Chapter 499: Wan Shuang [Part 3]

He was wearing a dragon robe.

The only one who can enter and leave the palace freely wearing a dragon robe must be a prince.

No matter which prince he was, he was of noble status. I couldn't just stand there like an idiot, so I hurried to pay my respects.

"Excuse me, your humble servant. I wonder which prince you are?"

"The third prince, Xiao Jingheng."

Xiao Jingheng......

His name came out of his mouth and poured into my ears along with the sound of wind blowing up the rain of flowers, which once again hurt the softest part of my heart.

At the same time, many unreal images flashed through my mind.

I vaguely saw,

I seemed to have been held in his arms, and lifted up like the moon in the sky.

The moon in the mirror shattered, and he threw her into the abyss...

This huge sense of gap is enough to suffocate.

But I...it was clearly the first time I saw him.

The wind was stronger, and before I knew it, it had brought him to me. I heard him say:

"You dance beautifully, young lady. You are more beautiful than flowers. May I ask your name?"

He was so close to me that just by standing in front of me, he completely blocked out the light that should have been shining on me.

I rarely have the opportunity to interact with men outside my home, let alone be alone with them in private like this.

The faint scent of moon lin exuded from his body, silently invading me.

I felt more and more at a loss. I had to lower my head to avoid his gaze, kicking the stones on the ground helplessly, and replied weakly:

"I am a servant named Ning, my maiden name is Wanshuang."

"Do you like Xinyi too?" he asked me with a smile.

I looked at the purple mist dancing in the sky and nodded silently.

But I watched his smiling face gradually become empty and lost, and soon he said lightly,

"My mother and I like it too."

I was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond to him.

Although I have never had any intersection with him, I have heard some information about his life.

His biological mother had violated a taboo in the palace and was rejected by the emperor and sent to the cold palace, where she died soon after.

He was still young at that time, and soon he was raised by the current queen.

Among the many princes, he was the least liked by the emperor, perhaps because his biological mother was disliked by the emperor.

A prince who is not favored by the emperor may live a life worse than that of an ordinary son of a wealthy family.

When I was at home, I happened to hear my father and brother mention it several times. They said that the emperor had assigned him a task, but the court officials under him seldom cooperated. They only got by on the surface, but as for the inside, they were as perfunctory as they could be.

And even though he was the first prince to leave the palace and set up his own residence, outsiders seemed to think that the emperor and empress loved him very much, but in fact they just wanted to send him away as soon as possible.

In the Qi Dynasty, there is a strict order of seniority. If the emperor really loved him, why would he let the fifth prince get married before him?

The elder brother has not yet married, but the younger brother already has a room full of wives and concubines.

This incident alone was enough to make him laugh out loud in Kyoto.

"These few days are approaching my mother's birthday, and the Xinyi in the palace is the one she misses the most, so I picked some to offer to her."

He said this without any context, then slowly squatted down, carefully selected the petals that had not been contaminated by the soil and collected them.

I saw his tall body shrunk into a tiny shadow, looking infinitely lonely against the backdrop of the flying flowers.

I grew up surrounded by the love of my family, so it is hard for me to imagine how he endured the grievances in the first half of his life.

After thinking about it more, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him.

A petal fell on my shoulder, I took it and handed it to him.

"The Third Prince is very filial and will surely know about it to your mother."

He looked up at me, his eyes clear.

When she took the petals from my hand, she accidentally touched my fingertips.

"Thank you very much."

I quickly pulled my hand away and said with a smile that it was okay.

Suddenly, I heard Yingxiang whisper to me, "Miss, we have to help the Queen find the ring quickly, otherwise it will be even harder to find it after the sun sets."

I nodded in agreement, gave him a polite smile, and hurriedly followed Yingxiang.

There are so many magnolia flowers planted at Guangyang Gate.

The petals fell on the ground, covering the ground layer by layer, and even the bluestone road was a little unclear.

It is not easy to find a small ring in this place.

But I promised the Queen that if I fail to do well, it would be a loss of face for the Ning family.

So even though I was wearing clothes that made it difficult for me to move, I still rolled up my sleeves, squatted down, and struggled to search among the petals all over the ground.

This sea of ​​flowers should have been a very beautiful picture, but it was ruined by Yingxiang and I, the "down-and-out" master and servant.

We both squatted on the ground, lowering our bodies lower and lower, looking as miserable as we could.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but when I was exhausted and limp, I suddenly heard someone calling me from behind.

I turned around and saw that it was Xiao Jingheng who had stood behind me.

What was different from the first time I met him was that this time when I saw him, I couldn't help but laugh.

He was even more miserable than I was. The hem and cuffs of his dragon robe were covered with mud, and even his cheeks were covered with dust, which he wiped off quickly, leaving him like a tabby cat.

When he saw me laughing at him, he smiled a little embarrassedly.

Then he stretched out his hand towards me and opened his palm, and I saw a bright emerald ring lying quietly in his palm.

"This is......"

"The Queen Mother's ring."

I took the ring and rubbed it on my fingertips. His body temperature was still on it, which warmed my heart.

[For a jade ring to be warm, it must not be warm when it is picked up and held directly. It should be cold. If it is warm, it means Xiao Jingheng has been keeping it close to his body. It is not something he found out on the spot.]

I thanked him generously, but he just smiled, scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and waved his hand in a nonchalant manner.

"You don't have to thank me. I just happened to find it while collecting flower petals."

But his cat-like appearance clearly told me that this "coincidence" was intentional on his part.

It was getting dark. Thinking that my father might soon finish discussing matters with the Emperor, I was anxious to return the ring to the Queen. So after saying goodbye to him hastily, I took Yingxiang and left.

Before I took two steps, I saw Yingxiang fumbling around on her body, so I asked:

"What are you looking for?"

"Miss, your body and face are covered with dust. How can you go to see the Queen in such a state of embarrassment?"

While Yingxiang was brushing the dust off my clothes, she kept muttering, "It's strange, how come the handkerchief is gone?"

I have always been a casual person, so I thought I could just rub my face twice.

But when he raised his hand, someone stuffed a bright yellow handkerchief into his palm.

I was stunned for a moment, and heard Xiao Jingheng say jokingly:

"If I rub my hands and become a cat, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing?"

I knew what the girl meant by giving me the handkerchief. Although the man didn't care about it, he still felt awkward, so he hurried to return it to her.

But in the blink of an eye, he had turned around and walked away.

I shouted at his back:

"I'll lend you this handkerchief. I'll wash it and send it back to you tomorrow."

He didn't look back, but just raised his right arm and waved at me in a very casual manner.

Soon after, the whole person was immersed in the rain of flowers.