Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Yun Xiangrong glanced at Wang Zexu, immediately straightened her clothes, and spoke to Chu Shitong before Wang Zexu came close.

"I am warning you, if you want to die, go and die by yourself, don't implicate me! You dare to be so rude to me and say such ungrateful words, if you have the guts, don't come to me to ask for anything in the future!"

Before Wang Zexu arrived, Yun Xiangrong turned around and left angrily with Yue'er.

Eunuch Wang ran all the way over and followed Chu Shitong's gaze to look at Yun Xiangrong's back from afar.

Chu Shitong came back to his senses, and Eunuch Wang immediately retracted his gaze and said with a smile: "Your Highness, His Majesty, thinking of your filial piety, has specially ordered me to bring you a reward of 100 taels of silver. As you haven't gone far, I will send someone to accompany you to the East Fifth House."

Talking about business, Chu Shitong suppressed all his previous emotions in an instant, showing a kind and sincere smile on his face, and said: "No need, this reward should not be given to this prince. After all, it was thanks to the eunuch's words of help at that time. This prince will definitely remember this kindness in his heart."

From beginning to end, he had never shown any filial piety in front of Chu Shiyu. The only thing that could bring up this matter was the bowl of Albizzia julibrissin tea.

"Your Highness is too polite. I have no guts to embezzle the things His Majesty has given you."

Two young eunuchs holding rewards also came over and saluted Chu Shitong.

Because of the presence of others, Chu Shitong could not say anything else, so he said, "Thank you very much, eunuch. It is getting late and the government affairs are busy. I will not go back to thank you. Please convey my gratitude to me."

Eunuch Wang smiled and nodded, "That's natural."

"Thank you very much." Chu Shitong said, "Please stay, eunuch."

Although Eunuch Wang had a smile on his face, there was no trace of laughter. Being able to become the apprentice of the former chief steward, Wang Zexu was naturally no pushover.

On the way back, Chu Shitong asked the young eunuch a few questions and used a few taels of silver to find out the reason.

It turned out that Wang Zexu had only been in office as chief steward for half a month, and already many people in the palace were targeting him.

After confirming that what he thought in his mind was almost the same as the facts, Chu Shitong understood.

Wang Zexu is not having a good time doing things in the palace now. People from the Imperial Household Department, the Imperial Kitchen and even the Laundry Bureau are making things difficult for him. He cannot report every difficulty to His Majesty and ask Him to solve them, as this would only show his incompetence. He also cannot fail to do what the Emperor has ordered, so he has to find a way to handle everything by himself.

There are so many people in the harem, and it is not easy for him to gain a firm foothold as the chief steward of internal affairs. His own power is very limited, so he has to find a way to seek help from other forces.

I guess Wang Zexu’s kindness to me is not real kindness, but just a test.

After all, it is difficult for Wang Zexu to please other people.

There are only a few people in the harem who are powerful and have a say.

The current queen is the daughter of the prime minister and a lady from a prominent family. When she was young, she was proficient in music, chess, poetry and painting. She was also extremely beautiful and a talented woman known to everyone in the capital.

She was the empress before His Majesty ascended the throne. After His Majesty ascended the throne, she became the queen of Beiqing Kingdom.

Although her mother's family was powerful, she had a fatal flaw, which was infertility, which was her lifelong pain. Logically, the mother of a country should not be a woman who could not bear children, but His Majesty had a deep affection for the Queen and had always refused to depose her. In order to silence the censors, he also adopted the eldest prince whose mother died during childbirth to be raised by the Queen herself.

The eldest prince Chu Shixuan is like a fish in water in the court, but he is always lukewarm towards the queen, the mother who nominally raised him. There are also rumors in the palace that the eldest prince's biological mother was killed by the queen. Chu Shitong does not know whether this is true or not, but judging from Chu Shixuan's attitude towards the queen, it should be true.

In addition to the queen, the concubines in the harem included the fifth prince's biological mother, Concubine Li, and his own biological mother, Concubine Yun.

The Queen and Concubine Li would not pay any attention to Wang Zexu's flattery at all, because they all have their own power. Instead of going to great lengths to help Wang Zexu, it is better to get rid of him directly and replace him with their own people. After all, compared to an outsider, their own people are more trustworthy.

To put it bluntly, many of the people who made things difficult for Wang Zexu were ordered by these two.

Compared with them, her biological mother Yun Xiangrong is different. She has actually accumulated power slowly over the years in the harem, and she has no maternal family, so she doesn't have to worry about not being able to protect herself in the end of the cooperation.

