The night wind was blowing, the lanterns were shining, and the prince's eyes swept over the laughing crowd, then he looked down at the girl beside him. He reached out to help her hold down the flying scarf behind her: "Shall I take you to taste the Lantern Festival?"
"Okay." Jiuzhu nodded with a smile, as if she always nodded and agreed to his suggestions.
"Your Highness." The dragon guard reminded quietly: "I have already inquired about it. There is a restaurant in front that makes very good Yuanxiao."
They are worried that the food sold at the stalls outside is not safe.
Jiuzhu retracted her gaze from the stall and pulled King Chen's sleeve: "Then let's go to that restaurant."
"Okay." Prince Chen took her hand and walked forward slowly. When they passed the lantern shop that said lanterns were not for sale, Jiuzhu found that the lantern hanging at the highest point was gone.
"What's wrong?" Prince Chen shook the lamp in his hand: "This lamp seems to be bought here?"
"Your Highness, I did buy it here."
When the shop owner saw Jiuzhu standing side by side with King Chen, he recognized her at a glance and gave her an awkward smile.
Jiuzhu turned around and whispered to Prince Chen, "When I asked the boss just now, he said he didn't sell it. How did you buy it, Your Highness?"
Chen Wang smiled mysteriously at her: "Guess?"
Jiuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Have you figured out all the mysteries about the lights in his house?"
Prince Chen smiled and shook his head, then continued walking forward holding Jiuzhu's hand.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu was very curious about this matter: "Tell me."
"More money." Prince Chen suppressed his laughter and said, "As long as the money is enough, a business owner like this will always be tempted."
Jiuzhu: “…”
It turns out to be such a simple and crude method.
"But where did you get so much money, Your Highness?" Jiuzhu looked at him in confusion: "Didn't His Majesty say that he would not allow the Queen to subsidize you?"
"My father did tell my mother not to give me money, but he didn't say that he couldn't give me money." Prince Chen chuckled, "He gave me this money."
He didn't tell Jiuzhu that he was also rich, probably because... the way she saved money seriously for herself was so adorable.
"Your Majesty is quite..." Jiuzhu glanced at the dragon guard behind him: "You are quite trustworthy."
Not allowing the mother to give money to the child, but secretly giving money to the child, isn't this a typical example of spoiling the child?
Fortunately, Your Highness is a fairy boy who has been sent down to earth, and he has not grown up in an environment of pampering.
Prince Chen tried hard to hold back his laughter: "Yes, my father is always a man of his word."
Someone was selling flowers on the roadside. Prince Chen took out a handful of copper coins and bought a spring orchid to put in Jiuzhu's hair.
The small spring orchids may not look very eye-catching, but when Prince Chen was wandering around the street just now, he saw many men buying these things for the women around them.
"Ming Xiaozhu."
"Hmm?" Jiuzhu raised her head.
"We've arrived at the restaurant." Prince Chen looked at the phoenix lantern hanging at the door of the restaurant and smiled.
"Dragon and Phoenix Bring Good Luck, Five Blessings, Perfection..." Jiuzhu looked at the names of various Yuanxiao on the signboard and said, "The names are all very particular."
"On the Lantern Festival, everyone prays for good luck." Prince Chen raised his head and saw Prince Huai and his wife sitting on the second floor.
"Fifth brother." Prince Huai leaned against the window and looked at him with a smile: "Come up and sit."
King Chen asked Jiuzhu: "Are you going?"
Jiuzhu nodded: "How can Your Highness not go when His Highness invites you?"
Prince Chen looked at her and smiled, then led her upstairs.
Although many people enjoyed Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival, there was no one else in the room where Prince Huai was sitting except him and Princess Huai.
Prince Chen pushed the door open and walked in: "Big brother and sister-in-law have chosen a good place. The scenery here is just right. We can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Lantern Festival."
Jiuzhu bowed to the two of them, and Princess Huai smiled and moved aside.
