The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

"Marquis Yongjia's Mansion?" Lu Weiyuan lovingly held Hu Ziyi's arm and leaned over. "Of course we have to go, but not now. It's not easy for me to leave the palace so legitimately and openly."

In the past, I would sneak out, and it was a big victory if I wasn’t discovered by my parents.

If you are accidentally discovered, try harder next time.

Hu Ziyi: "...Then where does Your Highness want to go?"

She and Lu Weiyuan grew up together. Although she knew each other's temperament very well, she could still say that she had mastered about 60 to 70 percent of it.

"Guess?" Lu Weiyuan looked at Hu Ziyi expectantly.

Hu Ziyi was good at fighting, and she really didn't understand the little princess's twisted thoughts, but she knew very well how to deal with Lu Weiyuan's bad taste at this time: "All is up to His Highness's orders."

"You're not guessing..." Lu Weiyuan showed a fleeting disappointment on his face, and then continued to smile cutely, "Xin Sui, you're becoming more and more boring. When you were a child, you would get angry and shy when you poked me. How cute is that? You've only been out with Aunt Yue for a year, and you've turned into a serious nanny when you come back..."

Xinsui is Hu Ziyi's nickname.

In Dasheng, when two close friends or some elders address their juniors, they would pick a character from their names and call them "Ahsomething". However, Lu Weiyuan thought it was weird to call Hu Ziyi "Ah Zi". If he called her "Ah Yi", he would feel like he was a generation shorter. So he dubbed the nickname that Hu's mother had given her daughter and called her by that name wherever he pleased.

But Hu Ziyi knew that once the little princess began to call her nickname in a voice so sweet that it could penetrate one's heart, it often meant that she was about to have some extraordinary idea.

"Your Highness, although the Queen has given you a written order to leave the palace, please don't forget that we have to spend more time in the Salesian House to select candidates today."

"I know." Lu Weiyuan nodded randomly. "I'm doing my job, so you all just need to be at ease. We have to go to the Charity House, but it's a rare opportunity to leave the palace, so it would be a waste to just do business. I heard that Aunt Rong Le has a group of actors from the south who can perform some interesting acrobatics. Why don't we go to Heyi Tower to have some fun first, then go to the Charity House to see the sisters, and finally go to Yongjia Marquis' Mansion to look for grandma and brother. In this way, we can stay outside the palace for one night and go to the night market, and we can continue to go to the morning market tomorrow morning..."

She arranged the time very clearly. When Xie Yuzhen gave his daughter a handwritten note, he said that she was only allowed to stay outside for one day. However, Lu Weiyuan was not willing to obey the rules. She had already decided to stay in the Yongjia Marquis' Mansion for one night under the pretext of visiting her grandmother, and then go back to the palace after a long time.

Of course, this is not the point.

Just as Lu Weiyuan understood her biological mother, Xie Yuzhen also understood his daughter's temperament very well. Before Lu Weiyuan left, he had already informed the Yongjia Marquisate.

Staying outside the palace for half a day longer is not a big deal, what's more important is...

"Heyi Building?" A male voice sounded softly.

Lu Weiyuan's eyes widened slightly, and Hu Ziyi felt her hands holding her arms gently pinched, and then the little princess put away her clingy look and turned sideways: "Oh brother, you came so quickly."

Xie Yi looked at his sister's slightly nervous expression and couldn't help but smile: "Luckily you came quickly, otherwise--"

The brother and sister both inherited their mother's beauty, with a pair of lively cat's eyes and extremely delicate facial features with perfect proportions. It's just that Lu Weiyuan has some genetic traces of the emperor, but Xie Yi really looks like Xie Yuzhen, tall and thin, with a feminine appearance. The cinnabar mole between his eyebrows just attracts other people's attention and makes people ignore his eyes which are slightly narrower and longer than his sister's and have a slightly sinister look.

Instead, people will feel that this young man is gentle and humble, like a banished immortal.

Lu Weiyuan jumped forward and grabbed Xie Yi: "My dear brother, what is Heyi Tower? It's just a restaurant where you can listen to books, watch plays and eat. It's rare for me to leave the palace. This is a good opportunity for you to show your brotherly manners and treat me to a meal!"

Xie Yi tapped Lu Weiyuan's forehead with his finger and said, "It's probably not just about eating. We have to invite a few singers, jugglers, and some songs and dances. Oh, and they have to be good-looking and considerate."

"The one who knows me best is my brother Tannu." Lu Weiyuan didn't feel shy or embarrassed when his secret thoughts were exposed. Instead, he took the opportunity to speak, "It seems that you are not unfamiliar with Heyi Tower. So, are you willing to take your poor sister who has not seen much of the world to see it and experience the local customs?"

"Before I came out, my mother specifically told me to investigate and understand the people's sentiments!"

"......If mother knew that you were going to experience such people's feelings, then - some people might not be able to come out next time." Xie Yi looked at his sister and said, "But mother did tell you to have fun today."

Xie Yuzhen did indeed give such instructions.

Xie Yi was also very clear that her mother did not really mind whether her two siblings were too fond of men or women, and was more open-minded about it. In other words, on the contrary, she was very reluctant to see her two children suffer from emotional problems.

Therefore, when Xie Yi was about fifteen or sixteen years old, people were sent to teach him some common emotional tactics and words between men and women, but he was not allowed to put them into practice. Xie Yi himself, because he was precocious and had witnessed the despicable behavior of his biological father's family, was naturally alienated and alienated from such love matters, and was even full of prejudice.

At the same time, thanks to the private teachings of Wang Cheng, the emperor's former trusted spy, he was very clear about some of the means used by the powerful circles in the capital to corrupt or win over people's hearts with money and beauty, and he knew exactly what the end of those who could not control their own consciences would be. As the son of Xie Yizhen, he was naturally a part of the power extended by Empress Xie. Xie Yi had personally dealt with some traitors among the Xie family's followers.

Therefore, Xie Yi, as the Marquis of Yongjia who was highly regarded both inside and outside the court of Dasheng, had not made any moves on the matter of marriage even though he had long passed the age for noble men to propose marriage, which made countless dignitaries who had their eyes on the position of Marquis of Yongjia's wife sigh with regret.