Chapter 20

  The Warm Jade Pavilion, that is the place where only the emperor's favorite concubines can live. Only the empress and currently favored Liu Fei and Wu Fei have lived there. Wu Fei was originally Wu Meng's aunt, so to speak, most of the emperor's current concubines are from his previous generation. The emperor is not dissolute, nor does he often choose concubines from all over the world. The youngest concubine is also 21 or 22 years old, but Murong Xue is only 15 years old! According to the laws of the Great Xing Dynasty, she is still underage and cannot get married. However, watching such a beautiful girl, how can the emperor who has already had the intention of taking her as his concubine just watch quietly?! Now that she has moved into the Warm Jade Pavilion, it's likely that the emperor will take advantage of the situation and make his move! What should she do?!

  Looking at Murong Feng, Murong Xuan really cried a river and didn't care about anything else. As soon as her family left, she made an excuse to visit her third sister and ran to the Fourth Prince's mansion. When she saw Murong Feng, she rushed forward and hugged her own third sister, wailing in tears.

  Murong Feng was about to eat when he saw Murong Xuan in this state, and he first froze before quickly dispersing the people around him. Sima Rui had been sulking in the courtyard when he saw his elder sister-in-law rush over, and he was truly startled. Normally, his elder sister-in-law was dignified and composed, never making a sound, but now she was crying so hard that it made him feel embarrassed to say anything else, so he tactfully avoided her.

  "Master, why don't we go to Yu Jiao's place first? You must be hungry too. Or should we go to Yin Xiang Lou?" Wang Bao asked in a low voice.

  The Crown Prince's consort was not in a good mood, and he didn't want to know why. The fewer people who knew about this matter in the palace, the better. Anyway, usually the Fourth Prince would spend the night at either Yuejiao's or some other girl's place, never staying overnight at the Fourth Prince's residence. These past few days, Yuejiao and Yinxiaolou had been the most frequent visitors to the Fourth Prince, so he suggested these two places first.

  Simarui shook his head, he was now curious about Murong Feng, where did he have the mood to care about Yu Jiao, how could he not figure out what was going on with Bai Min and Murong Feng? Why was this Murong Feng so different from the one in his impression?

  "We'll go to the study first. Now that Eldest Sister is here, and in this situation, I'm afraid even the Fourth Prince's consort won't have time for dinner either. Why don't we all eat later? Alright, you go to the Fragrant Pavilion and call the head chef over, bring him to the Fourth Prince's estate to make a few of his signature dishes." Sima Rui suddenly smiled strangely and said, "I'm suddenly quite interested in inviting the Fourth Prince's consort to dinner. Go!"

  Wang Bao was stunned, but didn't dare ask more questions and turned around to get busy.

  Simarui was puzzled in her heart, what happened to make the usually calm and composed eldest sister look like this? Although Eldest Brother had his reasons for marrying her back then, the couple had always been respectful of each other. Could it be that they had a fight? It didn't seem like it, but even if they did have a fight, it wouldn't be enough to make her run to Third Sister's place, which she hadn't liked much in the past, and especially not to Fourth Prince's residence, which was clearly meant to humiliate Simarui and Murong Feng.

  "Third sister, what should I do?!" Murong Xuan's face was filled with sorrow. "The Emperor actually let little sister stay in the palace and move into the Warm Jade Pavilion. That's not a place for a young girl like her to live. It's originally where the Emperor's beloved concubines would retreat from the cold, and only the Empress and the Emperor's favorite consorts have the right to live there during the coldest time of the year. What can be done about this?"

  Murong Feng raised an eyebrow, the emperor's usual expression. This emperor wasn't any better, already fifty years old, yet he still had his sights set on a fifteen-year-old girl, and so brazenly at that. As the ruler of a nation, whose laws he himself had revised, women under sixteen were not allowed to marry, but he was clever, putting her by his side to prevent others from snatching her away, also gaining an advantage for himself, getting what he wanted without any obstacles, his plan wasn't bad, and his face was thick enough.

  "Find a suitable family, and ask the emperor to grant a marriage in the imperial court." Murong Feng said slowly, "If Murong Xue can hold on until she is of marriageable age, the emperor will not bother her. You have enough time to deal with this matter, so there's no need to be sad and cry."

  Murong Xuan was taken aback and looked at her third sister, her eyes lit up.

  "But, on one condition, Murong Xue won't be bewitched!" Murong Feng suddenly said lightly, his expression looking somewhat pale and pitiful.

  Murong Xuan was stunned again, bewildered.

  Murong Feng no longer spoke, but quietly gazed at the mist floating quietly above the teacup on the table.

  After sending off Murong Xuan, he returned to his room. Murong Feng was a bit dazed, sitting in front of the table, propping up his cheek and staring blankly, but his mind was actually completely empty.

  Suddenly, a face appeared in front of him and was magnified due to the close distance. A pair of enchanting peach blossom eyes blinked, startling Mu Rong Feng so much that he couldn't help but let out a soft "ah". Once he saw clearly that it was Sima Rui, he scolded in a low voice: "Hey, Sima Rui, what are you doing?! Don't you know that scaring people can be fatal? If this keeps up, my heart will surely collapse. Can't you make some slight noise before appearing each time to give me some mental preparation?"

  "Heh," Sima Rui sat down in front of Murong Feng with a nonchalant expression, staring at him and seemingly saying casually, "Hey, what's the deal with that precious sister of yours? Why did she come crying to my place? This isn't good, people who don't know might think I'm abusing her or that I've done something outrageous again."

  Murong Fengbai gave him a glance, and a whiff of rice fragrance seemed to float over from the tip of his nose. The flavor was somewhat familiar, and she smiled in her heart, definitely made by the head chef of Yinxiaolou. It seems that Sima Rui still has feelings for Bai Min, okay, since that's the case, I'll continue to play with you. Even if you figure out that I'm Bai Min, I won't admit it, and you can't do anything about it! Earlier, after that interlude, she originally had no appetite for food, but smelling such an enticing rice fragrance, her appetite was revived.

  "It's not that my dear sister has something on, it's that your dear father has something on." Murong Feng said with a mix of ridicule and sarcasm, looking at Yan Yu and Chun Liu as they arranged the steaming hot dishes on the table. He deliberately teased, "Won't you? The Fourth Prince is so kind to invite me to a big meal. Which chef made this? It looks like it's got everything, color, fragrance, and flavor. I didn't know that even in the Fourth Prince's residence, they would cheat the living. When the Fourth Prince is not around, you give me meals with no special features, but when he comes back, you have a big meal. Alas, the imperial palace is also very dark!"

  "Go on, Murong Feng, let's see how long you can keep up this act." Sima Rui didn't get angry either.

  Murong Feng is completely different from what he imagined. Although he can't quite recall his appearance, it's because he didn't have a deep impression of the Murong Feng in front of him before. But when he recalls, he has a strong impression of Murong Feng's woodenness, like someone who stands in front of you but makes you feel like they don't exist. Now, however, wherever he goes, there is an aura of splendor. So, it's rare to meet such an interesting person, and slowly exploring, slowly finding out the truth, should make oneself even happier.

  "Since you are also one of the four princes and my crown prince consort, then don't be polite, just use it as you like. Ah, right, what did you say earlier? How did my father emperor offend you that you dare to curse him with misfortune? Aren't you afraid of trouble coming from your own mouth?" Sima Rui said half-jokingly.