Chapter 61

"Who are you? What's going on?"

Wei Zhen had no impression of Shi Wanwan. He looked at her with a cold gaze and a distant tone.

"I……"

Shi Wanwan felt bitter. She had exchanged a few words with Wei Zhen at previous banquets, and had occasionally seen him while accompanying the empress dowager in the palace. She had never expected that he had no memory of her at all.

"Reporting to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, my daughter is Shi Wanwan from the Duke of Yingguo's mansion."

Wei Zhen nodded, remembering the name.

The eldest daughter of the Duke of Yingguo, and the Empress Dowager's favorite candidate for Crown Princess.

"Why are you looking for me?"

Even though Shi Wanwan had mentioned her name, it didn't make Wei Zhen's attitude any closer. His indifferent tone was as if he was doing his job properly.

Shi Wanwan, Wei Zhen, and Jiang Yingyue had separated and were gathering their thoughts here. Unexpectedly, she ran into the Crown Prince there. She had thought this chance encounter was a gift from heaven, so she called out to Wei Zhen in a moment of desperation.

But now, the surprise quickly turned into bitterness.

Shi Wanwan forced a smile and said, "I have a question in my mind and would like to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to answer it."

Wei Zhen wanted to reply, "If you have any questions, please go and ask the teacher," but seeing her sad and lost expression, he changed his words: "Please speak."

Shi Wanwan hesitated to speak, glancing at Jiang Weiqiu behind Wei Zhen. Jiang Weiqiu understood and said he would go ahead and wait not far ahead.

Under the banana leaves, only Wei Zhen and Shi Wanwan were left.

"Miss Smith, if you have anything to say, please speak frankly."

Shi Wanwan pursed her lips slightly, struggled internally for a while, and finally mustered up the courage to ask what was confusing her.

"Your Highness, what kind of feelings do you have towards Chu Miaomiao?"

She finally asked the questions in her mind. Instead of feeling embarrassed and ashamed, Shi Wanwan felt relieved.

When such a straightforward question was thrown in front of Wei Zhen, he couldn't help but look directly at the young woman in front of him.

Meeting Wei Zhen's gaze, Shi Wanwan did not show any sign of retreating, but rather a hint of determination in her eyes.

Shi Wanwan's behavior today was, at best, reckless, and at worst, presumptuous. Seriously, it could be a crime. But Wei Zhen didn't resent it; on the contrary, he admired her courage. The Empress Dowager's choice of her as Crown Princess wasn't without reason.

However, the Queen Mother is the Queen Mother, and he is him.

"I have no obligation to answer your questions," Wei Zhen said solemnly, "but there is one thing I can tell you clearly, young lady."

Shi Wanwan was nervous, but also felt a little excited.

"My wife cannot be Miss Smith."

Wei Zhen's resolute tone made Shi Wanwan feel as if she was falling into an abyss. As Wei Zhen walked past her, she still asked, "But I heard that the King of Chu's daughter is no longer alive. What is your highness insisting on?"

When Wei Zhen heard Shi Wanwan ask this, the admiration in his heart disappeared in an instant, and his eyes looking at her became cold and sharp.

Shi Wanwan's eyes gradually filled with tears, and her voice trembled a little: "Your Highness, don't you need a Crown Princess with a family background that is quite helpful?"

In the face of strong emotions, rationality becomes weak. Even someone as proud as Shi Wanwan cannot help but make irrational choices.

"I know there is no place for me in your heart, but please at least allow me to be your Crown Princess."

Shi Wanwan finally lowered her head and made concessions.

She thought that by putting herself in a lowly position, she might gain some sympathy from Wei Zhen. However, all she got was a cold question from Wei Zhen.

"Will you be happy then?"

Wei Zhen's voice seemed to float down from a high glacier, distant and cold.

This unexpected response made Shi Wanwan stunned. She saw Wei Zhen curl up the corners of his lips, but it was not a happy smile, but one filled with sarcasm and cruelty.

"Then are you prepared to just be called the Crown Princess?"

After saying that, without paying attention to Shi Wanwan's reaction, Wei Zhen left on his own. Not long after walking along the stone path, he met Jiang Weiqiu and went to the banquet.

