"Let her treat the Grand Tutor." After saying this, Prince Yan hurriedly left with Hongyu.
Inside the sedan chair, King Yan uttered ten sentences, all of which were inquiries about what Hongyu had said to King Lu.
Hongyu felt annoyed. Prince Lu hadn't said anything to her, but in order to stir up trouble among the princes, she pretended to be frightened and whispered in Prince Yan's ear, "By the way, I heard that Prince Lu went to the county government yesterday, seemingly to inquire about the mass grave where corpses were dumped."
King Yan was terrified. He settled Hongyu in the Hibiscus Garden and then hurriedly left.
------
The next morning.
Hongyu arrived at the Kong residence, followed by two young ladies who were of marriageable age.
The two young ladies wore identical pink dresses, but their hairpins differed. The one with the glass hairpin was named Shen Liuli, while the one with the pearl hairpin was named Shen Zhenzhu. These two women were the daughters of Master Shen.
Master Shen was once Prince Hong's mentor. Although he no longer held a position in the court, he was highly regarded by the Emperor. After Prince Hong was assassinated, the Emperor ordered Master Shen to tutor Prince Hong's son and daughter.
Upon seeing that it was an invitation from the Shen family, the guards hurriedly led the three of them to the right place.
Hongyu walked into the Kong family home with her head held high and her eyebrows raised, under the watchful eyes of everyone. She now resided in Furong Garden, mainly responsible for teaching the Shen family's daughter the seven-stringed zither.
The Shen family was affiliated with the Prince Hong's mansion. After Prince Hong's death, his right-hand men secretly submitted to Prince Yan, and the Shen family was among them.
Shen Liuli and Shen Zhenzhu maintained a dignified demeanor, keeping their eyes straight ahead, but their ears were listening attentively to everything around them.
"Please come in, Miss Chenyu."
Chen Yu was dressed in plain clothes, with two wooden hairpins and a glittering goldfish hairpin in her neat bun.
This goldfish hairpin was made by Old Madam Gu at great expense when she came of age. It had been kept unused and never worn. When Rong Momo saw that her attire was too plain, she put the gold hairpin on her.
However, the goldfish hairpin was so dazzling that it made her feel uncomfortable.
She hurried into the courtyard, gazing at the familiar rockery, a wave of sorrow washing over her, and her eyes welled with tears. Once, she and Liu Yu had pledged their lives to each other amidst these rockeries. Now, everything had changed, and her beloved was nowhere to be found!
She secretly wiped away the tears in her eyes, and looked up. Wasn't that woman in red in front of her Hongyu?
She quickly caught up with Hongyu, stopped her, and quietly asked, "Where did you stay yesterday? I was afraid the Grand Tutor would worry, so I lied and said you stayed at my Cheng Garden."
Hongyu nodded without uttering a word. The Prince of Yan had ordered her to forbid any contact with the Mu family, and now, with the two young ladies of the Shen family watching over her, she absolutely could not speak with Chenyu.
She walked around Chen Yu and was about to leave when she suddenly heard a mocking voice behind her: "Abandoned woman! The Prince of Yan divorced her, yet she still has the nerve to come out and embarrass herself."
"Shameless! Showing herself in public now, is she in a hurry to remarry? I heard she has moved into Furong Garden. Such a large villa, I wonder how she managed to get her hands on him?"
Hongyu suddenly turned around and saw Shenjing and Wang Baozhu arm in arm, smirking. These two women were not easy for Hongyu to deal with; Shenjing was about to marry Prince Jing, and Wang Baozhu was the younger sister of the Princess Consort of Lu.
At this moment, Chen Yu, with a cold expression, walked towards Shen Jing and sternly reprimanded her: "Stop talking nonsense! You've not only lost face for yourselves, but also damaged your reputation. Quickly apologize to Miss Hongyu..."
"How dare you lecture me, elder sister? Aren't you also a discarded woman..."
Snap!
He spoke rudely and was slapped in return. Turning around, he saw that it was an unfamiliar old woman.
Enraged, Chen Jing raised his hand to retaliate, but then heard, "Consort Kong has arrived."
Consort Kong wore a dark green long dress embroidered with yellow peonies, like a peacock spreading its tail, breathtakingly beautiful. She wore a golden phoenix crown, dignified and noble, yet her face was serene, and her voice was low:
"You two are ladies from noble families, yet you speak such vile words and have no sense of shame. You must immediately return to your residence to learn etiquette. I will send a matron to supervise you."
Thus, at the invitation of Consort Kong, Chenyu and Hongyu sat in the tent in the center of the arena.
Consort Kong gazed at Songhua, who was riding a horse with great spirit, and couldn't help but shed tears. She had been in the palace for over a year and had never stepped outside the palace gates. Today, she held the polo match only to see Songhua and settle things once and for all.
Before entering the palace, she promised Songhua that she would marry him when she left. But now, she is the emperor's most favored concubine, and she has no chance to marry Songhua in this life.
Song Hua had a green cloth strip tied around his head, and a woman in green was beside him. Was it Bao Qianqiu? No wonder, the Emperor intended to arrange a marriage between the Prince of Xiang's mansion and the Bao family. It was quite normal for the two of them to play polo together.
At this moment, cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd, "Good..."
"Miss Qianqiu and Young Master Songhua cooperated brilliantly, taking on four opponents with only two of them, which is truly rare."
"Don't jump to conclusions too early; there are still teams that haven't even entered the fray yet."
"Young Master Songhua and Miss Qianqiu are of one mind and possess exceptional abilities; they are sure to win the championship and the dragon and phoenix hairpin bestowed upon them by the Imperial Concubine."
"..."
Hearing the murmurs of the crowd, Consort Kong burst into tears and rushed out of the tent.
Hongyu immediately got up to chase after her, but Chenyu grabbed her sleeve, saying, "Don't meddle in other people's business."
"Trivial matters? I wonder what Miss Chenyu is referring to? Why don't you tell me?"
When Hongyu asked her that question, Chenyu quickly shook her head.
In fact, both of them were intelligent people. Seeing Consort Kong's worried and unsatisfied appearance, coupled with the Prince of Xiang's eagerness to marry Songhua and Bao Qianqiu, they could conclude that Consort Kong and Songhua had an affair.
Chen Yu pitied the ill-fated couple and was unwilling to expose the matter.
Where is Hongyu? She wanted to use the search for the earring as a pretext to get close to Songhua. She broke free from Chenyu's hand and ran out of the tent, only to see Songhua taking off her headband and hurrying towards the back garden.
She dared not shout, for fear of disturbing the Shen sisters sitting in the adjacent tent.
As she walked, she pulled out two strands of hair and let them hang down on either side of her face, their flowing movement exuding charm.
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