Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

When he woke up the next day, Chu Shitong discovered that Si Jingli was no longer by his pillow.

It was getting late, so after washing and changing his clothes, Chu Shitong had a quick breakfast and got on a carriage to the direction of the palace.

This time he was not going to Kaiyuan Temple to pray alone, but had to go to the palace first to wait for the palace's carriage. Chu Shitong went there at this time in order to meet up with the palace's carriage.

By the time the large army had gathered and arrived at Kaiyuan Temple, virility had just been born.

Praying for blessings at the beginning of the year is basically just a formality, because it has to happen once in a while, and most people start to disperse in twos and threes after lighting the prayer incense.

Also because it was the beginning of the year, there were quite a lot of people in Kaiyuan Temple, not only royal relatives, but also many ordinary people who came to burn incense.

Chu Shitong followed the process of burning incense, then turned around and quietly slipped out when no one was paying attention.

When she was burning incense just now, that bad old man Master Wuji kept staring at her, which made Chu Shitong feel that something bad was going to happen. She might as well run away first to avoid the old man coming to her again.

In the backyard of Kaiyuan Temple, there is a huge ginkgo tree, which is a hundred feet tall. It is said that this ginkgo tree has a history of more than three hundred years.

The reason why I came to Kaiyuan Temple at the beginning of the year is because there is a saying that goes "Tie a red string on a tree and your wish will come true."

The general meaning is to write the wish you want to pray for on a red ribbon and tie it to a tree. The bigger and older the tree, the more spiritual it is. If a passing deity sees it, maybe your wish will come true with good luck.

Chu Shitong believed in it a little in her previous life, but she didn't foolishly write that her wish was to ascend the throne. If she had written it like that and it wasn't seen by the gods but was seen by Chu Shiyu first, then it would probably be useless even if the gods came.

The wishes she wrote under the tree were mostly simple ones that could be shown to others.

For example, when Chu Shiyu was around, she would deliberately write something like "I wish my father is in good health" to pretend that she was very filial.

Or, when Si Jingli was by her side, she would deliberately write something about the Crown Prince being safe and happy, pretending to be affectionate.

Anyway, she didn't think she had ever really made any wishes for herself under this tree.

The tree is surrounded by four long corridors, surrounding the entire ginkgo tree.

For some reason, Chu Shitong suddenly wanted to make a wish this year.

She really wanted to know whether her mother was still alive.

This matter could not be brought to light, and it would be even more difficult to search for it in private, but she did not dare to let others know, so she walked around in circles in the corridor for a long time before slowly coming under the tree.

There are pens, ink and ribbons prepared long ago under the tree. This kind of ink is specially made for the temple. As long as it is soaked in water, the ink will dissipate lightly.

If the ribbon is tied to the tree for a long time and it rains or snows, the wishes on it will disappear. This is a way to protect privacy.

It is said that long ago, when this kind of special writing was not used, the emperor of Tianxuan Kingdom discovered the prince's wish to ascend the throne on the silk ribbon, and he killed three suspected princes in anger.

Chu Shitong picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and held the brush in mid-air, not putting it down for a long time.

She didn't know how to express what she wanted. If she wrote vaguely, she was afraid that the gods would not be able to understand her when they passed by. She was also afraid that if she wrote too clearly, others would see it before the gods did, and she would get into trouble.

After thinking for a long time and deciding to give up, I suddenly heard Chu Shifan's voice in my ear.

"Xiao Qi, you have been hesitating for a long time and still haven't written it. Could it be that you have no more wishes to fulfill?"

Chu Shitong turned around and saw that Chu Shifan and Si Jingli had arrived without him noticing.

It's really rare for the two of them to appear together.

Chu Shifan was wearing a deep blue robe today. He was tall, handsome, and looked very energetic.

Chu Shitong didn't notice over the years that her cousin had become more and more respectable. He had an embroidered sachet on his waist, which didn't look like the work of the eldest princess. The eldest princess would definitely not use glossy silk to make the sachet for him.

If it’s not the eldest princess, then it must be Miss Xie.

Chu Shitong smiled and said, "When did my cousin come? Why didn't you say anything?"

Chu Shifan stepped forward and squeezed Chu Shitong aside. He picked up the brush and wrote on the red ribbon, saying, "I just arrived not long ago. I happened to run into His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Isn't it a coincidence? We watched you for a while. You are a real man, but you still hesitate to make a wish."

"What do you mean by coincidence? I don't want to come here with you."

