A stream of carriages flowed before Prince Yan’s residence, with one luxurious carriage after another arriving.
Regardless of the Emperor’s intentions in conferring a title on Prince Yan’s eldest daughter, one thing was clear: Prince Yan and his consort were in the Emperor’s good graces.
Being favored by the most esteemed person in Great Zhou was certainly worth currying favor with.
Suddenly, even those who had never met Prince Yan and his consort were finding ways to send congratulatory gifts.
A carriage from the palace looked rather low-key. Inside sat the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
Today, the Crown Princess wore a rose-colored, auspicious-patterned padded jacket with South Sea pearl earrings. Her face bore a rare smile, making her look like a flower in full bloom.
The Crown Prince couldn’t help but glance at her a few times and smiled, “If you looked like this every day, wouldn’t it be much better?”
“Is there something wrong with how I usually look?” the Crown Princess asked coolly.
The Crown Prince hesitated, then said, “At least you’re not usually dressed up so splendidly.”
He raised his eyebrows, “It’s just a full-month celebration at Prince Yan’s residence. Is there a need to be so formal?”
Thinking of his outstanding brother, the Crown Prince’s heart suddenly sank.
Could it be that Yang Shi favored Old Seven?
The Crown Princess was unaware of the Crown Prince’s misguided thoughts. She said calmly, “Prince Yan saved Chun’er’s life. Isn’t it appropriate for us to show more respect? Didn’t Your Highness specifically request permission from Father Emperor to attend for this reason?”
The Crown Prince rubbed his nose, “Oh, right.”
Ordinarily, the Crown Prince wouldn’t need to leave the palace for such a celebration; sending congratulatory gifts would suffice.
The Crown Prince had eagerly gone to request Emperor Jingming’s permission, using gratitude for Prince Yan saving Chun’er as a pretext to attend Prince Yan’s daughter’s full-month celebration with the Crown Princess.
Emperor Jingming approved without hesitation, appreciating the Crown Prince’s show of gratitude. Now that the Crown Princess used this reasoning, the Crown Prince had nothing to say.
In reality, the Crown Prince was going for Er Niu.
After experiencing the earthquake at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Crown Prince had become terrified of earthquakes. Adding to that his near-miss with the Jinli Town earthquake, he was even more frightened.
Without Er Niu, he would surely have been buried alive in Jinli Town. The mere thought gave him nightmares.
The Crown Prince had several nightmares after returning to the palace. In each one, he was trapped under rubble, unable to escape no matter how hard he struggled, and unable to cry out.
In the end, he was either crushed to death by falling rocks or rescued by Er Niu.
The Crown Prince became increasingly determined: he must have Er Niu.
With such a mystical dog, he would never fear earthquakes again.
Thus, given this legitimate opportunity to visit Prince Yan’s residence, the Crown Prince naturally couldn’t miss it.
The carriage finally came to a stop after its journey.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess alighted one after the other, immediately greeted by neatly dressed attendants who came to guide them.
Today, countless guests were visiting Prince Yan’s residence. Naturally, they couldn’t all be received in one place, due to space limitations and differences in status.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were led to the mansion’s garden by an attendant.
In July, enjoying the scenery and dining in the garden was far more comfortable than being confined indoors. Those arranged here were all royal relatives and nobles, as well as Jiang Si’s natal family members.
Seeing familiar faces like Prince Qi in the distance, the Crown Prince said impatiently, “That’s enough, no need to guide us further.”
The attendant respectfully withdrew.
As the Crown Prince walked forward, he looked around the garden with interest and smiled, “Prince Yan’s garden doesn’t have any precious flowers or plants.”
“The value of flowers and plants isn’t in their rarity, but in how vibrantly they bloom,” the Crown Princess replied, surveying her surroundings like the Crown Prince. She rarely had the opportunity to attend banquets outside the palace.
The Crown Prince glanced at the Crown Princess, secretly frowning.
All that talk about gratitude for Old Seven saving a life—clearly, she just favored Old Seven.
Thinking of the Crown Princess’s recent coldness towards him, the Crown Prince’s heart sank.
Could this woman be thinking of making him wear a green hat?
Hmph, if she dared to entertain such thoughts, he’d strangle her first, then chop up Old Seven.
As the Crown Prince was lost in these wild thoughts, his eyes suddenly lit up.
A large dog was lying near a flower bed not far away—who else could it be but Er Niu?
“You go on ahead,” the Crown Prince hastily told the Crown Princess before quickly walking over.
Er Niu was comfortably enjoying the cool air when it suddenly sensed someone approaching and looked over alertly.
“Er Niu, it’s me—” The Crown Prince didn’t dare get too close, standing about five feet away with a somewhat fawning smile.
Even the usually composed Crown Princess couldn’t help but widen her eyes slightly.
The Crown Prince inexplicably going to play with a large dog—had he eaten something strange?
What surprised the Crown Princess even more was yet to come.
Seeing that Er Niu didn’t bare its teeth, the Crown Prince sighed in relief and hurriedly took out an oil paper package. As he opened it, he said, “I heard you like braised beef, so I specially brought some for you. This is braised beef made by the imperial kitchen chefs. Try it and see if it’s much better than what you usually eat?”
The Crown Princess’s eyes widened in disbelief.
When had the Crown Prince tucked that package of braised beef into his robes?
At that moment, the Crown Princess felt her understanding of the Crown Prince was far from complete.
She thought she knew enough about this man’s stupidity and vileness, but never imagined he had this side to him.
The Crown Princess grew curious and coldly observed the Crown Prince’s actions.
At this moment, the Crown Prince naturally paid no attention to others’ (the Crown Princess’s) feelings. He carefully extended the oil paper package forward.
Er Niu disdainfully turned its head away.
Braised beef was no longer its favorite; it now preferred steamed meat.
Doesn’t like it?
The Crown Prince wasn’t ready to give up. He bent down and placed the braised beef on the ground, “It’s made by the imperial chefs. You surely haven’t tried it before.”
Er Niu’s ears twitched.
What were imperial chefs? It might be worth a taste.
Er Niu lowered its head to sniff the meat on the ground. Confirming it was fine, it took a bite.
The beef was chewy, fragrant, and tender.
Approving the taste, the large dog happily began to eat.
Seeing Er Niu quickly devour the entire package of braised beef, the Crown Prince was overjoyed and tentatively took a step forward.
Er Niu raised its head, looking at the Crown Prince and licking its lips.
What did this person want?
The Crown Prince took another step closer.
Er Niu watched the approaching person impassively, thinking: He’s almost at the limit of what I can tolerate.
Seeing that he could approach Er Niu step by step without incident, the Crown Prince felt a surge of wild joy.
After all, they had shared hardships in Qianhe County, and now the dog had happily eaten the braised beef. Surely this big dog was quite familiar with him now, right?
He had asked servants who had raised dogs before, and they said that if a dog willingly ate food given by someone, it meant the dog had accepted that person.
“Er Niu, was the braised beef delicious?”
Er Niu wagged its tail.
It was an honest dog. Compared to what it had eaten before, this was indeed tastier.
The Crown Prince smiled and took another step forward, saying, “In that case, why don’t you come with me from now on? I promise you’ll have braised beef to eat every day—”
The large dog suddenly leaped up and bit the Crown Prince on the buttocks.
The Crown Prince’s scream of pain rang out, followed by the shocked cries of guests who witnessed the scene.
“Oh no! The Crown Prince has been bitten by a dog—”