Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

The smile on Chu Shitong's face became deeper.

"Since the Empress Dowager is willing to trust me, I will naturally not let her down."

"Can I see him tomorrow?"

Seeing Linglan's impatient look, Chu Shitong said, "I'm afraid it won't work tomorrow. There will be many people at the palace banquet, and it will be easy for others to see what happened. No matter what the result is, the matter between the imperial sister-in-law and the third brother will definitely not be explained. If the imperial sister-in-law is anxious, then let's wait until the first few days of the year. It happens that there is no need to attend court for the first seven days of the year, so I can ask the third brother to come out."

Linglan asked, "Didn't we say that we should go to Kaiyuan Temple to pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year? And hang red strings on the wishing tree? Is it okay then?"

Chu Shitong didn't expect that Linglan was so anxious.

According to the custom during the Chinese New Year.

On New Year’s Eve, people would go to the palace for a family banquet.

Only members of the royal family can attend the family banquet in the palace. For example, Prince Rong, who does not have any blood of the Chu family, is not qualified to celebrate New Year's Eve in the palace.

Since Prince Rong cannot come, Si Jingli naturally cannot come either.

But as Princess Duan, Linglan can naturally come.

There were only a few people who could attend the family banquet in the palace. Apart from the emperor and empress, there were the people in the harem, the princes and princesses, the eldest princess, Chu Shifan, and King Jiang. Although he had been stripped of his military power and guarded in Beijing a long time ago, he had been honest over the years, which made Chu Shiyu relax a lot of his vigilance.

Chaoyang got married a few years ago and is no longer considered a member of the royal family.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, when praying at Kaiyuan Temple, only non-royal princes like Prince Rong could go along.

"OK then."

Linglan felt very embarrassed. "I have to trouble you for my own sake. Your Highness Prince Qi, you are so kind."

Chu Shitong smiled, his pure eyes filled with the coolness of cold tea.

"You are too polite, sister-in-law. We have known each other for a long time. This little favor is nothing."

The two talked for a long time before Chu Shitong finally sent Linglan away.

Chu Shitong yawned and was about to eat a few bites of cake before going to sleep.

Clear water came in.

"Your Highness, His Royal Highness Prince Yu sent someone to deliver something."

"Keep it."

These few days, when the news of Chu Shitong's illness spread, many people came to send gifts. Chu Shifeng sent a lot of good things almost every day, most of which were tonics. Chu Shitong just had a fever, so they were completely useless and were simply thrown into the warehouse.

-

New Year's Eve.

That day, Chu Shitong entered the palace early.

I can finally use the excuse of being sick to wear thicker clothes. The heavy snow from a few days ago has melted long ago. I heard that the snow in Binzhou was particularly heavy, and there was a snowstorm.

In this matter, Chu Shitong only instructed local officials in Binzhou to carry out disaster relief and had no plan to send anyone over.

Thinking of this snowstorm, Chu Shitong still felt strange.

Because as far as she could remember, it had never snowed so heavily in her previous life.

The carriage drove along the long palace road.

The double-eaved roof is made of glazed tiles, the door is painted red, and the base is the same.

Chu Shitong was allowed to enter the palace by carriage as an exception because he was seriously ill.

Her illness is basically cured, but why not enjoy herself?

This grand palace banquet was held in Zihua Palace.

This is also the old palace banquet venue. When the late emperor was alive, he liked to hold palace banquets in Zihua Palace.

The Zihua Palace has corridors on all four sides and the floor is paved with golden bricks.

The roof has a single eave and four pointed corners. The roof is covered with yellow glazed tiles and has a gilded copper roof in the middle.

The eaves inside and outside the hall are decorated with colorful paintings of golden dragons and seals, and the ceiling is decorated with gold-leaf patterns.

Chu Shitong remembered that the first palace banquet he attended in his childhood was held in Zihua Palace. After that, Chu Shiyu seemed to rarely allow palace banquets to be held in Zihua Palace.

Chu Shitong arrived early, and there were only a few people in the hall.

Most of them were concubines of lower status in the harem.

What surprised her was that Concubine Hui had already taken her seat with the Eighth Princess Chu Chaolu.

Chu Shitong couldn't just pass by without seeing him, so he had to say hello when he walked up to him.

"Empress Hui came early today."

She spoke in a friendly tone and put on the smiling face she usually wore when facing outsiders.

The Beiqing Dynasty did not have any strict rules regarding the way princes addressed concubines in the harem. Generally speaking, princes did not need to call concubines who were below the rank of concubine and had not given birth to children "Niangniang". The term "Niangniang" was not only used to address concubines with higher status in the harem.

As long as a woman gave birth to a prince or princess, she could be addressed by the title plus "Empress". Given Hui Guiren's status, Chu Shitong did not have to call himself "son minister".

