[The option with the most votes was: 1. Lu Yu – Speak with Lu Yu first]

Li Rong surveyed the four men, remaining silent the entire time. Behind the beaded curtain hung a thin gauze veil. Li Rong could clearly see what they looked like, while they could only vaguely make out her silhouette. After both parties had been silent for a moment, Li Rong tilted her chin toward Jing Lan beside her.

Understanding Li Rong’s meaning, Jing Lan bowed to the four men from behind the beaded curtain, then said respectfully, “The Princess has heard of the four young masters’ renowned reputations in the capital. Curious at heart, she has summoned you all, wishing to converse with each of you. Please relax and do not be overly nervous.”

They hadn’t been particularly nervous before, but after hearing these words, the atmosphere clearly became even more tense.

Previously unclear about why they’d been summoned, now it was confirmed. What woman would summon several men for casual conversation without reason? This must be related to marriage prospects.

Yang Quan and Cui Yulang’s expressions immediately shifted, while Lu Yu seemed unaware of what was happening, simply sitting quietly as if somewhat bored. Pei Wenxuan, as always, never displayed his emotions on his face. He calmly glanced at the three men beside him, discerning some thoughts from their various expressions.

What he observed, Li Rong naturally saw as well.

Holding her teacup, she quietly watched the four men.

Yang Quan’s gaze was eager and restless. Several times he seemed about to speak, but each time felt it improper and held back.

He wanted to marry the Princess, and Li Rong immediately understood his motives.

Yang Quan’s reputation was poor, and he faced much exclusion within the Yang family. If he could marry a princess and treat her well, perhaps the things he’d done in the past would gradually be forgotten.

Had he not been so eager to marry her, Li Rong might have been somewhat inclined to speak more with him. After all, this Yang Quan would later prove to be a capable military commander, eventually dying on the battlefield. If those rumors about him being a lunatic were all false, it would indeed be quite a pity. But now, seeing his ambitious demeanor and that sense of threat constantly pressing closer, Li Rong believed the rumors were at least thirty percent true.

Cui Yulang appeared somewhat cautious. He seemed to be weighing something, his fan idly tapping against his palm.

Li Rong could roughly guess his thoughts. This man was truly bold. Having seen her appearance, he probably found it somewhat interesting, yet disdained her status as princess, unwilling to become entangled in such complications. In her previous life, despite his overflowing talent, after spending some time in official circles, he found it tedious, directly resigned his post, and returned to Yangzhou, where he spent the rest of his life writing poetry in pleasure houses.

To say he had no talent would be wrong—one doesn’t become the top scholar otherwise, nor could someone with his temperament remain in official circles for so long and retire unscathed. He was simply naturally carefree, just detesting court politics.

Pei Wenxuan remained as she remembered him—his face emotionally steady, completely unreadable. Li Rong couldn’t be bothered to look at him, so she finally turned her gaze to Lu Yu, quietly observing him for a moment.

Of the four men, Lu Yu was the least striking in appearance.

Though unremarkable, he was extremely pleasant to look at. At first glance, one would think him merely decent, but the more one looked, while not exactly stunning, it felt like clear water flowing gently by—extremely comfortable.

After watching him for a moment, she spoke softly, “Ning Heir Apparent.”

Her voice carried a young woman’s playfulness, but naturally contained a hint of hidden huskiness. Mixed together, when she spoke with her ending notes slightly drawn out, it created an indescribable tingling sensation that traveled through the listener’s ears—a natural charm bestowed by heaven itself.

The three men beside showed various expressions, but only Lu Yu, who had been addressed, still seemed bewildered. Li Rong thought for a moment, dropped one character, and called again, “Heir Apparent.”

This time Lu Yu understood. He looked at Li Rong and said bluntly, “Why are you calling me?”

His straightforward manner made Li Rong laugh involuntarily. She softened her voice and continued inquiring, “What did the Heir Apparent do today?”

Lu Yu furrowed his brow, thought seriously, then said, “So many things! This morning when I got up to get dressed, Ah Lan made me try on ten outfits—one yellow one, one blue one, one…”

When he spoke, it was like a small child recounting every detail, as if everything was tremendously interesting.

Li Rong tapped the fan in her hand, listening with great interest, her silver-bell-like laughter frequently drifting from behind the beaded curtain.

Li Rong found conversing with Lu Yu extremely entertaining. The other three men, left aside, began to feel somewhat awkward. Pei Wenxuan raised his eyes to glance at the figure behind the beaded curtain, his heart somewhat flustered.

The current situation seemed to differ more and more from his memories. Li Rong appeared to have absolutely no interest in him. Why was this?

Had something gone wrong in between, or was it…

That he actually didn’t understand the eighteen-year-old Li Rong at all?

