Yun's peach blossom banquet was very famous in Beijing. The Duke of Ying's mansion had a large peach forest. After Yun married in, she planted cherry trees in the forest. Every year in the first month of the lunar year, peach and cherry trees bloomed one after another. The pink peach petals and white fallen cherry blossoms looked like piled clouds. Yun also asked the maid to hang gold and silver bells on the branches. When the wind blew, the petals fell in a riot of colour and the sound of the bells was crisp, making people feel like they were in a fairyland.

This time, for her daughter Lu Wanxin, Yun Shi was even more attentive. Not only did all the snacks and food have the word "peach blossom" in them, but she even re-fired the bowls and plates, with a touch of pink glaze on the white cups and plates, just like the fresh cheeks of a young girl. With such attentiveness, it is no wonder that the invitation to the peach blossom banquet was so popular that even His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who usually didn't like to attend banquets, came.

Yun Shi didn't expect this, otherwise if she had known that the King of Chu would come, she wouldn't have sent invitations to Su Yiyun Ge and Su Yi Dai'er. The Su Yi siblings have become very popular in Yanjing during this period. The elder brother, Su Yi Yun Ge, is handsome and well-spoken. His knowledge of Chinese literature is not inferior to that of the Han children who have studied it since childhood. In addition, he is generous and humorous, and has made friends with a group of upper-class nobles. The younger sister, Su Yi Dai Er, has been chasing and intercepting the King of Chu Rong Zhen during this period. Even Emperor Yongning teased Rong Zhen about this matter in the court.

Yun took Lu Wanxin to talk with the noble ladies. Although Lu Wanxin had been away from Beijing for many years, she was still very comfortable with such social activities and quickly integrated into them.

Shen Mingzheng will take the imperial examination in the next year. The children of the noble families these days do not consider it shameful to take the imperial examination like in the previous dynasties. The capable children will take the imperial examination to enter the imperial court, such as Lu Che. So Shen Mingzheng followed his brother-in-law to communicate with some literati. At that time, the separation between men and women was not strict. Many talented women were still active after marriage, so you can hear women reciting poems from time to time.

Lu Zheng had no interest in these things, but he had to bite the bullet and participate because he was the host. However, he was not popular and didn't know many people in the place, not to mention Han Er, who had an old grudge against him.

Halfway through the banquet, Lu Zheng excused himself to go to the bathroom and walked back to Zhutanju along the peach forest. However, he soon heard a woman shouting angrily, "Rong Nineteen, you are really going too far!"

This was the second time Lu Zheng heard this sentence. Nothing could stop his curiosity. Taking advantage of his familiarity with the terrain, Lu Zheng bypassed a few trees and quietly hid behind a rockery. Through the hole in the rockery, he could see what was happening on the other side.

There stood a man and a woman facing each other. The woman's face was red, but she was not embarrassed but angry. She was the recently famous Princess Dai'er, and the man, no need to guess, was Rong Zhen, His Royal Highness the King of Chu.

Rong Zhen's face darkened when he was scolded in front of him: "Your Highness, I tolerate it not because I have a good temper, and your status is not something you can rely on to do whatever you want."

Dai'er's green eyes were covered with mist, her brows furrowed, and a tear rolled down her cheek: "Even if I lower my status like this, I can't move your heart?" She slowly approached Rong Zhen, raised her hand to touch Rong Zhen's cheek, and the wide sleeves of her robe slid down, revealing an arm as white and moist as a fresh lotus root. It was obviously an unintentional movement, but it revealed an extremely seductive charm.

Lu Zheng hid behind the rockery and couldn't help swallowing his saliva. He didn't have any lustful intentions. From the perspective of appreciation, this Princess Dai'er was also a rare beauty.

However, in front of such a beauty, Rong Zhen was still as cold as ice. He stepped back and avoided Dai'er's touch. And I don't know if it was Lu Zheng's illusion, but I always felt that Rong Zhen seemed to glance at the rockery.

Su Yida'er looked at him in disbelief: "Are you really not moved at all?"

"No. Please respect yourself!"

"Why?!" Da'er's beautiful face was a little distorted, "Which man would not be moved when seeing me! I don't believe it!"

Rong Zhen slightly curled his lips: "Didn't you say last time? People who don't like you either like men or are saints, and I am not a saint."

"You...you like men?!" Da'er widened her eyes.

"Not only do I like him, but I already have someone I want to spend my life with." Rong Zhen looked at the rockery where Lu Zheng was hiding, "Aren't the people you were worried about following you? What are you hiding?"

Da'er looked at the rockery with disbelief, and saw Lu Zheng standing up awkwardly behind it.

"Well...if I say I was just passing by, you probably wouldn't believe me..." Lu Zheng shook his head, but he was wailing in his heart. Eavesdropping is really a bad thing. Not only was he caught, but he was also forced to be a shield. He is not as simple as the princess. The King of Chu has only seen him a few times, how could he like her? He must be too tired of being pursued by the princess, so he wants to use this method to get rid of her. Back then, a buddy in his dormitory used this method to get rid of several girls. There were even girls who sent WeChat messages wishing them happiness after crying. Although he thought this buddy was a scumbag, he also learned more because of it.

