023

The Crown Prince was born to the Empress Dowager, and as Cui Huaiji was his uncle, everyone thought he was on the Crown Prince's side.

This time when discussing agricultural matters with the Crown Prince, I could always hear him mentioning Sikong Tailing intentionally or unintentionally.

He couldn't say that he had any deep feelings for his nephew.

Being the crown prince, his state of mind has already changed.

Cui Huaiji looked at the beautiful figure among the noble ladies, and the restlessness in his heart quietly dissipated, and a feeling of joy arose spontaneously.

That outstanding appearance is hard to forget at first sight.

[The little fox slave is so dazzling no matter where he is.]

[Why are you staring at me? I am not wearing something ugly today, am I?]

Of course it's not ugly.

He is the only one who can wear the red brocade robe with cloud pattern so stunningly.

Song Jin secretly turned his eyes away and accidentally met Tai Mianmian's gaze.

The other person's eyes narrowed slightly, his bright pupils flashed with excitement, and his chubby little cheeks looked even more tender.

For some reason, she felt that there was something wrong with Tai Mianmian's eyes.

On the other side, Xu Guanlin explained some things and left with his people.

Chang Yue calmly led everyone on board.

The boat was scarlet in color, with curtains of light swaying in the wind. The afterglow of the lights on the shore shone on it, shining like the Milky Way.

Song Jin sat by the window and could see the scenery on the shore at a glance.

Suddenly, she saw the gray and yellow clouds pressing over the roof, and the dark lake formed a sharp intersection of light and dark. She saw a red figure beside the lake.

The man was standing far away on the shore. Due to the distance, his facial features could not be seen clearly, but Song Jin could imagine his expression at the moment.

There must be a playful smile on the corner of his mouth, with slightly raised eyebrows, revealing a calm and unrestrained attitude.

"What is Miss Song looking at?"

Tai Mianmian's face suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Song Jin was startled, then he came to his senses and looked at her: "I didn't see anything."

She obviously didn't believe it, and followed the direction she had just looked, only to see a vague red shadow.

With her excellent memory, she knew that person was Qu Ling Hou.

Tai Mianmian had an expression that said, "I know what you are looking at." He returned to his seat, leaned against the low table and looked at her with a smile: "I know what you are looking at. Is it Lord Hou?"

She said the last sentence very softly.

Perhaps he was concerned about the noble ladies around him, or perhaps he was afraid of provoking the Marquis of Shangquling.

Song Jin stared into her eyes and suddenly understood what he had felt was wrong before.

"Miss Tai seems to be very concerned about the relationship between me and Lord Hou?"

Tai Mianmian broke off a slice of orange and threw it into her mouth, not denying it: "Well, you should say that the whole Sheng'an is very curious about your affairs. That's the Marquis of Quling, the husband candidate in the hearts of many young ladies, but it's a pity that I have feelings for him but he is ruthless. Now suddenly a young lady from Qingzhou appears, how can I not be curious?"

She continued the previous topic while eating, "You are the fiancée of the Seventh Prince, and you are also related to the Marquis, which makes people imagine. Although you are the fiancée of the Seventh Prince, from my observation, you should not have much affection for the Seventh Prince? When you and the Marquis looked at each other...tsk tsk tsk tsk."

There is no need to say what is next; you can guess it by looking at his expression.

Sure enough, it was misunderstood.

Song Jin wanted to explain: "I really have no relationship with Lord Hou..."

Her words came to an abrupt end when she saw the notebook Tai Mianmian took out.

"The Marquis's Journey to Marrying His Wife"?

Tai Mianmian gritted his teeth and shook the script in his sleeve at her, then spread it on his legs so that no one could see it.

"I guess you don't know what's written here. Let me read it to you!"

"Continuing from the last time, the Marquis brought the young lady back to the capital, and despite the fact that she was already engaged, he forcibly brought her into the mansion... One day, the young lady was seriously injured, and her fiancé rushed to her in anger, but was forced back by the Marquis with a sword... As fate would have it, the young lady eventually left the mansion, leaving the Marquis alone to grieve..."

"Alas!" Tai Mianmian pointed at a certain line with great anguish, "The person I love is actually someone else's fiancée. This marquis doesn't even have the qualifications to keep her! It hurts so much!"

Song Jin looked at her in amazement, his mind filled with the paragraphs she had just read.

This script almost named her and Cui Huaiji!

"Although the storybook is not finished, I wrote a dream within a dream about the relationship between the Marquis and the young lady..."

When Song Jin saw her malicious smile, his alarm bells immediately rang: "Wait--"

"That night, the Marquis brought her back to the yard, covered her wet eyes with a black gauze, and bowed his head to kiss her softly..."

“That’s enough!”

Song Jin's eyes widened in shock, and her cheeks were covered with layers of red clouds, like a blooming lotus, dazzling and bright.

Tai Mianmian smiled and put away the storybook. He stopped teasing her and pretended to sigh: "This writer wrote really well. Just listening to this makes me imagine the picture. I'm quite curious about who this writer is."

It doesn’t matter who it is!

Song Jin was so ashamed and angry at this moment that he wanted to dive into the lake.

She never expected that the storybook written by her and Cui Huaiji would be circulated in the streets, and it contained such unspeakable content. How on earth could Tai Mianmian read it? !

If the Marquis knew that Sheng An's people had framed the two of them like this, how would she face anyone?

