The Favored Concubine: The Doting Prince

Just as Gu Fanqiu said, there was indeed a garden party before the formal palace banquet.

The location was chosen to be the royal garden. Gu Fanyue originally thought that it was just a group of people getting together to enjoy the flowers and scenery, but when they arrived, Gu Fanyue had a new understanding of this garden tour.

The garden is very beautiful, but there is almost no one visiting. Everyone gathers around a large sand field in the center of the garden and sets up their tents, ready to watch the boys and girls show off their skills and charm.

Gu Fanyue thought that this was a royal sports meeting in the truest sense of the word. Chen Liang was indeed a martial artist and even the garden party had become a competition. No wonder her prince brother-in-law was not too keen on it.

As soon as the tent of the Third Prince's Mansion was set up, Gu Fanyue picked a good spot and leaned against the table to eat preserved fruit cakes. He watched the horse racing and archery on the field. It was just like the students who had no events in the sports meeting.

The customs of Chenliang people are quite open, and women can participate in competitions and play freely, which Gu Fanyue quite appreciates.

But Gu Fanyue is now in a very embarrassing situation. She doesn't know any of the young ladies from official families who are of the same age as her.

The people my sister met were all older and married, so naturally they had nothing to talk about.

Besides, Gu Fanyue was not interested in the poetry, songs, needlework, embroidery, makeup, new clothes, etc. that they talked about when they got together. She would rather sit here and eat cakes.

Gu Fanqiu walked over from a distance and saw his sister lazily leaning against the low table, eating this and that with her little mouth.

"Can't you go out and play?" Fan Qiu felt a little regretful as soon as he said that. Looking around, he really didn't know who to let her play with. Fan Yue had just arrived in the capital not long ago, and coupled with the personality of her own prince, the Third Prince's Mansion was not familiar with anyone.

"Sister won't be going anywhere for a while. I'll stay here with you." Seeing Gu Fanyue looking a little lonely, Fan Qiu felt a little guilty.

Fanyue herself felt very comfortable. "The food prepared by Juanniang is especially delicious." Gu Fanyue handed Fanqiu a piece of jujube flower cake while eating. This made Gu Fanqiu glare at her silly sister coquettishly.

As soon as Gu Fanqiu sat down next to Gu Fanyue, Gu Fanyue grabbed her sister and asked her many questions.

She looked around here bored for nearly the whole morning, and there were only two places that she was curious about.

In this royal sports meeting, every family will have their own seat. The higher the status, the closer to the "rostrum" they are. Originally, the position on the rostrum should have belonged to the emperor and the imperial concubine, but neither of them was present today, so Gu Fanyue didn't know whose tent was in that position now.

There was also a little girl who caught her attention. She was so heroic, proud and pretty, but she didn't play and laugh with the groups of flowers and willows, but played by herself.

But everyone was very respectful to her, so Fanyue was a little curious.

Gu Fanyue looked at the heroic woman and asked, "Who is that person, sister?"

Fan Qiu identified her and said, "That's Princess Ling'er. Her mother is Concubine Mei, the only concubine who is good at martial arts besides the late queen. Princess Ling'er looks very much like her mother, and His Majesty dotes on her. But she has a bit of a domineering temper."

Even Fan Qiu said he was arrogant, so it seems like there's more to it than just a little bit.

Unexpectedly, his sister would be interested in Yuan Ling'er, so Fan Qiu asked, "Why did Yue'er think of asking the princess?"

"I just think she looks so beautiful and special when she rides a horse and shoots arrows."

"It turns out that you don't really like being taught poetry, ancient prose, embroidery and painting. If you want to learn horse riding and archery, let the prince find a teacher to teach you." Gu Fanqiu could see that his sister's eyes were full of longing.

Originally, Gu Fanyue was a quiet child. She was petite and cute, and a little fragile. Naturally, no one would think of teaching her how to ride a horse or shoot arrows.

As the two were talking, they saw the woman from before walk into the tent in the middle.

"Sister, whose tent is that in the middle?" It happened to be Fan Yue's Curiosity No. 2.

After hearing this, Fan Qiu sighed and said, "That is the tent of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I thought he would not come."

"Yuan Yi?"

Gu Fanyue spoke in a low voice, after all, he was calling her by her name.

Fan Qiu nodded. Fan Yue only knew that Chen Liang had a prince named Yuan Yi, the son of the late queen. The late queen died giving birth to a prince, and the emperor made him the prince out of nostalgia, but basically no one cared about this prince.

That reputation is much worse than that of Qi Wang Yuanye.

Fan Qiu went on to say, "He has always been in poor health, and he rarely participates in activities like this. I don't know why he came this time. He's so pitiful." Fan Yue knew that her sister would always be this kind and gentle.

The gauze curtains in front of other people's tents were open so that they could see the game on the battlefield, but the tent in the middle was closed tightly. Gu Fanyue didn't understand why he should be there if he couldn't watch the game.

