When the prince is reborn, he will only hit me if he doesn't hit the wall!

Hongyu...originally...

Only then did Xu Xinyue realize that she had never asked Hongyu in detail about his past experiences before.

Listening to what the Queen said, it seemed that Hongyu's past was not just that of a simple subordinate.

After leaving Fengluan Palace, Xu Xinyue returned to Yanfang Palace.

Qin Lingruo has not returned yet in Qin Leng's palace.

After sending Hong Zhu away, Xu Xinyue closed the hall door after making sure that there was no one around.

He closed his eyes and called softly, "Hongyu."

[What do you want me to do?]

[Heh, you have become more and more advanced recently, and you can even cut off my connection with the outside world.]

Xu Xinyue ignored her sarcasm and just asked, "What did you do in the past?"

Hong Yu yawned: [What else can I do? As a subordinate, I have no martial arts skills, so I can’t fight or kill people. I can only gather information and steal things, relying on my wits.]

"That's it?"

Xu Xinyue didn't quite believe it.

[That’s all. If we talk about other things, in order to confuse the other party, we will occasionally play some songs, sing songs, play chess, etc. If we want to make friends through literature, we can handle it for a while. Then that’s it.]

Hongyu responded indifferently, while Xu Xinyue was skeptical.

Xu Xinyue frowned in thought.

She always felt that the queen's words seemed to have a deeper meaning.

I hope it's not what she thinks.

Xu Xinyue pinched her sleeve unconsciously, touched the letter, took it out carefully, and wanted to hide it in her purse, but after thinking about it, she still felt it was not appropriate.

Lighting a candle, Xu Xinyue moved the letter closer and watched the flames gradually devour it from bottom to top until it was completely extinguished and turned into ashes.

[Hey, what did you burn?]

[What letter? Was it handed to you by Prince Rong?]

Xu Xinyue said calmly, "Shut up."

Leaving this letter will only lead to hidden dangers and more trouble.

Xu Xinyue stared at the gray and black embers in front of him, muttering to himself:

Just knowing that he is well is enough.

A few days later, the Queen hosted the Fuchun Banquet.

Hong Zhu received instructions from the Queen and woke up Xu Xinyue an hour in advance to bathe and dress her.

Xu Xinyue was already extremely sleepy from practicing soul control the night before. She felt that the time she woke up in the morning after today's banquet was not much different from her wedding day.

"Yueyue looks really pretty today."

Sometimes when Qin Lingruo was in the mood, he would practice martial arts and swordplay for an hour or two in the morning.

When I came back from morning exercise today, I saw Xu Xinyue, who was dressed exquisitely and yawning continuously.

Qin Lingruo pressed Xu Xinyue's shoulder, leaned over to look in the mirror, and exclaimed: "If I didn't know the inside story, I would have thought that maybe the Third Emperor had returned, and that it was worth you dressing up so grandly."

There was no joy in Xu Xinyue's eyes. She smoothed the pearl tassels on her hairpin and murmured, "If it really is him, I will only meet him in the clothes and makeup that I am most comfortable with..."

He doesn't care whether what she wears is exquisite and gorgeous.

What he cared about was only whether she was happy or not.

After all, women dress up to please themselves.

Qin Lingruo spoke too quickly and realized that she might have said something wrong. Now that her third brother was missing, what was she saying here!

Then she changed the subject: "I also want to dress up today. Yueyue, can you help me choose which hairpin looks better?"

By the time the two of them showed up at the Fuchun Banquet Hall, it was already three quarters past the hour of Si.

The harsh winter is coming to an end, and spring is approaching but has not yet arrived. The wind is not warm, but it is bright and fresh.

Qin Lingruo and Xu Xinyue strolled along the covered bridge, chatting idly.

Xu Xinyue was a little worried about the Queen's instructions today. There was always a hint of sadness between her brows, which was not fully relaxed. Even her smile was forced and faint.

Qin Lingruo thought she was still worried about Qin Yuechuan, so she racked her brains to think of some funny jokes to tell her in order to divert her attention.

