Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Chu Shitong also looked at the lights and said, "How can Xiaoqi change? He has always been like this."

The eldest princess said: "Xiao Qi seems to have figured out a lot of things."

"Xiao Qi is stupid and inexperienced, so naturally, your aunt sees things more clearly than Xiao Qi."

The conversation between the two was like a riddle, the candlelight lengthened their shadows, and the evening breeze blew into the hall.

The eldest princess said, "It's getting late. If Xiaoqi doesn't go back soon, I'm afraid Yunpin will send people to look for you again."

Chu Shitong stood up and said, "Excuse me, Auntie. What you did was against the rules. Xiaoqi will definitely tell you not to do it again."

"The deer antlers that Xiaoqi gave me should have been obtained from the hunting ground today. Auntie likes them very much." The eldest princess said, "If Xiaoqi is free on weekdays, he can come to the mansion more often to practice riding and archery with Afan."

"Xiao Qi understands."

After Chu Shitong performed the ceremony, he left the princess's mansion.

This string of fresh antlers seemed to be very much loved by the princess, but Chu Shitong understood that as the only princess of Beiqing, Chu Shining had seen all kinds of good things. She just gave this string of antlers to Chu Shitong as a reason to come to the princess's mansion often in the future.

After walking out of the princess's mansion, Chu Shitong saw that the carriage of the prince of Rong's mansion, which originally had no servants around, suddenly had a few more servants beside it.

Chu Shitong asked, "But has His Royal Highness woken up?"

Chu Shitong thought that the carriage from Prince Rong's Mansion had already left, but unexpectedly it was still there.

The servant beside the carriage had a strange expression on his face.

"His Royal Highness has not woken up yet. It's just that there was some noise in the carriage just now. The servants dare not go in to see. Please ask His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince to go and take a look."

Chu Shitong lifted the curtain and took a look. Si Jingli was still asleep, just in a different posture.

"nothing."

Chu Shitong originally thought that since everything was fine, he would go back to his carriage, but the servants around him were looking at him eagerly, which made Chu Shitong feel a little unhappy.

Before he could say a few words, Si Jingli turned over and the coat he had put on fell to the ground.

Chu Shitong was silent for a moment and got on the carriage.

I guess at this time, no one except myself dares to care about Si Jingli.

Before getting on the carriage, Chu Shitong saw Bishui looking at him with some concern behind the crowd.

Seeing that she had nothing in her hands, Chu Shitong thought that she probably owed him two bundles of vegetables and had not had time to buy them.

The carriage headed towards Prince Rong's Mansion.

After Chu Shitong got on the carriage, she continued to put on Si Jingli's coat and then continued to sit on the couch. However, she was no longer sleepy and was just in a daze.

Chu Shitong recalled the eldest princess's attitude towards him, which seemed to be different today from that in the previous life.

In the previous life, the princess had never been so polite to me as she is today. The reason was definitely not just because of that string of deer antlers. As I said before, Her Royal Highness the Princess had seen all kinds of good things. She had always been lukewarm about His Majesty's rewards. It was simply impossible to please her with just this string of deer antlers.

If so, there must be some other reason.

Chu Shitong recalled the conversation between the eldest princess and herself. She said that she seemed different. Could it be that she had seen something?

Chu Shitong quickly denied this idea, saying it shouldn't be like this.

She didn't do anything, so how could the princess notice that she was different from before? It must be because of her attitude change.

In her previous life, she had never tried so hard to please the eldest princess. At that time, she didn't know that the eldest princess had the token left by the late emperor, so she had never visited the princess's mansion alone.

Perhaps it was because my attitude had also changed that I discovered that the eldest princess' attitude towards me had changed accordingly compared to my previous life.

While Chu Shitong was thinking, she felt something soft next to her. She lowered her eyes and saw that Si Jingli had moved from the couch not far away to her side without her noticing.

Si Jingli's head was against Chu Shitong's legs, and Chu Shitong could even feel the temperature of his body.

As if possessed by some mysterious force, Chu Shitong gently touched his face.

She always had an inexplicable feeling towards Si Jingli.

In the previous life, when I was using Si Jingli, for my own purposes, I almost obeyed Si Jingli's every command. Not only did I know all of Si Jingli's habits and hobbies, I also knew all of his past.

The scene of his heart being pierced by thousands of arrows seemed to be still vivid in his mind, and the heart-wrenching pain was still in his chest.

Perhaps at some point in my previous life, I really had a crush on Si Jingli.

Because the person Chu Shitong saw beneath his gorgeous appearance was fragile yet vivid, so beautiful that it was heartbreaking.