Concubine Hui was adjusting the cuffs of Chu Shi Chaolu when she suddenly heard Chu Shitong's voice. She looked up in surprise, as if she was flattered.

"It turned out to be Xiao Qi."

Considering Concubine Hui's status, it is actually inappropriate to address her like this.

According to the rules of Beiqing, the status of a prince is higher than that of a concubine in the harem.

But Chu Shitong took the initiative to greet her and addressed her affectionately, so Concubine Hui also addressed her in the same way. After all, she was older, so there was nothing wrong with addressing her that way.

To others, it seemed as if Chu Shitong and Concubine Hui were very close.

Chu Shi Chaolu also raised her head and smiled at Chu Shitong. She was wearing a festive red flowery dress today, with two little buns tied up with red ribbons. She looked as cute as a lucky doll that walked out of a New Year picture.

Seeing Chu Shitong, he started jumping up and down with joy and stretched out his hands to throw himself at Chu Shitong.

"Seventh Brother! Mianmian, I haven't seen you for a long time!"

The little girl was not even as tall as Chu Shitong's waist. Chu Shitong touched her little head. It was clear that she was not touched at all. She even wanted to escape from this intimate contact. However, she still raised the corners of her lips and said in an intimate tone: "I haven't seen Mianmian for a long time."

Concubine Hui hurried forward and pulled Master Chu Chaolu back.

"Mianmian, I've told you so many times that you can't be so unruly at a palace banquet."

Chu Shitong pretended to persuade her, "It's okay. Mianmian is very cute. It's my honor to be liked by her."

Only then did Concubine Hui smile embarrassedly.

"Xiao Qi, I heard you were sick. Why did you come so early today? Are you feeling better now?"

"After several days of nursing, it is much better than before."

Chu Shi Zhaolu pulled Concubine Hui's sleeve, looked at her eagerly, and asked, "Mother, can I sit with my Seventh Brother?"

"How can that be possible? Everyone's seat at the palace banquet has been arranged and cannot be changed casually, otherwise your father will be angry."

When Master Chu Chaolu heard this, she immediately lowered her head in sadness.

Concubine Hui looked embarrassed and said with a dry laugh: "I'm sorry, Xiaoqi, I didn't teach Mianmian the rules well."

"Nothing." Chu Shitong pretended to be polite, "If Mianmian wants to sit next to me, I can just tell my father."

Master Chu Zhaolu suddenly raised his head, his grape-like black and shiny almond eyes full of anticipation.

"Really? Then I want to sit next to my seventh brother!"

Chu Shitong smiled and said nothing.

She was just being polite and created an image of herself as gentle, kind and easy to get along with.

If Concubine Hui had any brains, she would never agree to it.

Concubine Hui tried to pull Chu Shi Chaolu for a long time but couldn't move her. Despite her young age, she was as stubborn as a little bull and insisted on sticking to Chu Shitong.

Chu Shitong estimated that the time was about up and was about to say goodbye and take a seat when Concubine Hui suddenly said.

"Xiao Qi...why don't you let Mian Mian sit with you..."

Chu Shitong: “…”

The smile on his face almost couldn't be suppressed.

Hui Guiren's face was a little red, and she didn't dare to look at Chu Shitong. When she asked for help, her voice became weak and pleading, "This child, since I saw you at the last birthday party, he has been talking about you every day. You see... I really have no other choice..."

Chu Shitong had never felt so strange before.

This is the first time in my life that someone took my politeness seriously.

Damn it.

She was silent for a moment, but decided to continue playing the role of the good person. After all, it wouldn't be a big deal if Master Chu Chaolu had a little kid around her.

Chu Shitong took Chu Shichaolu's hand, as if they were real siblings, and said, "Then let Mianmian sit with me. Don't worry, Madam Hui, everything will be fine."

"Then I'll trouble you, Xiao Qi."

Chu Shitong had no idea how he had inexplicably brought Chu Shi Chaolu to sit down.

She was very young, but she was as noisy as a sparrow, and her eyes were always on Chu Shitong. Her eyes were glowing and her little mouth was chattering.

"Seventh Brother, I didn't have the time to look at you closely last time. Now I think you look even better!"

"Mianmian is also very beautiful. She will definitely be a great beauty when she grows up."

"Seventh brother, I have recently raised several silkworms. Mother said that when they grow up, I will be able to use the silk to weave cloth. Can I weave a purse for you then?"

A few silkworms.

A palm-sized purse.

Then you will have to keep spinning silk until the end of time.

Chu Shitong didn't want to speak directly. It was impossible to achieve anyway, so he just went along with what the little sparrow was thinking.

"Okay, then I'll wait and collect Mianmian's money."

"That's great. Brother Seven has agreed. Then Mianmian must raise us well!"

At this time, more and more people were entering the hall.

