C36

Silence reigned in the Ring Hall. Panic filled everyone's eyes, as they held their breaths and looked at Prince Jin.

Xue Liuhua's face instantly paled, her lips couldn't help but tremble slightly as her eyes became misty, as though she was about to cry.

Xue Ronghua suppressed the disbelief in her heart and replied with a smile, "Prince Jin is making fun of my daughter. My daughter is already a would-be wangfei from Prince Duan's palace, how could I make Prince Jin fall for her?"

The Empress Chen asked curiously: "Xue Ronghua is a quasi wangfei, how could she possibly be your favorite girl?"

Prince Jin ignored the tugging at his back, a shallow smile appearing on his face. "Empress, please forgive me. This son was just joking, how could this child's heart be filled with beautiful women like Princess Duan?"

Everyone present felt relieved. Xue Liuhua slowly pulled on the hem of her clothes, a trace of malice flashing past her eyes.

Xue Ronghua secretly heaved a sigh of relief, "I knew Prince Jin was joking."

Chu Zongge was annoyed by Prince Jin's jokes. He looked at Prince Jin indifferently and said, "Prince Jin, don't make such jokes anymore. Be careful or you might scare the future wangfei."

Prince Jin cupped his hands in apology and then said to Empress Chen, "May esteemed Empress please do not ask this son. Since this son is unable to tell the truth, I can only make a joke to please everyone. If you continue to press me, and this son unintentionally provokes any of the young misses present, what will I do?"

Noble Consort Kang immediately laughed, "Didn't the empress care about you? Why haven't you sworn an oath in front of the empress? Otherwise, the empress would urge you at all times."

Prince Jin was about to kneel down, but he raised his hand and said indifferently: "Fine, since you want to keep it a secret, then I'll go with you. I just want to make it clear to the emperor, don't let him worry about your marriage."

"Yes, son."

The Empress Chen looked at Xue Ronghua with a beaming smile. "Luckily I didn't scare the quasi wangfei, otherwise you would have to go to the Prince Duan Palace and the Prime Minister's Palace to apologize."

Xue Ronghua blessed herself. "Thank you for your concern, esteemed Empress. My daughter knows that Prince Jin must be joking."

"Oh?" Empress Chen smiled lightly. "It seems that quasi wangfei is very familiar with Prince Jin and is very clear about his character."

Xue Ronghua was startled, how much does this Empress Chen dislike Prince Duan, every time he talks to her, he would open his mouth to make things difficult for her.

Chu Zongge calmly replied, "Reporting to the empress, this son and the future wangfei had a chat before, and talked about the Prince Jin. The future wangfei then gained a general understanding of the Prince Jin from this son's words."

Empress Chen continued to smile cordially, and turned to look at Noble Consort Kang, "The children of Noble Consort and Mrs. Heyi have similar personalities, the two are really harmonious, and are not like their mother, who is always the same."

Hearing the last few words that left Empress Chen's mouth, Noble Consort Kang's face immediately paled.

Empress Chen was amused: "There are three thousand beauties in the harem, and it is very normal for some people to have opposing temperaments. Noble Consort Kang does not need to worry."

She leisurely sat at the highest position of the Bell Sound Hall, and her motherly bearing was filled with the energy of the world.

After Xue Ronghua left the imperial flower garden, she immediately followed Chu Zongge back to Xinyang Hall.

"Have you ever understood what conflict your Yuan Su's mother has with the empress?" Xue Ronghua asked anxiously.

"Why?" Chu Zongge blinked at her, then said with a smile, "You have always been extremely smart, but you were also questioned by the Empress?"

Xue Ronghua unhappily rolled his eyes, "No matter how smart a person is, he won't be able to escape the continuous pursuit of another. Not to mention, that person is the empress, I can't be disrespectful to the empress just to get what I want."

Seeing her excited expression, Chu Zongge immediately poured her a cup of tea.