Fan Qiu went on to say, "If the late queen knew that her child was suffering from this kind of illness, she would surely be heartbroken."

Speaking of children, Fanyue knew that her sister's only regret was that she had never had a child. If she had a child, Gu Fanqiu would definitely be the kindest and warmest mother.

Fearing that Fan Qiu would be sad again because of this, Fan Yue quickly said, "Don't be afraid when we have a little baby in our palace. I will protect him as his aunt. After all, I want to learn horse riding and archery."

Fan Yue's proud little look successfully made Fan Qiu laugh.

When the two sisters were laughing happily, they suddenly heard people whispering outside the tent, and even cheering.

When they looked up, they saw Yuan Ye in black walking towards them with a cage in his hand.

Walking on this battlefield is indeed more suitable for him than walking in the Three Princes' Palace Garden. He is imposing and has an upright posture, which naturally attracts a lot of heart-shaped gazes.

Fan Yue's eyes were fixed on his cage. That must be the flower spirit that he had been asked to raise last time. He actually brought it with him.

Fan Yue just watched the cage approaching from afar, completely unaware that Yuan Ye was already standing in front of her.

Fan Qiu stood up early, and seeing his sister still sitting there stupidly, he hurriedly tried to pull her up. Yuan Ye waved his hand, meaning no need.

But Gu Fanyue still stood up and saluted, otherwise he would definitely be scolded by Fan Qiu.

Yuan Ye walked across the playground without any hesitation and ran to Gu Fanyue. He thought it was nothing, but the others were already in an uproar and Gu Fanqiu was even more at a loss.

Gu Fanyue just stared at the little guy in the cage. It looked much more energetic, but its skin was still purple and looked weird.

Gu Fanqiu looked at the thing on the table, feeling both scared and confused, but he didn't dare to say anything.

Yuan Ye saw Fan Qiu's doubt and explained, "This is the flower spirit I promised to give her last time. I let me take care of it first because I was afraid you would be scared. Bring it out to her and show her that I didn't let her kill it."

His words were so casual, but they made others feel uneasy. How arrogant it was that the Seventh Prince, the God of War, actually raised such a flower spirit for a little girl and was worried about raising her to death.

Fan Qiu replied with a stiff face, "Yue'er likes these strange and bizarre things. Sorry to bother you, Seventh Brother. Please take a seat in the main seat."

Because at this time, Gu Fanyue was sitting steadily and teasing the little flower spirit in the cage, and the Seventh Prince just stood there looking at her, with no intention of leaving or sitting down, just looking at her straight. If others saw this scene, I wonder how it would be spread tomorrow.

Fan Qiu asked the housekeeper to invite Yuan Mo over. These two people who didn't know the rules, one didn't fear the rules at all, and the other didn't know the rules at all, the two of them were chatting casually, but the voices of discussion were getting louder and louder.

No matter what, Yuan Mo has to ask this gentleman to leave.

Although Chenliang people are open-minded, walking up to a woman and giving her a gift would still cause an uproar.

"It looks much more energetic, but still ugly." Gu Fanyue didn't know how many eyes were staring at him. He just played with the flower spirit very seriously.

Hearing what Gu Fanyue said, Yuan Ye immediately said, "How about I change you to a prettier one?"

Fan Yue shook her head and said, "No, ugly in a cute way."

Although Yuanye didn't understand what ugly was cute, he still nodded seriously.

Gu Fanqiu’s savior finally arrived. After Yuan Mo arrived, he stood in front of Yuan Ye to block his fiery gaze.

"Come on, Seventh Brother, let's go shoot arrows. I got a new bow, let's try it out." Yuan Ye was very puzzled. His always weak third brother was actually asking him to go shoot arrows.

He realized from Yuan Mo's panicked expression that it was against the rules for him to come here directly.

He was really tired of rules, so he liked staying in the barracks because he was the rules in the barracks.

Helplessly, he could only say to Fan Yue, "Have fun with it first, I'll come and take it away later, be careful."

Fan Yue simply nodded and waved, with no intention of getting up to say goodbye, but Gu Fanqiu pulled her up.

After the two left, Fan Qiu ordered someone to lower the gauze curtain in front of the tent, and Gu Fanyue hurriedly stretched.

"When did you and Yuan Ye become so close?" Fan Qiu asked Gu Fanyue who was slumped on the side.

"Not very close, this flower spirit was given to me by him last time I went to the Imperial Concubine's place."

When it comes to the strange thing in the cage, Gu Fanqiu is even more helpless.

Gu Fanqiu walked to Fanyue, looked at her seriously, and said, "Yue'er, you are really different now."

"What's the difference?"

“No one knew who you were before, but now everyone knows who you are.”

Then Fan Qiu grabbed Fan Yue's hand and continued, "I knew my sister was very lucky."

Fan Yue didn’t quite understand what he said, but she also did not completely not understand. Was Fan Qiu referring to Yuan Ye?

