This was a minor incident. Afterwards, several of the sons, including King Jing and King Yong, stepped forward to offer their congratulations, followed by the ministers.

These congratulatory messages are pretty much the same every year. This year you say this, next year I say this, it's all the same, nothing new, just empresses trying to please the emperor.

After the round ended, the singing and dancing began, and Yuwen Wuji also left his seat. The sons and ministers present were no longer restrained, and some of them began to move around.

As a prince who was not actively seeking out talent, Xie Liwei was naturally surrounded by marginal figures in the court. They all exchanged pretentious remarks, which were rather uninteresting.

Song Yaozhu sat and listened for a while, but her eyes were actually focused on the princes and princesses.

***Today, she didn't bring that male favorite with her; she was having dinner with the Prince of Yan's grandson. The Dowager Consort was also present, and upon noticing Song Yaozhu's gaze, she nodded and smiled at her.

The Dowager Consort was doing well after returning to the city; she looked radiant and seemed several years younger.

Song Yaozhu looked away and saw Prince Jing carrying a wine pot walk up to Prince Yong and drink a cup with the Prince and his wife.

Song Yaozhu thought of the time she had eavesdropped during Prince Yong's wedding. Looking at the eunuch who had been standing behind Prince Yong, she wondered if she was just imagining things, but she seemed to see the little eunuch with his head down look up at Prince Jing a few times.

Surely it's not like King Jing got addicted after just one trip on the dry road, right?

Song Yaozhu shuddered. In any case, no prince is hollow inside.

Seeing the two brothers chatting and laughing happily, Song Yaozhu paid closer attention. Soon, both princes were tipsy. One of the palace maids serving the dishes accidentally spilled the soup, affecting Prince Jing and Prince Yong and their wives. The three of them got up and went out to change their clothes.

After thinking for a moment, Song Yaozhu decided to go and take a look. She then whispered to Xie Liwei, "I have a feeling that Prince Jing is up to no good. I'll go and check it out."

Xie Liwei nodded and said, "Be careful, I'll have Fang Rao follow you."

Song Yaozhu responded, "You should drink less too!"

The civil official beside him immediately laughed and said, "The princess is angry! It seems the prince has been quite strict with her!"

"Since it's a palace banquet today, Your Highness should give our Prince a day off!"

The group was making a lot of noise, clearly drunk, but Xie Liwei's eyes were still clear. He pretended to be drunk and waved his hand, saying, "No, no, I can't drink anymore!"

Seeing that he handled the situation with ease, Song Yaozhu went out and quickly followed Prince Yong and his wife. She maintained a certain distance so that they wouldn't notice her, nor would anyone who saw her suspect anything.

Halfway through the journey, it's unclear what King Jing said to Princess Yong, but she continued walking with her maids, while King Jing led Prince Yong down another path.

She thought for a moment and then followed Princess Yong.

Princess Yong walked for a while, then noticed someone behind her. She turned around, saw Song Yaozhu, and smiled.

"Why is the Princess Consort of the Carefree Kingdom here?"

"When men drink too much, they inevitably spill their drinks. My clothes are dirty, so I came out to clean them up."

Princess Yong, unsuspecting, said, "That's perfect, we're going the same way anyway."

The two walked side by side. "I think I saw Prince Yong and his wife come out together just now, but I didn't see them."

"He and his elder brother went to the men's side room."

Song Yaozhu looked at her, but couldn't see any other expression on her face. She wondered if Lady Zhai really didn't know that the Imperial Concubine had prepared separate rooms for her two sons.

Normally, princes would have their own rooms to rest in, but Xie Liwei was an exception. After all, he was not related to the Yuwen family, had no power, and was at odds with the Imperial Concubine. Therefore, given his status, he did not have a private room.

Strangely, didn't the palace maid who led the way remind her?

Song Yaozhu smiled and said, "I heard that princes have their own private rooms. I was originally thinking of using the princess's room for some peace and quiet."

Zhai's expression was slightly unnatural. She looked at the palace maid who was leading the way, and the maid explained understandingly, "This servant is taking the Princess to the room arranged for Prince Yong."

The maidservant beside Princess Yong rebuked sharply, "Nonsense! If that were the case, why would Prince Jing say that men and women should be treated differently? Are you trying to harm our Princess?"

The palace maid was so frightened that she immediately knelt down, "This servant didn't! This servant is telling the truth!"

Princess Yong's face darkened. She looked at Song Yaozhu with embarrassment and said, "Your Highness, I wish to go find the Prince..."

Song Yaozhu tactfully said, "I will find a place to change myself, Your Highness need not worry about me."

Princess Yong smiled apologetically at her, then hurried off in the direction where Prince Jing and Prince Yong had gone.

Song Yaozhu then had a palace maid lead her to the private room arranged for female guests to rest. As soon as she sat down, Yongle came in and pulled her out.

"Come on, I have something to tell you!" Yongle was in such a hurry that anyone who didn't know better would think she was being followed by a ghost.

Song Yaozhu's arm ached from being pulled so hard. Caijin tried to follow, but Yongle glared at her and stopped her. Song Yaozhu waved her hand, telling her to step back.

"What's wrong with you?"

Yongle didn't speak, but led the person away for a long time. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, he said, "Can you find a way to prevent me from getting married?"

Song Yaozhu looked at her with a puzzled expression, her tone slightly teasing: "Weren't you so determined to marry Cui Yan? Why don't you want to marry him now?"

"Wouldn't that be trying to go against my mother? She wants to control what I eat, what I wear, and what books I read. I really can't stand it!"

"Oh, so you know that you keep chasing after my prince because you know he can't marry you, so you're deliberately ruining your reputation?"

Yongle stared at her with wide eyes, and after a long while sighed, "Thank you for thinking so highly of me. At the time, I just thought it was really cool that he had half his face disfigured, like the kind of protagonist in a storybook who is disabled but determined. That fascinated me."

As she spoke, she stretched out her little hands and started rummaging around.

"Look at him, his dead sister, his demoted family, his disfigured face—he's living like this, yet he hasn't even thought of searching for the dagger. That shows how strong his heart is!"

Song Yaozhu: "......"

"Alright." She covered her small hand with one hand. "Tell me what happened first. What exactly is going on between you and Cui Yan?"

Yongle sighed deeply, "It's nothing much, I just wanted to use him to annoy my mother, but I went a little too far."

She can't eat or sleep well now, fearing that the imperial decree to grant her marriage might come down any day.

"You need to think of a solution quickly! I don't want to marry that heartless man, Cui Yan!"

"He was so determined to marry you, how did he become a heartless man?"

"If he were a good person, would he have tried to seduce me while he was already engaged? He should have broken off the engagement first before having anything to do with me! It's clear he wanted to test me out, so if things didn't work out, he'd have his cousin as a backup! I'll make sure this kind of bad man gets nothing!"