I want to be innocent, but they don't allow me

The first day of the first lunar month in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwen.

In the Xing Dynasty, there was also a custom of staying up all night to celebrate the New Year.

Last night, the emperor held a banquet for his ministers.

This time of year is not only for New Year's Eve, but also the birthday of the current Crown Prince.

However, a piece of news from the Dark Ice Guard caused Emperor Hongwen to leave the meeting midway.

Many ministers even speculated whether the prince had done something to anger His Majesty.

Only a few people know that it is because the Prince of Yan has entered the third floor of the Confucian School for four days, and there is still no news.

...

Prime Minister's Mansion, a small inner courtyard.

Zhao Chuyi stood outside the fence with her hands on her waist, looking up, and shouted angrily:

"Lu Jianjia, today is my birthday, are you really not going to see me?"

Shanshan, who was far away, imitated Zhao Chuyi's actions and stared at the maids and servants who were watching, but her eyes were full of worry.

"The first day of the new year, peace and strength!"

At this moment, the door of the courtyard suddenly opened, and Lu Jianjia, wearing a white shirt and skirt and a white veil over her eyes, walked out of the house with lotus steps.

Behind him, Ye Miaomiao, dressed as a maid, trotted to the fence and opened it.

No one knew when this fence gate was installed, but it was not there when Li Mu came last time.

Zhao Chuyi glanced at Ye Miaomiao who came to open the door, and a strange color flashed in her eyes. She was obviously amazed by her appearance, and asked casually:

"Where's Xiaoli?"

Lu Jianjia smiled faintly and said in a gentle tone: "I let her leave the house and get married."

Zhao Chuyi then noticed the white veil covering Lu Jianjia's eyes. Her expression tensed and she frowned as she asked:

"What's wrong with your eyes? Do you want to ask Sima Ming from Ruoshui Hall to take a look?"

Lu Jianjia raised her hand to remove the veil from her eyes and shook her head:

"It's okay. I just want to know what it feels like to not be able to see."

Zhao Chuyi was obviously relieved to see that Lu Jianjia was fine, and walked straight into the house, saying unhappily:

"You once said that you would play the piano for me every birthday. I waited for you in the palace all morning but you didn't show up, so I came to find you!"

Hearing this, Lu Jianjia paused, wanting to say something but stopping herself: "Chuyi, I..."

Zhao Chuyi was startled, and suddenly turned to look at Lu Jianjia, carefully looking at her for a long while, then trotted over to her, touched her forehead and asked:

"Are you sick? Why are you so hesitant in your speech?"

Seeing the anxiety and concern on Zhao Chuyi's face, Lu Jianjia sighed slightly:

"I just don't know how to start."

Zhao Chuyi glanced at Lu Jianjia, frowned, and said:

"Are you talking about the arranged marriage?"

"Ah."

"This is what Prime Minister Lu and the Emperor wanted. What can you do about it?"

Zhao Chuyi shrugged, then was slightly stunned and asked: "How do you know about me and the young master..."

Lu Jianjia smiled and glanced at Ye Miaomiao: "Miaomiao said so."

Zhao Chuyi turned and looked at Ye Miaomiao.

Seeing this, Ye Miaomiao quickly knelt down and saluted, and said honestly: "Although the princess ran away from marriage, she went to the exquisite waterside pavilion of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as soon as she came back, so I asked around a little."

Zhao Chuyi waved her hands, not caring about it. She just looked at Lu Jianjia with some curiosity and asked:

"What's wrong with you? You seem like a different person. Is it because of the engagement?"

Lu Jianjia shook her head: "Someone told me that I should care about the people around me. Apart from my parents, you are the one I want to care about the most."

"Oh my god, who is so capable that he can persuade our Fairy Lu?"

Zhao Chuyi exclaimed, and her tone and expression were very similar to Li Mu's usual demeanor.

Seeing this scene, Lu Jianjia was slightly stunned, but when she thought of the person Zhao Chuyi was asking about, her face immediately turned red and she felt a little embarrassed.

Zhao Chuyi immediately slammed the table and pointed at Lu Jianjia and said:

"You are such a good person, Lu Jianjia. You are hiding something from me. The young master was assigned to you by our father, and I didn't bother with you. But you are hiding something from me."

"You know me, I don't want to..."

Lu Jianjia's face changed. Before, she actually had no feelings about marrying the Prince of Yan.

