Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 719: Love at First Sight?

After leaving the hall, the fourth prince wandered around aimlessly.

As he walked to the east, he suddenly heard shouts coming from behind him as someone practiced martial arts. He immediately quickened his pace to find them.

Most of Jia Lian's guards knew the Fourth Prince. Even those who didn't, seeing Zhao Sheng and the others cautiously accompanying the Fourth Prince, roughly knew his identity and consciously gave up their territory.

The fourth prince initially approached with great interest to observe and try it out, after all, the martial arts arena that Jia Lian personally built still had many innovative features compared to the standards of the time.

The fourth prince found the training equipment and tools novel.

Under the guidance of Zhao Sheng and others, the Fourth Prince successfully completed five rather unorthodox single-arm lifts in one go. He then clapped his hands casually and asked the Jia family members beside him, "How many can you usually do?"

One of them was about to answer when Zhao Sheng interrupted, "In response to Prince Xiao, this project was personally designed by our Marquis. It mainly trains the arms and shoulders, and it is extremely difficult."

An ordinary person can usually only do one to three on their first try. The prince's ability to easily do five in one go is truly a gift of nature; his arm strength is astonishing, something we inferiors cannot match.

The Fourth Prince chuckled, "Looks like Jia Lian isn't all that great. I don't think this is difficult at all. I'll practice a bit, and I can easily do around a hundred."

Upon hearing this, the others showed strange expressions, but Zhao Sheng said, "What Your Highness says is true. Such a small thing is naturally the simplest thing for Your Highness."

The fourth prince readily accepted the compliment, then his expression changed slightly.

Without making a sound, the Fourth Prince put down the broadsword he had been holding, looked around, and said, "Tell your Marquis later that his training ground is too small, and he can't really practice his skills properly."

My manor is quite large; if he wants to practice martial arts, he'd be better off going to my palace.

After saying that, without waiting for Zhao Sheng and the others to respond, he told them to continue training and then left with his hands behind his back.

Back on the front porch, the fourth prince quietly rubbed his biceps before heading off to take his silly older sister away.

He thought his elder sister was good in every way, except that she always made stupid mistakes when facing Jia Lian.

If he hadn't been coerced and tempted, he would never have brought her here even if you beat him to death!

He thought that if Jia Lian was honest, that would be fine, but if he dared to take the opportunity to bully his imperial sister, he would definitely beat him until his face was covered in bruises.

Suddenly, a carriage slowly drove into the gate.

The BMW-style carriage, adorned with jade belts and silver saddles, was followed by a group of old women and maids.

The fourth prince didn't care at first, assuming it was just someone from the inner quarters of the Jia family going out.

The carriage suddenly stopped in the middle, and a young girl stepped out of it.

What kind of woman is she?

She stepped out of the car, wearing a light yellow dress and bending slightly at the waist.

As if unable to bear the sun's rays, she lightly raised her hand to shield her face, yet the playful spring light still managed to bypass her small hand and shine on her delicate face, as smooth as a freshly peeled lychee, reflecting a hazy glow.

He casually untied the mourning band from his head and handed it to the person next to him. Then, with the help of a maid, he stepped down from the carriage using the stairs.

Standing tall and graceful, each step she takes is like a lotus blossom.

The fourth prince stood frozen in the corridor.

……

Wang Xifeng has extremely strong execution ability.

Upon returning to his residence, he immediately had the screen moved to Yingchun's room in the Grand View Garden, specifically on Ziling Island.

Glass products are rare items, especially those with exquisite craftsmanship, most of which are imported and quite valuable.

Yingchun was naturally overjoyed and grateful to receive it, and wanted to thank Wang Xifeng.

Wang Xifeng was very busy and didn't have much time to go home and chat with her, so she told her that her brother had sent it and that if she wanted to thank someone, she should thank Jia Lian.

Yingchun naturally obeyed.

I learned that Jia Lian is off duty today and is staying in the east wing.

Therefore, after returning from the East Mansion with Tan Chun to pay respects and kowtow, he got off the carriage alone in the East Courtyard.

However, Xiuju, who had gone to inquire beforehand, returned and said that Jia Lian was receiving guests.

Yingchun dared not disturb them. Just then, she also caught a glimpse of a strange man spying on her in the east corridor.

Yingchun glanced at him, then lowered her head and quickly led the two maids, Siqi and Xiuju, to wait in another side hall.

……

After Princess Zhaoyang and Jia Lian finished discussing business, they came out of the hall and ran into the somewhat dazed Fourth Prince.

"What's wrong with you?" Princess Zhaoyang asked.

"No, it's nothing! Um, are you all done, Your Highness?"

As expected, the Fourth Prince was quick to anger; with just one sentence, Princess Zhaoyang, who had been concerned about him, turned her brows up and glared at him coldly.

The fourth prince shuddered and quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Um, what I meant was, have you finished telling Jia Lian what you wanted to say?"

Princess Zhaoyang then changed her expression, looked back at Jia Lian with tender affection, and nodded to the Fourth Prince, "Let's go."

"Let's go now..."

The fourth prince tentatively suggested, "Well, elder sister, it's rare for you to come all this way, why don't you stay a little longer?"

