Chapter 22: Carriage Appointment with the Palace
Zong Si's words calmed Zong Duo down a lot.
Now he was in the palace, not the prince's residence, so he had to be careful about what he drank. Although he still looked a little unhappy, he did not touch the wine glass at all.
Concubine Zong heard the noise from his side and looked over. Seeing this, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "Linjiangxian is the best wine. Since Duo'er likes it, why stop him?"
Emperor Jingwen also said, "We are all family members celebrating the New Year today, so we can get drunk. How can such a huge palace be without a place to rest?"
"Thank you for your concern, uncle and aunt." Zongduo stood up and saluted.
Emperor Jingwen looked at Ning Fu again and couldn't help but jokingly said, "Afu, do you want to try this wine? I remember you are also a greedy person."
This refers to the time when she was drunk during the autumn hunt.
Ning Fu felt a little embarrassed and said, "After returning home, my mother scolded me. After that, I decided not to drink again, otherwise my mother would not forgive me."
Emperor Jingwen couldn't help laughing, and Meng Ze also laughed out loud.
Princess Jingwen asked her curiously, and Nymph told her everything about her drunkenness on the mountain.
"If I had known it was so interesting, I would have gone with them on the autumn hunt." Jingwen said. Those were the free and unrestrained days she longed for.
Nymph smiled but said nothing, and it was not appropriate for her to continue using the autumn hunt to seduce the princess.
After the dinner, the fireworks arrived as promised, as bright as shooting stars and as dazzling as the moonlight, making the palace appear looming and solemn, and then blooming like the ceiling, which was beautiful beyond words.
Jingwen held Ningfu's hand and walked between several princes and young masters, just to find a position where their view was not blocked.
But the gentlemen were not prepared for such a reckless rush, and Nymph didn't know who she bumped into in the chest, and the pain made her see stars.
"Is the young master hurt?" Ning Fu couldn't take care of herself at the moment, for fear of offending the nobleman.
Zong Si looked down at her and gave her a fake hand. However, from this angle, the delicate hairpin on her head just caught his eye. He looked away and said in a calm and distant tone, "Fourth Miss, watch the road."
Ning Fu paused, then felt relieved. It was Zong Si, which was better than the princes of Emperor Jingwen.
"I walked too fast." Jingwen spoke for her, "Cousin, don't blame her."
Zong Si didn't look at Ning Fu, and said to Jingwen: "Can the position be taken away by others? Just take your time."
"My cousin is right." Jingwen said to Ningfu, "Let's go."
Ning Fu stopped, bowed politely to Zong Si, and then followed Jingwen to the front row of the river bank.
Zong Ning and Xie Ruyi are also here.
Ever since her brother said that, Zong Ning felt a little embarrassed when she saw Ning Fu. However, Ning Fu smiled at her kindly and didn't have the slightest intention of getting angry with her.
"Sister Ning." Zong Ning also greeted her, but her tone was inevitably a little stiff.
After this sentence, no one else said anything. Everyone started to enjoy the fireworks, immersed in it.
Zongduo didn't pay any attention to the fireworks, he just looked at the beautiful figure of Nymph in front of him.
If he had such a wife, he would be willing to give all his salary to her to buy clothes. As a man, he did not have much need to spend money!
Ning Fu glanced back inadvertently, and saw the Fourth Prince looking at Xie Ruyi with eyes as gentle as water.
It turns out that the Fourth Prince Meng Che has liked Xie Ruyi for so long. No wonder he and her were in harmony and loving with each other after marrying her in his previous life.
Ning Fu subconsciously looked for Zong Si. He wanted to marry Xie Ruyi in this life, but with the Fourth Prince as his rival, it might not be an easy thing. If he lost his love again, no one knew who he would marry in the end.
Zong Si glanced at her coldly and never looked at her again. Zong Duo, who was beside him, quickly looked away after seeing her and did not dare to look at her.
In fact, Zongduo was shy. Fourth Miss Ning took the initiative to look at him. He didn't know whether she had a good impression of him. Her impression of him was better than that of her third brother!
In Nymph's opinion, Zongduo is a good man. He never betrayed his wife in his previous life. He and his wife have a very good relationship and they are in harmony. He is a man who is extremely simple in emotions, which is a minority. His integrity and sense of responsibility come from his bones.
As for Zong Si, it is hard to say whether he is a good or bad person. He is loyal to Dayan, but emotionally, this is not the case.
Ningfu looked at Zongduo and recalled things from her previous life. After the New Year, Zongduo and Zong Si would both go to the north, and this time Zongduo would be ambushed and seriously injured, losing half of his little finger.
Originally, she wanted to use this incident to do Zong Si a favor, but now it seems that it might be more appropriate to do this favor to someone who is more grateful.
Ning Fu pondered for a while and decided to directly remind Zong Duo. He was more sincere than Zong Si and didn't go around in circles. He would definitely be very grateful to her. This favor might come in handy in the future.
After we part today, it may not be easy to see Zongduo again, so I must find a chance to talk to him today.
After a moment, Nymph noticed Zondor looking at her.
She smiled at him.
With this smile, it seemed as if everyone around him lost their color.