Fan Yue could see the fire in Fan Qiu's eyes. But she just smiled and said, "Of course, I have a beautiful sister who loves me so much."

Looking at Fan Yue's naughty expression, Fan Qiu just pinched Fan Yue's nose lovingly and didn't say anything else.

Because the veil was always drawn, Gu Fanyue spent the whole morning quite comfortably, without feeling the prying eyes from all directions.

It was almost time for lunch at noon, and Fan Qiu ordered someone to bring a very exquisite food box from his carriage. When Fan Yue saw the food box, she said "Hmph!" in a bad temper to express her dissatisfaction at her sister.

Afraid that Gu Fanyue would steal food, Fan Qiu asked someone to watch the food box, and only let the maid bring it when it was almost time for dinner.

"Sister, what is this? You are not allowed to touch it." Fan Yue stared at the food box.

"You greedy cat, if you were to meet me, there would be nothing left on the plate."

Fan Yue pouted helplessly, meaning that she would at least leave the leftovers on the plate, so why eat that.

"This is for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." At this time, Fan Qiu had someone draw aside the gauze curtain, and only then did he see that every household was sending things to the tent in the middle.

But it could only be delivered to the door of the tent, and there was a palace servant outside who was responsible for receiving and recording it.

"This is called the ritual of offering food, to show respect. If the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine were here, it would be offered to them. But since they are not here today, it should be offered to the most distinguished person present, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Fan Yue nodded in understanding, thinking, well, being a prince is pretty happy.

After a while, a palace servant came out of the big tent with a box in his hand, saying it was a gift in return from the prince.

One can clearly feel the joy and a hint of disbelief on Fan Qiu's face.

Yuan Mo happened to come back. Yuan Mo and Fan Qiu respectfully accepted the gift in return and rewarded the palace servant who delivered the gift.

Fan Qiu raised his chin towards Fan Yue. Fan Yue opened the food box with a silly smile on her face and took a look. It turned out to be the peach-like fruit from that day.

"Ah! This is it, it looks delicious!" When Fan Yue saw the fruit, she thought of those hands, that person, and the sweetness hidden deep in her heart suddenly flooded out. She couldn't help but think, what a wonderful fate.

Fan Qiu immediately signaled Fan Yue to lower her voice. Fan Yue then realized that many people had deliberately passed by the tent of the Third Prince's Mansion just to take a look at the second lady of the Gu family.

When the Seventh Prince came this morning, many eyes wanted to see her face through the veil, and this time it was the only gift from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in return.

The Three Princes' Palace, which was the most inconspicuous in previous years, has become the focus of the battlefield this year.

Yuan Mo waved his hand and the maids lowered the veil.

"Yue'er, you can relax now." Gu Fanyue looked at Yuan Mo with gratitude.

"Sister, is this a peach? It looks delicious." It was indeed that fruit, but now it was delicately carved by the imperial chef into a blooming flower, with some honey sprinkled on it. It was crystal clear and mouth-watering.

"This is the Huayan fruit, which is unique to the palace. It tastes better and is much more precious than peaches. But you can't eat this fruit right after you pick it. You have to cut it open and let it sit and drink honey with it. Otherwise, it will be very sour and will cause stomach upset." Gu Fanqiu explained patiently as he looked at Fanyue who had a greedy look on her face, fearing that she would not be able to resist eating it secretly the next time she went to the palace.

Stomach upset! Can a demon have a stomach upset? Gu Fanyue is very worried.

"The prince will give a gift in return. It seems Qiu'er has prepared very well this year." Yuan Mo was openly trying to please his beloved wife.

"It's not a big deal. It's just that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often takes medicine, so I prepared some refreshing preserved fruits, plums, etc." Fan Qiu looked shy.

Most of the families present who offered food followed the old custom and offered some hard pastries that looked good but tasted bad. Only Fan Qiu was still thinking about what he might need.

At this time, the outside became lively again. After the food offering ceremony, each family voluntarily gave food to each other for fun.

The Seventh Prince brought an extra-large food box, which was filled with various snacks when opened.

Fan Qiu was busy again, taking care of the servants.

Gu Fanyue just stared at the table full of delicious food and sighed that this trip to the garden was very meaningful.

Fan Qiu looked at Fan Yue, who was only thinking about food, and wondered if she really didn't notice the Seventh Prince's excessive attention or if she didn't want to notice.

But on second thought, nothing can be controlled by us, so just be happy.

After lunch and tea, Fan Yue started sharing the Huayan fruit given by the prince. She rubbed her hands together with a look of anticipation.

There are three portions in total, one for each person.

But Fan Qiu only ate a small piece and gave his portion to Fan Yue on the grounds that he didn't like honey.

Fan Yue of course knew that it was her sister's preference, so Yuan Mo put his own portion between himself and Fan Qiu, and coaxed Fan Qiu and himself to eat.

Seeing how sweet they were, Gu Fanyue suddenly felt that the fruit in his hand was no longer fragrant.