A crown princess who doesn't do infrastructure construction isn't a good doctor.

"Don't move! Stand still!"

Lu Xi was utterly exhausted trying to hold back Beitang Yan, who was about to explode.

"Don't pull me, they're talking badly about my wife."

Fearing that others would notice, Lu Xi had to set up a small distraction before continuing her argument with Beitang Yan.

How do you know they're talking about Youyou?

"I just know it!"

"They're so far apart, how do you know what they're talking about?"

Beitang Yan frowned: "I heard it."

Suffocated by Beitang Yan's gaze, which seemed to look at him as if he were an idiot, Lu Xi took a deep breath to calm his irritable mood and gritted his teeth, saying, "I think you're not even human."

"You're not human! Don't pull me, I'm going to teach them a lesson!"

Lu Xi couldn't talk back after being scolded, after all, he really wasn't human. But seeing that Beitang Yan was still angry and about to go and wreak havoc on the place where the young masters and young ladies were sitting, he still had to patiently stop him.

"There are so many people here. If you do this, you'll cause trouble. You can deal with them later. There's no need to rush."

"How late will you be?"

Lu Xi used all her strength to restrain Bei Tang Yan warily. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Didn't you ask Da Bao to teach that Xuanping Marquis's heir a lesson and have him do it on the side? There's no need to do it yourself now. Otherwise, you'll cause trouble for Youyou. See how he deals with you then!"

Beitang Yan wasn't afraid of causing trouble or being punished, but he was afraid of causing trouble for his wife, so he reluctantly kept quiet for a while, and then continued to stare at Qin Suiyou, who was separated from him by the two ladies.

Qin Suiyou seemed to sense something, turned around and glanced back, as if he knew what had happened, and subtly reassured Beitang Yan with his eyes.

Princess Yong'an, seated at the head of the table, gracefully picked up her chopsticks and tasted a bite of the dish.

Then he looked up at Qin Suiyou and asked, "Child, what's your name?"

Qin Suiyou put down his chopsticks, lowered his eyes, and replied respectfully, "Your Highness, my surname is Qin, and my given name is Suiyou."

Princess Yong'an, seemingly displeased, said, "You've been married to Yan'er for so long, you're practically my nephew, why are you still so distant? You don't even call me 'aunt'?"

Qin Suiyou hesitated, and he and Princess Tongan exchanged glances for a moment.

Princess An understood and said, "It's also my fault. I haven't brought him out to meet my elder sister. This child is very shy. Come, Suiyou, greet your aunt."

Qin Suiyou rose as instructed, bowed, and then toasted Princess Yong'an.

Princess Yong'an smiled and agreed, then occasionally asked Qin Suiyou some trivial questions.

"Is Minister Qin your own uncle?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, he is my uncle, but he treats me like his own son. When I first arrived in Yejing, I was very grateful to him."

At this moment, Qin Suiyou looked at the lady who was older than Princess An and said, "I remember that Vice Minister Qin of the Ministry of Rites has two sons. He even took out most of his family property as dowry when you married into the Prince An's mansion. It is true that he treated you like his own son."

Judging from the seat and the harsh words, if Qin Suiyou wasn't mistaken, that person should be Princess Jing.

Then, Qin Suiyou lowered his eyes but said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Uncle is kind and considerate of blood ties. I am the only descendant of the younger generation in the clan besides Uncle's two brothers. Uncle naturally treats me well. As for the majority of the family property, it is probably just an exaggerated rumor."

After saying that, Qin Suiyou glanced at a spot a little further away. Today, Madam Yun had also brought Qin Siheng, but as soon as Qin Suiyou arrived, he and Princess An were surrounded by a group of people and didn't have a chance to greet each other.

Seeing this, Yun smiled gently and nodded, while Qin Siheng also raised his hand and waved it gently to Qin Suiyou.

Princess Jing curled her lips, which were painted bright red with lipstick, and said, "Is that so? Then it seems I'm just easily swayed by rumors?"

Qin Suiyou: "It's normal for rumors to become true when outsiders say it a lot."

Princess Jing narrowed her eyes, her gaze cold, but after being rebuffed by Qin Suiyou in a few words, she held back and remained silent.

The other ladies next to her seemed to disapprove of Princess Jing's behavior. They were quite happy to see her shut up, but they all kept their composure and did not show it. Only Princess An smiled gently, drank a small glass of fruit wine, and then poured herself another glass.

Princess Yong'an ignored the conversation. After Princess Jing shut up, she continued to chat with Qin Suiyou in a friendly manner until the banquet ended. After everyone had some tea, Princess Yong'an invited them to go outside together.