"…Do you think he is stupid?"

"It's really stupid. How can there be such a stupid person in the world..."

Xu Xinyue knew her good intentions, so she suppressed her emotions and responded to Qin Lingruo's joke:

"I feel so too……"

A cry interrupted the conversation between the two:

"Xu Xianyue!"

Looking back, it turned out to be Zhou Qiong'er, Yang Xue and their group, who had always been close friends of Xu Mingxi.

Xu Xinyue said indifferently: "Miss Zhou, what's the matter?"

At the other end of the covered bridge, Zhou Qiong'er was followed by a group of noble ladies, walking towards her aggressively.

"How dare you stay here and relax? I thought you were just pretending to be noble, but I didn't expect you to be such a cold-hearted, indifferent person!"

Qin Lingruo couldn't bear to listen any longer, and raised her voice, "Miss Zhou, have you forgotten the rules of etiquette? Seeing that this princess and Princess Rong didn't greet each other politely, you are speaking nonsense here and defaming others' reputations."

Zhou Qiong'er suppressed her anger, turned respectfully towards Qin Lingruo, and bowed only once, but she had no intention of bowing to Xu Xinyue.

Although the respondent Qin Lingruo stood up, her eyes were staring at Xu Xinyue fiercely. She said, "Princess, you are on good terms with such a cold-hearted person. You should know that if the princess is in trouble in the future, Xu Xinyue will definitely not help you, and will most likely stand by and watch!"

Qin Lingruo angrily scolded: "How dare you! What nonsense are you talking about!"

Zhou Qiong'er laughed in anger, "I'm talking nonsense! Now Xu Xinyue is the Princess of Rong, the Xu family is in trouble, and the whole family is imprisoned. I heard that she didn't even say a word to defend the Xu family! After all, it's the Xu family that raised her for more than ten years, and Xu Mingxi is her sister for many years!"

A fellow lady behind her whispered to Zhou Qiong'er, "Stop talking. Have you forgotten what happened to He Yunyin?"

Zhou Qiong'er was "righteous and awe-inspiring". She broke free from the pull, held her head high and said, "You dare not say it, but I dare!"

"You may be favored by King Rong. Even if you can't save the Xu family, it shouldn't be a problem to save a few lives! But you don't even want to put in a superficial effort! You stay indoors and watch your former relatives fall into misery!"

The noble ladies behind Zhou Qiong'er were already rustling and talking in low voices, secretly glancing at Xu Xinyue with eyes full of contempt and disdain.

You don't need to listen carefully to guess that he has climbed up the social ladder, is arrogant, and is cold-blooded.

Zhou Qiong'er became more and more angry as she spoke. She was good friends with Xu Mingxi and felt sorry for Xu Mingxi. She also took advantage of the rumors in the capital that Prince Rong's whereabouts were unknown. She knew that Xu Xinyue was now in the palace and had no power to rely on. She accused Xu Xinyue of being mean and ruthless, and then turned to Qin Lingruo, who showed some consideration and said:

"Princess, that's why I say that if you make friends with this kind of people, not only will you suffer in the future, but if you encounter difficulties, Xu Xinyue will most likely protect herself and watch from the sidelines!"

She pointed at Xu Xinyue and said, "People like this are cold-hearted!"

Qin Lingruo retorted: "I know Princess Rong's temperament and character better than you do. You don't need to tell me."

Xu Xinyue turned around and faced her, a shallow and disdainful smile on her lips, still without any anger on her face:

"Miss Zhou is very kind-hearted."

Zhou Qiong'er had never expected her to interject like this, and subconsciously asked, "What?"

Xu Xianyue continued:

"If Miss Zhou's biological mother heard Miss Zhou's words of abandoning all grudges, eliminating her mother's hatred, and being willing to live in harmony with the son of the man who killed her mother, I'm afraid she would laugh peacefully in her grave."

