Chapter 46 One person, one green hat, so fair...

But he had the advantage of height, and long arms and legs, so he easily scooped it up.

He unfolded the handkerchief, revealing a majestic bear on it. His lips twitched as he glanced at Yang Qing, who looked guilty.

The person who embroidered the bear on the handkerchief was someone Li Shangxuan had only ever seen since he could remember: his teacher's wife, the second wife of the Chi family, and Yang Qing's mother.

Ming Luoqi was still sweetly recounting in her ears how terrified and wronged she was when punished by Empress Ming as a child, and how he, like a god descended from heaven, was so gentle and understanding in comforting her. When they first met as adults, she immediately remembered those childhood memories. She had kept this handkerchief to this day…

Oh, I see. Judging from Yang Qing's reaction, she clearly knew all along. No wonder she wasn't jealous at all.

He held a handkerchief and interrupted Ming Luoqi's incessant rambling, "Miss Ming, I think you must have misunderstood."

He felt Yang Qing squeeze his hand, but he ignored it and continued, "This handkerchief isn't mine, it's Yang Qing's. It was Yang Qing who asked me to comfort you about what happened when we were little, it wasn't my intention. If you want to thank someone, you're thanking the wrong person."

He considered himself to have a decent temper, but it was unlikely that he would take the initiative to comfort a crying little girl, especially since the little girl had a relationship with Empress Ming, and at that time, Consort Xue and Empress Ming were at odds.

He hadn't really comforted Yang Qing when she was little. She didn't like to cry when she was little, but he didn't know why she suddenly started to cry a lot when she grew up. But the way she cried... Thinking of how her eyes were filled with tears and her eyes were red just now, he couldn't help but feel a little itchy.

Ming Luoqi's smile froze. She looked at Li Shangxuan, who looked absolutely certain, and then at Yang Qing, who seemed very guilty and avoided eye contact.

It seems quite obvious who is lying.

Ming Luoqi was somewhat angry and turned hostile, questioning, "You already knew when I mentioned this to you last time, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me? Were you deliberately playing a trick on me? You wouldn't have been secretly laughing at me, would you? Or perhaps you told others to join in the laughter?"

Yang Qing immediately distanced herself: "What? How am I as bad as you say? This handkerchief is indeed mine, but it was Li Shangxuan who went to comfort you. You didn't mistake me for someone else!"

Ming Luoqi was intimidated by her imposing manner and lost her previous fierceness. She paused for a moment and then said, "Then, that's not right either. Why didn't you tell me?"

Yang Qing replied matter-of-factly, "I have a bad memory, is it wrong for me to forget?"

Ming Luoqi stopped talking, glancing at Li Shangxuan for a moment, then at Yang Qing.

She herself couldn't say for sure whether she liked the person who comforted her when she was a child, or her handsome cousin whom she fell in love with at first sight.

After a long silence, she finally made up her mind and said through gritted teeth, "Let's just let this matter go. I'm magnanimous and won't hold it against you."

Yang Qing was about to say that it wasn't a big deal, when she heard Ming Luoqi say triumphantly, "I've thought of a good idea. Since the imperial decree for the marriage has been issued and you are definitely going to be the Crown Princess, I can only make do and become the Crown Prince's concubine. In the future, you will be the Empress and I will be the Noble Consort, so the three of us can live together forever!"

Since she can't figure out whether she likes the person from her childhood or the current Li Shangxuan, she might as well have both.

Yang Qing was so surprised that she couldn't speak for a moment, while Li Shangxuan almost jumped up, "No, I don't agree."

The maids beside her blushed and advised, "Miss, you are an unmarried young lady, how can you say such things?"

Ming Luoqi thought it was a brilliant idea, and she was extremely satisfied with her clever mind for coming up with it.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince was the first to disagree, and even the chattering maids beside him thought she was wrong.

She placed her last hope on Yang Qing: "What do you think?"

Now it was Li Shangxuan's turn to squeeze her hand hard, but even if he didn't, Yang Qing wouldn't agree. She quickly shook her head, "I don't agree either."

Ming Luoqi frowned, then relaxed, revealing a charmingly wicked smile. "Heh, have you misunderstood? I'm not here to sabotage you two, I'm here to join you. Or are you jealous, thinking you're not as important to me as my cousin, the Crown Prince? Actually, I like both of you, but you're a woman, and I can't marry you. Even if the three of us get married, nominally we'll all be my cousin's consorts, think about it, he'll definitely be very busy. We'll spend more time together, right?"

After her explanation, not only did Yang Qing take a few steps back and hide behind Li Shangxuan, but Li Shangxuan's attitude also became more intense: "I will absolutely not agree."

Then he decisively ordered, "Turn around and go back."

Ming Luoqi's boat was left far behind, but she was still unconvinced. She put her hand in front of her mouth like a megaphone and said, "You two shouldn't be so petty. What's the big deal if I'm one more person?"

The thing Chi Yangqing feared most still happened, no, it was even more terrible than what she feared.