Although Yun Xiangrong's status was not as high as the other two, she was no less favored by the emperor. Most importantly, she had a prince, which made her the best person that could be found under the current circumstances.

Chu Shitong returned to Dongwusuo and ordered people to find out where Wang Zexu was currently living. He immediately sent someone to deliver the silver awarded by the emperor intact to him, and also selected two valuable ornaments from the warehouse to be sent together.

The other party is showing kindness to me, so this can be considered as my return of the favor.

Chu Shifan sent someone to inform the time of the horse racing tomorrow, and also said that Si Jingli would go. Chu Shitong guessed that maybe Chu Shifan had a good chat with Si Jingli tonight, so he made an appointment with Si Jingli to meet him.

Chu Shitong didn't say anything. After knowing this, he went to bed early.

......

The next day.

There is no need to go to the academy today. Chu Shifan is a guy who basically doesn't get up early unless he goes to school, so the time set is Si time.

If the East Five House wants the Imperial Kitchen to deliver meals, it will have to pay some meal fees every month. As early as when the previous emperor was alive, the meals in the prince's residence were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Kitchen.

What Chu Shitong said to Chu Shifan yesterday about the food in the East Fifth Institute was pure nonsense. She didn't care much about food and clothing. In order to prevent others from tampering with her food, Chu Shitong started cooking for herself when she was very young, and she cooked everything she ate on weekdays.

Her breakfast today was a plain bowl of porridge and a sesame cake.

Chu Shitong was eating slowly at the table. He didn't know when Bishui left quietly, but came back not long after with a plate of food in his hands.

"Your Highness, how can you only eat this for breakfast? You still have to go out for horse racing, so you should eat more."

Chu Shitong took a look and said, "I was going to use the vegetables in the kitchen to make porridge tonight. Why did you fry them without permission?"

Bishui froze for a moment, put the dishes on the table, then knelt in front of Chu Shitong and said, "I plead guilty, Your Highness, please punish me."

"..."

Chu Shitong looked at her speechlessly, "You've already finished cooking my dishes, what's the point of me punishing you again?"

Bishui knelt on the ground, secretly looked up at Chu Shitong, unexpectedly met her eyes, and then suddenly lowered her head.

"Then...then I will buy another bunch of vegetables for Your Highness..."

Chu Shitong: “Two bundles.”

Bishui: “…”

Chu Shitong raised his eyebrows: "No?"

Bishui quickly said, “Okay!”

Chu Shitong then gave up, but even though Bishui cooked some dishes for her, she didn't eat anything during the breakfast.

Chu Shitong finished eating and got up to change his clothes. He paused before entering the house and said, "By the way, when you pack your things later, find me some candies to take with you."

"Yes."

Chu Shitong went into the room to change clothes, and Bishui was cleaning up the dishes. Looking at the two empty bowls and the plate of vegetables that had never been touched on the table, she lowered her eyes, looking a little sad.

......

Hunting ground in the south of the city.

This area belongs to the royal forest garden, and in fact princes or princesses of other surnames can enter and exit freely.

Chu Shitong took a horse-drawn carriage to the stable. As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Chu Shifan had already arrived and was riding his horse in the distance.

When studying at the Imperial Academy, riding and archery are compulsory lessons for men. Basically, no matter whether they are princes or sons of noble families, they all have their own horses in the stables.

Chu Shitong ordered Bishui to bring her horse over. Her horse was a very common Arabian horse. Basically, the better horses were snatched away by the powerful. In order not to attract attention, she just asked for a very common pony.

The horse knew Chu Shitong, and as soon as it saw Chu Shitong, it walked towards her as if it had a spirit.

Bishui said: "Your Highness, the people at the stable said that Xiaohong is the most well behaved horse among this batch of horses."

Xiaohong is the name Chu Shitong gave to the horse.

"Ah."

Chu Shitong took the reins and climbed onto the horse. For convenience today, he wore a black riding suit, which not only made him look taller, but also clean and neat.

Chu Shitong spurred his horse and whipped it. The moment the whip sounded, Xiaohong and Chu Shitong rushed forward quickly! They were so fast that they left everyone in the dust!

The cold wind rushed past her ears, her inky black hair fluttered in the air, and the sunlight fell on her beautiful face, making her look like a god descended to the earth.

Chu Shitong ran all the way to catch up with Chu Shifan and then slowed down.

"Cousin!"

Chu Shifan had already slowed down and was waiting for Chu Shitong. "Xiao Qi, why are you so late? Prince Si and I have been here for a long time."

