After the banquet in the palace, the foreign envoys' wives left the palace one after another.

  Li and others also didn't want to stay in the palace for long, so they also bid farewell and left.

  Not far from the Changkun Palace, a small eunuch was waiting by the roadside. Seeing Lin Daiyu and others, he came forward to pay his respects, saying: "Greetings, Madame Wu Guogong, Madame Wu Guo, Third Lady Lin, Fourth Miss Lin." After finishing speaking, he looked at Lin Daiyu again and respectfully said: "Fourth Miss Lin, His Majesty wants to see you. Let me take you there."

  Li and Qi looked at each other.

  This was indeed a eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, but Li still felt that something was off. Given the Emperor's usual behavior, it was highly unlikely that he would summon Lin Daiyu alone at this time.

  Although Lin Ke had already married the emperor and had gone through the rituals of Na Cai and Wen Ming, seeing each other alone before marriage was still against etiquette. The emperor was not a person who did things without following rules, on the contrary, he adhered to the rules even more strictly than ordinary people.

  Moreover, even if the Emperor wanted to summon her, why did he send a minor eunuch instead of Grand Eunuch Wang? But she was also uncertain, could a small eunuch from the Qianqing Palace really dare to forge an imperial edict?

  Mrs. Li was uncertain and didn't know whether to let Lin Daiyu go, so she said to the little eunuch: "It's just as well that I haven't seen the Emperor for a long time, I'll take this opportunity to pay my respects, so I'll accompany my granddaughter on this trip."

  The little eunuch looked embarrassed and said: "Wu Guogong's wife, the emperor only told me to invite the fourth young lady over."

  Mrs. Li wanted to speak again, but the little eunuch interrupted her once more and said: "Please don't make it difficult for me, milady."

  Li was momentarily at a loss for words and stood there without speaking.

  Lin Xiao looked at Li and then said, "Grandmother, I'll go." As she spoke, she grasped the hands of both Li and Zhuang, saying, "I will act according to circumstances, trust me."

  The little eunuch smiled and flattered, "It's still the fourth young lady who understands things." He then said to Li Shi and others, "Madam and the two ladies might as well leave the palace first. After His Majesty sees the fourth young lady, he will order someone to send her back."

  Zhuang's face was full of worry as he looked at his daughter, thought for a moment, and said to her: "We'll wait for you at the palace gate, you... be careful."

  Lin Dai nodded and followed the little eunuch away.

  These days, Beijing has snowfall, and the imperial palace also accumulated a layer of white. Fortunately, there are palace maids sweeping, and the snow on the road is not much.

  Plum blossoms on both sides of the road have bloomed, with a subtle fragrance wafting over.

  Lin Di lowered her head and stepped on the floor, paying attention to the movements around her. Until she reached a fake mountain in front of the Imperial Garden, she finally stopped her footsteps.

  This doesn't seem like the road to Qianqing Palace or the road to Gongzheng Hall, but rather a path leading to some remote and abandoned palace in the imperial city.

  The little eunuch saw Lin Daiyu stop and turn around to ask: "Fourth Miss, why aren't you walking anymore?"

  Lin Xiao smiled and asked: "Grandfather, where is the Emperor waiting for me?"

  The little eunuch said: "Fourth Miss will follow me."

  Lin Xiao smiled slyly and said: "If you don't tell me, I wouldn't dare follow you. What if the place you're taking me to isn't to see the Emperor, but rather the Yellow Springs Road?"

  The little eunuch smiled somewhat uncomfortably and said, "Fourth Miss is really good at joking." As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the palace in front of him, then hurriedly turned back to Lin Daiyu and said, "We've arrived, the Emperor is waiting for Fourth Miss up ahead."

  Lin Di said: "Where is in front, can you tell me clearly?"

  The little eunuch paused for a moment without speaking, as if still searching for words.

  Lin Ke looked at her with a cold gaze and said, "Is it not the Emperor who wants to see me? You'd better be clear, who exactly wants to see me."

  The little eunuch was just about to speak when a voice suddenly came out and said: "It's me, I want to see you."

  As he spoke, a young man emerged from the artificial hill, thirteen or fourteen years old, with a still childish face, but at this moment his eyes were fixed on her, his expression was dark, with a hint of tears, as if he resented her very much, yet seemed to be carrying a sense of grievance.

  The young man was half a head taller than Lin Xiao, and all she could see was his shoulder.

  Clothing embroidered with nine chapters, two chapters of mountain fire on the shoulders, leather belt with golden buckle, fake belt, jade pendant only, square heart, scattered, gold thread pouch, pure length six feet four inches, width two inches four points, color like a large official seal.

  That is the attire of the prince.

  The little eunuch had already made his bow and slipped away after seeing the prince.

  Lin Xiao thought for a moment, when was the last time she saw this prince's younger brother? It seemed to be three or four years ago. She was about to leave with her parents to the northwest, but he secretly ran out of the palace and pulled her hand, asking her not to go.

  She remembered that at that time his height was still not as tall as hers, but in the blink of an eye he had already surpassed her by half a head, which really made people sigh with emotion at the passage of time.

  Xiao Tai stared at Lin Xiao in front of him and said with hatred: "If it wasn't the Emperor but me you saw, are you very disappointed?"

  Lin Xiao curtsied and said: "I've seen the Crown Prince."

  Xiao Tai's eyes spewed out flames of hatred, taking a few steps closer to her, and said with resentment: "It's only been a few years since we last met, yet Cousin is so distant from me. I still remember when we were young, we were close enough to sleep on the same bed."

  Lin Daiyu said: "When I was young, I didn't understand things, but now that I've grown up, I naturally know the distinction between ruler and subject."

  Xiao Tai looked at her, kept looking at her, as if wanting to see a flower on her body. After a long while, he said with hatred: "You want to marry the Emperor? Why?"

  Lin Xiao raised her head and looked at the prince with a shallow smile, asking profoundly: "What did you say it was for?"

  He certainly knew why, but he didn't want to listen. What was it for the Lin family or for him? He didn't want to know anything about it. All he knew was that she couldn't marry his father.

  He jumped up with some anger and said hastily: "He is your uncle, he is sixteen years older than you, can't you also be like those women who covet power because he is the emperor? If so, I will also...".

  Lin Xiao's expression turned cold and she rebuked, "Your Highness, please watch your words!"

  The prince calmed down, his eyes shining with tears as he looked at her, still filled with grievance, just like an abandoned child.

  Lin sighed, after all, it was her younger brother who had grown up hand in hand with her since childhood. She felt a little reluctant and softened her tone: "Marriage is the union of two families, weighing the pros and cons, status, age, and even generation can be disregarded."

  The prince continued: "Do you like him? You've been following him since childhood."

  Lin Xiao looked at him and said with utmost seriousness: "Of course. He will be my future husband, even if not now, he will be in the future."

  Xiao Tai only felt that his heart was like being pierced by ten thousand arrows, as if the criminal had finally been sentenced to death, and he was desperately falling into a bottomless abyss.

  His throat seemed to be blocked by something, looking at Lin Xiao, but he couldn't say anything. He moved his mouth for a long time before making a low voice, saying: "I don't believe it."

  Lin Xiao pretended not to hear anything, and bowed her knees to Xiao Tai, saying: "If Your Highness has nothing else, I will take my leave first." After finishing speaking, she turned around and wanted to walk away.