"I highly praise Miss Zhou for her broad-mindedness, noble character, and good character. She is comparable to the sitting Buddha in the temple."

The voice was soft, but every word was filled with sarcasm and mockery, which pierced Zhou Qiong'er's heart.

There have long been rumors in the Zhou mansion that the emperor favors his concubine over his wife, otherwise Zhou Qiong'er would not have been suppressed by Zhou Lu'er for so many years, and even Zhou Lu'er stole the show at the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet last year.

But these were all discussed in secret after dinner and were never discussed openly.

Now that Xu Xinyue had revealed the truth, Zhou Qiong'er was extremely angry and stepped forward with a fist: "What does my house have to do with you!?"

Xu Xianyue only asked in return: "What does the Xu Mansion have to do with you?"

Qin Lingruo quickly added, "It seems that Miss Zhou doesn't know much about the Xu Mansion! We are both victims of the murder of our mothers, and you would rather let things go peacefully, but Princess Rong is unwilling. What position does Miss Zhou have to refute her choice?"

"Besides, when the third branch of the Xu family fell into trouble, I don't need to say more about what the first branch of the Xu family did, right?"

"Besides, there are so many things going on in the Xu Mansion, and it is not something you, an outsider, can judge casually. You don't know the suffering of others. I advise Miss Zhou not to force others to be kind."

Zhou Qiong'er really didn't know about the inside story of Xu Xinyue and the Xu family's mother-killing feud. She was speechless for a moment, clenched her fists, lost face, snorted and prepared to leave. When she was about to turn around, Xu Xinyue called out to her:

"Wait! Who do you think I am? You can yell at me, scold me, and make a fuss. Are you going to walk away after an argument?"

Xu Xinyue stood still and said coldly, "Even if I were to take away my identity as Princess Rong, I am still a princess. I am not a servant like you who can provoke me at will. What do you think I am, Miss Zhou? A soft persimmon?"

"He is just a reckless man, hot-blooded and thinks he is righteous. He makes a judgment without even understanding the cause and effect or the details of right and wrong. What a fool!"

Zhou Qiong'er was at a loss for words, her cheeks flushed red, and she felt a little embarrassed.

Xu Xinyue continued:

"Besides, you didn't even bow down to me and made a scene just now. Now that you are wrong, you want to turn around and leave. How can you get away with that?"

"Apologize to this princess."

Zhou Qiong'er turned around and didn't take her words seriously. Now that Xu Xinyue was living in the palace, the only one she could rely on was the mischievous Princess Qin Lingruo, who really took a chicken feather as a token of authority.

Since I have no prominent maternal family and King Rong is not in the capital, I am all alone now. What is there to be afraid of?

The jade neck is slightly raised, as if looking down upon:

"I would still like to respectfully address you as Princess Rong, and I don't know how long I can keep this title. I advise Princess Rong to show some sympathy so that it won't be too awkward when we meet in the future...ah!"

Before Zhou Qiong'er finished speaking, she felt a sharp and piercing pain in her left knee, as if it had been pierced by an arrow.

But it was in the inner courtyard of the palace, in broad daylight, where did the arrow come from?

Zhou Qiong'er couldn't bear it anymore. She broke out in a sweat and fell to her knees. The moment her knees touched the ground, she felt another painful sensation. Zhou Qiong was half crouching and half kneeling, and she felt as if the patella of her left knee was broken.

He didn't even dare to touch her. He gasped with a chill in his cheeks and gritted his teeth as he looked up, "Who is it? Do you know who my father is?"

Xu Xinyue seemed to sense something and slowly turned back.

From behind came the sound of Houpu's steady footsteps as he stepped onto the stairs.

The top of the head, the corners of the forehead, the eyebrows, and even the black scarf covering the face, all appeared bit by bit with the sound of steady footsteps, until the entire tall and strong figure was revealed.

The sun had just appeared and the bright light had just faded. Even though the faint and slightly warm golden light scattered on the person who came, it could not suppress the biting cold that penetrated his body to the bone.