"Fifth brother, Lord Ming, please take a seat." Prince Huai smiled and invited the two to sit down: "The capital is so big, and I can actually meet you by chance. This is also our fate."
The waiter brought the cooked Yuanxiao over and said, "Dear guests, this is the Dragon and Phoenix, please have a taste."
"What does dragon and phoenix mean?" Jiuzhu asked curiously.
"The Yuanxiao in the bowl has two kinds of fillings that complement each other. They are delicious and leave a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth, which is auspicious." The waiter bowed with a smile: "I also wish that the two of you will always love each other and your life will be sweeter than the Yuanxiao."
"You can talk." The Prince took out a silver coin and handed it to the waiter: "Go and bring some snacks."
"Okay, thank you, sir." The waiter happily took the silver and retreated, carefully closing the door for them.
"Try the filling inside and see what it tastes like?" Prince Chen brought the Yuanxiao to Jiuzhu.
"Fruit filling." Jiuzhu ate one and scooped up another: "It's still fruit filling."
"Didn't you say there were two kinds of fillings?" Prince Chen picked up the spoon and picked up a Yuanxiao from the Jiuzhu bowl and put it into his mouth.
"What's that smell?" Jiuzhu looked at him nervously.
Prince Chen put down the spoon and wiped the corners of his mouth: "Peanut and sesame filling."
Prince Huai glanced at the bowl of Yuanxiao next to him that no one was paying attention to. Was this bowl of Yuanxiao not worthy of Yun Duqing or what? Why did he have to use a spoon to scoop it into Lord Ming County's bowl?
"What kind of stuffing does Your Highness like?" Jiuzhu asked.
"Let's all eat together." The Prince of Chen seemed to finally remember that he also had a bowl of Yuanxiao, and brought it over and placed it in front of him: "It's just for good luck. I don't like to eat this kind of sticky stuff on weekdays."
However, thanks to its reputation of bringing good fortune to people, he managed to finish it.
"Your Highness, look." Jiuzhu pointed outside the window. The streets hung with lanterns were like beautiful galaxies, brilliant and dazzling.
Prince Chen stood up and walked to her side, the night wind blew their hair.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
"Yeah." Prince Chen looked at her sideways and said, "Very beautiful."
Such a night, such a wind, and such a her.
It is the most beautiful Lantern Festival night.
Prince Huai felt that it might have been a wrong choice to call his fifth brother and Lord Ming to sit together.
"The higher you stand, the more beautiful the view will be." The waiter brought fruits and snacks up, and Prince Huai waved him to leave. He said to Prince Chen who was admiring the view, "It's just that it's windy and cold up there. Fifth brother, have you ever thought about having someone build a tall building for you so you can see all the beauties in the world?"
Prince Chen smiled and sat back in his seat: "Brother, you are joking. The whole world belongs to our father. As his children, what high-rise building can't we go to? Why should we waste manpower and money to build another high-rise building?"
Prince Huai looked at Prince Chen and said, "Fifth brother is right. The whole world belongs to our father. We are under his protection, so we can go anywhere."
Someone was hawking downstairs, and the shouting sound reached Jiuzhu's ears through the streets. She leaned on the window frame and looked at every passerby downstairs with interest.
Princess Huai observed the girl who had returned to Beijing less than a year ago and brought the cheese cake to her: "County Master Ming, try this cheese cake."
"Thank you, Princess." Jiuzhu thanked her and lowered her head to eat some snacks. She did not ask her about anything in the palace, nor did she take the initiative to get close to her.
Princess Huai was very surprised. Could it be that Ming Jiuju had never considered what would happen after marrying into the royal family?
Even Sun Caiyao tried to show her affection in a roundabout way before marrying the Fourth Prince. Did Ming Jiuzhu, a woman who was fostered away from home and not close to her family, really have no concerns at all?
"Open your mouth." Prince Chen picked up a piece of Jiuzhu's favorite snack with chopsticks and fed it to her mouth.
Jiuzhu ate the snack.