Zongduo was stunned and didn't dare to look at her anymore, his ears turned red.
Nymph had an idea in mind, and lowered her head and said to Princess Jingwen: "Princess, let's go play with fireworks."
Jingwen said with some embarrassment: "A few years ago, my brother and I played with fireworks and almost burned down the Jingyang Palace. I didn't dare to play anymore, and my father also didn't allow me to play."
"Why don't we just find someone to take us out to play?" Nymph suggested.
Jingwen thought about it and looked at Zongduo. The one who had played with her the most since she was a child was her wildest second cousin. Everyone else told her not to touch dangerous things, but only her second cousin took her to play without saying a word.
When Zongduo heard Jingwen approach him and propose to set off fireworks, he looked at Nymph who was waiting waiting not far away, and he couldn't say no.
Miss Ning Si should also want to play.
"Go to Jingyang Palace and wait for me." Zong Duo said. This is the bedroom of Concubine Zong.
Jingwen took Ningfu and left first.
After a while, Zong Duo went to consult Concubine Zong about the matter.
"Jingwen hasn't relaxed for a long time. It's a good idea for you to take them out to play." Concubine Zong didn't want to spoil her daughter's fun during the New Year.
If Meng Ze accompanied Jingwen in making trouble, the Queen might find fault with him, but if it was Zongduo, the Queen had no intention of offending Prince Xuan's Mansion to death.
After getting the OK, Zongduo went to Jingyang Palace.
In Jingyang Palace, Ningfu and Jingwen had been waiting for him for a while.
As soon as she came back, Jingwen asked her maid to find the new fireworks that had just been delivered to the palace this year, and Zongduo lit one for each of them.
Ningfu hasn't played with this thing for many years, so it was a bit novel for a while.
"Fourth Miss, have you never played before?" Zongduo looked at her face lit up by fireworks, which was flawless.
Nymph said, "I haven't played it for many years."
These words sounded pitiful and made people feel sorry for her, so Zongduo lit another one for her.
"You guys play, I'll go in and warm myself by the fire." Jingwen played one and didn't want to play anymore. She felt cold and went back to the house first.
"I heard that the second young master will go to the north after the new year?" Nymph asked casually.
Zongduo said, "I will be responsible for transporting military pay and food. We will set out after the fifth day of the first lunar month. It will take two months to go back and forth."
Ning Fu lowered her eyes and said, "A few days ago, I had a dream. I dreamed that the Second Young Master was ambushed by the Hu people while transporting food and grass, and was seriously injured. The Second Young Master must pay attention to safety on this trip."
Although Zongduo was relatively inexperienced when it came to matters between men and women, he could tell that Fourth Miss Ning was worried about him!
And today, he asked Jingwen to take her to set off fireworks, probably also to tell her about this.
For a moment, Zongduo thought she was gentle and kind, and it was just a dream, but she still tried to remind him.
How could she be the restless queen that my third brother described her as!
In the past, Zongduo would have just sneered at the reminder. Was he afraid of the barbarians? Even if he was injured, so what? A man defending his country would have wounds all over his body.
But facing Nymph, his heart was soft and a little embarrassed, and he promised her seriously: "Thank you for the reminder, Fourth Miss. I will definitely take extra precautions and come back safely."
Ning Fu thought for a moment and then said, "When the Second Young Master is on guard, can you please not tell the Crown Prince about this? The Crown Prince doesn't have a good impression of me, and I'm afraid he will mistakenly think that I have some ulterior motives."
Zongduo could not help but frown. Even he felt that his third brother's attitude towards Nymph was too ruthless. Thinking about a female monarch like this was because his third brother was narrow-minded. He said, "I will not tell him anything I said to the fourth lady."
Ningfu did not stay in Jingyang Palace for long. It was getting late and it was time for her to return home.
The palace maid led her to the palace where the carriage stopped, but the place where they stopped was not her own carriage.
"The prince is waiting for you." The maid explained with lowered eyebrows.
Ning Fu frowned, wondering what Zong Si wanted to talk to her about. This was in the palace, if they were found to be involved in private, it would not be a small matter.
But after thinking it over again and again, he lifted the curtain and got into the carriage.
This was the first time in her life that she rode in Zong Si's carriage. As soon as she got on, she smelled a faint scent of ink.
Zong Si sat there with his eyes closed, resting. He looked a bit cold and unapproachable. He opened his eyes only when he heard the noise.
His face was so handsome that one could never get tired of looking at it. However, she would never be able to enjoy it in this life.
"Your Highness is a little too bold," said Ning Fu.
Zong Si said calmly, "If you don't want to be favored by Meng Ze, keep some distance from him in the future. You won't get any benefit from him."
Looking at this couple's attitude of calling Meng Ze by his name, I'm afraid that behind the scenes, Meng Ze also wants more from him.
"The Sixth Prince probably doesn't know that this is how the Crown Prince views him behind his back," said Ning Fu.
Zong Si glanced at her and said in a calm voice, "Does the fourth lady still want to be the sixth imperial concubine?"
Ning Fu lowered her eyes and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "I am only looking for a miracle doctor for the prince, but you don't need to worry about my personal affairs."
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