Empress Jiahe was very puzzled and puzzled about this matter. "Shen Que has not had much dealings with us before."
"There are rumors circulating that Shen Que favors his concubine over his wife, so his reputation is not very good. But he has made good political achievements recently, and has been promoted step by step. He has a say in the emperor, so we can find an opportunity to meet him."
Xu Guozhang said slowly: "Wait until I meet him and see what his plan is, then you can decide whether to meet his daughter or not."
The maid beside Empress Jiahe whispered a few words in her ear, reminding her of the palace banquet at the end of the month.
Empress Jiahe said to Xu Guozhang, "There will be a flower viewing banquet at the end of the month, and I will be able to see Second Miss Shen at that time. Why don't I go to see Second Miss Shen first and ask her what's the matter, and then you go to see Lord Shen, so as not to have too much contact with court officials and arouse the emperor's suspicion."
"That's fine." Xu Guozhang agreed.
At the Shen Residence, Shen Xiuying's mother Jiang put a new string of pearl earrings on Shen Xiuying, picked up the bronze mirror on the table, and looked at the mirror with satisfaction, "These earrings suit you very well."
Shen Qinying looked at herself in the bronze mirror.
She looks much prettier than Jiang when she was young.
Her mother, despite her poor background, was able to rise to the top and become the legal wife. Shen Xiuying couldn't help but feel a sense of arrogance in her heart. Since she was more beautiful than her mother and had a better family background, she would definitely be able to marry a better person.
What's more, she has already started her life over again and will not go the wrong way again. Rong Ting never took her seriously in his past life or this life, so she would not let him have an easy time.
But Empress Jiahe was reluctant to see her, and she alone was definitely powerless to change much. Shen Xiuying was anxious and her brows were tightly knitted.
At this time, she heard her maid come to report that she had received an invitation to the flower-viewing banquet in the palace.
Shen Xiuying looked at the post, and her frown finally relaxed.
…
The bamboo forest is lush and green, with shades all around at noon.
The students had just finished this month's exams and were walking out of the classroom one after another.
When Liu Heguang saw Rong Ting's wheelchair slowly moving over, his eyes immediately became angry. Thinking of the humiliation he suffered at the hunting ground, he wanted to cause trouble for Rong Ting, but was stopped by Xie Tongyan.
Xie Tongyan naturally couldn't stand Rong Ting.
But that day, when he came back from the hunting ground and was bathing in the hot spring at night to wash off the geese's blood, he felt a cold gap as long as a finger on the top of his head. He touched his scalp and realized belatedly that the arrow that Rong Ting had shot through his hair had passed close to his scalp.
Just a millimeter away, a piece of his head would have been chopped off.
Looking back, Xie Tongyan still felt hatred and fear, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that he was afraid of a cripple. When he stopped Liu Heguang, he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't bother him in broad daylight. It's easy to get criticized."
Liu Heguang was still angry, Xie Tongyan lowered his voice and rebuked him, "Why are you so anxious? Wait until the seventeenth prince takes the throne, and you're not afraid that you won't be able to discipline him, right?"
Just then, the seventeenth prince walked out of the school with a gloomy face.
I thought Rong Ting was so sick that he couldn't even leave the mansion, but I didn't expect that he would come on the day of the exam.
When Yan Nanxun got his article, he glanced at it and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
Although he had been sick for a few days and had not come to see the doctor, he was still able to please the extremely picky old scholar. The Seventeenth Prince became even more jealous and gritted his teeth.
The Xie, Liu, and Xu families were all on good terms, and all regarded the Seventeenth Prince as the future crown prince. Liu Heguang and Xie Tongyan did not dare to neglect him, and when they saw the Seventeenth Prince, they bowed to him and said, "Greetings, His Highness the Seventeenth."
The anger in the eyes of the Seventeenth Prince had not yet dissipated, and he did not want to talk to them. He simply nodded, left Qingshan Academy, and immediately asked the followers waiting outside Qingshan Academy, "Where is that cripple?"
The attendant said, "He left the Bailu Academy and headed east."
"East?"
His residence is clearly in the west.
"I was not mistaken. It went east."
