Chapter 74: She volunteered. You seem to be very concerned about other people's feelings? ...
"When I was eighteen, he brought me to Junzi Terrace and drank plum wine with me. He said he liked me. Then, during the three years of war, he didn't return to Yunjing until my father, the emperor, and my mother, the empress, arranged our marriage. I thought he and I were equally happy, but he said he didn't want to marry me and hated me. He said people change, and now he likes Xu Lian'er."
A figure flashed before Luo Wan's eyes, and he frowned slightly.
She quickly collected herself. According to the custom of speaking the truth after drinking, the person Crown Prince Xiao Ce once liked was the Crown Princess, not Miss Xu. Perhaps some unknown things happened later, causing Xiao Ce to fall in love with someone else.
But men are like this, fickle and indifferent.
It turns out that the Crown Princess is not as indifferent as she appears to be. She likes Xiao Ce.
She would envy Xiao Ce for accompanying Miss Xu to watch the fireworks, and would want to watch the fireworks herself. When she learned that Xiao Ce was going to coax Miss Xu, she would come to Junzitai to listen to opera and relax.
With a soft clang, the wine jar rolled onto the table and shattered into pieces. Luo Wan then realized that the Crown Princess had drunk the entire jar of plum wine by herself.
Seeing that she was about to reach out to grab another jar, Luo Wan stopped her immediately.
Luo Wan lowered his eyes and looked at the drunk man in front of him, and advised: "Your Highness, you are drunk."
"I have to get drunk! It's really unbearable not to be drunk." The Crown Princess tried to focus her eyes on Luo Wan, and suddenly slapped her forehead, "I don't even know your name."
"Luo Wan."
"Luo Wan." The Crown Princess still held onto the wine jar, refusing to let go. "How could he change so suddenly?"
"Your Highness," Luo Wan said softly, "People change, sooner or later."
"But I haven't changed," the Crown Princess' voice became softer as she spoke, "I still like him as much as before."
Luo Wan was completely at her wit's end when it came to dealing with the Crown Princess. This was the first time she'd ever dealt with a drunk man clinging to a wine jar. It was also the first time she'd known how difficult a drunk could be. She even considered knocking the drunk unconscious and sending him back to the Eastern Palace.
"Then don't like him anymore." Luo Wan said, "Don't care who he is with."
"I want to, but it's not allowed here." The Crown Princess pointed to her chest.
Luo Wan took the opportunity to take the wine jar from her arms and quietly hid it on the table.
The Crown Princess was completely unaware and asked, "Do you know there is a bird in this world called the Lovebird?"
Luo Wan shook his head.
"If a male and female bird decide to be together, the female bird must give up her freedom, be trapped in a tree hole, and entrust everything to the male bird. The male bird must bear all the responsibilities regardless of wind and rain, and tirelessly search for fruits for the female bird."
The Crown Princess paused and continued, "I once thought that if he and I truly loved each other, I would be forever trapped in the Eastern Palace, trapped under the title of Crown Princess, and accompany him for the rest of his life, and I would be willing to do so. But now, every day, as long as I think of him being with that young lady Xu, I feel so sad..."
The singing and chorus on the gentleman's stage outside gradually died down.
Luo Wan suddenly heard footsteps coming from the private room opposite, walking straight towards this side, and finally stopped outside their door.
As soon as one song ended and the next one started, everything around was suddenly quiet.
The flickering candlelight cast a clear shadow on the doorway, casting a slender figure outside. The guards standing on either side nodded silently, and then the door to the private room was gently opened.
Xiao Ce stood at the door, his expression obscure and difficult to discern, complex emotions surging in his eyes, but there was no trace of the previous coldness and alienation.
He stopped for a moment, let out an almost inaudible sigh of helplessness, then walked in and slowly squatted down in front of the drunken Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess looked up and saw that it was him. She was so aggrieved that she burst into tears. She put her arms around his neck and choked out, "From now on, you are not allowed to see Xu Lian'er again."
Xiao Ce hugged her, gently stroked her back, and whispered, "Okay."
The Crown Princess added, "You are not allowed to watch the fireworks with her, and you are not allowed to bring her to the Junzi Terrace."
"Okay." He still responded without hesitation, without any hesitation.
Luo Wan turned her gaze away from Xiao Ce and the Crown Princess, and glanced casually at the door. She didn't know when Miss Xu had been standing there, and she must have heard every word of the conversation just now.
She did not make any noise or fuss, but just stood quietly by the door, with her head slightly lowered, just like the impression she left on Luo Wan that day on He Street, gentle and quiet.
It was another suffocatingly embarrassing scene.
Luo Wan subconsciously picked up the cup beside her and took a sip. Perhaps because she drank it too quickly, the spiciness of the plum wine instantly burned her throat. Luo Wan was caught off guard and started coughing. She forgot that her teacup had been replaced by a wine glass by the Crown Princess.
It was this cough that broke the solemn silence.
The Crown Princess had already fallen asleep leaning on Xiao Ce's shoulder. Xiao Ce seemed to suddenly realize something, turned to the door, and said calmly: "Cloak."
Miss Xu had her head down, twisting a handkerchief unconsciously in her hands. Upon hearing the voice, she immediately took off her cloak and handed it over with both hands.
Xiao Ce took it, carefully wrapped the cloak around the Crown Princess, tied the tie, and then picked her up sideways.
The Crown Princess hummed unconsciously twice in his arms, found a more comfortable position, and buried her face deeply in his arms. From this angle, the Crown Princess's face could not be seen clearly.
Xiao Ce glanced at Miss Xu, his tone still calm: "You can go back later wearing Yun Shang's cloak." After that, he turned around and left with the person in his arms.
