"Empress Dowager, Lan Xin is not talking about this matter. It's March 15th, Lan Xin's birthday. Lan Xin wants to invite a few friends to come and have a gathering. I wonder if the Empress Dowager will allow it?"

"Yes, it's your birthday. Look at me. I've always thought about you in previous years, but this year you brought it up yourself. How could I not agree to this?"

"Then Queen Mother, this is the list Lan Xin prepared. Please review it."

"You kid, you just asked me if I agreed. I guess you have no choice now."

"I know the Queen Mother loves me the most. Even if she really doesn't want to agree, I can just beg her and it will be done, right?" Murong Lanxin acted coquettishly.

The Queen Mother smiled, "You just know that I like you, that's why I do this. But it's good. Something like that happened at the last palace banquet, so we should hold it again. At the same time, we can also see if there are any mistakes in the harem managed by An Qingran... By the way, your list is too short. If we do it, it will be almost the same. Besides, if we only invite other people's wives, won't the princes complain? After all, they are relatives, so there is no need to avoid taboos. Just add a few more."

This is exactly what Murong Lanxin meant.

So began the preparations.

Murong Lanxin found An Qingran and told her about this matter, saying that she would pay for it herself and asked Qingran to help arrange it.

Although An Qingran was in a bad mood at the moment, she couldn't refuse and naturally tried her best.

During the last incident at Concubine Shu's birthday banquet, although the imperial chefs cried out that they were innocent, they were still thrown into jail. Fortunately, no one was killed.

Sometimes An Qingran would wonder, was this really the fault of the imperial chef? As far as she knew, the rules of the imperial kitchen were very strict. Every three people were responsible for one dish. If something went wrong, the three people would be held responsible. So, how could the six eyes not notice that the fish gallbladder was mixed into the dish? Moreover, it was required that the fish gallbladder should not leave the eyes after the dish was served.

Could it be that Concubine Shu herself was responsible?

An Qingran was just guessing and didn't make assumptions.

The prince's house arrest allowed the two of them to spend more time together. The prince had plenty of time to watch her embroider, watch her make soup, and watch her handle things. He would give her advice but would never ask too many questions. In this regard, An Qingran felt trusted.

Dongfang Jin still has time to review his lessons and practice martial arts, so An Qingran thinks that this confinement is a good thing.

Anyway, he didn't have any state affairs to deal with, so he could just stay quiet and let her get rid of the last bit of poison for him.

In short.

The palace was quiet for the past half month.

March 15th.

The sky was fine, the willow trees were turning yellow, the peach blossoms were in bud on the branches, everything was fresh and tender, Murong Lanxin was even more delicate than the peach blossoms, she stood there in a lush green dress, graceful and elegant, with a breath of spring, greeting the housekeeper.

The guests included Prince Ning and Qin Xiangning, the Crown Prince and his wife, Prince Kang and his wife, together with An Yanran, the Crown Prince and his wife, Dongfang Ruoxue, Lian Muhan, several other princesses, the little princess, and Murong Lanxin's two sisters. There were more than twenty people in total, and it was lively but not noisy.

Seeing Dongfang Ruoxue and Lou Wanyue, An Qingran happily went up to them, pulled Lou Wanyue's hand and said, "Cousin, why are you so thin? Tell me, is it Ruoxue who bullies you?"

Dongfang Ruoxue said beside her: "How dare I bully her? She is learning to dance, so she eats less."

Lou Wanyue smiled and nodded: "Yes, I heard that a lot of things happened in the palace recently. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You don't need to learn the dance. You need to take care of yourself. I'm still waiting to hold my little nephew in my arms."

An Qingran's teasing made Lou Wanyue blush, but she just pulled the corners of her mouth and didn't say anything.

An Qingran felt that Lou Wanyue seemed to have something on her mind, but in the blink of an eye, she was smiling again and it was hard to tell what was wrong.

When she turned her head, she met a warm gaze from Dongfang Run. An Qingran pushed Lou Wanyue and said, "Look at your husband, his eyes are following you all the time."

Lou Wanyue turned around in surprise, but only saw Dongfang Run turning and leaving. An Qingran also saw it and couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

The three women were chatting enthusiastically together, so An Qingran asked the two of them to come to the palace to accompany her more often. In the palace, she rarely had someone to talk to intimately. Thinking of this, she saw An Yanran and An Ranyue. They should be her sisters, but they were her enemies. Fortunately, she had them two to accompany her in this life, which made up for her regret.

She sighed.

Everyone sat down. The Queen Mother only drank a little wine and said it would not affect the young people's interest, so she left first. Murong Lanxin raised the glass to thank everyone for celebrating her birthday and said many polite words. Then everyone toasted her. The atmosphere was harmonious and peaceful.

The prince sat next to An Qingran, just drinking quietly. He didn't drink much and didn't talk much. No one knew what he was thinking.

Dongfang Run was dressed in white, sitting there as quietly as a scenery. He held a jade cup in his hand, sipping it gently and lightly, without saying a word, making any big movements, and not even looking at Lou Wanyue.

