The reborn girl always wants to escape, but the abstinent marquis hugs her and coaxes her!

Chapter 11: Belated Love is Cheaper than Grass

At the Qixi Festival banquet in the seventeenth year of Jingyuan, the emperor issued an edict:

Xu Rongrong, the daughter of a councilor of the Ministry of Works, was married to Weiyuan Hou Mu Rong as his legal wife.

This year's feast has come to an end.

The difference from when they came was that the low-ranking officials’ families would be the last to leave.

When the Xu family walked out of Zhengyang Palace, there were very few people around them, and Weiyuan Hou Mu Rong was even more conspicuous.

He stood with his hands clasped together, standing under the moonlight, his long green robe seemed even more elegant.

Xu Chaoqian hurried forward and bowed, "Greetings, Lord Marquis."

Mu Rong returned the greeting: "It's late at night and the dew is heavy. Sir Xu, please go first. I will escort Miss Xu out of the palace." Before Xu Chaoqian could speak, Xu Liushi stepped forward and said, "Isn't this inappropriate? After all, it's still..."

"Suitable! Suitable!" Xu Chaoqian pulled Xu Liu aside and said with a smile, "Sister Rong is entering the palace for the first time. She wants to take advantage of the moonlight to stroll around the palace. I'll trouble you, my Lord."

After saying that, he hurriedly pulled Xu Liu away.

The eunuch who was left leading the way was stunned.

Mu Rong glanced at the eunuch and said, "I'm here to see Miss Xu off."

The eunuch quickly stepped back.

Xu Rongrong didn't move. She lowered her eyelids, her long, black-feathered eyelashes trembling slightly, appearing even more lively against her snow-white skin. However, her brows were slightly furrowed, and her thin lips were slightly pursed, as if she was suppressing a surge of anger.

"I don't understand what the Marquis did today."

"What's the confusion?"

"My father is a councilor in the Ministry of Works, and the Marquis is a first-rank Marquis of Weiyuan. I'm afraid we don't even see each other on a regular basis, so how can we even talk about friendship? My daughter is confined to the backyard, while the Marquis is on the battlefield. Today's banquet is probably the first time the Marquis has seen me, right? How can he be happy?"

"Miss Xu, do you know what love at first sight is?"

Mu Rong was very tall, and his shadow fell on Xu Rongrong, intertwining their figures on the ground.

Coupled with his expression at the moment, the atmosphere was indescribably charming.

If it were any other girl, she would probably be drunk by now.

But Xu Rongrong was no ordinary girl. She took a step back and said, "My Lord, you are joking. I have no other strengths except self-knowledge."

Her evasion made Mu Rong somewhat helpless, and he could only make a gesture of invitation: "It's getting late, I will escort Miss Xu out of the palace first."

Xu Rongrong couldn't refuse and had to follow him.

Zhengyang Palace was about an incense stick's worth of distance from the palace gate. Mu Rong kept slowing down his pace, wanting to walk side by side with the girl. Meanwhile, the girl kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, her heart calm.

"The eldest son of Marquis Changxing behaved inappropriately in front of the palace. Was it Miss Xu's fault?" Mu Rong broke the silence.

Xu Rongrong paused and said, "I don't understand what the Marquis means."

Mu Rong glanced at the sachet around her waist. "Wuping, the son of the Marquis of Changxing, is a well-known playboy in the capital, a master of all things gluttony and pleasure. How could he have vomited like that after just a few drinks and fruits at the Qixi Festival banquet? If I'm not mistaken, Miss Xu's sachet contains the traditional Chinese medicine Changshan, right?"

The Chinese medicine Changshan has the effect of inducing sputum. Xu Rongrong asked Luo Shu to buy it on the pretext of asking the palace doctor for medicine. She hid it on her body and brought it to the Qixi Festival banquet just in case. Unexpectedly, she hid it from the imperial physician, but he saw through it at a glance.

Xu Rongrong did not deny: "The Marquis is smart."

Mu Rong continued, "It is extremely risky to drug the Qixi Festival banquet. If His Majesty investigates strictly, how will you get out of this?" He was quite thoughtful in his words, and Xu Rongrong had no choice but to answer.

In her previous life, not long after the Qixi Festival banquet, the Emperor reprimanded Marquis Changxing for his lax management of the household due to Wu Ping's romantic debts, ultimately stripping him of his title. This showed how much the Emperor loathed the insolent Changxing Marquis family. So, she replied, "Every dish at the Qixi Festival banquet was personally arranged by the Empress. The Emperor and Empress are one, so Your Majesty would certainly not compromise the Empress's reputation for a notorious playboy."

Mu Rong then asked, "But even if you survive tonight, what will you do if the Marquis of Changxing uses his status to pressure you into marrying him?"

"So, the Marquis asked His Majesty for the gift in order to save me?" Xu Rongrong stopped and looked up at Mu Rong.

The latter remained silent, seemingly pondering how to respond.

But Xu Rongrong didn't give him time. "Thank you for your kindness, Lord Marquis, but how did you know I wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath? Do you think marriage can save me? But do you know that living with someone you don't love is like being imprisoned? You think you're saving them, but you're actually harming them and yourself." Her bluntness caught Mu Rong, known as the dream lover of every young woman in the capital, off guard. He hesitated, "You... you really don't want to marry me at all?"