"Actually, I'm not too familiar with Yuan Su's birth mother either. All I know is that her name is Liu Chengyun and her highest ranking is the Mrs. Heyi.

Xue Ronghua asked with doubt: "Your highest score in the mother is the Mrs. Heyi, why would you make such a judgement and say that the Emperor does not like your mother?"

Chu Zongge laughed bitterly: "Being high doesn't mean you are being pampered. Mrs. Heyi's maternal family, in order to help the Emperor settle the war, caused her entire family to die in battle at the border between the two nations of the Qi Qin. Leaving her alone, it isn't strange for the Emperor to raise her to the rank of Madam.

Xue Ronghua said: "I still feel that something is amiss."

Chu Zongge sighed helplessly, "Mrs. Heyi's palace is the furthest from the Emperor's Bedchamber, and after you see your wife pass away, you will understand the Emperor's attitude towards me."

Xue Ronghua looked at him with a complicated expression. If the Emperor really disliked the Mrs. Heyi and disliked the Prince Duan, how could he possibly fight evenly with the Crown Prince of the Empress Chen at this moment in time?

"What's the name of the Mrs. Heyi?"

"Surname Liu, Liu Chengyun."

Xue Ronghua's heart was moved, "You said that the willow trees in the palace were not planted for the Mrs. Heyi right?"

Chu Zongge snorted with laughter, "The empress Noble Consort Kang said in the Bell Sound Hall that the emperor loved willow trees, that's why she planted willow trees that filled the palace."

Xue Ronghua shook her head: "I don't think so. If it really is planted for the Mrs. Heyi, then Madam will become the one and only person in the Emperor's heart."

Chu Zongge looked at her eyes that lit up with anticipation and could not help but laugh. "There's still the Empress Chen in the Changchun Palace who has steadily sat behind his for twenty years.

When he went back to his residence at night, Prince Jin suddenly came out of the palace.

Xue Liuhua's eyes turned, and her gaze turned slightly, "Why is Prince Jin out?"

Prince Jin smiled and said, "The road is far away from dark. I'll come out and send you off."

Xue Liuhua pretended to be reserved: "Prince Jin really does have a guilty conscience by calling me a daughter."

The moonlight melted in Prince Jin's eyes, "How can we talk about this between ourselves?"

Xue Liuhua looked at him gently, "Thank you Prince Jin."

Xue Ronghua watched coldly from the side and turned her head around to see her look of contempt. Her lips curved into a sinister smile.

Prince Jin had only sent her home and she was already this happy. If he really wanted to marry her as his concubine, wouldn't she go crazy? Xue Ronghua lowered her head and said to Little Zhui, "Ignore her, let's go."

"Sister, please wait." Xue Liuhua shouted from behind.

Xue Ronghua suppressed the irritation in her heart, and asked with a slight smile: "Is anything the matter, big sister?"

Xue Liuhua revealed a troubled face: "Big sister's carriage has suddenly broken down, can little sister help?"

Xue Ronghua snickered in her heart, acting as if she didn't know anything: "Oh, then little sister must return home quickly so that I can call a carriage to bring big sister back."

Xue Liuhua's expression froze for a moment, and said softly: "When we rode the carriage here this morning, I was the one who let sister go.

Xue Ronghua could feel Prince Jin's gaze focusing on her face, she forced out a smile, "Then sister, take care."

Prince Jin looked at Xue Ronghua and said solemnly: "Thank you, quasi wangfei."

Xue Liuhua happily sat on the car that was originally meant for her.

Xue Ronghua said calmly: "Prince Jin, why aren't you getting on the palanquin yet, don't make big sister wait for you."

The Prince Jin laughed, "If you are in a rush to return, quasi wangfei, how about I call the palanquin at the palace to bring you back?"

Xue Ronghua said indifferently: "Using the palanquin to go back and make a scene, I will just wait."

