Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

After the princess and the third prince played a round, everyone understood the meaning of gambling on stones. Liuli stepped forward and explained it again.

"In fact, the real gambling on jade is that the seller puts the jade out and the buyer pays to choose. The seller takes the money and the buyer takes the goods. But the seller is not responsible for whether the jade is produced or not. The buyer bears all the profits and losses. This is the real gambling on jade. But today we changed it to this form just to add some fun to the banquet."

Everyone at the table nodded.

"Jiashan, do you want to try your luck?"

When Xiao Zuochen called her, Jiashan's expression was not very happy. She thought that her cousin Chen would bring some fun gifts for her, but the gift turned out to be for the eldest princess. But when she heard Xiao Zuochen calling her, she adjusted her expression and responded with a smile.

"Okay, but Jiashan hasn't had her coming-of-age ceremony yet, so she can't drink."

Princess Jiashan walked to the center and said that she didn't drink.

"It's okay. Rules are made by people. Let's change the punishment this time. How about the winner taking an item from the loser?"

Xiao Zuochen made a new proposal.

"this..."

Princess Jiashan hesitated for a moment. It didn’t seem right to take other people’s things, right?

Xiao Zuochen whispered to her.

"You will get a gift only if you beat me."

It turned out that Xiao Zuochen had prepared another gift for Jiashan, but this gift did not catch the princess's eye, so he did not show it to her openly.

After hearing this, Jiashan seemed to understand what he meant and nodded quickly like a chick pecking at rice.

Just when Xiao Zuochen was about to say that he was going to play a game with Jiashan, another announcement came from outside the door -

"The fourth princess has arrived~"

Now everyone started talking again.

The banquet has already started for a long time, but the Fourth Princess has just arrived. Could it be that she is not giving face to the Eldest Princess?

But it is also true that although the fourth princess's biological mother was a palace maid, because the emperor only had this one princess, he naturally doted on her. Between his daughter and his sister, the emperor should prefer his daughter.

Before the fourth princess entered the hall, everyone stood up and saluted. The fourth princess waved her hand casually, indicating that they didn't need to salute. Then she walked to the center and slowly saluted the eldest princess who was sitting in the main seat.

When everyone looked up, they realized that the Fourth Princess was dressed too dazzlingly today. She wore a golden crown adorned with pearls and jade, a long pink dress embroidered with blooming peonies, and a slightly exaggerated makeup on her face. Did the Fourth Princess seem to have... offended the maid who was doing the laundry?

This outfit looks too rich. Although the fourth princess is one year older than Xiao Zuochen, she has lived in the palace for a long time, has no sisters competing for favor, and has not yet married. Her mind is much simpler and she looks like a child. This outfit is really not suitable for her.

The princess looked at her unkindly. It seemed that this person was here to cause trouble!

"Jinhuan, did you bring any gift for your cousin?"

Xiao Jinhuan is the name of the fourth princess.

The eldest princess asked her directly in front of everyone, which surprised the fourth princess. She really hadn't prepared a gift for this cousin. Because she didn't want to come today, she didn't have much in common with this cousin. It was the queen who insisted that she go out of the palace to play with other sisters and improve their relationship, so she was sent here by the palace maid.

Because there was only this princess in the palace, the fourth princess had no sisters in the palace. The daughters of the aristocratic families disdained to associate with someone with a tainted background like her, and those who didn't care about her background, or wanted to take advantage of her status, were not high-ranking officials themselves, and their daughters could not enter the palace without an imperial edict and come into contact with the fourth princess.

As if noticing the Fourth Princess' embarrassment, Xiao Zuochen came to Xiao Jinhuan's side.

"It just so happens that Princess Jiashan is about to play a round of gambling on stones with someone. The winner can take something he likes from the other person. How about playing with the princess?"

The fourth princess looked at Xiao Zuochen in confusion. Was he helping her? She didn't remember any relationship between them.

But before the Fourth Princess could think about anything else, Xiao Zuochen pushed her to the table and asked Liuli to give her a brief explanation.

This silly sister understood that the queen was just being pushed out as a chess piece.

"Royal sister, please!"

The Fourth Princess didn't want to gamble, but she did not bring any gifts, so she could only follow Xiao Zuochen's arrangements.

Just like the first round, the two of them chose jade. However, the fourth princess had to lose this round because she had to give a gift to Princess Jiashan. So when choosing the stone, Xiao Zuochen secretly gave Jiashan a hint and let her choose the best jade. Naturally, Princess Jiashan won, and the fourth princess pouted and looked unhappy.

"Sister, Princess Jiashan won, so let her pick out a piece of jewelry as a gift~"

Xiao Zuochen reminded her that she didn't bring any gift in the first place, so since she lost, she could just give one to someone else.

But Princess Jiashan looked around and found that the four princesses were all dressed in gold, which really displeased her. At this time, Xiao Zuochen whispered to Jiashan that if she didn't like any of them, she could just pick the most expensive one and exchange it for money.

Jiashan chuckled upon hearing this, causing everyone to be curious about what Prince Yun had said.

Finally, the Lord of Jiashan County asked for the golden crown on the head of the fourth princess, which was the reward given to her by the Queen before she left the palace. Although it was a reward, the Queen had to keep it for her after she returned. She herself hadn't even warmed it up yet!

But she had to accept the defeat and she couldn't cheat in front of so many people.

Fortunately, the eldest princess was also an experienced person. Although the fourth princess did not bring any gifts, if she directly asked for the fourth princess's golden crown as a gift, it would inevitably cause criticism and would also give the queen a chance to talk. So she gave the jade stone that Princess Jiashan had opened to the fourth princess, and set up a table and chairs for Princess Jiashan beside her. Many ministers present praised the eldest princess's actions.

Only the naive Fourth Princess stared blankly at the jade placed beside her. She didn't know what to do with it later. Was she just going to take it back and leave it there?

Xiao Zuochen, who was standing by, asked the housekeeper of the princess's mansion to put the jade away, and spoke as if to help the Fourth Princess resolve her doubts.

"After the jade is cut, if you have a jewelry style you like, you can take the jade and the drawing to the Mi Jin Pavilion, and the craftsmen there will make it for you. If you don't know what style to design, you can take a look at some of the styles in the Mi Jin Pavilion for reference."

Some officials at the table heard this and asked curiously.

"Could it be that His Royal Highness Prince Yun is the boss behind this Mi Jin Pavilion?"

Xiao Zuochen denied it with a smile.

“I just know the boss.”

After this part, it was time for the song and dance performance. The central performer was doing the performance while the others were chatting in groups of two or three. The younger generation didn't like watching the performances, so they all went to play in the garden.

"Mother~"

When Princess Jiashan saw that her younger sisters had left their seats, she could no longer hold back and looked at the eldest princess with anticipation.

"Go."

The eldest princess knew that she couldn't sit still, and today was her birthday, so she just let her go.

Jiashan jumped up happily because she had to pass by the Fourth Princess on her way out. Originally, she didn't want to play with the Fourth Princess, but out of politeness, she still asked.

"Cousin Huan, do you want to play with us?"

The fourth princess couldn't sit still for a long time. When she heard Princess Jiashan's invitation, she nodded immediately. Then she followed Princess Jiashan out.