Upon receiving his father's order, Yongle personally went to the imperial kitchen and said he wanted to eat snake soup, asking someone to quickly prepare it.
The people in the imperial kitchen were dumbfounded. Where were they supposed to catch snakes in the palace?
Yongle kindly said, "You're all so stupid! How could there be no snakes in the palace? It's just that there are too many people and they haven't come out yet! Go to the Imperial Hospital and get some snake-attracting powder, sprinkle it everywhere, and catch the snakes when they come out!"
The imperial kitchen staff were in a dilemma. "Princess, today is a state banquet, and we are already short-staffed. Prince Xuan wants to eat snake soup, could we choose another day?"
Yongle immediately lost her temper, saying, "My father wants to eat it today, but doesn't want to eat it tomorrow! It's just a snake! You don't need to catch it; I, the princess, will personally lead the people to catch it!"
The people in the imperial kitchen breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that they had finally gotten rid of this troublemaker.
Meanwhile, Yongle sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to get snake-attracting powder, which he then had the Imperial Guards sprinkle around the main hall.
She thought that a snake without legs couldn't have gone far, and she had to catch it quickly.
Her grand gesture made the Imperial Guards a little nervous.
"Especially in those grassy areas, sprinkle more powder!" Yongle directed the people to sprinkle powder, while she herself was not idle either, carrying a lantern to look carefully, afraid of missing any trace of the snake.
She instinctively started searching in the grass, and unknowingly walked along the grass to the Imperial Garden.
It was already dark, and the guests were all in the main hall. The Imperial Garden hadn't been lit yet, and it was pitch black. Yongle, accompanied by a young maid, crouched down, searching for the snake's shadow, when they heard voices coming from within the Imperial Garden.
"Your Highness, you mustn't! You can't do this..."
Yongle and his maid paused, exchanged a glance, immediately blew out their lanterns, and then crouched in the bushes to eavesdrop.
"What, you don't want to help your aunt anymore? If you're willing to come with me, I promise I won't treat you badly." A familiar yet greasy voice entered Yongle's ears, and she shuddered with disgust.
No, when did the Crown Prince come out? What happened to him? She felt so disgusted that she wanted to throw up everything she had eaten that night.
"Your Highness, I am very grateful for your help, but my status is too lowly to be worthy of your noble status..."
"How can you not be worthy? If I say you are worthy, then you are worthy! Tomorrow I will go to your aunt and bring you to the Eastern Palace!"
Lu Yujie was disgusted by this greasy man. She had only stood in front of the Qiankun Hall for a short time, and he happened to see her. In fact, he had been making things convenient for her these past few days. Whenever Li Wei was off duty, her soup could be delivered to him.
But he always touched her inappropriately, which was disgusting.
And now he says he wants to take her away? Bah! Does he even deserve that!
"Your Highness, my aunt treats me like her own mother. Now that she is unwell, I do not wish to be separated from her. Please grant me this filial wish!"
"That's not right. The distance from the Eastern Palace to the Yikun Palace is not far. You can come back whenever you want; no one will stop you."
Lu Yujie was utterly incredulous that the Crown Prince would say such a thing!
Although the other party spoke softly, they were still forcing a good person into prostitution!
Yongle felt an urge to slap him twice. How could someone like that be his cousin?
Lu Yujie was filled with regret. She was naturally not qualified to attend such a palace banquet; she had only received a letter summoning her. Whom did she think it was? Turns out it was this shameless man!
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but I know that I am plain-looking and unworthy of Your Highness. Please rescind your order."
The Crown Prince was clearly surprised by Lu Yujie's ungratefulness, and his tone became somewhat annoyed.
"Besides me, with your current reputation, who would dare to take you? If you follow me, I will certainly treat you well in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Yongle gestured to her maid, who immediately called out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, where are you?"
The sound startled the two people, and Lu Yujie turned and left without thinking, fearing that the people behind her would catch up.
The Crown Prince was clearly not expecting anyone to come, but his first reaction was to step forward and confirm the matter, pulling Lu Yujie into his arms.
Lu Yujie was terrified and struggled desperately. But he wasn't Song Hanzhi, so he couldn't stab him with the hairpin.
Fear surged through her instantly, turning into tears that streamed down her face. If anyone saw her, she would have no choice but to enter the Eastern Palace!
Fortunately, the palace maid only called out a few times and then fell silent, as if she had already left.
The crown prince, feeling the soft fragrance in his arms, kissed her cheek with great pleasure. "I'll go to your aunt's place and take you another day. You just wait."
After saying that, he let go and left. Lu Yujie felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body, and she collapsed to the ground.
She couldn't, she didn't want to enter the Eastern Palace like this! She didn't want to marry the man she hated, she didn't want to be tormented in the dark and gloomy inner palace!
Seeing that his disgusting cousin had left, Yongle wanted to go up and comfort Lu Yujie. But the thought that he had witnessed such an embarrassing scene might make her want to commit suicide made him refrain from going up.
"Let's go, let's go see where that snake went."
Lu Yujie left the Imperial Garden in a panic. She was terrified and knew she must not tell her aunt about this. Her aunt wanted her to serve the Emperor in bed and would certainly not let this opportunity slip by!
But she was all alone; who could she turn to for help? Who could be her protector?
Meanwhile, in the main hall, singing and dancing filled the air with great liveliness. The princess of Beiqing raised her wine cup and approached Song Yaozhu, smiling, "Your Highness, I was impolite in the Imperial Garden today. Now I toast you, hoping we can let bygones be bygones!"
Her cheerful smile suggested that she truly didn't care at all.
Song Yaozhu smiled and said, "Your Highness, I cannot drink alcohol right now."
"Then Your Highness may have tea instead of wine." With that, she personally poured Song Yaozhu a cup of tea.
"Won't the princess refuse to drink it?"
Song Yaozhu took the tea from her and placed it on the table, saying, "I don't recall having any conflict with the princess. There's no need for the princess to be so polite."
"Does Your Highness still mind my abruptness?" Princess Tuoba looked at her with a hurt expression, as if she wouldn't leave unless she drank this cup of tea.
"How could that be? Princess Tuoba came representing Beiqing. Even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare."
After she finished speaking, Xie Liwei said, "Your sarcastic tone is a bit too sophisticated; she might not understand it."
As expected, Tuoba Hongyun did not show any anger on her face, clearly not understanding the implied meaning in her words.
Song Yaozhu: "......"
"Your Highness, please."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com