But Chu Shitong understood that her feelings for Si Jingli were limited to this. Her goal was to seize the throne. Due to her special status, she had never thought about starting a family or anything like that.

If possible, she would not care even if she had to hide her true gender for the rest of her life as long as she could succeed the throne.

She didn't know what she wanted to do in this world. She only knew that she wanted to take revenge and get back what she had lost in her previous life.

This seemed to have become an obsession in her heart.

......

Chu Shitong got off the car at the gate of Prince Rong's Mansion and went all the way back to East Fifth Office.

"Your Highness..."

Bishui followed behind Chu Shitong and called out.

Chu Shitong did not stop and asked, "What's the matter?"

Bishui hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but after hesitating for a long time, he still didn't say it.

Chu Shitong waited for a long time without hearing any further words, so he stopped and looked back.

Bishui seemed to have something she wanted to say, but she looked at Chu Shitong cautiously for a long time and didn't say it.

Chu Shitong lost his patience and asked, "Have you bought the vegetables?"

Bishui immediately said, "I bought it."

Seeing her decisive answer, Chu Shitong was helpless about her hesitation just now, "Put it in the small kitchen, and don't talk to this prince again today."

After saying that, he walked quickly towards the study.

As soon as he entered the study, Chu Shitong met an unexpected guest.

"Brother Emperor, why are you here?"

Chu Shixuan was drinking tea on the soft couch in the study, wearing a navy blue uniform. Her face, as gentle as jade, looked like a finely carved jade sculpture under the light.

There were only a few servants in the East Fifth Office, and Chu Shitong intended to send them away, so no one saw Chu Shixuan when he came, and Chu Shitong didn't know how long he had been there.

Chu Shitong walked over quickly. She felt that Chu Shixuan must have come to see her for a purpose, and he came in person, so the purpose must not be good.

Chu Shixuan put down his teacup and said in a serious tone, "How come Xiaoqi doesn't even see the shadow of a servant here? Is the Ministry of Internal Affairs deliberately mistreating you?"

Chu Shitong said, "My royal brother misunderstood. I don't like to have too many people around me. The servants were clumsy, so I sent them all away."

Chu Shixuan nodded, "That's right, but we can't keep it secret from anyone. This is against the rules. If Xiaoqi is relieved, I'll send you a few capable servants when I get back."

How could Chu Shitong dare to accept it? She smiled and declined, "Thank you, my brother, but I was the one who sent the servant away on purpose, so my brother should not send anyone here. I don't like crowds. If you send someone here, I will have to treat them well. It's troublesome. I thank my brother for his kindness."

"If Xiao Qi doesn't want it, forget it. You won't be able to stay in East Fifth Institute for many years. You will have to leave and set up your own residence. You can choose servants then."

Chu Shitong sat on the couch, feeling tired and wanting to sleep. Seeing that Chu Shixuan refused to tell him why he came here, he had no choice but to ask.

"Is there anything that brings you here, my brother?"

Chu Shixuan then said, "The punishment for the crime of deceiving the emperor by the Minister of Rites has been announced, and I came here specially to tell you.

"..."

This reason made Chu Shitong silent.

This sounded like an excuse. Even if Chu Shixuan didn't say anything about this punishment, the whole capital would know about it the next day.

But having said that, Chu Shitong had no choice but to continue talking along the lines of Chu Shixuan.

"So what is the punishment given by Father?"

"The crime of deceiving the emperor is a capital crime. Zhou Qixiang should have been beheaded in public, but my father thought that he had been in office for many years and had done his best without making any major mistakes. This incident was caused by his son Zhou Hengchuan, not him, so he was demoted to Huyang County in Liangzhou as the county magistrate. He must leave the capital within three days after handing over internal affairs, and he is not allowed to enter the capital without being summoned in the future."

"Father is indeed a wise ruler, and his handling of the matter is very wise. I think the Duke of Qing's Mansion should have no objection."

Chu Shitong said this with a smile on his face, but he was actually thinking in his heart that Zhou Hengchuan's family were lucky not to be beheaded.

If Zhao Heng, the prince of the Duke of Qing, had any temper, he should not have allowed the Zhou family to reach Huyang County safely.

Chu Shixuan said: "I heard that Duke Qing came to the palace to ask for an audience, but the emperor still did not change his decision."

Originally, it was Zhao Heng who started beating Zhou Hengchuan first. If Zhou Qixiang had not written the memorial to the emperor, he would not have been punished.

"I know about this matter. Thank you, brother, for coming to tell me."

Chu Shitong was already thinking of seeing the guest off.

