Capítulo 1707: Chapter 1700: When He Leaned on Sisi’s Shoulder

Lin Yu immediately knelt down again, “Your Highness, I was wrong. I beg you, please allow me to work hard to restore my freedom and leave the prince’s mansion!

I truly wish to continue participating in the Golden Hall competition!”

Chu Jinling chuckled faintly, “Is the prince’s mansion not grand enough, or are the provisions offered to you insufficient?”

“No…” Lin Yu hesitated to respond.

Chu Jinling spoke sharply, “Since you think the status of a concubine is too low, I will elevate you to the position of secondary consort, ranked just below the Princess and secondary consorts. You lack any noble birth, yet I am breaking the rules to grant you this position.”

Lin Yu froze for a moment, then suddenly shook her head vehemently, “Your Highness, I am not seeking status. You misunderstand me!”

“Misunderstand?” Chu Jinling laughed lightly, “At first, you willingly came to serve me in the prince’s mansion, even saying you were willing to become a concubine.

Now that I am offering you the position of secondary consort, raising your status and your benefits, you refuse?

Are you trying to humiliate me?”

His voice carried a trace of anger, and Lin Yu panicked, “Your Highness, you misunderstand! I am not rejecting status out of disdain! I regret it deeply!

I want to plead for one more opportunity to follow my own dreams!

I… am not willing to be someone’s concubine!

I still want to compete in the Golden Hall, to join the military, to carve out my own place in the world!”

“Oh?” Chu Jinling’s laugh was filled with mockery, “And what do you think you can achieve?

Your competitors are two tigresses from the families of generals. In terms of birthright and martial arts, they utterly surpass you. You lack noble heritage, and having been negligent these past days, your martial skills have likely dulled—what do you have to win against them?

Besides, don’t forget—they have familial backgrounds and parental support. Even if they grow weary from their time in the military and wish to retreat;

their families can always bring them back, arrange a good marriage for them.

You, however, have no such backing!

Once you leave my Prince Ling’s mansion, even if you win the Golden Hall martial competition and enlist in the army, you’ll start as a mere recruit. How many years do you think you’ll need to achieve what you have now?”

Chu Jinling tossed her a scroll detailing the living standards afforded to the secondary consort of the prince’s mansion compared to that of a soldier’s earnings.

What ordinary woman wouldn’t choose the former?

To be a soldier, struggling and fighting for life, even after twenty years, may not match what a secondary consort could attain.

As the secondary consort, one would only need to admire flowers and sip tea daily, spend idle hours in the mansion, and occasionally dress in finery, with the opportunity to mingle with the ladies and madams of Jiang Du City.

Who wouldn’t want such comfortable days?

Lin Yu stared at the scroll with reddened eyes, “Your Highness, the temptation you offer is immense. The position of secondary consort, to a commoner like myself, is indeed extraordinarily noble!”

“So? What will you choose?” Chu Jinling raised an eyebrow, smiling leisurely as he watched her.

Lin Yu closed the scroll and placed it on Chu Jinling’s desk, her gaze unwavering, “Your Highness, I… Lin Yu, would rather be a soldier, join the military, and endure hardships that most women wouldn’t dare.

I will crush those challenges, protect the nation, and aspire to become a female general!

On this scroll, it is noted that I would need twenty years as a mere recruit to attain the same treatment as a secondary consort, but I’d rather fight and strive for those twenty years.

Even if twenty years later, my life isn’t as glorious as that of a secondary consort in the prince’s mansion, I’ll surely lead a life filled with freedom and happiness!”

A human life is so insignificant!

Especially for someone like her, an ordinary person—sometimes, one might perish in some unknown corner, and only by the stench of death would others reluctantly take notice.

Just like a speck of dust amidst this vast world.

But even as dust, she would one day rise and float under the open skies.

To be a secondary consort…

“This gilded cage is not for me. I beg Your Highness for mercy, to grant me freedom, so that I may pursue a life of my own!”

She was willing to endure hardships, to temper herself, to risk her life for a greater cause.

Even if she achieved nothing in the end, she wouldn’t regret it!

At least her destiny wouldn’t be controlled by others, nor would she spend her days staring at confined skies! To her, the opportunity to strive was far more valuable than extravagant luxuries!

Chu Jinling’s lips curled in a smile, “You are merely momentarily blinded by your lack of foresight. Stay in the prince’s mansion a few more days; I will have Madam Zhao treat you with the privileges of a secondary consort, and then you can reconsider.”

“Your Highness! I have already thought clearly!”

Lin Yu wanted to plead further, but Chu Jinling had already picked up his book and strode away.

His departing figure seemed cold and heartless, as if the options he presented today were never meant to be true choices.

He had never truly regarded her as significant.

Lin Yu suddenly felt as though she was merely a chess piece in Chu Jinling’s hands.

But then…

What role could such a chess piece truly play?

What could he achieve with her?

The book Chu Jinling held was none other than *Supreme Battle Spirit*, a work he had authored many years ago. Yet he kept this individual copy because Lin Sisi had said it was her favorite.

This book that Sisi had flipped through, he had reread countless times. Every word within had been etched deeply into his brain, along with the image of Sisi’s expressions as she read.

“Don’t bother me!”

“I’m at the most exciting part!”

“Go away, go away! I don’t want water or snacks!”

“Sisi, let me accompany you for just a moment—just one moment!”

“Fine, you may lean on my shoulder, but don’t make a sound!”

Beneath the latticed window on a late noon, he tilted his head to rest against Sisi’s shoulder, listening to her occasional chuckles as she read and explaining how entertaining the book was.

It was his own writing after all.

He had long grown bored of its contents.

Yet her joy filled him with an immense sense of accomplishment.

Sometimes, he would fall asleep leaning against her shoulder, even as her shoulder grew numb from the weight. She would never disturb him.

But when he woke up, she would demand he massage her shoulder. As he did, she would remark, “Your shoulder-training isn’t good enough! You barely leaned on me, and I’m already sore! You need to work harder on that!”

Her shoulders were sturdy and strong, unlike those of other women, whose delicate frames couldn’t bear even a slight weight. If he ever leaned against them, he might reduce them to tears.

Only her shoulders gave him a sense of security.

Chu Jinling gently touched his own face, reminiscing about the feeling of relying on Lin Sisi’s shoulders.

His gaze turned obsessive and hollow, “Sisi, let me lean on you once more, will you?

Your absence has stretched time unbearably long—it’s torturous every single moment.”

When will you tell me, when will you return to my side?

The Golden Hall martial competition is in ten days.

Ye Hongru had already begged Chu Jinling several times, yet Chu Jinling remained unmoved, and his attitude was icy, leaving Ye Hongru agonized.

Unwilling to give up, Ye Hongru turned to plead with Lin Aotian.

He thought of Lin Aotian as Chu Jinling’s most respected father-in-law; surely his influence would prevail?

And yet, even Lin Aotian’s requests proved futile this time!

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