The Princess's Notebook

Leaving Chenguang Palace, she came with several boxes and left with several boxes. Shiqi Niang bid farewell to Queen Zhou and talked to Nanny Wan for a long time. She even asked someone to greet His Majesty, who had not yet spoken properly, and finally left in a desolate manner.

The queen complained to her son, "Why did you make the girl angry when you were so good?"

Zhao Feiran's face turned pale and he said nothing.

His Majesty could not help but remind him, "With your dog-like character, you will have a hard time getting married. If you have nothing to do in the East Palace, go to your two brothers' houses and see how they get along with their princesses. You are still my son, and the crown prince. You are really ruining our ancestors' foundation."

The words were a bit harsh. The queen was partial to her own son and gave Zhao Kun a sharp look. Thinking that Zhao Feiran was really wrong in this matter, she didn't say anything.

Zhao Feiran sat slumped in a heap, being greeted by this person and taught by that person, he couldn't hear a single word.

That night, even after talking to that point, she still suspected that he liked another young lady. She was really... really heartless. He became more and more angry, and walked away without caring about what the queen and His Majesty were talking about.

The flickering candlelight sways.

Unexpectedly, he walked to the door of Chenguang Palace. The inner room was pitch black, with only the light from Zhengyang Palace shining. Song Dajian, who was following behind, opened the door and lit candles everywhere, then waited for Zhao Feiran to enter the palace and retreated to the outer corridor.

Zhao Feiran walked slowly, but just stood in the hall for a moment, then turned and went up to the second floor. The gold-sprinkled curtain was half open, and the jade hook was swaying, as if waiting for someone to return. He glanced at it and continued forward. Behind the treasure shelf was where Shiqi Niang had been grinding ink these days. The inkstone and brush were all there. It was exactly the same as before.

The man gently moved the armchair and sat on it.

One hand rested on the table, the other hand held the pen to write. He wondered what posture she used to study the palace rules and copy the biography of Taizu every day for more than a month. She was always bold and fearless, but when she did such a solemn thing, did she shake her head or look solemn?

He couldn't figure it out.

He only remembered the nice words she said to him when she was coaxing him.

She has charming eyes and eyebrows, is talkative, and is likable, making people feel approachable just by looking at her.

Various versions of Seventeenth Lady flashed back and forth in his mind. Sometimes she laughed, sometimes she quarreled, but in the end, they all came together.

She bowed solemnly, talked about human ethics, and said she wanted to go home.

Zhao Feiran's hands suddenly became weak, and the wolf hair brush fell to the ground with a dull sound, which finally woke him up. He suddenly looked at the ground, and saw the ink stained by the wolf hair brush scattered, staining a large area. Dots of black clumps fell on the blue bricks, on the books, and on the foot of his robe.

He sighed and soiled the book she left behind. If they met again, she would quarrel with him because she was petty.

Zhao Feiran slowly reached out his hand, picked up the wolf hair brush, and then picked up the book.

He held the scroll in his hands and stroked it gently. It was an ordinary scroll, without a name or title, and no one knew what it was.

The slender hand that fell on the cover slowly opened the book. It saw something, as if it couldn't believe it, and closed it and opened it again.

A Little Wolfdog in the East Palace

Zhao Feiran: What is this?
She is a well-behaved young lady, but she usually reads such weird and bizarre books?!

The second page reads:

It is said that there was a country called Song in the past. It had a prosperous population, people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and all nations came to pay tribute. There was one thing that was not good about it. The ruler had been in power for more than 30 years, but he did not have a prince. It was really worrying...

The further you look, the colder Zhao Feiran's expression becomes. He looks as if he has just come out of an ice cellar, with white smoke above his head and broken ice all over the ground under his feet.

It's unbelievable, this... this is actually the script for the East Palace.

Look at the handwriting, beautiful and neat, probably written by a woman.

This not-too-big Chenguang Palace was the only place where anyone except Princess Jing'an, who left the palace to get married many years ago, had ever lived there.

