I just want to live a good life

In a corner of the imperial city, in Lou Guang's house, the sound of a piano could still be heard.

Under the moonlight, Lou Guang, dressed in white, sat in the courtyard, playing the zither. The sound of the zither was mournful and moving.

An old servant came up to him and said, "Sir, His Highness just sent someone to deliver a message saying that tomorrow's appointment has been cancelled."

The sound of the piano paused slightly, and then an even sadder melody poured out from Lou Guang's fingers.

I don't know how long it took, but when the song ended, Lou Guang kept his hands on the strings for a long time, unwilling to move them away, and murmured, "He will eventually forget that love."

"Did His Highness say that he has something important to do tomorrow?" Lou Guang asked the old servant.

The old servant replied, "Your Highness did not say so, but I asked the messenger and he said that the Crown Prince's concubine wanted to invite Your Highness to a banquet."

With a clanging sound, a string of the zither broke, and a string of blood beads oozed out of Lou Guang's white hand.

"Xia Qingyan, it seems that I really underestimated you!"

"Uncle Chen, send this jade hook harp to the prince's mansion tomorrow. Present it to His Highness while they are having the banquet."

"Sir, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince saw this zither, he would definitely treasure it. Are you really willing to give it to His Royal Highness?"

"It doesn't matter if I'm reluctant. I can't just watch him fall in love with someone else. When I first tested him, I could still feel his disdain for Xia Qingyan, but it's only been two months and he has already turned down a meeting with me just to have a meal with her. If he continues like this, I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep His Highness' heart, let alone the position of the principal wife."

"Why didn't you tell His Highness that she was still alive?"

"It's not the right time yet. There are many things that have not been done. If His Highness thinks she is dead, his hatred will intensify and he will be more determined to help us get revenge." Lou Guang said dimly, "However, judging from the current situation, His Highness may change his mind before we get revenge."

"Then what should we do?" asked Uncle Chen.

"As a last resort, we can only attack Xia Qingyan."

.

In the early summer morning, the sun rises above the horizon early.

When the first ray of morning light shone into Duiyueju, Su Nuan woke up from her sleep.

In order for Cheng Ansu to have lunch with Mu Yunting at noon, she had a lot to prepare, so she got out of bed early.

After quickly washing up, Su Nuan came alone to the place where the lunch banquet was to be held.

It was already very hot at noon in this season, and it would be uncomfortable to eat indoors, so Su Nuan chose the pavilion on the pool as the place to eat.

This pavilion is beautifully built. The entire pavilion floats on the water. Standing in the pavilion feels like standing in a small boat. Especially when the lotus leaves in the pond spread out, you can touch them by lying on the railing of the pavilion and reaching out your hand. This feeling makes people extremely comfortable.

Su Nuan felt that this was not enough, so she went to ask Manager Ding for some tools in person. She worked alone on the pool for a long time until the sun was high in the sky, and then she left with satisfaction.

Next, she had an important task to do. Without even having time to eat a bite of food, Su Nuan got on the carriage and headed towards Jiyin Jiaofang.

Near noon, when Su Nuan returned to the Prince's Mansion, she heard that Cheng Ansu was already waiting for her.

She first settled the invited zither player, and then went to see Cheng Ansu herself.

"Sister, where have you been? You made me wait so long." Cheng Ansu said coquettishly as soon as they met.

Su Nuan didn't like the way Cheng Ansu acted like a spoiled child to her, and couldn't help but frowned and teased, "Sister is really anxious."

"This is my first time to have dinner alone with His Highness, and I feel a little nervous." Cheng Ansu said shyly, and she deliberately emphasized the word "alone".

Su Nuan naturally heard her little thoughts, smiled faintly, and said: "Sister, don't be nervous. I will sit with you for a while. When you are no longer nervous, I will find an excuse to leave."

"Thank you so much, sister!"

"You don't have to be polite, sister. I will do my best even for the sake of the one thousand taels of silver!"

"Sister, you are really good at joking. It's just a little money. Please don't take it to heart."

"I was just being polite to my sister. You don't have to take it seriously. One thousand taels is not a lot. I chose the best ingredients and chefs for this banquet. One thousand taels of silver is not enough. I used my own pocket money to make up for the shortfall."

Cheng Ansu's expression changed several times. Even though she was very tactful, she didn't know how to respond to Su Nuan's words for a moment.

He opened his mouth several times and tried to say something, but his face turned red and he couldn't say anything.

Su Nuan was very satisfied with her reaction. She had long been tired of such hypocritical courtesy with Cheng Ansu. The relationship between them was at most a buyer and seller, and she was only being polite to her for the sake of the one thousand taels of silver. Now that the transaction was about to begin, she didn't want to pretend any longer.

"Sister, please wait patiently for a moment. I'll go change my clothes and be right back."

After saying this, Su Nuan didn't care about Cheng Ansu's reaction and stood up and went back to Duiyueju.

She didn't prepare today's meal just for Cheng Ansu. In order to avoid being noticed by Cheng Ansu, she avoided the four maids in Duiyueju in all her arrangements, so she did everything in the morning by herself.

At this moment, she was not only tired and hungry, but also sweating all over.

As soon as she returned to Duiyueju, Su Nuan asked Chunliu and Bitao to prepare a bath for her. Even if she was not the protagonist today, she couldn't go to see Mu Yunting in this state.

"Miss, what have you been doing this morning? Why didn't you let me follow you?"

Bi Tao asked as she helped Su Nuan fetch water.

"Nothing. After all, today we are trying to match His Highness with Cheng Ansu. I felt a little uncomfortable, so I went out for a walk."

Su Nuan looked at the figure outside the window and replied.

"Miss, if you ask me, we are not short of money now, why do we have to do this? What if His Highness really falls in love with Miss Cheng? I think Miss Cheng is not a good person. If we really let her enter the Prince's Mansion, she will bully us in the future!"

Su Nuan sighed and said, "If she has the ability to make His Highness fall in love with her, His Highness will eventually fall in love with her even if I don't help. But if she doesn't have that ability, no matter how much I help, it will be useless. I might as well take this opportunity to make some money."

"But don't you feel wronged, Miss?"

"So what if I feel wronged? Don't forget that His Highness is the Crown Prince of Nanzhao Kingdom. In the future, his harem will definitely not have only one or two concubines. If I feel wronged by any of them, I will be wronged to death."

Su Nuan seemed to be speaking to the person outside the window, but also seemed to be speaking to herself. She sighed softly and said no more.

Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Bitao didn't dare to say anything more.