Jiaochu

On this year's birthday, Ye Lingxi planned to ask Su Yu who was stirring up trouble and dissension in front of her with those words she said at the Lantern Festival.

But the young eunuch who went to the Shangshu Mansion to pick her up came back and told her that Mrs. Su had taken Su Wan and Su Yu to Baohua Temple on the mountain outside the city to pray for blessings yesterday and had not returned yet.

The young eunuch who went to pick someone up from the general's mansion came back and told her that Yan Chuchu was unwell and could not come.

Hu Qian'er accidentally sprained her foot two days ago and is still walking with a slight limp. It will take a few days to recover and she cannot come anymore. She asked the little eunuch to deliver the gifts she had prepared.

However, what surprised Ye Lingxi was that Mrs. Ningyang Hou and Mrs. Dong Pingbo came. The latter brought Luo Jinxiu with them. The mother and daughter were dressed so brightly that at first glance they thought they were birthday girls. Mrs. Dong Pingbo praised the cloud brocade she had prepared so much. When she saw the half-human-high coral bonsai given by Mrs. Ningyang Hou, she shut up with a stern expression.

Luo Jinxiu wanted to go for a walk in the Royal Garden, but was too embarrassed to bring it up directly, so she politely asked Ye Lingxi if she wanted to go out for a walk. Ye Lingxi said it was cold outside and politely declined the proposal. Luo Jinxiu lowered her head in grievance, as if she had been greatly bullied. Ye Lingxi didn't want to talk about it, but when she saw Mrs. Dong Pingbo scolding Luo Jinxiu in front of her mother and concubine for not being polite, she took Luo Jinxiu to the garden.

When she was leaving, she heard the lady of the house praising her for being well-educated and sensible, and her expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book.

"That's the Imperial Study Room over there, the Cold Palace over there, and the Taiye Pond over there. Where are you going?" Ye Lingxi pointed in several directions concisely and clearly. Luo Jinxiu looked left and right, and asked Yan Fei insinuatingly where he was now. Was he on duty in the Imperial Study Room? Ye Lingxi said without changing his expression, "Brother Yan has a day off today." Luo Jinxiu looked away in despair and wanted to ask something else. Ye Lingxi walked away, and she was about to follow. Then he turned his head and looked in another direction, then quietly went in that direction.

Ye Lingxi took two steps, stopped, looked back, and then followed quietly to see what the other party was up to.

Luo Jinxiu hid along the way, avoiding the passing palace maids and eunuchs. She saw a figure coming from a distance, and immediately hid behind the rockery and waited. She straightened her hair and clothes, showed a delicate smile, and waited for someone to take the bait. Um. come over.

But she didn't want to be seen and walked on another road. In desperation, she jumped out from behind the rockery, chased after him and shouted, "Your Highness, wait."

It turned out that she wanted to seduce her second brother, but she was really ambitious. Ye Lingxi hid not far away and saw this scene.

"Who?" Dong Mo stepped forward to block Ye Lingjue and asked. Luo Jinxiu quickly revealed her identity and said that she had followed her mother to the palace to congratulate the third princess Ye Lingxi on her birthday, but accidentally got lost. Ye Lingjue asked Dong Mo to send him back, but Luo Jinxiu coyly said not to bother. , his eyes shyly looked at Ye Lingjue's handsome and jade-like face, and he almost had the words "Your Highness, please send me back" written on his face.

"Sister Luo, why are you here?" Ye Lingxi walked over calmly and said.

Ye Lingjue glanced at that innocent face, and a helpless smile flashed across his lips.

Luo Jinxiu hesitated and said that she was lost, with evasive eyes and a guilty look on her face. Ye Lingxi let out an ooh, and said in a deliberately long tone, "Turns out I'm lost~" Luo Jinxiu felt so guilty that her face turned red. Ye Lingxi tilted his head and said, "Why is the second brother still standing here? Why don't you leave quickly?" Ye Lingjue said he still had something to do and took Dong Mo away first.

Luo Jinxiu peeked at the slender jade-like figure with a reluctant expression on her face. Ye Lingxi waved his hand in front of her and asked nonchalantly, "Sister Luo came here just to meet her second brother?" Luo Jinxiu's face turned red, but she still insisted on saying she was lost. Ye Lingxi didn't bother to pursue it. There was no need to waste time on something that could be seen at a glance.

On the way back, Ye Lingxi reminded her not to run around, as she would die if she was treated as an assassin and executed on the spot. Luo Jinxiu was frightened by this and followed her back obediently.

When they were approaching Weiyang Palace, Ye Lingxi casually mentioned, "On the Lantern Festival, I saw you and Sister Yan talking together?" He added, "I thought I saw it wrong." Luo Jinxiu said in a weird tone. , "Don't you know what the princess has done?"

Ye Lingxi felt angry when she heard that. She suddenly stopped and grabbed Luo Jinxiu's arm. Her eyes were as cold as a knife. "What did I do? Tell me clearly." Luo Jinxiu was startled. She turned her head to avoid those sharp eyes and spoke harshly. She said, "How do I know what the princess did?" As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a pain in her arm. She struggled a few times but couldn't break free. She threatened to call someone, but Ye Lingxi told her to just call, but Luo Jinxiu didn't dare to call anymore. After a few seconds of stiff talk, he said, "Isn't the princess just as disdainful of the daughter of a concubine as the imperial concubine?"

A string of question marks popped up on Ye Lingxi's head, thinking when did he start to look down on her, and what happened to the daughter of a concubine? Yan Fei, his second uncle, was a concubine, and he had never heard of it before?

"I told you, Princess, you can let go." Ye Lingxi took back her hand. Luo Jinxiu rubbed her arm and muttered that she must have been pinched. Ye Lingxi looked over and Luo Jinxiu Jinxiu stopped mumbling and followed her away obediently.

This year's birthday banquet will still be held in Qingliang Hall.

The Qingliang Hall is located near the water, with apricot blossoms dancing in the wind, and the water ripples cool at night.

Ye Lingxi looked at the apricot blossoms outside, and remembered the scene of the four of them playing under the apricot blossom tree on their previous birthday. She couldn't help but sigh. That birthday was really lively, with kites playing, pot throwing, chess, and stargazing. …Now that we have all taken the academic exams, we can’t get together like before.

After the banquet was over, Dong Mo sent a congratulatory gift to Ye Lingxi and then left.

The gift was packed in a square brocade box, containing jewelry such as bracelets. She opened the lid and found a pair of jade bracelets inside. They were crystal clear and of excellent color. When placed in her hands, they looked like a pool of clear water. A pair of jade bracelets carved from water drop jade from Qingzhou is priceless.

Hehe and Lingdang couldn't help but be amazed when they saw such a pair of jade bracelets. They had seen many good things in the palace, but this was the first time they saw jade bracelets with such a transparent and flawless color.

Ye Lingxi was a little worried. It would be a waste not to accept such a good thing, but she felt a bit greedy after accepting it. In the end, she convinced herself with the reasonable reason of receiving a birthday gift.