Tai Mianmian saw through her shyness, and after a little joking, he comforted her: "Don't worry, this book is very valuable, and I didn't expect it to be so popular. I guess not many people have read it."

Song Jin was not comforted by her words.

She took a deep breath and looked at Tai Mianmian intently: "What on earth do you want to do with me, Miss Tai?"

The original plan was for her to take the initiative to approach Tai Mianmian, gain her trust, and then approach Sikong Tailing. However, who would have thought that Tai Mianmian also wanted to approach her and even took out a script to disrupt her plans.

Song Jin secretly calmed himself down and refused to be led around by anyone.

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore." Tai Mianmian sat up straight, raised his eyes and glanced at the person above him. Seeing that she was competing with Yang Chaoxue, he spoke, "I am curious about you. It is true that I am the Marquis, but I really want to make friends with you."

"I can see that you have no feelings for the Seventh Prince. I can do you a favor from my father."

The Crown Princess held the banquet in order to win her over. Half of the people attending the banquet today were part of Chang Yue's plan, and the other half, like Song Jin, came to approach her with a purpose.

Tailing shouldered the heavy responsibility of being the emperor and his career was bright.

Who doesn't want a piece of the pie?

Song Jin exhaled softly: "Okay, as a condition, what does Miss Tai want?"

Tai Mianmian rolled his eyes and started to speak frivolously again: "It's about you and Lord Hou."

"What?"

*

The lake cruise banquet officially began.

Chang Yue looked at the people below, and she was very much like a Crown Princess. "I have specially invited the chef from Zhaiyue Tower to prepare a banquet, so don't miss it."

It is more expensive than spending a fortune to have a meal at Zhaiyue Tower.

Without a wedding invitation, no matter how noble your status is, you cannot enter.

Not to mention hiring a chef from Zhaiyue Tower, I'm afraid you can't hire him without making some kind of deal.

Song Jin looked at the dishes in front of her thoughtfully. It turned out that Shopkeeper Qin had never told her about this.

Everyone showed admiration, and some people came forward to flatter her, which made Yang Chaoxue grit her teeth.

Yang Chaoxue has always been unwilling to be inferior to others, and her competitive nature is fully manifested in her. Being relegated to the position of concubine has become a thorn in her heart, and the prince has to maintain the appearance of harmony between husband and wife for the sake of face, and has already ignored her.

The warm words that came out of my mouth in the past have now become a joke.

Sure enough, only Brother Nanheng cared about her.

Yang Chaoxue stared at his wine glass absentmindedly.

On the left side, Tai Mianmian came over again and asked her in a low voice: "What do you think of the Crown Prince's concubine?"

"Huh?" Song Jin was confused.

"I know you don't know." She shook her head smugly. Maybe because she drank too much, her face flushed and her eyes were watery. "She is the Crown Prince's concubine and the childhood sweetheart of the Seventh Prince. Not many people know about this relationship."

After all, Yang Chaoxue left Sheng'an under the pretext of recuperating from illness, and it was ten years later that he returned.

Who could have known that the two of them would be childhood sweethearts.

Song Jin looked up at her, she was already a little drunk, "How did you know?"

Tai Mianmian shook his fingers, narrowed his eyes mysteriously, and said something incoherent: "As the Buddha said, the secrets of heaven should not be revealed... Well, the wine in Zhaiyue Tower is delicious... But I have my own intelligence network..."

The young lady was drunk, but her consciousness was still clear. In order to avoid drinking, she pretended to be drunk, then fell asleep while smacking her lips on the table.

Now no one dared to approach her and talk to her.

*

The lake cruise banquet is over.

The evening breeze is refreshing and cool, and it feels indescribably comfortable when it blows on your face.

Qing Wu calculated the time and waited for people on the shore. When he saw the Crown Princess's boat docking, he paid his respects and went to pick up his wife.

Song Jin drank a little too much, but luckily she had a good alcohol tolerance. The young ladies from various families were picked up by people from the mansion. She glanced over inadvertently and unexpectedly saw the prince's carriage.

The Crown Princess and the Concubine were both a little drunk.

Xu Guanlin helped his Crown Princess onto the carriage, and then bent over and got into the carriage of his concubine. Comparing the two, it was clear who the Crown Prince liked more.

When the car curtain was lowered, Song Jin's eyes unexpectedly met Xu Guanlin's.

She blinked, and when she looked again, there was only a car curtain between them.

"Is my lady okay?"

Song Jin shook his head: "It's okay, the wine in Zhaiyue Tower is not that intoxicating."

She leaned against the car wall for a while. Inappropriate images began to emerge in her alcohol-stimulated brain, and she couldn't help but blush.

"My lady is hot?"

The green mist lifted the curtain.

"No..." Song Jin turned his face away, feeling a little embarrassed, "Qing Wu, go to the bookstore and see if there are any storybooks."

"What kind of book would you like to buy, ma'am?"

She waved to Qingwu to come closer.

He spoke intermittently close to my ear.

"It's... the way... of the Marquis to... murder his wife."

The sound is as thin as a mosquito.

Qing Wu didn't hear clearly: "What did the lady say?"

Regret flashed in Song Jin's eyes. He had already said it, and it would be suspicious if he stopped talking about it.

She bit her lower lip and tried to look as natural as possible.

But Qing Wu knew her too well and could see through her shyness while she was pretending to be calm.

After a long while, she heard a very small voice.

"…"The Marquis's Journey to Marry His Wife"