In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. The mansion was preparing for the New Year. It received a lot of New Year gifts from other families and also gave away a lot. The visits between the various mansions became more frequent.
Years ago, Prince An held a banquet in the palace and invited his peers. Since he was the oldest in this generation, everyone gave him face, and Su Yi also went with Prince Rui.
Before leaving, Qinglian put on her the white fox fur coat that King Rui had given her some time ago.
"Are you used to living there?" Su Yi asked her.
Before this, Qinglian had been living in the back house of Su Yi's courtyard. Since her husband was transferred back from the farm, the couple moved to the south of the palace, in a small courtyard specially for the stewards to live in. As Su Yi had said before, she assigned a maid and an errand boy to her.
Qinglian smiled and said, "The yard has everything and is spacious, but it's a little hard to get used to being so far away from the girl all of a sudden."
Su Yi teased her deliberately: "Is it because there's suddenly another person on the bed that you feel uncomfortable?"
Qinglian's face turned slightly red, perhaps a little embarrassed. She didn't say anything, turned behind Su Yi, and straightened the hem of her clothes.
The more she acted like this, the more amused Su Yi found it, and the more malicious she became.
Logically speaking, Qinglian and her husband have been married for four or five years. Most people would have become an old couple long ago. However, since they only see each other a few times a year, they look like a newlywed couple when they stand together now. Even such a calm person would blush at the mere mention of a joke.
Her husband, Manager Li, was summoned by Su Yi to meet when she first arrived at the palace. He was tall and strong, with dark skin and was taciturn. To be honest, judging from his appearance, he was indeed not worthy of the beautiful and capable Qinglian.
I heard that their marriage was arranged by Miss Su. After knowing this, Su Yi has been worried about whether Qinglian was wronged. After half-joking and half-testing a few times recently, she found out that Qinglian had feelings for him, and she felt relieved.
As for Manager Li, Su Yi felt even more relieved. When they first met, he was so taciturn that he was almost dull. Only when he saw Qinglian did his eyes suddenly light up.
This made Su Yi feel a little guilty. After all, it was Miss Su who separated them as a couple, but now that she had become like this, the blame was naturally on her.
"Okay, everything is ready. Don't keep us waiting. Let's go." Su Yi stopped joking.
Qinglian then stood up, took the heater from the maid, asked Su Yi to hold it, and asked someone to pack the belongings for going out. Several people surrounded Su Yi and walked out of the room.
King Rui went to the camp early in the morning and just returned home. He strode along the corridor with his black cloak fluttering behind him.
Halfway through the journey, they met up with Su Yi and her group. One of them was dressed in black, the other in white. One was handsome and stern, the other was beautiful and pretty. They seemed like a perfect match, indescribably well-matched.
Not only Qinglian and the others were so amazed, when the two of them arrived at Prince An's mansion and walked side by side, Princess An also said to the people around her: "Look, Prince Rui and Princess are walking in the snow like this, doesn't it look like a painting?"
Someone smiled and sighed, "There are no more outstanding people in the capital than Prince Rui and Princess Rui. It just so happens that these two outstanding people have become a couple. I think it's all God's will. God called them together."
The one who spoke was the second prince's wife, and when she said this, others naturally echoed her. They seemed to have completely forgotten that not long ago, some people disdained to associate with her because of Su Yi's divorce.
At today's banquet, in order to appear intimate, men and women were not separated, but couples sat at the same table.
In addition to several princes, heirs of royal palaces, and their respective wives, there were also several young talents in the court and their wives.
Su Yi didn't pay attention to others at first until she realized that a few people were looking at her with strange expressions. Then she saw Princess An's cousin, Madam Huang. Only then did she realize that the person sitting at the same table with Madam Huang was Miss Su's former lover, Sun Shuli.
