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Song Jin refused Xu Nanheng's request to send someone to send her back.

She looked down at the empty stone steps and saw that the Third Princess' carriage that had brought her here had already left, presumably going to the palace to find the Empress.

The Marquis's Mansion is only a few streets away from here.

She planned to walk back.

Looking at the busy streets, a sense of confusion arises spontaneously.

Sheng'an is not her home, and this place makes her feel uneasy.

Just as I was feeling sad, a carriage slowly stopped.

The curtain was lifted by a bony finger, revealing Cui Huaiji's face that looked like the jade Guanyin, with his usual casual smile on his face.

It was like a beam of light illuminating the road ahead of her.

My heart suddenly felt warm.

He glanced up and down, feeling an inexplicable sense of sly laughter as if he were watching a play: "Did Miss Song get chased out?"

The good feeling that was rising up in my heart disappeared in an instant.

Song Jin curled his lips in dissatisfaction and retorted: "Can't the Marquis hope for something good?"

"It's my fault," Cui Huaiji couldn't help laughing, "As an apology, Miss Song, do you dare to get on my carriage?"

"Why not?" Song Jin lifted her skirt and was about to go up.

*

In the carriage, Cui Huaiji glanced at her bored posture and touched the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth, "I heard from the third princess that Miss Song went to the Seventh Prince's Mansion to catch a traitor?"

[Caught an adulterer? That's true, those two were secretly being affectionate with each other, and Xu Nanheng was trying to trick me.]

"It can't be called catching an adulterer. Anyway, I am the Seventh Prince's consort. The Marquis said before that he would help me cancel the engagement. Does it still count?"

Cui Huaiji nodded his chin, his eyes fell on her fluffy bun, and his heart was itching.

"Come here."

Song Jin:?

Although he didn't understand what he meant, Song Jin still moved his butt obediently and moved closer to him.

"Bow your head."

Song Jin: ? ?

She was confused. Why did the topic suddenly change?

Suddenly, there was a big hand on my head. The movements were skillful and gentle, and it felt like...stroking a cat?

Her almond-shaped eyes widened a little, and her moist and clear pupils revealed a look of shock.

"Hou, Lord Hou?"

[Am I being treated as a fox slave? ]

Cui Huaiji pulled his hand back with satisfaction, remaining calm and not feeling embarrassed at all because of his overly intimate and ambiguous behavior.

"Of course, what I promised you will count."

[I finally touched the little fox, and the feeling was just as I imagined... addictive.]

Song Jin touched his head and thought to himself that he really treated her as a fox slave.

"Then...thank you, Lord Hou?"

Cui Huaiji said calmly, "Yeah."

*

Time flies.

In a few days, it will be the prince's concubine selection banquet - the Qiongyu Banquet.

The Qiong Yu Banquet was organized by the Third Prince Xu Changyi. All young ladies of appropriate age could participate. The theme was flower arrangement, and the top three were selected anonymously through three rounds of competition. The final presentation would be presented to His Majesty and the Empress. The Crown Prince would then choose one of them as the Crown Princess, and the other two as concubines.

How many young ladies in Sheng'an are trying their best to take part, as the position of Crown Princess means that she will be the mother of the country in the future.

Therefore, this Qiong Yu Banquet is not just about selecting a concubine.

The third prince is the eldest among the princes. Your Majesty has six sons and four daughters, and the crown prince is the fourth. Therefore, it is most appropriate to let Xu Changyi organize the Qiong Yu Banquet.

Song Jin looked around at the ministers at the table, each of them had their own selfish thoughts, and those who could usually talk to each other began to keep silent.

The emperor and empress had not arrived yet, and the third prince Xu Changyi stepped forward to preside over the banquet.

It's nothing more than some opening remarks and then getting to the point.

The eunuch outside the palace entered carrying a fish with flowers in it.

Song Jin was not interested.

Suddenly someone sat down next to her. She looked sideways and was stunned.

"Lord?"

