"Xiao San, why aren't you coming up yet?"
After passing through the second gate, the Crown Prince noticed that the Third Princess hadn't followed. He stopped in his tracks and happened to see the confrontation between the Third Princess and Xie Yunxi.
He couldn't help but call out, only to be caught off guard by the Third Princess's interrogation: "Miss Xie, does the princess know you well?"
Xie Yunxi: "..."
The Crown Prince's eyes lit up. He looked at Xie Yunxi and asked, "Xiao San, is this the Miss Xie from the Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion?"
The Third Princess glanced at the Crown Prince out of the corner of her eye and curled the corner of her mouth. "Yes, this is Miss Xie from the Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion."
Xie Yunxi never expected to catch the Crown Prince's attention. She quickly bowed to the Crown Prince. "This humble girl pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Her movements were graceful, her figure slender, and there was a shy look on her face.
Xie Yunxi was naturally charming, and this display of hers really attracted a lot of attention.
The Crown Prince didn't say anything. Instead, he looked back at the Third Princess. "Let's go!"
The Third Princess nodded. She was about to leave when she suddenly turned around and said to Xie Yunxi, "Miss Xie, the queen mother will hold a palace banquet in the imperial garden the day after tomorrow. I hope to see you there."
This time it was Xie Yunxi's turn to be flattered. "Th-thank you, Third Princess, for the invitation."
The Third Princess nodded. Her eyes swept across the crowd, and she curled the corner of her mouth, clearly in a very good mood.
After the Crown Prince and his entourage left, the flower - viewing banquet at the Sun family was coming to an end.
The Sun siblings began to see off the guests.
Sun Yuelan took the opportunity to pull Xie Fengran aside. "You've offended the Third Princess. Do you think your grandmother will scold you when you get back?"
"My grandmother won't scold me for this. Don't worry!"
"How can I not worry? Your half - sister has been clinging to the Third Princess, and even the Crown Prince talked to her. Aren't you afraid that your grandmother will send her instead of you to the palace banquet the day after tomorrow?"
Just now, it was unclear whether the Third Princess did it deliberately or not. She only said that Xie Yunxi was Miss Xie and didn't mention her birth order at all. If the Xie family also made such a mistake, wouldn't Xie Fengran be too wronged?
Xie Fengran gave Sun Yuelan a strange look and said, trying not to laugh, "If my grandmother really replaces me with her, I'd be laughing in my dreams."
"You..." Sun Yuelan felt something was strange but couldn't put her finger on it.
At this time, Xie Fengran saw Xie Yunxi looking around for her. She pushed Sun Yuelan. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. You don't need to worry about me. You know what I want. Do you think I'd care about those things?"
After saying that, before Xie Yunxi could find her, she quickly stepped out. "Sister, were you looking for me?"
"Where did you go, sister? I've been looking for you everywhere." As she said this, she glanced at the place where Xie Fengran had just come out.
"Wasn't sister just saying goodbye to Miss Wang? Did you finish talking so soon?"
Xie Yunxi shut up awkwardly. Just now, she had been complained about by Miss Wang. She didn't dare to scold Xie Fengran now. The two of them walked out together.
Just then, Sun Jiming was seeing off guests at the door. When he saw them, he bowed his hands.
The two of them returned the salute.
Xie Yunxi walked in front and got into the carriage first. When Xie Fengran passed by Sun Jiming, she suddenly heard him say, "The servants in the mansion disturbed the girl just now. Please forgive them."
Xie Fengran was stunned for a moment and immediately realized that it was Sun Jiming who had instructed the servants in the Sun mansion to secretly come up and ask her about the storyteller.
Since she was acquainted with Sun Yuelan, she naturally knew Sun Jiming.
Sun Jiming wasn't a gossipy person, so there must be someone who wanted to ask.
Xie Fengran thought about the situation just now. When the servant came up, it was just a short time after the Third Princess had arrived.
She immediately understood most of it. She nodded slightly and whispered, "Thank you."
A hint of a smile appeared in Sun Jiming's eyes. He didn't say anything else and watched as Xie Fengran got into the carriage.
After getting into the carriage, Xie Fengran lifted the curtain and looked out. Sun Jiming was still standing there looking in this direction.
She sighed.
She understood Sun Jiming's feelings, but now there were some things that she couldn't help.
However, she really had to thank Sun Jiming for today's incident.
If the servant hadn't approached her but instead approached Sun Yuelan, and Sun Yuelan had been entangled by the Third Princess at that time, if the servant had asked, everyone would surely know, and there would be another disturbance.
Moreover, Sun Jiming's words just now might also have been a reminder.
So it was obvious who this inquirer was.
Xie Fengran felt a bit annoyed. What on earth was the Crown Prince up to?
He took the opportunity to inquire about their gathering and even asked about Miss Xie.
If she hadn't misseen, when the Crown Prince heard that Xie Yunxi was Miss Xie, he had deliberately stopped to ask.
However, she didn't know that on the other carriage, they were also talking about them.
The Third Princess had just been retorted by Xie Yunxi, and her mood should have been bad. But now she was looking at the Crown Prince with a teasing smile. "Brother, what do you think of that Miss Xie?"
The Crown Prince gave her a warning look, signaling her to shut up. Then he looked at the other person. "Cousin, what do you think of this Miss Xie from the Xie family?"
Qin Junxing was leaning on the carriage, closing his eyes to rest. Hearing this, he opened his eyes and glanced at the Crown Prince. He coldly spat out a word, "Boring!"
The Crown Prince wasn't angry. "A young man knows beauty and yearns for young maidens. How is that boring? Moreover, aunt said she would choose a main wife for you. Did you take a fancy to any girl today, cousin?"
Hearing this, the Third Princess's eyes twinkled. "Brother, I heard that the queen mother quite fancies the Miss Xie from the Xie family. For whom is the queen mother sizing her up?"
The Crown Prince's expression stiffened. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by Qin Junxing.
"Elders first. The Crown Prince hasn't chosen his princess consort yet. How can I jump ahead of the Crown Prince?"
The Third Princess didn't expect this cold - looking cousin to answer her. She couldn't help but look over.
When Qin Junxing saw her looking over, the corner of his mouth suddenly curled up, showing a slightly malicious smile.
This smile made the Third Princess's heart skip a beat. She had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, the next moment, Qin Junxing said, "Just don't let the fish eyes be passed off as pearls and blind your eyes, Crown Prince. Picking the wrong one would be a joke!"
The Crown Prince frowned and looked at Qin Junxing. "Fish eyes passed off as pearls? What do you mean, cousin?"
Qin Junxing leaned back again and closed his eyes to rest. "Just saying it casually."
The Crown Prince was about to ask again when the Third Princess, who had been listening nervously, quickly took over the topic. "Yes, just joking!"
But she couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.
Just now, she had deliberately led the Crown Prince to think that Xie Yunxi was the legitimate daughter of the Xie family. It was just a sudden impulse.
She thought that if Xie Yunxi could catch the Crown Prince's eye, then Xie Fengran would have no chance.
She didn't want Xie Fengran to become the Crown Princess. Otherwise, wouldn't she have to bow to Xie Fengran in the future?
It was one thing to scheme, but if the Crown Prince found out now.
She would be in big trouble!
Although the Crown Prince looked like a gentle and polite gentleman in front of others, others didn't know, but as his younger sister, the Third Princess knew how ruthless her Crown Prince brother could be.
How could she not be afraid?