There is no doubt who wrote this book.

Good guy Wang Shiqi, he really underestimated her. He dared to quarrel with the crown prince in person, and even dared to make up such a thing behind her back.

Is there still justice in heaven and law in the world?

Zhao Feiran held the notebook tightly in his hand and went out in a gust of wind.

When I got to the gate of Chenguang Palace, I saw Supervisor Song waiting there. "Where's Sun Du?"

"General Sun went with Officer Guo to investigate a case early this morning and has not been to the East Palace."

"Send someone to the Marquis of Changqing's mansion to deliver a message, asking Sun Duer to come to the Chancellery Mansion early tomorrow morning." Zhao Feiran's tone was fierce and quite frightening.

Song Dajian's heart was pounding, and he didn't know why. His Highness, shouldn't he be sad and pitiful at this moment? Why did he look like someone had angered him? Even the firecrackers of the Ordnance Supervisor were not so powerful.

The next morning, Sun Du received orders to come to Guanglu Temple to deliver the message.

At first, when Wang Kang saw that it was Sun Du, he thought that the Crown Prince was concerned about Shiqi Niang and came here specially, with a face full of smiles.

However, Sun Du said that he had poor personal morals and was unfit to be an official, and ordered him to return home and reflect on his mistakes.

Wang Kang's eyes fell to the ground. He had been very sensible these days and never caused any trouble. He even lost some of his former drinking buddies. He remembered the teachings of His Majesty and the expectations of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why did it come to this? Why did it come to this? Alas.

I’m afraid this future father-in-law of the emperor can no longer be saved.

After the court session ended and Wang Kang returned to the palace, he thought over and over again and realized that he had done nothing wrong and the scolding was inexplicable. After a while, he guessed that Shiqi Niang had committed some taboo in the palace and was sent back, which implicated him. So he rushed to Qiu Shuangju with a red face.

At the moment in Qiushuangju, Aunt Shangguan is ill and the whole yard is in chaos.

As soon as Wang Kangfu entered, he saw little girls gathered in groups of three or five, coming and going, not taking him, the head of the family, seriously.

"Where are your eyes? What are you running around for? How can you be so rude? Shangguan is just a crazy woman. How can you serve her? Come here quickly and call Shiqi Niang. I have something to ask her."

After hearing this, the girls looked at each other and didn't want to listen to his instructions. After all, he was the head of the family and still had some authority. After a while, Shiqi Niang came to Wang Kang with a depressed look on her face.

He scolded her, "Look at you? You don't walk properly, and you don't dress properly. You are like this... Oh... No wonder His Highness said that you have a bad moral character and are unbearable..." Wang Kang was stunned. Hey, what was the original sentence? He couldn't remember, so he just made it up.

“Not worthy of being a match.

I'm telling you, you should learn from your sixteenth sister. Look at her, she coaxed the Third Young Master Feng very well. Not long ago, the Third Young Master met me and called me father-in-law. Not only that, he also sent many new toys to my home. Look at you again, oh, the Crown Prince sent General Sun to come to me today to scold me, did you know that?"

Shiqi Niang gnashed her teeth and asked, "Is what my father said true? His Highness said that I am not worthy of being his match?"

Wang Kang was startled, not daring to answer directly, and asked: "Otherwise, why would you be sent back? Do you know how great an honor it is to enter the palace and learn the palace rules so early? It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is gone just like that. Where can I put the face of my Wang family?"

Shiqi Niang didn't want to talk nonsense to him anymore. "Don't worry, Father. His Royal Highness has already said that the marriage will not change. Father, my daughter was sent back home. I'm in a bad mood, so I won't talk to you."

After saying that, he left.

Wang Kang looked at her from behind and shouted angrily, "This is outrageous, this is outrageous! If you are rejected by the royal family, I don't know what kind of man you can find. You are throwing a tantrum at me now and disrespecting the elders. If you can't get married by then, my Wang family won't take you in for free meals. You can find a place to get your hair cut and become a nun."

