Song Yinghuai twirled the Vajra Bodhi rosary on his wrist. Remembering how Caiyu had smiled charmingly at the palace banquet with the Twelfth Prince yesterday, his eyes turned sharp.
"If she really likes you, she will naturally come and talk to me. By then, not only her deed of sale but also the 200,000 taels of silver you've given will be added to her dowry and returned to you both."
Song Boming and Ji Ming twitched the corners of their mouths.
Needless to say about Ji Ming, he was certain that Caiyu would never like the impetuous Prince of Qi.
But Song Boming had also seen through it.
Fourth Brother clearly cared a great deal about Caiyu. How could he be so generous as to let her go?
There must be a trick, there surely was.
Only Song Yongzhen was blindly confident. Hearing this, he nodded vigorously with excitement. "Is Fourth Brother really serious?"
Song Yinghuai curved his lips, smiling enigmatically. "When have I ever told lies?"
"I knew Fourth Brother is the best to me." After getting the assurance, Song Yongzhen frowned, then leaned closer to Song Yinghuai. "Fourth Brother, Caiyu has been serving you. You should know her best. For your younger brother's early happiness, could you secretly tell me what she usually likes to do, eat, and play?"
Song Yinghuai raised his eyebrows, his eyes flashing. "Trying to win her heart by catering to her preferences?"
"Of course." Song Yongzhen said seriously. "Although I'm not as good as Fourth Brother in battle, when it comes to wooing beautiful women, I have to boast a bit. I'm better than Fourth Brother in this regard... If I want to win the beauty's heart soon, I naturally have to follow her wishes. Once the beauty is happy, she'll fall in love with me."
Song Yinghuai suddenly had an epiphany.
Come to think of it.
What the Twelfth Prince had just said had inspired him a great deal.
It seemed he could also give it a try...
Song Yongzhen was still asking Song Yinghuai how to please Caiyu and make her really like him soon.
Song Yinghuai pondered for a moment.
Remembering how uninterested Caiyu had been when he taught her calligraphy in Yanjing.
A sly look flashed in his dark eyes.
"Caiyu... usually likes to practice calligraphy and study calligraphy models, such as the Slim-Gold Style, Yan Style, Seal Script, Clerical Script, Cursive Script, Running Script, and Regular Script..."
Song Yinghuai's eyes flashed again.
That girl liked riding horses through the streets.
"Caiyu likes to sit quietly and compose poems."
That girl was really bad at needlework.
"Caiyu likes embroidery."
That girl looked charming but was actually shy inside.
Song Yinghuai squinted his eyes slightly, smiling. "Caiyu is very curious. Sometimes she also likes to read some vulgar little books."
Everyone:??
Ji Ming looked at Song Yongzhen sympathetically.
Your Highness, the Twelfth Prince, you're asking a tiger for its skin.
Song Yongzhen scratched his head, not suspecting anything.
After all, the hobbies Song Yinghuai mentioned were what most women liked.
Although he didn't like embroidery, calligraphy, or composing poems... But since Caiyu liked them, he would do them.
Of course, there were plenty of vulgar little books in his mansion.
There were pictures of sexual activities and erotic pictures. After he was confined in the capital, he had his servants collect all the little books that could be found on the market and bring them back to his mansion.
This was really easy to handle.
"Thank you, Fourth Brother, for your advice." Song Yongzhen thanked him repeatedly and was eager to go find Caiyu.
Song Yinghuai remained calm. "She's out. Come and find her another day."
Hearing this, Song Yongzhen was extremely disappointed. "Ah? She's out..."
He was reluctant to leave and wanted to stay and wait. "Fourth Brother, I wonder if it's convenient for me to have dinner here today?"
Song Yinghuai glanced at Ji Ming.
The silver had been retrieved. Why keep them here?
Ji Ming coughed dryly and got the hint. "Your Highness, the Prince of Qi, Your Highness, the Prince of Zhou. We're having vegetarian food at home today. There are only a few simple dishes of congee and pickles."
Both Song Yongzhen and Song Boming couldn't do without meat. Hearing about congee and pickles, they quickly left.
As the saying goes, those who are not fated will not meet even when face to face.
Song Yongzhen never expected that just as he left, Caiyu entered the mansion.
Caiyu's carriage stopped at the side gate of the Prince of Yan's Mansion. She turned her head and saw Sheng Jiangli leaning against a willow tree not far away.
Caiyu frowned but still walked over. "Why are you following me again?"
Sheng Jiangli smiled. "I'm afraid you'll run into some hooligans on the road and get into trouble. Anyway, I'm free today, so I followed you."