The private room suddenly became quiet.
Luo Wan exchanged glances with Miss Xu, who was left alone. Only then did he see her appearance clearly. She was indeed a woman with gentle features and an elegant temperament.
Luo Wan smiled at her and stood up to leave.
She thought that if she stayed any longer, it would only make Miss Xu even more embarrassed.
*
When he returned to the general's mansion, the young prince and his entourage had already left, but Jiang Cichen came back earlier than usual today.
When Luo Wan went to the kitchen to find some food, she met the housekeeper who was serving food to Jiang Cichen, and only then did she learn that Jiang Cichen had returned home.
The housekeeper held up a lacquer tray and said to Luo Wan, "General, please have dinner with me, young lady."
"No need to bother," Luo Wan declined, "I'll just use some as I please."
"I would like to invite the young lady to have a meal with me," Jiang Cichen's voice came from the door with a smile. He imitated the housekeeper and called her young lady.
Luo Wan raised her eyes and saw him leaning against the door with his arms folded, a faint smile on his lips.
"I wonder if the young lady would be willing to give me a favor?"
Luo Wan felt that she had changed a lot after her rebirth, for example, she had become more aware of current affairs.
She followed Jiang Cichen out of the kitchen and sat in the living room. Although there was a table between them, Jiang Cichen could still immediately smell the clear aroma of wine emanating from her.
He asked, "Have you been drinking?"
Luo Wan said: "No, she drank it when she accompanied the Crown Princess to listen to music."
Jiang Cichen was suspicious: "When did you get so close to her?"
Luo Wan said, "She said she has no friends in Yunjing. Maybe she saw that you are close to the Crown Prince, so she came to me to accompany her to listen to music."
Jiang Cichen frowned and said, "When did I get close to the prince?"
Isn't it close? Prince Sheng sent people to hunt him down, and the Crown Prince sent people to rescue him; he just returned to the capital, and the Crown Prince came to visit him the next day.
Luo Wan raised her eyes to look at him: "Aren't you a princeling?"
Jiang Cichen stared at her with a puzzled expression: "Luo Wan, do you think I'm such a clique-forming person?"
This question really made Luo Wan stunned. When they were in the capital, everyone knew that Jiang Cichen was a blatant member of the Princess Party. But later, when he found out the reason, he thought about it carefully and realized that his close relationship with Princess Kunyi was actually due to their friendship from the previous generation.
Including the later cooperation between Jiang Cichen and Shen Zhiyan, Shen Zhiyan has always been neutral and will not cooperate with any party, which indirectly proves that Jiang Cichen is not a real princess party.
Jiang Cichen said calmly, "The Crown Prince sent someone to pick me up, but it was only out of respect for our mother. He and I have no vested interests in the court. Prince Sheng is hunting me down, partly because he suspects I'm part of the Crown Prince's faction, and partly because he hates me for having captured a city in the Yun Kingdom and doesn't believe I'll be loyal to the Yun Kingdom."
Luo Wan nodded thoughtfully and said, "Then I won't accompany her anymore, lest people think you're a princeling."
Jiang Cichen stared at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled and reached out to rub the top of her head, saying, "I don't have the habit of stopping you from interacting with others, so you can go if you want."
Luo Wan glared at him coldly and brushed his hand away from his head without any hesitation.
After finishing the meal, Luo Wan was about to leave when Jiang Cichen stepped over the threshold, blocking her way.
He whispered, "You haven't answered me yet about what I asked you this morning."
The housekeeper had already tactfully cleared away the dishes and left.
Luo Wan thought about it, remembered something important, and pulled Jiang Cichen back to sit on the round stool.
Seeing her serious expression, Jiang Cichen couldn't help but smile and waited for her to speak calmly.
Luo Wan said: "I think the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess is not as rumored."
Jiang Cichen: “…”
Luo Wan continued, "Today, I accompanied the Crown Princess to an opera. We met the Crown Prince and Xu Lian'er at Junzi Terrace. The Crown Princess got jealous and started drinking. The Crown Prince actually carried her away, leaving Xu Lian'er there. If it were true, as the rumors say, that the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were not getting along, the Crown Princess wouldn't get jealous and drink, and the Crown Prince wouldn't carry her away."
"Luo Wan." Jiang Cichen took a deep breath and looked at her and said, "You seem to be very concerned about other people's feelings?"
"Don't you think it's strange?" Luo Wan said, "They are obviously two people who like each other."
Jiang Cichen asked back: "Then what do you think they should do?"
Luo Wan said: "Since you like each other, why don't you explain the misunderstanding?"
Jiang Cichen asked, "What if one of them is the creator of this misunderstanding?"
Luo Wan's expression gradually became serious.
Jiang Cichen said, "Yunjing may seem peaceful, but it's actually full of dangers. The Crown Prince must be cautious even in Yunjing. If a person exposes his weaknesses to the enemy, it's like destroying his own defenses and handing the knife to the enemy."
Luo Wan said: "So the prince did it on purpose?"
Jiang Cichen raised his eyebrows, which was considered as his agreement.
Before, Luo Wan thought that he and the Crown Princess shared the same fate, but the fact was not so. The Crown Princess was lucky. The Crown Prince's goal was for the Crown Princess, but she had actually died once.
What about Xu Lian'er? After seeing Xu Lian'er's reaction to these two incidents, Luo Wan guessed that she should be able to tell that she knew about it, but she was still willing to replace the Crown Princess and become the target of public criticism.
Luo Wan frowned: "This is unfair to Xu Lian'er."
"She volunteered," Jiang Cichen said. "Not only did her father rise to prominence in the imperial court, but she also got to see the person she longed for often. This deal is a fair one."
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