Wen Yuanbai shook his head. "I don't know. If he has just returned to the capital and his position is not yet stable, he should be trying to curry favor with the Crown Prince or even with me, the young master. Why would he try to curry favor with the Third Prince?"

Su Youran recalled the incident of the Crown Prince being deposed in her previous life and asked, "Senior Brother, have you heard any rumors about the Crown Prince being deposed?"

"You've heard about it too?" Wen Yuanbai asked curiously.

Su Youran asked in surprise, "Really? Then... what's the rumored reason for His Highness the Crown Prince's deposition? Was it because he was lame and unable to walk?"

Wen Yuanbai nodded, "Yes."

"Then...is the rumor true?"

“Since it’s just a rumor, it’s obviously false,” Wen Yuanbai said. “Didn’t you see His Highness the Crown Prince that day? Where was he lame?”

Su Youran recalled seeing His Highness the Crown Prince upstairs on the day her master returned to the manor, and pursed her lips, saying, "Hmph, who knows if he was faking it?"

"Actually..." Wen Yuanbai was focused on improving his own image, "His Highness the Crown Prince has praised you to me several times. He said you are good-looking, very smart, and kind-hearted."

Su Youran immediately looked terrified. "Why is that dreadful crown prince praising me for no reason? Does he have ulterior motives?"

Wen Yuanbai was both amused and exasperated. "He was just casually praising you. What could he possibly be up to?"

"Hmph, they praised me like that just from casual conversation, they must have ulterior motives!" Su Youran frowned.

Wen Yuanbai sighed helplessly. Oh well, the Crown Prince's image was definitely not good in her eyes!

After thinking for a moment, he added, “I’ve been allocating grain supplies to the southern border for the past few months. You have no idea how popular your instant noodles are on the border. In addition, potatoes have had a bumper harvest in recent years, and the grain seeds you provided, which yield a thousand catties per mu, have been planted throughout the southern border! The soldiers no longer have to go hungry. His Highness the Crown Prince said he wants to recommend you for merit.”

Su Youran quickly waved her hand, "See! I told you he had ulterior motives! Such a great achievement, and he wants to recommend me for credit? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Wen Yuanbai:......

Su Youran snorted, "Didn't you hear what that barbarian from Nanyue said? I only rescued a few beggars today because I saw injustice, and he almost pinned the label of 'benefiting others' on me. Bestowing favors is the monarch's job. I only care about making money. I don't want any of that credit!"

Thinking of what the Southern Yue prince had just said, he could only look helplessly at his junior sister and slowly said, "So... it's easier for His Majesty to be suspicious if this credit is given to me, it's better to give it to His Highness the Crown Prince."

Su Youran's eyes widened. "Ah, last time he blatantly stole your credit, and this time you reluctantly gave him the credit? You two really are good brothers!"

...

The next day, as expected, the Yun family received an order to attend a palace banquet, and both Su Shi and Su Youran's names were on the roster.

Su Youran was reluctant to go to the palace, feeling that the rules were too complicated, but Yueyue specifically sent someone to tell her that she would come to invite her to go the next day, so she had no choice but to agree.

On that day, Yueyue waited at the door early in the morning.

Because it was a state banquet, Su Youran could only change into the county princess's ceremonial robes, which felt very awkward.

Once inside the carriage, Su Youran saw Yueyue dressed in a princess's court robe and wearing a proper princess's hat, which made her look very dignified. She then tugged at her own county princess's hat, which resembled the character "八" (eight), with a look of disdain. "I hate attending these kinds of state banquets the most. Just the clothes and hats alone divide people into different classes."

Yueyue snorted, "Does the fact that we don't wear these imperial robes mean that the people in the palace won't recognize us? Aren't we still divided into different classes?"

“That’s true. Sigh—” Su Youran sighed, “Our era has so many rules… Whether it’s the imperial robes or the standing positions, everything is about hierarchy and seniority…”

"Isn't this a good thing?" Yueyue asked, puzzled. "What do you mean by 'our era'? Have you seen other dynasties before?"

Su Youran suddenly realized she had let something slip and chuckled, "It was a dream, I saw it in a dream..."

Yueyue tapped her forehead. "You! You love to dream so much. I wonder if you're living in a dream, or living and dreaming!"

"That's well said!" Su Youran clapped her hands. "Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, but did he not know whether he was dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou? That's life!"

Yueyue was completely confused. She shook her head and ignored the topic, taking out two sachets from her sleeve. "Wear these. These are sachets that I developed that can cure all poisons, including common sleeping potions."

"What are you going to do wearing this?" Su Youran asked curiously as she took it. "There are two. Is the other one for my mother?"

“Damn it, my mother will give it to her when she sees it. This extra portion is for the Imperial Preceptor.”

Su Youran was even more puzzled, "The Imperial Advisor? My master?"

“Yes, we don’t know if the people in the palace are good or bad, so it’s best to be careful.” Yueyue rolled her eyes. “This was prepared by my mother. She said that Princess Qingping failed to get married in the palace last time, so she might have to use some tricks this time. She can’t get anyone into the Imperial Preceptor’s residence normally, but today’s palace banquet is a good opportunity. If you see your master, please pass it on to him.”

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of my master!" Su Youran gladly accepted the gift. "It's just a pity that I missed the famous scene of Princess Qingping's marriage proposal being rejected last time! I wonder what kind of good show it will be this time! Hehe!"

However, once the two entered the palace, they learned that Princess Qingping had been confined to her residence by the Princess Consort of Rong, in order to prevent her from causing another scandal at the state banquet.

Both of them looked disappointed.

However, Su Youran still found an opportunity to secretly go to Wuwang and give him the sachet.

The eldest princess was on the women's side of the table, chatting and laughing with Madam Su and several other noble ladies.

Wu Wang, sitting on the men's side, occasionally glanced over, but his gaze always landed calmly on the Princess.

Su Youran naturally noticed this scene, and thinking that Wuwang probably didn't have many opportunities to speak with the Princess, she had a sudden idea and said to Yueyue, "Your little brother Xuan should be eight years old by now, right? He's started learning both literature and martial arts. How's his martial arts foundation?"

Yueyue smiled and said, "Grandmother sent members of the Xue family to teach martial arts. However, only my brother and I are left in the direct line of the Xue family. Grandmother always complained that the Xue family master's spear technique was not refined enough."

Su Youran nodded towards Wuwang and said, “Outsiders don’t know that the Imperial Preceptor and the Princess have a very good personal relationship. Why don’t you let your younger brother Xuan become his disciple? He can not only learn some martial arts, but also some military strategy and mechanical arts. Wouldn’t that be better?”

Yueyue's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! I'll go back and tell my mother!"

Not to mention that the Imperial Advisor is now second only to the Emperor and is someone that all powerful and influential people want to curry favor with, even if he only learned the basics of the skills he acquired after graduating from Guigu Mountain, he would be very satisfied.

But look at Su Youran, this useless person who can't even find his meridians, yet he has mastered lightness skills to perfection without any internal energy.

Yueyue became more and more excited as she thought about it, and couldn't wait to go home to talk about it. She got up and went to the Princess to whisper to her.