should be honest.
