nucmednet Chapter 342 Who made an appointment with whom?
Chapter 342 Who made an appointment with whom?
The Crown Prince's wife's face stiffened, and she frowned as she asked, "What do you want with Ningning? She has a fiancé. If she's going to the Lantern Festival, she'll definitely go with Prince Ning. How can she go with another young man?"
"Huh? Can't I go with Zhao Ning?" Feng Zizhou scratched his head. "That would be so boring. I'm not going then."
The Crown Prince's wife said, "Zizhou, you two were together when you were young and it was okay for you to play around, but now that you're older, you need to know your limits. She is a young lady and will soon be married, so you must avoid suspicion."
Feng Zizhou had heard this many times and was very unhappy about it: "So people have to get married for everything, and even good friends have to avoid this and that."
The Crown Prince's wife's eyelids twitched. Could it be that Zizhou had taken a liking to Zhao Ning?
Then Feng Zizhou continued muttering, "Don't even mention Zhao Ning, it's the same with my brothers who got married. They used to always hang out together, but now they always say their wives are waiting for them. If they weren't married, wouldn't they all be able to hang out together?"
The Crown Prince's wife felt a mix of emotions. She didn't know whether to be glad that her brother-in-law's crush wasn't Zhao Ning, or to be annoyed that he was already twenty-two and still hadn't figured things out.
The third young mistress said with a smile, "When you have a wife in the future, you'll know how good it is to have one."
Feng Zizhou said he wouldn't go to the lantern festival because he was being spiteful in front of his sisters-in-law; he was the most playful person, so there was no way he wouldn't go.
I was thinking, if I can't call her Zhao Ning, then I can call her my cousin, right?
His family forbade him to associate with his cousins from the Si family, so he secretly went to see them. His cousins were not engaged, so there was no need for such taboo.
The thought of carrying Xiaoxia'er around the streets to see the lanterns tomorrow made Feng Zizhou happy.
Since returning to Kyoto, he hasn't seen Xiaoxia'er yet. He can't get into the Si family, and Xiaoxia'er has never come out either.
Feng Zizhou decided that he would wait near the Si family's house early the next morning, and then meet up with his cousins when they came out.
While Prince Ning was reviewing documents in the Dali Temple's archives, Asong came over to report.
"Your Highness, the Princess has sent someone to ask you to invite the County Princess to the Lantern Festival tomorrow."
“I’m busy, I don’t have time,” Prince Ning refused.
Ah Song was puzzled. This morning, his master had taken the initiative to meet with the county princess. Why did he become as cold and aloof as before when he returned to the ministry this afternoon?
Seeing that he didn't move, Prince Ning frowned and looked up: "What's wrong?"
"Ah? Oh, it's nothing, this servant will go and report back now."
Just then, they heard footsteps coming from outside, followed by two people talking.
"If you're not available tomorrow night, I'll come and take your place."
It turned out that the two people in charge were discussing the duty arrangements.
"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. My sister is a bit slow-witted, and my parents are worried about her, so they asked me to go with them to see what kind of person my brother-in-law is."
The person in charge smiled and said, "It's alright, you can go ahead. I'll just go back and tell my wife."
"Changying, thank you so much," the other person in charge said gratefully. "By the way, your younger brother is also of marriageable age. Do you know any suitable ladies who would like to go see the lanterns together?"
Changying chuckled and said, "She's our cousin. Princess Roushu rarely comes home for a visit, so she's just keeping the couple company while they watch the lanterns..."
Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice and said, "My cousin, the princess, has invited three young ladies from the Marquis of Anle's mansion to go out and have fun together."
The person in charge was surprised: "Miss Si?"
"Shh!" Yu Changying quickly made a shushing gesture. "It's just an invitation for the young lady to have some fun, and it's the first time we've met. There's nothing else going on. Don't overthink it or say anything."
"Of course I know. Oh dear, I've heard that the three daughters of the Si family are all exceptionally beautiful, the likes of which are unparalleled. If any one of them... cough cough, if that boy Wan Gong can marry a young lady from the Marquis's mansion, your ancestors must be incredibly lucky."
Yu Changying was overjoyed to hear this.
The two men came in, took the files, and left, without noticing Prince Ning in the inner room.
After they left, Asong bowed and prepared to go out, but was stopped by Prince Ning.
"Wait a moment." Prince Ning pondered for a moment. "Send an invitation to the county princess in my name."
"Huh?" Ah Song didn't understand how his lord had changed his mind so quickly.
After Ah Song left, Prince Ning raised his head, his brow furrowing slightly.
He shouldn't have acted so impulsively. What does it have to do with him that the Si family's daughter is going to see the lanterns? Why should he go with her?
I thought about it again.
He certainly didn't agree because he heard that the Si family's daughter was going.
Mainly...mainly...
Yes, one reason is that I want to spend some time with Zhao Ning. Maybe Zhao Ning will come to his senses tomorrow and give him an answer?
Secondly, if he were to actually meet Miss Si, he would like to invite her to the Dali Temple to help revise the laws.
Well, that's it.
When Zhao Ning heard that someone had come to see her and invited her to see the lanterns the next day, she quickly changed her clothes and went out.
They asked in unison, "Who came? Did their master come in person, or did he send a servant to deliver a message?"
The maidservant replied, "He is a servant."
Zhao Ning stopped what she was doing. Although she wasn't changing her clothes anymore, she still said, "Oh, maybe he has something to do and can't come in person."
Not long after, Mom came in with the invitation.
"Princess, I just parted ways with His Highness Prince Ning this morning. He said he was busy with official duties, but I didn't expect that just a few hours later, he would send someone to deliver an invitation to you to see the lanterns tomorrow."
Zhao Ning was somewhat taken aback when he heard that it was an invitation from Prince Ning. He reached out and took the invitation to look at it. Sure enough, it was from Prince Ning's residence.
She asked, "Just this one?"
The mother, puzzled, said, "Yes, there's only one."
Zhao Ning casually tossed the invitation aside and said unhappily, "In previous years, wasn't it always Feng Zizhou who came to invite me?"
The mother understood what she was thinking, but pretended not to know and spoke on purpose.
"Fourth Young Master Feng? Come to think of it, the Fourth Young Master isn't young anymore. Lantern Festivals are usually attended by young men inviting young women to watch. Who knows, the Fourth Young Master might have someone to invite him too."
Is Feng Zizhou going to invite someone else? Is it Gui Yuan?
Zhao Ning felt uninterested in doing anything, and sat listlessly at the table, lost in thought. After a while, she said, "I'm not feeling well, I'll leave tomorrow..."
The mother hurriedly said, "Princess, the Eldest Princess has already had someone accept Prince Ning's invitation."
Zhao Ning looked out the window. A breeze blew by, ruffling her hair. She tidied her hair and didn't say anything more.
The next day, Feng Zizhou went out and headed towards the Marquis of Anle's residence. When he arrived at the gate of the residence, he asked around and indeed heard that the Si sisters had already gone out.
Feng Zizhou was baffled: "They went out. Who invited them out?"
The person who inquired replied, "I heard it was the Du family who came to pick them up."
“Du Shangge.”
The man shook his head: "No, it's Miss Du's brother, the fourth young master of the Du family's eldest branch."
Feng Zizhou thought for a moment before realizing what was happening, and slapped his forehead: "Oh, so it's that kid Du Zhirong. If I had known he was coming, I would have come with him."