Early the next morning, Song Jinyu was still fast asleep. Niaoniao came in three times, but she was sleeping soundly each time.
Before the prince left for the court, he specifically instructed, "If the princess wakes up, make sure she has a good nourishing meal. She was overly exhausted yesterday. Take good care of her body."
Exhausted?
Mi Cui wore an unreadable expression on her face and passed on the instruction with a deep smile. Looking at Song Jinyu's blushing face, she could only sigh helplessly.
What on earth had happened?
They did come back a bit late last night, but they had just been chatting in the study for a long time. Why were these people all smiling so strangely?
"Is this blood letter real?" Prince Chengjun, Zhongli Shuoyi, examined it from all angles.
Ji Qinglin took a glance and replied, "Of course it's real!" There were originally two copies, but one had been destroyed by the queen.
"Concubine He committed suicide. The queen is in quite a hurry," Zhongli Shuoyi said. Well, how could she not be? The queen had humiliated me, and so had the crown prince. Just the first four words were worth looking into.
After all, the queen was the mistress of the six palaces.
"The crown prince humiliated me?" Zhongli Shuoyi sneered. "This is getting interesting!"
"And the person?"
A hint of cruelty flashed across Zhongli Shuoyi's round face. "Protect that person well. Then wait for a good opportunity... We must make sure the crown prince will never rise again!"
"Let Father see how disgusting the son he raised with his own hands is!"
At the city gate of the capital, there was a slight commotion.
It turned out that a noble from the Prime Minister's Mansion had arrived today. Rong Shuang'er happened to be there too. "Eldest Miss... Look!"
"The carriage of the Prime Minister's Mansion? What a grand show!" Rong Shuang'er didn't think much of it. She was accompanying her mother out of the city to pay respects at the temple today.
"But the commotion is too much... It's blocking our way," the maid complained. Usually, even when the princes and royalty entered or left the city, it wasn't this troublesome.
Rong Shuang'er was curious. She put on her veil hat and jumped off. "Mother, daughter will go and take a look."
Sure enough, it was the third young lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Ling Yufei was gently patting her chest with a handkerchief. Her almond - shaped eyes were sizing up the guard at the city gate. "Brother Jifeng... It's been a long time."
"I wonder how your wife is?"
An Jifeng looked at her calmly. Although he was a bit impatient, he still remained polite. When she mentioned his wife, he just glossed over it.
Ling Yufei had once been betrothed to him after coming of age. However, Lady Ling thought their family backgrounds were not a match, so the matter was dropped. Later, he married the daughter of the Assistant Minister of Rites.
Although her family background was not as prominent as the Ling family's, the couple got along harmoniously. His wife gave birth to a son and a daughter in three years, and the mother - in - law and daughter - in - law got along well. It was truly a blessing for him.
Since then, Ling Yufei had never been betrothed again. It was said that Prime Minister Ling had once wanted to arrange a marriage with the prince's mansion, but the eligible princes were already engaged. The famous legitimate third young lady of the Ling family had to remain unmarried. Soon, rumors spread in the streets that she had also rejected Prince Yu, Zhongli Mingye.
Seeing that An Jifeng ignored her, Ling Yufei didn't seem to mind. She just smiled slightly and said, "I've long heard that Mrs. An is both talented and beautiful. I wonder when I can meet her?"
"No need! My wife doesn't like meeting strangers. She's very busy taking care of our children," An Jifeng replied.
Rong Shuang'er couldn't help but burst out laughing. She really admired An Jifeng.
Seeing that she had hit a soft nail with An Jifeng, Ling Yufei's face changed several times. "Brother Jifeng..."
Unexpectedly, someone nearby was already impatient. "Third Miss Ling, if you want to catch up, don't block the city gate..."
As soon as the voice fell, the bolder ones among the crowd burst into laughter.
One of them was Rong Shuang'er. She looked over to see who had the courage to tease Ling Yufei. To her surprise, it was none other than Prince Zhongzhou, Zhongli Hong!!!
She remembered all the rumors in the capital and wanted to slip away quietly...
Ming Ruyi was about to leave the city. Seeing the third young lady of the Ling family at the city gate, completely disregarding the propriety between men and women and chatting on and on, he couldn't hold back and spoke up.
Ling Yufei's face turned red and then white, looking quite pitiful. Especially on her oval face, her willow - leaf eyebrows seemed full of melancholy. It was really heart - rending.
However,
Ming Ruyi was not a man who cherished the fairer sex. He was always the one being adored by women.
Rong Shuang'er sighed. "He really doesn't understand romance!" Her voice was not loud, but Ming Ruyi heard it clearly. "I was wondering who it was. So it's Eldest Miss Rong!"
"You seem to understand romance very well?"
"..." Rong Shuang'er originally wanted to retort, but then she remembered that he had saved her. So she held back her anger and tried to back out.
When Ming Ruyi called himself "this king", Ling Yufei was completely stunned. Could there be such a handsome man in the world? She immediately got off the carriage and bowed. "Your servant pays respects to the prince!"
Disgusted that she had wasted so much time, Ming Ruyi covered his nose with his fan. "Tsk tsk... What did you put on today?"
"It stinks!"
This time, Ming Ruyi's status didn't help either. Rong Shuang'er frowned slightly. "Your Highness has a really good nose. I'm standing so close to Third Miss Ling, but I don't smell any stink."
Looking at her, Ming Ruyi's folding fan almost pointed at Rong Shuang'er and called her a fool! However, seeing that more and more people were gathering around, he didn't make things too difficult for the two ladies.
He waved his hand and let Ling Yufei and her servant pass first. Otherwise, blocking the city gate would affect official business. Rong Shuang'er thought she could leave as Ming Ruyi didn't react.
Unexpectedly, Ming Ruyi stopped her. "Eldest Miss Rong, meddling in other people's business is not a good thing!" His eyes flashed. "For the sake of your years of infatuation with this king, this king will give you a piece of advice."
"A dog trying to catch mice is meddling in other people's business!"
"..." Due to his status, Rong Shuang'er blushed with anger. After a long time, she said hatefully, "Then did Your Highness just describe yourself like that too?"
Ming Ruyi opened his mouth. Looking at the stubborn Rong Shuang'er in front of him, he didn't know what to say. He could only shut up and rode away on his horse.
This scene was seen by Ling Yufei. She didn't appreciate Rong Shuang'er's speaking up for her. Instead, she thought Rong Shuang'er was just showing off in front of Prince Zhongzhou.
"Third Miss Ling is back!"
This news spread throughout the upper - class society in the capital. Unfortunately... Most people were just watching the show. Only... Rong Shuang'er thought the story was so... so... exciting!
Three years ago, Third Miss Ling rejected Prince Yu, Zhongli Mingye, and only wanted to find a free world.
To achieve this goal, she left the capital and went to study painting under a master.
Now that she had returned after completing her studies, she announced that her painting skills were even better than those of Prince Yu, Zhongli Mingye.