Chapter 41: Stealing a chicken fails and Mi Song Youning is driven to the Prime Minister's residence...

When Song Youning arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion, the sun had gradually climbed over the eaves and poured down with golden light, making the bluestone road beside it shine. Occasionally, a few lazy clouds floated across the sky.

She got down from the sedan chair on the stool set up by the servant, and the group wandered in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, but no one came to greet them.

"Chun Tao, you said I've already arrived at the Prime Minister's residence, why hasn't Li Funing come out to greet me yet?"

Song Youning stood on tiptoe and looked into the mansion. It was empty, without a single person in sight.

"Are you sure your master is in the house?" She turned to look at the servant beside her and confirmed again and again.

The servant hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to her several times, "I dare not deceive Your Highness. The young master and the prime minister left the court together and returned to the palace at dawn."

"I was on duty today and didn't leave the house for a single moment, but the Prime Minister was the only one who left the house during this time... The young master should still be in the mansion..."

Song Youning frowned: "Then why didn't he come out to greet me?"

"Maybe... maybe..." The servant hesitated to speak.

Song Youning asked, "What is Xu?"

The servant raised his head, lowered his eyes, and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the young master left through a side door?"

"Lord Li is the legitimate son of the Prime Minister's family. Why would he sneak out through a side door? It's not like anything serious has happened in the Li Mansion. Why would he lower his status and use a side door?"

Chun Tao put her hands on her hips, her eyes wide open: "Did you, the gatekeeper, get drunk last night and lose your mind?"

"Chun Tao!"

Song Youning suddenly stopped him, startling the servant so much that he kowtowed and apologized, muttering, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have criticized you..."

The other gatekeepers were so frightened that they knelt down one after another.

"Forget it, forget it, everyone get up."

Song Youning flicked her sleeves. She was already upset and didn't bother to talk nonsense with them anymore. She walked straight into the mansion: "If he doesn't come to find me, I will go to the mansion to find him myself. You guys lead the way!"

“Yes, yes!”

The servant who was scolded quickly stood up, brushed off the dust on his knees, and led Song Youning and his group into the house.

Song Youning followed him through several red gates and finally stopped at a secluded courtyard. The scolded servant pushed open the door tremblingly, and the spring scenery in the garden suddenly came into view.

Li Funing was bending over under the wisteria trellis, sorting books. His white sleeves were lifted by a gust of wind, and the wisteria petals under the trellis fluttered in the air, giving the impression of a peaceful and tranquil life.

Beside him, a girl in a goose yellow shirt stood on tiptoe, handing him a book, the silver bells in her hair jingling with her movements.

Because they were far away, the two people did not notice the movement here. They were still diligently picking up the books on the bookshelf, spreading them out, and placing them on the rack supported by wooden boards to dry.

Li Funing was standing in front of a pear wood bookshelf with his back to her, taking a book from the shelf. The girl in the goose yellow shirt took the book and carefully spread it out on the shelf.

When Li Funing turned sideways, Song Youning saw the smile on the corner of his lips.

She was feeling restless in the palace, but he was here leisurely enjoying the sunbathing of books with other women?

At that moment, Song Youning felt furious, as if his chest was blocked by a huge rock. He was so depressed that he wanted to rush over and pull the two apart.

Seeing her master's expression change from cloudy to rainy, and then from rainy to thunderous, Chun Tao tentatively asked, "Your Highness...would you like me to inform Lord Li?"

“No need!”

Song Youning turned around and walked back, but after taking two steps she suddenly stopped and sneered. She was a princess of the royal family, and she could not get whatever she wanted, so why should she hide?

She turned around and walked towards the wisteria trellis with her head held high. The hairpins on her hair crown jingled with the amplitude of her movements. The sunlight became more and more dazzling, making her fiery almond eyes even more sharp.

"Lord Li is quite elegant. I didn't realize that drying books is more important than welcoming the emperor."

She stopped a few meters away from the two of them, her eyes swept over their intertwined fingertips, and said sarcastically, "Master Li has always been polite, but now he's becoming even more unruly..."

Li Funing saw the visitor and a fleeting smile appeared on his lips. He raised his hands and bowed, "I was drying books and was careless for a moment. I didn't realize Your Highness was coming. I beg Your Highness to punish me!"

The girl in the goose yellow shirt immediately knelt down and saluted when she saw Song Youning. She was so sensible that no one could find fault with her.

Song Youning glanced at her and raised his hand: "Get up first!" The girl in the yellow shirt immediately knelt down and kowtowed to express her gratitude, her voice neither humble nor arrogant: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Song Youning scanned Lin Qinglian's face and admired in his heart, she was indeed a rare beauty, not only with picturesque features, but also with the scholarly air of the Jiangnan water town.

Unlike her, who followed Xiao Lin and the others around the streets all day, brandishing swords and knives.

"Why is Miss Lin here? Could it be that something happened to the Lin family and she's here to look for Lord Li?"

"I heard that your mother and Prime Minister Li are old acquaintances. They grew up together and entered the government together. They are my great Boya and Ziqi..."

She had never been involved in court affairs, so why did she know Lin Qinglian? This story started when she was a child.

Lin Qinglian's father and Li Xiang were both from Jiangnan. They took the imperial examination together and entered officialdom together. After the special examination, they stayed in the capital to serve as officials because of their good rankings. This is a great story.

Even she had heard her father praise the relationship between the two. Later, she heard that Lord Lin had angered her grandfather because of some things and was deposed and sent to Tong County to become an eighth-rank county magistrate.

Lord Lin loved his daughter very much and naturally did not want her to suffer with him in that remote and poor place, so he asked Prime Minister Li to take care of her. So Lin Qinglian lived in Li Mansion for a long time.

