The night wind did not stop, pushing the crumbling leaves of the trees to the ground and covering them on top of the dead leaves that had not yet been swept away on the road—perhaps because the Shenchu Imperial Palace was too large, and probably because there were few people here, the palace people were a little slack.

"Shen Chu's palace banquet is no different from the lively scene described in the book...... Ye Luoqing stretched out his hand, gently covered his veil blown by the wind, and slowly approached her, "Since the county lord of Li Ran worshiped the hall and entered the cave room, His Royal Highness has come here alone to hide, don't you like to be pulled to toast?" ”

"The people at the feast were laughing and seemed to be having a good time—but we all knew in our hearts that the other party was definitely not as easy to get along with as it seemed." Luo Liyao leaned sideways, leaning obliquely on the edge of the trunk, her eyes staring at the bright lonely moon in the air for a moment, "I know that this is just a formality, but I still can't help but do it...... Unwritten rules have been formed. ”

She was bored in her heart, but she was not bored because of the human contacts at the banquet - but she didn't want to say it, so Ye Luoqing didn't ask, and just followed her topic at this time.

"Once upon a time people acted alone, but because of the beasts of prey they learned to live in groups; After learning to live in groups, they worked together to develop tools, weapons, flints, and other things that could guarantee survival; When survival is assured, people begin to develop cultural etiquette again......" Ye Luoqing stood a few steps behind her, "splendid costumes, artistic etiquette, human sophistication - these things are not as important to everyone as survival, but they have become an essential part of everyone. ”

Luo Liyao closed her eyes slightly, feeling a little cold winter wind on her face: "Only when people don't have to worry about survival will they have the heart to engage in these intrigues......

Judging from Meng Liran's attitude yesterday, she already knew that her meeting with Chu Lingze and Chu Lingze's attitude after that were all arranged by Luo Liyao. But she still followed Luo Liyao's idea and did it, and also showed in front of them that she had no regrets about Chu Lingze and would not marry if she was not a gentleman - as for whether she really wanted to marry, Luo Liyao really couldn't see through it.

"I haven't seen you for a few days, and Your Highness seems to have a lot of feelings—but because I left Tianqi?"

"Probably, I ......"

"Your Highness, someone is coming."

Before Luo Liyao's words were finished, she was cut off by Ye Luoqing's sudden deep voice, and she also opened her eyes suddenly, and looked behind Ye Luoqing-the pink-clothed girl walked briskly, straight to the bamboo pavilion where they were, and she didn't want to hide her whereabouts at all, let alone an unknown person who was secretly following her.

"I'm late, but I've been hearing those people at the banquet say how beautiful you are—" The girl seemed to have come specifically to find Luo Liyao, and only glanced at her in surprise

Glancing at Ye Luoqing, who was wearing a veil, he walked past her and walked to Luo Liyao's side, "It seems that it is rare for them to tell the truth." ”

Ye Luoqing quickly looked the girl up and down, and quickly determined that she had no martial arts, and there were no common weapons on her body-Ye Luoqing glanced at Luo Liyao without a trace, and bowed slightly before retreating.

Luo Liyao naturally understood what she meant, and bowed slightly to the girl, but when she raised her eyes, she happened to meet her gaze that looked at her with deep meaning, and said softly: "Princess." ”

Chu Lingxiang picked out the slender and good-looking willow eyebrows, which naturally revealed some charm, but the eyes were exceptionally clear and bright, and some pink clothes and colors just showed the girl's coquettishness and brightness to the fullest.

She smiled slightly, and lightly raised her red lips: "Hey, princess." ”

Luo Liyao didn't answer, just looked at her, she didn't shy away from looking back at Luo Liyao, and then spit out a sentence that made Luo Liyao a little crying and laughing: "We are all princesses, we all call each other princesses, like the same person-"

“......”

"Why don't you just call me by my name?" Chu Lingxiang blinked, and regardless of whether Luo Liyao agreed or not, he stepped forward and sat down directly, and by the way, he leaned his whole body on the pavilion pillar like Luo Liyao, and sighed, "It's quite comfortable to sit like this...... If I had been sitting upright like that at the feast, I would have been suffocated! ”

As she spoke, she also tugged at the placket of her neck, as if she disliked that it was a little too restrained, and wanted to tear off the jade buckle fixed on it.

Luo Liyao looked at her casual appearance, looked away slightly, and persuaded softly: "...... Princess, watch your manners. ”

"Princess, watch your manners." Chu Lingxiang directly unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, looked at half of Luo Liyao's cheeks for a long time, and then looked at her sitting posture, and laughed, "You're not sitting in a bad posture - let's have a radius of eight taels, sister, don't talk about sister!" ”

Luo Liyao looked at herself silently, and decisively and wisely chose to change the topic: "I didn't see you at the banquet just now, why did you come here?" ”

"I just came back from listening to the teacher's lecture at the national temple, so I came a little late." Chu Lingxiang shook his head nonchalantly, the already loose bun on his head suddenly fell out a little, and a few strands of naughty hair slid down his cheeks directly, "And the father and queen mother are busy dealing with those family ministers, and the protagonist of this banquet is not me, who can come to arrest me?" ”

Luo Liyao turned her gaze to her, but Chu Lingxiang didn't care about pinning the hair that was hanging down her cheeks and blocking her vision behind her ears, and continued: "What about you? I'll just call you 'Li Yao', right? Why did you run out? When I first arrived, I heard a lot of people talking about how beautiful Princess Tianqi was, but I couldn't find you-

I thought about it, and this is the only place around the banquet where I can hide in the quiet. ”

"Sounds like you often come here to 'hide and be quiet'?"