Princess Zhaoyang glanced at him, then went down the steps and strode away.

The fourth prince gave Jia Lian a helpless look, then followed Princess Zhaoyang.

Because Princess Zhaoyang was disguised as a man to avoid attracting attention, she rode in the Fourth Prince's carriage.

They remained silent the entire way, Princess Zhaoyang still mentally processing the information she had received from Jia Lian.

During this time, she also caught glimpses of the Fourth Prince hesitating to speak several times, but she pretended not to see it. It wasn't until the carriage entered the imperial city and they were almost at Prince Xiao's residence that Princess Zhaoyang finally spoke:

"Just say what you want to say. Don't be so coy like a girl."

Although he had been bullied by his elder sister since childhood and was almost used to it, for some reason, when he heard Princess Zhaoyang say that he was like a woman, the Fourth Prince almost jumped up.

"You're talking nonsense! I don't look like a... Hmph, I don't know who it is, always brandishing swords and dressing as a man, with no manners or poise whatsoever. I think you're the one who doesn't look like a woman at all!"

After the Fourth Prince finished speaking, he became fully alert. Based on his experience, Princess Zhaoyang, who couldn't win an argument with him, would most likely resort to violence.

Princess Zhaoyang, however, did not. On the contrary, she looked with great interest at the Fourth Prince, who seemed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Finally, feigning indifference, he said, "I'll give you one last chance. Ask whatever you want, or I'll be back."

The Fourth Prince, after all, needed something from them, and knowing his elder sister's decisive nature, awkwardly suppressed his displeasure and stammered, "Um, elder sister, do you know anything about the Jia family? Especially the inner quarters..."

Princess Zhaoyang raised an eyebrow. "I have some understanding of it."

"So, do you know this girl? She looks about fifteen or sixteen years old. She's... plump and radiant? Anyway, her skin is fair and beautiful. She's about my height, maybe a little shorter. She's slender, but not too fat or too thin. Her eyes and brows are especially gentle. She looks like a well-educated and refined young lady from a good family..."

The fourth prince seemed afraid that Princess Zhaoyang wouldn't understand, so he gestured with his hands as he spoke, trying to make his description clearer.

Princess Zhaoyang listened calmly, and only asked after he finished speaking, "What, have you taken a fancy to her?"

"How could that be?! Oh, just tell me whether you know or not, why ask so many questions?!" The Fourth Prince looked at Princess Zhaoyang with what he considered his most powerful gaze, intimidating her.

Princess Zhaoyang was naturally unmoved. She glanced at him, shook her head, and sighed, "What a pity."

"What's a pity?" the Fourth Prince asked cautiously.

"That's Jia Lian's distant cousin. Her parents died early, and unfortunately, she was already betrothed to Jia Lian as a concubine, which is why she lives with them. Otherwise, I could have put in a good word for you..."

"What?! That damned Jia Lian! He toyed with your feelings, my dear sister, and now he's going to seduce so many innocent and lovely girls! I'm so angry!!"

The fourth prince beat his chest and stamped his feet in regret, completely unaware that he had already revealed his true intentions.

Princess Zhaoyang, who had been wearing a slightly mocking expression, immediately flicked the forehead of the Fourth Prince when she heard him speak rudely.

Normally, the Fourth Prince would have covered his head and looked over ingratiatingly.

However, the enraged fourth prince glared at his elder sister with his large, bull-like eyes, looking as if to say, "If you touch me again, I'll fight you to the death."

Upon seeing this, Princess Zhaoyang's gaze turned dangerous.

In the end, he couldn't help but burst out laughing, and kept covering his mouth to laugh.

Thus, the fourth prince's gaze shifted from anger to astonishment, then to doubt, and finally a glimmer of hope rose within him.

"Sister, you were just joking with me, weren't you? You were just teasing me, weren't you?"

Definitely! You like Jia Lian so much, if you were really his concubine, you wouldn't be able to say it so openly. You must be lying to me.

Dear elder sister, if you really know who she is, please tell me...

Princess Zhaoyang's smile faded, her expression turning indifferent: "Weren't you so aggressive just now, even trying to fight me? You've really grown bold."

"Royal sister, my dear royal sister, I was wrong, please forgive me just this once..."

The fourth prince quickly pulled down his stool, knelt on the carpet, and tugged at Princess Zhaoyang's sleeve, trying his best to please her.

Princess Zhaoyang remained outwardly unmoved, but inwardly she was already making plans.

Based on her understanding of the Jia family, she immediately guessed, almost without the Fourth Prince mentioning it, that it was probably Jia Lian's only half-sister, whose maiden name was Yingchun.

She even felt a little envious of her silly younger brother.

As a prince who did not vie for power, he was spared most of the conflicts.

Take his own marriage as an example, his elders don't seem to care much.

He's almost eighteen now, and so far, no one has taken the initiative to arrange a marriage for him.

Although this might be partly because the elders feel that the boy hasn't grown up yet.

However, it's conceivable that his marriage won't involve much financial gain. As long as he truly takes a liking to a girl from a particular family, and unless his taste is truly terrible, his elders probably won't object.

In other words, his marriage is likely to go smoothly.

From this perspective, if he really has taken a liking to the second daughter of the Jia family, it might actually be a good thing...