Chapter 84 Date
The second prince and Xiao Licheng hid behind a big tree and watched from a distance.
They saw the Zhang siblings chatting with the gray-clothed man for a while, and the gray-clothed man took out an exquisite gold-painted box from his arms and handed it to Zhang Dashan.
"Who do you think that man looks like?" Xiao Licheng asked.
The second prince shook his head in silence.
They were too far away to see the gray-clothed man's appearance.
"We must find out who the gray-clothed man is. He may be a minister in the court." Xiao Licheng murmured.
At this time, the Zhang siblings and the gray-clothed man went back. The
Zhang siblings quickly disappeared in the dense forest, and the gray-clothed man walked farther and farther away. Seeing that there was no chance, the uncle and nephew were so anxious that their palms were sweating.
"Got it!" The second prince patted his head.
He took the basket that had just been filled with candles, poured the contents onto the ground, and casually picked up a few weeds from the ground and put them into the basket.
He slung the bamboo basket over his arm and walked towards the pond.
When he was almost at the edge of the pond, the second prince deliberately slipped and fell to the ground.
"Ouch!" He shouted exaggeratedly.
This wailing successfully attracted the attention of the man in gray.
The man in gray turned his head and glanced at him quickly, and immediately ran towards him.
"Tell me! Who are you?" The man in gray took out a dagger and pointed it at the second prince, asking sharply.
The second prince looked up and trembled with fear.
The man was none other than his third uncle's boss, Wang Deguang, the Minister of the Dali Temple.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The second prince pinched his throat and said, his face full of fear.
"The back mountain is the forbidden area of Yue Lao Temple. Tell me! Why did you come here?" Wang Deguang continued to interrogate.
The second prince squeezed out two tears: "My father is very ill, and we have no money to buy medicine. I heard that there are herbs in the back mountain of Yue Lao Temple, so I ran here secretly to try my luck!"
The second prince said, holding up the bamboo basket to show Wang Deguang.
"Forget it!" Wang Deguang glanced at the bamboo basket and said impatiently.
He took out a piece of silver from his sleeve pocket, threw it at the feet of the second prince, and said coldly: "Little girl, take this to buy medicine. Hurry up and don't come to the back mountain again. Otherwise, I will be rude to you."
The second prince picked up the silver, cried and wiped his tears, and limped away.
The prince and Rong Chuyue sat opposite each other in the private room on the second floor of the teahouse.
"Brother Xia is really agile." Rong Chuyue glanced at the prince, with stars twinkling in her eyes.
"To be honest, I was stunned that day. Suddenly, a man in white flew down from above, which scared me."
The corners of the prince's mouth rose wildly, and he couldn't suppress it.
"Miss Rong, you are too flattering. It's just some ordinary boxing and kicking."
"However, next time there is such a crowded occasion, Miss Rong should not go out with only a maid. It's too dangerous."
Rong Chuyue lowered her eyes and nodded slightly: "Brother Xia is right."
"Actually, I have no choice. My family is very strict and won't let me go out casually. Last time when I punished the corrupt officials, I begged my father and mother several times, but they wouldn't allow it. I really wanted to go, so..."
"You men are still the best." Rong Chuyue murmured.
Sympathy flashed in the prince's eyes: "This world is really unfair to women, and there are too many restrictions."
"I accidentally heard your nanny asking you to go back home today. Could it be that your family doesn't even let you go out on the Chinese Valentine's Day?"
"Of course." Rong Chuyue pouted.
"By the way, we have been chatting for so long, but I still haven't introduced myself to Brother Xia."
"My name is Rong Chuyue, and I am the granddaughter of Lord Rong, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department. My grandfather is quite conservative, so my family tradition is like this."
After introducing her family background, Rong Chuyue raised her eyes and looked at the prince, indicating that it was his turn to introduce himself.
"Actually..." The prince just opened his mouth, and before he finished his sentence, a charming female voice suddenly came.
"Oh, who did I think it was? It turns out to be the niece of Concubine Rong, the eldest daughter of the Rong family!"
The prince and Rong Chuyue turned their heads and saw that it was Feng Panpan.
Feng Panpan walked up to the two of them and said in a sinister tone, "It is said that the Rong family in Beijing has the strictest family traditions, and all the women in the Rong family are chaste and loyal."
Feng Panpan glanced at Rong Chuyue exaggeratedly, "I didn't expect that the eldest daughter of the Rong family would have a secret meeting with the..."
Feng Panpan was about to say "having a secret meeting with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince", but before she could finish the second half of the sentence, the Crown Prince picked up the teacup and splashed it, and the tea splashed on Feng Panpan's skirt.
"Ah! My skirt!" Feng Panpan didn't care about the ridicule of Rong Chuyue, and fiddled with her skirt in a panic.
The Crown Prince originally wanted to tell Rong Chuyue his identity quietly, but Feng Panpan's voice was so loud just now, and the Crown Prince was very cautious about revealing his identity in public. The
Crown Prince didn't want the tea drinkers around him to know.
"I'm sorry, Miss Feng." The prince said in a deep voice.
"We have an open-minded society in Daxia, and the separation between men and women is not that strict. We are just drinking tea and chatting, what's wrong with that?"
"Please be careful with your words, don't ruin other people's reputation for nothing!"
Feng Panpan was so angry that her face turned pale, and she bit her lip for luck.
"Big brother, why did you come here? It's so hard for us to find you. Sister is still waiting for you."
A clear young voice came.
It turned out that the third prince came.
The prince had to say goodbye to Rong Chuyue in a hurry.
The prince took his younger brothers and sisters and Wei Mingyuan to find a restaurant to eat.
After dinner, they strolled around the street and bought a lot of interesting gadgets. Everyone was very happy.
Especially Xia Miaoyuan, who was so excited that he didn't even take a nap.
Everyone did not return to the palace until dinner time.
That night, in the Xiao Mansion, the Second Prince and Xiao Licheng changed into night clothes and lay on the roof to stare at the Zhang brothers and sisters.
The Second Prince wanted to sneak into Zhang Dashan's room to check what was in the box.
But the Third Uncle was afraid that he would be discovered by Zhang Dashan, so he kept blocking him.
The two waited until late at night, when Zhang Dashan suddenly came out of the house.
He looked around with a sneaky look, and then came to Xiao Licheng's study.
"Damn it, what are you doing in my study?" Xiao Licheng said angrily.
"Could it be that you drugged Ru'er and are going to drug me again?"
The two carefully lifted a tile and looked into the study.
Zhang Dashan picked the most inconspicuous small drawer on the bookcase and put the box in it.
After doing this, Zhang Dashan went back.
The second prince and Xiao Licheng rushed to the study, opened the drawer and took out the box.
Xiao Licheng couldn't wait to open the box, only to see a jade pendant with a strange pattern lying inside.
"What is this? The pattern is so strange." The second prince picked up the jade pendant and examined it repeatedly.
Xiao Licheng froze, his lips trembling.
"What's wrong, uncle? Tell me, what does this jade pendant mean?"
"This... this is a token of the Dahua people." Xiao Licheng said in a difficult tone.
The second prince glanced at his uncle and muttered, "What's wrong with the token? What's the point of Wang Deguang letting people put this there?"