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"Useless thing!" Liu Qingyue glared at the servant kneeling below, pointed at his nose and said, "You can't even figure out such a small matter?"

I don't know who started it, but these days people in Kyoto have been saying that she is only willing to be with Gu Huaizhi.

As for those young ladies from aristocratic families who had originally believed that she and Gu Huaizhi were going to get engaged, although they still flattered her on the surface, who knows what they were doing to her in private.

Didn’t father say that he loved her the most? Now I don’t know what he is still hesitating about. Things have come to this point, but he is still unwilling to ask the Emperor for an imperial decree on her.

"It is my fault that I have not done my job well. Please punish me, young lady!" The servant lowered his head and kowtowed tremblingly, as if he was afraid of being driven out of the house.

The more Liu Qingyue thought about it, the angrier she became. She picked up the teacup in her hand and smashed it directly into the servant's face.

Unfortunately, it hit the wrong spot, and the force only caused a few drops of blood to flow from the servant's forehead.

Looking at the servant who didn't even dare to wipe the blood, Liu Qingyue still seemed to feel unsatisfied. She glanced to the side, preparing to get something else.

It was not until the capable maid beside her spoke up that she slowly stopped.

The maid leaned close to her ear and smiled softly, "Miss, in my opinion, you can..."

As Liu Qingyue listened, her expression gradually brightened up: "Xiaotao, your ideas are still reliable."

*

"An Ning." The princess cast a loving gaze on the girl: "Auntie heard that your marriage with the young master of the Tan family is scheduled for next month."

That day, she brought Gu Huaizhi to the Chongde Marquis' Mansion to inquire about the marriage, and also tactfully told Madam Mu that if the Chongde Marquis' Mansion was willing, the two children could resume the engagement.

But Madam Mu had an ambiguous attitude, and even said that although the third young lady of the Marquis's Mansion was a concubine's daughter, she had a decent appearance and was no worse than Mu An Ning.

When she heard this, she naturally declined decisively. After all, even if she agreed, Gu Huaizhi would definitely not agree.

She originally thought that there was still room for things to turn around, but she didn't expect that Mu An Ning and Tan Wenhuai had even set a date for their wedding recently.

Therefore, she was really surprised when Mu An Ning suddenly visited her today. Later, she was even more surprised when she heard that the girl was looking for Gu Huaizhi.

Mu An Ning smiled and nodded, saying yes, but she felt a little confused.

She didn't know if Gu Huaizhi had seen the piece of paper with the picture of the wedding dress. If he had misunderstood and thought that she still had feelings for him, then she would have no way to explain herself.

Baoqin, who was standing behind Mu An Ning, kept stretching his neck to look outside the door, and it was obvious that he was not in a good mood either.

Just now in the carriage, the lady explained to her what was drawn on the paper she had asked her to pass on.

This matter was really her fault, after all, she was the one who told the young lady firmly that those gifts were sent by Mr. Tan. She never thought that it was the work of the prince.

Luo sighed in her heart. This time she really couldn't help her son who didn't know how to cherish the person in front of him.

"I heard that you recently opened Jishitang in Su Mansion and helped." Luo suddenly remembered something and looked concerned: "If you have any difficulties, please tell your aunt."

When the child was still engaged to Ah Huai, he was never as deliberately distant towards her as he is now, and he would even act coquettishly sometimes.

Now, although Mu An Ning is still as considerate as before and knows that she has back pain, he often prepares plasters for her and sends them to the Anqing Palace without saying a word, but things can never go back to the way they were before.

Mu An Ning was startled, and then thought for a while, Luo must have heard about the murder in Jishitang.

She thought about it seriously for a while, then shook her head and smiled: "An Ning won't have any problems, don't worry, Princess."

She believed that the government would give her and the Jishitang justice.

But if the situation really becomes irreversible, she will bear the consequences alone.

She didn't want to embarrass Sister Su and Doctor Lu, and naturally didn't want to drag down the Anqing Palace.