Mian Mian: "Seventh Brother, do you know how to write my name? Last time I saw my father's handwriting was so beautiful, I also want to write, Seventh Brother, can you teach me how to write my name?"

Chu Shitong: "If there is a chance, of course I can teach you."

Mianmian: "Seventh Brother, do you think the skirt I'm wearing today is pretty? The flowers on it were embroidered by my mother, who took her a long time to embroider. Feel it, it's soft and warm."

Chu Shitong: “…”

She patiently touched it twice and praised it against her will: "It is really great. Madam Hui has great skills and Mianmian is so lucky."

It was clearly just the most ordinary material, but Concubine Hui's superb embroidery skills made it look like one foot of cloth was worth ten taels of gold. From this, it seems that Concubine Hui was indeed not well off, and the birthday gift she gave last time must have been given with gritted teeth.

"Hehe." Mianmian giggled twice and said, "Then I'll ask mom to make one for you too?"

"Need not."

Chu Shitong casually took off a jade ring from his wrist and handed it to Chu Shi Chaolu.

"This is for Mian Mian."

Chu Shi Chaolu took it curiously, "Huh? I've seen this thing in the hands of my father and the Empress, but neither my mother nor I have it."

"Now I have it." Chu Shitong said, "If Empress Hui criticizes you for accepting my gift after you go back, you can tell her that this is my New Year's gift to you."

Master Chu Chaolu looked at the jade ring with curiosity. The jade color was pure and the emerald green was translucent. He couldn't let it go.

"Thank you, Seventh Brother! You are the best!"

In fact, it was purely by chance that Chu Shitong brought this jade ring today.

This was delivered to your house by Chu Shifeng two days ago. One can tell it is a top-notch item just by looking at its quality.

Chu Shitong finally came to his senses and decided to carry some things with him that would make him look less poor. However, less than half an hour after he had them with him, she was sent out to repay a favor.

Master Chu Chaolu took the ring and talked even more.

"Seventh Brother, do you know what "think twice before you act" means? My mother always taught me this, but I don't know what it means..."

"Seventh Brother, have you ever seen a black and white bird? Last time I was in the Imperial Garden..."

"Seventh Brother, why do you always wear black clothes? You look good in red too..."

Chu Shitong could manage to respond with a few perfunctory words at the beginning, but later on he just smiled patiently without saying anything.

She began to regret keeping this noisy little sparrow around.

......

The time is about right and everyone is here.

At Chu Shiyu's command, the New Year's Eve banquet began.

It was no different from previous years, but this year Chu Shitong felt like his ears were going deaf.

"Seventh Brother, please eat this cake. It's delicious."

Chu Shitong took the cake with a tired heart, took a bite, and said, "Mm, delicious."

After being affirmed, Master Chu Chaolu became even more enthusiastic, "Is that right? And this, this is delicious too."

Chu Shifeng was wearing a red robe today, which was quite rare. With his handsome and elegant face, it seemed as if his hidden beauty was fully revealed. The arrogance and unbridled laziness of the young man made his appearance so handsome that it could kill people.

He was sitting next to Chu Shitong. When he heard Chu Shizhaolu's chirping voice, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Xiaoqi, why did you bring her with you today?"

Chu Shitong pretended to be a good person and said, "Mianmian wanted to sit next to me. I thought she was cute, so I agreed."

Master Chu Chaolu looked over, and the moment she met Master Chu Feng's eyes, the smile in Master Chu Feng's eyes instantly faded, and his cold gaze scared her so much that she quickly hid behind Master Chu Tong.

Chu Shitong said: "Mianmian, this is the Sixth Brother, have you forgotten?"

Chu Shi Chaolu seemed to be very afraid of Chu Shifeng, and whispered: "Mianmian has not forgotten... Hello, Sixth Brother..."

Chu Shifeng just glanced at her coldly and said, "This little girl talks too much."

"Royal brother, Mianmian is still young, don't scare her." Chu Shitong said.

"I didn't scare her. She was useless. She got scared just by looking at me."

Chu Shitong also didn't understand why Chu Shi Chaolu was afraid of Chu Shifeng.

And... Chu Shifeng seemed to be very hostile to Chu Shizhaolu? They had almost no contact and had only met a few times.

You can't think like that, after all, Chu Shifeng seems to be very hostile to many people.

Chu Shifeng turned his head away, and Chu Shi Chaolu sat back down. After a short while of silence, he started chattering again.

"Seventh Brother..."

Chu Shitong was so annoyed that he wanted to kill someone, and his eyes accidentally swept over Chu Shixuan who was not far away.

He was dressed in white, sitting upright and elegantly, sipping tea nonchalantly.

Chu Shitong suddenly had an idea and said to Chu Shizhaolu, "Mianmian, you haven't seen your eldest brother for a long time, right? Now that you finally see him, why don't you go and play with him for a while?"