Si Jingli was still dressed in red, as if he was the only touch of red in the entire cold courtyard after the arrival of winter. Even Chu Shitong, who had seen him thousands of times, couldn't help but be amazed by his appearance when he saw him again.

Chu Shitong smiled at Si Jingli and suddenly noticed that the cinnabar on the center of his forehead had not been applied today.

Chu Shifan put down his pen and said helplessly, "Your Highness, I just said a few words to you in front of Xiao Qi, why do you hold such a grudge?"

Si Jingli snorted coldly, feeling a little uncomfortable when he noticed Chu Shitong's gaze.

"Chu Shitong, why do you always stare at this prince?"

Chu Shitong asked: "I just saw that the cinnabar on His Royal Highness's head was not painted today, so I was a little curious."

Chu Shifan also realized it belatedly and said, "I was wondering! Why do I feel that His Highness is different today than usual? It turns out that the cinnabar on his forehead is missing?"

The cinnabar mole between Si Jingli's eyebrows was not something he was born with, but was added later using a cinnabar red paste similar to lip balm.

This is a custom in Quanzhou. It is usually applied between the eyebrows of children when they are young as a blessing for peace. Some say it is to ward off evil spirits. If cinnabar is applied between the eyebrows, evil spirits will not dare to approach.

"That's something only children order." Si Jingli said, "I'm not a child anymore, I won't order it anymore in the future."

Chu Shifan was a little confused, "But didn't you order it a few days ago? Could it be that you have suddenly grown up in the past few days?"

Si Jingli was speechless for a moment. This feeling of powerlessness instantly transformed into anger in him, and he glared at Chu Shifan with knives in his eyes.

Chu Shifan immediately admitted his mistake, shrugged his shoulders, and said angrily: "Okay, okay, I won't say anything more, okay."

He turned to look for a place to hang the ribbon.

Chu Shitong watched Chu Shifan disappear into thin air, and subconsciously thought that Si Jingli might be looking for trouble with him since he couldn't find a place to vent his anger, so he habitually began to change the subject.

"Does your Highness have any wishes?"

Si Jingli calmed down and said, "Of course I have it, don't you have it?"

"I don't think I have any, otherwise, Your Highness, please go first..." Feeling Si Jingli's death gaze, Chu Shitong smiled slightly and said, "Of course I have some."

It seems that this year this wish will have to be fulfilled by Si Jingli again.

The two of them were writing one after the other, but Si Jingli wrote faster.

Chu Shitong hesitated for a moment before writing down his wish.

She didn't dare to write down what she wanted, and it didn't matter what else she wrote. Chu Shitong didn't really believe that there were gods who would fulfill her wishes, but she felt that if she could use a wish ribbon to make Si Jingli happy for a while, it would be worth it.

As soon as Chu Shitong put down his pen, he saw Si Jingli furtively folding the red ribbon and hiding it in his sleeve.

Chu Shitong saw it clearly.

Si Jingli seemed to still have some sense of foolishness to cover up after doing something bad, and pretended to be righteous and said: "Why are you writing so slowly?"

"I'm sorry to have kept Your Highness waiting for so long." Chu Shitong began to take the blame as usual.

When Si Jingli heard Chu Shitong say this, he felt a little embarrassed. He coughed twice and said, "It's okay. I forgive you. By the way, I want to see what you wrote."

Chu Shitong handed him the red ribbon without thinking.

Si Jingli was quite surprised. He didn't expect that Chu Shitong had no intention of hiding anything from him.

He never thought that this ribbon was written specifically for him.

It's just one sentence above.

【May Prince Si be safe and happy】

Seeing the words above, Si Jingli's face slowly turned red. He returned the red ribbon to Chu Shitong, his aura was no longer as arrogant as before, and his tone was also a little softer. He said, "I, I didn't mean to say that about you just now."

"I know." Chu Shitong said magnanimously, "Your Highness is a very good person. I never argue with him."

Si Jingli began to feel guilty.

"Otherwise, I'll ask someone to help you hang the ribbon up. You just wait here for me and don't have to move. I'll come back to find you later."

Chu Shitong guessed that Si Jingli said this suddenly partly out of guilt, and partly because he didn't want her to see his wish.

"Then I'll trouble His Royal Highness."

Si Jingli took the ribbon and left in a hurry.

Chu Shitong looked at his back with a calm expression.

Is Chu Shitong the kind of person who pries into other people's privacy?

Everyone has their own wishes. Si Jingli didn't let himself see it because he didn't want him to know.

