Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Chu Shitong's snack box contained the standard three dishes and one soup for the princes of the East Five Palaces. The food in the Princess's Mansion was obviously much better than that.

Chu Shifan not only brought two large bowls of rice, but also four meat dishes, one vegetarian dish, a bowl of bird's nest soup with broth, and a bowl of white fungus and snow lotus soup.

"Cousin, please say less." Chu Shitong said, "The princes all have meals of this standard, and even my brothers are not much different."

Chu Shifan didn't believe it. "Don't be ridiculous. The last time I saw the Sixth Prince's lunch, he ordered a whole table of delicacies from Xibao Tower to be delivered. You and he are both princes, so your monthly allowances should be similar. How come even your lunch on weekdays is so different?"

Chu Shitong paused while eating and spoke in a low voice.

"Cousin, have you forgotten who his mother's family is?"

Chu Shifan also suddenly remembered that the Sixth Prince's mother's family was the Governor of Jiangdu, a high-ranking official. Although they were not in the capital, they had the final say in Jiangdu. Being rich was their biggest characteristic.

He reacted a little late and blamed himself: "Oh, it's my fault. I forgot about this."

Chu Shifan pushed the dishes towards Chu Shitong, saying, "I made a mistake. I apologize to you. You can eat my meal today."

Chu Shitong also knew that he had a free and easy personality and naturally wouldn't care about these things.

"No, this is enough for me."

Chu Shifan always felt that he had made Chu Shitong unhappy. Even his favorite braised pork tasted bland. He kept thinking about how to make Chu Shitong happier.

"By the way, didn't I tell you this morning that there was a happy event? Do you remember?"

Chu Shitong nodded, "I remember."

"Hehe." Chu Shifan laughed foolishly and said mysteriously, "Do you want to go under the overpass after school tonight?"

"What are you doing there?"

Chu Shifan said, "There's a storyteller over there. I heard that he made up several versions of Zhou Hengchuan's story in Huaxi Tower overnight. Each one is more interesting than the last. Since you have nothing to do, I'll invite you to listen to the story. I'll buy some good wine and we can listen to the story together, okay?"

Chu Shitong said: "Okay."

Anyway, she had nothing to do, and if she went back early, Yun Xiangrong would definitely ask someone to call her into the palace from time to time. She had no intention of seeing Yun Xiangrong at all.

Yun Xiangrong is her biological mother. Even if she was not good to her, at least she gave birth to her. But in her previous life, it was Yun Xiangrong who finally revealed the secret of her life experience. If Chu Shitong did not resolve it as soon as possible in this life, her final outcome would probably be the same.

Chu Shifan smiled and asked, "You agreed so quickly? I haven't even had time to tell you my good news."

"Hmm?" Chu Shitong finally began to get curious. "What good news is my cousin hiding from me that he hasn't told me for such a long time?"

"Of course it's something good that has to do with you."

Chu Shifan patted Chu Shitong's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Haven't you always wanted to have a good relationship with Si Jingli?"

Chu Shitong was stunned.

She did think so in her previous life, but she met Si Jingli later not because of Chu Shifan. Could it be that because she had bullied Zhou Hengchuan, she also led to Chu Shifan's behavior?

Chu Shifan said, "I happened to run into him when I came to the academy. Although I don't have much contact with him on weekdays, he agreed as soon as I mentioned this matter. Let's go under the bridge together in the evening and have a drink and chat. Wouldn't that make us closer?"

Chu Shitong looked speechlessly at Chu Shifan, who was begging for praise. He couldn't utter the words that were in his mouth. It took him a long time to get out a few words through his teeth.

"My cousin really does care about Xiao Qi..."

Chu Shifan laughed loudly, not noticing Chu Shitong's gnashing of teeth, and said, "You want to get to know him, so of course I'll find a way for you. This is one of the few opportunities. I heard that most people can't even get an appointment with him!"

Chu Shifan thought that Chu Shitong was in a good mood, so his mood also improved. He lowered his head and began to show off his fandom happily.

Chu Shitong, who was originally in a good mood, now had no appetite at all.

She had managed to resist the urge to contact Si Jingli with great difficulty, so how could she suddenly become like this?

Chu Shitong thought about it for a long time and decided that breaking the appointment this time might not be a good idea. Not to mention that it would make Chu Shifan lose face, it might also make Si Jingli have a bad impression of him.

At worst, you can just go and make friends.