The girl didn't know that in Luo's eyes, her tone was just pretending to be strong.

Luo couldn't help showing pity, but she didn't ask any more questions. After all, she found out that her son had also been busy with this matter in recent days.

At this moment, the servant bowed his head and reported, interrupting the conversation between the two people: "Princess, the prince is coming to the front hall."

Hearing this, Luo stood up slowly and said, "An Ning, you two can have a good chat." She smiled and suggested, "Why don't you stay for dinner later?"

The girl who had already stood up and was about to send Luo off thought for a moment, then smiled and declined, "Actually, I have some things to do at home today. I really have something important to discuss with the prince, otherwise An Ning would never have come to visit me."

Luo treated her like her own daughter, so of course she wanted to have another meal with Luo as they did before.

After all, in the Marquis's Mansion, no one would pick food for her, and no one would tell her not to starve herself.

But...it's still not right.

"Then it's up to you." Luo understood the girl's concern, so she smiled and said, "Come and see your aunt another day."

Mu An Ning agreed with a smile, but a trace of melancholy arose in her heart.

She will be getting married in less than a month, and she may have no reason to visit the palace anymore.

Suddenly a scarlet figure appeared outside, so Luo had to stop talking, said hello to Mu An Ning, and went out.

But when Gu Huaizhi greeted her, Luo couldn't help but glare at her son.

She thought to herself, since her son was not ambitious enough to keep his daughter-in-law, why not just adopt Mu An Ning as her goddaughter?

The more Luo thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to her. She walked with such a brisk pace that she didn't even seem like a woman in her forties.

Gu Huaizhi was glared at for no reason, and his forehead twitched, a little confused.

How come he could see something like...disappointment in A-niang's eyes?

impossible.

He must have seen it wrong.

Gu Huaizhi came back to his senses in an instant, his eyes fell on the girl standing there quietly.

Today she was wearing a brocade skirt with a pattern of butterflies and a hundred flowers, and there was only a hairpin on her head.

It's a bit plain, but very pretty.

Seeing that Mu An Ning was also looking at him, Gu Huaizhi couldn't help but quicken his pace and walked to the girl's side.

"Aning, are you looking for me?" Gu Huaizhi coughed uncomfortably.

Originally, he planned to find another opportunity to meet her in two days.

I didn't expect it to rain so heavily outside today. It just stopped, but Mu An Ning was so impatient.

It seems that the power of pleasing others is indeed quite significant.

She must have loved the gifts he prepared very much, which was why she took the initiative to come to the palace to find him.

Seeing that Gu Huaizhi finally came, Mu Anning slowly sat back in her chair, and the young man sat next to her.

Mu An Ning did not hesitate too much, but asked directly: "Sir, was the box I received today delivered by you?"

Only now did she remember that she had left in such a hurry that she had forgotten to bring the box with her.

Gu Huaizhi's fingers moved slightly, and his originally lazy posture straightened up a lot, and his beautiful peach blossom eyes revealed a bit of pride that only a young man could have.

He cleared his throat, but just said 'hmm'.

Who else could it be but him?

However, he remembered that he had clearly left his name on the letter, so why did Aning want to confirm this?

Could it be that he remembered it wrongly? Or maybe Aning came to him impatiently before she had a chance to read it?

Mu An Ning sighed in her heart, it was indeed Gu Huaizhi.

Although no one knows why he suddenly gave the gift, his behavior is likely to cause misunderstanding.

Almost at the same time, the two of them spoke in tacit agreement.

"Sir, have you read that scroll?"

"Aning, didn't you read the letter?"

Mu An Ning was surprised, and then a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.

There was no mention of any letter in the things Baoqin reported earlier, but now Baoqin was outside the door, so it was not convenient for her to ask.

Gu Huaizhi looked at the girl's clenched palms and inexplicably felt like teasing her, and forgot to ask the girl questions for a moment.

