Both Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang were a little surprised.

"Do you know why we asked you to come to the palace?" Eleventh Lady asked her son with concern.

"They said we were going to the West Garden to play ice skating." Jing'er said with a smile, "They also said I should go to the palace to enjoy the lanterns on the twelfth day of the first lunar month."

Is it good or bad to be so close?

Eleventh Lady looked towards Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi has already reminded Jing'er: "Don't forget etiquette." This is a tactful way of expressing his agreement.

What child doesn't like to play? Besides, the majesty and style of the royal family are not comparable to those of ordinary people. When Jin Ge'er heard this, he was moved, but he was afraid that his father would be unhappy because he had been restraining him these days. Seeing that his father agreed so readily, he was full of joy: "Don't worry, Daddy, I won't say anything I shouldn't say."

Although Jing'er was young, he had a good sense of propriety in dealing with people. Xu Lingyi approved of this.

He nodded slightly.

Jing'er was more energetic and talked to his mother: "...The West Garden is very big, and the lake for ice skating is even bigger than our home. Standing by the lake, everything is crystal clear, like a glass world, very beautiful." He added, "The eldest princess said that this year the palace's lantern festival will be held in the Imperial Garden in front of the Qin'an Palace, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been ordered to make a thousand lanterns..."

During the trip to Baoding, Xu Lingyi drew a lot of landscape paintings for Shiyi Niang along the way. Influenced by his father, Jinge liked to tell his mother about what he saw and heard no matter where he went.

Eleventh Lady listened with a smile, and the next day she and A Jin prepared a leather jacket for Jing'er to wear for ice skating. On the sixth day of the first lunar month, they happily sent Jing'er out the door.

When Jing'er came back, he pulled Shiyi Niang aside and said, "Mother, it turns out that the person who was hit on the head by the eldest princess' bow that day was Wang Xian, the son of the deputy commander of Changning Guard."

"How did you know?" Eleventh Lady has always been concerned about the eldest princess' marriage, hoping that she can find a man with good character. "How could he have gone to the Imperial Garden?"

"He was originally working for the Imperial Guards, and was waiting for Eunuch He by the Qin'an Palace on the orders of Commander Ouyang," said Jing'er with a smile. "Today we went ice skating and saw him again - he was on duty at the gate of the West Garden today."

Eleventh Lady thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "You wouldn't ask him to pull the ice cart for you, would you?"

When the princes and princesses were playing on the ice in the Western Garden, the eunuchs, in order to be lazy, would often ask the guards working in the Western Garden to help pull the ice carts.

"Mom, you are so good. You guessed it all!" Jing'er hugged his mother's arm with a smile. "The eighth prince pointed out Wang Xian. However, I saw that the eldest princess didn't look well, so I sent Wang Xian to wave a flag for us." In an ice skating competition, someone is needed to wave a flag to indicate the starting time. "Who knew that the eldest princess stopped playing after a while. We spent the whole afternoon roasting broad beans in the side hall of Chonghua Palace." He looked very bored.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help laughing.

Two days later, two people from the Xiaoling Guard came to play with Jing'er.

"One is called Xie Yan, the other is called Wei Xun." Amber whispered, "Master Xie is the grandson of Princess Yong'an, he is eighteen years old this year, and Master Wei is the son of Princess Jiangdu, he is sixteen years old this year. They were both appointed commanders together with the Sixth Young Master. From the tone of their voices, they also went to the palace to play ice skating on the sixth day of the first lunar month." He smiled again, "Both masters are very polite to others, they look very gentle, and they also brought eight-colored gift boxes as gifts."

I didn’t expect that Jing’er had friends coming to visit!

Eleventh Lady sighed in her heart and told Amber: "It's rare for him to have friends come up here, so don't be impolite. Go to his place more often. Ask the kitchen staff to prepare whatever he wants to eat or drink, and I'll pay for it."

Amber smiled and said "yes", then left. After a while, she came back and said, "Madam, you are a little late!"

Eleventh Lady was puzzled.

Amber hid her sleeves and smiled: "When I went there, I saw a manager at the Hui Office instructing several servants around the Sixth Young Master, and he also said that the kitchen should entertain them well and the money should be paid by the Marquis."

Eleventh Lady also laughed.

In the evening, Jing'er came to greet me.

"Mom, Wei Xun asked me to go to the western suburbs to appreciate plum blossoms tomorrow!" He looked at Shiyi Niang eagerly, "I didn't dare to agree to anyone else!"

"Stop pretending to be pitiful here!" Eleventh Lady smiled and pinched her son's nose. "Wait until your father comes back, and I'll tell him."

"Tell me what's going on!" Speak of the devil, and he will appear. Xu Lingyi walked in, shaking the snow off his cloak.

"Daddy!" Jing'er was nagging at Xu Lingyi like a puppy, "My friend asked me to go out and play... Actually I don't want to go out either, but it's the first time I've been invited, and I feel bad if I refuse... If I don't refuse, I'm afraid you'll be angry... After hesitating for a long time, I had to euphemistically ask if there's anything going on at home... Daddy, Xie Yan and Wei Xun are both good people, and they get along well with me..."

Xu Lingyi looked at him with a mixture of amusement and anger. In the end, he still felt sorry for his son: "You can go, but bring guards with you, and don't run around without them. If you can't do that, forget about going out again!"

"Of course, of course." Jing'er promised hurriedly, and then muttered, "When did I abandon my guards and run away by myself?"

"The guards were drinking tea in the teahouse, and you went shopping." Xu Lingyi looked at Jing'er meaningfully, "Does this count as abandoning the guards and running around on your own?"

Jing'er was stunned.

Xu Lingyi said, "It's getting late. Since we have an appointment for tomorrow, we should go to bed early so that we can go out early tomorrow. The days are short in winter."