Xue Liuhua lifted the curtain in the carriage, and looked at Xue Ronghua who was getting further and further away from her, feeling extremely happy in her heart.

Prince Jin said with a smile: "What is it that makes Young Miss Xue so happy?"

Xue Liuhua put down the curtain with a shallow smile, "To be able to sit on the same sedan with the Prince Jin that has attracted the attention of countless women in the capital, Liuhua is truly happy in her heart."

"If you like it, I'll give it to you when I come to the palace."

Xue Liuhua smiled shyly, her eyes bewitching, "Prince Jin is like this, but how can I teach that woman to think?"

Prince Jin acted like he was puzzled, "Young miss, which lady are you talking about, why can't I understand you?"

Xue Liuhua bashfully hit him, "Prince Jin was just saying in front of Empress Chen how he liked that girl, and I forgot how I went out."

Prince Jin let out a long sigh: "I really don't know which woman Miss is talking about. I only know that just now in the bell hall, a woman who was jumping Spring Dancing broke into my heart."

Xue Liuhua's cheeks were burning hot.

Prince Jin tenderly held her hand, and said gently: "Could it be that little miss can't tell, that the woman I am talking about is you."

Xue Liuhua bit her red lips to stop herself from shouting out in happiness. She revealed a pure and innocent expression as she asked: "Empress Chen isn't here, why are you joking around? You are really making Liuhua angry."

Prince Jin hurriedly said, "Could it be that Miss does not take me seriously? Aiya, what should we do about this," he revealed an awkward expression, "I already have feelings for Miss."

Xue Liuhua and Prince Jin were in the midst of flirting and cursing, "How about we allow Liuhua to think carefully first about how she should respond to Prince Jin?"

Prince Jin was clearly an experienced in love, "Young miss must think carefully, if not, the lovesick disease will become incurable, and there will be no cure."

Little Zhui was still anxiously waiting in the palace. She raised her head to look at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky and suddenly said, "Don't wait, I'm afraid that the palanquin is playing Peony Pavilion. We can't wait any longer."

Little Zhui was so angry that she wanted to jump, "The carriage that you asked for this morning was given to you by the young miss herself. It's already so late, how can the young miss snatch the carriage and leave a bad one for you?"

Xue Ronghua sneered: "If you don't snatch my carriage in the morning, then you can't show that I'm unruly and overbearing, and if you don't steal my carriage at night, then you can't have fun with Prince Jin. To give me some face, you actually destroyed my carriage, you're truly amazing."

Little Zhui said anxiously, "I still don't know when the Xue Residence's carriage will arrive."

Xue Ronghua shook her head: "Let's go, Xue Liuhua will not call the carriage to come here anymore."

"Are we really going back?"

Xue Ronghua was amused by Little Zhui, "Who said we should go back? The Xinyang Hall is big, let's go rest at the Xinyang Hall."

Little Zhui said in a soft voice: "But young miss and Prince Duan are not married yet, if they live together like this, it will attract people's attention."

Even if they were married, they wouldn't live together. Xue Ronghua placed her finger by her lips, and winked at her, "When you meet anyone, just say it's the Queen who allowed us to go out for a walk."

The two of them sent the servants back, taking advantage of the darkness to return to the palace quietly.

Xue Ronghua followed the route in her memory for most of the day, but she did not manage to find the path to Xinyang Hall. She continued to walk further and further away from the imperial garden, until she arrived at a quiet and quiet place.

Little Zhui fearfully grabbed Xue Ronghua's arm, and asked in a trembling voice: "Miss, what kind of place is this, it's so desolate."

Xue Ronghua had never seen anything before. She tried to comfort him: "It's just an abandoned palace. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm here."

Little Zhui said: "Miss, what exactly is this place? Why are there so many willow trees here?"

Using the moonlight, Xue Ronghua saw that the palace, which only had ruins left, was covered with willow trees. The willow branches fluttered in the wind, as if countless hands were calling out to them.