In the tent filled with sweet fragrance, there was suddenly a sharp scent of a man.

Gradually, the two auras mixed together and kept entering Chen Ningzhu's nostrils.

It caused a ripple to appear in the calm lake of her heart.

"Zhuzhu, is it okay?"

…

The next morning, the housekeeper came to see Chen Ningzhu with a letter and said respectfully,

"Princess Qingyi gave this to this old servant when she left this morning, and told me to make sure it is delivered to you."

Shen Ningzhu hummed, took it and saw that it was a banquet invitation, and immediately smiled.

"Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet? I'm afraid it's not the Hongmen Banquet, right?"

He casually threw the invitation aside and continued to pick up the teacup and take a sip of tea. Fuling lifted the curtain and walked in, bowing to Chen Ningzhu.

"Madam, Miss Yi is here."

"Um."

Just as he answered, he heard footsteps outside the door. Then, Liu Zhiyi came in like a colorful butterfly, wearing a light purple chest-length skirt, a stone blue kesi gray squirrel cloak, and holding a cloisonné hand warmer in one hand.

Her thick, duck-black hair fluttered in the wind. The red-gold and kingfisher-inlaid Ruyi hairpins inserted diagonally in her temples swayed gently with her steps, and the smoky-pink earrings also swayed, making her flawless face like white jade even more charming.

Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled.

As soon as he entered the room, he smiled and waved the two pieces of paper in his other hand towards her, and said with a beaming expression,

"Look, what is this?"

Shen Ningzhu was aroused by her curiosity.

"What?"

Liu Zhiyi lowered her eyes and smiled shyly, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and her voice immediately lowered a lot.

"Ahem, it's a jade mine."

She paused and added, "Song Hanchuan gave them to me. There are two in total, one for you and one for me."

puff--

Yesterday Pei Yunchu gave her jade, and today Song Hanchuan gave her a jade mine? This Song Hanchuan, isn't he too doting?

And then there is the aura of my best friend, her free and easy attitude, the brightness and boldness in her eyes, all of which make her look like a blooming peony.

Loving someone is like growing flowers.

Song Hanchuan took very good care of Liu Zhiyi.

My bestie definitely followed the script of the heroine in a doting novel. Woohoo, lemons on the lemon tree, you and me under the lemon tree. Shen Ningzhu's heart was distorted with envy, but she was mostly happy for her bestie.

A man who can pamper and cherish his woman like this, so what if he can't do that? Just like my bestie said, there is not only one way.

"Come on, I'll take you to pick out some good materials. When the time comes, I'll have the palace craftsmen make a set of headwear for each of us, and a jade pendant for each of my godson and goddaughter. I'll draw the designs myself, and I guarantee they'll be unique."

After saying that, he hurriedly wanted to pull Chen Ningzhu away, but was pulled back by Chen Ningzhu.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Since it's yours, it can't run away. Sit down first, I want to tell you something."

Then he told the maid to serve tea.

They each took a sip of hot tea before Shen Ningzhu picked up the post in her hand and handed it to Liu Zhiyi.

"There's been some activity from Jiang Qingyi. This morning, she sent this over. What do you think, should we go?"

Liu Zhiyi answered without hesitation, "Of course."

Although no banquet is good, if we can make good use of this one, we can provide free advertising for the shops that will be opened in the capital in the future.

"I'll be free in three days... She didn't send me a post, so I'll follow you then, and we'll go together."

"good."

"Oh, by the way, I heard the coronation ceremony was canceled. Why? Are you still unable to accept Jiang Xuanyan?"

Liu Zhiyi had thought that her best friend's unannounced return to Beijing meant there was room for improvement in their relationship, but she hadn't expected...

Shen Ningzhu curled the corners of her lips.

"He's a strong-willed man with a bad temper. If I marry him, I'll be polished into a round or flat shape. Won't I just let him call the shots? And I've resisted for so long, but I still can't change him in the slightest."

"How can such a man be a husband?"

"For now, the best strategy is to coax and deceive him, using him to achieve our own goals."

And she, at most, would sacrifice some of her looks.

That man is the most handsome man in Jiang country, and he has very attractive eight-pack abs.

All in all, she didn't lose out.

Liu Zhiyi agreed, "You're right. What you can't get always makes you restless, but what you lose can never be forgotten."

"If you enter the palace, you will have to take his surname, and you will be treated as a subject. You will have to kneel before him. Once you kneel, the cinnabar mole will soon turn into mosquito blood."

Jiang Xuanyan is different from Song Hanchuan.

"I want to be that person who gets it but doesn't get it, loses it but doesn't lose it completely. This way, my trump card can last longer, and it will buy us more time to plan."

She didn't dare to accept the love of an emperor, or the love that looked down on others from a superior position, nor did she want it.

The only way is to help your children grow up and gain power as soon as possible.

It rained for a whole day and night, and now the sun is shining brightly. Although the road is still wet, it is paved with bluestone slabs everywhere, so there is no mud and it does not hinder going out.

This is the advantage of the capital city, under the emperor's feet.

The two of them got on a carriage and arrived at the foot of a mine on the outskirts of Beijing. As soon as they got off the carriage, a middle-aged man who looked like a manager came forward to greet them.

"This old servant respectfully welcomes Madam."

Liu Zhiyi waved her hand to dissuade the other party from being polite, and said with a smile, "You are Uncle Wu, right?"

The other party nodded, "Exactly."

"Madam, after the Prime Minister sent someone with the news yesterday, I immediately instructed my subordinates to pick out a batch of the best materials. They are over there. May I take you there to choose?"

Liu Zhiyi agreed and let Uncle Wu lead the way.

Soon, we arrived at a thatched shed at the foot of the mountain. The shed was very large, about four or five hundred square meters.

Inside were rows of neatly arranged wooden tables, each with a small pile of jade materials on it.

There were still four or five people working inside, moving materials from the wooden cart onto the empty table.

"Go down and do something else first."

"yes."

After Uncle Wu finished cleaning up, he came out and led Liu Zhiyi and his servants into the tent.

When they entered, they found that there were so many materials for them to choose from. In the end, they picked out dozens of materials of different sizes.

Liu Zhiyi thought about it,

"It's still early, Fuling, you guys can go pick some too. Each of you can pick a few more. Think of it as Zhuzhu and I giving you some early dowry."

The four of them were originally dazzled and smiling with joy, but when they heard this, they were frightened so much that their faces turned pale and they quickly knelt on the ground in fear.

The voice trembled.

"Please forgive me, my lady. We know we are wrong."

Liu Zhiyi blinked her lively almond-shaped eyes, and her thin eyebrows were almost knotted. "Ah? Forgive me? Forgive me for what? I just asked you to pick something. Why are you kneeling? Hurry up and tell me."