Seeing Mo Xiang's disappointed face, Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows, "Now in broad daylight, the prince must have his own things to do. Do you want the prince to stay and drink my bath water?"
Mo Xiang looked up at the sky. It was getting late, already dusk. Princess, shouldn’t you invite the prince to have dinner with you
Ji Lingxue jumped up, threw away her cloak, turned around and went into the bathroom to change clothes and take a bath.
At this time, in the hall, Xiao Yichen was sitting on the main seat, accompanied by Yiyun and Ji Yuqing. Xiao Yichen said, "Qing'er Yiyun, I have decided to let you remarry. I wonder what kind of husband you two like, so I can help you find one."
"Your Majesty!" Ji Yuqing's pretty face turned pale, "Your Majesty, please tell me what I did wrong, and I will change.
Ji Yuqing knelt down, waving the handkerchief in her hand, tears streaming down her face. Her pitiful look would make any man feel distressed when he saw it.
Yiyun looked calm and knelt down with Ji Yuqing.
Ji Yuqing cried, "Prince, did you just say you don't want me? Is it because of my sister? Prince, have you forgotten who has been with you and my sister all these years? It was me... I have given so much for you and for the entire palace, how could you abandon me... I don't want gold, silver, or jewelry, and I don't want to remarry, I just want to stay with you..."
Ji Yuqing sniffed, "If the prince really doesn't want to see me, then give me a divorce letter, and I will become a nun, and pray for the prince and sister in front of the green lamp and ancient Buddha in the future."
Yiyun looked at Ji Yuqing, whose shoulders were shaking as she pretended to cry, and consoled her: "Sister Yuqing, don't be so pessimistic. What's the point of becoming a nun or worshipping the Buddha? Sister is so good, the prince cannot stop feeling sorry for you."
Xiao Yichen rubbed his temples with a headache. Just now, he just suggested to Ji Yuqing and Yiyun that they send them back to their parents' home, and Ji Yuqing started crying, as if she was in a state of separation from her loved ones.
Xiao Yichen looked at the calm Yiyun, "Yiyun, what do you mean?"
Yiyun bowed and said respectfully, "Your Highness, I received the Emperor's imperial decree to grant me marriage. If I disobey the imperial decree, it will be a grave crime that will implicate my entire clan. I don't want to implicate my parents, so please think twice!"
Xiao Yichen thought about it and nodded. Indeed, it was not the time to send them away yet. They could only stay in the palace. Xiao Yichen said, "Well, all of you get up."
Ji Yuqing and Yiyun supported each other and stood up, as if they wanted to show off in front of Xiao Yichen. Ji Yuqing said, "Your Highness, my sister seems to be very busy recently, so she asked me to take care of the expenses of the inner courtyard."
Thinking of what Ji Lingxue had been busy with these past two days, Xiao Yichen's mouth twitched. Thinking of how Ji Lingxue trusted Ji Yuqing so much and entrusted all the inner courtyard expenses to her, Xiao Yichen couldn't help but shook his head. After the map of the palace was stolen last time, he didn't have so much trust in Ji Yuqing. Perhaps Ji Yuqing also felt this, so she tried her best to please Ji Lingxue so that she could gain a foothold in the palace.
Xiao Yichen smiled and said, "Qing'er, if you feel that accounting is too cumbersome, you can hand it back to the housekeeper."
Ji Yuqing shook her head like a rattle, "It's not tedious, it's not tedious. I don't have much to do in the mansion. I am happy to help the prince and sister share some of the work."
Xiao Yichen nodded and sent Ji Yuqing and Yiyun away.
Walking out of the hall, Ji Yuqing put away her handkerchief, her eyes were red, she gritted her teeth and said, "That bitch Ji Lingxue must have said something in front of the prince, so the prince wants to kick me out of the house. I really envy sister Yiyun for having an imperial decree to grant her marriage. The prince still has to consider the consequences."
Yiyun smiled bitterly. Xiao Yichen had already told her that he liked Ji Lingxue. Even if she had the imperial decree to grant the marriage, she couldn't get his true love. What was the point
Xiao Yichen called the housekeeper and asked, "Housekeeper, go prepare three thousand candles."
The housekeeper looked at Xiao Yichen with his mouth open in surprise, "Prince...what do you want so many candles for?"
Xiao Yichen smiled, his brows full of tenderness. How could the housekeeper not understand Xiao Yichen's thoughts? The prince had just carried the princess back to the mansion, which showed that the prince loved her deeply. These three candles must be a surprise prepared for the princess.
The butler smiled so brightly that his teeth were showing and said, "I understand. I'll do it right away. I will decorate the yard for the prince and the princess will be deeply moved when she sees it." After the butler finished speaking, he bowed and turned to leave.
Xiao Yichen opened his mouth to say something, but the butler's figure had already turned into a black dot.
Xiao Yichen muttered, "Butler, you understand what I mean. I just feel that the room is not bright enough, so I prepared some more candles... ahem..." He clenched his fist and placed it to his lips, then turned to look outside the window at the bitter leaves that were blown down by the wind.
The prince wants to make a romantic surprise for me, the princess!
This made the old butler very busy, and he gathered Fuli's guards to start setting up the scene.
Two hours later, the housekeeper, who was so tired that his back ached, came to the door of the study with his old waist in his hand and knocked on the door with a smile, saying, "My lord, I have prepared everything. You can take the princess to the garden now."
Xiao Yichen was holding a book, saying "oh", then stood up after a moment and strode out. The housekeeper gave Xiao Yichen a cheer when he passed by, and his dim old eyes flashed, which made Xiao Yichen feel embarrassed.