Song Youning had always been arrogant, and at that time she loved Li Funing the most, so she often cried and complained to her father, and was jealous of her.

Later, Lord Lin grew old and his mother died of illness. Lin Qinglian asked to say goodbye to Prime Minister Li and went to Tong County on her own initiative. In this way, it has been many years since I last saw her.

She glanced at Li Funing, wanting to see his reaction, but he just sat there, flipping through his tattered book, neither humble nor arrogant. Suddenly, she became furious and said in an increasingly sarcastic tone, "So, Miss Lin and Master Li are more like childhood sweethearts than I am?"

Li Funing stroked the pages of the book gently and said lightly: "We can't say we were childhood sweethearts, but Miss Lin did remember my preferences and knew that I cherished this copy of the "Book of Changes", so she specially completed this corner."

He looked up at Song Youning and said leisurely, "Unlike Your Highness, you are so busy with affairs that you naturally don't remember these trivial matters of mine..."

This sentence completely ignited Song Youning's anger, but she couldn't lose her composure in front of the two of them. She took a deep breath and suppressed the surging heat in her heart back into her internal organs bit by bit.

She raised her head and eyebrows and looked at Li Funing, speaking in a sonorous and powerful voice: "Of course I can't compare with Miss Li's consideration..."

She raised the corners of her lips, her long nails digging into her palms: "Since Lord Li is not interested in state affairs, but is obsessed with poetry and books, and feels that I am not considerate, why don't you not come to this palace from today on..." She flicked her sleeves and turned around, decisively.

Tsk, if he’s not considerate, then he’s not considerate. Who cares about him!

"Your Highness, please stay. You have misunderstood!"

Lin Qinglian suddenly knelt down and said, "This servant is not here to see Lord Li, this servant is here to see His Highness."

Song Youning paused, raised his eyebrows slightly, looking for her?

Seeing that she had no intention of looking back, Lin Qinglian said anxiously, "It's not worth it for Your Highness to lose your composure for a man!"

In between words, she glared at Li Funing and said, "This time, your humble servant came to the capital to ask for help from Your Highness. I beg Your Highness to help me, considering that I have known Your Highness since childhood. I will definitely remember Your Highness's great kindness in my heart..."

Song Youning's mouth twitched. "Knowing each other as children," he said, "does that mean she's been jealous of her since she was little?" So, they really did know each other as children...

“Cough, cough!”

She cleared her throat, turned around and looked down at her: "You should get up first... I am not a petty person..."

"Your Highness, I thank you."

Lin Qinglian stood up from the ground and stared at Song Youning with sharp eyes, which made her feel uneasy.

Song Youning glanced at Li Funing standing beside him, deliberately ignoring him, and said leisurely: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Your Highness, I beg you to help me enter the court and serve as an official, so that I can atonce for my father's crimes and make meritorious contributions!"

Lin Qinglan knelt on the ground with a plop, touching her forehead to the ground, her wide sleeves spread out like butterfly wings. "I know this is rude, but my father is old, and Tong County is bitterly cold..."

Song Youning paused and squinted at her. This Lin Qinglan was quite bold. A woman? Entering the government? Making amends for her crimes?

She looked her up and down as if she were her prey, not expecting a girl like her to be so thoughtful. She tentatively asked, "Oh? I'd like to know if Miss Lin is really trying to help your father escape from suffering?"

"Or are you going to use this as an excuse to pursue personal gain? Why don't you tell me, Miss Lin?"

Lin Qinglan suddenly became panic-stricken, and her previously bright eyes began to dodge around. She stammered, "Your servant... Your servant..."

"I'm asking for your grace this time, Your Highness. This is to atone for my father's sins, but I also have some selfish motives..." Lin Qinglan knelt on the ground, but her back was straight.

She suddenly raised her head and said, "I have been fostered in the Li Mansion since I was young. Although the Prime Minister treats me as his own daughter, but..."

A lump formed in my throat, as if a thousand words were stuck in my heart. "However, every festive occasion, when others are sitting by my side, I finally realize that the flesh and blood of my family, after all... after all, cannot be replaced by others..."

"My father was deposed and banished to Tong County, where he was starving and starving, while I, a servant, was living a life of luxury in the capital..."

"I dare not say a word in my father's defense, nor do I dare to ask Your Highness to do me a favor without merit. I only ask..."

Her voice stopped abruptly, and she kowtowed heavily, her jade hairpin making a crisp sound when it hit the ground: "I only ask that as a woman, I enter the court as an official, earn a dignified reputation, and in exchange for my father's dignified return to the capital!"

"I also hope that my diligent study will be rewarding and worthwhile. I do not wish to be confined to a secluded place, but rather to realize my long-cherished wish like a man..."

Song Youning was silent for a while before he slowly spoke: "Do you know that there has never been a woman in this dynasty who has entered the government?"

She raised her head and met Song Youning's scrutinizing gaze. Although her voice was soft, each word was clear: "Originally, this humble servant had been planning to do this for a long time, until the edict from Your Highness, the Crown Princess, came out. This humble servant saw hope again. Your Highness, as the first Crown Princess of this dynasty..."

Her eyes sparkled: "If that's the case, why is it so strange for women to become officials?"

The air suddenly froze. Song Youning didn't know how to respond. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Funing, who was secretly observing him from the side. He said slowly, "Master Li, did you arrange this on purpose?"

Li Funing picked up the book on the stand, flipped through it, and said calmly, "That wasn't the case at all. I was just trying to set up a trap to make His Highness anxious..."

He raised his eyes and glanced at Lin Qinglian: "I had already discussed it with her in advance, to put on a show... Who knew... that she would set it up instead..."

"I guess Your Highness is more charming than me..."

Song Youning: ...