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◎If he were really that flattering, he wouldn't be Zhang Su anymore.◎

After Zhang Su left, Qingyang called Fu'an in. Glancing at his third brother, who was already soundly asleep, Qingyang walked over to a peony, reached out and cupped the outer layer of petals. Admiring them, he said, "On the way out of the palace, I noticed something was amiss between the eldest princess and her husband. Have you heard anything about it?"

Fuan's eyes twitched slightly. He had indeed heard something about it, but could he tell this to the twelve-year-old princess?

Fu An thought for a moment and sighed. He looked at the peony in the little princess's hand and said, "Before the Lunar New Year, His Majesty the Second Prince held a banquet. I went with His Majesty the Third Prince. The masters and I were invited to the banquet, so we were lucky enough to sit at the same table. During the banquet, the servant next to the eldest prince let slip that the eldest princess had discovered that he was keeping a mistress..."

When Qingyang heard this, he was furious. Fu Kui was so bold that he actually kept a mistress behind his elder sister's back!

Fu'an was very afraid that the little princess would go to the emperor to complain about Fu Kui because she was partial to the eldest princess. If the eldest princess's lover was exposed, the emperor might not punish Fu Kui, and the little princess would also have to bear the eldest princess's blame.

Fu An continued, "Your Highness, please calm down. From what I know about the Grand Princess, she's very concerned about her reputation. She'd rather settle her anger with the Grand Prince Consort than ask the Emperor to punish him. She's afraid that this matter will spread like wildfire in the capital. So, Your Highness, just be aware of this, but pretend you don't know, so as to avoid embarrassing the Grand Princess."

Qingyang also knew that his elder sister was very concerned about her reputation, but she didn't like being wronged even more, so she would directly ask the emperor to divorce Fu Kui. Could it be that his elder sister was reluctant to let her two children be without a father, or was she worried about her father-in-law, the Marquis of Zhennan, who had made great contributions in the Southern Expedition, and was afraid that the emperor would not agree to her request?

In the past two years, Qingyang often went to Jingzhao Yin and witnessed many civil lawsuits, including various cases caused by marital discord, such as the man being beaten by his father-in-law, brother-in-law and younger brother-in-law for fooling around outside, and the woman wanting to divorce with the child but the man's family refused to agree. The minor cases were just quarrels, and the serious cases included murders.

Qingyang finally understood what it meant that "even a judge could not judge family affairs properly". So, as Fu'an said, whether to divorce Fu Kui was up to her elder sister to decide. She couldn't interfere rashly unless her elder sister took the initiative to discuss it with her.

Thinking back to the fact that her elder sister didn't invite her to stay with her, she was actually doing it to cover up the discord between her elder sister and brother-in-law because she was afraid that she would notice.

.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Qingyang, who was used to getting up early, woke up at 12:00 a.m. while it was still dark.

Without calling his third brother who must still be sleeping in, Qingyang had breakfast by himself and then went to the martial arts training ground in his third brother's house.

My father had just arranged two martial arts instructors for my third brother, but they both went home to celebrate the holidays, leaving the martial arts arena empty.

Qingyang had the steward summon her third brother's thirty-six personal soldiers and the sixteen imperial guards she had brought with her. Sixteen of them were randomly selected from the personal soldiers to compete with Cheng Zhixu and the other imperial guards. As far as she knew, her eldest sister and second brother had also received thirty-six personal soldiers when they left the palace. These soldiers were selected from the four major imperial camps and were similarly tall and skilled in martial arts.

After sixteen rounds of competition, three of the imperial guards lost to the third brother's personal soldiers, and the thirteen wins were not easily resolved in just a few moves. This shows that either the third brother's personal soldiers were strong enough and did not slack off because they left the Beijing camp, or Zhang Su helped the third brother manage them well.

