Chapter 215 Is It Too Late to Escape?
Her inner voice startled Lu Xinlan, but then he laughed again.
Yes, this is the reaction of her unconventional sister.
She had no romantic feelings for Song Junyan; all her thoughts were out of curiosity.
Perhaps it was because she was tortured by illness in her previous life, which left such a deep mark in her heart that even though she now has a healthy body, she still subconsciously does not think about the future.
In her words, one can hardly hear any optimistic thoughts about the future.
Otherwise, she would not easily accept the promises Song Junyan made to her.
But maybe this is just right, after all, this sister is full of the aura of a simpleton with good fortune.
Lu Xinran wanted to add Song Junyan's booklet, so he asked Cuizhu to find someone to find out when he was working in Shuntian Prefecture these days.
She planned to wait in the teahouse in front of the door. As long as he went to the government office, she would find a chance to get the booklet.
As a result, before Cuizhu brought back any news, she learned from Lu Jinchuan's pamphlet that Song Junyan had left Beijing for business and would be back before he turned twenty.
Lu Xinran was speechless. This...is it really necessary to be so coincidental?
But it doesn't matter that the person is gone, the emperor is still alive and well, and there is no need to clarify this matter at this moment.
Late at night on the eighth day of March, Song Junyan hurried back to the capital from Yuzhou in a dusty situation.
The tenth day of March was his birthday, and also the day when he turned twenty and had his coming-of-age ceremony.
The Ministry of Rites had already prepared for the ceremony to be held that day, and many mansions in the capital had received invitations to attend the ceremony.
Pei led the Lu family to the palace early in the morning.
Lu Xinran dozed off in the carriage. Her eyelids had been twitching irregularly since the night before.
She raised her hand and pressed her fingers against her eyelids, yawning sleepily.
"Grandmother, how long will the Fourth Prince's coming-of-age ceremony take?"
"Two to three hours."
The emperor cares about him so much that if there are many favored guests and the etiquette is complicated, the time will be longer.
If he was just an ordinary prince in the emperor's heart and did not need any favoritism, then today's ceremony might not even take two hours.
Lu Xinran frowned thoughtfully. If one wanted to see the emperor's attitude... then there would probably be a lot of people today who wanted to see what the emperor was thinking towards his son.
If today's ceremony ends quickly, Song Junyan will have a hard time in the capital city in the future because he has indirectly offended many people during his previous case.
As she thought about this, she felt her face twitching even more violently.
She won't be implicated, right?
Thinking that she might receive the imperial decree of marriage arrangement in a few days, she was so melancholy that she suddenly stopped being sleepy.
Feeling her rare complicated mood, Lu Xinlan raised his hand and held her somewhat cold fingertips.
"Don't worry, don't think too much."
If the emperor wanted to use Song Junyan as a whetstone, he would not suppress him, but let other people regard him as a strong opponent.
Besides, they still have her system. Even if the emperor uses her system to gain benefits indirectly, he won't let anything happen to them.
The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate. Lu Xinran jumped off the carriage first. He turned around and was about to help Pei get off when he saw Ling Xuan getting off the carriage not far away.
Ling Xuan's emotions were extremely complicated. It was only after she returned home that she learned from her grandfather that the Emperor had already appointed someone for the Fourth Prince.
It is the second daughter of the Lu family in front of you.
The Lu family already knew about this and were just waiting for Song Junyan to reach adulthood before arranging a marriage for them.
She was ready to risk everything that day, even her own reputation, to get herself a chance to be the best.
The result... was just a joke.
She said later that kissing would be extremely difficult, and her father couldn't help but slap her.
Thinking that all this was because of the person in front of her, she felt jealous and resentful.
Why can't she be the Fourth Prince's wife!
Even though the Ling family is not as well-off as the Lu family, she grew up in the capital and knows etiquette and manners. She is no match for a country girl like Lu Xinran.
Her own mother thought she was rude and refused to acknowledge her. How could such a person be worthy of the Fourth Prince?
Lu Xinran only looked at each other for a moment before looking away. He leaned over to lift the curtain and help Lu Xinlan and Pei get out of the car.
But the gazes from behind were too obvious for her to ignore.
She was about to turn around and glare back when she heard the system suddenly say in her mind, "I've already loaded her brochure. What's the point of glaring at her? Why don't we just eat the melon and gain life points?"
That makes sense!
I'll go through her booklet carefully again later, and find something to hold against her while I'm eating my own food, so that she won't be able to jump around in front of me again.
Ling Xuan, who was not far away: "..."
How could she forget that this person had this ability!
She was filled with deep regret at this moment, and didn't know how to make amends. She could only grit her teeth and follow her family towards the palace gate in shame.
Song Junyan was taken outside Fengxian Hall by palace servants early in the morning.
Several of his older brothers had their coming-of-age ceremonies held here.
But he could feel that his coming-of-age ceremony today was very grand, to a level that even Song Junhe had not achieved back then.
He stood outside the hall, looking at the ancestral tablets in the hall, feeling the constant gazes of several brothers, and sighed in his heart.
He had seen early on that his father favored his third brother more. After Song Junhe completely lost the emperor's favor, his father intended to hand over the throne of crown prince to Song Junhua.
I also know that he wants to use himself and a few other people as whetstones for Song Junhua so that he can grow quickly in the shortest time possible.
He understood all this and was unwilling to argue about it.
But why did his father force him like this?
He didn't know that the result of this would be a fight among the brothers, and even if one of them emerged victorious, the others would have to work hard to come up with various ways to protect themselves in order to survive.
And what other ways are there to protect oneself...except raising an army to attack the palace?
He can be a whetstone for Song Junhua, but the price is not his own life!
His cold aura emanated from his body, and the official from the Ministry of Rites standing next to him looked at him subconsciously.
He stared ahead expressionlessly, no longer having any expectations for this once-in-a-lifetime ceremony.
In the chamber, the emperor looked at the situation outside through the window.
"Your Majesty, everything is ready. All the adults and their families have arrived."
Eunuch Fu trotted in and came to the emperor's side, bowed and replied in a low voice.
The emperor put down his tea bowl and walked leisurely to the door: "No hurry, the auspicious time has not yet arrived."
Moreover, his silly son must be blaming him in his heart now, thinking that he favors the third brother and doesn't care about their lives.
If he wants to think so, let him think about it for a while.
~~~
This is the last explanation, I won’t whitewash anyone~