He looked at the narrow side gate of the courtyard wall with disdain and couldn't help asking again. "Why don't you consider coming to my Luoyan Residence? The main gate of Luoyan Residence is always open for you. Why do you have to enter through this side gate?"
Caiyu sneered. "Go to your Luoyan Residence to serve you?"
"Of course not." Sheng Jiangli grinned playfully, but it was hard to tell if he was serious or joking. "If you come to Luoyan Residence, I'll serve you. I'll bring your three meals to your mouth every day. I'll wash your clothes and clean the floor. You just need to be a little bodhisattva who doesn't have to do anything. How about it?"
Caiyu rolled her eyes at him and turned to enter the side gate.
All that was left was a string of delicate silver bell-like laughter.
It made Sheng Jiangli stand there in a daze.
After a while, he raised his voice and told the graceful figure walking away in the distance:
"I'll come to pick you up to cruise on the Qinhuai River tomorrow night! Remember!"
Caiyu was in a good mood.
Song Yinghuai wouldn't let her go to the wine boats on the Qinhuai River for a banquet, but Sheng Jiangli would.
"Miss Caiyu is back." Ji Ming had just sent Song Yongzhen and Song Boming out of the mansion when he met Caiyu who came to the study to look for someone. He quickly greeted her.
Caiyu curtsied. Hearing the sound of horses neighing outside the courtyard, she couldn't help being curious. "Was there a guest in the mansion just now?"
Ji Ming looked at Caiyu with an indescribable expression. Finally, he nodded. "It was His Highness, the Prince of Qi, and His Highness, the Prince of Zhou. It's said that His Highness, the Prince of Qi, came to look for you..."
He looked at Caiyu sympathetically again. "Miss Caiyu, what you asked for, the Prince has already received it for you."
Caiyu:...
It was noon at this moment. Pedestrians in the streets and alleys were all going back home for lunch. It was a bustling time.
Suddenly, a figure knelt in front of the Wen Mansion.
The woman looked sorrowful, with a pale face, and was holding her belly.
Immediately, it attracted the attention of many people.
This was the mansion of Wen Zilong, the newly appointed Minister of War!
What had happened?
The woman with a delicate face knelt down and cried out towards the Wen Mansion:
"Madam Wen! Please let this concubine enter the mansion!"
"The child in this concubine's belly is of the Wen family. How could you be so heartless as to let him be born outside?"
This outburst caused an uproar!
This woman was pregnant with Wen Zilong's child?
Wen Zilong had been keeping a mistress outside?
Madam Wen actually refused to let her in?
What about the so - called model couple of the Great Ye?
The crowd immediately gathered, and the area outside the Wen Mansion was blocked.
"Madam, what's going on? What's your relationship with Lord Wen?"
Peilan covered her belly, with a fierce look in her eyes.
Yesterday, Wen Linshi had sent someone to guard the Lanfang Residence where she lived.
The person who came had been very straightforward.
Wen Linshi and Wen Zilong wanted her to stay in the Lanfang Residence and give birth to the child in peace.
After the child was born, they would take in her and the child into the Wen Mansion.
But before the child was born, she was not allowed to step out of the Lanfang Residence!
Peilan was shocked.
Previously, Wen Linshi and Wen Zilong had clearly been eager to take in her and the child.
Why had they changed overnight?
Peilan thought anxiously. The only thing she could think of was Lan Jinqin.
It must be that Lan Jinqin had come up with some evil plan and made the Wen mother and son change their minds.
Could it be that Lan Jinqin was also pregnant?
The more Peilan thought about it, the more panicked she became.
Wen Zilong loved her, at least in large part because of the child in her belly.
But if the main wife at home was also pregnant, how could she, a mistress, have a chance to enter the mansion?
Moreover, the child in her belly was not Wen Zilong's.
She couldn't wait until the child was born. She had to find a way to get rid of this child.
Otherwise, with Wen Zilong's shrewdness, as the child grew up, he would eventually notice that the child didn't look like him.
She couldn't take this risk.
She just wanted to use this child to enter the mansion and then frame Lan Jinqin.
Kill two birds with one stone and successfully rise to power.
But Lan Jinqin had blocked her way!
In a hurry, she had asked the maid to entangle the gatekeeper granny and then sneaked out to the Wen Mansion to find out what was going on.
Who would have thought that the main gate of the Wen Mansion was tightly closed. When they saw her, they wanted to arrest her and send her back to the Lanfang Residence!
Peilan gritted her teeth and broke free. Then she knelt in front of the Wen Mansion.
"I'm Lord Wen's mistress. I've known Lord Wen for more than four years. Fellow villagers, kind people, please plead for me and ask Madam Wen not to drive me to a dead end!"