Qingyang first encouraged his third brother's personal soldiers, who had collectively lost. After they left, Qingyang addressed the three defeated guards, "His Highness's personal soldiers are also the elite selected from the Beijing Camp. It's not shameful for you to lose to them. However, from what I've observed, you were dismissive when you attacked. As the saying goes, pride goes before a fall. You must correct this habit. From now on, whether sparring with others or killing enemies on the battlefield, you must give it your all."

The three guards had saved some face and felt relieved. They humbly stated that they would remember the princess's teachings and continue to practice martial arts in the future.

Qingyang let the others go and left Cheng Zhixu alone.

For all the guards selected by Qingyang, she would inquire with Fan Zhong in detail about their ancestral home and family history. Most of them were children of commoners, and there were also some descendants of local military officers. However, Cheng Zhixu, who was only 20 years old this year, was special. His ancestors were actually scholars. Because his father and brother died in the war one after another, Cheng Zhixu gave up writing and took the path of military examination. The year when Jia Fangping failed the exam, the 18-year-old Cheng Zhixu won the third place in the military examination. He would probably be sent out as a general after a few years of experience in the Imperial Guard.

When Qingyang was selecting people, he admired Cheng Zhixu's face. After seeing his resume, he admired his talents even more, so some jobs were more suitable for Cheng Zhixu.

"Try to test it out these few days and see if there are any gossipy people among the Third Prince's personal guards who like to reveal the master's private secrets."

If Fu Kui had not failed to discipline the servants around him, how could his family affairs with his elder sister be known to outsiders like Fu An?

There is a difference in closeness, and Qingyang cannot be the master of her second brother, eldest sister, and eldest brother-in-law. She is willing to take care of her third brother, and he is willing to listen to her.

Cheng Zhixu bowed and said, "I obey your orders."

.

At about a quarter past four in the morning at the Duke of Wei's mansion, Zhang Su came to say goodbye to his mother.

Lady Xu, wife of Duke Weiguo, looked at her son, who had changed into a dark blue fine cloth robe. He was eighteen years old now, more than eight feet tall, and his figure began to resemble his two older brothers who had already married and had children. Especially his face, which was becoming increasingly angular but more handsome as it became colder. When he was young, he simply wanted to please girls, and they would want to look at him again after just one look. But now, she was afraid that girls would fall in love with him at the first sight.

With the looks of her sons, Xu doesn't need to worry about them not being able to marry good girls. Instead, she needs to carefully select the girl's family background. Her husband is already a duke, so it's best if the in-laws don't hold high positions. It's better to keep things simple and what matters is the character of the family.

The eldest and second sons' wives were chosen in this way, and both couples lived happily after their marriages. Now it was the third son's turn...

Thinking of the little princess in the palace who was growing more and more like a fairy, Xu worriedly asked, "Is she going to escort the two princes again?"

Zhang Su agreed.

There were only mother and son in the room. Xu asked her son to come closer and whispered, "It's New Year's Day, and the Third Prince has his own soldiers in his mansion. If you just say you have something going on at home, how can the Third Prince embarrass you?"

It didn't matter that her son was a study companion to the third prince. What Xu was afraid of was that her son would fall in love with the little princess and approach her enthusiastically again and again. If he really won the little princess's favor and was granted marriage by the emperor, his son who became a prince consort might not be able to lead troops in the future. If her son was not favored by the little princess at all, he would have to endure the pain of failure in love.

If it was an ordinary lady from a wealthy family, Xu felt that her son still had a good chance. However, the little princess had been pampered by the emperor since she was young. She had seen all kinds of young talents. No matter how handsome her son was, the little princess would have been tired of him long ago. He would not be able to gain any advantage with his good looks.

Unaware of her son's interactions with the two princes, Xu interpreted her son's relentless presence on every day off from the palace as a form of proactive approach and attempt to please the emperor. How could it be anything but proactive? The Third Prince was so good-tempered, her son could easily refuse to accompany him for any reason, and once refused, the Third Prince would never mention it again. And the little princess, on the other hand, was no exception. The Emperor always assigned a team of guards, so there was no shortage of guards.