At this thought, his heart sank. After Li Rong chatted with Lu Yu for a while, she turned to exchange a few words with Yang Quan, then spoke a few sentences with Cui Yulang. When it came to Pei Wenxuan’s turn, she asked two questions about whether he’d eaten and drunk well, then said with a yawn, “This Palace is tired. Everyone, please feel free.”

With that, she had someone help her rise and directly withdrew.

After she left, attendants led the four men away. Pei Wenxuan deliberately slowed his steps, observing his surroundings, and noticed that the person leading Lu Yu was Jing Lan.

He knew Jing Lan’s importance at Li Rong’s side, and he was also clear about Li Rong’s current circumstances.

For Li Rong, speaking with Su Rongqing for so long today was actually quite dangerous. If Li Ming thought she was interested in Su Rongqing, it would be terrible for Li Rong. If Li Rong were smart, she would definitely find a way to redirect the target, making the Emperor think she had taken a liking to one of the four men he’d assigned.

And now that Jing Lan had gone to find Lu Yu, it seemed that today, Li Rong had taken a fancy to Lu Yu.

Pei Wenxuan’s heart sank. He thought for a moment, then walked out quickly, seeing the attendants waiting for them at the entrance. Among them, the attendant wearing the jade pendant of Marquis Ningguo’s manor was the most anxious. As soon as the eunuch emerged, that attendant rushed forward, saying urgently, “Honorable Eunuch, this servant is the personal page boy of Marquis Ningguo’s heir apparent. Have you seen my young master?”

“Oh, you’re Ning Heir Apparent’s page boy,” that eunuch looked the page boy up and down, then smiled. “The Princess likes the Heir Apparent and has kept him to talk. In a moment, Nanny Jing Lan will send someone to fetch you. You needn’t worry.”

Hearing this, the page boy froze, and the eunuch turned to bid farewell to Pei Wenxuan, “Young Master Pei, this servant will see you off to here. Please feel free.”

“Thank you, Honorable Eunuch.”

Pei Wenxuan was very courteous. As he cupped his hands in salute, he placed a silver ingot into the eunuch’s hand, which was raised before him as if unintentionally.

The eunuch smiled so broadly his back bent, hurriedly bowing to bid Pei Wenxuan farewell.

After the eunuch left, Pei Wenxuan looked toward the page boy at the side. Seeing the page boy’s anxious expression, he walked forward and said quietly, “Are you unwilling to let the Heir Apparent accompany the Princess?”

Hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words, the page boy froze, then said somewhat warily, “And you are?”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Pei Wenxuan gave his name, then said quickly, “Just now I met the Princess together with your young master. May I presume to ask—is your young master… easily likely to offend the Princess?”

Pei Wenxuan spoke euphemistically, but the page boy understood that Pei Wenxuan had seen that Ning Heir Apparent was a simpleton.

Lu Yu rarely went out. His mother hid him well, and even when he did go out, she had attendants follow him constantly to divert attention. Not many people knew about this. Hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words, the page boy said directly, “Since Young Master Pei already knows what this servant is worried about, coming to ask now—do you have some solution?”

“When you go in to see your young master shortly, have him pretend to faint.”

“But won’t the Princess blame him?”

The page boy asked anxiously. Pei Wenxuan said calmly, “If he’s ill, what blame could there be? Being conscious and giving offense—that would be the real crime.”

Hearing this, the page boy didn’t respond. Pei Wenxuan turned around. “I’ve said what I needed to say. Think it over yourself.”

After saying this, Pei Wenxuan returned to the front courtyard. He scanned his surroundings. Cui Yulang was already sitting with a group of women, including a county princess, helping the county princess examine her palm lines.

He wasn’t worried about this man—he was avoiding Li Rong.

Meanwhile, Yang Quan was still talking with a eunuch, frowning as if annoyed.

Pei Wenxuan thought for a moment, picked up a cup of wine, and taking advantage of everyone’s inattention, directly spilled it on Yang Quan’s seat.

The spring banquet crowd was playing merrily. Pei Wenxuan moved through the crowd, casually snatched a jade pendant from a drunk person, and tossed it under Yang Quan’s table.

After completing all this, Pei Wenxuan directly turned back, returning to the rear courtyard entrance to quietly wait.

Before long, Yang Quan’s bellowing voice came from the crowd.

“Whose jade pendant is this?”

When Yang Quan shouted, the scene became chaotic. The person who had lost his jade pendant was also of considerable status. Seeing the jade pendant in Yang Quan’s hand, he became somewhat displeased. “You’re holding my jade pendant—what are you shouting about?”

With this person’s response, both sides immediately began quarreling. Hearing the shouting, Pei Wenxuan gave a mocking laugh, turned around, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and stood respectfully.