She glanced at that table openly. The other person happened to lower his head, so she could only see his profile. He looked like a scholar. I heard that he had a successful career in recent years. It might be because he was leaning on a big tree to enjoy the shade. His current official position is one level higher than Shen Er. He is a real young talent and a promising young man.
Su Yi withdrew her gaze with a lack of interest and found that many people were paying attention to her actions, secretly watching her, Prince Rui, and Sun Shuli.
Except for Prince Rui, there should be no one present who didn't know about the past between Miss Su and Mr. Sun. But today, on such an occasion, they were both invited. Su Yi couldn't help but wonder what the host was thinking.
She looked towards the main seat. Princess An was talking to someone else with a gentle expression, and there seemed to be nothing unusual about her.
Prince An's lips curled up nonchalantly as he poured himself a glass of wine. I heard that he had been weak since childhood, which should be true. After all, his pale face and bloodless lips did not look like those of a healthy person.
Although Su Yi didn't care much about being gossiped about, she couldn't help but tilt her head and whisper to King Rui: "How is your relationship with King An?"
King Rui also glanced at the main seat, his expression calm, even a little bored, "Normally."
Su Yi felt that he had asked the wrong question. Perhaps in King Rui's eyes, people were only divided into those who were tough and those who were not, and there was no difference between good and bad relationships.
So she changed the question, "You also grew up in the palace when you were a child, right? Did you two often fight?"
This time, King Rui took it more seriously, at least thought about it, and said, "I beat him twice. He was too weak to take the beating."
Well, these Su Yis have a little understanding of King An’s mentality.
If there is a person who is about the same age as you, and your father loves him more than you, and treats him closer than his own son, most people would probably feel unfair. What's more, he is a prince, who has everything he wants since he was born, except the attention of his father, the emperor.
What’s even more infuriating is that you go looking for him to settle accounts with you and fight with him, but you lose and get beaten up instead. You can only drag your sick body and watch him grow up to be someone else’s child, and when he looks back at you, he looks at you with a look of disdain.
Can you tolerate this
Su Yi even began to wonder if Prince An had put laxatives in the wine they both drank.
"What's wrong?" King Rui asked, seeing her staring at the wine glass.
He was close enough that his voice was right next to Sue's ear, and one of his hands was on the back of the chair behind her, inadvertently forming a gesture of ownership.
When they were in the palace, the two were used to being close. Now, Su Yi not only lay on him to sleep at night, but also leaned on him when reading during the day. Sometimes, if she didn't get close to him, he would sit over to her on his own and would have to make some physical contact with her intentionally or unintentionally, so what was happening now was really nothing.
Su Yi joked, "I'm afraid if I drink this wine, I'll have a stomachache when I get home."
"Is it cold?" King Rui didn't understand, thinking her wine was cold, so he took it, held it in his palm, warmed it up, and passed it to her mouth, "Try it."
After what happened last time when eating sweet potatoes, Su Yi learned his lesson. Instead of opening his mouth directly, he reached out to take it.
Although King Rui had no expression on his face, there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and he was still staring at Su Yi.
The two of them didn't notice anything wrong with their interaction, but to others, it was a bit noticeable.
After all, for these people, no matter how good the relationship between husband and wife is, they only treat each other with respect. Such affectionate behavior is probably only done in private with their concubines.
The men present glanced at Princess Rui intentionally or unintentionally, thinking that with such a beauty, it was no wonder that Prince Rui doted on her so much. If they could get her, they would probably hold her in the palm of their hands even more.
The women also had mixed feelings; their husbands would have been considered considerate if they could have asked them a few more questions when they were not feeling well, not to mention personally warming up the wine and bringing it to their lips.
Who would have thought that King Rui, who was as cold-faced as he was, would be so considerate after marriage
If before, some people were jealous of Su Yi's ability to remarry and become an honorable princess, at this moment, they were probably more envious that she could be treated so cherished.
Madam Huang was also watching this scene from afar. After a long time, she withdrew her gaze and looked at the person beside her. Not surprisingly, she saw that he was still looking at Prince Rui and Princess Rui in a daze.
