Three Years After Falling Off the Cliff

After helping Fu Yi to the bluestone road, Sui Tingheng calmly let go of her arm and bowed to Princess Kangyang: "Grandma Kangyang."

Princess Kangyang avoided his greeting and glanced between him and Yun Fuyi. Finally, she said to Fuyi, "Why is Miss Yun here?"

"Princess, I have something to ask to see the Empress in the palace." Seeing that Princess Kangyang looked at her in a way that was not her eyes or her nose, Fu Yi nodded in her heart. That's right, this is the normal reaction of Princess Kangyang when she sees her. Last time, she smiled at her so enthusiastically that she made her feel uncomfortable.

Princess Kangyang taunted, "Miss Yun is really diligent, you are everywhere."
"Thank you for the compliment, Princess." Fu Yi said with a smile, "It is my duty to share your majesty's worries. I can't say I am diligent."

Princess Kangyang was choked and speechless. She turned her head and rolled her eyes. Thinking that the Yun family had already rejected the Liu family's marriage proposal, she immediately had no scruples and said with a stern face: "It's unruly. You are just the daughter of a foreign official. How can you not know the etiquette of respect and inferiority? I'm asking you a question. Who told you to laugh..."

"Grandma." Sui Tingheng said calmly, "Fuyi has made contributions to the country, and my father has conferred her the title of princess. Moreover, my father regards Miss Yun as his nephew, and I also regard Fuyi as my own family. We are a family, so why should we follow the etiquette of the outside world?"
"If we follow the rules, do I still want my great aunt to bow to me?"
The crown prince is half-sovereign, and according to the etiquette between monarch and ministers, everyone except the emperor and empress should pay respect to him.

Kang Yang remembered that the Crown Prince had just performed the ceremony of a junior to her. Her forced princess airs instantly collapsed, and a smile appeared on her face: "Your Highness the Crown Prince treats us royal family members with kindness, which is our blessing. I was a little hasty just now, please ..."
She looked at Fu Yi, the smile on her face not forced at all: "Please forgive me, Miss Yun."

"Princess, your words are too serious. I dare not."
Princess Kangyang is still as flexible as ever.

As a royal princess, Kang Yang knew very well that she must not offend those in power. When the previous emperor was alive, she always flattered him and Prince Ning. Now that the new emperor was in power, she naturally did not dare to offend the crown prince.
Normally, the prince was indeed gentle and polite to others, but she was not stupid enough to think that being gentle meant being easy to bully.

She knew very well that the Li Wang family had gone from being suppressed and despised by the previous emperor to sitting firmly on the throne today, and it was definitely not because of being gentle and polite.

"I am guilty of being impolite and taking my anger out on Miss Yun because of the marriage of the younger generation of the Liu family." Kang Yang glanced at the prince, and his smile became even gentler: "A gentleman loves a beautiful lady. Zi He failed to impress Miss Yun. It was his problem. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on her."
With words like marriage on the left and gentlemen looking for beautiful women on the right, Kang Yang almost yelled at the prince, "It's not suitable. You are not suitable for this playboy!"
"I have no mood for love and have never thought of getting married. Mr. Liu is handsome and will definitely find a woman of his dreams to accompany him." Fu Yi knew Kang Yang's character and did not intend to argue with the old lady: "I hope Your Highness does not blame me."

How can I not be in the mood to love?
Kang Yang had very complicated feelings. She didn't want the prince to be with this playboy, but she felt uncomfortable when she heard her say that she had no mood for love.

The prince is a man of both civil and military talents, handsome and elegant, and of noble status. With such a lively and handsome man standing by your side, how could you say that you are not in the mood to love?
I really don’t know when I’m young…

"Ahem." Kang Yang said sternly, "These are all small matters. I don't understand the affairs of the court, but since you have made great contributions to the country, it must be a great achievement."

The fact that the emperor's nephew was so stingy was actually willing to give Yun Fuyi the title of a princess shows that her contribution must have been significant.

Yun Fuyi had done meritorious service to the royal family, and she was also a member of the royal family, so Yun Fuyi was doing things for her. Thinking of this, she began to like Yun Fuyi a little more.

"I have only made small contributions, all thanks to your majesty's kindness."

