Chapter 38 Why do you like him?
Yang Qing began to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
Good heavens, there are people in this world who talk even more than Chu Ying; she can't stand it anymore.
Ming Luoqi continued, "Haha, I knew it even if you didn't say it. Your father is the Crown Prince's cousin's teacher. I've met him several times, and he even praised my handwriting."
Yang Qing ignored her.
Ming Luoqi: "You two must have gotten to know each other after a while. How's your handwriting? Let's have a contest sometime. By the way, your older sister's handwriting is pretty good too, but it's still a little worse than mine, hahaha. It's okay if you don't write well, as long as you say a few nice words to me, I can teach you. Although we don't want to take the imperial examinations and become officials, we should still have some hobbies."
Yang Qing found it annoying that he would talk nonsense, saying whatever came to mind.
Ming Luoqi: "How long have you known my cousin, the Crown Prince? I can guess without you saying, it's definitely not as long as I've known him. Do you want to know how we met?"
Yang Qing finally spoke: "I don't want to know."
Ming Luoqi: "Stop pretending, hahaha, how could you not want to know? There's nothing shameful about it. I can tell you, but you have to tell me yours too."
Yang Qing: "I don't want to."
Ming Luoqi said, "No, it has to be this way. I've known my cousin, the Crown Prince, since we were very young, before he was even the Crown Prince. Back then, when a daughter of the Ming family was to come to the capital to be the Crown Princess, my older sister was the chosen one. I was too young and was just there for the fun of it."
Yang Qing remained silent.
Ming Luoqi said, "You don't know, the Empress was so fierce back then. My sister was very afraid of her, and so was I. I'm still afraid of her now, but not as much as before. Her temper seems to have improved a lot. The other day, I accidentally knocked over a vase and almost cried. Luckily, the Empress didn't say anything and even asked me if I was hurt. It wasn't like this when I was little. If I tripped and fell while walking, I would be punished by kneeling and copying books. That's how I met my current cousin, the Crown Prince."
A girlish flutter of affection began to spread across her face. "My cousin, the Crown Prince, has always been very gentle. When he saw me crying so hard, he handed me a handkerchief and told me not to cry. Although he is not good with words, he is really a good person."
Yang Qing asked in surprise, "Just because of that, you like him?"
Ming Luoqi was silent for a moment, then said apologetically, "That's partly the reason, and partly because he was very good-looking when he was a child, and he became even more handsome as he grew up."
Yang Qing: ...
That's the main reason, isn't it?
The last person who thought Li Shangxuan was handsome and wanted to marry him now trembles every time she sees him.
Unaffected by Yang Qing's speechless expression, Ming Luoqi continued sweetly, "I've kept that handkerchief all this time, but unfortunately I don't have it with me, so I can't show it to you."
Yang Qing: "It's not a pity at all, I don't want to watch it."
Ming Luoqi said, "Look, you're doing it again. You must really want to see it, but you're just too embarrassed to say it. I understand."
No, you don't understand at all, Yang Qing chose to shut up.
Ming Luoqi was also very happy talking to herself: "My cousin, the Crown Prince, is really a special person. Even his handkerchief is special. Our handkerchiefs are embroidered with flowers and butterflies on one side, right? But my cousin's handkerchief is different. It has a big bear embroidered on it, and it looks so lifelike."
Yang Qing's mouth dropped open, and her voice rose a few decibels, "A bear?"
Ming Luoqi was clearly amused by her reaction and became even more animated. "Yes, isn't it special? It's actually a bear!"
Yang Qing fell silent. Embroidering a bear on a handkerchief was such a bizarre act that, apart from her mother, she probably couldn't find another person in the entire capital who would do it.
It is said that my maternal grandfather once killed a bear, and my mother was very proud of this. Back then, she wanted to change the patterns on everything to bear designs. This situation has only improved in recent years.
Ming Luoqi continued chattering away. Yang Qing looked at her face and vaguely remembered her when she saw the handkerchief.
Yangqing does remember a little girl crying pitifully in front of the Empress, but how come she was a palace maid?
She was in a hurry to leave the palace, so she asked Li Shangxuan to comfort the little girl and gave him her handkerchief.
She opened her mouth, but ultimately decided to swallow it.
Putting aside the fact that her memory is really unclear, wouldn't it be embarrassing if she remembered it wrong?
Another thing is that she is very worried that if Ming Luoqi finds out that she asked Li Shangxuan to give her the handkerchief, what if she turns to like her instead?
Although the possibility is extremely small, we should be wary even if there is only a slight chance.
Ming Luoqi talks too much and is very self-righteous; she really doesn't want to be friends with her.
Chu Ying was already the limit of her tolerance; if Ming Luoqi were to come along, she might want to go deaf.
After the banquet ended, Yang Qing heard that Rong Yue had won a great victory. She went to congratulate her, but Rong Yue's expression was not very pleasant, at least not as Yang Qing had expected.
She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why aren't you happy, sister? Although I wasn't there, I heard that you won the poetry contest, the calligraphy and painting contest, and the flower-flying game. What could you possibly be unhappy about?"