Chu Shitong looked around but did not see Si Jingli.

"Prince Si is here? Why didn't I see him?"

Chu Shifan said, "I don't know. Maybe he's changing into his riding clothes. I mean, it's too complicated for Prince Si to change his clothes. He changed before you came, and you haven't seen him yet."

"It's okay, we'll wait slowly."

After a while, Si Jingli came out on horseback.

Si Jingli's horse is a snow-white steed with fine, smooth and shiny fur. Not only is its color beautiful, but it is also very intelligent and has a pure bloodline. If it were sold on the market, it could be sold for thousands of taels.

"Here it comes." Chu Shifan reminded.

Chu Shitong looked back and saw Si Jingli in a scarlet riding suit, with a red gauze fluttering around his waist, his long black hair standing up, revealing his snow-white neck.

The crimson-faced young man rode his horse towards Chu Shitong, looking elegant, handsome, and extremely bright.

Chu Shitong silently turned his eyes away.

Si Jingli approached and asked, "Why are you here so late, Your Highness the Seventh Prince? I was here just now and you haven't come yet. Is this an attitude of wanting to apologize to others?"

Chu Shitong was obviously stunned for a moment, and asked him in confusion, "Why do you say that, Your Highness?"

Si Jingli raised the corners of his peach blossom eyes, as if he was asking for accusation, "You asked me to come to the horse race, wasn't it to make amends? Why did you come later than me?"

How come Chu Shitong didn’t know that he had made an appointment with Si Jingli for horse racing?

She looked at Chu Shifan with a frown on her face, and Chu Shifan instantly realized that he might have misunderstood yesterday.

"Ahem." Chu Shifan coughed twice in embarrassment and said, "Your Highness, this... Xiao Qi was called into the palace yesterday, and he must have returned late, so he got up late today. I hope Your Highness will understand."

Si Jingli snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Chu Shitong rubbed his brows with a headache. Looking at Chu Shifan's expression, he must have not gotten along well with Si Jingli yesterday. He didn't know what nonsense he had said to make Si Jingli come out.

The atmosphere seemed to be awkward because of this. The three of them walked side by side but in silence.

In order to break the deadlock, Chu Shitong took the lead and said, "Why don't we go hunting today and have some game? I asked Bishui to bring two jars of good wine, which I think will be of great use."

Chu Shifan was the first to excitedly agree, "Okay! That's what I was thinking!"

He was so happy that he forgot himself. Chu Shitong immediately patted his shoulder. Chu Shifan seemed to be splashed with a basin of water. He immediately sobered up and hurried to ask Si Jingli.

"What do you think, Your Highness?"

He didn't know why, but he always felt unnatural in front of Si Jingli.

Si Jingli said: "Yes."

Si Jingli agreed, and the two of them went to get bows and arrows.

After all the bows and arrows were in place, Chu Shifan said excitedly, "Then it's settled. Each person has 20 arrows. No more arrows are allowed until they are all used up. The time limit ends at noon. Let's see who can hunt the most prey."

Chu Shitong naturally had no objection.

Si Jingli asked: "What about the person who hunts the least? What's the punishment?"

Chu Shifan said, "Your Highness, tell me. I can't think of any fun punishment."

Si Jingli thought for a moment and said, "Then punish him... roast all the prey. Today's game will be prepared by this loser."

Chu Shifan and Chu Shitong had no objections and were even somewhat relieved. The Crown Prince had a strange temper and if he proposed some strange punishment, it would be difficult for both of them to agree or not.

There was a mountain to the east of the hunting ground, and the forest was dense with trees. Chu Shifan rode his horse in front, found a direction, and could not wait to rush in first.

"Xiao Qi, His Royal Highness, I will go ahead. You two should get ready to serve me barbecue! Hahahaha..."

His laughter echoed throughout the hunting ground. Chu Shitong observed Si Jingli's expression, somewhat worried whether Chu Shifan's words made Si Jingli feel unhappy.

However, Si Jingli did not care about Chu Shifan's rudeness, and just rode away in a random direction.

In my ears is the rustling sound of wind blowing through leaves. At the end of May, the sky is green, the trees and forests are lush and leafy, wild flowers are blooming in the woods along with the singing of birds, and occasionally the sound of deer.

The sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves, casting golden rays on Si Jingli's blood-red clothes.

Si Jingli slowed down, pulled out a long arrow from the quiver, held the bow in his hand, and looked around for prey.

After walking a few steps, Si Jingli suddenly looked back.

"Chu Shitong, what are you doing following me?"