As for his impression of Gu Yingxue, Cheng Huaijin couldn't say he liked her that much, but it was definitely not the same as when he first learned about Xiaoyu's accident and disliked her.
At that time, Cheng Huaijin was angry when he learned that Xiaoyu had given the chance to live to Gu Yingxue. After so long, he came to understand that he shouldn't blame the young girl for this. So, he started to treat Gu Yingxue as a younger sister of the Gu family, like Gu Si.
Gu Xin stopped bringing up Gu Yingxue's question. She was certain that Cheng Huaijin didn't dislike Gu Yingxue, but as for whether he liked her or not, she didn't know.
But she couldn't say too much at once, lest Cheng Huaijin overthink it and she end up doing something wrong with good intentions.
That evening, Prince Kang and his wife invited everyone to dinner at Prince Kang's residence. They planned to set off for the west before the Lantern Festival, so they wanted to host a farewell banquet for everyone.
The Duke and his wife had originally planned to do this, but after discussing it, the Princess Consort of Kang and Madam Xue decided that since the two families lived not far apart, they should hold the farewell banquet together.
They invited the Gu family, the Peng family, and the Huo family, and invited Lu Zheng separately. Prince Kang also made a trip to the palace, because he was unsure whether the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress would come.
As a result, that night, the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress secretly slipped out of the palace with the young prince.
Even though Gu Shouxin had gotten used to it, he still felt that these royal bigwigs were really not ordinary people. The number of times they left the palace throughout the year was probably more than that of other emperors!
Fortunately, the Prince Kang's residence was not far from the palace. The capital was peaceful at the moment, and there were almost no people inside who wanted to rebel, so its safety was guaranteed.
"Oh dear, Xue'er is such a pitiful girl, staying at home all by herself. I'll have someone send her some of our family's pastries later. I remember she likes sweets, she'll definitely like them!" Princess Kang said, mentioning Gu Yingxue.
Because Gu Yingxue was a junior member of Grandma Gu's family and was well-behaved and lovable, the Empress Dowager asked, "Was the injury at Xiao Jiu's residence truly an accident? Was there no other reason?"
Gu Xin said, "Great-Grandma, my brother was with Xue'er at the time, just the two of them, it definitely wasn't an accident. My brother would never harm Xue'er."
The Empress Dowager gave Cheng Huaijin a meaningful look.
Cheng Huaijin stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Miss Xue'er wasn't paying attention to her footing when she was talking to me, and she stepped on a stone, so she twisted her ankle. It's nothing serious."
The Empress Dowager looked Cheng Huaijin up and down, then smiled and nodded: "Well, it's good that there were no surprises. Xiao Jin, you are also a child of the Gu family. According to the age order of the Gu family's grandchildren, Huihui is married, Niannian is married, isn't it your turn now? Do you have a girl you like? Tell me about her. The Emperor bestowed several marriages last year, and I would like to play matchmaker here."
Everyone looked at Cheng Huaijin.
Cheng Huaijin shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I don't have anyone I like yet. Thank you for your concern."
The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "There are several princesses in the royal family, and they are all of good character. You should have met them at the Royal Academy. Who left a deep impression on you?"
Cheng Huaijin was taken aback, then said, "Your Majesty, I have not been close to the princesses, so I do not know them well."
The emperor was displeased: "Hey, you brat, that's my princess. Is she not pretty? Don't all young men like pretty girls? Unless you already have someone you love."
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