She lowered her head and wet her lips with the wine glass, sneering in her heart.
If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place
Soon after, the guests said goodbye, and Su Yi walked out with King Rui. As they passed a small garden, a servant hurriedly caught up with them and said that King An had something urgent to discuss with King Rui.
King Rui glanced at Su Yi and was about to refuse, but Su Yi pointed a few steps away and said, "Go ahead, I'll wait for you in that pavilion."
King Rui frowned and looked at the pavilion which was not warm at all. He took off his cloak, put it on her and said, "I will be back soon."
Su Yi already had a fox fur coat, and with that a cloak, she wrapped herself up like a fur ball. She sat in the pavilion, thought for a moment, and said to Qing Lian, "Go get someone to bring me a cup of hot tea."
Qinglian also had the same idea, but she was worried about leaving her here alone. Just as she was hesitating, Su Yi said, "Don't worry, this is Prince An's Mansion, what can go wrong?"
Qinglian then hurried away.
After watching her figure disappear in the bamboo forest, Su Yi began to count in his mind. When he counted to eleven, he heard footsteps behind him.
She shook her head in boredom.
These people have no original ideas at all. The script has been guessed. What’s the point
You can guess without looking that it must be Sun Shuli. No one spoke for a long time. Su Yi became impatient and looked back. When she looked back, she saw the other party staring at her infatuatedly.
To be honest, she really felt sorry for Miss Su. What kind of bad love relationship had she encountered
One, Sun Shuli, acted like he couldn't forget her and was deeply in love with her for more than ten years, but turned around and married someone else for his future; another, Shen Er, said that she was the only one in his life and was as infatuated with her as a love saint, but in the blink of an eye, he took in three or four concubines to carry on his family line.
Don’t these people feel guilty and disgusted
Sun Shuli looked at the person in the pavilion absentmindedly. Ever since she stepped into Prince An's Mansion, he couldn't stop looking at her.
More than ten years ago, the two were inseparable, but now when they meet again, they are like strangers.
But she hasn't changed at all, she is still as confident as she was back then, and even more stunning than before.
Sun Shuli didn't want to think about who made her keep her original intention, nor did he want to recall whose wife she was now. He just couldn't control himself, like a moth flying into a flame, it would be fine if he didn't see the flame, but once he met it, he couldn't stop wanting to get closer.
Seeing the person in the pavilion turn around, he moved his lips, "Xiao, Xiao Yi..."
Su Yi looked over coldly, "Lord Sun? Please call me Princess Rui."
Seeing her indifferent look, Sun Shuli's heart trembled.
In his memory, he had seen her in many ways: happy, angry, sad, crying, laughing, and furious. She had never been good at hiding her emotions. He thought about what expression she would have when they met again, but even hatred and scolding would be better than such an indifferent attitude.
We hate and complain because we still have love and expectations in our hearts. If we have no expression at all, does it mean that all emotions have disappeared
Sun Shuli couldn't believe it. They were childhood sweethearts for more than ten years. He still couldn't forget the friendship they had back then. How could the other party forget it
"Xiao Yi, I, I... I'm sorry..." He took two steps forward eagerly, but remained outside the pavilion and did not step in.
Su Yi looked at the distance and shook his head mockingly, "What are you saying sorry about? If I give you another chance, will you choose not to betray me? Or, do you dare to give up everything you have and run away with me?"
She knew with her eyes closed that this man would not do that. How could a man who dared not take a step forward even at this time be willing to give up his bright future, wealth and glory? Maybe Shen Er was more courageous than him.
As expected, Sun Shuli choked up and could only mutter "I'm sorry."
Su Yi was originally curious about what Prince An, or the man surnamed Sun, was up to, but now that she had seen it, she felt that these two people were too boring, and it was a pity that she had cooperated so well and sent Qinglian away.