Li Shangxuan pinched her cheek again: "You knew all along, why didn't you tell me?"

Yang Qing said, "How dare you accuse someone first? You should mind your own business and keep your own affairs in check."

Li Shangxuan pinched her cheek and sneered, "Why do I feel like she's more interested in you?"

Even women were cheating on him; Li Shangxuan felt utterly pathetic.

Yang Qing frowned: "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You're shameless! She's going to marry you, not me!"

Hearing her cry out in pain, Li Shangxuan quickly let go of her hand. Seeing that there wasn't even a red mark on it, he immediately knew that she was acting again. Seeing that everyone present was very sensible, either lowering their heads or turning their backs, he simply lowered his head and gently bit her cheek.

Although she quickly let go, Yang Qing was still incredulous. She covered her face with one hand and stammered, "You! You! You!"

Seeing her exasperated state, Li Shangxuan felt a surge of joy from the bottom of his heart. He was happy to tease her by putting on a fierce expression. "What do you mean, 'I'? Don't always say I'm shameless. Well then, I'll show you how shameless I can be!"

Yang Qing covered her face and dared not speak. She had always been a bully who preyed on the weak. When Li Shangxuan was not assertive, she would want to climb on his head, but when he became assertive, she would only dare to play dumb.

Actually, it wasn't just Li Shangxuan; he treated everyone the same way. But Li Shangxuan was always exceptionally indulgent towards her, so she also really liked to take advantage of his kindness.

So now she only dares to protect her face, and then glare at her a few times with a huff but no itch.

After a long silence, she reluctantly spoke up, "So, Ming Luoqi, what do you want to do?"

Li Shangxuan asked, "Why should I be the one to decide what to do?"

Yang Qing: "She's going to marry you. If it's not your idea, do you think it's mine?"

Li Shangxuan smiled enigmatically: "She wants to marry me, but she wants to stay with you for a long, long time."

Yang Qing was afraid of this, so she quickly said, "I don't want to! She's so talkative, I'll go crazy if I stay with her!"

Li Shangxuan was exasperated: "Is that something she can say? She's trying to cheat on me!"

Yang Qing immediately retorted, "She clearly wants to cheat on me!"

Xiaoman, who had been hiding her head for a long time, could no longer hold back and said softly, "Is it possible that she wants to give the hat to His Highness and also to Miss Chi? But that's fine too, you each get a hat, no one loses out, it's very fair."

Yang Qing was speechless and found an excuse to attack Li Shangxuan, "Look at this, this is the good person you chose!"

Li Shangxuan was speechless at this "fair" way of putting it, and waved his hand at her, saying, "Go down first."

Xiaoman shrank her neck and said "Oh." Pshaw, she didn't care to stay here and watch them flirt and be lovey-dovey.

After she left, Yang Qing spoke again, "I don't care, go and tell His Majesty to send her back to Luonan immediately, I'm afraid she'll pester me."

Li Shangxuan said, "Are you the only one who's afraid? Am I not afraid?"

Yang Qing said, "You're a man, what do you have to be afraid of?"

Li Shangxuan said, "I'm a man, not deaf. Didn't you hear me just now? Her mouth hasn't stopped for a moment."

Before Yang Qing could even laugh, Rong Shan couldn't help but burst out laughing. Although he quickly stopped himself, neither Li Shangxuan nor Yang Qing were deaf, so they both heard it.

Li Shangxuan's expression darkened considerably: "All of you, get out."

Yang Qing disagreed again. If they all went down, wouldn't he be able to do whatever he wanted?

"No, you're not allowed to go down!"

The two stared at each other, holding their breath, until they finally reached the shore and stopped the boat, but they still couldn't come up with a concrete solution.

Actually, what she said just now was just an angry outburst. Yang Qing knew in her heart that Li Shangxuan had only just become the crown prince and hadn't even settled into his position yet. How could he possibly offend Empress Ming again?

His birth mother, Consort Xue, did not have a good relationship with Empress Ming to begin with, and the emperor, for reasons unknown, insisted on registering him under Empress Ming's name.

After careful consideration, it turns out that Consort Xue and Empress Ming didn't really have any deep-seated hatred; their enmity stemmed from the fact that their husbands were the same man.

The old story of the current emperor and Consort Xue is no secret now. People talk about it quite often in private. It's nothing more than the cliché story of the emperor and Consort Xue being childhood sweethearts, but later marrying other people.

The only difference is that after Consort Xue's first husband died, the emperor brought her into the palace and made her a consort.

Actually, this is not a big deal. It is common for widows to remarry. However, the fact that the palace already has a high-ranking and virtuous Empress Ming, and the emperor's favoritism towards Consort Xue is so undisguised that it even surpasses that of the empress, the mother of the nation, is quite intriguing.

Empress Ming was no pushover; on the contrary, the more capable a person is, the more competitive they tend to be, just like Rongyue and Mingmiaohe.

Moreover, the emperor's harem seems to be more complicated than that of an ordinary family. It is not just about a little bit of insignificant favor, but more about power and desire.

Especially after that incident...