Zhang Su vaguely guessed his mother's worries, but instead of explaining and letting his mother misunderstand that the little princess was interested in him, it would be better to let his mother misunderstand him.

He simply replied, "Your Highness considers me a close friend. I am indeed fine, so why should I disappoint Your Highness's kindness?"

Xu had long been accustomed to her husband's hypocrisy and high-sounding tactics, so she agreed, "Okay, you really have nothing to do today. There's a banquet at the Jining Marquis' Mansion tomorrow, so you can come with us."

The husband simply did not make friends with officials privately, but whenever there were banquets hosted by the families of nobles and generals with whom he had acquaintance on the battlefield, the couple would go if they were free, and would also return the favor every New Year. This was the most basic etiquette.

Zhang Su: "Okay, I'll tell the Third Prince."

Xu: "I want to go to Baiyun Temple to pay my respects the day after tomorrow. Can you also escort me?"

Zhang Su looked at his mother who was laughing at the teasing, and said hello anyway.

Xu felt sorry for her son again. If he really wanted to get close to the little princess, she would tie him up and not let him go. How sad would her son feel?

"Forget it, you should just go and protect the Third Prince. If I take you to a banquet, there will be a bunch of noble ladies trying to match you up..."

"Before he came of age, my son didn't want to consider marriage, and I had to ask my mother to reject him on my behalf."

Xu asked tentatively, "Do you have a girl you like and want to win her heart first?"

Zhang Su shook his head and said sternly, "Mother, be careful with your words. If this gets out, others might become suspicious of all the ladies my son has contact with."

Xu: "...Hurry up and leave! You're actually controlling me!"

Zhang Su took his leave, went out, and rode the imperial mount towards Shanhefang in the south of the imperial city. When he arrived outside the Third Prince's Mansion, he saw that the carriages of the two princes were already prepared, and sixteen plain-clothed guards stood solemnly in front, behind, left and right of the carriages in groups of four.

The sixteen guards seemed to be of the same rank, but they actually had their own set of rules for standing. Because the little princess would get on the car from the side facing the palace gate, the four guards who were more favored by the little princess would stand on this side. Moreover, the closer they stood to the front, the more chances they had to serve the princess closely or answer her questions, and the more unique their status would be.

Zhang Su dismounted three meters away from the carriage and walked closer, leading the horse.

Fugui greeted him with a smile: "The Third Young Master is here. Your Highnesses will have to wait a while before coming out. Will you wait inside?"

Zhang Su: "Don't bother telling me, sir. I'll just wait here."

Fugui didn't force it.

Zhang Su looked at the two guards opposite him with a natural expression.

Qin Ren treated Zhang Su as a brother, so the personal guards of the prince's mansion also respected Zhang Su. Cheng Zhixu and the other sixteen guards were the emperor's soldiers. They were ordered to protect the little princess. So in the past few days, even the third prince could only receive their courtesy respect but could not order them around. As for outsiders, let alone the son of the Duke of Weiguo's mansion, even if the Duke of Weiguo himself came, they would not need to salute.

When Zhang Su's gaze fell on Cheng Zhixu's face, Cheng Zhixu also looked over. There was such a person coming opposite him, and it was impossible not to look.

The two young men, both of whom had been praised or teased for their looks, exchanged glances briefly, then looked away silently.

There was a sound of footsteps inside. Cheng Zhixu and the three guards beside him turned around at the same time and bowed when the two princes stepped out of the mansion.

Qingyang smiled and told them not to be polite. Then he turned his head and saw Zhang Su standing far away with a horse. Qingyang glared at him.

She has grown up and it is not easy for her to ask him to help her get in the car. Doesn't he know how to be more proactive?

However, if a foreign man is really so flattering, he would not be Zhang Su.

【Author’s words】

Here I come, 100 red envelopes, see you tonight~

Don’t be afraid, the next chapter will be at the end of the year, and then we’ll skip directly to 13 and 14 years old!