[What a coincidence, the Marquis is sitting next to me? ]

Then she remembered that she was sitting with Xu Nanheng, so she whispered, "My Lord, is it okay for you to sit here?"

Cui Huaiji was confused and asked, "Is there any problem with this, sitting here?"

"At once……"

Song Jin is in trouble.

The rumors about her living in the Marquis' Mansion were so disgusting, and now they were sitting together openly. If she didn't tell everyone clearly, could the rumors be true?

[My Lord, I am thinking about your reputation! ]

[I don’t care about my reputation, but dragging the Marquis down with me, isn’t that repaying kindness with enmity?! ]

She wanted to cancel the engagement, but not in this way.

Cui Huaiji glanced at her sideways, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Still has some conscience.

"Don't worry, no one will say anything."

[After all, the seats were arranged by the Third Prince, and I just made a few small requests.]

so it is.

Even if there was any problem, the first person to be looked for would be the Third Prince.

Song Jin breathed a sigh of relief.

The Qiong Yu Banquet began one after another.

The young lady who participated in the selection of concubines was brought into the next room.

The first round of competition was conducted by screening court officials, and it was quite fast. In the blink of an eye, Song Jin had already entered the second round.

"Jinjin," Xu Nanheng stretched out his hand to her, "I'll take you to meet my brother and the others."

His Majesty's six sons and four daughters were all in the side courtyard, and the only one she was familiar with was the third princess, Xu Muqi.

Everyone in the side courtyard was looking at Song Jin.

"Is this the Seventh Sister-in-law?" The speaker was the Fifth Princess Xu Zhaoran, who was wearing a plum-red open-chested dress and an apricot-colored wide-sleeved shirt. "She looks pretty, just like what the Third Princess said a few days ago."

Song Jin subconsciously had no good feelings towards the Fifth Princess.

The look she gave him was full of naked contempt, completely lacking the curiosity and gentleness in her words.

Xu Nanheng didn't notice her discomfort and took her to introduce her to everyone.

Standing next to Xu Muqing, wearing a rattan purple gauze skirt, is the eldest princess Xu Li'er. The intimacy between their eyebrows shows that they have a very good relationship.

Standing with Xu Zhaoran is the eighth princess Xu Huainian, who loves green the most. She also wore a bamboo-green albizia skirt today. She is the only princess who does not have hair extensions.

There is no need to say anything about Crown Prince Xu Guanlin. It is hard not to recognize him in his golden crown prince robes. On his left is the third prince Xu Changyi who is hosting the Qiong Yu Banquet today, and on his right is the eleventh prince Xu Mu, the youngest among the princes, who is only ten years old.

The Eleventh Prince prefers to stick with the Crown Prince and the Ninth Prince Xu Shi'an. The Ninth Prince is only sixteen years old and can get along well with the Eleventh Prince.

The last prince is the fifth prince Xu Luo. He and the fifth princess are a pair of dragon and phoenix twins, both born to royal concubines, and have rather domineering personalities.

Song Jin bowed to everyone according to his introduction.

The youngest, the eleventh prince, took advantage of the others discussing the top three winners to sneak up to her, quickly took out a candy from his pocket and put it in her hand.

"Your Highness the Eleventh?"

Xu Mu made a "huh" gesture and asked her to bend over and whisper in his ear: "Sister-in-law Qi, this is my favorite candy. I give it to you."

"Sister-in-law Qi, don't call me Your Highness, just call me Mu'er!"

Song Jin accepted his candy, "Okay, thank you for the candy, Mu'er."

Xu Zhaoran glanced over here distractedly, a look of disdain flashed across his eyes, and then he pulled Xu Muqing to talk.

At this time, the eunuchs came in carrying flower arrangements and interrupted the conversation.

The second round is the screening of princes and princesses to select the top five, and finally the top three will be selected by His Majesty the Queen.

Xu Zhaoran stared at the flower arrangements and turned to ask the eldest princess Xu Li'er: "These flower arrangements are very good. What do you think, eldest princess?"

