"Your Highness, is it really necessary for us to be so 'affectionate as husband and wife'?" Song Yaozhu's delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed. Xie Liwei's hand gripped her shoulder tightly, causing her to frown slightly in pain.
This guy's right hand isn't very strong, but his left hand is quite powerful.
"Oh, I didn't notice," he said dismissively, releasing his grip.
I was so disgusted by Yuwen Wuji that I couldn't control my emotions when I saw Song Yaozhu.
Song Yaozhu didn't take it to heart. She straightened her skirt and asked him, "When will His Majesty arrive?"
"You want to see him?"
Song Yaozhu could hear the hostility in his tone and knew that he had probably been upset by Yuwen Wuji again.
But why would he take out his anger on her after he'd been upset?
Song Yaozhu kicked him in the shin without any politeness. The kick wasn't hard, but it made Xie Liwei's eyes clear instantly. It took him a moment to react.
"You dare lay a hand on me!" he hissed, his voice filled with disbelief.
“I only moved my feet,” Song Yaozhu corrected, feigning innocence as she explained, “I just wanted to stretch my legs, but Your Highness just happened to be standing here.”
Xie Liwei pursed his lips tightly. Apart from his older sister, no one had ever dared to lay a hand on him like this!
Furious and helpless, he could only swallow his anger in front of everyone.
"You're absolutely lawless now!"
"Your Highness, you are my everything. I wish I could hold you in the palm of my hand. How could I possibly be so arrogant? Besides, Your Highness is benevolent. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't dare!" Song Yaozhu held her hands and winked at him, looking like she thought, "You little brat, I can't handle you."
Xie Liwei took a deep breath, gripped her wrist tightly, and gritted his teeth, saying, "I will show you that mercy has nothing to do with me!"
Song Yaozhu frowned in pain, but said, "Your Highness, there are people watching. Isn't it inappropriate for us to be so affectionate?"
Xie Liwei: "......"
I'm speechless. How can there be such an unyielding and stubborn woman?
Xie Liwei closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he regained his composure and calmed down.
"Today is a great opportunity to arrange a marriage for your fourth sister. You should seize it!"
After saying that, he sat down in a corner of the pavilion, his cold eyes fixed on the Imperial Garden, ignoring her completely.
Don't think that just because she used a few tricks, she could so easily make Yuwen Wuji take a liking to Song Si. If Yuwen Wuji were truly such an incompetent fool, he wouldn't have become emperor.
Song Yaozhu naturally knew this as well. Merely having a similar appearance, Song Wenyue could only attract Yuwen Wuji temporarily. Once his interest waned, he would forget about it.
She had to add fuel to the fire, to make Yuwen Wuji's desires burn even brighter.
Before long, the invited young men and women gathered in the Imperial Garden. A lady "opportunely suggested" a poetry relay, and even recited a line herself for others to continue.
The atmosphere in the garden instantly became lively, and even the originally timid young ladies began to shyly show themselves off.
Song Yaozhu watched from afar, and after a while, she turned to look at Xie Liwei.
"Your Highness, won't you go and offer your comments?"
Xie Liwei looked at her as if she were an idiot, "Do you think I'm as idle as you?"
"The prince even served as a judge for the poetry collection of the Marquis of Wuding's residence earlier."
"That's for the silver."
Of course, it's also for the purpose of gathering more information!
Song Yaozhu was surprised by this outcome and couldn't hide the astonishment on her face as she stared blankly at Xie Liwei.
Seeing the expression on her face, Xie Liwei's expression immediately became a little embarrassed. Why did he suddenly feel the shame of being caught taking on side jobs by his wife?
"I was just trying to gather more information!" he explained, but it only made things worse.
Song Yaozhu slowly reached out and took the fan from his hand, using it to hide her sorrowful expression.
"Your Highness need not explain, I understand."
"......" What do you know!
Xie Liwei gritted his teeth, ignoring the woman. He didn't care what Song Yaozhu thought, as long as she didn't cause him trouble!
Looking back into the Imperial Garden, the group had finished their round of poetry recitation and were now having the palace servants set up desks to prepare ink and paint.
Song Yaozhu leaned her head against a pillar in the pavilion to relieve the pressure on her neck.
"It's the same old stuff in the palace every year, so boring," she muttered, then turned to Xie Liwei and asked, "When is the Emperor coming?"
From the time she became empress, this was the procedure for the matchmaking banquets she held. First, they would look at appearances, then talents, and then see if the two families could get along. Only then would they arrange the engagement privately.
Xie Liwei keenly caught the meaning of her words "every year," as if she had attended countless such palace banquets.
Even though Song Yaozhu grew up in the Song family, she wasn't qualified to attend the palace banquet every year. What gave her the right to say such a thing?
Xie Liwei looked Song Yaozhu over again and suddenly realized that her makeup today was very familiar. He had been used to her resemblance to his elder sister and hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now, upon closer inspection, he realized that her impersonation of his elder sister today was somewhat "deliberate." It was as if she was afraid others wouldn't notice the resemblance between the two.
Having seen through this, he understood why Song Yaozhu had asked him twice today, "When will the Emperor arrive?"
She wanted to attract Yuwen Wuji's attention with her resemblance to her elder sister, and then make him so eager that he would eventually take Song Si into the palace.
But what makes her think that Yuwen Wuji would be interested in her?
Xie Liwei sneered inwardly, but his face remained cold and sarcastic: "Your Highness, you have repeatedly mentioned other men in front of me. What, do you want me to divorce you?"
Song Yaozhu glanced at Xie Liwei, a fleeting hint of disdain in her eyes. But she still tried to appease him, saying, "My eyes and heart are only for Your Highness. Is Your Highness jealous because I mentioned the Emperor twice?"
Xie Liwei gave her a cold glance. He could tolerate such banter once or twice, but he would get annoyed if it happened too often.
"Hmph, just don't make me collect your corpse!"
“Then Your Highness remembers that I love camellias. If I die, let me be fertilizer for the camellias.”
Xie Liwei frowned deeply; his older sister also liked camellias!
The poetry relay in the Imperial Garden had only just begun its second round when everyone heard a woman's cry of pain coming from the pavilion.
The carefree princess was thrown to the ground. The carefree king, his expression solemn, looked at the woman on the ground, said something, and then turned and left without showing any tenderness. This was a stark contrast to their previous affectionate relationship.
"Quickly, help the Princess over!" The Imperial Concubine hurriedly ordered someone to help Song Yaozhu up. Before she could finish speaking, a figure in bright yellow had already arrived at the pavilion.
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