The birthday of the eldest princess of Yongning is on the third day of the fourth month, and the day away is the Qingming Festival, which is really not a good day, so the birthday banquet will be held two days in advance every year, and it will be selected on the first day of the fourth month.

Li Lingyou received an invitation half a month ago, because he was unhappy with Yongning in the paddock, he didn't plan to go over to support her, but only asked Yuezhu Moshu to prepare a "big gift". But after Zhan Youjing was dismissed by the Marquis of Huayin, Li Lingyu changed his mind.

On this day, He Qiong took Zhan Youjing to the Chongrenfang Princess Mansion early in the morning, Li Lingyou hadn't gotten up yet, Honeysuckle invited them to the flower hall to wait, and intimately served two bowls of red date milk soup just stewed in the dining room, and said apologetically:

"Your Highness hasn't slept well lately, and I woke up late in the morning, so I ask Mrs. Zhan to wait here."

He Qiong hurriedly said: "Then let her sleep more, don't wake her up, it's still early." ”

Honeysuckle smiled and exited the door, leaving the mother and daughter to talk.

He Qiong didn't eat well when she went out in a hurry in the morning, so she picked up a bowl of milk custard, took a spoon and mixed the preserved nuts on it, tasted it, and showed a nostalgic look.

"That's the taste, Jing'er, you also come to taste it, my mother accompanied the princess in the palace when she was a child, and the Empress Dowager Shengci was still alive at that time, and every morning we would get up early to eat a bowl of milk custard specially blended in the imperial dining room, and my mother just grew taller than several of your aunts."

She is the concubine of the Marquis of Jingyang, the fifth in the preface, because her mother is powerful, her biological mother is weak, and she was not much tortured when she was a child. When she was five years old, the ancestor emperor ordered several princesses to choose to accompany her, and the Hou Ye originally planned to send her fourth sister to the palace to participate in the election, but her mother did not want her own daughter to serve the princess, so she was replaced by her, but she did not expect this change to give her the greatest blessing in this life.

……

At the age of five, He Qiong was short, thin, and not good-looking, standing in the middle of a group of pink and jade girls, which was very eye-catching. On the first day of entering the palace, she was bullied, her new clothes were torn, and she couldn't go out on the day of the election, so she could only hide in the room and wipe her tears, afraid that she would be scolded by her grandmother when she went back after losing the election.

In the end, Her Royal Highness the princess, who sneaked out of the Zichen Palace, followed the cry and found her-

'Which family are you the daughter of, why didn't you run for election?' ’

'His clothes are torn...... Can't go...... Woowoo woo ......'

'Then don't go, why are you crying?' ’

'I'm afraid, I'm afraid I won't be elected...... I'll be punished if I go back...... Woowoo woo ......"

'So, what's your name?' ’

'Joan, Joan...... Woowoo woo ......'

'Don't be afraid, Qiongniang, they don't choose you, I just choose you. ”

In this way, Her Royal Highness the most noble princess chose the most ordinary her, and a "Qiongniang don't be afraid" protected her for ten years, so that she was no longer humble, no longer helpless, no longer afraid, and grew up peacefully.

……

He Qiong recalled the past and couldn't help laughing.

Zhan Youjing looked restless: "Mother, does Your Highness really want to take me to the birthday banquet of the eldest princess of Yongning to find trouble?" ”

He Qiong sighed: "What is it called looking for trouble, Your Highness wants to stand up for you." ”

"But I'm worried that Your Highness will suffer, after all, there are many of them."

He Qiong sneered, stretched out her index finger and poked her daughter's head: "Do you really think that Your Highness is easy to provoke, think about how many people in Kyoto hated her back then, and targeted her openly and secretly, and none of them could please her in front of her." ”

Zhan Youjing's face tightened: "That was all back then...... Back then, there were ancestral emperors and emperors who supported His Royal Highness, and His Royal Highness naturally had confidence, but who can rely on His Highness now? No matter how bad the eldest princess of Yongning is, there is also the backer of the empress dowager, and the princess of Huayin Houfu, Mei, has a husband and a maiden family to rely on, only His Royal Highness is alone, helpless, but he still has to stand up for me, and is said irresponsible by those ungrateful villains, mother, don't you feel sorry for Your Highness? ”

He Qiong was stunned, and her daughter's words were like a slap in the face, making her wake up from her blind dependence on Li Lingyou.

