She silently counted to three in her heart, and said sincerely: "Aunt is worried about my cousin, and she can't see the princess on weekdays, so she asked me to pass a message to my cousin, but you, princess, have been stopping me from seeing my cousin."

"Princess, I, I...if you really don't like me, I will help my aunt pass on a message to my cousin. I will definitely not see my cousin again..."

Yuan Zhitong seemed a little excited and was breathing slightly.

At this time, Gu Jue had already walked out of the bamboo shed. Chu Qianchen naturally saw him and smiled happily, not paying any attention to what Yuan Zhitong said afterwards.

Gu Jue walked past Yuan Zhitong, and Yuan Zhitong seemed to have just noticed Gu Jue, a little confused and flustered, and hurriedly saluted: "Cousin."

She turned slightly to make way for Gu Jue, but she was so flustered that she accidentally stepped on the hem of her skirt.

"Miss!" The head maid hurried to support Yuan Zhitong's arm.

Yuan Zhitong managed to stand firmly, but the split hydrangea in her hand also fell down. The golden bell made a crisp sound when it hit the ground, and half of the hydrangea rolled towards Gu Jue.

She lowered her head and looked at the hydrangea on the ground. She panicked even more and explained with a forced smile, "I broke it by accident. It has nothing to do with the princess."

"Miss, it was obviously the princess who did it on purpose!" The maidservant beside Yuan Zhitong widened her eyes and said indignantly, as if she was speaking up for her master.

Yuan Zhitong smiled bitterly and shouted at the maid unhappily: "Don't talk nonsense!"

She emphasized to Gu Jue again: "Cousin, this really has nothing to do with the princess. It's all my fault..."

Another gust of cold wind blew, ruffling Yuan Zhitong's hair a little.

She raised her hand and pinned a few strands of hair behind her ears, revealing her graceful chin, which made her look both elegant and pretty.

She sighed quietly and added, "But, this embroidered ball was given by the Queen..."

"That's fine. I will go and apologize to the Queen."

She smiled again, her smile was beautiful, but her eyes were still red, which made the smile seem to have a hint of forbearance.

Gu Jue sat down next to Chu Qianchen and asked, "Do you like playing with hydrangeas?"

"Yueying likes it." Chu Qianchen said with a smile, "As for me..."

As she spoke, she looked at the hydrangea that was split in half on the ground, "I just like to split it."

Her nonchalant tone seemed to be saying that she enjoyed splitting watermelon.

Gu Jue laughed and said calmly, "Jingfeng, have someone go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and bring some hydrangeas."

Jingfeng immediately took two steps forward and responded respectfully, "Yes, Your Majesty."

When Jingfeng walked past Yuan Zhitong, he glanced at her with contempt, as if to say, it's just a hydrangea, and it's a blessing for the hydrangea if it can make the princess happy to chop it.

Yuan Zhitong: “…”

Yuan Zhitong was stunned again, his mind in a mess.

How dare Chu Qianchen say directly in front of him that she liked chopping? Shouldn't she cover it up?

And Gu Jue...

Didn't Gu Jue hear what I just said? It is said that Prince Chen governs the army fairly and strictly, and sets an example himself, so he is so famous and popular in the Northland and the Northland Army.

Shouldn't he at least ask about the whole thing? Even if he couldn't let Chu Qianchen apologize to her for the sake of the reputation of Prince Chen's Mansion - in fact, she didn't expect Gu Jue to give her justice, she just wanted to plant a thorn in his heart...

"surface……"

Yuan Zhitong opened her cherry lips slightly, wanting to say something, but Gu Jue had already turned his head to look at Chu Qianchen and put a gourd-shaped sleeve stove in her hand, "Take it."

Just now when he was applying medicine to her fingertips, he found that her hands were icy and cold.

Chu Qianchen reacted quickly and grabbed both the sleeve warmer and his hand. The two of them used four hands to cover the small sleeve warmer together.

"..." Yuan Zhitong, who was ignored, felt her cheeks burning.

At this moment, she felt again the intimacy they had when they were playing shuttlecock together just now.

This was clearly Chu Qianchen declaring his sovereignty to her!

Yuan Zhitong was embarrassed and ashamed. She was like a mute, unable to make any sound. Her feet felt as if they were filled with lead and she could not move an inch.

She could clearly feel the burning gazes of the noble ladies behind her falling on her back.

After a while, Jingfeng came with a wooden box that was two feet long and two feet wide.

When you open the lid of the box, you can see seven or eight colorful hydrangeas in the wooden box, just like a bunch of brightly colored hydrangeas.

These hydrangeas are all luxurious and exquisite. Some are decorated with golden bells and tassels like Yuan Zhitong's, some are sewn with red coral beads, some are covered with a red gold openwork ball, and some are made of brocade...

These hydrangeas are not inferior to Yuan Zhitong’s, but are more delicate and more beautiful.

Jingfeng respectfully placed all the hydrangeas on the table in front of Chu Qianchen.

"If it's not enough, let Jingfeng go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get more." Gu Jue grabbed a hydrangea covered with a red gold carved ball and played with it casually for a while.

Chu Qianchen responded casually, grabbed Gu Jue's wrist, leaned over to look at the carp and butterfly patterns on the hydrangea he grabbed, and smiled, "Give this to Yueying."

She took out a hydrangea decorated with golden bells from the box, held it in her hand and casually lifted it up. When the hydrangea was thrown into the air, the bells made a crisp sound.

"Not bad." She praised, and then said to Yuan Zhitong with a smile, "Here."

Yuan Zhitong: “?”

Before she could react, she saw the other person suddenly raise his arm and throw the hydrangea out.

Yuan Zhitong couldn't help but think of the scene where she deliberately threw the hydrangea at Chu Qianchen, and her face turned pale.

