Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

That night, Jia Lian stayed at Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

The next day, after taking a stroll around the government office and palace, two more carriages arrived on his way back home.

Princess Zhaoyang jumped off the carriage, looked at the "Pingliao Prince's Mansion" in front of her, and laughed: "It's different from before. No wonder you've been reluctant to move into the capital. There must be something here that my brother can't bear to part with."

Jia Lian smiled and ordered someone to invite Yingchun out. He himself, along with the smiling Princess Zhaoyang and the hesitant Fourth Prince, went to the hall to wait.

"Brother, why did you call me here...?"

When Yingchun heard Jia Lian call her, she rushed over with Xiuju on her feet.

Unexpectedly, besides Jia Lian, there were two other people sitting in the hall.

That woman is fine.

Although she had never met her, she could roughly guess her identity from the fact that she could sit on equal footing with her brother, chatting and laughing, and that she was elegant and radiant.

However, sitting to her left was a boy who was not familiar with her and she could not guess his identity.

The other person, however, stood up immediately upon seeing her, seemingly quite excited, which aroused her suspicion.

"This is Princess Zhaoyang, and next to her is her younger brother, His Highness Prince Xiao. You can call them Imperial Sister and Imperial Brother."

Although Yingchun has not yet been officially recognized by the royal family, she has already received the honor that comes with the change in status.

At the very least, there's the connection with Jia Lian.

Therefore, no one in the Jia family would dare to look down on or neglect her.

So Yingchun gradually adapted to her new identity.

Hearing that they were all members of the royal family, she felt relieved and walked in from the entrance hall, bowing to Princess Zhaoyang and the other woman: "Younger sister Yingchun greets elder sister Princess and elder brother Prince Xiao."

"Quickly, Yingchun, don't be so polite, get up quickly..."

"Cough cough..."

Seeing that the Fourth Prince was actually trying to help him up, Jia Lian quickly coughed to remind him.

The fourth prince seemed to wake from a dream, standing there awkwardly rubbing his hands, not knowing what to do.

As a young man who had been single for nineteen years, he had no idea how to behave in front of the girl he liked.

Seeing her younger brother's terrible performance, Princess Zhaoyang sighed and reminded him, "Didn't you prepare a gift for Yingchun? Why aren't you bringing it up?"

"Yes, yes, sister Yingchun, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've prepared a small gift for you, and I hope you won't find it offensive."

As he spoke, the fourth prince turned around and picked up a rather large wooden box that she had placed on the guest table.

"Since it's our first meeting, I didn't know what to give you. I heard you like playing chess, so I chose this."

You don't know, this chess set was a coming-of-age gift from my grandfather when I was sixteen and was made a prince.

It is made entirely of pure, natural, high-quality jade, and comes in two colors: white and blue. It is a rare and precious piece, and there is only one in the entire world. No amount of money can buy it.

And it's beautiful too, let me open it and show you..."

Seeing that her younger brother completely ignored Yingchun's reaction and focused on introducing his jade chess pieces, Princess Zhaoyang sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, my mother didn't give birth to someone as stupid as me. If I were like this stupid younger brother, how could I have won over my elder brother back then?

Thinking of this, she turned her head and looked at Jia Lian affectionately, still preparing to give her silly younger brother a helping hand: "Brother, I think Ling'er is very fond of Yingchun. Why don't we let the two of them talk alone?"

"I also have something I'd like to say to my elder brother."

Jia Lian hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded, gave Yingchun some instructions, and led Princess Zhaoyang to the side hall.

Perhaps sensing Jia Lian's distraction, Princess Zhaoyang smiled and said, "Brother, are you afraid that Ling'er will be disrespectful to Sister Yingchun?"

Jia Lian shook his head.

He had complete trust in the Fourth Prince's character.

A person who would even relinquish the position of crown prince is a testament to his character.

Not to mention, the Fourth Prince has never had a reputation for bullying men or women.

He was just worried that his younger sister, who hadn't seen much of the world, would be easily fooled.

To be fair, the fourth prince's conditions were really not bad.

After all, he was Princess Zhaoyang's younger brother, born of the same mother.

He's good-looking, has a good character, and is a prince. He's really worried that his younger sister might fall for him too.

If that happens, it will be really difficult to handle.

"Since Your Majesty isn't worried about this, let's wait and see. Perhaps things won't turn out the way you expect?"

"What do you mean?"

Princess Zhaoyang said, "Brother, don't forget, Ling'er is not you."

Over the years, have you ever heard of any girls he's had any relationships with?

Many times, I suspect that my younger brother doesn't even like girls.

Princess Zhaoyang laughed as she spoke.

"You don't need to worry that he really has a strong obsession with Yingchun."

Think about it, you went on two expeditions away from Beijing in the past two years. If he really missed Yingchun so much that he couldn't sleep at night, how could he not have a way to see her?

The simplest thing he could have done was beg me... but he didn't.

So I think he probably still has the mindset of a teenager. He wants to do the things his elders don't want him to do, and he even wants to do them in front of you.

Perhaps, if Your Majesty stops forbidding him, he will gradually figure things out on his own.

He was, after all, a prince, a prince of the blood. There were so many women in the world that he could have any of them, so why did he have to choose someone unsuitable?

I think he listened to what you said to him last time. It's just that with the two of us setting a bad example, he's still not convinced.

I think once he truly understands Yingchun, and knows what a gentle and pure girl she is, he won't have any other thoughts.

After hearing Princess Zhaoyang's analysis, Jia Lian had a slight understanding.