Today's poetry gathering at Prince Yu's Mansion has no set theme. Everyone will create based on what they see, hear, think, and feel. Everyone will first be free to wander around, then gather together to showcase their talents. Then, attendants will recite aloud for everyone to critique.

When Wei Zhen and Jiang Wei Qiu returned, they heard Jiang Huan from Wu'an Marquis Mansion reciting her own poems aloud.

"Today the sky is clear and bright, with white clouds floating in the lake. Suddenly I saw a lotus leaf move, and it turned out to be a fish. The fish was swimming freely, but suddenly it jumped high. For some reason, a yellow duck came. Fortunately, the fish was alert and it almost became its meal."

Jiang Huan even finished reading her masterpiece with a bit of pride, but she didn't expect that everyone had no reaction after listening to it, until someone sneered, which caused everyone to laugh.

It wasn't a smile of appreciation, it was more like a laugh.

But Jiang Huan herself didn't care. Instead, her smile deepened, as if the laughter was a compliment to her. Her friends all took a few steps back, creating a clear distance between themselves and Jiang Huan.

"Aren't you guys going a bit too far?"

Although she said that, Jiang Huan was still smiling and didn't look angry at all.

Shi Yuanyuan glanced at the pavilion where the ladies were sitting not far away and kindly reminded her, "Jiang Huan, your mother's expression doesn't look very good."

"Of course it's not pretty." Jiang Huan finally stopped smiling and turned her back to block her mother's view. "I hate poetry gatherings the most. If I don't do this to let my mother see my true level, I'm afraid I'll be unable to escape these boring parties in the future."

The laughter gradually died down, and some people even had tears in their eyes, which they wiped away gently with handkerchiefs.

Seeing this, Liang Yu shook his head slightly, his tone full of disapproval: "There's no need for them to laugh so exaggeratedly."

"It's okay." Jiang Huan waved her hand, unconcerned. "A poem can make them laugh like this, which means they must be living a very difficult life. I can understand that."

The girls finally laughed out loud, and Xu Ling gave Jiang Huan a thumbs-up: "You are such a wonderful person."

Jiang Huan raised her eyebrows. "I'll take it as a compliment and accept it humbly."

Jiang Yingyue smiled and said, "But the way you look now has nothing to do with the word 'humble'."

Jiang Huan snorted twice and turned away with an angry look on purpose: "Jiang Wu, your second brother is so annoying."

Jiang Yingyue was puzzled: "What?"

"The person who laughed first just now was your second brother."

"With so many people, how did you know it was him?"

Jiang Huan pointed to her ears and eyes. "I looked over there the moment the sound was made. The man in the stone green robe standing next to the Crown Prince must be your second brother, right?"

Jiang Yingyue looked in the direction of Jiang Huan's finger, and sure enough, she saw her second brother Jiang Weiqiu talking to the prince, with the smile on his face still there.

"I'm dying of laughter."

Jiang Weiqiu, Wei Zhen, and another of the Crown Prince's tutors, Xu Zizheng, said, "It's not even enough to call this a doggerel poem. It's amazing that she can recite it so confidently."

He even recited one of the lines, "Fortunately, the fish was clever and almost became my meal," and couldn't help but chuckle: "Although it's not very good, it's still interesting."

Xu Zizheng frowned slightly: "Now is not the time to laugh. When you left just now, you asked me to keep an eye on King Huai——"

Jiang Weiqiu understood clearly: "He must have sent someone to follow us, but I managed to get rid of them."

"But now King Huai is gone."

Wei Zhen didn't take it to heart and said calmly, "It's okay. He can't do anything in Prince Yu's Mansion."

Indeed, no one dared to cause trouble on the territory of Prince Yu's mansion. Therefore, when Prince Huai learned that his personal guard had failed to follow Wei Zhen, he did not pursue the matter. However, he did hear another interesting piece of news.

Miss Smith from the Duke of Ying's mansion expressed her love to Wei Zhen but was rejected.

King Huai felt a pang of regret.