In the end, the stage was already set, and this was shown to her
She began to look forward to Qinglian's early return.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard a voice from the other side of the bamboo forest saying, "My Lord, why are you standing here?"
Su Yi raised his eyebrows slightly and saw King Rui coming out from that side. Qinglian followed behind him. His originally slightly puzzled expression immediately turned into surprise and panic after seeing Su Yi and Sun Shuli.
King Rui strode over, ignoring Sun Shuli who was hurriedly bowing, and said to Su Yi, "Go back."
Su Yi looked at his expression, but didn't see anything. She nodded slightly and said, "Let's go."
The group returned to the palace. Prince Rui went to the martial arts training ground, and Su Yi went back to her room to change clothes.
She asked Mao Tuan in her heart: "Did your father hear it just now?"
Mao Tuan was too lazy to refute the question of whether he was his father or not, and said, "Given his personality, would he be so calm if he heard it?"
"It's hard to say," Su Yi touched his chin, "Look, he usually sticks to me, but today he didn't go back to the room with me, but ran to the martial arts field instead. He won't be angry with me, will he?"
"I just felt like he seemed a little normal today." Maotuan complained bluntly, as revenge for being blinded by them for so many days.
Su Yi ignored him and took off her jewelry in front of the mirror. Qinglian helped her. She obviously had something to say, but seemed hesitant.
In order to prevent her from getting upset, Su Yi said, "Don't worry, I didn't do anything bad."
Qinglian smiled bitterly: "At this time, you still have the mind to joke."
To be honest, Qinglian was scared to death when she saw Su Yi and Sun Shuli just now.
No one knew better than her how deeply their girl loved Sun Shuli. Her first thought at the time was that their old love had rekindled, but she quickly denied it because she had seen with her own eyes these days that the girl had long since let go of everything in the past, and she and King Rui were becoming increasingly close.
But even if there was nothing, if the two of them were taken alone and were seen by Prince Rui, the prince would definitely misunderstand.
Prince Rui had been so good to their girl during this period that Qinglian almost forgot his former bad reputation. Just now, when she returned home, she kept thinking about it as she walked. The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. She almost couldn't help but want to run back to the Su Mansion to ask for help.
Fortunately, the prince did not say anything. He went to the martial arts field as soon as he came back. I don’t know what he was thinking.
Su Yi was quite open-minded. If the other party misunderstood her, she would explain it clearly. If she couldn't explain it clearly, or if he didn't believe her and insisted that she had done something wrong to him, then...
Then just think of it as a misunderstanding. If he insists on vying to be cuckolded, who can stop him
She changed into comfortable clothes, took a nap, and had some snacks after waking up. She figured that even if Gouzi was angry, he should have vented it out by now, so she went to the martial arts field.
Before she got close, she saw a group of subordinates of King Rui standing in a row outside the martial arts field. They all had sad faces. When they saw her coming, they greeted her sporadically.
"What are you gathering here for?" Su Yi was curious.
The seventh brother was pushed out by the crowd. His eyebrows were squeezed together, and the corners of his mouth were blue. He said bitterly: "The prince called us here to practice. We can't leave after one round. There is another round. Although we have benefited a lot from the prince's guidance, the brothers can't stand the beating. Princess, please save us."
Sui looked at them carefully and found that each of them had bruises and looked miserable.
Seriously speaking, they were beaten because of her. Su Yi coughed a little guilty and said, "Everyone go to the account office to get some money for the wine. I will treat you to a drink on behalf of the prince."
Everyone was overjoyed. They had been as miserable as the cabbages in the field just now, but when they heard that there was wine to drink, they all ran away in high spirits.
They said they couldn't stand being beaten, but that was all acting, they were just a bunch of drama queens! Su Yi thought as she watched them disappear in an instant.
She stepped into the martial arts arena and saw King Rui performing a set of spear techniques. He danced with the spear vigorously and loudly, and even water could not penetrate it. His body moved as fast and agile as a dragon or a snake.
