The snow continued for two or three days before it finally stopped.
Rong Xia sat on a cushioned chair, quietly allowing the Princess Royal to size him up.
"Honored guest, what brings you here, Duke Rong?" The tea beside Great Elder Princess's hand was steaming. She sat upright, with a polite smile on her rosy cheeks, but she didn't show any intention of being intimate with Long Tianyu.
"I came today to pay my respects to Your Highness." Rong Xia took a sip of tea. This was the best tea for the royal family, with less than two catties produced every year.
"Thank you for your trouble, Duke Rong," the Princess Royal smiled faintly, "I'm very well."
"Your Highness's body is healthy, so I can rest assured." Rong Xia put the teacup on the coffee table, "It's said that this tea is not good for the stomach. Your Highness should drink less."
The Princess Royal's eyes suddenly became fierce. Her eyes stopped on Rong Xia for a moment, and the smile on her face disappeared little by little: "Duke Rong has a worrisome temperament."
"My parents died early, and my brother passed away early. There was no one to worry about me, so I simply developed a worrisome temperament." Rong Xia lowered his eyelids and slightly bowed his head. His attitude was very respectful.
The Princess Royal saw him like this and chuckled, "It's said that people who like to worry have a steady temperament. I don't know if Duke Rong is steady or not?"
Rong Xia saluted the Princess Royal with a fist and palm salute: "I naturally am the same."
"Speak," the Princess Royal said faintly, "Duke Rong, why did you come today?"
"Your Highness, this junior would like to know why my parents died."
The sun shone through the window lattice into the room. The Princess Royal's eyelids trembled slightly, and then she wiped the corner of her mouth: "I don't know what you mean."
"I think Your Highness should understand." Rong Xia looked at the Princess Royal, not yielding an inch.
The Princess Royal looked at the outstanding young man in front of her with a dazed expression. It was as if she was looking at the Lin Clan from decades ago. The birth mother of the Lin Clan was born from a concubine in the imperial harem. She was her younger sister. After she got married, she was demoted to a commoner because she was involved in the fight for the throne. Later, she committed suicide.
The Lin Clan didn't have a good life in the Lin Family because everyone knew that the previous emperor didn't like the ministers or princesses who had helped the other brothers. Therefore, the Lin Family didn't treat her well because she had imperial blood. However, the girl from the Lin Clan was very beautiful and was very good at calligraphy and painting. In the end, she was married to Cheng Anbo from the previous generation.
Logically speaking, she was originally the Lin Clan's aunt. However, the Lin Clan's biological mother had long been expelled from the Imperial Family and demoted to a commoner. Therefore, the Lin Clan could only respectfully address her as Princess Royal in front of her.
Fortunately, her biological mother wasn't liked by the previous emperor. Therefore, her son was now in an important position by the current emperor. No one knew better than the Princess Royal that the current emperor didn't have a so-called father-son relationship with the previous emperor. It was more hatred. Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he rehabilitated some people who had been punished by the previous emperor and gained a good reputation for being benevolent.
At this moment, Rong Xia was referring to himself as a junior in front of her. He probably wanted to remind her that his maternal grandmother was her half-sister, even if this sister had been removed from the Imperial Family's genealogy.
The room was silent for a long time. It wasn't until the Princess Royal couldn't help but cough a few times that the deathly silence in the room was broken.
"Your Highness," Chang Mama walked in worriedly.
"Leave." The Princess Royal wiped the corner of her mouth. Her lips were red as if they were dripping blood. Chang Mama looked at Rong Xia. Seeing that the Princess's attitude was firm, she could only leave helplessly.
"The Lin Clan died because of lovesickness," the Princess Royal said calmly. "Red beans give birth to lovesickness. Lovesickness breaks one's heart."
Rong Xia's eyelids trembled. "Who was it?"
The Princess Royal asked, "I thought you knew."
Rong Xia was silent for a moment. "If that's the case, why did you keep me?"
The Princess Royal's eyes slowly swept over Rong Xia's body. Suddenly, she smiled and said, "I watched the current emperor grow up. He has a kind face but a cruel heart. However, he has a hobby that I don't know whether it's good or bad. Perhaps this is a problem that most members of the Jiang Family have. That is, they love beauty."
"Whether it's a man or a woman, as long as they are good-looking, they can arouse his rare compassion." The Princess Royal's smile had a trace of ridicule. "You can live because you are talented, you are smart, and … you are good-looking."
In the eyes of the Princess Royal, Rong Xia was indeed good-looking. Looking at the entire capital, almost no one could compare to her.
"Your Highness," Rong Xia suddenly looked at her. "Have you ever regretted it?"
"People born in the Royal Family are not qualified to say this word." The Princess Royal picked up the teacup indifferently. She didn't care whether she could drink the tea or not. She lowered her head and took a sip. "If I hadn't been careful, I would have ended up like your grandmother."
The Princess Royal's eyes were calm. It was as if those deaths and conspiracies had been drowned by time and had no effect on her.
"Thank you for telling me this, Your Highness." Rong Xia stood up and bowed deeply to the Princess Royal. "Please take care of yourself. The Jingting Marquessate still needs you."
"I can't protect them." The Princess Royal looked at the young man who bowed to her and suddenly said. "Logically, you should call me Grandaunt."