Jing Ge'er didn't dare to say anything more, so he bowed and left. The next day, he obediently sat in a black lacquered flat-roofed carriage, surrounded by more than 30 guards and went to the meeting place. Xie Yan and Wei Xun brought more people than he did. Jing Ge'er breathed a sigh of relief, and the group went to Xishan in a grand manner.

When I got home, I said I would go to Xishan to race horses in two days.

Eleventh Lady was very surprised: "It's New Year's Day, and the water is freezing. Why are we running? Wait until spring comes and the weather is warmer. We can go for an outing. Isn't it better?"

"It's a friend's appointment." Jinger said with a smile, "I've already agreed, it would be bad if I don't go!"

"Friend?" Eleventh Lady was a little surprised. "What friend? What's your name? How did you know each other? How old are you? What does your family do?"

Jin Geer laughed: "The people I met today when I went to the west of the city to appreciate the plum blossoms are all four or five years older than me. They all work in the West Mountain Camp, some are assistant officials, and some are co-magistrates. We all got along well, so we made an appointment to go horse racing together tomorrow."

When Eleventh Lady heard this, she didn't want her son to go.

The Xishan Camp was the emperor's personal guard, and the assistants and co-governors were one rank higher than those of the general commanders. He was only four or five years older than Jing'er, so I'm afraid he was not the son of an ordinary noble family.

Jin Ge'er stepped forward and took Shiyi Niang's shoulder: "Mom, I rode from Yanjing all the way to Jiayuguan, and from Jiayuguan back to Yanjing, and I was fine. What's more, horse racing with friends is just for fun. Competitiveness will inevitably make people feel bored. Don't worry, I'm just going to join in the fun." He added, "Dad was afraid that you would worry, so he said that I can go, but I need your consent. Mom, please let me go! Otherwise, I will go back on my word, and who will be friends with me if the news gets out!"

Eleventh Lady didn't want Jing'er to get too close to the people from the Xishan camp.

"Since they are new friends, you should be more careful." She said, "We will make friends with those who are worth making friends with, and we will just be able to get by with those who are not worth making friends with." She added, "Will Xie Yan and Wei Xun go too?"

"No!" Jinger laughed, "They don't know how to ride horses. However, Wei Xun invited Xie Yan and me to his house on the eleventh day of the first lunar month to enjoy the snow."

Watching the snow is always better than riding a horse.

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded, teasing her son: "You have quite a lot of social engagements!"

"Of course." Jinger straightened his chest, "The Ninth Prince also asked me to visit King Anhui's house, but I felt that King Anhui was always gloomy, so I didn't agree."

King An Hui was the emperor's fourth son.

"Have you met King An Hui?" Eleventh Lady had never seen him before. "When did you meet him?"

"On the first day of the new year, when I accompanied my father to pay respects to the Emperor," said Jin Ge'er, "He looks very similar to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but he doesn't have the spirit of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He looks two or three years older than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..." As the mother and son were talking, a servant ran in, "Sixth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, there is a eunuch looking for you."

"Young eunuch?" Jing Ge'er was stunned. "At this time?"

The servant nodded: "He said he was from Prince Yong's Mansion, and was sent by the Ninth Prince to deliver a letter to the Sixth Young Master."

"Mom, I'll go and take a look!" Jing'er said, and hurriedly followed the servant to the outer courtyard. After about two incense sticks of time, he came back.

"What does the Ninth Prince want to see you for?" Eleventh Lady asked before her son could speak.

Jin Ge'er curled his lips and said, "He asked me to talk to the Queen and invite him and the Eleventh Prince to come to our house to play!"

"What do you say?" Eleventh Lady asked anxiously.

She was worried that Jing'er would rashly agree - Xu Lingyi's identity was too sensitive, and if she invited two young princes to her home to play, she didn't know how many people would be suspicious.

"I told the young eunuch, everyone knows that my father is famous for following the rules. He will never do anything against the rules. If he knew that I invited the prince to play at home, he would beat me half to death!" Jing'er said, "I will go to Xishan to race horses tomorrow, and go to Wei Xun's house to enjoy the snow the day after tomorrow. If they can sneak out, they can go with me. If not, there is nothing I can do."

What a great sentence, "Never do anything that is against the rules." Eleventh Lady smiled and hugged her son, praising him a lot, and then said, "You will not be angry if you say that, right? I think you should explain it to them in front of them when you go to the palace to watch the lanterns."

"Yes!" Jinger nodded with a smile and asked Shiyi Niang to prepare two Hetian jade toys for him. "They both like Hetian jade. When the time comes, give them some and their anger will subside."

Eleventh Lady was looking for a suitable piece of Hetian jade for Jing'er in the storeroom, but Jing'er was having fun outside for two days. After watching the lanterns in the palace, a friend who met him on the horse racing that day booked a few private rooms in a restaurant on East Street and invited Jing'er to watch the lanterns on the 15th. On the 17th, the last day of the Spring Festival, Princess Suiping's husband booked the second floor of Chunxi Tower and sent a message to invite Jing'er to play. Jing'er went to this place today and that place tomorrow, so of course he had to return the invitation. He discussed with Xu Lingyi and borrowed Eleventh Lady's house in Jinyu Hutong, invited the four famous actors in Yanjing to sing in the hall, and made a "Lori Ying Banquet". Some people came up with better ideas after hearing this, and shouted to visit his other courtyard in two days... They kept going back and forth, and it was not quiet until mid-February, and it became more and more intense. Some people even used gold foil to paint suckling pigs to make a "golden banquet", which cost hundreds of gold per meal, and was so luxurious that it was shocking.

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Please read the updated version tomorrow at noon!

O(∩_∩)O~