Xiao Yichen walked into Ji Lingxue's Yilan Courtyard, and the sounds of cutting vegetables and conversation came from the small kitchen.
Mo Xiang's voice floated from the room, "Princess, did you go smoothly in the cooking competition today?"
Ji Lingxue sighed and said, "It was a series of twists and turns. I was almost ambushed by someone."
Mo Xiang uttered an "ah" and her tone became extremely nervous, "Princess, are you okay? These people are really mean. It's just a competition, how can they treat you like this?"
Ji Lingxue said lightly: "It's all over." If it weren't for her strong ability to respond, she would have been ambushed.
Mo Xiang asked nervously, "Princess, have you thought about what you are going to do to them?"
Ji Lingxue sighed and said, "They just want to win the jackpot." In a society where the weak are preyed upon by the strong, people will die for money. Just be positive about it.
Mo Xiang: "The prince is not the judge of this cooking competition. Princess, you can ask the prince to reveal the content of tomorrow's competition so that we can prepare."
Ji Lingxue chuckled, "It's just a competition. I just want to use my strength to speak for myself. If the prince reveals the content of the competition to me in advance, I will look down on myself and him."
Xiao Yichen nodded, with admiration in his eyes. His woman should be so confident and calm.
With a cough, Xiao Yichen walked into the small kitchen. Mo Xiang blushed when she saw Xiao Yichen coming. What they just said was heard by the prince.
Ji Lingxue turned to look at Xiao Yichen, picked up the green onion in her hand and waved it, "Your Highness, are you here to eat for free because you smelled the fragrance wafting from my yard?"
Xiao Yichen twitched his lips. The entire palace belonged to him. Did he need a free meal
"I'll take you somewhere." Xiao Yichen took Ji Lingxue's hand and said.
Ji Lingxue screamed, and before she could ask where they were going, Xiao Yichen took her out the door. The onion in her hand was still flying in the air, and she threw it to the ground.
At this moment, the sky was full of stars. Ji Lingxue saw a flickering fire in Xiao Garden from afar. When she got closer, she saw that it was red candles formed into a long dragon. The trees in the garden were hung with small lanterns, and red ribbons fluttered in the wind.
Ji Lingxue blinked, "What day is today?" Does Xiao Yichen have any romantic cells
Xiao Yichen smiled faintly, "Are you used to it?"
Ji Lingxue looked at the lantern hanging on the tree and said in surprise: "Hey, there are words on it?"
Ji Lingxue picked up a lantern and read, "I want to send you a piece of colored paper and a letter. I wonder where you are, amidst the mountains and rivers." Ji Lingxue turned her head to look at Xiao Yichen behind her. Xiao Yichen pretended to look away to hide his embarrassment at the moment.
Ji Lingxue smiled, then picked up another lantern and recited: "A quiet and beautiful girl, waiting for me at the corner of the city. I love her but cannot see her, so I scratch my head and hesitate. This is from the Book of Songs."
"There is a beauty, I will never forget her after seeing her. If I don't see her for a day, I will miss her like crazy. This is from "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix," Ji Lingxue held the lantern and circled around Xiao Yichen, "Prince, who are you confessing to by racking your brains to write so many love poems?"
Xiao Yichen's ears felt hot with embarrassment. If it wasn't dark at the moment, Ji Lingxue would have noticed it.
Xiao Yichen said: "Of course it's written for you, don't you like it?"
Ji Lingxue smiled, turned around and continued walking forward.
Xiao Yichen raised his eyebrows. Does this mean that Ji Lingxue is happy to accept his surprise
Red candles lit all the way to the pavilion in the garden, where fine wine and dishes were laid out. Ji Lingxue walked in to look at the dishes. Xiao Yichen sat down opposite Ji Lingxue, picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine, "It's a nice night tonight, a glass of wine will help you sleep."
Ji Lingxue took it, turned the glass in her hand and said with a smile: "If I get drunk by accident, it would be bad if I miss tomorrow's game."
Xiao Yichen smiled and raised his head to drink it all in one gulp, "Then I will drink it for you."
Ji Lingxue held her chin up and watched Xiao Yichen drink three glasses of wine in a row. She picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat and put it in Xiao Yichen's bowl, "Don't just drink. The housekeeper specially asked the chef to make venison. Come and try it."
Xiao Yichen was warmed by Ji Lingxue's actions and said with a smile, "It's rare that the princess is so caring and considerate of me." Then he picked up the meat in the bowl and ate it in one bite.
Ji Lingxue asked: "Does the prince really like me?"
Xiao Yichen put down his chopsticks and nodded.
Ji Lingxue asked again: "Then what ever I ask you to do, will you do it for me?"
Xiao Yichen nodded: "Except for the stars and the moon in the sky, I will satisfy you with everything else."
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "What if I ask you to disobey the imperial decree and divorce Yiyun?"
Xiao Yichen's facial expression froze. He stared into Ji Lingxue's eyes and said seriously, "If this is what Xue'er wants, I will write a divorce letter immediately. But in the days to come..." He smiled and continued, "Xue'er, you are going to flee with me."
Ji Lingxue shrugged and said with a smile: "It's just talk, Your Majesty, you don't have to take it seriously. Okay... It's getting late, you should go back and rest early, because there is still a tough battle to fight tomorrow." Then he yawned.
Xiao Yichen was stunned again and watched Ji Lingxue's back as she walked away.
(End of this chapter)