The little cannon fodder kept releasing melons, and people lined up to eat melons

"Meet the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and Princess Zhaoyang..."

"Meet the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and Princess Zhaoyang..."

"Meet the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and Princess Zhaoyang..."

A group of nobles and ladies all bowed and saluted. The prince smiled and nodded politely and said, "Today's gathering is just for fun, no need for courtesy. Fourth brother, you are here? I was wondering why I didn't see you and my second brother. It turns out you have arrived a long time ago. Why isn't my second brother with you?"

Murong Jingchu smiled and said: "I have only been here for a short while, and I haven't seen the Second Brother yet..."

"I heard you talking about me from a distance..."

The person who spoke was the second prince Murong Jingsheng, and coming with him was Song Chengyan. When the people present saw that it was the second prince, they hurriedly saluted.

When the prince saw Song Chengyan walking with the second prince, his eyes looked a little strange, but he just smiled.

"I just heard that you all were praising Miss Xiao's paintings. Prince, my brothers, let's go take a look together!"

Murong Jingyi had been obsessed with Xiao Noning, the concubine of the Prince of Huai's mansion, since he met her at the palace banquet. However, every time he tried to strike up a conversation with her, Xiao Noning always acted appropriately, which made him feel itchy. Now that he saw his beloved again, he couldn't help but want to get closer to her.

The prince is not without a favorable impression of Xiao Noning, but his mother seems to prefer Princess Changle of the Prince of Huai's Mansion, and intends to ask his father to grant the marriage.

Some time ago, the previous prince of the Huai Palace displeased my father, so my mother did not mention the matter. However, now the previous prince is dead, and my father does not have any dissatisfaction with the Huai Prince.

I think the Queen Mother will still try her best to promote this marriage. As long as it is beneficial to his status, he doesn't mind marrying Princess Changle, but Xiao Noning is more to his liking. If there is a chance in the future, he doesn't mind taking her as a concubine.

The prince nodded and led the way to the pavilion, with the people around him following him.

[The Second Prince is here, and his mistress is here too... I wonder if their relationship will warm up? ? ? Calculating the date, the Second Prince should be deciding on a concubine soon, right? Will there be any changes to the concubine? ? ]

Song Qianning looked at the Second Prince Murong Jingsheng in the crowd and sighed, saying that the concubine didn't seem to be very interested in him at the moment.

Song Qianning looked at Song Qianyu who was standing next to her like a piece of wood. It was hard for her to believe that this guy had not shown any emotion at all when he saw these princes from the beginning until now. The auntie who was eating melons on the street would gossip about the rich second generation when she saw them, but Song Qianyu was different. She was staring with dead eyes now, and no one knew what she was thinking.

This half-baked master is really amazing. Those involved in pyramid schemes have to admit defeat when they see him. Look how thoroughly he brainwashed Song Qianyu.

When Murong Jingchu heard the word "female protagonist", his eyes were full of murderous intent. The legendary empress, did that mean she was here? ?

It seems that this person will become the second imperial brother's second imperial concubine? ? Yes, she can become the queen and finally the empress, so this person must be the second imperial brother's wife.

In order to prevent the second prince from becoming a sinner for all eternity, there are only two options. One is to end his chance of becoming an emperor, but the imperial physician said that he would not live past twenty. He did not have time to wait, and there was no guarantee that there would be no accidents. That was only the last option - to kill this woman to eliminate the trouble once and for all.

The prince admired Xiao Nuoning's poems and paintings, his eyes full of smiles, and couldn't help but praise: "Miss Xiao is indeed talented..."

Xiao Nuoning didn't show any sign of ecstasy on her face, she just said lightly: "Your Highness, you are too kind..."

The fifth prince Murong Jingyi became even more distracted when he saw Xiao Noning's beautiful facial features.

Princess Zhaoyang was very dissatisfied when she saw that her brothers' eyes were all on this concubine's daughter, especially the Crown Prince. Her mother said that it would be a great help to the Crown Prince's status if he married the legitimate daughter of Prince Huai's Mansion, not a concubine's daughter.

In order to bring the Crown Prince and Princess Changle together, Princess Zhaoyang deliberately said, "Crown Prince, you have read poems and seen paintings, why don't you appreciate something else! I just heard Sister Jiayi play the piano very well, how about we let Sister Jiayi play another piece?"