Rong Zhen strode over and rubbed his hair affectionately: "Why are you shy?"

Lu Zheng was frightened by his words and got goosebumps all over his body. He didn't care about the difference between the two. He stared at him with wide eyes and lowered his voice to threaten him: "Don't talk nonsense!"

Rong Zhen smiled and turned away: "Princess, I don't want to say anything else. You should give up now!"

Dai'er trembled all over and looked at them with red eyes: "You...you..." With her poor Chinese knowledge, she really couldn't think of any words to scold the two people in front of her for a while, and finally ran away with tears.

Seeing her running away, Lu Zheng quickly retreated three or four steps and stayed away from Rong Zhen.

Rong Zhen turned around: "What's wrong?"

Lu Zheng coughed and tried to speak in a very serious tone: "Uncle Nineteen, since the princess has given up, I will leave first."

"Wait a minute." Rong Zhen looked at him with some amusement, "Am I a scourge? You don't even dare to look at me."

Lu Zheng raised his head cautiously: "Uncle Nineteen... you were lying just now, right?"

"Just now?"

"You said... I... that... that..." Lu Zheng scratched his ears and cheeks for a long time, until Rong Zhen couldn't help laughing and then he realized that he was fooled. However, he was not angry, but felt inexplicably relieved, "It's really fake!"

Rong Zhen asked him, "What do you think whether it's true or false?"

Lu Zheng widened his eyes, "Of course there is a difference!" He emphasized his words, "If it's fake, I'll be a little angry at most, but what will happen afterwards will be what it is! If it's true..."

"Will you avoid it like you do now?" Rong Zhen said, but stretched out his long arm and locked Lu Zheng between his arms and the cherry tree behind him.

Lu Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and he leaned back unconsciously, bumping into the tree trunk. Cherry blossoms fell all at once, and the pink petals looked like butterflies flying all over the sky. Rong Zhen's expression softened among the falling cherry blossoms. He restrained his aloof aura, revealing his handsome face, his eyebrows and eyes were like ink, revealing a bit of tenderness.

Seeing his face getting closer and closer, Lu Zheng was so scared that he closed his eyes. After waiting for a long time, there was no response. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rong Zhen holding a petal between his fingers, looking at him with a smile.

Lu Zheng pushed him away with a red face and yelled, "If you do this again, I will be angry!"

Rong Zhen smiled slightly, not offended at all, and even reached out to touch his head: "Just like a child."

If it was in the past, Lu Zheng would at most be disgusted by others touching his head randomly, but due to Rong Zhen's status and position, he dared not show it, but now he felt something was wrong.

Rong Zhen glanced at his expression, withdrew his hand, and asked as if nothing had happened: "What compensation do you want?"

"What?" Lu Zheng looked confused, not knowing how the topic jumped to this.

Rong Zhen said gently, "I know you are working in the Ministry of Justice now, but you are not from an orthodox imperial examination background after all, and your future in the six ministries is limited. It is better to find another way. I will find you a job in the Honglu Temple. How about it?"

Lu Zheng was stunned and hurriedly refused, "I think it's good now!" He looked at Rong Zhen's expression and emphasized again, "Really!"

"Oh?" Rong Zhen raised his eyebrows, "Then forget it

." Lu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then change it!" Rong Zhen said without surprise, "For example, a wife?" He lowered his voice for the last few words, and the tail sound was like a feather gently scratching Lu Zheng's heart.

"!!" Lu Zheng took a few steps back in shock, and finally ran away.

Rong Zhen looked at the panicked figure, the smile on the corners of his mouth deepened a little, but soon retracted, and he said lightly: "Is it dealt with?"

Nie Zhishu's figure appeared behind him like a ghost: "My master, it has been dealt with, and the fish has been released."

"Very good." Rong Zhen nodded, "Hasn't there been news from Zhiyi yet?"

Nie Zhishu shook his head: "Not yet, but there is another gangster who has been inquiring about the news of the princess's mansion these days."

As if he thought of something, Rong Zhen shook his head helplessly: "Wipe his tail for him, but don't alarm him."

"Yes." Nie Zhishu responded, but seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Rong Zhen seemed to sense something, and turned aside and asked, "Anything else?"

"Master, are you going to marry that young master?" Nie Zhishu asked with a stiff face.

Rong Zhen was stunned for a moment, as if he had not expected Nie Zhishu to ask such a question, but when he saw the aggrieved look on the face of the tall and straight man, he immediately shook his head and said, "Stay away from Song Zhiyi next time you see him." "

Master, please forgive me." Nie Zhishu knelt down quickly.

"Forget it." Rong Zhen paused, but the denial never came out. He lowered his head to look at the fragile petal in his palm, clenched his fingers vacuously, and there seemed to be a flash of blood in his eyes.

"I want to have both the bear's paw and the fish, even gods and Buddhas cannot stop me!"