Xu Rongrong sneered: "My Lord, you are too confident!"

In her previous life, she held him dear to her heart, but he didn't know how to cherish him; in this life, she disliked him so obviously, but he still clung to her?

Oh... men! Belated affection is cheaper than grass. The ancients were right!

Xu Rongrong raised her head and said, "I don't know what I did wrong to make you mistakenly think that I am attracted to you."

Mu Rong said sadly: "I am too abrupt."

The atmosphere was a little awkward, but fortunately it was resolved by a man's voice from the side: "Brother Rong, walk slowly."

Mu Rong stopped and looked in the direction of the voice. It was Crown Prince Wu Tianao and the Crown Princess coming together.

Xu Rongrong had no choice but to stop and, after bringing the nobleman to the scene, he and Mu Rong went to greet each other. The prince waved his hand, glanced at Xu Rongrong and said, "I couldn't see clearly just now, but now I see, I have to say that Rong'er has good taste."

"Your Highness is too kind."

The prince bowed slightly, smiling broadly as he said to Xu Rongrong, "Although my cousin is cold-hearted, he has rejected countless young ladies in the capital, breaking their dreams and causing them heartbreak. It is a blessing for you, a girl, to be able to ask for his hand in marriage in public today. You must serve him well from now on."

Xu Rongrong was annoyed in her heart, but she couldn't show it on her face.

Looking at the prince's face full of spring, she always felt that something was wrong.

Without waiting for her response, the Crown Prince smiled and patted Mu Rong's shoulder, lowering his voice and saying, "Regarding my brother-in-law's matter... Thank you, Rong'er, for reminding me. Otherwise, I would have been implicated by him and would not have been able to explain myself to my father. The Crown Princess and I have come here specifically to thank Rong'er."

As he was speaking, the Crown Princess Yingying came online and offered a token of gratitude: "My younger brother was favored by our parents and nearly made a serious mistake that implicated the Crown Prince. Thank you, Brother Rong, for your help."

Mu Rong turned aside, not daring to accept the gift.

But these words were like a thunderbolt exploding in the darkness of night in Xu Rongrong's heart!

She remembered that in her previous life, the Crown Princess's younger brother believed the words of his retainers and occupied the salt mountain in Jiangxia. The Second Prince learned about this and ordered someone to report the Crown Prince at the court meeting.

The salt industry was the destiny of the nation, and the prince's brother-in-law had dared to seize it. This was a matter of grave concern! The emperor therefore ordered the prince's brother-in-law to be executed, and the prince was confined to the Eastern Palace for his lax governance. During the Qixi Festival banquet in his previous life, the prince had only just been released from confinement, and his demeanor was drastically different from his current one. Forget joking and joking at the banquet; he probably wouldn't even dare to breathe.

It turned out that the prince's crisis was resolved by Mu Rong.

But... how did Mu Rong know this? Could he be the same as me?

Xu Rongrong's heart was filled with gloom. She clasped her hands involuntarily and looked at Mu Rong with her lips tightly pursed.

Mu Rong smiled faintly and replied, "Your Highness, you are too serious. It was just a few days ago when Mu Ai led his troops through Jiangxia that I got the news by chance."

The prince nodded and said, "Thanks to Rong Ge'er's right-hand men! Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous."

"This is my duty."

The prince had already shown sufficient humility; being too humble would only affect his status. So he nodded and said, "When you get married, I will definitely give you a generous gift! Your Yue family is not relegated to being a sixth-rank family. I will definitely support him in the future!"

Xu Rongrong: “…” That’s not necessary.

The Crown Princess glanced at Xu Rongrong standing beside her, took off a plum blossom gilded hairpin from her head, and inserted it into the girl's hair: "A beautiful girl like Miss Xu deserves such exquisite jewelry. When Miss Xu and Rong'er get married, I will go to the Xu Mansion to add makeup to Miss Xu's face."

Xu Rongrong frowned slightly. In her previous life, the Crown Princess had held a grudge against her because of the Crown Prince's drunken jokes, and even wanted to offer her to the Emperor. Now he was acting in this manner, which made her very uncomfortable.

Her body stiffened a little, and she subconsciously wanted to step back.

Mu Rong quickly stood in front of her, blocking half of her body. "On behalf of Miss Xu, I would like to thank the Crown Princess for her kindness."

The Crown Prince pulled the Crown Princess over and said, "Look at how well Rong Ge'er is protecting people. Let's stop being an eyesore here! Let's go back to the palace."

After saying this, the prince laughed and left side by side with the princess.

Xu Rongrong's doubts remained, and after they left, she tentatively asked, "Your Highness the Crown Prince owes Marquis Weiyuan a great favor."

Mu Rong smiled and said, "It's not that serious. It's just that Mu Ai and his men are not accustomed to the climate in the south of the Yangtze River. Many soldiers in the army have suffered emergencies, so they had no choice but to reroute to Jiangxia. Speaking of which, they violated military regulations and will be severely punished."

No wonder the prince in his previous life didn’t get the news in advance. It turned out that there was this additional variable.

Xu Rongrong felt slightly relieved.