Mu Qing was younger. When he was old enough to remember things, the Grand Secretary had been married to the Princess of Jian'an for three years and had a daughter, so he had no memory of what happened back then.

But Xiao Cen was not a child at that time. He had been a child soldier for two years, holding a big sword that was taller than others, and fighting the enemy on the battlefield.

Even though he was still young at that time, he had already scoffed at the Grand Secretary's practice of divorcing his wife and marrying another woman, but the matter had nothing to do with him so he was too lazy to get involved.

But now, more than ten years have passed, and when the old things are brought up again, those memories that were gradually covered up in the past are gradually becoming clear again.

"That old fellow, relying on his status as a county lord, has been making rapid progress in the officialdom. After tasting the sweetness, he naturally admires people like He Xian more than others."

"They are in cahoots with each other."

Xiao Cen crumpled the paper into a ball with a sullen face, the light in his eyes was ambiguous.

Mu Qing, on the other hand, was full of confusion. "But that eldest daughter of the Li family is his biological daughter! Could he really let his daughter marry a man like that?"

"He only has this one daughter!"

The shock on Mu Qing's face made Xiao Cen laugh. "Who told you that Mr. Li only has one daughter?"

"He already had a family before marrying the Princess of Jian'an. That poor woman gave birth to two sons and a daughter for him. But for so many years, that old man ignored the four of them. He was even afraid that his two sons would grow up and take revenge on him, ruining their reputations early on."

These words coming out of Xiao Cen's mouth made Mu Qing slowly close his mouth, and the expression on his face became a little ugly.

"How could you know these things so clearly, Your Highness?"

This time, Xiao Cen did not answer, but turned his head and met Mu Qing's gaze.

The endless silence was deafening in an instant.

Mu Qing took a half step back, his ears filled with a buzzing sound. It took him a long time to recover. "So... it was me?"

"The one with the surname Li is me..."

Mu Qing couldn't say the rest of the words because Xiao Cen had already nodded.

Mu Qing stood there, unable to move for a long time. He had been without a father since he was a child, and his mother was in poor health. It was his eldest brother who raised him and his sister day by day.

But they were poor and young. One day when he was feeding his little sister, he heard people on the street running over and saying that his elder brother had beaten someone to death.

He was still young at that time and had no idea what had happened. He only knew that his elder brother had inexplicably become a murderer, and not long after that he himself was expelled from the academy for theft.

No one listened to his explanation, but he knew it himself!

He didn't steal that man's money at all!

For a long time afterwards, Mu Qing's memory had become a little fuzzy. He only remembered... it was difficult, really difficult.

His mother begged people for help everywhere for his eldest brother's affairs, and she cried until her eyes went blind. The family's rice jar was empty, so he went to the dock to help people carry goods at a very young age.

But he was too young, and his meager income was not enough to support the three people in his family.

Until he met Xiao Cen at the dock.

At that time, the prince was not yet a prince, but just a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old, but he had already become the confidant of the seventh prince in the court, and his archery skills were unparalleled in the world.

At that time, the only way Mu Qing could think of was to ask the handsome young man for help. He knelt at Xiao Cen's feet and begged Xiao Cen to accept his sister as a maid to serve tea.

He doesn't want anything, just wants someone to give his sister something to eat!

However, the prince did not accept his sister, but accepted him instead, gave him a salary, kept him by his side, taught him martial arts, and even released his eldest brother from prison.

That day, the prince gave several silver bills bigger than a palm to the family of the deceased. Although the family did not pursue the matter, my eldest brother still had a criminal record and could no longer take the imperial examination.

Mu Qing swallowed his saliva and said, "Does my brother know about these things?"

"I know." Xiao Cen glanced at the weeds in the corner. No one had ever taken care of those weeds, but these little things would dare to pop out from the cracks whenever they could grab a bit of rain or sunshine. "I knew it ten years ago, but I was afraid you wouldn't be able to accept it, so I never let me tell you."

Mu Qing laughed bitterly, "He knows? He knows that everything we've suffered was caused by that person, and yet he can do nothing evil, ignore everything, and live a peaceful life!"

"What else should we do?" Xiao Cen raised his eyes and met Mu Qing's gaze. "A mere soldier, armed with a knife, is going to fight against an official appointed by the imperial court?"

"Then what will you do? And Mu Lin, if she has no parents, no brothers or sisters-in-law, what will she do alone?"

Mu Qing was speechless and did not respond for a long time.

But Xiao Cen let out a long sigh in annoyance, "We were talking about He Xian, how did you get dragged into this?"

"Do you think that Mr. Li really loves this daughter? Miss Li is favored because she was born from the belly of the Jian'an County Lady! A man like Mr. Li will not love anyone else but himself."

As Xiao Cen spoke, he raised his hand and pushed open the study door. "By the way, before you do anything, think more about your family and me! Don't be so impulsive that you ignore everything!"

"yes……"

Mu Qing took several deep breaths. The grief and anger that had been accumulating in him were almost completely dispelled by his prince's two words.

But it seemed like this matter was just passed over lightly.

Xiao Cen never mentioned He Xian again, and Lin Chunhuan seemed to have completely forgotten about him. For a whole month and a half, the two of them were busy preparing for the prince's selection of a concubine.

A leisurely and carefree princess.

Even Xiao Jinan was very quiet. For such a long time, he had never jumped around in front of Lin Chunhuan. Sometimes when they met her accidentally, he would respectfully call her mother, which made it impossible to find any fault.

Of course, Lin Chunhuan did not decide to let this person go because of this.

It's just that compared to Xiao Jinan, she is more eager to deal with Lin Chunuan. Besides, the prince's selection of a concubine is imminent, and such a good show is about to begin, so she has no time to be distracted.

Dong Ling'er was teaching Lin Chunhuan how to look after the accounts on the farm when Qiu Shuang came in holding clothes.

"Princess, the palace has sent your wedding attire. The prince will be here soon, so please change into it!"

In response to Qiu Shuang's urging, Lin Chunhuan just nodded twice, and in fact did not even bother to look up, as if his eyes were fixed on the account book.

Helplessly, Qiu Shuang could only look at Dong Ling'er for help.

"Alright, Princess." Dong Ling'er smiled and closed the account book. "It just so happens that there's an event being held in the store today for the Crown Prince's selection of a concubine. I have to go back and keep an eye on it. You should go and get dressed."