"Madam, what you said makes me blush. It seems you have a rather special feeling for Lord Huo." Qiu Tong covered her mouth and chuckled, her words stopping everyone from saying anything more.

Just moments ago, she had been looking at Zhao Shu with strange eyes, but now she was blushing.

Although this stream is divided into upper, middle, and lower sections, if you speak a little loudly, the people below can hear you.

Zhao Shu glanced at Qiu Tong gratefully, and Qiu Tong smiled back, then whispered in Zhao Shu's ear, "Don't worry, sister. Before I came here today, I promised a brother that I would take good care of you."

"Thank you." Zhao Shu wanted to ask who this brother was, but then thought better of it; she knew without asking.

Sun Si's eyes darted around, receiving a signal from Old Madam Sun. He coughed lightly and raised his voice, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, ladies, and young ladies have all arrived. Today the sky is clear and the breeze is gentle. As usual, let's have a cup of wine and a poem, shall we?"

"Fourth Sister-in-law is the hostess, and we are the guests. Whatever Fourth Sister-in-law says goes." The voice came from the other side, but Zhao Shu frowned slightly upon hearing it. Why was this person invited?

"If you say that, Fourth Sister-in-law will know that you have a sweet tooth. I'm afraid you've already smelled the best green bamboo leaves in the pool on the peak."

As they were talking, a beautiful maidservant scooped out a well-sealed pool of green bamboo leaves from a clear pond. These green bamboo leaves were a fine wine brewed using the Sun family's exclusive secret recipe, and it was famous far and wide. Many scholars and celebrities wanted to drink a cup of green bamboo leaves but could not.

The wine jar was opened, and the aroma of the wine immediately filled the air, intoxicating many people.

While everyone was enjoying the aroma of the wine, Zhao Shu was thinking about the Tenth Prince. He was once known as Xiaoyao and was the second prince in the royal family to be praised as having the demeanor of a renowned teacher. However, he grew up in a different era than Prince Jing and did not have the Prince Jing's formidable strength.

However, there was one thing Zhao Shu remembered very clearly: he had wandered the world and later married a foreign princess, but unfortunately, neither of them had a good ending, and their only daughter was stolen and her whereabouts were unknown.

After his death, there were scattered rumors that he was actually the child of Consort Duan, who had conceived with another man in order to gain favor with the emperor. However, this was said to have damaged the reputation of the royal family and was suppressed.

The tenth prince, Zhao Yan, was the same age as Zhao Shu, and his birth mother was a singer.

When discussing the tenth prince, one cannot ignore another factor that led aristocratic families to look down on the royal family. There was only one empress, but there were so many concubines. What did it matter what their rank was? They were all just concubines. Even a singing girl could be made a concubine and be on equal footing with them. Naturally, those aristocratic families felt unbalanced and thought that the emperor had no rules and that the royal family were all nouveau riche and vulgar people.

Therefore, all of Emperor Mingde's concubines, from empresses to beauties, regardless of their rank, came from extremely ordinary families.

The fact that the Tenth Prince had come to such a place made Zhao Shu even more vigilant.

Just as she was lost in thought, Qiu Tong nudged her, "A-Jun, the wine cup." She gestured for Zhao Shu to look at the wine cup floating in front of her.

The flat-bottomed, oval-shaped, crescent-shaped wine cup floated to a puddle of clear water in front of Zhao Shu, where it was blocked by a dolomite rock. The stream was shallow, and there were many irregularly shaped rocks of various colors in the stream, preventing the wine cup from floating away.

"I didn't expect Ah Jun to be the first one. Could it be that the wine cup knew that this was Ah Jun's first time here? It landed right in front of you." Sun Si had always played the role of a good fourth sister-in-law, but after thinking back, every word she said from the time she entered Jingxin Garden until now was a trap.

After she finished speaking, Qiu Tong and Yan Ruyu held her hands with concern and gave her a look that said, "Don't worry about what others think," to comfort her.

Zhao Shu responded with a smile.

"The princess has taken Mr. Luo, one of the four young masters, as her teacher. She must be very talented. Why don't you compose a poem? It's a matter of one poem for each cup of wine. The princess will compose a poem for each sip of fine wine until she finishes drinking. What do you all think?" The speaker was Sun Wu, Sun Ying. She was next to Sun Yun and seemed to be deliberately trying to annoy Sun Yun, so she started to tease Zhao Shu.

After she finished speaking, Yang Mengxian chimed in, "Since there is a renowned teacher to guide us, let's change the rules. Sister Sun Liu's skills are superb. Why don't you play a piece called 'High Mountains and Flowing Water' to suit the occasion? When the music ends, the princess can drink some wine and compose a poem. What do you think, Grandmother?"

"You young people, make your own decision." In front of everyone, especially with men opposite her, Madam Sun was extremely careful about her image, not daring to easily provoke Zhao Shu, neither advancing nor retreating, and letting things go unchecked.

The woman was speaking, so the man opposite her naturally couldn't interrupt. Both of them considered themselves to be from scholarly families, and their words and actions were proper and polite. However, they couldn't help but exchange a few words with each other.

Naturally, the locations along the bank are not neatly arranged in a straight line; they are quite irregular. Some are further away, behind trees, some are by the stream, and some are by distant boulders.

Someone said, "I met Mr. Luo once in the past; he was a true scholar."

"Those who come from humble backgrounds yet possess such a high level of achievement are rare indeed."

"I wonder what his students are like."

Unable to see each other, Zhao Shu didn't know who was talking on the other side. As soon as the words fell, Yang Mengxian said, "Sixth Sister Sun is unwilling to play the zither for the Princess? Sister is a good friend of the Princess."

Sun Yun's expression changed, and she finally looked at Zhao Shu, whose beautiful face was full of worry and anger.

Everyone looked at her worry and anger, but turned a blind eye, because Old Madam Sun did not treat her as a granddaughter.

This is a group of indifferent people.

"Bring the zither," she finally whispered to Banshu, who was kneeling behind her.

"No need, use mine." Sun Ying handed the zither she had prepared to Sun Yun. "This was a birthday gift from my eldest sister a few years ago. Sixth sister, please be careful."

The lute was placed on the table, and Sun Yun's hands gently rested on the strings. Her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but she tried her best to hold it in.

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