After dinner, the two went straight back to the school. On the way, they passed by an unknown courtyard, and Chu Shitong subconsciously took a look inside.

Deep in the Tongque Palace, the midday sunlight was completely blocked by a huge tree.

In the shadow of the corridor, Si Jingli sat alone at the table inside to eat. The food in Prince Rong's Mansion was better. Si Jingli's lunch every day consisted of eighteen dishes, three soups and pastries.

He seemed particularly lonely compared to the table full of food.

Chu Shifan noticed that Chu Shitong had stopped, so he took a look. After just one look, he couldn't help but say, "As expected of Prince Si, the lunch is so sumptuous. Maybe we can have dinner with him after today, and then we can taste what the food in Prince Rong's Mansion tastes like."

Chu Shitong said: "Maybe."

Chu Shifan was paying attention to the countless delicacies on Si Jingli's table, while Chu Shitong was paying attention to Si Jingli who put down his chopsticks after taking only a few bites.

Si Jingli is very picky, and Chu Shitong knows this best.

Si Jingli was the only prince of the Rong Palace. Although he had several illegitimate sisters, none of them had a status comparable to that of a legitimate prince.

When Si Jingli was in Prince Rong's mansion, he had eighteen dishes for breakfast, twenty-eight dishes for lunch, and sixteen dishes for dinner every day. The kitchen would stew the finest blood bird's nest for twelve hours continuously, just so that it could be served immediately when he wanted to eat it.

He always ate only freshly prepared meals. Even though the food on the table in front of him was delivered all the way from Prince Rong's Mansion on time, he still felt it was not tasty.

Chu Shitong was very puzzled in his previous life. It was clearly the same food, so why could Si Jingli tell whether it was fresh or not with just one bite?

It was not until she truly understood Si Jingli's growth process that she realized that this person really had been raised since childhood and was a precious peony made of countless gorgeous treasures.

It was precisely because he knew this that he felt so painful when he saw Si Jingli being pierced by thousands of arrows for him.

He could clearly have ignored himself. Even if the Rong Palace declined, it was inevitable that he would become a wealthy prince. However, he chose to ignore the imperial edict and rush into the execution ground alone to save himself.

It is precisely this affection that seems even more precious to Chu Shitong.

"Cousin, let's go back."

"Okay."

As soon as the two of them left, Si Jingli in the yard suddenly looked up at them.

......

In the previous life, in the academy, Chu Shitong was always ranked second.

In fact, she could be ranked first, but because her mother had no maternal family and no power, she had always kept her tail between her legs and hid her edge.

In her next life, the poetry, literature and history she had learned seemed extremely easy to her.

Chu Shitong had already listed some of the things that needed to be solved urgently in his mind.

The first one is that he has no power now.

Because she is fourteen years old and has not yet entered the court, it is definitely not possible for her to build a power centered on her status as a prince.

But this does not prevent her from centering on others and relying on forces.

The meaning is very simple. She has no way to get others to join her, so now she can find a force she can rely on and choose to join temporarily, or use each other in the long term.

Because he was a prince, the common method of recognizing relatives was not possible. How could a prince be allowed to recognize brothers or become relatives with ministers? But because he happened to be a prince, the available people became more practical.

Those are the royal blood relatives.

The first person Chu Shitong thought of was Princess Wende.

Princess Wende is your Majesty's sister and also your aunt. You are on good terms with her only son, so it is inevitable that you have a good relationship with her. Whether you can rely on her or not depends on the extent of your relationship.

Chu Shitong knew a secret, that is, Princess Wende had a token in her hand, which could mobilize 3,000 cavalrymen in Yuzhou City.

This token was given to her by the late emperor. Originally, the eldest princess' fiefdom was Yuzhou City. But just after she was given the title and territory, before she could set off, the late emperor suddenly passed away and the new emperor ascended to the throne. The current emperor did not want his sister to guard the fiefdom alone, so he directly named her the eldest princess, bestowed the words "Wen De", and kept her in the capital to arrange marriage.

This token was not taken back, it was a gift from His Majesty to her for her marriage.

The only people who know about this matter now are the current emperor and the eldest princess. Even Chu Shifan doesn't know about it.

It would be a good thing if I could rely on the eldest princess.

But Chu Shitong still had some concerns about this. In his previous life, he had little contact with Princess Wende, and had never offended her. But in the fight for the throne, the princess was determined not to let Chu Shifan stand on her side.

