On the Linglang Boat were all young noble ladies. Now seeing two outstanding young men among men boarding the Qingsong Boat, they all blushed with embarrassment and discussed amongst themselves.

“Why did the Eighth Prince and Prince Jinying also come this year?” Zhao Jin’s puzzled voice reached her ears.

At the annual Lantern Festival, although there were many princes and nobles on the Qingsong Boat, the Eighth Prince and Prince Jinying had never come before. Firstly, these two had never been heard to plan on taking wives, and secondly, they did not look favorably upon such romantic affairs between men and women.

Jiang Ruan’s brow had not relaxed since seeing these two people. If seeing the Eighth Prince only brought indescribably complex and intertwined feelings to her heart, learning the black-robed young man’s identity left her with nothing but shock.

“When Xiao Shao achieves success, the phoenix comes in ceremony.” Prince Jinying Xiao Shao was a special existence in the Great Jin Dynasty.

He was born into a noble family. His father had once raised troops in rebellion, but was later suppressed, yet the Emperor had said nothing about it. When Xiao Shao was ten years old, Prince Jinying led troops to attack the Western Rong, but there was a traitor on their own side, and he died in battle on the battlefield. Xiao Shao’s mother then hanged herself to follow him in death. From then on, in the vast Prince Jinying’s residence, only Xiao Shao remained alone.

Xiao Shao himself was also extremely outstanding. At a young age, he commanded the Great Jin Dynasty’s three hundred thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards. Both the Emperor and Empress Dowager were very tolerant of him, even allowing him to be disrespectful in the imperial presence. When the Emperor had once intended to change the crown prince to the Eighth Prince, it was also Xiao Shao who resolutely prevented this in front of all the civil and military officials. For a minister to discuss imperial family matters was already taboo, yet the Emperor had said nothing, and the matter of changing the crown prince was thus set aside. Observant people among the populace speculated that the reason Xiao Shao was so unrestrained before His Majesty was that he must have some hold over the Emperor, threatening the Son of Heaven. Combined with the fact that the old Prince Jinying had rebelled, Xiao Shao gained the reputation of being a disloyal minister and treacherous son.

However, regardless of what the people said, Xiao Shao’s position in court remained as stable as a mountain, yet he neither chose sides nor formed factions, like an anomaly. In her previous life, the Eighth Prince had tried to curry favor with him several times, but Xiao Shao had rejected them all outright. When the old Emperor died of illness and the Eighth Prince ascended the throne, Xiao Shao was leading troops against the Western Rong, and Jiang Ruan did not know what happened after that.

In her previous life, Jiang Ruan had only seen Xiao Shao once, catching a distant glimpse of a figure in black robes at a palace banquet. But at that time, her heart only contained the Eighth Prince Xuan Li, so how could her eyes accommodate anyone else? According to the current age, Xiao Shao was also just over twenty this year.

Everyone on the Qingsong Boat saw Xiao Shao and Xuan Li arrive and all greeted them. Among them, a young master in green robes stood up, walked to Xiao Shao’s side, and laughed: “This is the first time I’ve seen you come to this Lantern Festival. Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to some young lady?”

This person was Mo Cong. Xiao Shao glanced at him indifferently, said nothing, and only found a seat by the window to sit down.

On the other side, the Fifth Prince saw Xuan Li and narrowed his long eyes: “Eighth Brother, what wind blew you here?”

“Father Emperor ordered me to come out and walk around. Thinking that in all these years in the capital, I have never witnessed the splendor of the Lantern Festival, so I came.” Xuan Li smiled politely. These words naturally carried another meaning when they reached the Fifth Prince’s ears. The Emperor’s favoritism toward the Eighth Prince was well known, and his current behavior, with the Linglang Boat full of daughters of high officials and nobles, perhaps meant the old Emperor was considering having the Eighth Prince select a consort to add assistance for him.