The seventeenth prince frowned suspiciously, "Let's follow and see."
…
The carriage drove all the way to the Qinhuai River. When getting off the carriage, Huai Qing quickly set up a long board for Rong Ting to move the wheelchair down.
It was a busy time and many pedestrians were attracted by the young boy in the wheelchair.
Someone has already recognized who he is.
Those wanton, pitying or prying looks made Rong Ting feel annoyed.
Huai Qingting wanted to tell Rong Ting that the people of Jinling kept visiting him because they knew what he had done about the disaster in Nanzhang.
Kings and nobles are born ignorant of the sufferings of hunger and cold in the world. Those who can truly care about the people and do things for the people are rare.
Those eyes looking at His Majesty the Ninth Prince were full of admiration and respect.
But before he could say anything, Rong Ting already had a slight smile on his face, looking cheerful and cheerful.
An old maid came over tremblingly, "Are you the Ninth Prince?"
The boy understood more and more what kind of expression was kind and pleasing, and could earn a good reputation. Even though he felt cold and disgusted in his heart, he smiled gently on his face, "It's me."
The old woman stuffed two red silk-wrapped eggs into Rong Ting's hands and said, "My hometown is in Nanzhang, and my family is all there. Your Highness, thank you."
After the old woman left, Huai Qing was somewhat surprised and moved.
This kind of egg with red silk is used by common people to give blessings to others.
He was afraid that Rong Ting had been in the palace for too long and didn't know the customs of the people. Just as he was about to explain, Rong Ting threw the two eggs into his arms.
"Throw it away."
The kindness and cordiality he had shown in front of others just now was no longer there; he spoke in a calm voice with a cold expression.
"Your Highness, this is the old man's good intentions..."
Rong Ting glanced back at him and said, "Throw it away."
He doesn't trust anything handed to him by anyone.
Whether it is out of good intention or bad intention.
…
Huai Qing went out for a while and honestly threw away the eggs tied with red silk cloth. After returning, he entered the grain shop and walked to the backyard to find Rong Ting. He said, "Maybe I came a little early. The fourth lady hasn't changed yet. I didn't see her carriage outside."
Huai Qing and Jiang Rao agreed to meet here at 3 p.m. today. Without Rong Ting's instructions, Huai Qing told the coachman to hurry up. When they arrived, they found that it was too early. Huai Qing said with regret, "Your Highness, I misjudged the time."
"That's right. Even if you come early, don't come late."
If it's her, she can wait as long as she wants.
When Jiang Rao arrived, he felt wronged and sighed softly, "You are finally here."
He waited for only two moments, but from the tone of his sighs, it seemed as if he had been waiting for a whole afternoon.
He had such a good complexion that he looked even more charming in the twilight, yet with a kind of fragility that made people feel pity. There was no blame in his tone, and his eyes were full of willingness.
But he wanted to show that he was willing to do it so that others would know.
According to the agreed time, she was not late, just later than him. Jiang Rao secretly made up her mind to come earlier in the future, and explained to Rong Ting: "Something happened and I was delayed on the way."
Ming Shao held a rose branch in her hand. "Not long after leaving the palace, the girl was stopped by a flower boy and given this flower."
In Jinling, there is an unwritten rule among the flower girls selling flowers. They will occasionally give a flower to a girl on the street, without paying a penny. As long as they think a girl is pretty, they will give it to her for free.
Jiang Rao blushed at what she said and retorted, "What does this have to do with being good-looking? Didn't she give him silver in the end?"
Those flower-selling children are clever
Then, he would only send flowers to girls whose clothes and appearance showed that their families were wealthy. He would make up a set of words such as "You are beautiful, more beautiful than flowers, so these flowers are given to you for free", which would make the girls very happy. Not only would they give out a lot of silver as a reward, not to mention the copper coins for buying flowers.
This can only fool young girls who have never done business. People like her who spend their days calculating accounts on an abacus will not really believe what they say.
Just out of pity for those young children who were exposed to the wind and sun and had a hard time making a living, he gave them a lot of reward money.
"Of course I know that those flower-selling children are full of sweet talk." But Ming Shao thought Jiang Rao was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. "But maybe someone bought flowers from them and wanted to give them to the girl through them. There are many such plots in the storybooks."