Upon arriving at the area in the estate where flowers and trees were specially cultivated, Princess Yong'an and her entourage walked slowly, stopping from time to time to admire this and chat about that.

"You're good at shifting blame."

Princess An stood under a peach tree in full bloom, tilting her head slightly upwards as she spoke softly to Qin Suiyou.

Qin Suiyou smiled faintly: "Mother is so magnanimous. I couldn't come up with what I just said, so I can only ask you for help."

After admiring the peach blossoms, Princess An turned and walked towards a cluster of peonies not far away.

"Have you been spending too much time with Yue'er? You've become a bit childish."

Qin Suiyou followed up, and upon hearing this, said, "You are kind and understanding, so it's not unreasonable for you to indulge us juniors."

"If Yue'er were as eloquent as you, she wouldn't be constantly being scolded."

“Then I can teach her some things while I’m at it.”

The two stood in front of the peony garden. Before they could exchange more than a few words, Princess Yong'an sent her maids to call for someone.

"Princess Consort An, Your Highness, the young masters and ladies ahead are going to compete in pitch-pot. Her Highness is calling you to hurry up and watch."

Princess An exchanged a glance with Qin Suiyou and said, "We'll go right away."

When we arrived at the place where we played pitch-pot, it was actually just an open space without any trees. Since the village was generally used for recreation, it had all the popular musical instruments and equipment. Several maids and servants had set out the pitch-pot equipment, and anyone who wanted to participate could play.

Yang Song was the leader among the group of young masters from prominent families. Before the competition started, he raised his voice and said, "Since it's a competition, there has to be a prize. Let's each put up a prize and compete round by round. The winner at the end can take away all the prizes, how about that?"

Looking at the rather spirited young woman, he said, "There are so many people here today; it would be inappropriate to choose only one."

Yang Song was getting impatient, but still said, "Then let's take three people, is that alright?"

There were no objections after that, and then everyone started to bring out their own prizes.

They were all children of prominent families, and any accessory they wore could be worth hundreds or thousands of taels of silver. However, apart from a few families with slightly less wealth who took out jade pendants or similar items, the rest of them basically wrote a note with all their rare items as a prize, which was also a way of indirectly showing off their status.

When they arrived at Qin Suiyou's place, everyone's eyes turned to him. They hadn't even discussed whether Qin Suiyou would participate yet, and many people were wondering if the newly appointed Prince An would disgrace the illustrious Prince An.

Although he didn't really want to provoke Qin Suiyou, Yang Song's mind started to wander after a few of his cronies couldn't help but chatter about how Beitang Yan was about to wake up.

Seeing that Qin Suiyou remained silent, Yang Song, ever the quick-witted one, asked, "Does Your Excellency not dare to compete with us?"

Immediately afterward, another scion of a prominent family chimed in, "It's just pitch-pot, how could the lord dare not? Could it be that he's unwilling to part with the stakes?"

"That's impossible. We didn't expect it to be something priceless."

Princess Yong'an frowned as she looked at the group of unreliable young noblemen.

"Alright, I'm getting old, and I'm no match for you young people. But I'd still like to participate. I'll offer a painting of clouds and mountains as the prize, and you, Suiyou, will compete for me, how about that?"

"The Landscape with Clouds and Mountains! Could it be the Landscape with Clouds and Mountains by the Hermit of Ling'an? Your Highness is truly a master of the craft!"

"No wonder I couldn't find it before. It turns out it was in His Highness's hands. Now I'd better give it my best."

"Come on, Chu Huan is still here."

"But there are still two spots left. What if he doesn't want 'Cloud and Mountain Landscape'?"

"How can it be……"

The crowd discussed Princess Yong'an's words, but Qin Suiyou said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, but if I want to compete with you all, I'd better do it myself. I wouldn't dare to take advantage of you."

Princess Yong'an: "What prize do you want to offer?"

"A set of writing implements obtained from a traveling merchant in Central Continent."

It's nothing special to say that it's just a set of the Four Treasures of the Study, but the fact that it's prefixed with "Zhongzhou" makes it inexplicably attractive.

The discussion it sparked was even greater than that of the "Cloud and Mountain Landscape" painting.

Princess Yong'an was surprised that Qin Suiyou had something from Zhongzhou City, but she didn't say anything. She smiled and said, "Then you are lucky today. I won't take back the 'Cloud Mountain Map'. I will still give it to you as a prize. Alright, the prizes have been given out enough. Let's start. I have been looking forward to it for a while."