Seeing that Yun Fuyi gave her a way out instead of taking the opportunity to embarrass her, Princess Kangyang decided that as long as Yun Fuyi didn't bully her eldest grandson, she would not bully her behind her back.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Yun come here to enjoy the scenery?" Kang Yang looked at the rockery around him. There was nothing to see here.

"Just now, my father took me and Fu Yi for a walk in the garden. He had something important to deal with, so he went back to the imperial study first." Sui Tingheng asked Princess Kangyang, "Why did my great-aunt come to the palace today?"

"It's nothing serious, he just came to the palace to talk to the Empress for a while." After hearing that the prince and Yun Fuyi were not out alone but were accompanying the emperor for a walk, Kang Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the two of them did not have a private affair.

The ancestors of the Sui family were sometimes useful, at least they didn't let a playboy become the crown princess of the Long Dynasty.

"Please feel free to do as you please, great aunt. I won't bother you any more." Sui Tingheng made a gesture of invitation, turned around and left with Yun Fuyi through the path beside.

Kang Yang touched the things in his sleeves and hurried to Zhaoyang Palace. When he saw the queen, he took out the things in his sleeves and said, "Queen, please take a look at these."

This is a thick stack of drawing paper.

"Aunt, what is this?" The queen opened the drawing paper, which was full of portraits of young women.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is of noble status, and marriage is a big deal." Kang Yang patted the stack of drawing papers proudly: "These are all portraits of noble ladies in the capital. I have seen every girl with my own eyes. They are definitely not fake."

The queen laughed in silence. No wonder Princess Kangyang's mansion had been holding banquets frequently in the past two months. It turned out to be because of this matter. She opened the drawing paper and looked at it carefully. It recorded the woman's age, family background and temperament in detail.

They are all good girls with good character, good academic performance and many talents. After the Queen saw the stack of drawing papers, she knew that Princess Kangyang was really sincere.

"The Crown Prince is good at both literature and martial arts, and his appearance is better than Pan An. The selection of the Crown Princess must be cautious." Kang Yang thought of the scene he saw in the Imperial Garden just now. After thinking again and again, he still couldn't help but ask: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has a good relationship with the daughter of Minister Yun?"

"Heng'er is a considerate child. He knows that I like Fu Yi, so he takes good care of her." The Queen asked the maid to put away all the portraits and asked with a smile, "Did Aunt see them just now?"

It turns out that there is still affection for the Queen.
Kang Yang was completely relieved. She had said that how could a young and talented man like her nephew like a frivolous and trouble-making girl like Yun Fuyi.
She subconsciously forgot about Liu Zihe.

"When I passed by the Imperial Garden, I saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince helping Miss Yun down the stairs." Seeing that the Queen did not show any strange expression on her face, Kang Yang continued, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a considerate person. I wonder which girl is so lucky to be able to get along well with His Royal Highness?"

The queen smiled but didn't say which girl she was satisfied with: "It's really hard for us, as elders, to guess what young people are thinking."

Who said no?
Just like she never expected that Liu Zihe would become the top scholar and the person he wanted to marry was Yun Fuyi. Sui Tingheng brought Fuyi to the Chenxi Palace. He had moved into the Chenxi Palace a few days ago, and there were many more guards and palace servants inside and outside.

The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, so the two of them came to the bamboo forest in the backyard and sat down. The bamboo forest made a sound, and Fu Yi closed her eyes comfortably: "Your Highness, this bamboo forest in the palace is really a good place."

The sun was shining brightly in May, and spots of sunlight shone through the gaps between the bamboo leaves and sprinkled on the white jade table where they sat. Fu Yi reached out to catch these spots of light, tilted her head and looked at Sui Tingheng: "Are these considered stars in the daytime?"

Sui Tingheng smiled and nodded: "Okay."

The bamboo forest was quiet and peaceful. Fu Yi gradually came back to her senses from the events that happened today. She stared at the prince with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes for a moment and then looked away: "Your Highness, the Chenxi Palace should be very comfortable to live in."

"If you like, you can come here often." Sui Tingheng lifted the corner of his robe and poured tea for Fu Yi: "I don't have any brothers or sisters, and I am not close to other peers of the royal family. Apart from the teachers arranged by my father and the officials of the Eastern Palace, there are almost no other visitors here."

His eyes were lowered, and he looked somewhat lonely and melancholy.