Rongyue pursed her lips and said, "It's true that I won, but I knew the questions from my third aunt beforehand and prepared for them several days in advance. Isn't that an unfair victory?"
Yang Qing stuck out her tongue: "According to what you're saying, Sister, maybe the Empress gave us hints about the questions at the palace banquet before. And that top scholar, he's related to the Ming family, so it's possible he was biased towards his relative. Winning is winning, just be happy, why think about all this?"
Rongyue sighed, "It would be nice if I were as carefree as you, but I just can't see things clearly. I only feel guilty. If I get the title of 'talented woman' this way, it makes no difference whether I have it or not."
Yang Qing said, "You just overthink things."
Rongyue shook her head: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Why did I see you walking with Ming Luoqi, chatting and laughing? You've only been back for a few days, how did you get to know her?"
Yang Qing's face immediately fell. She had never seen Ming Luoqi so talkative. "Don't even mention it. She's so annoying. She never stops talking, and she doesn't care whether others want to listen or not. She just keeps talking and talking. I'm so annoyed by her."
Rongyue couldn't help but laugh: "It's good that she didn't cause you any trouble. You should still avoid contact with her in the future. She is the Empress Ming's niece, and everyone knows why she came to the capital. The imperial decree for the marriage has been issued, and you are the future Crown Princess. Your positions are awkward, and it wouldn't be good if she tried to trip you up behind your back."
Yang Qing muttered, "I don't think so. She looks incredibly stupid and probably doesn't have much of a mind of her own."
Rongyue said, "Being naive doesn't mean she's a good person. There are plenty of stupid and wicked people out there. You should be more careful. 'Possessing a treasure is a crime.' There are countless eyes watching you now. If something goes wrong, losing your position as Crown Princess is a small matter, but if it implicates your entire family, that would be a real problem."
Yang Qing said, "I know."
Sigh, it's all Li Shangxuan's fault. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have so much trouble.
After parting ways with Rongyue, the first thing she did upon returning to the house was to call Xiaoman over and question her, "Did you put that book there?"
Xiaoman nodded without hesitation, "I put it there; His Highness ordered me to."
Yang Qing said with a stern face, "You are clearly here with me, yet you keep calling me Your Highness. It's clear that you don't consider me your master. Now that you have Hua Ying, we don't need you here anymore. You should go back first."
Xiaoman craned her neck to look at her for a while before blankly replying, "Okay."
Yang Qing was speechless, wondering where Li Shangxuan had found such a brilliant strategist.
Xiaoman took two steps, then turned back and said, "I need to go back and ask His Highness. If he says I should stay here, I will still come back."
Yang Qing said, "You should leave now."
Liu Ye'er said worriedly, "She is, after all, His Highness the Crown Prince's person. Isn't it inappropriate for her to do this?"
Yang Qing said, "What's wrong with it? I don't want to open my eyes and see a little traitor."
Liu Ye'er smiled and said, "Why do you say that, Miss? His Highness is only doing this for your own good. If something like what happened last time were to happen again, I would be scared out of my wits."
Yang Qing said, "There will absolutely not be a next time, and besides, don't we have Hua Ying now?"
She had heard everything. This time, because of the Yunzhou military pay issue, although the Ning Prince's mansion sent out a trusted confidant to take the blame and clear themselves of all responsibility, they still didn't get away with it. Not only was the Ning Prince demoted to the second-ranked Yunchuan Prince, but the imperial court also sent officials to share power. Yunzhou was no longer under the Ning Prince's control—no, now it should be the Yunchuan Prince who held absolute power.
But Yang Qing was still not satisfied. As for Li Hebi, Li Heyun, Princess Ning, and Princess Yunan, although she had never met Prince Ning, birds of a feather flock together. Just looking at his family, they were definitely not good people.
How can we let this kind of person comfortably be the King of Yunchuan? He should be thrown into prison!
But she only dared to think about such things in her heart. If Li Shangxuan were the emperor, she could still make trouble, but the current emperor...
She wouldn't dare.
After nightfall, Liu Ye'er instructed, "Miss, you're really something. You're so eager to take a nap, but when it's time to go to bed, you make excuses. If you want to read, why not do it tomorrow when it's bright and sunny? Even though we've turned on the lamp now, it'll still hurt your eyes."
Yang Qing said, "Liu Ye'er, you're getting more and more long-winded. No, I need to tell your mother right away that it would be better to marry you off as soon as possible, otherwise my ears will get calluses."
She heard that Liu Ye'er's marriage had been arranged and she would be getting married next year. The groom was someone she knew well and had already achieved the rank of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations) at a young age.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye'er blushed and scolded, "Miss, your words are becoming more and more inappropriate. You're just like Doukou and the others, so mean-spirited, always making fun of me."
After saying that, he left, and Yang Qing finally regained peace and quiet.
The storybook she was reading today was newly published. Xu Pianran had already finished reading it and strongly recommended it to her. Although it was a familiar story, the author wrote it very well, and Yang Qing enjoyed reading it.
Suddenly, the window rattled, startling Yang Qing.
She listened carefully, and it sounded like someone was knocking on the window outside.
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