The third brother that Princess Anyang mentioned was naturally the third prince Xiao Minghuan, the adopted son of the imperial concubine.
Wan Jinlan felt that this was indeed the case.
Her mother has been in a bad mood recently. Is it because she learned the news?
Anyang saw Wan Jinlan frowning slightly and whispered, "Don't worry, don't worry. Mother just mentioned it to Grandmother. It's not certain yet."
Wan Jinlan was not optimistic. His aunt, the imperial concubine, had already mentioned it to his grandmother, so it was obvious that she had already made up her mind.
"But why are you unhappy?"
In Princess Anyang's opinion, her third brother is not bad. He is talented in both civil and military affairs, handsome and handsome. Now he has only two concubines in his palace, who were palace maids who were well versed in human affairs given to him by the empress when he was in the palace. Compared with his eldest brother, Prince Shun, who has more than ten concubines, he is really very self-disciplined.
Anyang rolled his eyes. Could it be that Sister Jinlan even disliked those two palace maids?
"When it comes to truly keeping oneself clean, Third Brother is definitely not as good as Uncle Qi."
Wan Jinlan didn't hear what she was muttering, "What did you say?"
Anyang lowered his voice and said, "I say, compared to Uncle Qi, Third Brother can't be considered as a chaste man. Back then, the Empress Dowager arranged for Uncle to have palace maids, but he sent them all back and never even entered the palace. For so many years, Uncle Qi hasn't had a single concubine in his palace. Even the servants are servants and elderly maids."
The uncle of the Prince of Qi is not interested in women and has never married. This gives the Empress Dowager a headache.
After hearing this, Wan Jinlan had only one thought: Could the King of Qi have some hidden illness? Or was he having an affair with someone else?
When Anyang talked about his uncle Prince Qi, he remembered the joke that the queen's niece had made a few months ago, and then he started talking about it with Wan Jinlan with great interest.
"On the evening of the Dragon Boat Festival, a banquet was held in the palace. Wang Minghui deliberately fell into the Taiye Lake when the Prince of Qi was passing by it. However, the Prince of Qi's uncle remained indifferent and walked past without any mercy."
When talking about this, Princess Anyang shrugged her shoulders with laughter.
As for Wan Jinlan, who had just met Tang Xiuning, he felt a little confused.
She has been away from Beijing for two years and has fallen behind the times. So it seems that people are now jumping into the water to find their ideal husband?
But the two people she knew, Miss Tang and Wang Minghui, were unsuccessful.
It can be seen that the method of falling into the water is really not effective. If you are not careful, it may backfire on yourself.
The two of them sat under the four-cornered pavilion. Not far away were young ladies, gathered in groups of three or four, talking or laughing.
Princess Anyang was laughing happily when she looked up and happened to meet Wang Minghui's eyes.
Wang Minghui was seventeen years old and was the niece of Queen Wang. She was naturally beautiful and had a good reputation for her talent among the noble ladies in Kyoto.
At this moment, she saw Princess Anyang looking at her and smiling happily, and her face instantly became gloomy.
Because of the drowning incident, she was too embarrassed to leave the house for more than two months, and she didn't dare to follow her mother to attend various banquets in various mansions. She was even too embarrassed to enter the palace.
Today, she was mentally prepared and came to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. She met many noble ladies, but no one was so tactless as to bring up the incident of her falling into the water and deliberately embarrass her.
Seeing Princess Anyang looking at her and smiling so happily, her face began to burn again.
"What are the princess and sister Wan talking about? They are laughing so happily."
Wang Minghui knelt down and saluted, then asked with a natural expression.
As a princess, Anyang wouldn't be afraid of her. Her long eyelashes twinkled, and she held her chin with one hand and said with a smile, "Of course I'm talking about something happy."
Wang Minghui sat across from the round table and picked up some pastries from the table and started eating.
She was the kind of person who insisted on facing challenges head-on. She wanted to see how Princess Anyang could make fun of her while she was sitting here.
She squinted at Wan Jinlan, who was sipping tea in silence, and looked her up and down. She was slender, with fair skin, red lips and a delicate nose. Her upturned, almond-shaped eyes were as annoying as Princess Anyang's.
"I heard that the Duke's wife wasn't hosting today's birthday banquet. I noticed she wasn't looking very well earlier. Wan Jinlan, you should comfort your mother and don't take everything to heart."
Wan Jinlan looked up at Wang Minghui. This sister of the Wang family was even more annoying than she was two years ago.
"Sister Wang, be careful with your words. As a junior, openly discussing the elders of other families is unbecoming of a lady from a noble family."
Before Wang Minghui could open her mouth to refute, Wan Jinlan continued, "I heard that Sister Wang fell into the Taiye Lake during the Dragon Boat Festival. I wonder if she is seriously injured? Oh, I was so stupid. Sister Wang must have recovered, otherwise she would come to my sister's house for the banquet today."
Under Wang Minghui's murderous gaze, Wan Jinlan continued with concern, "Sister Wang, please be careful when you go to water in the future, so as not to accidentally fall into it again."
What Wang Minghui fears most now is that fall into the water.
She wanted to be the Princess of Qi, and her aunt, the Queen, supported her and cooperated with her that day. However, after that day, she, a talented woman in Kyoto, became a joke.
Wan Jinlan, with concern in his eyes, was really hateful, but no matter what, she would not turn against him. After all, she had to consider the reputation of her clan when she was outside.
"Thank you, Sister Wan, for your concern. Princess, Sister Wan, they're playing pitch pots over there. It looks quite interesting, so I'll go ahead."
Looking at Wang Minghui's back as she pretended to be calm as she left, Anyang laughed and shook his shoulders, giving Wan Jinlan a thumbs up.
Wan Jinlan snorted softly. She was sitting here quietly and obediently. She was still the master of the house and could not be bullied. If she couldn't fight, couldn't she talk back?
If anyone dares to bring up her mother, she will be able to open up Wang Minghui's old wounds.
When she was still in Kyoto, every time she went to Beppu for a banquet, people like Wang Minghui would openly or secretly use the fact that her mother came from a merchant family to bully her, but she never suffered any loss!
The birthday banquet of the old Duke Zhenguo was naturally very lively. All the families in the capital sent gifts, and even the emperor in the palace ordered the eunuch chief Li Fu to send a table of food.
The meals from the imperial kitchen were not rare, and could be eaten when there were banquets in the palace, but today's rewards represented face.
As for the younger generations in the mansion, they also have to present gifts in public at this time.
When Wan Jinlan came back from the southwest, she brought a long sword and a lot of southwestern wine to her grandfather. As for today, she gave him a birthday painting she had drawn.
The white cranes appear vividly on the paper, some standing quietly, some spreading their wings and flying, and some tilting their heads to peck at their feathers. They are so lifelike.
In the ink-splashed landscape painting, the pine trees stand straight and steep, with a vigorous and energetic posture.
Although it is not as profound as the masters and seems a bit immature, it is also very good.
The old man still said "hello" three times in a row. It was obvious that he was very happy.
The old lady's eyes were full of smiles.
Such occasions are naturally a time for the younger generation of the family to come to the fore. Otherwise, how would the names of those talented men and women in the capital spread?
A good reputation will be beneficial to the marriages of the children in the family.
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