Yes, now it's different from back then, her Royal Highness is no longer the princess Yongsi who is loved by thousands of people, but has become a widow who everyone laughs at, even if she has the title of the eldest princess of Dingguo, it has not stopped the malice that people inflict on her.

She was really dazed, she didn't realize that His Highness was in such a difficult situation, and he still rightfully sought her refuge as before.

Zhan Youjing grabbed He Qiong's sleeve and begged in a low voice: "Mother, I don't want His Highness to stand up for me, I'm afraid that she will be bullied, let's go." ”

He Qiong's face was hot, and she only felt that she was living in vain, and she was not as sensible as her daughter, so she immediately nodded her head with shame and regret.

"Jing'er is right, mother listens to you, let's go."

……

As soon as Li Lingyou woke up, he heard that He Qiong's mother and daughter had come and gone, and he was very puzzled.

"How did you go?"

Didn't they all say that she was going to take them to Yongning's birthday banquet together?

Honeysuckle said: "Mrs. Zhan said that her stomach is not very comfortable, so she will not go to congratulate the eldest princess of Yongning on her birthday today, let the slave and maid tell His Royal Highness, please take care of your body, rest well, don't worry about Miss Zhan's marriage, she has already figured out a solution." ”

Li Lingyu frowned, thought for a while, and asked, "I said yesterday that you would give them stewed milk custard, did they eat it?" ”

"Mrs. Zhan has eaten, and Miss Zhan's bowl is still left."

Li Lingyou suddenly laughed angrily: "This Qiongniang, as before, is it not good to lie, can you still eat milk if you have a stomachache?" ”

Honeysuckle was puzzled: "Are you saying that Mrs. Zhan deliberately made an excuse to leave?" So are they going to congratulate the eldest princess of Yongning on her birthday? ”

Li Lingyou sat up from the bed, pulled his waist-length hair to the side, and his delicate and fat-like face was full of cold color: "Whether they go or not, I have to go." ”

Otherwise, this breath will be blocked in her heart and make her uncomfortable.

"Change my clothes and prepare the car."

……

Yin Yu hasn't been able to see Li Lingyou's face for the past few days.

Since the night he was in the stable, he caused Li Ling's heart attack, and Honeysuckle and Anal didn't have a good face for him, and they didn't even allow him to approach the gate of the Hidden Fragrance Garden.

Yin Yu consciously took care of the loss, and didn't dare to force it up, and in a blink of an eye, it was the day he agreed with his hometown, and he would not return to the Royal Palace, just afraid that the old man would kill the princess Mansion to expose him.

Yin Yu was not ready to confess to Li Lingyu, so she planned to go back to the court during the day and come back at night to be her groom.

So he quietly packed his things and prepared to go back to the palace, but in fact he had nothing to pack, only two things that he had to take with him - a champa embroidered with golden butterflies, and a string of rice beads.

The handkerchief was used by Li Lingyu for him to train his horse, and the rice bead hair string was picked up by Li Lingyu on the night of his illness, and they were all treated as treasures by him, and they could only be relieved when they were brought back to the royal palace to hide.

Yin Yu hid two treasures close to him, and was about to go out, when he heard a woman's voice from the courtyard outside, it was honeysuckle.

Yin Yu immediately pricked up his ears, and heard Honeysuckle and Yue Zhumoshu say: "Go and bring your congratulatory gifts, and go to the mansion of the eldest princess of Yongning with Your Highness to celebrate her birthday." ”

Yin Yu's brows furrowed, suspecting that he had misheard. He still remembered that day in the paddock, Yongning forced the princess to dance the Flying Fairy Dance at her birthday banquet. Because he didn't go to the court to report his illness and didn't show up, he didn't have time to clean up Yongning and the people who coaxed him that day, why did the princess go to celebrate Yongning's birthday?

No, he had to go with him and see if anyone would insult the princess again.