As her name suggests, the second princess is a girl who loves to laugh.
Her smile is like the bright moon.
She is lively and doesn't like to follow the rules. Her personality is similar to that of the fourth princess, so even though the two sisters are seven or eight years apart in age, they can still play together.
However, her best friend is Ye Yun’s niece, Ye Shuran.
Ning Chen did not restrict the princesses from leaving the palace, so the Second Princess often went to Ye Mansion with the Fourth Princess.
The more she traveled outside, the more opportunities she had to meet people. In the year she came of age, she met Gu Cong, the second son of the Gu family.
The Gu family is a group of upstarts who just arrived in Kyoto in recent years. They are both military men. His father has been fighting bandits in the west for many years and made many military achievements, and was awarded the title of the third-rank Zhaowu General.
In Kyoto, there are a lot of third-rank officials, but they are not considered high-ranking officials. The second son of a third-rank general is naturally not outstanding among the noble sons of Kyoto.
But Gu Cong is so handsome.
The eighteen-year-old boy is full of vigor and vitality. He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, so he has a slender and handsome figure. His pair of peach blossom eyes have attracted countless girls' hearts.
Before he came to Kyoto, apart from the Crown Prince, Xu Qinglin, the eldest son of Minister Xu, was the dream lover of countless Kyoto ladies. After he came, he also took half of them.
The girls often discussed privately that the young master of the Xu family was as gentle as jade and as bright as spring, while the young master of the Gu family was dressed in fine clothes and rode a horse, as fierce as the scorching sun.
Xu Qinglin was the prince's companion, and he often went to the palace and had seen a lot of things. So when the second princess heard the ladies in the capital praising the young master of the Gu family so much, she became a little curious.
The Dragon Boat Festival is a dragon boat race. This year the prince hosted the race and invited all the young men in the capital to join in the fun.
Of course, they did not row like a fleet, but used specially made small boats, with two people in a team, and raced in the moat outside the capital.
The second princess was in a playful mood today, so she dressed up as a man and went out, standing with Ye Shuran like a brother and sister.
Gu Cong naturally had to come to the party organized by the prince, but he arrived a little late because he had just arrived in Beijing and had no familiar playmates, so he was left alone when the team was formed.
The rules state that only two people can participate in the competition, and for a moment, Gu Cong was in a dilemma.
Logically, his martial arts skills are enough to surpass others, so he cannot participate in the competition.
Just when she was feeling worried, she caught sight of the second princess dressed as a man standing at the front of the crowd. Her brows relaxed and she strode over.
"I am Gu Cong, the second son of General Zhaowu. I would like to invite you to participate in the competition. Is that possible?"
Both of them were stunned when they saw him.
Ye Shuran was about to explain but was stopped by the second princess.
She deliberately made her voice rough and bowed, "Mr. Gu invited me, how can I refuse?"
Gu Cong, who was used to being in the army, immediately sensed something was wrong. After carefully looking at the waist, he realized that it was clearly a girl in front of him.
It was rare to see such a bold woman. Gu Cong saw through it but did not say anything. He lowered his eyes, smiled, and brought the woman on board.
"Girl, sit tight and leave it to me."
Gu Cong stood behind the second princess holding a paddle and leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"You know..."
Without waiting for the second princess to finish her words, Gu Cong quickly moved the oars in his hand and sailed forward amid the sound of drums.
In front of me are blue waves and the scorching sun, on both sides are noisy crowds, and behind me are handsome young men.
The second princess blushed for the first time.
The boat docked and Gu Cong took the lead.
The first prize is a hairpin with peacock feather pattern.
Gu Cong smiled and presented it with both hands.
"I wonder what your name is, how old you are, and if you are engaged?"
"girl!"
A shout interrupted their conversation; it was the servants who had hurried over.
When the servants heard that the princess had been dragged away to race in dragon boats, they were scared to death. They ran all the way along the river to chase her and only saw her on the shore.
The second princess looked at the servants, knowing that she had to leave, and spoke with a faint smile.
"Ning Jiawan, I have no engagement yet. Thank you for your hairpin. We will meet again if we are lucky."
Gu Cong wanted to say a few more words, but when he heard the surname Ning and saw the servants who came rushing over, he knew that this was a noble lady.
Ning is the royal surname, so she must be a girl from the royal family.
Gu Cong clenched his fists slightly, his eyes following the second princess's receding back until that pretty figure disappeared in the crowd.
I thought this would be our last farewell, but unexpectedly, more than three months later, Gu Cong appeared in the palace.
His father asked someone to find him a position as an imperial guard.
Gu Cong was not bad in martial arts and was also quite tactful in dealing with people. He quickly became popular and despite being young, he was often by the emperor's side.
That was why the two met again at the Mid-Autumn State Banquet.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Cong did not inquire about the details for fear of offending the royal lady. When he saw her again today, he was shocked to find out that the girl he met that day was actually a princess.
If you marry a daughter of a royal family, you still have a chance to earn official titles if you work hard. But if it's a princess, then you wouldn't even dare to think about it.
Gu Cong felt lost and unwilling.
But this fate has never been a matter of one person, he didn't dare to get close, but the second princess was never afraid of anything.
Ning Chen then discovered that his little girl was becoming more and more considerate, and she would personally bring him soup, tea, or a purse and fan pendant more and more often.
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
Ning Chen sent people to keep an eye on her and discovered that every time the Second Princess came back, she would look for an opportunity to talk to a young guard.
Yuan Jiu secretly went to check and came back to report that it was the second son of the Gu family.
He is handsome in life, has strong martial arts skills, and has a good family tradition.
General Gu had only one concubine, who gave birth to a daughter, and his wife, who gave birth to two sons and one daughter. The family lived in harmony.
Ning Chen laughed and scolded Yuan Jiu for being even more cunning as he got older, but Yuan Jiu smiled without saying anything.
I thought to myself, now that the girl has grown up, she will have those kinds of concerns.
However, since his daughter was not in a hurry, Ning Chen did nothing. He just kept an eye on Gu Cong's movements from time to time, fearing that his daughter would suffer.
Half a year passed in a flash, and the two became more and more familiar with each other.
Although their feelings were not spoken out, they understood each other.
Gu Cong worked hard and did very well in the Imperial Guards. It seemed that he would be assigned to the Ministry of War as an official soon, and his father would also be promoted to the second rank.
If you think in this way, you will be qualified to propose marriage soon.
But unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere and the Liao Kingdom sent an envoy to ask for the princess' hand in marriage.
At that time, the third and fourth princesses had not yet reached marriage age, and the eldest princess had already been married, so the only one who was of marriageable age was the second princess.
Of course she can choose not to marry, but the relationship between the two countries will become more strained.
Although Nanqi won the battle more than ten years ago, it also suffered a loss.
Another war would be of no benefit to the people.
The second princess couldn't sleep all night.
Since she already had someone in her heart, she naturally did not want to enter into an alliance. However, thinking of her father's love for her over the years, she understood that she should also take on the responsibilities of a princess. For the sake of the people of Nanqi, she had to give up her ego.
But unexpectedly, when she came to Jiuchen Palace to ask for marriage, a familiar figure had already knelt down inside.
It’s Gu Cong.
He came to ask for the second princess's hand in marriage.
Ning Chen was furious and smashed the teacup in his hand on Gu Cong's shoulder without any mercy.