He said that the eldest daughter of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion was a hundred times more beautiful, upbringing, and virtuous than the daughter of the King of Chu. The old Duke of Yingguo was a military general, and all the sons of his mansion had military experience. The Shi family held great prestige within the military, and marrying into the Shi family would secure the support of the military.

King Huai groaned inwardly, his expression turning grim. He considered himself no worse than Wei Zhen, having only entered the palace a little later. But Wei Zhen wasn't as favored by the palace as he was.

The Queen Mother chose the eldest daughter of the Shi family as the Crown Princess in order to consolidate Wei Zhen's position as Crown Prince.

That Wei Zhen really didn't know what was good. Not only did he let down the Empress Dowager, he also let down the affection of the Duke of England.

When he thought of this, King Huai paused with his hand holding the wine glass, and he suddenly realized a problem.

King Huai looked around, searching for Shi Wanwan's figure, and then saw Shi Wanwan walking towards the girls through a moon-shaped door hidden by a clump of green bamboo.

King Huai waved to his entourage, whispered something, and then stood up and left his seat.

Shi Wanwan had just returned to the gathering place, but before she could find her sister, she was stopped by a maid who said that a distinguished guest seemed to have picked up something she had just lost and asked her to come over and identify it.

After thinking it over, Shi Wanwan didn't think she had lost anything, but she followed the maid, believing it was better to believe it than not. Following the winding stone path, she stopped when she was full of doubts and saw King Huai beside the rockery.

Shi Wanwan looked at the maid coldly. The maid tactfully retreated to a distance, leaving only King Huai and Shi Wanwan here.

"It was this prince who asked her to bring Miss Shi here. Miss, please don't look at her with such a scary look."

After Shi Wanwan paid her respects to King Huai, she said, "It is not proper for Your Highness to meet with me here alone. To avoid misunderstandings, please allow me to take my leave."

"It's unreasonable to meet with the prince alone, but it's reasonable to meet with the prince privately?"

Shi Wanwan was slightly surprised when she heard this: "Your Highness, please be careful with your words."

King Huai said with a smile, "Don't be nervous, Miss Shi. I have always disdained to spread gossip. I was just curious about something, so I asked you to come here."

"I don't think there's anything about me that's worthy of Your Highness's curiosity." Shi Wanwan said cautiously.

"Of course." King Huai's smile widened. "For example, why did the young lady feel sad after meeting the crown prince?"

He pointed at Shi Wanwan's eyes and said, "Your eyes are red from crying."

Prince Huai's words stung Shi Wanwan. Thinking of Wei Zhen's indifference, tears welled up in her eyes. Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of Prince Huai, she turned away, avoiding his gaze and said defiantly, "This is just a private matter. It's not worth your concern, Your Highness."

Seeing Shi Wanwan's expression, Prince Huai understood and continued, "Before the King of Chu's misfortune, I heard that the Queen Mother wanted you to be the Crown Princess, but the Crown Prince declined for the King of Chu's daughter. After the King of Chu's misfortune, the Queen Mother should have brought up your marriage to the Crown Prince again, but judging by your current appearance, the Crown Prince must have rejected it."

King Huai spoke in a relaxed tone, but every word he said was like a sharp blade to Shi Wanwan, piercing her heart deeply.

She felt ashamed of being rejected, and angry that King Huai saw through her so easily.

"Your Highness!"

Under the influence of emotion, Shi Wanwan glared at King Huai and spoke out to stop him from continuing.

But Shi Wanwan's warning had no deterrent effect in King Huai's eyes. It even made him more excited, and he talked incessantly about his speculations.

"No one would refuse a woman as outstanding as you. The Crown Prince rejected you before because he was attracted to the King of Chu's daughter. Why is he rejecting you again now?"

King Huai approached Shi Wanwan and looked directly at her with his bright eyes: "Miss Shi, you should know the reason, right?"

Shi Wanwan pursed her lips tightly, not wanting to say more.

"It's okay if you don't want to say it, just listen to what I say and see if it's right."

Shi Wanwan said coldly: "I'm not interested."

She was about to leave after saying this, but King Huai's voice made her pause.

"The King of Chu's daughter is still alive."