"I'll send an invitation to Lady Jing'an tomorrow. She hasn't been out for quite a while. My hot spring estate is nice, so I'll invite her to relax there."
Others may not believe it, but Lady Jing'an will definitely have a lot to talk about with me.
The old woman immediately understood what Princess Ping meant. Her lips twitched, but she ultimately agreed.
They say you shouldn't talk about someone behind their back, and sure enough, one of those "speak of the devil" stories has come true.
Prince Ping, who had set off early in the morning, walked briskly over, plopped down on the stone bench next to Princess Ping, and without letting the servants do anything, picked up the teapot on the stone table, poured himself a cup of water, and gulped it down in a few gulps.
"What's wrong with Your Highness?"
He was perfectly fine when he left, so why does he look so angry now? Is there anyone in the capital who would make him angry? Princess Consort Ping asked, looking at Prince Ping's appearance.
Or is it that some blind fool has again called the prince an uneducated wastrel? Who did he quarrel with?
"Your Highness, I'm really angry today."
Princess Ping reached out and patted Prince Ping on the back without saying a word.
—It's obvious even without being told, he's still quite angry.
Thinking of why he went out so early this morning, Prince Ping suppressed his anger, turned around and took the brocade box from the servant Yan Nian's hands. "Your Highness, this is what I went to find for you today. Take a look and see if you like it. I think you will like it."
The topic shifted rather quickly, but Princess Ping was used to it. Seeing this, she opened the brocade box under Prince Ping's expectant gaze.
It is a pink coral bead.
Princess Ping picked up the coral bead and examined it. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, and the color was perfect. She rubbed it for a moment, then looked up and smiled. "I like it very much. Thank you for remembering me, Your Highness."
Upon seeing that Princess Ping indeed liked it, Prince Ping immediately smiled and proudly unfolded his folding fan, "It's good that you like it. I knew the princess would like it!"
Princess Ping smiled and put the coral beads back into the brocade box. "The color is very nice. Why don't we make them into a hairpin? Your Highness can then put it on me."
Prince Ping coughed lightly, feeling unusually embarrassed. "Ahem, since it is the Princess Consort's request, it is a trivial matter. I agree."
The old woman standing behind Princess Ping saw this scene and immediately lowered her head to prevent herself from laughing, but she was also very pleased.
Even if it's difficult for the prince to have children, the princess is still content.
"Your Highness, now tell me why you are so angry?" Princess Ping would not forget how Prince Ping looked when he returned just because of a coral bead. She put away the box and asked with concern.
Upon hearing the Princess Consort's question, Prince Ping's face darkened again. "The Jiangnan region, humph!"
"Has Your Highness ever heard of the Golden Lotus (three-inch bound feet)?"
Princess Ping frowned. "Why did Your Highness bring this up?"
She had certainly heard of it, but she was indifferent to it. Besides, such women would not appear in the Prince Ping's residence. Among the families she was close to, she had not seen many of them, only heard of them.
"Today, that shameless old man Yao Bin sent me two women with golden lotuses."
Princess Ping: "..."
His face instantly darkened.
"Of course, I refused."
Even though Prince Ping said he had refused, Princess Ping's expression didn't improve much; it only softened slightly.
Prince Ping sighed and told Princess Ping how the Golden Lotus Woman came to be. Princess Ping's expression, which had eased somewhat, turned grim again.
The kind of things that women in brothels use to please their patrons would certainly not be on her, but Princess Ping could guess from what Prince Ping said how cruel and terrifying the process must have been.
They were all women; how could they not understand the pain involved?
"I suspect that Ah Shou and Lin'er have also met."
“Ah Shou would never be interested in that Golden Lotus,” Princess Ping said, shaking her head with certainty.
In some ways, her son Ashou and the prince truly lived up to their father-son relationship, being remarkably similar in many ways. Given Jinlian's cruelty, Ashou could never possibly like her.
She knew perfectly well what Ah Shou liked.
“Of course Ah Shou won’t like it, but that doesn’t stop them from causing trouble.” Prince Ping snorted coldly. Knowing that Fu Hanlai and Jiang Xuelin hadn’t left the house today, he sent someone to Qiutang Courtyard to summon the two of them.
Fu Hanlai and Jiang Xuelin didn't have anything to do today, but they were discussing what to do next.
If Jinlian and the others hadn't seen her or remembered her, that would be one thing, but now that they had, Jiang Xuelin couldn't pretend she hadn't seen her.
That's a bit too cruel.
Upon hearing Prince Ping call them, the two exchanged a glance, both puzzled as to why Prince Ping had suddenly summoned them. They quickly tidied themselves up and went to the garden behind the palace.
After the two arrived, they sat down. Seeing that the expressions of Prince Ping and his wife were not very good, Fu Hanlai immediately asked curiously, "Father, Mother, did you two have a fight? Let Jiang Xuelin and me be the witnesses?"
Jiang Xuelin: "..."
He reached out and poked Fu Hanlai's waist—if you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all. Let's see what's going on first!
You're so annoying, how come you weren't beaten to death!
Prince Ping and Princess Ping were already used to Fu Hanlai's foul mouth, so they simply pretended not to hear it. Prince Ping looked at Jiang Xuelin and asked, "Lin'er, have you seen Yao Yufang?"
Jiang Xuelin's heart skipped a beat, and she nodded, "Yes, we met on the street yesterday and exchanged a few words."
"Do you know about the Golden Lotus?"
Jiang Xuelin: "..."
His face darkened.
King Ping clapped his hands, and two unfamiliar women followed behind the maidservant as they slowly approached. Upon reaching them, they immediately bowed respectfully to the group.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