The prince knew what his sister was thinking, so he put down the rice paper and said, "Then let's all listen..."

When Princess Changle heard that the Crown Prince and several princes wanted to listen to her play the zither, she was immediately delighted, but she tried to control herself and smiled politely, saying, "Then please move to another pavilion, my zither is there..."

The group of people moved to another pavilion in a mighty procession, and everyone listened quietly to Princess Changle playing the piano.

No one noticed someone was absent...

Behind the rockery, the Third Prince was standing with King Liang, who was looking at the Third Prince with a loving face.

"Uncle, last time General Zhao Yang failed to defeat the Marquis of Zhenbei as he wished, he was dismissed from his post. What a pity."

"The original intention was to use Zhao Yang as a pawn to reveal Song Boyan's affairs to the prince's party, and use the Queen's mother's family, Grand Tutor Sun, to bring down the Zhenbei Marquis. In the end, he failed."

"Uncle, the Marquis of Zhenbei has a close relationship with my fourth brother, and my fourth brother is close to my second brother. Unless the Marquis of Zhenbei can be used by us, it will be disadvantageous to us in the end."

King Liang stroked his beard, and after a moment's silence, he said: "Since our plan has failed, have you ever thought of another way?"

Murong Jingchen understood and said, "Uncle Emperor is talking about asking Father to marry the legitimate daughter of the Zhenbei Marquisate?"

"That's right. As long as you become a relative of the Zhenbei Marquis, you don't have to worry about the Zhenbei Marquis not standing on your side. As for the Fourth Prince, the imperial physician has said that he will not live past the age of twenty, so there is nothing to worry about."

Murong Jingchen said with some concern: "But if the Marquis of Zhenbei disagrees..."

King Liang said nonchalantly: "Hey! Everything depends on human effort! If the Marquis of Zhenbei really doesn't want to, we can use some tricks. If the Marquis of Zhenbei's legitimate daughter loses her virginity to you, is it still up to him to disagree?"

Murong Jingchen smiled and said, "What the emperor's uncle said makes sense..."

"Okay, the competition is about to start. If you disappear for too long, it will arouse suspicion. Let's go!"

Murong Jingchen nodded and left quickly with King Liang. They did not notice the two people on the other side of the rockery.

When Song Chengyan saw the person walking away, he came to his senses and realized that he was still covering the mouth of this strange woman. He quickly withdrew his hand and said, "Sorry! The situation was urgent just now, and I had to do it in an emergency. I had to... I apologize for the offense."

Ling Yanran shook her head and said: "It's not your fault. If it weren't for you, I would have walked out like this and I wouldn't know what would happen. Instead, I have to thank you."

It turned out that when Prince Liang and the Third Prince were talking, Ling Yanran walked alone to the rockery. She heard voices talking behind her. Curious, she wanted to go forward to find out what was going on, but was suddenly hugged by someone. She was so scared that she wanted to scream, but someone covered her mouth. She only calmed down when she saw who was coming.

Is it him? ? The prince Song of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion was not only the top martial arts scholar at a young age, but also had been awarded many times for accompanying his father on military campaigns. He had seen him from a distance at several palace banquets before.

Such a close contact made her heart beat faster. Song Chengyan didn't know what she was thinking. He just listened attentively to the conversation between the two people behind the rockery. Occasionally, his eyes fell on Ling Yanran's face. He put his index finger to his mouth and made a hushing sound.

Ling Yanran's cheeks suddenly felt hot for no reason as she was being stared at from such a close distance.

Thinking of his rudeness just now, Song Chengyan clasped his fists and bowed, and said: "I was really rude just now. I am Song Chengyan. May I know your name, young lady?"

Ling Yanran returned the greeting and said, "My surname is Ling and my name is Yanran. I am the third daughter of the Minister of Rites’ residence."

Song Chengyan suddenly thought of something and said: "Ling Bai and you?"

"It's my brother..."

"So you are Ling Bai's sister. My apologies... By the way, we can't stay here for long. Miss Ling San, you should leave as soon as possible!"

After Song Chengyan finished speaking, he left quickly. Ling Yanran looked at his departing back and subconsciously placed her hand on her chest - her heart was still pounding.