Yes, although Yingchun is as gentle and beautiful as a willow branch, she is not so stunning as to be breathtakingly beautiful that one would be captivated by her at first sight.

In other words, there are quite a few women in the world who can rival Yingchun in beauty.

The Fourth Prince couldn't see anyone else, but he glanced at Yingchun and suddenly changed his gender.

If we exclude predestined love and love at first sight, then it's probably just obsession.

Could it be because he's resentful that I slept with his older sister, and he wants to get revenge here?

Or is this kid really going through a rebellious phase, wanting to do the things he's forbidden to do?

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why he clearly wanted to see Yingchun, but didn't try to meet her when he wasn't in Beijing and couldn't stop her.

Could it be that his character is so good that he is "a gentleman who is cautious even when alone"?

This is impossible.

How could anyone in this world have a better character than him!

So, things might not be as complicated as he imagined.

Thinking back to when this kid had just turned sixteen and dragged him and Zhang Su and others to visit brothels, pretending to be an old-fashioned old man, Jia Lian still couldn't help but laugh.

So, why not try a different attitude?

Having figured things out, Jia Lian raised his hand and rubbed Princess Zhaoyang's head affectionately, saying, "Silly girl, we're not a bad example at all."

Throughout history, no relationship has been more dramatic, poignant, or moving than the one between us.

Haven't you seen how people have compiled our stories into folk tales and are eagerly praising them?

Princess Zhaoyang, now the powerful commander of the Imperial Guards, was embarrassed when Jia Lian ruffled her hair like a child.

However, she did not resist. Instead, she nestled against Jia Lian's shoulder and said reproachfully, "It's not necessarily all praise for us. There must be some who say bad things about us."

"It's alright. If they slander our stories, we can just order them banned."

"Hehehe, my royal brother is getting more and more shameless."

……

In the main hall, Yingchun finally couldn't resist the Fourth Prince's enthusiasm and agreed to accept his gift.

She was an introverted person to begin with, let alone when she was facing a strange man.

The fourth prince is also a complete novice.

In the past, there were many princesses and county princesses in the imperial clan, and quite a few of them wanted to play with him, but he was too lazy to pay them any attention.

Asking him to improve his relationship with Yingchun at this point would be asking too much of him.

Seeing that Yingchun was about to take her leave to go find Jia Lian, the Fourth Prince, in his anxiety, had no choice but to come up with the idea of ​​playing chess with Yingchun.

Yingchun thought to herself that the person in front of her was, after all, her blood cousin, and he had given her such a precious gift.

Most importantly, he was a guest brought back by his brother, so he couldn't be treated lightly and agreed.

But she soon regretted it.

Although the person in front of her was a few years older than her, his chess skills were terrible; one could even say he didn't know how to play chess at all.

She held back a lot, and still managed to kill her opponent without leaving a single survivor.

Yingchun was ultimately a kind-hearted person. Seeing the Fourth Prince so embarrassed that he wished he could disappear into the ground, she was afraid that he would be too embarrassed, so she quickly said, "It's okay. Your Highness must have rarely played chess before. You'll learn this game if you play more."

The fourth prince said shyly, "I've never played chess with other girls before, so I'm a little nervous..."

Yingchun covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "If Your Majesty doesn't mind, I can teach you."

"Really?"

"Um."

The fourth prince grinned foolishly.

So when Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang returned together after their intimate encounter, they were greeted by a gentle and respectable teacher instructing his foolish but exceptionally obedient student.

Well, how should I put it? It's kind of heartwarming.

Upon seeing this, Jia Lian couldn't help but feel somewhat worried.

"Oh, brothers, you're back!"

When Yingchun saw Jia Lian, she quickly got up to greet him.

Jia Lian nodded and asked casually, "How are things going between you two? Has he bullied you?"

"What are you saying, brother? Prince Xiao is a very good person."

Jia Lian said, "Oh, is she better than me?"

Yingchun was taken aback, then blushed and didn't know how to answer.

"Hehehe, alright, Your Majesty, how dare you ask? I think you're bullying our Yingchun right now!"

"that is!"

The Fourth Prince also glared at Jia Lian.

Princess Zhaoyang glanced at the sky, told the Fourth Prince that it was time to return to the city, and then said to Jia Lian, "The Empress Dowager instructed me that when you go to the Western Hills Villa for a vacation, you must not be careless about safety."

I have already ordered the mobilization of 5,000 troops from the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Infantry, and the Imperial Cavalry, under the command of Hu Jin, to protect the safety of my elder brother and sister-in-law along the route.

Jia Lian hesitated: "Wouldn't it be too much of a fuss to mobilize so many troops? It's not that far. Actually, one or two thousand men would be enough. We don't have many people, so we don't need so many troops to protect us."

Princess Zhaoyang smiled charmingly: "This is the Empress Dowager's wish; I am merely following orders."

If Your Majesty has a different opinion, go and speak with Mother.

Jia Lian didn't say anything more.

Nearby, the Fourth Prince, having played several games of chess, had grown much closer to Yingchun. He leaned close to her and whispered, "Sister Yingchun, your skills are superb. I have benefited greatly from your instruction today."

"When I have time in the future, can I come over again and ask Yingchun to teach me how to play chess?"

Yingchun glanced at Jia Lian and nodded slightly shyly.

The fourth prince was delighted. He secretly gave Jia Lian a provocative look, then put his hands behind his back, hummed a tune, and leisurely walked out of the hall.

Princess Zhaoyang smiled at Jia Lian, nodded to Yingchun, and followed closely behind. (End of Chapter)