"You don't understand...... It's Shen Chu here, and every other day it's a banquet of some literati and scholars, but this time it's the marriage of the elder brother, and it's just a banquet for more people. ”

Chu Lingxiang didn't seem to be sitting comfortably, so he simply lifted his long skirt and stepped on one leg directly, quite a dashing look of a Jianghu woman: "You haven't said it yet, why did you run out?" Don't you like that atmosphere either? ”

"You've been here since you were a kid, and you don't like it?" Luo Liyao didn't answer her question directly, and tilted her head a little more, not looking at her sitting posture that she couldn't bear to look at directly, "In the past, my mother told me that Shen Chu paid the most attention to etiquette when raising princesses...... If you look like this, it will be bad if your father and queen mother see it. ”

"It's not just bad." Chu Lingxiang snorted and pouted, "Last time I came back from studying from the national teacher, I was really hungry, so I ate a few more bites of rock sugar Xianglian at dinner-and guess what?" The queen mother directly punished me for kneeling for three hours, and copied "Women's Ceremony" ten times (2)! Ten times! ”

Luo Liyao was a little unbearable, but looking at her like this, she couldn't help but laugh: "Once upon a time, when I drank a sip of wine at the banquet, I blushed and was punished for kneeling. ”

"Really...... Those of us who are princesses are really miserable, what kind of brocade clothes and jade food, only brocade clothes are good! If you eat more, you will be punished for kneeling at every turn! Chu Lingxiang was so angry that he was so angry that he was filled with righteous indignation, "If it was on a man, they would say that the person was dashing; But when it comes to us women, we always say, 'What is it that a man without a man is immortal'! It's still patriarchal in nature! ”

Luo Liyao pursed her lips and said, "Just looking at Shen Chu's woman who can't be an official, you can know that this is a deep-rooted idea in people's hearts, and it can't be easily reversed in a short period of time, so you don't have to be so angry." ”

"Hey, it seems that you are similar to Le Zheng-" Chu Lingxiang looked at her appearance of looking up at the moon all the time, "mourn her misfortune and be angry with her (3)...... It is precisely because of your obedience that this situation cannot be changed! You Tianqi is a little better, but it doesn't stipulate that any woman has no right to inherit the throne, and give you a little sweetness in disguise, so that you can continue to be content with the status quo. ”

Luo Liyao was finally reluctant to turn her head to look at her: "Le Zheng? ”

"Ahh

As if realizing that he had missed something for a while, Chu Lingxiang hurriedly covered his mouth and winked at her.

Luo Liyao saw that she didn't say anything, and squinted her eyes, but she didn't ask.

The "Lezheng" in Chu Lingxiang's mouth is the surname of the Weiyan royal family.

And the person who died in front of her door in Nanchuan City before

, which belongs to the silver knight that can only be controlled by the Weiyan royal family.

The relationship between Shen Chu and Wei Yan is not good or bad, and the royal families on both sides have not had any contact in recent years. And Shen Chu's women are not like men who can travel around at will - Chu Lingxiang is the princess of Shen Chu, and she will be punished for kneeling and copying books even if she eats a few more bites, so it is absolutely impossible for her to go to Weiyan.

So, which one is this "Lezheng" in her mouth?

In a few short breaths, many thoughts flashed through Luo Liyao's mind—these unsolvable puzzles seemed to be being connected bit by bit, gradually revealing the still vague outline of the truth.

"Oops......" Chu Lingxiang was suddenly silenced, looked around with some fear, approached her and said, "I said I leaked, this can't be said easily-Li Yao, you shouldn't have heard it, okay?" ”

Luo Liyao: "......"

Although she didn't ask, Chu Lingxiang only looked at her thoughtful expression, and knew what was going on in her mind.

As if he was afraid that she would think of something, Chu Lingxiang hurriedly changed his words: "Forget it, anyway, you are your aunt's daughter, and you can be regarded as half of Shen Chu, so it should be nothing-"

Luo Liyao: "??? ”

"You must not tell anyone else after you go back......" Chu Lingxiang directly approached her face, leaned close to her ear, and said softly, "You haven't seen my imperial grandmother yet, have you?" It's your mother and my father's own mother, the Empress Shenchu of the previous generation—"

"Didn't you say that the Queen Mother was unwell and not suitable to see people?"

"As soon as you hear it, you know it's all a lie!" Chu Lingxiang put his hand on her shoulder, "When I was a child, I was greedy for fun, and I often hid in my father's palace, and this matter was once I accidentally fell asleep in the corner, and I heard it by chance——"

Luo Liyao: "......"

It makes sense, and it sounds quite true.

"Don't put on that look of disbelief!" Chu Lingxiang grabbed the clothes on her shoulders, "I heard what my father said himself-the imperial grandmother is not an ordinary woman from a family born in Shenchu at all, but a princess of the Weiyan royal family!" ”

......

Related Notes:

(1) (Supplement to the previous chapter): From the wedding celebrant's draft.

(2) ["Women's Ceremony"]: I originally wanted to write "Women's Rules" or "Women's Commandments", but considering that it was an overhead background, I made it up directly.

(3) [Mourn its misfortune, be angry with it]: It means "feel sad for someone's misfortune, and feel angry and regretful for someone's non-resistance and lack of struggle", which is a sentence of Mr. Lu Xun.

(End of chapter)