Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1097 In one thought

The two sisters chatted and laughed, while Su Xing served them tea without saying much.

"By the way, the Duan family sent over a cookbook a few days ago. I have no knowledge of cooking, so I'll give it to you another day. You can let Aunt Caiyun take a look and see if she can use it."

He Yinuo smiled and said, "Okay, I love researching recipes. I'll see if there's anything I haven't tried yet. However, the Duan family seems to be very attentive to you. Since you came back, the sisters have probably invited you the most. Of course, besides me."

He Yanran smiled and said, "It's just that they used me to get close to you, and then they used me to get close to Yu Cheng." After she finished speaking, she glanced at Su Xing, who was silent beside her. "You are straightforward and you are very direct about what you like and dislike. The two sisters were probably worried that if they befriended you directly, you would not like them, so they went through my route."

He Yinuo said indifferently, "Why make so many roundabout things? They're being too cautious."

He Yanran raised an eyebrow slightly: "Since the goal is so important, you must proceed with caution. However, after getting to know the two sisters, I think they are both quite good at heart. Miss Duan is intelligent, polite, and knows how to conduct herself, while Miss Duan is lively, quick-witted, and easygoing. If you have the opportunity, you might as well get to know them better. Your older sisters are all married now, so you should make more friends."

He Yinuo said casually, "We'll see. It's up to fate."

The carriage soon arrived at the imperial estate on the outskirts of the capital. He Yanran and He Yinuo were helped off the carriage and went to inspect the various workshops. Su Xing followed behind the two, occasionally getting distracted.

He Yinuo was called away by Tao Xiang because of something, and Su Xing accompanied He Yanran to rest on the side. He Yanran took the snack plate handed to him by Su Xing and ate a snack in small bites.

"Miss Su, how long have you known the Fifth Princess? I've seen you two together every day, but whenever the Crown Prince comes, you make an excuse not to be there. What, are you deliberately avoiding suspicion?" He Yanran had thought about it several times, and today, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, she finally decided to ask.

He Yucheng is so handsome and is the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty. There are countless people who want to curry favor with him. He Yanran doesn't like to get involved, but she doesn't want people like He Yinuo who want to curry favor with He Yucheng and take advantage of He Yinuo to appear around her.

She had already tried the Duan sisters; they did have some tricks and scheming, but their hearts weren't bad. She just didn't know if Su Xing's true nature was good or evil. Today was a good day to test them out.

Seeing the determined look in Princess Xia's eyes, Su Xing knew that she had asked on purpose. She cracked her knuckles and said, "The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, and I am just a commoner, so naturally I must keep my distance. If there is anything that Princess Xia may misunderstand, please don't overthink it."

Looking at Su Xing's expression, He Yanran smiled and said, "What others think doesn't matter. What matters is what you think. Don't blame me for being nosy. It's just that when I look at you, it's like looking at my humble self from a few years ago." Helpless, without a sense of belonging, with a bleak future and no idea where the way out was, I could only pretend to be well-behaved in front of outsiders, smiling and showing that I didn't care about anything.

“Miss Su, the Duan sisters have made plans. Even if they don’t succeed, they still have a way out. They have their families backing them up, so their ending won’t be too bad. But you have no one to rely on, so your journey will inevitably be more difficult. You should think things through before you act, otherwise, you might lose everything you have now.”

Gain and loss are entirely in the Crown Prince's hands, and He Yanran, being kind-hearted, wanted to remind Su Xing not to take any risks.

Su Xing felt as if her heart had been read, and her face flushed slightly.

"...Please, Crown Princess Xia, do not say anything to the Fifth Princess. I will carefully consider what you said today."

He Yanran nodded, having said all he needed to say; the rest was up to Su Xing to decide.

He Yanran and Crown Prince Xia signed a new trade agreement with the Great Zhou Dynasty and stayed for two more days before slowly leaving the capital.

In September of that year, He Jin'an sent a letter saying that Hua Yurong had given birth to a baby boy, and both mother and child were safe and sound. His nickname was Fuzai, and his formal name was to be decided by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. The Empress Dowager and He Linzhang argued for the right to name the child for three days, and finally chose the name "Junshan" given by He Linzhang.

He Linzhang was overjoyed and granted a general amnesty. On He Junshan's 100th-day birthday, he issued an edict bestowing upon He Junshan the title of Prince Kang and allocating Yongding City, located on the border of Qianzhou, to him as his fief. This made him the youngest prince in the history of the Great Zhou to receive a fief. This move naturally attracted numerous impeachment memorials from the Censorate, almost all of which denounced His Majesty for his excessive favoritism towards Prince Jin, extending this favor to his infant son by arbitrarily granting him a fief.

You know, a city's taxes are enormous, and yet this money just went into a little baby's pocket. How many people are envious?

Many believed that His Majesty was being too attentive to a prince from the common people, spoiling even his own sons to such an extent. Using this pretext, people stirred up trouble between the Crown Prince and the other two princes, repeatedly accusing His Majesty of favoring Prince Jin while neglecting his three biological sons, but to little avail, failing to stir up any controversy.

After making a fuss for a while, nothing came of it, and they seemed to have made a fool of themselves.

Because the child was still young, and a long journey would be detrimental to the child's physical and mental health, Hua Yurong did not return to the capital for the New Year that year; only He Jin'an returned. After hastily attending the New Year's banquet and spending a few days with his family, he hurriedly returned to his fiefdom.

Before leaving, He Linzhang asked He Jin'an about the candidates for the Crown Princess and gave him a list of several families. He Jin'an immediately took a liking to the Duan family.

He Linzhang was relieved to formally bring up the matter with He Yucheng. He Yucheng was only fifteen years old and declined the proposal of engagement at this time on the grounds that he was still too young. He Linzhang was disappointed, but seeing that his son was really not interested in marriage, he had no choice but to give up for the time being.

The Duan family waited for three years. Their eldest daughter had turned seventeen, and their youngest daughter had turned fifteen. The fact that the two most outstanding girls in the capital had not yet been engaged inevitably attracted gossip. However, the Duan family ignored the rumors and never easily agreed to marry their two daughters.

When He Yucheng turned eighteen, he suddenly asked Tao Yanyan for a favor, wanting to take Su Xing as his concubine. Although Tao Yanyan had noticed that He Yucheng treated Su Xing differently over the years, she was still genuinely surprised.

She called He Yucheng over and asked him carefully, "Is Su Xing also willing to be a concubine?" In any case, the position of Crown Princess was definitely not going to fall to Su Xing.

He Yucheng firmly said, "I think she is very good, but I also know that it is impossible to make her my principal wife. I have talked to her frankly and openly, and she is willing."

Since both parties were willing, Tao Yanyan did not object. However, He Yinuo felt uncomfortable and went to Tao Yanyan for comfort.