Chen Qiu and Ye Chen went to the place where lantern riddles were guessed. The emperor and empress sat on the side, watching the ladies of each family guess the lantern riddles.
Seeing Ye Chen and Shen Qiu coming over, the emperor waved to Ye Chen. Ye Chen and Shen Qiu walked up to the emperor and bowed. The emperor asked: "How is it? What do you like?"
Ye Chen said: "I think the only one here that matches Qiu'er is the purple jade hairpin. I plan to let Qiu'er guess that one!"
The emperor laughed and said, "Hey, you're quite boastful! The prizes here are all top-quality goods. That purple jade was tribute from the Southern Kingdom last year. There are only two of them in the world! Are you so confident you can get it?"
Ye Chen snorted and said, "Whether we can get it or not, we will know when the time comes."
The emperor said loudly: "Everyone, our young duke wants to guess our finale. Is there anyone who wants to join in? Whoever guesses correctly gets the prize. Inside is a purple jade hairpin sent as tribute by the Ye Nan Kingdom!"
The ladies were all eager to try it out. They had only heard of the purple jade hairpin but had never seen it. Since it was a tribute, it must be of good quality. Soon, ten people came to compete with Ye Chen for the purple jade hairpin.
Ye Chen smiled at the emperor. The emperor waved his hand, and the old man beside him shouted in a shrill voice: "The riddle is: From afar, the mountains are colorful; from close, the water is silent; spring is gone, the flowers remain; people come, but the birds are not startled. Guess what!"
Ye Chen looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, are you sure this is the only puzzle?"
The emperor smiled and said, "Of course, you guessed it right. The purple jade hairpin is yours."
Ye Chen smiled and said: "Okay"
Then he looked at the old man and said, "Eunuch Gao, give me the purple jade hairpin. The answer to the riddle is a painting."
The emperor burst into laughter and said, "You are indeed my nephew. This purple jade should be yours!"
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Eunuch Gao took off the purple jade hairpin and handed it to Ye Chen respectfully.
Ye Chen turned around and inserted the hair into Chen Qiu's hair.
At this time, a voice rang out: "Madam Guogong is so lucky. You don't have to do anything. The Duke of Guo will give you everything."
Everyone looked and saw that it was Princess An Ning, who had already changed back into her palace attire. She was already stunningly beautiful, and now, in her gorgeous attire, she looked even more graceful and elegant.
Ye Chen's brows furrowed in an instant. Was it her? This woman was still pestering him. In his previous life, if she hadn't told Qiu'er that he was in danger, Qiu'er wouldn't have appeared there, let alone died.
Thinking of this, Ye Chen turned his head without bowing, sneered and said: "My lady is a little too lenient. If my wife wants something, I will pick it for her even if it is the bright moon in the sky."
Princess An Ning looked at Ye Chen, then looked at Chen Qiu and said, "Cousin is so good to you, what are you capable of? What can you do for your cousin?"
Chen Qiu was stunned by An Ning's question. It wasn't anything else, but she wondered why this princess and that imperial concubine were the same? Why did they both like to meddle in other people's affairs?
Ye Chen was about to say something when Shen Qiu grabbed Ye Chen's hand, smiled at him, and gave him a reassuring smile.
Then she turned to An Ning and smiled, "Your Highness, I am here to greet you. I am useless, but you just said I am blessed. So I don't need to be talented. I just want to stay by your side peacefully. I think your Highness is happy to let me rely on him like this. I just need to rely on his favor and have everything I want."
Then he turned to look at Ye Chen and said, "My husband, am I right?"
Ye Chen looked at Chen Qiu who was becoming more and more naughty, his eyes full of smiles. He stretched out his hand to pinch Chen Qiu's face and said, "Qiu'er is right."
An Ning could clearly see the doting in Ye Chen's eyes, and his heart felt like it was cut by a sharp knife, causing a dull pain.
Then, without even saying hello to the emperor and empress, he just snorted, flicked his clothes and left.
The emperor was so angry that his nose was spitting out gas. The queen held out her hand to calm the emperor. The emperor pointed in the direction An Ning was walking and said, "Look at her. She's already come of age. What has she learned from following Lu? She's arrogant and domineering, but she's still down and out."
The Queen said, "An Ning isn't inherently bad, she just needs guidance. As a princess, it's only natural for her to be a little proud. Don't be angry. Even if you're angry, don't you still have to worry about what you should be worrying about?"
The emperor could only sigh, because the child was his own.
Ye Chen looked at An Ning's back as she left, and suddenly felt a little panicked. Could she still hurt Qiu'er in this life? When Ye Chen thought of this, a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Chen Qiu had been to the battlefield and had caught Ye Chen's murderous intent. Although it was fleeting, it was very real.
Chen Qiu pulled Ye Chen's hand and said, "Husband, it's okay. I will follow you wherever you go in the future. This way you won't worry, right?"
Ye Chen looked at Chen Qiu, then pulled Chen Qiu to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, Qiu'er and I will go back first. She can't stand the fatigue now."
The emperor nodded in understanding and raised his voice, saying, "My nephew's wife is pregnant? This is a great news. No, this is a great contribution to my Chu family. I must reward him!"
Then he looked at the Queen and said, "Queen, what do you think of the reward?"
The Queen smiled and said, "I think that hot spring villa in the suburbs of Beijing is quite good. I also have some moonlight yarns that were sent as tribute from Shu. I think it would be a good match for my nephew's wife."
Chen Qiu looked at the emperor and empress, feeling a little unbelievable. How could they do this? This was blatantly asking for it!
Those who were standing there originally guessing the riddle looked at each other. They were all smart people. Now that the emperor was like this, no one present could escape. It looked like there would be a lot of bloodshed this time.
Later, the emperor simply asked Eunuch Gao to draw up a list and asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare it and send it to Ye Mansion the next day.
Afterwards, Ye Chen took Chen Qiu and left amid the envious and resentful eyes of everyone.
On the carriage back to the Duke's Mansion, Chen Qiu asked Ye Chen: "Is it okay for the emperor to do this? Will it make us enemies?"
Ye Chen smiled and said, "No, we will have to return these things one day in a different way. This is how human relations work. Only when we give and take can we achieve balance."
"Also, this will give some people an excuse to openly send gifts to the Ye Mansion."
Chen Qiu looked at Ye Chen and always felt that Ye Chen was doing something big, but now he was reviewing his homework in the study every day and never went out. Or maybe he never reviewed his homework in the study?
Ye Chen's face darkened as he said, "Now, our most important task is to find the termites in the Ye Mansion. Otherwise, I will be unable to sleep or eat."
Someone has actually set their sights on his Qiu'er, so all plans can no longer be delayed.
That person hasn't appeared yet. In his previous life, that person was chasing his Qiu'er. If he hadn't had the Shen family's old and young to threaten Qiu'er, Qiu'er would have been abducted by him long ago.
In this life, he didn't care whether he was the Prince of Zhennan or Concubine Lu. If anyone from the Lu family dared to covet his Qiu'er, he would not let them go. The Lu family was also like this. Why did they always like other people's wives and husbands? It was really a headache!
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