My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 33 Suspicion Arises over the Seventh Prince
He Jinlan frowned and said, "What kind of couplet is this? What do you mean by 'chicken turns into lotus root but doesn't change'? You're completely clueless. You've never been good at studying since you were young. You shouldn't come up with couplets that will make you a laughing stock."

He Jiayi lowered her eyes, thinking that she should find an opportunity to see He Jinshi.

I'm seventeen now, and after another year of mourning, I'll be eighteen.

As an illegitimate daughter, she still had to take care of her own marriage. After all, unlike He Jinshi and He Jinlan, she didn't have a father who would become a marquis in the future. She couldn't just stand by and watch her fellow villager, He Jinshi, ruin the reputation of the He family's daughter and ruin her own marriage.
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Lu Jinshi had just finished her dinner when she received an invitation from Princess An, sent by her sister-in-law. It was an invitation to young men and women in Chang'an to attend a spring polo tournament organized by Princess An's sister-in-law.

When Lu Jinshi saw the horse farm mentioned in the invitation, which was not far from Lingxiao Academy, he thought for a moment and then wrote a reply.

Lu Jinshi was also thinking of taking Zhang'er out to see a polo match.

These past few days, Zhang'er has been enjoying going out to play more and more. The weather has been sunny and bright these past few days, so it's time to take him out for some fresh air.

Early the next morning.

Lu Jinshi had just gotten up to do her hair and hadn't gone to the academy yet when Caifeng came in to report: "Miss, the matter you asked Shuangfu to investigate yesterday has been found. There's nothing important going on at the Hanlin Academy in Luoyang. It's just that the Seventh Prince has ordered the re-editing of the old history of the previous dynasty in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, and specifically asked Shen Xing to be in charge of the editing."

Lu Jinshi frowned slightly. Why did compiling old history require Shen Xing to go to Luoyang immediately?

Lu Jinshi could hardly help but suspect that the Seventh Prince cared about her past engagement with Shen Xing.
Lu Jinshi looked at herself in the bronze mirror and shook her head. The Seventh Prince didn't even care about her having a child with Rong Yi, so why would he care about Shen Xing?

Lu Jinshi felt that the Seventh Prince was full of suspicious points, but her mind was like a jumble of mush, and she couldn't figure it out.

Lu Jinshi simply stopped thinking about the matter and only thought that he would return the slap that Rong Yi owed him yesterday in the classroom later today.

Once at the school, the students were all talking about the polo match that was coming up in a few days, and they were all very excited to go watch it.

Seeing that Rong Yi had not yet arrived, Lu Jinshi walked up to his younger brother Qin Ke and asked, "Do you want to come with me to the polo match in a few days?"

Qin Ke shook his head and said, "Sister, I think I should continue studying. I don't think I'll pass the imperial examination in the fall. There are only half a year left until then."

Lu Jinshi smiled faintly and said, "Even if you are busy with your studies, you should still have a balance between work and rest. You will come with me. I want to take Zhang'er with me. Please look after Zhang'er for me and make sure that no one takes him away."

Qin Ke asked curiously, "Sister, who will come to take Zhang'er?"

Lu Jinshi said, "Just remember that if anyone asks you for Zhang'er, you shouldn't give it to them."

Qin Ke nodded and said, "Yes, sister."

"Brother Rong, what are you holding in your hand? It smells so good!"

"Brother Rong, what happened to your lip? Why is there a scar on your lip?"

Lu Jinshi smelled the aroma of lotus flower pastries. He turned around and saw Rong Yi carrying a wooden box filled with lotus flower pastries.

Rong Yi handed the lotus-shaped pastry to Lu Jinshi and said, "Knowing that you love lotus-shaped pastries, I got up early today and had Mu Dong run all over Chang'an to buy them. They're still warm."

Seeing the apologetic smile on Rong Yi's face, Lu Jinshi accepted the wooden box, opened it, and saw that it contained delicate lotus-shaped shortbread.

Lu Jinshi tasted one piece, then walked up to Mu Yan, took a lotus flower pastry and handed it to Mu Yan, saying, "Senior brother, you should try it too. This lotus flower pastry is a popular snack in Jiangnan."

Just as Mu Yan was about to take it, he saw Rong Yi looking at him with a sinister gaze.

Mu Yan withdrew her hand, and just as she was about to refuse, Lu Jinshi put the lotus flower pastry into Mu Yan's mouth. Mu Yan blushed immediately and simply reached out to catch it.