Jiang Rao put his finger on her forehead and whispered, "We'll talk about this when we get back."
Rong Ting remained silent.
But no one knew what kind of deep displeasure was hidden in his calm phoenix eyes.
After a while, he whispered, "I want to see this flower."
This was the first time Jiang Rao saw him showing interest in something, so she couldn't help but feel curious. She said to Ming Shao, "Give the flowers to His Majesty the Ninth Prince."
Ming Shao handed the flower to Rong Ting.
The flower fell into Rong Ting's hands. He was very careful when catching the branch. When he lowered his head to look at the flower, his eyelashes trembled slightly. His already fair face was set off by the bright red rose, as clean as the snow on the branch.
Jiang Rao couldn't help but feel that the words "She is more beautiful than flowers" that the flower girl had just said to her were just right for him.
Last night she was having a private chat with her aunt, who was sleeping in the same bed with her. She hugged her and talked a lot, saying that it didn't matter if she couldn't find someone she liked. Since she wasn't going to get married, she might as well be a heretic and keep a few handsome men in the house. Just looking at them every day would make her happy and prolong her life.
But Jiang Rao sincerely felt that after being in contact with Rong Ting for such a long time, she could no longer tolerate any other colors in her eyes.
The man with a beautiful appearance, more beautiful than the flowers, lowered his head, but suddenly he made a "hiss" sound, his arm shook, and the flower branch fell to the ground.
Jiang Rao was startled by this accident, and suddenly came back to her senses from her wild thoughts, and asked anxiously: "What's wrong?"
"There are thorns on the branches." He spread out his hands, and there was a small drop of blood on his fingertips, which was abrupt and eye-catching, making people gasp.
Jiang Rao looked at the blood bead and felt as if the thorn had cut her finger, and she hissed in her heart. She immediately took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, looked at it carefully, and found that there was no thorn in his wound, so she wrapped the handkerchief around his finger.
Ming Shao muttered, "Flower branches have no thorns," but her mumbling was ignored by Jiang Rao, who was concentrating on bandaging Rong Ting's wound.
The calluses on his palms were crisscrossed with old scars. Jiang Rao was kneading his wound gently. He stepped back, seeming to be in pain. Jiang Rao's face became even more bitter.
Just as she was about to bend down to pick up the flower and check the stem to see if there were any thorns, Ming Shao cried out, "Girl, you've crushed the flower."
Jiang Rao glanced down and saw that the rose had been crushed under the wheels of the wheelchair as Rong Ting dodged backwards. The stem of the rose had been broken and had lost its original shape.
The desolate sight of the fallen petals turning into mud was beautiful in Rong Ting's eyes.
Jiang Rao said, "Don't worry about the flowers for now."
She turned her head and looked at Rong Ting's injured finger. "Does your hand hurt?"
Rong Ting's desire to destroy was not revealed on Qing Jun's face at all. He did not answer, but just shook his head slightly.
Jiang Rao sighed, "If I hadn't come looking for you, I wouldn't have let you suffer this."
Rong Ting immediately shook his head, "I was the one who wanted to take the flowers. It's my fault."
"Don't you come to see me."
He spoke in a dull voice, his tone was sad, "Except for you, no one in the academy or the palace pays attention to me. If you don't come, no one will pay attention to me."
Huai Qing thought about it and realized that because of the famine in Nanzhang, Emperor Zhaowu intended to let the Ninth Prince take up a position in the Ministry of Works after the autumn to gain experience. Some people heard the news and took action, especially Concubine Shu, who tried every means to win over the Ninth Prince to help the Third Prince. She sent gifts every time but was rejected. No one paid any attention to her.
But he finally chose to remain silent.
…
Behind the cross-shaped carriage window, a pair of poisonous eyes were staring in the direction of the grain shop in the distance.
The Seventeenth Prince watched Rong Ting enter the grain store first. Not long after, he did not wait for Rong Ting to come out of the grain store, but waited for Jiang Rao to enter. He asked in a cold voice, "Whose family was the girl who just entered the grain store?"
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