His voice was loud and he did not hold back at all. Not only did Shiqi Niang who was leaving hear it clearly, but everyone in front and behind Qiu Shuangju also heard it clearly.

Winter is coming.

In the days that followed, Shiqi Niang stayed at Qiu Shuang Ju, writing storybooks, taking care of Aunt Shangguan, and counseling Aunt Feng. Occasionally, she would talk to Shiliu Niang, who was about to get married. Shiliu Niang often said that she shouldn't have come to Shiqi because of what happened that day. If it weren't for her request, Shiqi Niang wouldn't have been sent back. Whenever she heard this, Shiqi would always smile and say, it's not true.

The relationship between her and Zhao Feiran began with a shared dream and would end with a marriage granted by imperial decree.

What does this have to do with Shiliu Niang’s marriage?

Shiliu Niang didn't believe it, and came to see her from time to time to tell her the news outside, saying that the imperial city had no plans to appoint another crown princess.

Shiqi put away the storybook and pretended to order some tea. "Why worry about this? You're going to get married soon. You should worry about yourself. Third Master Feng? Are you still worried?"

Sixteen was disappointed, "Who am I? I was just a bully when I talked to you and wanted to cancel the engagement. Now that you are like this, I can only wait for Feng Ji to come and bully me. Don't worry, he is a black heart, but I am not a pushover either. Have you forgotten that when we were little, I fought with Eighteen and Nineteen for things? Ordinary people can't do anything to me."

"Mrs. Qian doesn't look like an ordinary person." Seventeen reminded her kindly.

"We will make things right when the time comes. Madam Qian is not an ordinary person, but she and Minister Feng have long been at odds with each other. In this regard, the Third Young Master and I have the same interests, so we can still get by." As he spoke, Sixteen observed Seventeen's expression and saw that she was more depressed than before. He asked with concern, "You, do you really think His Highness doesn't like you?"

Shiqi paused, "You have come to me and said this many times. Why do you feel that you can't bully others now? Come to me to verify it."

"Even if I have the guts, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will listen to you. I heard that there was a snowstorm in Jiannan, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was ordered to provide disaster relief..." Seeing that Seventeen was only busy ordering tea and didn't show any abnormality, Sixteen got anxious and said, "Why don't you say something? In Jiannan, south of the Wei River, the people probably haven't seen snow for many years, and now there is a snowstorm, which is more likely to cause disaster than good. Aren't you worried about him?"

"Worried about what he might do."

Shiqi Niang was stubborn. During the days she had been back home, apart from a few words from her father, there had been no news from the East Palace.

"You... you are a blockhead, you are a piece of crap." Sixteen was furious. "On the ninth day of the winter month, I will get married. His Highness personally set the date. What a good excuse. When he comes, you go see him and say something conciliatory. There is nothing that cannot be solved."

"Sixteenth sister, we can't get away with it just by saying something nice."

"You... have you become stupid from reading the storybook? He is a prince, born to be a high-ranking person. He is willing to risk his life to save you and even ask for the imperial decree to appoint you as the crown princess. What else do you want?"

After a long silence, Shiqi Niang brought the teacup to Shiliu, "Sister, my future husband, I don't ask him to be as handsome as Pan An, nor do I ask him to be a high-ranking official, I just want a smooth life. As a crown princess, how can I have a smooth life? This is not my original intention, and he is so arrogant and has no moral integrity, so life will only be more difficult. It's good for us just like this."

These words could not fool Sixteen, let alone Seventeen himself.

She had thought about it, they could meet again, have a good talk, talk about what happened that day in detail. After all, they were going to get married, so it was best for them to be clear about it.

However, there has been no news from the Eastern Palace for many days. There is also no news from the Imperial City.

He went to Jiannan to provide disaster relief. She knew it without Sixteen saying anything.

But what can we do even if we know it?

(End of this chapter)