Chapter 175 The Crown Prince's Intentions Are Unfathomable
"How lively! I'm not too late, am I?"
Xiao Ce suddenly walked in, smiling as he looked at everyone.
Zhang Xuanyun and Meng Yanzhi quickly reacted and hurriedly stood up to bow: "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
Zhang Yu'er also realized what was happening and followed suit, bowing and saying, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
"I just entered the palace intending to visit you, but I never expected to find you enjoying yourself here?" Xiao Ce stepped forward, smiled at Meng Yanzhi, and then took out a letter and handed it to her: "This is a letter from Mingchu to you!"
Meng Yanzhi smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said in a low voice, "I didn't know Your Highness would be coming to the palace today, I'm so sorry."
Immediately afterwards, Meng Yanzhi quickly opened the envelope in her hand, looked at it carefully, and after confirming that Mingchu was doing well with Xiao Ce, she breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Thank you for your kindness to her, Your Highness. As long as she is doing well, I am at ease."
"Knowing that she is your precious darling, I will naturally treat her well!" Xiao Ce sighed helplessly and looked at Meng Yanzhi: "I see that you treat her better than you treat me."
As Meng Yanzhi listened, she sensed something was amiss. Her eyebrows furrowed tightly as she looked at Xiao Ce earnestly: "Your Highness, it's fine if you say these things to me, but please don't tell Mingchu. If Mingchu hears this, she will be heartbroken."
“Mingchu truly loves Your Highness, so if she sees that Your Highness is only kind to her because of me, she will definitely be heartbroken, and over time she will even harbor resentment, making her life unbearable.” Meng Yanzhi knew all too well how desperate life in the inner quarters could be.
People often do strange things when they are desperate, so Meng Yanzhi didn't want Mingchu to do the same.
Xiao Ce knew before that Meng Yanzhi cared about Mingchu, but he never expected that she would care about Mingchu so much, and even care about her inner feelings.
Seeing Meng Yanzhi like this, Xiao Ce sighed: "You think of everything so thoroughly, but what about yourself? Have you ever thought about your own future?"
Before this, Meng Yanzhi had never really thought about her future, but now she had. If Xiao Xingyuan really kept his word, then he would have a place in her restaurant in the future.
However, this matter was of great importance, so Meng Yanzhi could not speak of it at this time. She just blushed with embarrassment and said, "My future depends entirely on Your Highness. I only ask that Your Highness accomplish this quickly so that I can be free soon."
Meng Yanzhi was incredibly intelligent, so of course she knew what Xiao Ce meant by those words. However, she couldn't give Xiao Ce what he wanted; all she could offer was this kind of cooperative relationship.
Xiao Ce was a smart man, so seeing Meng Yanzhi's expression, he understood her meaning, smiled gently, and sat down to eat.
"Don't just stand there, everyone. Hurry up and sit down and eat with us."
Xiao Ce beckoned them all to sit down, not forgetting to smirk.
Seeing this, everyone realized what was happening and sat down to eat together.
After taking a few bites, Meng Yanzhi checked the time and said, "I should go back now, Your Highness, Master. I'll head back first."
With that, Meng Yanzhi stood up, bowed, glanced at Xiao Ce, and then turned to leave.
Xiao Ce remained calm and ate his meal before leaving.
Only Zhang Xuanyun and Zhang Yu'er remained in the room.
"Ah Yun, does Miss Meng have feelings for you?" Zhang Yu'er asked bluntly, her brows slightly furrowed as she looked at her younger brother.
Zhang Xuanyun never expected that Zhang Yu'er would see through this in just the time it takes to eat a meal.
He blushed slightly, then said in a low voice, "Sister, you've really misunderstood. We're just teacher and student. She respects me, but she doesn't like me."
Zhang Xuanyun had previously thought that Meng Yanzhi had feelings for him, but after spending time together, he was quite certain that those feelings were not romantic. Although he didn't know why she was so good to him, he had to be clear-headed.
Seeing Zhang Xuanyun like this, Zhang Yu'er belatedly realized that it wasn't Meng Yanzhi who liked him, but rather he who liked Meng Yanzhi.
"Little brother, what about you?"
"You like her?"
Zhang Yu'er immediately stepped forward and continued to press for answers.
With a smile, she said, "I really like this girl. I would be so happy if she could be your wife!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuanyun shook his head and said, "Sister, I am not worthy of her. The Crown Prince is fond of her, but she doesn't even look at him. How could she be with me? Rather than ruining our teacher-student relationship by making things clear, it's better to leave it as it is. This is fine too."
Zhang Yu'er finally understood that her younger brother was deeply in love with her, but she also understood that a girl like Meng Yanzhi shouldn't be bound by such feelings.
“Sister, you’re not young anymore. I will definitely find you a good family so you can live a carefree life.” Zhang Xuanyun looked at Zhang Yu’er with a smile.
The two locked eyes, and Zhang Yu'er pinched him hard: "You brat, are you disgusted that I'm eating for free here and want to get rid of me? You bastard!"
After leaving Jin Fan Lou, Meng Yanzhi bought many things on the street before returning to the palace.
Previously, when Meng Yanzhi left the palace, she simply left the palace. But this time, she still wanted to buy some fun things to share with Xiao Xingyuan!
The Imperial Study.
Meng Yanzhi entered the room happily and showed Xiao Xingyuan all the things she had brought.
"Your Majesty, look, isn't this doll fun?"
"It can move simply by being suspended by silk threads!"
Meng Yanzhi looked at Xiao Xingyuan with a smile, and then began to demonstrate to him how to play with this thing.
Xiao Xingyuan certainly had no interest in these things, but he was very interested in Meng Yanzhi's current happiness.
Meng Yanzhi looked down intently at the dancing puppet in her hands, but Xiao Xingyuan stared straight at Meng Yanzhi, thinking that her smile was really beautiful!
"Your Majesty, I also bought this outside. Would you like to try it?" Meng Yanzhi put down the doll, leaned forward, and took out the candy she had bought, stuffing it into Xiao Xingyuan's mouth.
Before Xiao Xingyuan could react, his eyebrows and nose were furrowed tightly together, and he gritted his teeth: "What the hell is this?!"
"Haha, it's sour candy. Kids outside all love it. Your Majesty, you've never tried it before, have you?"
"How is it? Doesn't it taste great?"
Meng Yanzhi looked at Xiao Xingyuan with a smile, then leaned on his shoulder, put one in her mouth, and just like him, her eyebrows were tightly furrowed, but she still laughed out loud.
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