Xu Li'er replied indifferently: "Well, it's OK."

She made a "tsk" sound, as if she was not satisfied with her reaction, and said sarcastically: "Some people, no matter how they are packaged, are just hopeless villains at heart."

Xu Muqing immediately retorted: "Xu Zhaoran, you haven't been beaten for a few days, right?!"

As she was about to take action, Xu Li'er quickly stopped her.

After all, this is a concubine selection banquet, we can't act recklessly.

The eldest princess' mother was the late emperor's concubine, and was once His Majesty's most beloved concubine. Unfortunately, she died during childbirth. His Majesty was indifferent to the eldest princess, and people in the harem thought she was easy to manipulate, both openly and secretly.

Among them, the fifth princess Xu Zhaoran was the worst.

The fifth prince Xu Luo coughed and signaled her to be quiet with his eyes, but she glared at him fiercely.

Song Jin didn't want to get involved in the smoke of war between the princes and princesses, but when Xu Zhaoran said that, his eyes swept over her, and anyone with a discerning eye could see the double meaning in his words.

Love is waiting for her here.

They were just some harmless words, so she really didn't take them to heart.

The corner of his clothes was pulled by someone.

She looked down: "Mu'er?"

Xu Mu held her palm, which was very warm. "Sister-in-law Seven, don't be unhappy. Sister Five is speaking frankly. Just pretend you didn't hear her."

Song Jin smiled: "Mu'er is right."

They were far away and their voices were so low that they couldn't be heard.

Although Xu Mu is a prince, he obviously does not have the right to choose, and his vote is dispensable.

Looking at the imperial brothers and sisters gathered in front of the flower arrangement, their little eyeballs rolled around, and suddenly a big smile appeared on their faces, and the soft flesh on their cheeks was soft.

"Sister-in-law Qi, it's so boring here, can we go out?"

Song Jin hesitated: "This..."

"It's okay," he said, trying to pull her away, "If they find out, just say it was my idea. I'm the prince, they won't blame me."

Xu Mu is His Majesty's youngest son and the most beloved prince. Among the six princes, none of them carries as much weight as his.

*

Song Jin led the eleventh prince out of the side courtyard.

Xu Mu looked around, then rushed forward holding her hand, whispering to her, "Sister-in-law Qi, run! I'll take you to my secret garden!"

She was amused by Xu Mu's cute look, and she crouched down and ran around with him, avoiding the eyes of the guards and eunuchs, and successfully arrived in front of a palace.

Looking up at the huge palace plaque, Song Jin blinked and asked him, "Is this your secret base?"

The palace plaque was covered with spider webs and there were weeds growing in front of the door. Only a green leaf sticking out from the red wall brought some life to this cold palace.

She looked down and found that the child beside her was gone.

"Mu'er?!"

"I'm here!"

Song Jin followed the sound and found a dog hole in a remote corner of the cold palace. Half of the eleventh prince's butt was exposed outside.

She weighed the size of the dog hole and found it was good, big enough for her to get in.

"Sister-in-law Qi, come in quickly!"

Xu Mu called her from inside.

Song Jin rubbed his forehead. It was the first time in his life that he had crawled through a dog hole.

*

This cold palace was abandoned by the previous emperor. Normally, no one would come here, and over time it became a deserted place.

Song Jin brushed the dust off the hem of her skirt and looked at Xu Mu helplessly: "Mu'er..."

Suddenly, the sound of a man and a woman talking was heard in the front hall.

Xu Mu tilted his head curiously to look over there, and Song Jin quickly reached out to hug him and hid behind him. Hearing footsteps approaching, he jumped in the direction he pointed without thinking.

There is a hidden pit in the cold palace?

She pulled the branches above her head to block the noise and listened attentively to the sounds outside.

"Remember, the one with the osmanthus flowers belongs to Miss Yang. Don't let the prince make the wrong choice."