There are eight princes in Linqi State. All of them have grown up, and the youngest is already ten years old. So even though the emperor is still in his prime, the fighting in secret has been going on.
The most competitive among them are the third prince who is favored by the emperor and the fifth prince who has a powerful maternal family and is both virtuous and talented.
The second is the crown prince born by the queen, but his character is too stubborn and self-righteous, which does not catch the eyes of the third prince, nor is he favored by many people.
Shi Wuqing’s current “mission” is to attract the attention of the fifth prince, and ideally, to make him fall in love with her.
On this day, the third prince held a banquet to entertain the fifth prince who had handled a major case. There was singing and dancing at the banquet, and Shi Wuqing was arranged to perform a dance.
"When you pretend to fall later, make sure it's real, otherwise the Fifth Prince will notice. Got it?"
Before going on stage, Shi Wuqing was repeatedly warned and even threatened:
"If you don't do well, the Fifth Prince will have no feelings for you at all, and that woman named Yang Xian will be dead!"
"Yes." Shi Wuqing was wearing a crimson dance costume and was barefoot. Her shoulders and slender waist were exposed. Her fingers were red from the cold, and she looked both beautiful and pitiful.
If it weren't for the numerous injuries on her arms, the dance costume would have been even more revealing.
The person in charge stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled strangely: "Well, I guess even if you do nothing, you can still make the Fifth Prince fall in love with you."
"..." Shi Wuqing has heard too many words like this in recent months. Her mentality has changed from the initial speechless "Are you too confident in me?" to the current "Yeah, right, right, right".
The sound of the piano rang out, and the dancers entered one by one, with Shi Wuqing walking at the end.
After entering the hall, she glanced up quietly. The Third Prince was sitting in the main seat, talking and laughing, with a pleasant expression, without any ambition or aggressiveness as he had that day.
Not far away, there was another person sitting. He was wearing a white fox fur coat, and he looked elegant and gentle like jade.
Of course, Shi Wuqing had already learned from the third prince how scheming this seemingly gentle and elegant man was.
"Fifth brother is a very busy man now. The emperor has invited you many times, but only once." The third prince said with a smile as if joking, his tone very relaxed, without any blame: "Then you have to drink a few more glasses today?"
The Fifth Prince raised his glass and smiled slightly. "I've been so busy with official duties lately that I couldn't get away, so I declined several times. I hope Third Prince won't blame me. I'll drink a few glasses as punishment."
After saying that, he drank the glass of wine without any precautions, not seeming to worry about being poisoned at all.
If it were someone else, the Third Prince would think it was stupid, but when it came to the Fifth Prince, it was proof that he had planned everything out and knew that he would not take action while drunk!
The third prince's eyes darkened for a moment, but he still smiled. "Haha, fifth brother is working for father, how could I blame him! But, we still have to drink! It's been a long time since we brothers have been together!"
The Fifth Prince casually glanced at the dancer who had just begun to dance, and raised his glass: "I will certainly accompany you to your utmost pleasure."
There was charcoal fire burning and candlelight in the hall, singing and dancing were in full swing, and two people with their own thoughts pretended to be harmonious and friendly, and were having a great time.
Until a clear bell rang.
The fifth prince glanced over indifferently and saw a girl in red clothes walking out from behind the dancers.
The girl has black hair and fair skin, a slender figure, and a waist that is so slender that it can be held in one hand. She has a string of bells tied around her ankles, and when she dances, the bells tinkle.
"This dancer is quite pretty."
The fifth prince heard the third prince say this.
He glanced at the Third Prince out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was staring at the girl in red clothes, with undisguised amazement and desire in his eyes.
The fifth prince smiled gently: "If my royal brother likes it, just ask someone to come and serve you."
The third prince's expression froze.
He didn't expect that Rong Lan would remain unmoved when seeing such a stunning beauty!
He was even asked to call someone to serve him!
At this moment, the Third Prince suddenly became unsure whether his plan could succeed.
Song Qingqing was indeed a rare beauty in the world, but Rong Lan was born strange. He had never seen him touch a woman in all these years...
The Third Prince didn't dare to pause for too long, as that would definitely allow Rong Lan to see the flaw.
So he quickly responded, "Fifth brother is right."
Then he pretended to be mesmerized by the dance and said nothing more.
The fifth prince didn't say anything else.
The two of them watched the dance quietly.
Shi Wuqing danced to the rhythm and soon reached the place where she had practiced "falling" many times before.
However, just as she was about to "lose her balance and fall", her legs suddenly went weak and she fell to the ground uncontrollably!
"?" She was extremely confused, but her long-standing conditioned reflex made her put on the "painful" expression she had been taught to wear immediately after she fell.
Shi Wuqing was the main dancer of this dance. When she fell, the other dancers became a mess. Finally, they stopped and knelt on the ground in a panic.
"Your Highness, spare my life!"
"Your Highness, spare my life!"
The dancers begged for mercy in panic.
They had no idea about Shi Wuqing's plan to fake a fall, so their fear at this moment was real.
Shi Wuqing felt no pain, and she was going to die soon, so although she didn't know what was happening to her body, she didn't care much and immediately begged for mercy:
"Your Highness, spare my life!"
"He can't even dance properly! He's disturbing the mood of the two princes! Hurry up and drag him out!" The person in front of the third prince shouted angrily.
"yes."
A guard immediately came forward.
Shi Wuqing trembled: "Your Highness, I didn't mean it! I don't know what happened, I suddenly lost my strength..."
"Shut up! Get him out of here!"
The guards lifted Shi Wuqing up and were about to take her away. Although no one mentioned what the punishment would be for taking her away, everyone knew that she would not escape death.
"Wait." The fifth prince suddenly spoke.
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