Since no one wants her to know, what's the point of her insisting on knowing?

Thinking of this, Chu Shitong raised his hand.

See the shadow appear in front of you.

"Your Highness."

"Let's see what the prince's wish is later."

"Yes."

After saying this, Chu Shitong felt a little better.

Walking slowly on the corridor alone.

I remembered that it was at this time in my previous life that I happened to see Chu Shihan hanging the ribbon, and then I secretly sent someone to see his wish, only to find out that Chu Shihan’s wish was actually the throne.

From then on, Chu Shitong developed hostility towards his third brother, who was not very favored and did not make much splash in the court.

After walking for a while, she found a place to sit down.

The dream she had when she had a fever some time ago still puzzles her.

The dream was very long, almost spanning her past life when she felt sorry for Si Jingli, but there was also a very short and even vague period. She seemed to be able to barely understand something when she was in the dream, but after waking up, she found that she could not seem to remember anything about that period.

Somehow I felt that that period was very important to her.

Chu Shitong sighed, and when he looked up, a red ribbon slowly fell in front of his eyes.

She reached out to take it, and it really fell into her hand.

Her long eyelashes moved slightly, and her eyes, as light as glass, looked at the ribbon with an increasingly strange look.

This ribbon has obviously been hanging on the tree for a long time. It has been exposed to wind and rain and its color has faded, but... the ink marks can still be seen.

If I remember correctly, as early as the time of the last emperor of Tianxuan Kingdom, the ink for making wishes had been replaced with the current non-waterproof one.

Could this be a ribbon from long ago?

Chu Shitong casually opened the ribbon and took a look. When he saw the words on it, his brows slowly furrowed and he fell into deep thought.

[My Royal Brother saved me from danger in the past. I wish to be nameless and live with my Royal Brother until old age. If this is not possible, I wish my Royal Brother will get what he wants in all his lives.]

Initially, Chu Shitong thought that this might have been written by someone from the royal family of the Tianxuan Dynasty, after all, the address above was “Royal Brother”.

But later, Chu Shitong felt more and more strange.

Royal brother, live together forever.

She seemed to know something taboo. Could it be that the Tianxuan Dynasty had some incestuous affairs that were hidden within its borders?

However, this was not the reason why she was in deep thought just now, because incest between siblings and homosexuality between brothers were not uncommon in the chaotic era of the Tianxuan Dynasty.

The reason why she suddenly became silent was that the handwriting on the ribbon was somewhat similar to her own.

When he was young, Chu Shitong once heard a calligraphy master say that once a person's handwriting is fixed, it will not change easily. Even if all memories are lost, as long as he learns to write and learns the previous font, he will be able to restore his previous handwriting.

Chu Shitong stared at the ribbon in a trance.

He was not interrupted until Ying appeared hurriedly.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince's wish is that... the Marquis of Zhenguo can accept your identity."

Chu Shitong's hand holding the ribbon paused, and she looked up suddenly, as if she had just remembered about the Duke of Zhenguo.

She was stunned for a moment, as if a feeling she had never experienced before exploded in her mind.

Si Jingli really wants to be with her for a long time, otherwise he wouldn't have suddenly thought of such a wish, but... this also means that Si Jingli has to take action.

Otherwise, this matter would not have been brought up suddenly.

Si Jingli might be a pampered baby in Chu Shitong's heart, but he is definitely not a fool. If he really wants to do something, no one can stop him.

"Understood, let's go down."

Seeing the shadow disappear beside him, Chu Shitong stood up and was about to go under the tree to find Si Jingli. He estimated that by the time he got there, Si Jingli would have almost arrived.

After walking a few steps, he turned a corner and ran into Master Wuji.

As soon as Master Wuji saw Chu Shitong, he immediately smiled and narrowed his eyes.

"King Qi..."

Chu Shitong didn't wait for him to finish and turned away irritably.

"Hey hey hey! Don't go!"

Master Wuji quickly took two steps to catch up, and barely kept up with Chu Shitong's footsteps and walked side by side.

"Your Highness Prince Qi, have you ever thought about what I told you before? What do you think?"

Chu Shitong asked: "What are you thinking about?"

"Ah? You forgot everything?" Master Wuji wailed, and said angrily: "Didn't I tell you that you must have forgotten a lot of things? Aren't you quite capable? Go check it out."

Chu Shitong: “…”

Doesn't she want to check?

"Stinky old man, if you want to say something, can you just say it directly? You want me to check, where should I check and who should I ask? Can I find it with just a word from you?"