The young eunuch, fearing that the Third Princess might turn back, disregarded his embarrassment and quickly said, "His Majesty originally sent the chief steward to invite Prince Lu to the palace, but as soon as the chief steward arrived at the Lu family, he saw that Prince Lu had been kicked in the crotch by a warhorse."
"Several deputy physicians and imperial physicians went there, and they all said the injuries were very serious and required two months of rest."
"His Majesty has ordered that the princess is not allowed to leave the palace recently, so the steward sent me to come and invite you and the princess back to the palace."
Jiayin was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses and blushed.
Is Lu Zong finished...?
Otherwise, the Emperor wouldn't be in such a hurry to call the Third Princess back. He's probably worried that if the Third Princess heard the news, she would run to the Lu family without a care, which would be awkward!
To take it a step further, if Lu Zong doesn't recover, the Emperor certainly can't marry his daughter to a eunuch...
"Ahem," Jiayin coughed twice and instructed the little eunuch, "Go and rest for a while, have a golden fruit to quench your thirst, and we'll return to the palace immediately after we finish picking the melons."
"Thank you, Princess!" The little eunuch breathed a long sigh of relief, extremely grateful. "Fortunately, the Princess was here, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to persuade the princess to come back."
Jiayin smiled bitterly. Given the deep affection the Third Princess had for Lu Zong, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and give it a try.
Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen on the way back to the palace.
But what I feared most came to pass!
The group picked more than a dozen jade melons and two baskets of golden fruits. The Third Princess had her fill and didn't clamor to stay any longer.
Jiayin hurriedly gave the old village chief a few instructions and then got into the carriage.
Unfortunately, as they were entering the city, one of the carriages broke down at the city gate.
For a time, those who wanted to get in couldn't get in, and those who wanted to get out couldn't get out. Everyone was forced to gather together, and naturally, they would gossip a bit to pass the time.
"Hey, did you hear? Something terrible has happened!"
"What happened? Did the northern expedition fail?"
"Pah! You jinx! Of course not!"
"What is that surprised you so much?"
"It's our future son-in-law, Prince Lu. I heard he was injured while riding a horse."
"What?!" Before the two gossipy people could finish speaking, the Third Princess, who happened to be sitting in the carriage next door, heard everything clearly and immediately became anxious, raising her hand to push open the window.
Fortunately, since we were going to pick melons in the melon field today and didn't want to disturb too many villagers, Jiayin suggested we ride in a regular two-horse carriage instead of the princess's carriage.
Otherwise, the gossipy people around would immediately know that they were talking behind someone's back in front of his fiancée.
Jiayin pulled the Third Princess back, her brows furrowing slightly.
Logically speaking, Lu Zong's injury was in such an embarrassing place, so he should have kept it a secret and told everyone who knew about it to keep it confidential.
Now everyone knows how it happened.
The two gossipy people next to them were completely unaffected and continued their lively chatter.
"Is Prince Lu seriously injured? Could he have broken his arm or leg?"
"I don't know. I only heard it's very serious and will take two or three months to recover. The imperial physicians are helping to treat the injuries, and no one else knows the details."
"That must be a fracture. It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone."
"Maybe, but it's still pretty unlucky. The Lu family is a family of military generals, and for the young master of Lu to fall off his horse is truly embarrassing."
"That's right, but he studied from a young age and took the imperial examinations all the way, so it's understandable that his martial arts skills are a bit lacking."
The third princess couldn't listen anymore and started making a scene.
"Jiayin, I want to see Brother Lu! Let's go to the Lu family!"
Jiayin racked her brains and tried her best to persuade him, "I'm afraid you can't go for the time being. Firstly, we don't know how badly Prince Lu is injured. If you suddenly go, the Lu family will be busy receiving you, which will delay Prince Lu's recovery."
"Secondly, the Emperor has summoned you back to the palace, probably because he has something to discuss. If it is something important, it would be bad to delay things because of it."