Seeing Rong Yi's murderous glare, Mu Yan hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Thank you... Junior Sister."

Xu Yang whispered to Yuan Feijiang, "What's going on? Why is Brother Rong buying pastries for Senior Sister Lu?"

Jiang Yin shook his head, clearly not knowing what was going on either.

Yuan Fei knew, but he could only keep quiet. Lu Jinshi walked up to the three of them and handed them the lotus-shaped pastries in his hand, saying, "Take one lotus-shaped pastry each."

The three of them glanced at Rong Yi's expression and dared not take it.
Lu Jinshi then took a piece and placed it directly to Yuan Fei's lips, smiled at her, and said with her red lips slightly parted, "Eat it."

Yuan Fei looked at Lu Jinshi's smiling face, her heart pounding. She opened her mouth slightly and hurriedly took the pastry with her hand.

Seeing this, Xu Yang and Jiang Yin immediately took the lotus-shaped pastries. Lu Jinshi distributed the remaining lotus-shaped pastries to the other students, keeping two for himself.

After giving one piece to Qin Ke, Lu Jinshi held the last lotus-shaped pastry in his hand and said, "There's one extra."

Rong Yi walked up to Lu Jinshi and said with a gentle smile, "It's nothing, I haven't eaten yet, you feed me..."

Lu Jinshi looked out the window. A small black dog was chasing a bird in the wheat field. Lu Jinshi walked to the window, nibbled twice, and tossed the lotus-shaped pastry in his hand to the little black dog.

The little black dog barked twice at Lu Jinshi, then started eating lotus flower pastries while biting its tail.

Lu Jinshi shifted her phoenix eyes from the little black dog to Rong Yi and said, "Even animals know how to repay kindness. When I give it pastries, it wags its tail at me. Some people are worse than animals, yet they disregard the kindness of their teachers. They are truly unworthy of being human."

Xu Yang leaned close to Yuan Fei's ear and whispered, "The person Senior Sister Lu was referring to as worse than an animal is Brother Rong?"

Yuan Fei stared at the half lotus flower pastry in front of her, her mind still filled with Lu Jinshi's smiling face as he handed her the pastry.

"Yuan Fei, Yuan Fei!"

Yuan Fei snapped out of his daze. "What?"

Xu Yang asked, "Did Brother Rong and Senior Sister Lu know each other before?"

Yuan Fei now understood why His Highness had fallen into Lu Jinshi's trap of leaving the father and son to have a child. He had been so focused on listening to Lu Jinshi teach that he hadn't noticed her beauty.

Rong Yi looked into Lu Jinshi's phoenix eyes and said, "You're right. Even beasts know how to repay kindness. I specially got up early to ask the servant to buy you lotus flower pastries, and you'd rather feed them to a dog than give me a piece. You're the beast you're talking about..."

Before Rong Yi could utter the last three words, Lu Jinshi raised his hand and slapped Rong Yi across the face.

All the students except Yuan Fei stood up.

Xu Yang shouted sternly, "Lu Jinshi, how dare you!"

Jiang Yin said, "Lu Jinshi, why aren't you kneeling down? You've hit Brother Rong again and again; it seems you really don't want your head anymore."

Qin Ke walked between Rong Yi and Lu Jinshi, glaring angrily at Rong Yi and said, "Since my sister has come to the school to teach us, she is both a senior sister and a teacher. How dare you call my sister worse than an animal? You asked for this slap."

Rong Yi said, "I didn't actually utter any curses."

Lu Jinshi said, "Although you didn't say it out loud, you definitely meant it."

Mu Yan stepped forward and said, "Junior Brother Rong, Junior Sister Lu, we are all fellow disciples. Studies are the most important thing. You should continue your studies."

Rong Yi sat back down in his seat.

Xu Yang, Jiang Yin, and the others looked at Rong Yi, who had taken his seat, with great curiosity.

His Majesty and the Imperial Noble Consort are both reluctant to touch the Seventh Prince, but now that the Seventh Prince has been slapped by Lu Jinshi, he doesn't even get angry or pursue the matter?

Lu Jinshi's gaze shifted back and forth between Xu Yang and Jiang Yin. Even if Rong Yi was the heir of the Marquis of Changping's mansion, slapping him wouldn't cause him to lose his head as Jiang Yin suggested...

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(End of this chapter)