Ling Qingwan couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ling Xiao's righteous look.
Although Ling Xiao was naughty when he was young, he has become much more stable as he grows up. Climbing over the wall is not something he would do.
"Tell me straight, where did you learn this habit of climbing over other people's walls?" Ling Qingwan asked Ling Xiao.
"I am Wei Xun, the kid who climbed over your wall. I thought I could follow his example and meet Miss Gu. It just so happened that I was caught the first time I climbed over the wall."
It would have been fine if Ling Qingwan didn't mention it, but as soon as she did, Ling Xiao got angry.
It’s all the fault of that snitch!
You took his money and didn't do anything for him. How immoral!
"What did you say?"
Ling Xiao was thinking when suddenly a questioning voice came from behind him. Not only Ling Xiao, but also Ling Qingwan was startled.
Shen Chengzhou looked angry and stared at Ling Xiao sternly.
"Grandpa, why are you here?" Ling Qingwan forced a smile.
"Yes... yes." Ling Xiao agreed.
"If I hadn't come, how would I have heard your conversation?" Shen Chengzhou snorted coldly.
"You just said that you learned how to climb over the wall of the Grand Secretary's Mansion from the Seventh Prince?" Then, Shen Chengzhou turned to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao didn't dare to speak.
If he admitted it, Wei Xun and Ling Qingwan would be finished. But if he didn't admit it, Shen Chengzhou had heard his conversation with Ling Qingwan just now, and he couldn't defend himself.
"Then tell me." Seeing Ling Xiao was still silent, Shen Chengzhou turned his gaze to Ling Qingwan. "Since the Seventh Prince climbed over the wall to find you, you should know whether he came or not, and how many times he came, right?"
This was the first time Ling Qingwan disliked Ling Xiao for talking too much.
Shen Chengzhou was a very upright person who attached great importance to rules. Although Ling Qingwan and Wei Xun had an engagement, they were not considered husband and wife before they entered the house. Wei Xun climbed over the wall of the general's mansion and sneaked into Ling Qingwan's room in the middle of the night. A man and a woman were alone in the same room. If the news got out, Ling Qingwan's reputation would be damaged.
"Grandpa, don't be angry." Ling Qingwan said in a gentle voice.
This is considered as her admission.
"You! In matters between men and women, women are always at a disadvantage. He hasn't even had a sedan chair to welcome you home yet, and you let him come in and out of your boudoir freely. What if..."
Shen Chengzhou was angry, but he couldn't bear to lecture Ling Qingwan.
"Don't worry, Grandfather. There is no chance of an emergency." Ling Qingwan said to Shen Chengzhou solemnly.
She believed Wei Xun would not let her down.
"That's right, grandpa, please have more confidence in Wei Xun and my sister." Ling Xiao spoke up to help Ling Qingwan.
"How dare you say that." Shen Chengzhou looked at Ling Xiao with disdain.
"I think these few whippings are too light. It would be better to confine him to the ancestral hall for three days and reflect on his mistakes."
When Ling Xiao heard that he was to be confined to his room, his face changed drastically.
"Grandfather, I know I was wrong. Please be magnanimous and forgive me this time!"
Ling Xiao was naughty when he was young. He once sneaked into the ancestral hall to play, but the door was locked by the servants, so he stayed in the ancestral hall all night.
There were memorial tablets everywhere in the ancestral hall. It was fine during the day, but at night, it was very creepy. Ling Xiao was still young at that time, and he was locked up with a bunch of memorial tablets for a night. From then on, he was traumatized.
Shen Chengzhou also knew about this, so every time Ling Xiao did something wrong, he would at most drag Ling Xiao to the martial arts field for training. Shen Chengzhou was really angry when he decided to lock Ling Xiao up in the ancestral hall today.
"Grandfather, my brother can be confined to the ancestral hall, but his wounds have not healed yet and he needs to apply medicine every day, which will not be convenient at that time. It is better to wait until his wounds are healed."
Seeing Shen Chengzhou's firm attitude, Ling Qingwan gave up the idea of persuading him to be soft-hearted. However, Ling Xiao's whip wounds had not healed yet, so Ling Qingwan was a little worried.
All she could do was buy some time for Ling Xiao to recover.
Shen Chengzhou agreed to Ling Qingwan's proposal.
Ling Xiao practiced martial arts for many years, and his body was strong. Although Shen Chengzhou used a lot of force when he hit him, it was only an external injury. In just two or three days, he was almost healed.
It happened to be the day of the palace banquet, and An Yi had nothing to do, so she said something to the princess and slipped out to play with Ling Qingwan.
"You and I didn't receive an invitation, Gu Zhi is also engaged to Brother Ling Xiao, and now only Zhang Shuying is left."
An Yi supported his head with both hands, praying silently that Zhang Shuying would not be favored by the Crown Prince of Northern Zhou.
"Don't you dislike Shu Ying?" Ling Qingwan chuckled.
As she spoke, she broke off a small piece of cake and fed it into An Yi's mouth.
"That was in the past." An Yi pouted and said seriously. "Now she is my friend."
It was rare for a little girl to make friends with similar interests, and she treated Ling Qingwan, Zhang Shuying, and Gu Zhi with great care.
Of course, Ling Qingwan ranks first in her heart, and no one can shake that.
"By the way, how is the relationship between Gu Zhi and Brother Ling Xiao now? Has it been affected by the rumors outside?"
Just as they were engaged, Ling Xiao was rumored to have ruined another woman's innocence. No one could bear this, let alone Gu Zhi.
Although An Yi and Gu Zhi didn't have much interaction, after meeting them a few times, An Yi could see that Gu Zhi had high demands on herself and was a girl who was self-disciplined, gentle and dignified.
Naturally, she would never marry a scoundrel named Feng Liucheng.
"If Gu Zhi doesn't believe Brother Ling Xiao, I will go and explain to her. Brother Ling Xiao and I have known each other since we were young. I know what kind of person he is."
An Yi was even ready to go to the Grand Secretary's Mansion.
"Don't worry. Zhier is very independent-minded. She won't make a conclusion about my brother just by listening to a few rumors outside." Ling Qingwan looked at An Yi's cute appearance and broke off another piece of cake and stuffed it into her mouth.
An Yi supported her head with one hand and her mouth moved constantly, just like a little hamster.
The palace banquet ended and the results soon reached Ling Qingwan's ears.
It’s not that the Crown Prince of Northern Zhou didn’t like Zhang Shuying, it’s that he didn’t like anyone.
Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The emperor had a gloomy face as he sat on the dragon throne, his whole body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze.
"Your Majesty, please calm down." Manxing lowered his head and admitted his mistake to the emperor.
"Tell me, what do you mean by this? Your sister wanted to choose her own husband before, and she had to compete in martial arts and literature for several days, but she didn't like any of them. I thought that since you are older and a man, you should be more steady than Shangwu in handling things. But you ended up doing the same thing as Shangwu."
The emperor was extremely angry and immediately started to reprimand Manxing.
"So you two brothers and sisters came to Da Yue to pretend to marry into the alliance, but to really play a prank on me!"
"It is true that Manxing did something wrong, but Manxing and Shangwu came to Beijing on the orders of the emperor, aiming to establish friendship between Northern Zhou and Dai Viet. I never thought that there are so many beautiful women in Dai Viet, but none of them can catch my eye."
Manxing bent his waist even more, and there was nothing flawed in his respectful appearance.
What he did was really too infuriating.
"Since the prince doesn't like anyone, how should the marriage be handled?"