"Why do you ask that?" She replied .

"I doubt Lavender Palace would just randomly treat a new recruit so generously . Besides, they let you go so easily . "

"You're only asking this now? It's already been a little more than a month since we left the capital . "

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"Who knows? How much are you willing to give?" This was already a big clue . Lavender Palace, which also served as an information broker, had one division for information trading, and that is the Inner Palace . This included the Inner Guards and Maids, excluding anyone from Yaodu . The Head Maid of the Inner Palace was not in charge of information trading, rather the Vice Head Maid was, as she was a part of Yaodu . The ones who would ask someone for something in exchange for information from Lavender Palace were usually a part of the Inner Palace .

"My future . " Rong Jian acknowledged her clue and gave this answer .

Black lines appeared on Shen Tianyu's forehead . "You're quite the womanizer, huh?"

Rong Jian put his hands on his hips, standing proudly with an indomitable look on his face . "This Young Master's future is quite the hefty price . If Miss Feng can not give an answer worth the price this young master will have to punish you . "

"And, how, exactly are you planning to punish me?" Shen Tianyu replied in a bored tone as she ignored him to look on the ground for any edible plants .

"Of course, by having you marry this prince . "

Shen Tianyu straightened her back with an exasperated expression and looked at him . "See here, with your wealth, marrying you would only be a benefit to normal women not a punishment . Do you even know what punishment means? In the first place, we're dating right now with that intention right? Why are you so urgent, casually proposing like this at every opportunity . "

"If it's so beneficial, why did wifey reject me? And besides, you said dating is more informal than an engagement, and as someone who still has a status of a suitor, it makes me feel uneasy . " Rong Jian came clean .

"I said it would be for normal people . Since you've known me for almost half a year now, would you call me normal?"

"Nope . " Rong Jian responded without hesitation . Then again, a daughter who would ruthlessly disable and sell her family members in addition to ransacking and burning down their estate would never be called normal even if you went to ask the demons in h.e.l.l, so, any hesitation would just be an overly obvious act .

"Exactly . As for your unease . . . " At this, Shen Tianyu scratched the back of her head as she looked at the ground and hesitated before looking up again with determination . "We can't really say we've known each other for long so if this doesn't work out later, the one on the losing end would be me, as a woman . Being a man, you could just abandon me in some remote courtyard or even divorce me, both of which would deliver a big blow to my reputation . And with our current difference in status, it would be very difficult for me to retaliate . And even if I could, with the societal view on women, a vengeful woman like me, on top of being abandoned by my husband, would be utter undesirable filth . With that being the case, any future prospects of pursuing marital or romantic happiness would be looked down on by others . In the event that there WILL be a man that would stay with me, he would be the ridicule of the world and I would never want such a man, who disregards society's scorn to stay with his love, to ever go through that . More dramatically speaking, he may lose his job or have difficulties finding a job because of this issue alone . Such people are usually taken advantage of and met with a tragic end . Of course, all of this is only the worst case scenario . " She explained her stance on the situation . "However, a good scenario for me might not be the best for you . With the many wives and concubines that are at the service of the rich and powerful, their harems are always teeming with schemes . I never want to experience that as that is not only dangerous but also tiring . I've resolved that if I ever marry, my husband can only have me in his entire lifetime and no other woman . Because of this, I've already resigned myself to forever be alone . The notion of 'cheating', or as you people call it 'making the spouse wear a green hat' basically does not apply to men after all so they can have as many women as they like but women can not have more than one man . However, if you are willing and able to promise that you will not have another woman then . . . " A faint blush surfaced on Shen Tianyu's initially determined and serious face . She coughed into her fist before continuing in a shyer and more reserved tone as she stared at him with wavering eyes . "We could . . . get engaged . . . to . . . comfort some of your unease . . . " Her voice grew smaller the more she talked but she was unwilling to look away from the man in front of her, for fear she would miss any signs from him .

'Since he was willing to lay bare his unease in this masculine, emotionless men society, I should also be honest with him,' was what she thought .

Rong Jian felt as if his heart had been hit with an arrow as he gazed at Shen Tianyu's lovable appearance in a daze .

After not seeing any sign or hearing anything from the man, Shen Tianyu became anxious . "W-what is it now? You're the one that came on to me so strongly . Can you not promise? Then that's just as well, things are still early so we can end this early . You can leave and Shue'er and I can travel the rest of the way . . . " She started rambling to try to break the tension in the atmosphere she felt .

Hearing her anxious voice and seeing her fidgeting hands, Rong Jian snapped out of his daze and put a hand on her shoulder . Shen Tianyu started and looked at him .