The first reaction was that Chu Qianchen was taking revenge on him!

"Ah!" She screamed subconsciously, raised her arms to protect her face, and staggered back.

She retreated so quickly that she almost fell, but fortunately her maid reached out and held her up.

Jiang Yuan walked towards Yuan Zhitong, his pretty face expressionless, and his silence revealed a sense of indifference and sarcasm.

"The princess gave it to you as a reward."

Jiang Yuan directly stuffed the hydrangea into Yuan Zhitong's hand with quick and decisive movements. Without caring about Yuan Zhitong's reaction, he returned to behind Chu Qianchen and stood there like a statue, with the scabbard still on his waist.

"..." Yuan Zhitong held the brand new hydrangea stiffly, feeling her cheeks were about to burn, but her whole body was cold and her limbs were numb.

There was a burst of laughter from the back, and the noisy voices of the noble ladies entered Yuan Zhitong's ears.

"Ha, why is Miss Yuan so startled?"

"Hey, does she really think she can catch the princess's eye?"

“…”

Every word and sentence was extremely harsh, as if Chu Qianchen had really hit her with a hydrangea, which was a sign of respect for her and giving her face.

Yuan Zhitong felt the burning sensation on her face turn into stinging pain, and emotions such as humiliation, shame, and unwillingness surged in her body.

Yuan Zhitong's teeth were chattering and he was sweating coldly.

She looked at Gu Jue again, with a glimmer of hope and a hint of pleading in her eyes.

Gu Jue was handing the hydrangea in his hand to Chu Qianchen, without even looking at Yuan Zhitong, as if she was not worthy of his attention at all.

Yuan Zhitong: “…”

Yuan Zhitong stood there, feeling as if there were a mixture of all kinds of emotions in her heart.

She doesn't understand and she is unwilling.

After all, she was born into a prominent family and was the eldest daughter. Her father was a high-ranking official. Although she was inferior to the princesses and county ladies of the royal family, she was much better than Chu Qianchen, a concubine's daughter of a poor marquis's family.

Moreover, she is Gu Jue's cousin.

Why didn't Gu Jue even look at her? !

Yuan Zhitong clenched the hydrangea in her hand so tightly that it was almost deformed, and her pupils were as deep as the abyss.

From childhood to adulthood, there was nothing she couldn't get if she wanted it.

Whether it was jewelry and fancy clothes, the favor of his father, or the favor of those young gentlemen...

The same is true this time.

She will also be loved by Gu Jue! In just a blink of an eye, Yuan Zhitong's mind was full of thoughts.

When she raised her little face again, a smile appeared on her face again.

"Cousin, Princess, I'll take my leave now."

She held the brand new hydrangea in her hands and bowed gracefully with a gentle smile, but her movements were a little stiff at the moment, making it seem like she was forcing a smile.

She did not stay any longer and returned slowly to the ladies.

It was only a hundred feet away, and Yuan Zhitong had already recovered as before. There was no sign of anything unusual in his movements.

"Miss Wang, Miss Jiang, Miss Li... let's continue playing." She raised the brand new hydrangea in her hand slightly higher as if nothing had happened.

"Play?" Miss Jiang, who was wearing a purple riding suit, raised her heroic eyebrows and looked at her with a smile, "Are you sure you want to play ball? Not playing tricks?"

Miss Jiang's words were almost like slapping Yuan Zhitong in the face, obviously saying that Yuan Zhitong had deliberately thrown the bouquet to Chu Qianchen.

Miss Cuiyi walked to Miss Jiang's side, smiled and shook her finger, saying: "What you said is not appropriate, you should throw the embroidered ball to find a husband."

She said this even more bluntly than Miss Jiang, the only thing she lacked was saying that Yuan Zhitong threw the bouquet in an attempt to flirt with someone else.

Each sentence was more sharp than the last, like a bolt from the blue, leaving the other noble ladies dumbfounded.

Their eyes widened even more. They didn't expect that today's drama would have such twists and turns that there would actually be a next part.

Some people nodded frequently, thinking that Miss Jiang's words made sense; some people looked at Yuan Zhitong with sarcasm; some people did not comment; and some people felt some sympathy for Yuan Zhitong.

"You..." Yuan Zhitong's little face turned red again, as if stained with blood, and she felt even more aggrieved.

She just had some unpleasantness with Chu Qianchen.

This matter obviously had nothing to do with Miss Jiang and Miss Gong. They were just playing together affectionately, so why did Miss Jiang and the others suddenly turn against each other and embarrass themselves for Chu Qianchen? !

It was hard to say whether it was jealousy, unwillingness or some other psychological factor, but Yuan Zhitong felt like there was a fire burning in his heart.

"How can you say that to me?" Yuan Zhitong blinked, tears welling up in her eyes again, as if they were about to fall at any moment. "I just slipped."

Miss Jiang sneered disdainfully, with a proud and bright look in her eyes as she glanced at people with five parts coldness and five parts arrogance.

"Forget it, I'm not a man, I won't fall for it!"

"Haven't you seen me enough at home?"

"Your aunt didn't teach you this, did she?"

Miss Jiang crossed her arms across her chest and spoke more pointedly than the last.

When she said this, some people around her looked at her in a very subtle way, thinking that Miss Jiang was really sharp-tongued!

At first glance, Miss Jiang's words seemed to indicate that she had mistakenly believed that Yuan Zhitong was a concubine's daughter. But on second glance, she was clearly mocking Yuan Zhitong for being like those concubines and using those low-class methods!

The few girls who had originally sympathized with her suddenly shut their mouths and couldn't help but think of the concubines in the mansion.

Every family has a few concubines and maids, and the way those favored concubines speak and behave is really somewhat similar to Yuan Zhitong.

(End of this chapter)