Meanwhile, in the rear courtyard, Li Rong sat by the lake, having someone bring fishing equipment. She also prepared the white-boiled eggs Lu Yu had mentioned liking earlier, peeling eggs while waiting for Lu Yu to come over after changing clothes.

His attendant had accidentally spilled a cup of wine on him earlier and taken him to change. Li Rong suspected something would happen, but she wasn’t anxious. The eggshells accumulated on her table as she leisurely said to Jing Lan behind her, “See how good I am to him. I haven’t personally peeled eggs for many people.”

Just as she was speaking, Jing Mei rushed over with people, saying somewhat frantically, “Princess, this is bad—Ning Heir Apparent has fainted.”

“If he’s fainted, call the imperial physician,” Li Rong placed the cleanly peeled egg on a small decorative bottle beside her. “Why come to me?”

Li Rong’s attitude of complete unconcern made everyone around fall silent, suddenly feeling that Lu Yu fainting wasn’t such a big deal after all. After a moment, Jing Lan respectfully asked, “Princess, shall you continue fishing next, or…”

Li Rong didn’t respond. She patted the eggshell fragments from her hands, then took a handkerchief from Jing Mei. Lowering her head to wipe her fingers, she only said, “Jing Mei, go outside and bring in that bastard waiting at the rear courtyard entrance.”

Jing Mei froze. After a while, she stammered, “What… what if there’s no bastard at the entrance?”

“Impossible,” Li Rong raised her eyes. “Pei Wenxuan is definitely there.”

This time Jing Mei understood—they wanted to find Pei Wenxuan. She quickly led people out. After everyone left, Jing Lan knelt behind Li Rong, pouring wine for her while asking somewhat puzzled, “The Princess seems to dislike Pei Wenxuan. Why summon him then?”

“Lu Yu has already fainted,” Li Rong scoffed. “Do you think anyone else can come?”

Jing Lan was somewhat confused. Li Rong didn’t explain further. After a while, Jing Mei led Pei Wenxuan inside. Pei Wenxuan knelt down, respectfully bowing to Li Rong, saying neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Your humble subject Pei Wenxuan pays respects to Your Highness.”

Li Rong didn’t speak. She continued peeling eggs while Pei Wenxuan knelt there, respectful and proper, without the slightest impatience.

After a long while, Li Rong finally said, “I’ve peeled an egg. I want to put it inside this bottle, but the bottle opening is too small—I can’t fit it in.” As she spoke, Li Rong raised her eyes to look at Pei Wenxuan. “I’ve always heard Young Master Pei is clever. Why don’t you help me out? If the egg can’t be placed completely intact into this bottle, Young Master Pei wouldn’t live up to his reputation as a clever person. You might as well jump into this lake—that would at least show some integrity.”

“The Princess means that if I cannot do this, I must jump in the lake?”

“Yes,” Li Rong said directly. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Princess, this is quite absurd,” Pei Wenxuan tried to persuade her.

Li Rong propped her chin on her hand, admiring how Pei Wenxuan knelt while maneuvering with her. Her heart suddenly felt secretly pleased, finding that Pei Wenxuan at this moment was extremely satisfying to watch, bringing a certain indescribable pleasure.

So even though she knew Pei Wenxuan was trying to negotiate with her, she still unreasonably and shamelessly insisted, “Yes, but I’m a princess. What’s wrong with me wanting to be a bit willful?”

“Princess, as royalty, you shouldn’t make things so difficult for your subjects,” Pei Wenxuan continued persuading.

Li Rong plucked a grape, eating the grape while continuing to make things difficult for him. “Yes, I’m a princess. What’s wrong with making things difficult for a small eighth-rank official like you?”

“Princess, if your humble subject succeeds, does that mean I needn’t jump in the lake and can sit up to speak properly with the Princess?”

“Yes…” Li Rong instinctively began to respond. Before she finished speaking, she saw Pei Wenxuan directly stand up, take the egg off the small bottle, tear a page from the book placed nearby, light it using the incense burner, then toss it into the bottle. He placed the egg back on top, then quickly retreated, respectfully kneeling on the ground again.

This entire sequence of actions flowed like water. By the time Li Rong reacted, he had already knelt down. Li Rong became furious. “Who gave you permission to come forward and tear my book?!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the egg originally placed at the bottle opening suddenly dropped into the bottle with a “thunk.”

Li Rong and the attendants beside her looked at the egg that had disappeared into the bottle opening, all eyes widening.

Pei Wenxuan raised his head to look at Li Rong. “May I ask the Princess—now, may I sit up and speak properly with you?”

Author’s Note: [Continue voting:]

Yes, let him sit down and chat.

You dared tear my book? Into the lake with you!

[Mini Theater]

Pei Wenxuan: “Am I very clever?”

Li Rong: “I think you’re looking for death.”