Could it be that I had offended her at some point in the past?

As for Princess Wende, Chu Shitong could only say that she would try her best to maintain a good relationship with her. As long as Chu Shifan stood on her side, she would have no way to object even if Princess Wende disagreed.

The next choice listed by Chu Shitong was Prince Jiang, who was also Chu Shitong's uncle. Although he was not a blood brother to His Majesty, he was the only remaining prince among the princes of the previous dynasty. But Prince Jiang had been guarding the border. Chu Shitong knew that he would be back during the Chinese New Year this year, and he also knew what would happen then. If nothing unexpected happened, Prince Jiang, who held military power, should be able to be won over.

Chu Shitong also thought of several candidates and analyzed the pros and cons of each one.

The second problem at hand is that he has not yet eliminated all the people Yun Xiangrong has placed around him.

This matter is very easy to solve. With Chu Shitong's current means, he can just frame them for one thing and make them all leave.

But the difficulty lies in that after these people are removed, one cannot find loyal people who are available, reliable and willing to replace them in time.

Chu Shitong had a flash of inspiration and remembered his subordinates from his previous life.

In her previous life, she was like a rag picker, picking up people and taking them in everywhere. Fortunately, the people she picked up were all good and there were no betrayers. They all supported her until she was exposed by Yun Xiangrong, and then Chu Shixuan ordered them to be killed.

It seems that I should take the initiative to win them back this time.

The third one, and the more important one now, is money.

Chu Shitong privately opened a small jewelry store. She saw two points: a jewelry store did not need to be too big and the gold and jade transactions could make more money.

Nowadays, the monthly net profit is stable at around one hundred taels. If the market is good, it will double. It is no problem to make a monthly profit of thousands during the holidays.

This amount of money is definitely far from enough. Chu Shitong remembered that in his previous life, there was a cook in the capital who cooked excellent dishes. It was said that she came from Jiangnan. In just a few years, she opened a small shop and turned it into one of the best restaurants in the capital. Chu Shitong calculated the time and thought that he should be able to cooperate with her.

There were also some shop businesses in the capital that were more profitable later on. Chu Shitong calculated them all and had a general understanding of the direction. He prepared to invest in them one by one, hiding his identity.

The fourth one is to gather connections before entering the court.

As long as there was evidence that could be used and as long as Chu Shitong remembered it, she had planned it all clearly.

As long as the network has not yet been formed, Chu Shitong is willing to intervene and help, and find ways to maximize the advantages of his own network.

The last one is your majesty’s favor and trust.

On this point, Chu Shitong felt that he was fine, at least on the surface.

Although her biological mother was of humble origin, His Majesty did love her. Perhaps because he loved her mother, His Majesty was also very good to her. In her previous life, she was granted the title of king when she was just seventeen years old. His Majesty did not even give her a fiefdom and let her stay in the capital.

Before his majesty passed away, the imperial edict he left behind was that the eldest prince would succeed to the throne. At that time, the only remaining princes in the court were her and Chu Shixuan. Upon learning that Chu Shixuan was about to accept the edict and succeed to the throne, Chu Shitong took a desperate move and directly surrounded the palace with the cavalry, falsely accusing the eldest prince of forging the imperial edict. The civil and military officials were ready to make a move, and Chu Shitong was about to succeed, but Yun Xiangrong suddenly appeared and ruthlessly shattered the results of her hard work up to now.

As long as Yun Xiangrong is favored, he will not be treated coldly in front of His Majesty.

Yun Xiangrong is a very ambitious woman. She wants to become the queen mother and live a life of wealth and glory. In order to achieve her goal, the only person she can rely on now is Chu Shitong.

Even if Chu Shitong didn't trust her or listen to her, she had no choice.

In her previous life, Yun Xiangrong betrayed herself and joined the eldest prince because she was afraid that she would be retaliated against after she ascended to the throne. Chu Shitong was besieging the palace to seize the throne and it was unclear who would win, but the eldest prince had the imperial edict of succession in his hand, which was legitimate. So Yun Xiangrong chose to betray Chu Shitong at the critical moment and seek wealth and glory.

After thinking about the main things he was facing now, Chu Shitong planned to take it step by step. After all, there were still more than two years before he entered the court, so there was still time.

The afternoon's classes passed just like that. Tomorrow is May 30th, and we will have a two-day break until the beginning of next month.