But she never thought that this matter would involve two people she cared about at the same time.

"Okay, okay, just tell me, are you going to say it or not?"

Zhao Chuyi waved her hands, looking impatient.

Lu Jianjia pursed her lips slightly, frowned and pondered.

However, this scene almost made Zhao Chuyi's jaw drop.

From childhood to adulthood, she had never seen Lu Jianjia like this.

Just when she was in a daze, she heard Lu Jianjia say in a mosquito-like voice:

"I met a man in Qiuzhou City..."

Listening to Lu Jianjia telling the story of how she met Li Mu.

Look at her face again, the irrepressible spring color.

Zhao Chuyi even doubted whether she was dreaming.

Even after Lu Jianjia finished speaking, he still couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.

"First grade of junior high school?"

"Huh? Hmm!"

Zhao Chuyi regained her senses, then looked at Lu Jianjia in astonishment and asked anxiously:

"So, you don't know each other's identities?"

"Ah."

Lu Jianjia nodded and hummed softly.

Zhao Chuyi raised an ambiguous smile, glanced at the veil in Lu Jianjia's hand, raised her hand and drew two strokes on her eyes:

"So, you were thinking about that person just now?"

Lu Jianjia's face turned red and she lowered her head shyly.

Seeing this, Zhao Chuyi's eyes flashed with some relief, and he said teasingly:

"It turns out that you are not an iceberg. It's just that you haven't encountered the fire that can melt you."

"No, that's not the case. He and I are innocent. We are just normal boyfriend and girlfriend."

Lu Jianjia lowered her head and defended herself.

However, when Zhao Chuyi heard this, she was stunned.

Having been with Li Mu for such a long time, she had naturally heard these words from Li Mu and understood their meaning.

After thinking for a while, he shook his head secretly and asked:

"What's the man's name? You can't call him brother and concubine sister, right? Tell me and I'll ask my brother to find him for you."

Lu Jianjia's eyes lit up, and she was obviously moved, but she still sighed slightly and said:

"I left early that day because he was acquainted with the Prince of Yan. If the Prince of Yan knew about this, I was afraid that he would..."

"Will it be bad for him?"

Zhao Chuyi continued.

Lu Jianjia nodded and said seriously:

"He said that men are stingy. If he..."

Unexpectedly, before he could finish his words, Zhao Chuyi interrupted him:

"He said, he said, he said, look at you, are you still Lu Jianjia? Besides, my young master is not stingy!"

Hearing this, Shanshan, who was trying hard to imitate Ye Miaomiao's standing posture, glanced over here. The look in her eyes clearly showed that she disagreed with what Zhao Chuyi said.

"You are the same, calling your young master your young master. Princess Yunhe, if you don't know her, you might think she is just a maidservant in Prince Yan's mansion."

After he finished speaking, there was silence for a while, and then both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

"You only care about me. I'm afraid you don't know about other things. Do you know what the most rampant rumor out there is right now?"

Zhao Chuyi stroked her chest with her small hand, took two deep breaths and asked.

"what?"

"The ninth son of King Jiang, in order to win the favor of the beauty, challenges the crown prince of King Yan to a duel."

Zhao Chuyi said, but her tone was obviously contemptuous.

"The prince agreed? He wants to fight Song Chi for me?"

Lu Jianjia frowned, obviously unhappy.

"Of course I agreed, but I said it was for your sake as well."

Zhao Chuyi smiled, but this smile looked a little cunning.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Young Master is probably up to something, planning to lose to Song Chi and use the opportunity to postpone the marriage. It's a pity that he doesn't understand Father."

Zhao Chuyi said it all in one sentence. She believed she understood Li Mu's thoughts better than anyone else.

"really?"

Lu Jianjia's eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to confirm.

"nature!"

Zhao Chuyi nodded and said seriously: "So, you told me, I asked my brother to find someone, and you two lived together. The young master was so happy that he couldn't wait to understand my worries."

Lu Jianjia was very happy at this moment, and did not notice the strangeness in Zhao Chuyi's words. She thought for a moment and said:

"I told her my name was Caiwei, and she said her name was Shiwu, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

Just as he finished speaking, there was a loud thud in the house.

When they heard the sound, they looked and saw Shanshan lying on the ground with a shocked expression, looking up at Lu Jianjia.