About half a day later, Fu Mochen, Fu Yuheng and Shen Qingwan returned to the back mountain of Fashan Temple, where all the concubines were waiting.
Fu Yuheng and Shen Qingwan had just walked into the pavilion where the concubines rested when they heard a noise from the other side of the pavilion. Fu Yuheng narrowed his sharp eyes and walked towards the source of the noise. Shen Qingwan did not say anything but quickened her pace to follow. Noticing Fu Yuheng approaching, the concubines along the way made way to both sides.
Now Fu Yuheng could clearly see Lin Lianlian, who was sitting on the stone bench on the other side, with her head down, looking dejected and about to cry. The little palace maid beside her was holding a handkerchief, ready to wipe her tears. Li Xinyu stood in front of Lin Lianlian with one hand on his waist, looking aggressive, his eyes wide open, full of anger, his gaze fixed on Lin Lianlian.
"What's going on?" Fu Yuheng put his hands behind his back, walked forward and asked in confusion.
"Reply, reply to the emperor's words," Lin Lianlian was already choking with sobs. When she looked up and saw Fu Yuheng, her voice became even more timid. She sobbed before continuing, "It's my fault. I felt thirsty just now, so I asked someone to pour tea. As a result, when I walked to the edge of the stairs, I was not careful and my feet were not stable. I accidentally spilled the tea in my hand on Li Guiren who was walking towards me."
Upon hearing this, Fu Yuheng and Shen Qingwan turned their eyes to Li Xinyu's clothes. She was wearing a long satin skirt with moon white and light pink colors today. She must have prepared it carefully for this outing. As a result, the pink and white belt from the neckline to the waist was splashed with yellowish-brown tea stains, which looked a bit abrupt. No wonder Li Xinyu was so angry.
"Let me see." Fu Yuheng walked up to Li Xinyu, looked at her for a while, and then called the maid beside her, "Go get a set of spare palace clothes for the queen, and take the queen to the room to change into them quickly."
"But Your Majesty, this is my new dress. I was waiting to wear it when I go out, but now it's in a mess," Li Xinyu bit her lip, looking displeased. She glared at Lin Lianlian again, and kept adjusting her tea-stained collar with one hand, repeating herself over and over again.
"Yes, it's all my fault. I soiled Concubine Li's new clothes and ruined the elegance of our outing. Your Majesty, I am willing to be punished." Lin Lianlian raised her head and looked at Fu Yuheng, tears welling up in her red eyes, and she looked pitiful.
Fu Yuheng felt a little sorry for her, so he patted Lin Lianlian's shoulder and said in a gentle voice, "Okay, don't cry. It will really ruin everyone's mood for the trip. It's just a small matter, why should you punish me? Just apologize to Li Guiren."
Then he turned his gaze to Li Xinyu, "You are also a reasonable person, you will definitely forgive Lin Jieyu, right?"
Li Xinyu was so angry that she clenched her fists tightly in her sleeves. However, Fu Yuheng was on Lin Lianlian's side now. Even if she still wanted to refute, she could only grit her teeth and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will not argue with Concubine Lin."
"That's good. Go change your clothes quickly and don't miss this beautiful spring time." After saying that, Fu Yuheng turned and left without even looking at Li Xinyu again.
Seeing that Li Xinyu had become the unreasonable and wrong party, Lin Lianlian was extremely happy. The handkerchief that she had used to wipe her tears was now covering the smile that was slowly emerging on the corners of her mouth.
Even though this little incident was over, since Fu Yuheng had spoken, no one dared to disobey. Although Li Xinyu felt aggrieved, she still let the maid take her to change clothes.
Shen Qingwan asked Lianyun to bring out all the snacks prepared before the trip, so that the concubines could share them. Soon, the palace maids came to the courtyard with red painted wooden trays, which were filled with various cakes brought from the palace, as well as fresh fruits with a juicy sheen, which made people's appetites grow.
Li Xinyu did not sit at the same table with Lin Lianlian. She drank tea and chatted with the concubines around her. From time to time, she looked towards Lin Lianlian's position on the other side, wishing she could leave a mark on her with her eyes.
"Humph, I wanted to take this opportunity to teach her a lesson. If the emperor hadn't come too early today, I would definitely not let her go so easily. I would have pretended to cry and act pitiful to win the emperor's sympathy, what a vixen!"
Li Xinyu thought angrily, then suddenly took a sip of tea and put down the teacup with a thud. The concubines at the same table couldn't help but cast their eyes on her. The maidservant beside her was busy whispering in Li Xinyu's ear to remind her, "Your Majesty, calm down. The Emperor is still here. You must be patient. We must take a long-term view."
Lin Lianlian was very proud of having Fu Yuheng's protection now, and ignored Li Xinyu's angry eyes. She was completely devoted to the emperor. The group seemed harmonious on the surface, but secretly disliked each other.
Fu Yuheng sat in the middle of the courtyard, eating fruit and chatting with Fu Mochen, and did not notice the undercurrents in the hearts of the concubines around him.
Shen Qingwan left him, took care of everything, and went directly to the table of Wu Ling, Li Ruotong, and Zhao Yuanrong, drinking tea with them and enjoying the spring scenery.
Lin Lianlian saw that there were no other concubines around Fu Yuheng at the moment, and Shen Qingwan was sitting on the other side of the courtyard. She felt that this was a good opportunity to get close to the emperor, so she stood up silently, took a few steps, and wanted to sit next to him.
But before she took a few steps, Fu Mochen noticed her movements out of the corner of his eye. He knew what she wanted to do without thinking too much, and he was very unhappy. He also saw the friction between her and Li Xinyu just now. Although he did not stand on Li Xinyu's side, he did not have any good feelings towards her.
Seeing that Lin Lianlian was about to get close to Fu Yuheng, Fu Mochen raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a grim look, which scared her so much that she shrank back. Although she felt a little unwilling, she had no choice but to retreat to her seat.
Shen Qingwan and Zhao Yuanrong were chatting, and suddenly asked, "Why is the third princess not seen on the spring outing today? She should be the one who likes to come out the most in the past. Is she not feeling well?"
Zhao Yuanrong looked a little embarrassed after hearing this, "The child is in good health. I asked her to come, but she refused." At this point, Zhao Yuanrong glanced at Fu Yuheng's table, then lowered his voice and said, "She said that she didn't want to come because she knew that the prince would also come."
"So that's how it is. She still remembers the little incident with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Shen Qingwan smiled slightly, and then comforted her: "She is still young, and children have a stronger temper. It's not a problem, and Sister doesn't need to worry too much."