"What a brilliant move!"
Ming Ruyi shook his folding fan and took a sip of pre-Qingming tea. He recalled Zhongli Mingye's earlier arrangement: "The more fiercely my nephews fight, the better."
"Snapping"
He closed the folding fan. The crown prince had no hope left. If only Zhongli Mingye could be a bit more ruthless.
As for the Prince of Chengqin, there was an interesting person. He'd let that person step forward.
Among the emperor's four adult sons, one after another, Ming Ruyi was in no hurry. A strange light glinted in his phoenix eyes. Ming Ruyi pressed his chest where he felt an emptiness.
He regretted it!
If he had won Song Jinyu's heart in that small mountain village back then, there might never have been a chance for Zhongli Mingye.
It was a pity that he had personally sent Song Jinyu to the capital and witnessed the emperor bestowing the marriage upon them.
There had been nothing unusual before. Ming Ruyi had only thought he had a bit of a crush on her. It wasn't until he met Rong Shuang'er that he belatedly realized his heart had already been lost.
Letting out a soft sigh, Ming Ruyi calmly looked out of the window as a swallow's tail swept by gently.
How wonderful it would be if she were by his side at this moment.
With her lively nature, there would be more vitality in the Zhongzhou Prince's Mansion.
With her intelligence and quick - wittedness, she might be able to play chess with him. Did she like fish? He could even pick out the fishbones...
He had never thought he would be trapped by love before. But now, every time he returned to the capital, he would be troubled by such things.
Good nephew,
It's still uncertain whose the world will be.
Zhongli Mingye had just burned the secret letter when the person sleeping soundly behind the screen suddenly sat up. "Mingye!"
He walked around and saw her on the crabapple - scented sleeping couch, showing a pair of fair and jade - like feet. Her eyes were still hazy. "What kind of dream did you have?"
He hugged her slender shoulders. His eyes swept over her pink face. With a smile, he covered up her exposed skin.
"I dreamed of Ouyang Jinsè!"
"Oh?" Without showing any emotion, he took off his boots and lay down beside her.
Song Jinyu had no intention of going back to sleep. "I have a feeling that he's not dead!"
"I've sent people to keep an eye on him all the time, but there's been no clue." Since she said so, Zhongli Mingye decided to continue sending people to search. "Zhong Yuanliu said he saw a woman who looked similar to him..."
He frowned in distress. "But there's been no movement since then."
"It's not that there's no movement. It's that the person has disappeared..." Zhongli Mingye had long suspected the hidden master in the Eastern Palace. He had found out that someone had seen that master, an old man with a strange way of doing things.
Jinyu sat on the couch looking at the motionless old weirdo. She said hatefully, "I'd rather die at the bottom of the valley than be like this, neither human nor ghost!"
"Jie jie... Cough cough..." The old weirdo spat out a mouthful of blood. "It's worth dying after having a tryst with a beauty like you before I die!"
Hearing him mention this, Jinyu tightened the chain in her hand.
She made the man breathe his last!
Jinyu, who was once Ouyang Jinsè, never expected that as soon as he showed up in the capital, he was immediately discovered.
Now that Shen Yingyun of the Eastern Palace was dead, he had fled from the capital in a hurry.
Zhongli Mingye's influence was much greater than Ouyang Jinsè had imagined. He not only had no chance to approach Song Jinyu but also couldn't establish himself in the capital.
A terrifying look shot out of his fox - like eyes. In his rage, he didn't notice the old weirdo's eyes roll for a moment.
"Song Jinyu, just wait for me..."
Lying in his arms, Song Jinyu felt much more at ease. There was no use thinking too much. The man's goal was becoming clearer and clearer.
It wasn't that Zhongli Mingye was chasing the throne, but that the throne was forcing him to claim it. Her mind kept echoing his words: "The existence of me and my brothers is considered treason."
"I'm going out. You stay at home and read storybooks obediently." Song Jinyu tied his belt and hung the jade pendant for him. When she looked up, she met his phoenix eyes.
"I'm going to be spoiled by you..."
Niaoniao brought in a whole box of storybooks with the maids. "That's just right. I'll be more at ease then!"
Ignoring Song Jinyu's accusing look, he pinched her pink cheek. Zhongli Mingye strode away, leaving only his high - spirited back for her.
There was still a bit of rouge from the boudoir on his fingertips. He gently twirled it, and the light blush spread, just like her smiling face.
Ming Ruyi brought the person over, and Zhongli Mingye smiled. Looking at the old acquaintance, his thoughts drifted back to the year when he had just established a relationship with Song Jinyu.
He had made a jealous joke because of Lin Yijun.
Now, seeing that he was more resolute than before. "Uncle..."
"I'm cooperating with you, and of course, I'm thinking about you. Nephew, whether you take a step forward or backward depends on you!" Ming Ruyi shook his folding fan as if he were talking about an ordinary matter.
Lin Yijun knelt on the ground, his tightly - clenched fists showing the blue veins.
After he left, Ming Ruyi set up a delicate formation. "Nephew, please..."
Zhongli Mingye didn't decline this time. "Uncle..."
"Don't tell Jinyu about this... She's pure - hearted... These sordid things aren't worthy of bothering her."
After drinking the tea in his cup, Ming Ruyi felt a bit bitter. "You dote on her so much. Do you know that many people are eyeing her? She has become your weakness."
"I can protect my mother, and I can protect her too."
The unwavering tone in his words made Ming Ruyi slightly absent - minded.
"Uncle, since you've made the arrangements, I won't get involved in this matter anymore." He was only very worried that if Song Jinyu found out about this, she might get involved because of their past friendship.
She wasn't a heartless person,
But the current situation was very delicate. Someone had to break this balance! The two men calmly sized each other up and suddenly laughed.
The next day, it was still early.
In the jade - colored gauze curtain, a delicate female voice softly moaned and woke up.
"Today is Rong Shuang'er's birthday. I'll be back soon."
"No..." The man was woken up by her movement. He grabbed the woman and pulled her into his arms. "Be good... I still want to sleep."
At first, he just hugged her, but his hands became restless. The softness and smoothness in his palms made him reluctant to let go. "You... Wait a minute... I want to..."
She struggled to break free from his burning embrace. She clearly saw something in his phoenix eyes. "Well, I know what you want..."
What she meant by "want" wasn't this!
By the time it was broad daylight.
Zhongli Mingye got up contentedly. The woman who had planned to get up early was still lying weakly in the gauze curtain.
"My love, remember to get up early. Don't miss the time."
She gritted her teeth hatefully. He looked cold in front of others but was amorous in private. Song Jinyu had no choice. She felt that her waist was as soft as cotton,
weak and powerless.
She had to call someone to prepare a fragrant bath.