Joy of Life: The melon-eating prince sees through Fan Xian's fake death

Chapter 42 Poison
"Brother, you are joking. Since this is a family dinner, why is there such a murderous aura?"

Li Chengze smiled and tried to cover it up, but the eldest prince wanted to know whether he had attacked his brother, so he continued to ask:
"I have fought in the frontier army for many years, so I will not mistake the murderous aura. You may as well tell me in detail what you did. No one will blame you in front of so many people."

The second prince had a stern face, and the eldest prince was unwilling to give in. The situation was at a stalemate. Lin Wan'er, as the host of the banquet, came out to smooth things over. After all, as a princess, it was not right for her to embarrass the princes in her mansion:

"Hey, brother, Her Royal Highness the Princess just said that you went to the market to buy war horses?"

The Northern Qi princess was caught off guard by this interruption. She smiled awkwardly:

"The Northern Qi royal family is generous and never owes debts to others. The eldest prince's warhorse was accidentally injured at the city gate, so I was thinking of buying another one to pay it back. I didn't expect that."

Lin Wan'er's smile was somewhat puzzled, and others also noticed that something was wrong.

You can buy war horses at the market, are the horse dealers trying to save their lives?
"Yes, after the princess returned my horse, she asked to see the princess, so I am bringing her to see you now."

The eldest prince, who was crazy about protecting his wife, quickly took over the topic and did not let the eldest princess say anything that would embarrass her. However, he also realized that Wan'er wanted to change the subject and stop talking about it, so he looked at the second prince:
"Chengze, be more careful in the future. Brothers should be more humble and give way to each other."

"Of course, I should retreat and give way when necessary."

When Li Chengze said this, his eyes were still looking at the prince.

Upon hearing this, Ye Ling'er slammed her wine glass on the table: "In that case, can we cancel the engagement?"

"."

Li Chengze's face darkened:

"When I say retreat, I mean a concession between brothers. The matter of canceling the engagement was an imperial decree issued by His Majesty himself. How can you think of retreating?"

Ye Linger stiffened her neck: "Why not?"

Li Chengze pointed at the others and said, "The people present here are all granted marriages. Then ask them if they have ever thought about canceling the marriage?"

The eldest prince smiled and said, "Of course I have thought about it. Before returning to Kyoto, I have placed fast horses at various post stations along the way. If the situation is not right for me, I will immediately run away from the marriage and hide back at the border."

Princess of Northern Qi:?

"Then why don't you run away?"

The eldest prince became serious: "I saw Her Royal Highness the Princess outside the city and I didn't want to escape."

The Princess of Northern Qi smiled happily and said, "When you want to escape, call me again."

Ye Ling'er was a little envious, and Li Chengze curled his lips.

Fan Xian couldn't help but come out to finish the job, looking at Lin Wan'er: "When I heard about the arranged marriage, I also thought about running away, but I didn't expect that the person I loved in my heart was exactly Wan'er, the one Your Majesty arranged for me to marry. This coincidence is so great that it's not an exaggeration to say it's God's will."

Lin Wan'er didn't say anything, just looked at him infatuatedly, and they were in love with each other.

Ye Ling'er became even more envious, and Li Chengze rolled his eyes.

"I didn't think about it."

Li Chengqian gave a different answer from others:
"What I said in front of His Majesty was all from the bottom of my heart. I didn't lie to you. Long before Ruoruo started paying attention to me, I had already been attracted to her privately."

In a place like this where four couples are dating together, how could you not seize the opportunity to express your love?
Li Chengqian thought that he had inherited most of the teachings from the Hangzhou master, and he knew exactly what to say and when to win a woman's true heart.

Fan Ruoruo's cheeks flushed and she lowered her head shyly. The other three couples who were arranged to marry had all thought about canceling the engagement or escaping.

But she and the Crown Prince had never thought of changing their engagement. Even when she first learned about it, she was just a little surprised and confused, but she only suggested considering it. This showed that they had the best relationship among all the young couples.

Ruoruo felt very proud and loved the Crown Prince even more.

This is a fish that was caught
Ye Ling'er, who was sitting next to her, sighed heavily. The gap between people is really bigger than the gap between people and dogs.

Li Chengze, who was considered worse than a dog in someone's heart, said resentfully:

"Since the marriage was granted to him, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been devoted to us. We should learn from his character. On the contrary, Master Fan has been busy with worldly affairs. He made friends with the Saint on his way to Northern Qi, and was even admired by the Grand Princess of Northern Qi on his way back to the capital. This is the romantic nature of a young man."

Snapped!
Lin Wan'er was rarely angry:
"Second cousin, I know you didn't come here for the banquet today. You and Fan Xian have had a grudge against each other in the court. You have said this time and again, both implicitly and implicitly, in an attempt to make me hate him, cancel the engagement, and keep the inner treasury. But I am here to tell you that the engagement between me, Lin Wan'er, and Fan Xian will never change."

Lin Wan'er was not the only one who was dissatisfied with Li Chengze. Taking this opportunity, Fan Ruoruo also expressed her anger:
"Please also stop thinking about ruining my engagement with the Crown Prince. As long as you stop spreading negative comments about the Crown Prince, misleading the people and officials, and alienating the love between us, the fact that I almost died at the hands of an assassin that day will be written off."

Fan Ruoruo herself almost died. If she begged her father Fan Jian for the truth and attitude, the Second Prince would have a headache. But for the sake of the Crown Prince, she could not pursue it any further, which shows her feelings for Li Chengqian:
"I, Fan Ruoruo, always keep my word."

Li Chengze pretended not to hear what the two girls said.

He looked around and saw that several guests were looking at him unfriendly, including Ye Ling'er who was sitting opposite him. She also looked like she wanted to send him away. He shook his head in boredom and said, "Well, I shouldn't have come to this occasion in the first place. I'd better leave."

Before leaving.

He waited for a while.

No one tried to stop me.

Li Chengze laughed at himself and turned back: "Miss Ye, are you still going to kill me?"

Ye Ling'er shook her head.

"Your Highness, do you still blame me?"

Li Chengqian picked up some food for Fan Ruoruo and pretended not to hear.

Li Chengze laughed and stepped into the shoes barefoot. He was about to leave when Fan Xian called him:

"Second Prince, why don't you ask me?"

Li Chengze turned around and said with a smile:

"Why, Master Fan wants to do it himself?"

Fan Xian did not answer. He smiled and raised his glass. When he clinked glasses with the prince, he waved his fingers and a pinch of imperceptible white powder silently sank into the glass.

Li Chengze's mind flashed back to when he and Fan Xian clinked glasses, and it seemed that they also had the same set of actions:
"You, you poisoned the wine?!"

then.

Fan Xian took the cup of poisoned wine from the Crown Prince, walked lightly to Li Chengze, and poured the wine on the ground as if offering sacrifice to the dead, and responded with the Second Prince's words:

"There are so many people in Kyoto, and people die every day. What else can I say except pity? What else do you want me to say?"

Li Chengze shook his head, but his body trembled unconsciously:
"I don't believe you dare to do that in front of so many people."

"Kill me."

(End of this chapter)