Chu Shixuan did not want to leave. He continued, "Xiao Qi, the second princess' birthday is in ten days. Have you prepared the birthday gift?"

Chu Shitong smiled and said, "Not yet. Thank you for your reminder, brother. Xiaoqi will get ready right away."

Chu Shixuan was puzzled and stayed with Chu Shitong and talked for nearly two quarters of an hour before leaving.

After he left, Chu Shitong took a shower, lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

......

The next day, when Chu Shitong woke up, it was already noon.

Today is May 31st, the last day of May.

After lunch, she decided to go out and see if there was anyone she could buy from among the vendors.

Chu Shitong went out wearing simple clothes. Bishui wanted to follow him, but Chu Shitong didn't let her.

Although Bishui's life after leaving him in the previous life was somewhat sad, Chu Shitong still did not trust her.

She left the palace alone and strolled slowly in the market.

Arriving at the place where the humans gathered, Chu Shitong looked for a long time but did not see his subordinates from his previous life. Perhaps he had not yet fallen into the hands of the humans at this time.

As Chu Shitong was thinking this, he suddenly saw a group of people gathered in front of him, and he didn't know what they were doing.

With nothing to do, Chu Shitong also went over to join in the fun.

When she finally squeezed in, she saw two men punching and kicking a beggar who looked about seven or eight years old.

"Second brother, take it easy. This little beggar is so skinny. If you kick him to death a few more times, it will be troublesome."

The man called Lao Er looked to be in his early twenties, and his ragged clothes could not hide the huge muscles bulging on his chest.

"Boss, how can we not teach him a lesson? Judging from his accent, this kid is from another place. Who knows, he might be a country bumpkin from some poor place begging for food. If we don't teach him a lesson, who will know that this is our territory? If all beggars come here to beg for food in the future, how will we survive?"

He raised his foot and kicked the beggar hard in the stomach. The little beggar was as thin as a chicken in front of him, and his stomach was almost broken by the kick. He curled up on the ground, and blood flowed out of his mouth and nose like a broken string.

Chu Shitong asked quietly to the person beside him, "Auntie, may I ask who these two brothers are?"

The lady next to her saw that Chu Shitong was fair-skinned and well-dressed, so she asked her secretly, "Young Master, you are not from the west of the city, are you?"

"No."

The old lady lowered her voice and said, "These are the two brothers of the Hu family. The West City Market is their territory. If you want to beg or sell things here, you have to give them some hard-earned money. Otherwise, they will be unreasonable. If you dare to sell things, they will overturn the stall. Especially beggars who ask for food, they will beat them directly. If they meet beggars from outside the capital, they will be even more vicious."

Chu Shitong roughly understood that these two were the local bosses in this market.

This kind of thing is nothing new. In the four regions of Beijing, east, west, south and north, there are basically such local tyrants in every place. Generally speaking, they are all related to certain high-ranking officials, otherwise they would not dare to be so arrogant.

"The market is so big, and they are only two brothers. It's impossible for anyone to bully them, right?"

"How is that impossible?" The old lady said, "The prefect is behind him."

Chu Shitong asked, "The Song family, the governor of the capital?"

"Yes, it is Lord Song."

Every prefecture and county in Beiqing Kingdom has its own prefect. Even in the capital, where the emperor lives, there is a prefect. After all, although His Majesty is in the imperial palace in the capital, he deals with the affairs of the world, not his own affairs. Therefore, the power of the prefect in this area of ​​the capital sounds much greater than that of other prefectures and counties.

In Chu Shitong's eyes, they were all the same, just fourth-rank officials.

Zhou Hengchuan's father was a third-rank official.

Chu Shitong had no intention of getting involved, after all, this matter had nothing to do with her. When she was about to leave, Hu Da and Hu Er began to search the little beggar for something. They finally found something from the little beggar, but before they could see clearly, the little beggar, who had been beaten to death, suddenly pounced on them and tried to snatch the thing back.

"give me back!"

When he pounced, Hu Da was caught off guard and the thing in his hand flew out and happened to fall in front of Chu Shitong.

Chu Shitong took a look and saw that it was a necklace with a small jade pendant shaped like a coin hanging on a black rope.

Somewhat familiar.

Hu Er got so angry that he kicked the little beggar away.

"Damn it! You dare to attack my big brother! You stinky beggar, you deserve a beating, right? Did I go easy on you just now?"

Hu Da hurried over and picked up the necklace. He didn't care at all that he was bumped into by the little beggar just now. He looked at the jade pendant with a look full of greed.

"Second brother, this jade is pretty good, it should be able to sell for a lot of money!"