The Third Princess wavered, and Shui Ling seized the opportunity to persuade her, "Didn't these people say that the imperial physicians in the palace treated Prince Lu? If the princess is worried, she can go back and ask the imperial physicians to find out how serious Prince Lu's injury is!"
These words reminded the Third Princess, who quickly urged the coachman on.
The coachman had no choice but to turn the horse around and travel for an extra quarter of an hour, eventually reaching another city gate and successfully entering the city.
The Third Princess returned to the palace and rushed to the Imperial Study without even changing her clothes.
Jiayin did not stop her any further and slowly returned to Zhilan Palace. After changing her clothes and drinking a cup of cold tea, the Third Princess returned with a flushed face and complicated expression.
As soon as she saw Jiayin leisurely rocking a chair under the eaves, she lifted her skirt and ran over, complaining, "Jiayin, did you already know? Why didn't you stop me?"
Jiayin rolled her eyes and replied without any politeness, "If I hadn't stopped you, you would have already gone to the Lu family and pulled down their pants!"
"Oh dear, what nonsense are you talking about!" The Third Princess stamped her foot in embarrassment and quickly covered Jiayin's mouth.
After laughing and joking for a while, the Third Princess plopped down next to Jiayin, put her arm around her, and sighed softly.
"Jiayin, do you think Brother Lu and I are just not meant to be? Father Emperor even said we should get married soon, but then Brother Lu got injured again..."
Jiayin's eyes flickered; this was also where her suspicions lay.
Lu Zong's injury came at just the right time, and it was to such a crucial spot.
The emperor might marry his daughter to a man who is lame or has a missing hand, but he would never let her marry a eunuch...
Normally, she would have thought it was an accident.
After all, no man would joke about his private parts; if he made a mistake, there would be no going back to regret it!
But now that she knew Lu Zong's feelings, she was no longer sure...
"Fate is such a mysterious thing, no one can say for sure." Jiayin sighed and tentatively asked, "If your marriage with Brother Lu doesn't work out, will you be heartbroken? Will you stop eating and drinking, or act like you're going to die?"
"Of course not, I am a princess, how could I possibly be so dramatic as to die?" The Third Princess glared, clearly as this assumption insulted her pride.
But then she drooped her head again, "But I won't get married either. There's no one better than Brother Lu in the world."
Jiayin's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly changed the subject, "Stop joking, let's make a fruit platter and send it to Uncle Huang to help him cool off. I'll do the styling, and you can scoop out the fruit balls."
“Okay,” the Third Princess replied, perking up. “I noticed Father has lost weight again. I wonder if it’s from the summer heat? Let’s cook two more of his favorite dishes for him tonight.”
“Alright, Uncle Huang likes savory flavors, so let’s also cook a pot of red date and millet porridge to go with it, it’ll be even better for his stomach.” Jiayin agreed with a smile, easily diverting the princess’s attention.
Soon, the emperor received a strange and amusing fruit platter. The jade melon rind was carved into the shape of a hedgehog, with an opening on its back that revealed large, pearl-like melon balls, grapes, strawberries, and the like, all brightly colored and sweetly refreshing.
It's a feast for the eyes, and it tastes refreshing and delicious.
Both Chief Eunuch Yi and Eunuch Feng were present. The two of them worked together to praise the fruit platter to the skies, pleasing the Emperor so much that he waved his hand and moved a lot more good things to Zhilan Palace.
Unfortunately, the emperor only ate a few melon balls before turning away and vomiting.
Chief Steward Yi immediately dismissed all the irrelevant people in the room and personally served the Emperor as he rinsed his mouth.
The Emperor remained silent for a moment, then called out to the man in gray to deliver the fruit platter to Xilong Pavilion.
Then, he took out the entire list.
What should have been a few days of peace was disrupted by the thwarting of the princess's wedding, which plunged the world into further bloodshed...
Two updates today!
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