Xie Fengran sensed the Crown Prince's gaze on her. She frowned slightly and then heard the Crown Prince say, "Miss Xie, there's no need for such excessive courtesy."
"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Xie Yunxi had just been rebuked by the Fourth Princess and was still in a daze. It wasn't until the Crown Prince spoke that she hurriedly looked up.
What she saw was the Crown Prince smiling tenderly at Xie Fengran, his eyes only fixed on the person in front of her.
But clearly, that day at the Sun family's place, the Crown Prince had still smiled at her, and that gentle look in his eyes had once belonged to her!
Xie Yunxi took a deep breath and lowered her eyes to hide the unwillingness in them.
The Fourth Princess on one side saw this and the corners of her mouth quietly lifted. She just couldn't keep it down.
She knew that her brother would surely take a fancy to Sister Xie.
The Second Prince on the side also saw the bracelet on Xie Fengran's wrist. He squinted his eyes slightly and quickly regained his composure. Then he reached out and put his hand on the Crown Prince's shoulder, whispering in his ear, "Brother, you're really lucky with women!"
The Crown Prince shrugged his shoulder to shake off the Second Prince's hand and said with a smile, "Brother, be careful with your words."
"We're all family. There's nothing that can't be said, right, Cousin Qin?" The Second Prince withdrew his hand and winked at the person behind him. His expression was somehow a bit lecherous.
Xie Fengran took a small step back and started thinking about how to get away.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly felt a bold and unbridled gaze on her. Xie Fengran frowned and looked up, just meeting the wanton look of the man in black.
That look was extremely aggressive, making one feel completely exposed.
But it also felt very familiar. Had she seen him somewhere?
The Crown Prince followed Xie Fengran's gaze and found his cousin looking at Xie Fengran. He felt a bit unhappy.
In his opinion, Xie Fengran had already been marked as his. For someone else to look at her so blatantly was simply disrespecting him.
But he couldn't afford to fall out with this person for now. So he took a small step to the side to block the look, and asked with a smile, "Cousin, why are you looking at Miss Xie like this?"
"A gentle and virtuous young lady is a worthy partner for a gentleman. What do you think, Cousin?" This lord hooked the corners of his mouth slightly at the Crown Prince. Although it was clearly a malicious smile, on his face, it didn't seem annoying.
The Crown Prince's face suddenly changed. He almost lost his composure. Even Xie Fengran looked at this lord in surprise.
Did she know him?
Needless to say, the others present were also affected. Xie Yunxi's expression became even more distorted. She wished she could replace Xie Fengran and be fought over by these two.
The Fourth Princess and the Second Prince both looked a bit excited.
The Second Prince was happy to see these two lords fight, while the Fourth Princess looked at Xie Fengran and thought, as expected, the woman she had taken a fancy to was really something.
This lord's eyes played around on the Crown Prince's face for a while. Then he stepped in front of Xie Fengran, lowered his head slightly, met her eyes, and said seriously, "Miss Xie, let's get acquainted. I'm Qin Junxing."
Qin Junxing!
Xie Fengran's eyes widened slightly. She took two steps back. Before she could speak, a female voice came from the side.
"Brother, Second Brother, you're all here!"
Xie Fengran looked over and saw that it was none other than the Third Princess, followed by Sun Jiming.
How timely!
For the first time, Xie Fengran thought the Third Princess was so pleasing to the eye.
Qin Junxing straightened up. He noticed that the girl in front of him had slightly relaxed. He smiled imperceptibly.
Wasn't she quite bold at the Sun family's place?
Why was she so timid here, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Such a good actress!
Xie Fengran didn't know that the person in front of her was slandering her. Taking advantage of this moment, she took a step back and stood beside the Fourth Princess.
The Third Princess interrupted. When she saw Xie Fengran there, her face changed. She asked bluntly, "Xie Fengran, why are you here?"
After saying that, her eyes scanned the group of people suspiciously.
When the Crown Prince saw her, he remembered what the Third Princess and his cousin had said in the carriage on the way back from the Sun family's place. His expression became a bit unpleasant. He stared at the Third Princess and said, "Zhaoyang, you know Miss Xie?"
The Third Princess didn't see Xie Yunxi who was blocked by Xie Fengran. She had long forgotten about this. So she casually replied, "Yes, Brother. Why..."
"Greetings to the Third Princess. Thank you, Third Princess, for inviting this subject's daughter to the banquet."
Xie Yunxi saw the Third Princess as if seeing a relative. She almost wanted to go up and shake the Fourth Princess's hand!
When the Third Princess saw her, the second half of her sentence got stuck in her throat. She opened her mouth, then looked at the Crown Prince's unpleasant expression. Her heart sank.
But she had to brace herself and say, "Brother, this is indeed a young lady from the Xie Mansion."
The Crown Prince gave the Third Princess a deep look and said, "Sister is right."
The one born of a concubine also has the surname Xie. But that day at the Sun Mansion, she had made him misunderstand and almost made him decline this marriage in front of their mother. This made him have to think deeply.
This "sister" made the Third Princess' scalp tingle.
On the other side, the Fourth Princess pulled Xie Fengran and said, "Sister Xie, let's go to the lake! Mother asked someone to put a lot of fish in the lake. There are all kinds of them. There are many I can't even name. Let's go and have a look!"
Xie Fengran quickly followed the Fourth Princess away from this place of trouble. The Crown Prince glanced at the Third Princess and followed.
Qin Junxing also followed, not even looking at the Third Princess.
The Second Prince tapped the Third Princess on the forehead and said, "Why did you offend him?"
The Third Princess looked as pale as death, but she couldn't tell others. That day, she had just wanted to annoy Xie Fengran.
But unexpectedly, the Second Prince added, "Be more polite to Miss Xie in the future. Mother gave her the black jade bracelet she always wears."
"Impossible!"
That black jade bracelet was always worn by the Queen. It was said that it would be passed on to the Crown Princess in the future. What virtue and ability did Xie Fengran have?
"Why is it impossible? If you don't believe it, ask her." The Second Prince smiled at Xie Yunxi and then left.
When the Third Princess saw him leave, she suddenly turned her head and looked at Xie Yunxi. "What on earth is going on?"
...
On the other side, the Fourth Princess pulled Xie Fengran to the lake. Then a palace maid handed over some fish food. The two of them each grabbed a handful and leaned on the railing to feed the fish.
The Fourth Princess looked back and saw that the Crown Prince and the others were sitting on the stone stools not far away and not coming over.
So she leaned towards Xie Fengran and whispered, "How did you offend Zhaoyang? She's a vengeful person. Sister Xie, you should be careful."
"Thank you for the reminder, Princess." Xie Fengran thanked her with a smile and said, "In the future, I'll avoid the Third Princess."
"That's not necessary. If you marry my Crown Prince brother, maybe she'll have to avoid you."
The Third Princess's title was Zhaoyang. Her biological mother was an unfavored concubine. It was only because she was raised under the knees of the imperial concubine that she was granted the title of princess.
Xie Fengran couldn't help but cough twice and quickly waved her hand. "Princess, don't talk nonsense. You'll only damage the reputation of His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Haha, Sister Xie, you're really interesting." The Fourth Princess laughed heartily. She looked back several times and then suddenly lowered her voice and asked, "Sister Xie, how do you know my cousin? You know, since my cousin came back, Mother has introduced so many young ladies to him, but he has never taken a fancy to any of them. I didn't expect him to say such things today."
"It seems that Sister Xie is really charming!"