At that time, Li Xinyue was already four months pregnant. Fortunately, she didn't suffer from the morning sickness common among pregnant women. She was full of energy all day long, seemingly even more vibrant than before.
Thanks to Chu Junyi's daily company, he had put a great deal of effort into trivial matters to make his beloved wife happy.
To accompany his wife and keep her in high spirits, he rarely went to the court and hardly dealt with government affairs.
He was already the chief grand councilor of the court. How could he handle everything by himself? What was the deputy grand councilor for then?
So he waved his hand and delegated all the tasks, while he himself, drawing a generous salary, took his wife to enjoy the flowers, the moon, and the beautiful spring scenery.
Emperor Mingde could do nothing but sigh about this. It was inappropriate for him to accuse Chu Junyi of neglecting his duties, after all, he was taking care of the emperor's own daughter.
However, he was also troubled that since Chu Junyi became the chief grand councilor, he was no longer as diligent and dedicated as before. His worldly wisdom was almost written all over his face.
There was nothing he could do. Emperor Mingde had to shift his attention to Wei Jingren, who was still at the grassroots level. This young man could still be of great use.
In the third month of the lunar year when the fireworks were in full bloom and the green willows caressed the embankment.
Li Xinyue was sitting on the fluffy lawn, chatting with Chu Junyi. Suddenly, she looked up and saw the crown prince and Murong Jia fishing. She wondered if Murong Jia outshone the spring flowers, for the crown prince kept looking back at her. But unexpectedly, the person he was looking at always kept her head down, pretending not to notice.
The person who should have ignored him always met the crown prince's eyes.
That person was Li Xinyue.
Li Xinyue smiled at the crown prince gloatingly and then looked at Murong Jia ambiguously.
The crown prince lowered his eyes embarrassedly, coughed lightly, and then glared at Chu Junyi resentfully. The meaning was obvious: Could you please control your wife!
Chu Junyi returned a menacing look. He always felt that the crown prince had too much eye contact with his wife and didn't take him, the legitimate husband, seriously.
The crown prince helplessly rubbed his forehead. Could some people please stop causing trouble!
Seeing the eye - to - eye exchange between her husband and the crown prince, Li Xinyue spat out a mouthful of tea, which attracted Murong Jia's concerned look.
"Your Highness, are you okay?"
Li Xinyue thought that the crown prince had tried so hard to catch someone's attention, but that person just ignored him. However, her casual action could draw that person's attention. Wasn't the crown prince jealous?
The crown prince gritted his teeth in jealousy. Yes, he was.
"I'm fine. Keep fishing. If you can't do it, ask the crown prince to teach you." Li Xinyue gave the crown prince a chance.
The crown prince naturally wouldn't miss it.
Murong Jia lowered her eyes shyly, thanked him softly, and then handed the fishing rod to the crown prince, watching him fish.
Seeing Murong Jia, Li Xinyue couldn't help but think of Murong Xiu.
Early in the morning, as soon as they arrived at the destination, he was called away by Yuan Xirou, who said she needed help gathering firewood. They had been gone for half an hour and still hadn't come back. Li Xinyue had a good idea of what was going on.
...
"Mr. Murong, I... I've had feelings for you for a long time. I... I..."
Yuan Xirou wrung her handkerchief with both hands, nervously staring at Murong Xiu, who was a head taller than her.
This scene was overly familiar, which made her recall the scene when Princess Yuanyang confessed her love to him.
Did the princess succeed or fail in the end?
Would she have the same fate as the princess? But some words were so depressing to keep in her heart. She was afraid that if she didn't say them out, she would go crazy.
"I..."
"Wait!" Yuan Xirou looked up and hurriedly interrupted him.
Murong Xiu was slightly taken aback. He watched as the little girl blushed in front of him, bit her lips in confusion, and finally said to him with a relieved look.
"I know you have someone you like in your heart, and maybe you'll never let go. So, I'm just saying this because I'm afraid I'll suffocate if I don't.
