Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. It was already somewhat unexpected that Guo Xun accompanied Xu Lingzi back to her residence. However, it was the Crown Prince who brought his Crown Princess back to the residence that caused quite a stir in the capital.
After a brief reminiscing, they went to pay their respects to Madam Xu, and the young men followed the Duke of Rong to the front courtyard.
Although Xu Lingyu was leaving the palace today, she was wearing a bright yellow robe beneath her cloak, a robe reserved for the Crown Prince. Her hair was styled in a high bun, with small strands of hair coiled on either side of her forehead. Her pure gold seven-tailed phoenix crown was only one rank lower than the nine-tailed crown worn by the Empress.
The gold hairpins on both sides of her hair bun were quite heavy, her ten fingers were delicate, and she held the Crown Prince, who was already crawling all over the place, in her arms. He could only babble incoherently.
Xu Lingzi sat to Li Shiyue’s side, her hair styled in a woman’s lily bun. Her long hair was divided into vertical sections on her head, and the ends were carefully combed and hidden. In the center of her head was a small crown with a gold butterfly and inlaid with rubies, and on both sides were a bunch of pearl hairpins inserted diagonally.
The stray hairs on her forehead were combed up with hair oil, braided into small plaits, and secured with pearl hairpins inserted backwards.
The small crown is adorned with four pearl hair clips on each side, and the hair styling on the crown flows around the cheeks and rests on the shoulders.
Her face was rosy. Seeing that Madam Xu and Madam Yang's attention was on the Crown Prince, she gently nudged Li Shiyue with her shoulder.
“This outfit suits you very well; it doesn’t look like something your mother would have chosen.”
Her voice was soft; she deliberately lowered it so that only Li Shiyue could hear it.
Before Li Shiyue could speak, she winked playfully with her left eye: "Don't say I didn't think of you. The things were sent to Chengyu Pavilion a long time ago to add to your dowry."
"That's too early, there are still some days to go."
Li Shiyue was somewhat surprised and her curiosity was piqued. She wanted to go back to Chengyu Pavilion to see what interesting things were there. Anything that Xu Lingzi had taken a liking to must be very precious.
"I won't tell you now. You'll have to see for yourself when we get back. I was originally planning to give it to you on your wedding day, but this thing is more useful now than then. Anyway, it's going to be given to you sooner or later."
She glanced at Madam Xu and the others, and seeing that no one was paying attention, she tugged at Li Shiyue's sleeve, looking puzzled: "What's going on between you and Yang Hui? Why did she come to me and say that there are some things she can't tell you directly, and she wants to tell you through me?"
"Yang Hui? The young lady from the Yang family of the Duke of Chengen's mansion?"
Li Shiyue was a little unsure. Seeing Xu Lingzi nod, she turned her head to look at Old Madam Xu and the others. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she turned back and spoke softly.
“I visited the Duke of Chengen’s mansion once with my aunt before. She had some misunderstandings about me, and I haven’t seen her since then.”
What is she trying to say through Xu Lingzi? Could it be that she's seeking revenge for her sister Fu?
"She said she was sorry for misunderstanding you and was afraid you wouldn't want to see her. She heard from her brother that you and I are close. A few days ago, she went to the Guo family to find me and said a lot of things, meaning she wanted to apologize to you."
"I was afraid you wouldn't want to see her, so I came to plead with you to invite you out for tea, and then she'll apologize to you properly."
After Xu Lingzi finished speaking, she looked at her with a puzzled expression. On the one hand, she was curious about what Yang Hui had done, and on the other hand, it was only natural for her to want to understand things more clearly when they came to a situation.
"What are you two whispering about? Come over here and take a look at the little prince."
When Madam Xu's voice came, the two exchanged a glance and had no choice but to stop talking, deciding to discuss this at another time.
However, Yang Hui seemed to be serious. On the Lantern Festival, they went out of the mansion together. In fact, the festival in the capital was lively, but it was about the same every year. Li Shiyue no longer had the enthusiasm of the previous two years.
So the group found a teahouse and enjoyed hot tea by the charcoal fire, which was much better than being outside in the cold wind and crowded with people.
"So you misunderstood Yan Yan? You listened to your sister Fu's lies?"
Xu Lingzi put down her teacup, somewhat surprised that it was such a misunderstanding. She was also curious about who this Sister Fu was, and why Yang Hui trusted her so much.
Suddenly she glanced at Li Shiyue and saw that her gaze was calm. Suddenly she had a guess. Thinking of the imperial decree before the New Year, she tentatively asked, "This Sister Fu, could she be Fu Yunning?"
"Yes, I thought she was a kind and innocent person. I felt sorry for what she went through at the Marquis of Changping's mansion. Who would have thought that I trusted her so much, but she lied to me and deceived me."
Yang Hui bit her lip, glanced at Li Shiyue, and lowered her head in shame and indignation: "She is so bad. I was so good to her, and she still said those things to deceive me. I actually had the audacity to say them to the county princess. Luckily, the county princess did not believe me."
"Just call me by my nickname Yan Yan. Calling me County Princess is too formal." Li Shiyue smiled slightly, clearly seeing Yang Hui's childish behavior, and couldn't help but pinch her still round cheeks.
Her delicate and smooth skin, especially when Yang Hui looked up with a furrowed brow and an apologetic expression, actually won the hearts of the women present.
"It's good to admit your mistakes and correct them. There's nothing wrong with treating people sincerely. It just shows that you are a kind-hearted person." Qin Wanyin smiled, her smile melting hearts.
"Come on, she's so stupid. I told her long ago that Fu Yunning is no ordinary person, but she wouldn't listen and even scolded me. Now look what happened, she got what she deserved."
Yang Ke stood on tiptoe, leaning back in his chair like a big shot, and let out a sneer through his nose.
He grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, looking smug: "It's only because of me, otherwise my second brother wouldn't have been able to gather such complete evidence against Fu Yunning this time."
"Evidence?" Li Shiyue looked puzzled. Wasn't it said that Chang Shun had initially captured Fu Yunning's maid? What was there that they didn't know?
Yang Ke sat up abruptly, so angry that he stopped eating his sunflower seeds. Seeing this, everyone looked over.
"More than that, the Earl of Changping is simply inhuman! He actually embezzled the imperial funds. When the suburbs of the capital were flooded before, it was because the Earl of Changping embezzled the most and used some scraps. Otherwise, my second brother and I would have almost been swept away by the flood and almost lost our lives."
After he finished speaking, Li Shiyue looked at Xu Yunci, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly: "You almost lost your lives? What do you mean? Did my cousin also almost get swept away by the flood? Was he injured?"
Yang Ke plopped back down and looked at Guo Xun beside Xu Lingzi, only to be met with evasive glances.
He turned his neck stiffly and met Xu Yunci's deep gaze. Oh no, he seemed to have said something he shouldn't have.
Li Shiyue, however, seemed determined to see through Xu Yunci's words, staring intently at his face. Finally, Xu Yunci nodded, his tone softening: "He's exaggerating. I was just standing on the shore, my clothes got wet from the flood, it wasn't that serious."
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