The Flirtatious Prince and His Savage Concubine

After thinking carefully about Lu Lingxi's proposal, Concubine Shang replied: "Well, I didn't realize that Lingxi had a good business sense before. Let others do the work that requires money and effort, and you just have fun. This is a business that is sure to make money."

Lu Lingxi chuckled, "I saw that they had nothing to do all day, so I found something for them to do. Why does our Prince's Mansion pay them so much money every month? To support idle people? Now that I am the head of the family, our Prince's Mansion cannot spend money to support idle people."

Concubine Shang reluctantly nodded and said, "That does make some sense. But why do those who do well have to be rewarded by the Crown Prince? Wouldn't it be better if you just rewarded them and let them remember your kindness?"

Lu Lingxi asked back: "Do you think my reward is more attractive to them or the prince's reward is more attractive to them?"

Concubine Shang suddenly realized: "It must be that the reward from the Crown Prince is more attractive and can motivate them more."

Lu Lingxi nodded.

The two of them then discussed it for the whole morning and finalized some details.

In the afternoon, the Crown Princess's order was passed to the palaces of the Crown Prince's concubines, with the following requirements:

1. Starting from tomorrow, everyone will go to the concubine's palace to draw invitations for the Shangsi Festival flower-viewing banquet for five consecutive days.

2. Each person should provide a garden view, a dish and a snack for the flower viewing banquet.

3. The garden views, dishes and snacks provided by individuals will be recorded, and participants will vote anonymously on the day of the flower viewing banquet based on their preferences. The top three most popular ones will receive rewards from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

As soon as the decree was issued, there was a lot of discussion in all the halls. Some were eager to try, while others were passive and slack. They believed that the prize would eventually be distributed according to status, and only those whose maiden's family was rich and powerful would be able to show up at this flower-viewing banquet.

After Lu Lingxi arranged all these and discussed the rules of the flower-viewing banquet with Concubine Shang in the afternoon, she had nothing else to worry about.

The day after tomorrow is the wedding day of her brother and sister Gu. Tomorrow she has to prepare the gift list to be sent to the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion. The day after tomorrow she will rush to the mansion early in the morning to help with wedding arrangements. After all, there are not many people in the mansion, and if she puts in more effort, her father and brother will be more relaxed.

On the fifteenth day of February, the entire mansion seemed to be shrouded in colorful clouds and was filled with joy.

Queen Gu's Yanchun Palace was lifeless and gloomy because Lu Lingxi did not come to the palace to pay his respects today.

Queen Gu heard from the eunuch that there was a great celebration at the Marquis Zhenguo Mansion today, and the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess had gone to the Marquis Zhenguo Mansion early in the morning, so they could not come to pay their respects to the Queen. The Crown Prince also took a day off from the previous court.

Because the marriage between the Zhenguo Marquisate and the Prime Minister's House happened suddenly, Queen Gu hadn't heard anything about it. She gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, very good. The reason this time is impeccable. Now that I know about this, I still have to send some wedding gifts to my beloved niece."

After saying that, he took out the bracelet that had been returned three times before, and asked Nanny Li to personally deliver it to the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion to congratulate the Zhenguo Marquis on his marriage.

Queen Gu was very angry today, but she didn't know whether she was angry at Lu Lingxi for not coming to pay her respects several times and not respecting her as her mother-in-law, or she was angry at her brother for marrying his daughter into the Zhenguo Marquis's Mansion.

At this moment, Lu Lingxi had no time to think about whether Queen Gu would be angry or not. Although the wedding banquet was small and only invited relatives and friends who were particularly familiar with the Zhenguo Marquis' Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion, he could not let the Prime Minister's Mansion think that they did not value Gu Yan'er, so he could not be careless in the slightest.

After the ceremony of worshiping heaven and earth was over, Lu Yugang was out entertaining guests, and Gu Yan'er was sent to the bridal chamber to wait.

Lu Lingxi came to the bridal chamber with a plate of snacks and knocked on the door, saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm coming in." Without waiting for the person inside to answer, she walked straight in.

When Lu Lingxi walked in, he saw Gu Yan'er's stiff back relax. He asked, "What's the matter? Did you think it was my brother who came? He is still outside entertaining guests and will not be here for a while. I was afraid that my sister-in-law would be hungry, so I came here to bring her some snacks."

Gu Yan'er's shy expression was completely hidden under her veil. She murmured, "Don't they say that a bride can't eat her husband's family's food on the first day?"

Lu Lingxi put the dessert plate on the table and said, "That's what they said on purpose to torture the bride. My sister-in-law married you and loved you so much, why would they torture you? Come and eat something, you must be starving soon. This is the Fuling cake that my sister-in-law likes to eat, and my brother specially asked me to bring it to you."

When Gu Yan'er heard Lu Lingxi say that these were the snacks that Lu Yu had just asked her to prepare, her heart was filled with sweetness. She stopped being shy and stood up and slowly walked to the table.

After Lu Lingxi and Gu Yan'er had eaten for a while, they started chatting, "Sister-in-law, are you nervous today? Today's wedding banquet is not grand and solemn. I am sorry for putting you there."

Gu Yan'er swallowed the food in her mouth and then said, "I'm not nervous. What's there to be nervous about? I've been looking forward to this day for a long time. Although there are not many guests at the banquet today, the betrothal gifts prepared by the Marquis' Mansion are not less. Of course, it is not as good as the ten miles of red makeup when you got married, but I am already very satisfied. You have just got married not long ago. Were you nervous on the wedding day? Are you used to living in the Prince's Mansion for the past month after your marriage?"

Lu Lingxi thought about it carefully before replying, "I've only been married for a month? Why does it feel so long? To be honest, I was nervous that day. After all, I had never seen the prince before, and I didn't know his height, weight, or temperament. It's not like my sister-in-law and brother, who got married because they were in love with each other."

Gu Yan'er was puzzled: "Never met before? How is that possible? I heard from Yu Gang that the Crown Prince lived in the mansion for a while before. Haven't you met before?"

Lu Lingxi nodded: "I have seen him, but he always claimed to be a secret guard of the Crown Prince's Mansion, and his name was Xiao Yu'er. So in my heart, it was not until the day of our wedding that I matched the identity of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with his face."

Gu Yan'er laughed softly and said, "It's also a different kind of fun."

Lu Lingxi suddenly jumped up and down: "What's the fun of it? What nonsense is sister-in-law talking about? I'm still mad at him. I hate being deceived the most."

Gu Yan'er stopped laughing and said, "Why should I be angry? I guess His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not dared to reveal his identity because you kept shouting that you wanted to break off the engagement with him. He wanted to cultivate feelings with you first. How has His Royal Highness the Crown Prince treated you during this period of time? Has he wronged you?"

Lu Lingxi thought carefully about the days in the Prince's Mansion and answered honestly: "He treated me well during this period and agreed with me in everything. It's just that there are too many concubines in the Prince's Mansion, and there are really a lot of troubles every day."

Gu Yan'er comforted him, "The prince is the heir to the throne, so naturally he can't just marry one person like ordinary people. As long as he loves you and gives you the dignity of the Zheng family, don't think too much about the rest."

Lu Lingxi was unwilling to accept this, as she did not want such a marriage, so she asked, "Can my sister-in-law accept my brother having three wives and four concubines?"

Gu Yan'er just got married today and has never thought deeply about this issue. Many truths are always easier to persuade others than to accept themselves, so she remained silent.