"Paper?" Gu Huaizhi pretended to think, stroked his chin, and after a while he suddenly said, "Oh, that one."

Mu An Ning stared at the boy closely, and unconsciously slowed down his breathing. He only heard the boy ask: "Do you think I saw it?"

Mu An Ning choked. She didn't expect him to say that, but she followed his words and carefully observed the boy's expression.

He was wearing a crimson long gown with narrow sleeves today, with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the lapels and cuffs with fine gold thread.

He casually rolled up his sleeves, revealing a muscular forearm.

It looks noble, casual and lazy at the same time.

According to Muran Ning's understanding of him, he should be in a good mood at the moment, but she was not sure whether he had read the paper.

Gu Huaizhi's ears felt hot under the girl's gaze, and he unconsciously reached into his sleeves to probe: "Ahem, I haven't had time to open it yet."

The yard wasn't that hot after the rain, but at that moment he felt like he was being roasted on a fire.

The girl's eyes were clear and pure, but he just felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest.

The subordinate who had been doing the work before suddenly came to report. In the end, he still put the main business first and went out to finish the work first, thinking that it would not be too late to wait until he came back to check it out.

The moment the young man finished speaking, Mu An Ning heaved a sigh of relief, and a smile finally appeared on his face: "Prince, can you give it back to me?"

Gu Huai was stunned for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and laughed: "Aning, how can you give someone a gift and then take it back?"

Apart from that bottle of medicine, she hadn't given him anything for a long time.

Now, he couldn't return even a piece of paper or a stone to her.

"Aning." Gu Huaizhi hid the smile on his lips and put his hand into his sleeve again: "Are you shy?"

What on earth had she written or painted that made her come all the way to the palace, and even afraid of being seen by him? Could it be some sentimental poem?

Looking at the boy's strange expression, Mu An Ning was silent and glanced away slightly.

Naturally, she would not be shy about such a thing. She was just thinking, should she tell him directly that she was wrong? Did she originally think that the person who gave the gift was Tan Wenhuai?

This is really too weird and doesn't make any sense.

Mu An Ning thought for a while, and stopped testing him. Instead, he said directly, "Sir, I will return the box to you, and you return this paper to me. How about that?"

Forget it, Gu Huaizhi can just look at it, but she will eventually take the paper back and give it to Tan Wenhuai.

"Why?" Gu Huaizhi's raised eyebrows suddenly frowned. He never expected the girl to say that.

He asked subconsciously: "You don't like it?"

Mu An Ning was silent for a while before she nodded gently. If that was what she insisted on, then that was fine.

Now it was different from before. She naturally didn't like others giving her gifts casually, let alone the man she had been engaged to.

The smile on the boy's face gradually faded, and he sneered, "Aning, do you dislike the gift I gave you, or are you considering Tan Wenhuai?"

Although the boy asked this, he was more inclined to the second option in his heart.

He didn't believe that she would dislike the gift he gave her.

Mu An Ning opened his mouth, but turned his eyes away and avoided answering.

Gu Huaizhi's face looked very ugly. He slowly took out the paper from his sleeve and slapped it on the table.

The girl heard the noise, glanced slightly to the side, and fixed her eyes.

The scroll was still in its original state, obviously having never been opened by anyone.

"Thank you, Prince." Mu An Ning immediately breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to take it.

However, just as her hand touched the scroll, the boy's slightly cold palm touched her almost instantly.

Mu An Ning was startled and subconsciously withdrew his hand.

Gu Huaizhi also looked a little unnatural. He immediately took back the scroll and raised his eyebrows: "I haven't seen it yet."

He could ask her to take it back, but he had to look at it first, after all, he had been looking forward to it for half a day.

Mu An Ning thought it was better to have less trouble than more, so he opened his mouth to stop it, but he was a step too late.

"This is..." Gu Huaizhi scanned the scroll from top to bottom, raised his eyes and looked at the girl: "Wedding dress?"