She walked into the garden with a puzzled look in her eyes, and when she looked up, she saw Chen Jie, dressed in a blue and white robe, standing tall and handsome like a jade-faced gentleman under the yellowed sycamore tree, looking in her direction.
In her hand, she held that familiar handkerchief.
Upon seeing her, Chen Jie seemed momentarily at a loss, his eyes sparkling as he gave a shy smile.
"Your Highness Prince Linzhi, what brings you here?"
Chen Jie covered his mouth and coughed lightly, "Oh, it's because Yan Ling insisted on coming to see Miss Jiang. I thought Miss You had also entered the palace, so I came along."
Thanks to Miss You for reminding me that day, I didn't lose this handkerchief that holds extraordinary significance for me. Thank you.
Um...Miss You, is your first time entering the palace? Are you getting used to it?
As she spoke, she shook the handkerchief out and spread it out, as if deliberately waving it in front of Chu Yuan.
Chu Yuan, of course, did not know that this was actually the result of Shen Jie's struggle for several days. He had a feeling that the handkerchief girl might be Chu Yuan, and even thought: even if it wasn't her, what if she had seen her before?
With this in mind, he deliberately stood in front of Chu Yuan.
She was too embarrassed to look Chu Yuan in the eye, yet she couldn't help herself, so she was somewhat shy and comical, trying to hide her feelings.
Chu Yuan, on the contrary, seemed quite composed. "The palace is very nice. Apart from a few more rules, the Imperial Household Department has arranged everything very thoughtfully."
"That's good then." Shen Jie was clumsy with words and innocent, his mind filled with a thousand thoughts, but he didn't know how to express them.
Chu Yuan glanced at him and took the initiative to ask, "The Prince of Linzhi just said that this handkerchief is very important to you, so I'm just asking why?"
As soon as she said that, she suddenly felt that Shen Jie's handsome shoulders slumped down.
Chen Jie sighed inwardly: Since she asked that question, it can't be, right?
What a pity.
He immediately wilted like a frostbitten eggplant: "This handkerchief... was given to me by an old friend whose voice I've only heard but never seen. But it's useless now. I still haven't found out who this old friend is, and I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to meet her again and exchange a few words with her."
Chu Yuan smiled faintly, "You Yue, you might boldly guess that this old friend is a woman?"
Chen Jie was slightly embarrassed. "...Yes."
Chu Yuan, who understood the key point, felt a little sorry for her ex-husband's aimless unrequited love. She wondered if she should be a good person and reveal Jiang Xuehui's name. Just then, Yan Ling and Jiang Xuening finished talking and ran over, patting Chen Jie on the shoulder, "Alright, let's go."
His gaze swept across Chu Yuan's face. He hadn't intended to say anything, but couldn't help asking, "Miss You, is the zither alright?"
Chen Jie's eyes widened. "A zither? What zither?"
Yan Ling explained somewhat awkwardly, "Well... that day when I took Ning Ning to buy a zither, we happened to run into Miss You there, so I bought an extra one. You know how high Mr. Xie's standards are for his students; not everyone is like Xue Shu, with superb zither skills that can withstand the test of time!"
Chu Yuan thought to herself: You knew my piano skills weren't good?
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie's mind went blank for a moment, and he thought to himself, "How could I be so stupid! All I ever thought of was handkerchiefs!"
Even Yan Ling, an outsider, knew to give gifts, yet he didn't offer any thanks. How pale his words of gratitude seemed.
"So, Miss You, do you find the zither Brother Yan gave you suitable? If not, I, Chen, can..."
Chu Yuan smiled and subtly interrupted him, "You Yue practices the zither at home every day. She's used to the same ordinary seven-stringed zither that she's been playing since she started learning the zither on her own. She wouldn't be comfortable with other ones, so she doesn't want to waste it."
Just kidding, if we play again, what choice will she have to make?
It was clear that Chen Jie was very disappointed, but it was getting late and time for dinner. Chu Yuan took her leave and did not stay any longer. According to the rules of the palace, if she missed the designated time, she would go hungry all night!
Compared to looking at handsome men, filling my stomach is definitely more important.
The food in the palace was just so-so, it looked nice but didn't taste good. Even the foodie Zhou Baoying was quite disgusted with it, and she survived each day on the snacks she brought into the palace. "Waaah, I want to go home so much, my braised pork hock, braised pig's trotters, Sichuan peppercorn chicken..."
Fang Miao mocked her, "All you know is eating, you don't care about anything else. I've heard that something big happened in the Ministry of Justice recently."
"What's wrong?" Zhou Baoying asked instinctively.
Fang Miao said, "They say he was just a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Justice who didn't know how to handle things, a mere seventh-rank official, yet he dared to challenge the Xingwu Guard. Well, the Emperor has dealt with him..."
Before she could finish speaking, Yao Xi, who was sitting next to the table, suddenly threw her hands down in anger and started sobbing.
Fang Miao and Zhou Baoying exchanged a glance, and Zhou Baoying asked in a cute, childlike voice, "Sister Yao Xi, why are you crying for no reason?"
"I...I..." Yao Xiyu said, her voice trembling with sobs, as if she couldn't bring herself to speak.
Xue Shu, who had a very good relationship with her, did not say anything upon seeing this, but focused on watching the commotion.
Finally, under Zhou Baoying and Fang Miao's persistent questioning, Yao Xi tearfully said, "It's this Zhang Zhe, the censor of the Ministry of Justice you're talking about. He didn't come from a proper imperial examination background; he was just a commoner who passed the civil service exam and only became a minor official of the seventh rank. His family was so poor that they couldn't even afford servants, and he only had a widowed mother. But my father insisted that he had great talent and wanted me to get engaged to him. Now that he's in this state, I can't marry him or not. I'm so frustrated!"
"Huh? This doesn't match at all. Has the betrothal gift been changed?"
Mentioning the betrothal gifts, Yao Xi became even more indignant. "It's precisely because they've been changed that I'm so distressed. My father is a high-ranking official of the first rank in the imperial court, yet I have to marry a lowly seventh-rank official. What's more, he's been punished now, and it's uncertain whether he can continue to be an official in the future. Why is my life so miserable!"
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