Lou Wanyue was also wearing a lavender dress. When the two of them were together, the woman was beautiful and the man was even more beautiful. It was very pleasing to the eyes. However, no one knew that Lou Wanyue felt choked up in her throat and was extremely depressed at the moment.

Because she knew that Dongfang Run's eyes occasionally lingered on An Qingran. She had heard the rumors about his past with An Qingran. When An Qingran celebrated her birthday, he competed with the prince for gifts, and the rumor spread like wildfire. She also overheard the conversation between her father and mother, saying that the emperor intended to grant a marriage between Dongfang Run and An Qingran. She felt very sad at the time, but later thought that it might be just the emperor's momentary idea. However, after she got married, she realized that even if Dongfang Run didn't have An Qingran in his heart, he definitely didn't have her either.

She still remembered the wedding night. She was so nervous that she almost suffocated. She waited for Dongfang Run to come. He lifted her veil. When she saw his elegant face, she felt dizzy, but then her heart tightened. There was no expression of joy on his face, or disgust, or anything like that. Just like he usually did, no one knew what he was thinking.

She thought he would sleep in a separate room, but he actually stayed and drank with her, then slept next to her. It was so quiet that it was almost sacred. He said they would not have a wedding night for the time being because they didn't know each other well enough, and she had no objection.

At first she thought what he said made sense.

But as the days passed, those peaceful days seemed like a stagnant pool of water, especially when he was right beside her, yet seemed like an untouchable horizon, so far away that she felt that her life was over.

She tried hard, made soup for him, sewed a piece of clothing for him, but he never wore it. She was not good at pleasing people. She wanted to be with him but didn't know where to start. She vaguely felt that something was wrong. Until today, she confirmed her guess that the person Dongfang Run had always liked was An Qingran.

She looked at An Qingran again. At the moment, she was talking to the prince about something. She was smiling and looked very graceful.

She was beautiful, and she knew it.

She should hate her, but she couldn't. Seeing that An Qingran had no idea about Dongfang Run's feelings, and she treated her so sincerely, how could she hate her?

But there was a needle in her heart and she couldn't ignore it.

Now that I think about it, Dongfang Run married me completely out of helplessness.

The three of them were framed together. She didn't understand the situation at the time, but later she realized that someone was framing Dongfang Run and An Qingran. When she thought of this, she felt relieved and uneasy. Although she didn't know who the person behind it was, that person must have known that Dongfang Run liked An Qingran, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen into the trap as soon as her name was mentioned.

Lou Wanyue was thinking about this and that, feeling extremely confused, but she couldn't show it.

She couldn't say these words to An Qingran.

Then who should I tell?

Dongfang Ruoxue? She's just a younger sister, so what?

Thinking of this, Lou Wanyue raised the glass and drank it all in one gulp.

At this time, Murong Lanxin raised her glass and stood up: "Today is my birthday. I am very grateful for everyone coming. However, it would be boring if we just drank. We are all the same age and everyone likes to have fun. So I suggest that we have a show to liven up the party. Don't be shy and perform it to make it more lively, okay?"

Some people naturally applaud it.

Murong Lanxin looked drunk: "As for me, today is my birthday, I am the oldest, so please be merciful and argue whether what I said is right or wrong. Thank you for this. Previously, I only knew that there were three unique things in the capital..."

Having said that, looking at the three unique ones, An Qingran was stunned for a moment. What exactly did she want to say?

"But I've been away for only a year, and the capital has a fourth master, who has become the leader of the four masters..." As she spoke, she walked in front of An Qingran with a smile on her face, "Sister, I'm sorry for being rude today. I just want to see the grace of the four masters, especially yours. Today is my birthday, so I'll just perform something for you as a gift, okay?"

"I have given gifts before." An Qingran said with a faint smile.

She wants me to entertain her with her performance?

"Sister, what I want to see most is your singing and dancing. I wonder if you will appreciate my performance?"

She looked at Dongfang Jin.

Dongfang Jin raised his eyebrows, showing a little dissatisfaction.

Murong Lanxin pretended not to see it and stood there with a smile on her face.

An Qingran stood up and said, "Since the princess has such a noble intention, it would be disrespectful to refuse. Let me dance for you..."

An Qingran didn’t know what she was best at, writing a poem, painting a picture, or singing a song?

The final decision to dance was just a fleeting thought.

However, Lou Wanyue felt depressed when she saw her changing into the flying costume. She thought An Qingran did it on purpose. She knew very well that she was slim now because of the flying dance, and only those who practiced the flying dance would need to diet like this. Yet she insisted on doing the flying dance. Was she implying that her dancing was not as good as hers?

Although Lou Wanyue felt that she had not said it clearly just now, An Qingran should have known that she should not destroy her limelight in this way.

When she came, she was still thinking that if everyone performed, she would dance a song called Fei Tian, ​​not for Murong Lanxin, but for Dongfang Run.

She thought that if he watched her dance, maybe his mind would turn back to her.