She slowly stood up and took out an inconspicuous small box from the drawer beside her. She handed it to Rong Xia. "You've grown up, but I've never given you a gift. This is my gift for meeting you."
Rong Xia didn't take the wooden box. Instead, she said: "What does Your Highness want me to do?"
"Do?" The Princess Royal laughed. Her laughter was a little strange. "I don't need you to do anything. I was going to take this thing to the grave, but since you're here today, it means that it's fated to be with you."
Rong Xia took the box and said seriously: "In the future, I'll take good care of the Jingting Marquessate."
"Good girl." The Princess Royal gently patted Rong Xia's shoulder. Her movement was very light, but Rong Xia felt the weight of her hand.
"No need." The Princess Royal seemed relieved. "Everyone has their own fate. You can protect them for a while, but you can't protect them forever."
"I'll give them a last amulet before I leave."
Rong Xia clenched the wooden box. "I'm willing to help you."
The Princess Royal smiled and didn't speak. She opened the window and carefully looked at the young man. She slowly waved her hand and said: "You can go back."
Rong Xia felt that his mood was very strange. It seemed like he was happy, but also sad. When he walked to the door, he looked back.
The Princess Royal stood in front of the window. The sun shone on her body. She was as kind as a Bodhisattva in the temple. Rong Xia couldn't help but think, a few decades ago, what kind of woman was this Princess?
On the day when the snow stopped, Ban Han woke up later than usual. When she finished washing up, the sun was already hanging in the sky. The snow in the courtyard had been swept clean. Even the icicles hanging on the branches had been knocked away by the servants.
"Princess," a mama came in. "Shizi invites you to the main hall. There are guests."
Ban Han felt strange. What kind of guests did he want her to meet?
Walking into the main hall, Ban Han saw Ban Heng and Rong Xia sitting next to each other.
"Duke Rong?"
"Princess," Rong Xia stood up and bowed to Ban Han. "Thank you for lending me the umbrella two days ago."
Lend?
Ban Han was stunned. Wasn't the umbrella given to her? How did it become a loan?
After everyone chatted for a while, Rong Xia returned the umbrella to Ban Han. He said apologetically: "I don't know where the pendant on the handle of the umbrella fell. I felt very guilty, so I replaced it with a new pendant."
Ban Han noticed that the ruby hanging on the handle of the umbrella had changed into a carved jade peony. This peony was very beautiful. Ban Han liked it at first glance. "Duke Rong, you are too polite. It's just a pendant."
"Junzhu borrowed this one's umbrella with good intentions, but this one lost it. This is my fault." The smile on Rong Xia's face grew. "It is good that Junzhu does not dislike it."
Ban Heng, who was sitting next to them, looked indifferently at his sister and Cheng Anbo chatting happily. He sipped his tea in boredom. What did Duke Rong mean?
"Shizi," Rong Xia seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He knew that Ban Heng was bored and started to chat with him. "A few days ago, a disciple got a fighting cock from somewhere. He said he gave it to me to play and relax. But I don't know how to play with it. I don't know what to do with it. I heard that Shizi likes fighting cocks. Is it possible for me to send the fighting cock to your fu? If you don't accept it, I can only ask the kitchen to use it to make soup. "
When Ban Heng heard the word fighting cock, he immediately nodded and said: "Please don't make soup. This kind of cock costs hundreds of taels of silver. Just send it to me. I promise to raise it well. It will be invincible in the capital!"
"Then I'll have to trouble Shizi." Rong Xia's face instantly showed relief. This expression greatly pleased Ban Heng. Who said that he was useless? Wasn't he helping Rong Xia solve a difficult problem?
The world always looked at people with prejudice. It wasn't a good habit.
"Right, sister, aren't you planning to go to grandmother's today?" Ban Heng looked at the sky outside. "It's almost noon. Why haven't you left yet?"
"Last night, grandmother's mama said that grandmother was going to the palace and didn't let me go," Ban Han said helplessly. "Originally, I found some interesting things and wanted to give them to grandmother."
"How about we wait for grandmother to come back and then give them to her?" Ban Heng knew that sister liked to go to grandmother's princess fu when she had nothing to do. "After lunch, I'll go with you."
"En." Ban Han nodded. Her hand unconsciously played with the jade peony pendant on the handle of the umbrella.
"It's a coincidence," Rong Xia suddenly said. "This one just went to visit Her Highness the Princess Royal. No wonder Her Highness the Princess is dressed up. So she's going to the palace."
"You've seen grandmother?" Ban Han turned to look at Rong Xia and asked curiously, "Then why doesn't she have time to see me?"
"Probably because this one will only stay for a while and then leave?" Rong Xia smiled. "Her Highness the Princess dotes on Junzhu so much. If you go, she probably won't want to go to the palace."
"Is that so?" Ban Han rubbed her chin. She stood and said, "Fine, I'll go to the palace to take a look. Last time, for His Majesty's birthday, I didn't even have time to properly speak with the Empress. "
As a junzhu doted on by the Emperor and Empress, Ban Han had the right to enter the palace at any time. It was only after she turned fifteen that she intentionally reduced the number of times she entered the palace.
"This one also has matters to discuss with His Majesty. If Junzhu doesn't mind, this one is willing to go with Junzhu."
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