Once I've said it, I feel more comfortable. You don't need to answer me or feel any burden. I don't have any ulterior motives.
Please promise me to just pretend you didn't hear this, okay?"
She paused for a moment. Afraid that he would say no, she quickly lowered her head to gather firewood and changed the subject, "We've been out for too long. The princess and the others must be getting anxious. Let's hurry up."
"Let's give it a try." Murong Xiu leaned over and held her wrist. While she was in a daze, he naturally took the firewood from her hand and tied it up tightly.
"If Miss Yuan doesn't mind my past, then let's give it a try." He raised his head and stared intently at the dazed Yuan Xirou.
Yuan Xirou felt as if fireworks were exploding in her head at this moment. She could hardly hear what he was saying. She only wondered if things could really go this smoothly.
It was so smooth that it felt like a dream.
"Am I dreaming?"
Murong Xiu couldn't help but laugh. His gentle eyes swept over her slightly trembling eyelashes, and he suddenly remembered that night at the manor when a certain little wildcat secretly showed her claws.
Actually, she was quite cute.
He wasn't a monk and didn't intend to live a life of abstinence. He just hadn't met the right person.
Now that this person had appeared, he should strive for it. Otherwise, he would miss another opportunity.
"No. You're not dreaming." He replied seriously, then lowered his eyes and smiled, "It feels like I'm the one dreaming." Since he had asked the emperor to betroth the princess to him, the whole city had known about it.
Coupled with his illegitimate birth, no well - matched woman would be willing to marry him.
So, even if he didn't want to be abstinent, he was forced to be.
Regarding his marriage, he gradually lost interest. However, her confession had added a bit of fun to his dull life.
"Let's go. If we don't go now, they won't have a fire to roast the fish."
Murong Xiu stood up and dragged a bundle of firewood.
Yuan Xirou was still standing there, not yet recovered from the happiness.
Murong Xiu stopped in his tracks, turned around, smiled, and gentlemanly stretched out his hand.
Only then did Yuan Xirou come to her senses. First, she was overjoyed, then she blushed and placed her hand in his.
The two walked back to the lake hand in hand, chatting and laughing.
The crown prince and Murong Jia were stunned.
Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi were calm, because they had seen through everything as early as the welcome banquet when the crown prince returned to the capital.
A few months later, Li Xinyue gave birth to a little princess, named Chu Yue, combining the characters from "Yi" and "Yue", full of the deep love between the two.
The crown prince got married. His princess consort was Murong Jia, who later became the queen when the crown prince ascended the throne.
Murong Xiu finally got together with Yuan Xirou after many twists and turns.
Calculating according to this relationship, Chu Junyi and Li Xinyue were probably the youngest among the three couples.
But Chu Junyi regarded the senior duke as his teacher, and Murong Xiu was the grandson of the senior duke. The relationship was really complicated.
As for the court, now the scholars from humble backgrounds and the aristocratic families were in balance.
The scholars from humble backgrounds were led by Chu Junyi, and the aristocratic family was the Murong family. Now the new duke was Murong Xiu.
As for the royal bloodline, later the little crown prince and the little princess got together. When their next generation was born, it would basically be of the Li bloodline.
In addition, many years ago, Li Xinyue had exchanged a promise for Murong Jia's favor. Many years later, after Murong Jia became the empress dowager and then followed the late emperor, that promise was for Li Xinyue to support the new emperor well.
So Li Xinyue went from being a princess of the state to a senior princess, and finally became the grand princess who held the power of the court and supported the state. Together with Chu Junyi, they wielded great power in the world.
Finally, they returned to their fiefdom and returned the power to the young emperor.
Two or three decades later, they already had a large family of children and grandchildren, and their hair had turned gray.
Li Xinyue was the grand princess who had experienced three dynasties and was favored throughout. Chu Junyi was the duke who supported the state, conferred by the young emperor.
This period of great favor lasted for several generations and became a much - told tale.