Su Yi was so excited that he picked up a gun and walked forward. In the blink of an eye, he fought more than ten rounds.
Prince Rui suddenly separated from her and shouted a name loudly outside the martial arts arena.
Su Yi said: "Stop shouting, I'm going to ask them to drink."
Prince Rui frowned, looking as if his mood was ruined.
"Why, can't I play with you?"
She knew that he was in a bad mood, but he didn't want to say it, and he wanted to suffocate himself. She had to provoke him and let out his anger, so that he wouldn't get hurt. After all, he was her dog, and she couldn't bear to let him go.
She threw away the red tasseled spear and rushed forward with her bare hands.
King Rui retreated quickly, but Su Yi kept pressing him. In order to avoid hurting her, he had to throw away his gun and fight her with his bare hands.
Perhaps he was holding back some energy, so he exploded more than usual, and it took Sui more time to successfully subdue him.
She sat astride King Rui, her knees pressed against his chest to prevent him from getting up. She raised her chin, sweat running down her cheeks, "I still win."
Prince Rui said nothing, his brows were furrowed so tightly that they could catch a fly.
Seeing this, Su Yi reached out and poked his forehead, saying, "A real man, no matter how angry you are, you should calm down after fighting for an afternoon, right? Besides, what's there to be angry about? I just said a few words to someone, and one of us was standing in the pavilion and the other was standing outside the pavilion. If you mind that I had a relationship with him when we were young, that was many years ago. Didn't you know about it before you married me? Isn't it a little late to be angry now?"
King Rui knew everything she said. He knew that Su Yi had a childhood sweetheart, and that she had been married before, and that it was even he who arranged for the divorce. However, he had not felt any concern about it before. He was just clear about it, and there was no emotional fluctuation at all.
It was not until today, when he saw the two men standing in the garden from afar, that he suddenly felt a violent rage in his heart. He wanted to destroy everything and make those annoying people disappear forever.
No one knew how much effort he put into maintaining his apparent calmness in front of Sui.
He couldn't see her for the time being, and he didn't want to expose his bad side to her, so he came to the martial arts field to vent.
Now, the beating is over and the anger should have subsided, but I still feel something is wrong.
He frowned and finally said, "He is not as good as me."
Su Yi almost laughed out loud. Listening to the unwilling tone, it seemed like he was a little aggrieved
She comforted him, "Yes, yes, he is definitely not as good as you. Just think that I had poor vision when I was young. Besides, I was not who I am now ten years ago, and you were not who you are now ten years ago. From today on, we will only look back. Let the things in the past just happen in the past. There is no need to continue to the present. What do you think?"
Prince Rui pursed his lips, but his expression seemed to have relaxed a lot.
Su Yi added, "Today we were both fooled. They deliberately lured you away and let Sun come to see me. They also let you see this scene so that you would be angry. Maybe Prince An is laughing at you now."
Of course, Sue herself was deceived on purpose.
First, she wanted to see what those people were going to do. Second, she felt that King Rui had been around her for long enough, but he still hadn't figured it out. She really admired him so much that she couldn't bear to watch him. After all, seeing him wake up in the morning, she was really worried.
Will it suffocate his body? It’s her own dog that is in pain, so she should lend a hand.
Hearing this, Prince Rui's expression became serious, and his dark eyes looked gloomy. Su Yi felt that he might go and beat Prince An up.
But Prince An is not resistant to beatings. Would the emperor feel bad if he beat him up
Forget it, I’ll think about these things another day. Right now, Su Yi was kneading the face of King Rui, who was so terrifying that outsiders would turn pale at the mere mention of him, like kneading dough. Then she suddenly lowered her head and kissed him on the lips.
…
"… Hello? Hello? You're back to life."
The author has something to say: Let us welcome the dog to open the door to a new world~
It's not easy. The old mother wipes her sweat.