Chapter 151 Miss Xiyan, please stay for a moment
Before Xiyan could say anything, Su Wan, who was sitting next to Helian Feng, suddenly spoke:
"Miss Xiyan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said you are well-versed in poetry and literature. If that's the case, the six of us have already composed six lines. How about you compose two lines next, making a neat poem of seven words and eight lines, with the last word tying closely to the word 'flower'?"
Fu Yunqing snorted softly, and snapped the folding fan shut in his palm. A mischievous smile flashed across his peach blossom eyes, and he secretly resented in his heart:
Everyone says that the daughter of the Su family is as gentle as water, but when she gets jealous, it comes faster than a June rainstorm. She really can't tolerate others being even slightly attracted by her.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were on Xiyan.
She looked up at the lotus flowers floating on the lake, which looked like plain colored glass in the sunlight. A few egrets were flying around. After a moment's silence, she spoke softly:
"Then it should be in accordance with the current scene, and end with 'The green canopy, the red dress, the fragrance filling the sleeves, startled egrets flying over the lotus flowers'."
When the poem was finished, there was a deathly silence in the pleasure boat. Then, Helian Feng clapped his hands and laughed:
"What a wonderful scene of startled egrets flying over lotus flowers! It is both appropriate to the scene and rhymes well. The last word of the poem ends with the word for flower, which is truly wonderful!"
Xie Zhan looked at the girl's downcast brows. The sunlight cast a golden glow on her beautiful profile. The wine in the glass rippled with his trembling fingertips. In a trance, the scene from the depths of his memory suddenly surged forward.
More than ten years ago in the summer, his mother, Queen Nanzhao Jiang Qingyue, dressed in a moon-white gauze dress, was holding hands and laughing with his father as they sailed on the clear water.
The queen mother at that time had a gentle look in her eyes and eyebrows, and the smile that overflowed from her lips and teeth when she recited the poem gradually overlapped with the girl in front of her.
He suddenly put down the cup, and his voice unconsciously rose:
"Miss Xiyan, where are you from? How old are you?"
Xiyan was startled by Xie Zhan's sudden question, but she still bowed slightly and answered politely:
"Reporting to Your Highness, I have reached the age of marriage and my hometown is... Nanzhao."
"What, you are from Nanzhao?"
Xie Zhan stood up suddenly, and his brocade robe swept the jade cup off the table.
He stared at the girl's face, his ears buzzing with the sound of Nan Zhao? Jigui?
The similar face, the same expression, and the same age, this coincidence was so shocking that it almost made him breathless.
But, this...how is it possible?
My sister was thrown into the Black Water Lake by the Empress Dowager’s people less than a day after she was born. How could she have survived?
Is there really someone in the world who looks so similar to my mother?
Everyone in the boat looked at each other, and Xiao Nanyan paused slightly in turning the ring.
Helian Feng, however, hesitated for a moment and asked with a smile:
"Second Prince, do you know Miss Xiyan?"
Xie Zhan took a deep breath, his Adam's apple rolling as he swallowed the raging blood.
He sat down again, his expression gradually returning to calm.
"Your Highness, you have misunderstood! She bears some resemblance to an old friend of mine, but their ages are definitely not right."
Helian Feng raised his eyebrows and chuckled:
"I see."
With Xie Zhan's light-hearted explanation, the tense atmosphere in the boat suddenly relaxed.
The sounds of stringed instruments began to flow again, and the sounds of people chatting and laughing as they clinked glasses gradually filled the wooden side.
Helian Feng smiled as he poured wine for Xiao Nanyue and Xie Zhan. Fu Yunqing waved his folding fan and wanted to challenge Chu Jin to a drinking contest, but Chu Jin rolled his eyes and avoided him. Feeling embarrassed, he started a conversation with Xie Zhan.
Xie Zhan was still brooding over Fu Yunqing's plot against him and ignored him. Fortunately, Fu Yunqing was thick-skinned and tried to make small talk. He said ten sentences and Xie Zhan reluctantly replied with one.
The pleasure boat crushed the rippling waves and slowly moved to the depths of the lake.
The green leaves of water plants and the scattered lotus flowers are intertwined, and the cool lotus fragrance is mixed with the water vapor and diffused into the cabin with the warm wind.
Helian Shu suddenly leaned forward on tiptoe, her wide silk sleeves hanging down like flowing clouds, her fingertips pointing outward:
"Look, don't the scales of that red carp look like broken gold?"
The coral string on her wrist jingled, startling the koi fish so much that they swung their tails and dived under the lotus leaves, and attracted several small silver fish to chase after them, causing ripples that made people feel itchy.
"Wan'er, the men are drinking so enthusiastically, why should we interrupt? Come on, let's go to the stern to watch the fish!"
After Helian Shu finished speaking, she took Wan'er's wrist, turned around and left.
However, after walking a few steps, she seemed to remember something and came back to Xiao Nanyan's side. She glanced at Xiyan beside him and smiled:
"Brother Yan, I like your beautiful maid. Let's have her accompany us to enjoy the fish. It would be fun for us women to recite poems, admire the flowers and feed the fish."
Xiao Nanyan narrowed his eyes slightly, but the smile on his lips did not reach his eyes:
"Since the princess likes it, Yanyan, then you can go. However, don't be too greedy to look at the lake view and ruin the princess's interest."
Xiyan's red lips trembled slightly. Hearing the meaning behind Xiao Nanyan's words, she responded softly and silently took note of his implicit reminder.
Just as she turned around and was about to leave, she heard the Crown Prince Helian Feng calling her from behind:
"Miss Xiyan, please stay for a moment. I suddenly remembered that I have prepared a gift for you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