Princess Huai looked at the two people being intimate, lowered her head, picked up the tea in front of her and took a sip. When I was young, I was naturally fearless and had no fear of anything because I had the favor of the people around me.
But men are fickle.
She turned her head and glanced at Prince Huai, pretending not to care about the concubines in the palace.
Although the courtyard of Zhangliu Palace was small, there were only the prince and her in the courtyard. She no longer had to worry about which woman's courtyard the prince went to, nor did she have to be upset with him.
Looking at the girl in front of her with an innocent smile, Princess Huai felt a little pity for her. There is no room for naivety for a woman who marries into the royal family.
"My fifth brother and Lord Ming are getting married soon. I wish them a long and happy marriage." Prince Huai picked up the teacup and said, "I will definitely drink a few more cups with you then."
Prince Chen picked up the teacup and smiled: "Don't drink too much, just be happy."
"If I had known that my fifth brother would be traveling with Lord Ming, we should have made an appointment to go out for a walk together. It would be more lively with more people." Prince Huai said with a half-smile, "In previous years, my fifth brother didn't like to join in such a lively party. I thought Lord Ming would be with his family, so I didn't think much about it. It's my fault that I didn't think carefully and didn't take care of you."
Prince Chen raised his eyebrows and said bluntly: "Brother, you drank tea today, how come you are drunk?"
Prince Huai: “…”
He was so obviously trying to surrender and show goodwill, did Yun Duqing really not understand, or was he pretending not to understand?
"Brother and sister-in-law are spending the Lantern Festival together, how can I disturb them?" Prince Chen chuckled: "Brother, sister-in-law will be angry if you say that again."
Prince Huai smiled cheerfully: "Fifth brother, you are too kind. Your sister-in-law has always been kind and virtuous. Why would she care about such a small matter?"
"I don't want to disturb my elder brother and his wife, nor do I want others to disturb me and my fiancée." The Prince put down his teacup: "The Lantern Festival is over, and it's time for us to say goodbye."
You don't care about your princess' feelings, but I still care about what my fiancée thinks.
"Fifth brother." Princess Huai spoke softly, "The view upstairs is great. Please let Lord Ming sit for a while."
Prince Chen turned his head to look at Jiuzhu.
"I will listen to you, Your Highness." Jiuzhu said seriously, "Where else do you want to go, Your Highness?"
"I'll take you to a nice place." The King of Chen stretched out his hand in front of her. Jiuzhu handed it to him and stood up as the King of Chen pulled her. "Where are we going?"
"You'll know when you get there." Prince Chen walked to the door and raised his chin lazily to Prince Huai and his wife: "Big brother and sister-in-law, goodbye."
"Fifth brother, take care." Prince Huai listened to the footsteps of the two people going downstairs, and the smile on his face faded: "I don't know who Yun Duqing inherited this character from, he is slippery and stubborn."
"Your Highness." Princess Huai walked to the window and saw Prince Chen holding Ming Jiuzhu's hand as they walked out of the restaurant. The two of them walked away in the bustling crowd, talking and laughing. A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: "Fifth brother and County Lord Ming have a really good relationship."
"It's good or bad, that's all." Prince Huai was not interested in this topic at all: "After three or five years, it won't prevent other women from entering the palace. You women, don't think about this all the time."
He glanced at the bowl of Yuanxiao that Prince Chen had eaten: "Wow, he actually finished a bowl of Yuanxiao, that's really rare."
I remember when Yun Duqing was five years old, everyone was sitting at the table eating Yuanxiao, but he was the only one who refused to touch the spoon, saying that the Yuanxiao was sticky and not tasty.
From then on, every Lantern Festival, the Lantern Festival in Yun Duqing’s bowl was replaced with other foods, without exception.
"It seems that people change." Prince Huai followed Princess Huai's line of sight and glanced out the window, only to see a dense crowd of people.
"Let's go back to the palace."
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but his fifth brother's words became mysterious and profound.
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