The Fifth Prince smiled mysteriously: “That’s good then. Tonight you must keep your eyes wide open and take a good look. The young ladies of our Great Jin Dynasty are all outstanding in grace and bearing.” After saying this, he gave Xuan Li an ambiguous smile, and Xuan Li naturally responded warmly.

On the Linglang Boat, quite a commotion had already stirred up. This year’s arrival of Prince Jinying and the Eighth Prince excited the noble ladies immensely, and they secretly resolved to compete for recognition on the boat.

Wen Feifei shook her head and said: “They’re just two men, yet everyone becomes so beside themselves with excitement. It’s truly laughable.”

Her words were unintentional, but she saw Xu Ruoxi’s face turn pale. Zhao Jin pushed Wen Feifei, and only then did Wen Feifei realize her mistake. She hurriedly said: “Ruoxi, I wasn’t talking about you. It’s just that those women are really too improper…” Unfortunately, coming from a military family, her explanations were clumsy, and she only heard Xu Ruoxi’s face growing paler and paler.

Dong Ying’er felt somewhat at a loss. Jiang Ruan smiled and said gently: “Sister Wen is right, but today’s matter is another story entirely. Prince Jinying and the Eighth Prince are both dragons among men. Being able to see their noble countenances today is naturally a blessing of three lifetimes. Being startled by the imperial aura and doing things they wouldn’t normally do is understandable. After all, this is behavior due to imperial aura, and it has nothing to do with propriety or impropriety.”

She described the admiration for young men as respect for imperial aura, and Xu Ruoxi’s complexion improved considerably. Wen Feifei looked at Jiang Ruan gratefully. Jiang Ruan herself was thoughtful – seeing how Xu Ruoxi undoubtedly liked Xiao Shao now, but in her previous life, there had never been rumors of Xiao Shao falling for any young lady. Xu Ruoxi’s devoted feelings would probably only be misdirected.

At the same time, she was somewhat puzzled. In her previous life’s Lantern Festival, she hadn’t seen Xiao Shao. Why had he suddenly appeared in this life? With time moved forward several years, could it be that some things were also quietly changing?

Thinking this way, everyone on both the Qingsong Boat and Linglang Boat had arrived. The boatman called out, and the boats slowly began to move, gradually drifting through the moat.

The river water reflected the lanterns covering the boats. In the brilliant lights, it was like heaven on earth, and being here gave one a feeling of being in another world. The two boats traveled side by side, so Jiang Ruan on the Linglang Boat could clearly see everyone on the Qingsong Boat.

Xuan Li was dressed in white robes like snow. Time seemed to retreat several years – it was also on this boat in her previous life that she had seen this gentle and refined gentleman and offered her entire life with both hands.

Xuan Li was sitting drinking tea when he sensitively detected a cold gaze falling upon him. When he turned his head to look, on the parallel Linglang Boat, young women were chatting and laughing cheerfully, and quite a few were casting admiring glances at him, but there wasn’t that feeling from just now.

He shook his head, thinking to himself that he was being oversensitive. But he didn’t see the red-robed young lady by the window seemingly casually lower her head, concealing a glimmer of darkness in her eyes.

On the Linglang Boat, a young noble lady suggested: “This year, let’s do the same as usual. Since we’ve already reached the middle of the river, let’s begin the competition. Whoever wins gets to take the most beautiful lantern on the boat.”

Her tone was charming and captivating, and her gaze secretly glanced at everyone on the Qingsong Boat, the deeper meaning unknown.

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly, then saw Jiang Susu sitting on the other side involuntarily straighten her posture, a faint smile also appearing on her face.

Jiang Susu wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, especially with the Eighth Prince and Prince Jinying present tonight. A flash of mockery passed through Jiang Ruan’s eyes. Why hadn’t she thought of it back then – both she and Jiang Susu were legitimate daughters of the Jiang residence. How could Xuan Li have exclusively taken a fancy to her with her tarnished reputation, ignoring Jiang Susu who had performed a city-toppling song that night?

Looking back now, it was nothing more than a rather crude joke.