Jin Xianghuan arrived almost at noon. When Fu Zhen saw that she was about to leave, she quickly teased her, "Why are you leaving now? Don't you want to have lunch in my courtyard?"
"Who said I don't want to?" Jin Xianghuan couldn't stand the slightest provocation. Hearing this, she had just stood up but immediately sat down again. Then she said leisurely, "I'm going to see if the lunch in this magnificent Marquis Mansion is any different from that in my home."
Fu Zhen immediately said to Bi Yu, "Did you hear that? The kitchen must prepare a good meal at noon, or else our family will be laughed at by Miss Jin!"
Bi Yu bowed with a smile and said, "Yes, Miss. This servant will surely keep an eye on them to cook carefully and meticulously!"
"Good! I just said you were timid, but now you dare to laugh at me! Take this!" Jin Xianghuan pretended to be angry and pounced on Fu Zhen. Fu Zhen quickly dodged backward and was so amused by her that she couldn't stop laughing.
After they had laughed and frolicked for a while, Jin Xianghuan rubbed her stomach and lay down on the rocking chair. Sighing, she said, "It's really much livelier to have a sister at home. It's a pity that I only have an elder brother. He's so absorbed in his studies that he's become a bit dull. He always tells me that a woman should be dignified and polite. He's even more old - fashioned than my father! It's so boring."
Fu Zhen lay down beside her. Looking at the swaying treetops above, she squinted slightly and said, "I'm even worse off than you. My cousin ignores me, and my cousin sister even argues with me over hairpins. My days are really eventful."
It's much more interesting than in my previous life.
Jin Xianghuan couldn't help laughing and said, "I've met your cousin a few times. Every time I see him, he has the same expression on his face. He's even more dignified and cold than my elder brother. I don't know how his kind of personality could get along with that unscrupulous Second Prince."
Who's cold? Chen Tingfeng?
Fu Zhen felt a bit strange. Although she used to think that Chen Tingfeng was a cold - hearted person with no warmth at all, recent events seemed to faintly reveal his true self - a stubborn and arrogant scion of a noble family. Coldness seemed to be just his disguise.
However, Fu Zhen didn't want to discuss Chen Tingfeng too much with others. There were informants of Chen Tingfeng all over the courtyard. Who knew if the words she murmured about him one second would reach his ears the next.
"The Second Prince is very..." Fu Zhen carefully chose her words and hesitated, "unreliable?"
"Don't you know?" Jin Xianghuan raised her eyebrows, sat up from the chair and said to her, "The Second Prince is a womanizer. He spends all day hanging around brothels. How could you not know this?"
Xie Yan? Hanging around brothels?
Fu Zhen blinked her eyes and still couldn't quite believe it. "I've also met him a few times with my cousin. It seems... he's not as bad as you described?"
Jin Xianghuan slumped back on the chair and said lazily, "Maybe you've just come to the capital and don't know his true nature. His reputation is not good at all. Although he has no concubines so far, his womanizing is an undeniable fact. My elder brother once saw him enter a room in a brothel with two beautiful women in his arms."
Fu Zhen's expression was a bit strange. Her father used to hang around those shady places all year round, and there was always an indelible and vulgar smell on him. A real womanizer was completely different from others. For example, the second young master of the Fang family. She could almost smell the fragrance of makeup on him even from afar, but there was no such smell on Xie Yan.
She reached out her hand to cover her forehead and silently recalled what had happened in her previous life. In fact, until her death, Xie Yan had never married. At that time, the old emperor was terminally ill, the crown prince had not been established for a long time, and the Third Prince was eyeing the throne covetously. Xie Yan often visited the Marquis Mansion and had long - night talks with Chen Tingfeng. Although she had never had any contact with him, she still vaguely remembered that Xie Yan never let the maids serve him when he came to the Marquis Mansion.
The only one who always accompanied him was a eunuch.
Moreover... it wasn't that she was speaking well of Chen Tingfeng. Except for the efforts he made on her after their marriage, Chen Tingfeng was indeed a person with few desires.
He seemed to turn a blind eye to all the beautiful women in the world. There were only maids for making tea and cleaning in the whole courtyard, and there were no other maids. All his daily necessities were taken care of by Yuan Bao. To put it more vividly, not even a female mosquito could get close to him.
According to his domineering personality, how could he tolerate a person with the smell of makeup on his body standing beside him?
So, no matter what the reputation of Xie Yan was in the capital, Fu Zhen always felt that Xie Yan shouldn't be such a person.
Whether a person's eyes were clear or not, others might not be able to tell, but it couldn't deceive her, who had been observing people's expressions since she could remember.
If so, then it could only be that Xie Yan deliberately spread these bad reputations. The purpose was... the throne?
Fu Zhen lowered her head and thought carefully. The more she thought, the more believable it seemed.
Even she had heard of the old emperor's reputation for being fatuous. The current situation was completely different from that in her previous life. The Third Prince was dead, and the Eldest Prince was at the border. Xie Yan was the only prince in the capital. It was hard to guarantee that the old emperor wouldn't suspect him.
Xie Yan wasn't stupid. He naturally understood that the worse his reputation was, the better it was for him to protect himself.
Jin Xianghuan waved her hand in front of her eyes and said, "Zhenzhen? What are you thinking about? I've called you several times but you didn't answer."
"It's nothing important. I'm just daydreaming," Fu Zhen said with a faint smile. "I always feel that something is not right in the capital recently."
"Yes, it's quite unstable," Jin Xianghuan fanned herself with a folding fan and whispered, "I heard that there have been bandit troubles in Taiyue Mountain outside the capital in the past few days."
Fu Zhen turned her head to look at her in surprise. "Did your elder brother tell you this?"
Jin Xianghuan nodded. "I like to go out and play. Our family has a manor at the foot of Taiyue Mountain. I often go there to ride horses. These days, my elder brother told me not to go out of the city and stay in the capital safely. I asked him why. At first, he didn't want to tell me. Finally, he got annoyed by my questions and told me about this. You should also remember not to go out of the city these days. You're so weak. If there are bad people, how could you escape?"
Fu Zhen thought thoughtfully, "There doesn't seem to be such news in the capital yet."
"Of course. This matter is still being suppressed in the court. Only some officials know about it. They've kept the news tightly under wraps for fear that someone will make a big deal out of it. The border has just become peaceful. If something happens outside the city at this time, it will be..." Jin Xianghuan said this and playfully covered her mouth with a round fan.
Fu Zhen couldn't help laughing. Where did the old emperor have any prestige now? It was just that some loyal old officials in the court firmly controlled the court to prevent people from getting out of order. This false peace could only deceive the ignorant common people.
The wind blew through the treetops, and the green leaves twirled and fell on her face. She reached out and took them off. Holding the leaves, she was a bit in a daze.
In her previous life, the capital became chaotic, seemingly in the autumn of this year.
But in this life, the Third Prince was already dead. She frowned and thought. The chief culprit of the chaos was gone. Could the capital still become chaotic?