"If Your Highness does not mind me, I would really like to come and bother Your Highness often." Fu Yi secretly covered her chest. Even if she had a heart of stone, she would soften her heart when seeing this scene.

The light spots were spread on Fu Yi's body, as if the stars in the sky couldn't wait to be in her arms.

"If you come, I will make a bed for you." Sui Tingheng looked at the light on the corner of Fu Yi's skirt: "Any time is fine."

"Then I would like to thank you first." Fu Yi picked up the teacup and took a sip, then changed the subject: "Your Highness, the day after tomorrow is your enthronement ceremony. I have nothing to give you, so I will use this gift to congratulate you."

She took out a small brocade bag from her sleeve and handed it to Sui Tingheng with both hands: "When I was young, I was arrogant and ignorant. I often received rewards from the late emperor and didn't know the sufferings of the world. Later, my father was demoted and many precious items were taken back by the Palace Department. But I don't think Your Highness would be interested in those things."

Sui Tingheng took the brocade bag and carefully poured out the contents, which were a finger-sized wooden sword and a round jade bead tied with a red string.

"The wooden sword is a small item carved by me from peach wood, and the jade bead is made from jade that I saw on the riverbank in Chongzhou. The jade is very common." Fu Yi smiled a little embarrassedly, "I am not good at needlework, and I don't have as many rare jewels as Your Highness. I can only give you some small things to please Your Highness."

There is a simple cloud pattern relief on the jade bead, but the carving is not very good.

"These are all carved by me." Fu Yi was worried that the prince would misunderstand that she gave him something with poor carving, so she explained, "Two years ago, I reunited with my family, and they locked me up at home to recuperate. I was bored staying at home all day, so I carved some small things."

She was embarrassed to say that this was the best jade bead she had ever carved.

"It looks very beautiful." Sui Tingheng tied the jade beads around his waist. The jade beads hooked with a red rope swayed around his waist, and Fu Yi's eyes drifted away.
The prince’s waist… is lean and strong, and quite nice looking.

"Fu Yi is really versatile, he can even carve jade." Sui Tingheng put the peach wood sword in his arms: "But you are wrong about one thing."

"what's up?"

"You are not a spoiled person who does not understand the sufferings of the world." Sui Tingheng looked at her. "When the late emperor was alive, you helped the palace maids who were bullied many times. When the late emperor was angry, you also used clever words to plead for the court officials. I wonder how many people in the palace have received your kindness?"

"It was just a matter of convenience..." Fu Yi touched her nose awkwardly. She didn't expect the prince to know these old stories. When she was a child, she relied on the indulgence of the late emperor and did pretend to be good and help officials who were about to be dragged down and beheaded many times.

Unfortunately, as the late emperor took more and more elixirs, his mind became more and more confused. In addition, Concubine Zeng had opinions about her and often targeted her secretly. She was no longer able to change the late emperor's decision.
In the end, she couldn't even save herself.

She had never mentioned these things to outsiders. Even Prince Ning, who often played with her, didn't know about them. I wonder where the Crown Prince found out?

"There are no secrets in the palace." Sui Tingheng smiled: "As long as you want to know, there is nothing you can't find out."
He looked at the bamboo forest behind Fu Yi with a deep gaze, as if containing a myriad of emotions, but when Fu Yi looked up at him, there was nothing in his gaze except a gentle smile.

"Then Your Highness, would you like to investigate the man I caught today?" Fu Yi said, "I always feel that his identity is not simple, and he may be related to Prince Ning."

"I have observed this man, his living habits..."

"Okay." Sui Tingheng said, "I will find out the relationship between him and Prince Ning. If Prince Ning makes any unusual moves, I will never let him off easily."

Fu Yi was at a loss. I hadn't even finished what I was going to say, why did you agree so easily?

Seeing Fu Yi staring at him blankly, Sui Tingheng raised his head and took a sip of tea. The tea tasted a bit bitter: "Besides him, who else should we investigate?"

"And the origins of those three beauties." Fu Yi said, "It's not easy to cultivate such beauties. The clothes and jewelry they wear, as well as the places they pass by, will leave traces."

"Okay." Sui Tingheng stroked the jade beads on his waist with his fingers: "Don't worry, I will have someone find out their identities as quickly as possible."

(End of this chapter)