He favored his concubine and I cut off my wealth. Everyone in the mansion was in a panic.

Chu Nanchen first met Jiang Lingyi at the Flower Festival on February 15th of the 13th year of Yonghe.

That year, he was 16 years old and Jiang Lingyi was 15 years old.

At that time, Chu Nanchen was not the emperor, but the crown prince of the Great Chu. He was proficient in both civil and military affairs and was the most favored heir in the hearts of the ministers.

Because Chu Nanchen had reached the age of marriage, Empress Yuan held this Flower Festival and invited all the legitimate daughters and sons of the court officials to come, intending to select a crown princess for Chu Nanchen, and also to take the opportunity to match up with a group of young men and women, including Jiang Lingyi, the second legitimate daughter of the Duke of Jiang, who had just returned from Ningcheng after three years.

She walked towards Chu Nanchen in a light yellow brocade skirt, with a smile on her face and a watery expression. At a glance, he was deeply attracted.

...

Chu Nanchen was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses and turned to ask Wang Huai, "Whose family is that lady?"

Wang Huai looked at her for a long time before he responded uncertainly, "She seems to be the second lady of Duke Jiang's mansion. I heard that she just returned to Shengjing last month. I haven't seen her before."

After noting Jiang Lingyi's identity, Chu Nanchen turned and walked towards the Imperial Garden. Not far away, he saw Lu Tingyu standing under the shade of a tree, looking diagonally forward, with a faint smile on his lips, as if he had seen someone who pleased him.

"Ah Yu!" Chu Nanchen called out and walked towards him quickly, "When did you return to Shengjing? I said I would pick you up at the city gate."

Chu Nanchen and Lu Tingyu have known each other since childhood. They have similar personalities and temperaments and have been close friends for many years.

Seeing Chu Nanchen, the tenderness in Lu Tingyu's eyes was restrained a little, and he put on a warm smile, "I just came back yesterday, and before I had time to tell you, I was invited to the palace by the Queen."

The invitation to the Flower Festival had been sent out a few days ago, so Lu Tingyu was specially invited by Queen Yuan.

Guessing Queen Yuan's intention, Chu Nanchen couldn't help but joked, "Mother must be because you are not young enough and still don't have a favorite girl, so she hurriedly sent someone to call you into the palace. You must take a good look later. In case you can choose a prince's consort, Prince Jing'an and Princess Jing'an will be relieved."

Hearing Chu Nanchen mention his favorite person, Lu Tingyu couldn't help but think of the butterfly-like goose yellow figure in his heart. He had never thought of marrying a wife, but if the object of marriage was her, he would be willing.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Lu Tingyu looked at Chu Nanchen, "You are still talking about me, you are not even sixteen years old and you don't even have a concubine, no wonder the queen is worried about you."

The two smiled at each other and walked side by side towards the imperial garden.

Wang Huai behind him looked at the harmonious two people, couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth, and then took two quick steps to catch up. In this deep palace, friendship is the most precious thing. Chu Nanchen is lucky to have a good friend like Lu Tingyu.

When Chu Nanchen and Lu Tingyu came to the imperial garden, the young men and women of the courtiers had arrived and saluted the two one after another. Chu Nanchen waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up.

As soon as the two sat down at the table, the queen came with a group of palace maids, so the two stood up and saluted Queen Yuan again.

Queen Yuan walked to the head surrounded by a group of palace maids, and then called everyone to stand up.

Queen Yuan wore a graceful and luxurious red phoenix robe, with a decent smile on her lips, looking kind and gentle.

"Ayu has been away from Beijing for quite a while this time. I almost can't recognize you." Empress Yuan looked at Lu Tingyu with a gentle expression, and her eyes were filled with the special doting of an elder towards a younger person.

Lu Tingyu stood up and responded: "It's Ayu's fault. I will definitely visit the palace more often in the future."

Empress Yuan smiled and waved her hand to indicate that he didn't need to be so polite.

After Lu Tingyu sat back in his seat, Empress Yuan looked at everyone, "Today is the Flower Festival. I thought that the palace has not been lively for a long time, so I set up this Flower Festival banquet. I hope you will not be restrained.

In order to make it lively, I specially ordered people to prepare bamboo sticks. The young men and women who drew the numbers need to show some talents one after another, so that we can see their style."

After the voice fell, the eyes of all the young ladies at the table could not help but shine. Although today's banquet is called the Flower Festival Banquet, it is actually set up for Chu Nanchen to select concubines. They have heard about it a long time ago and have been preparing at home for a long time, waiting for today to surprise everyone in one fell swoop. If they are really favored by Empress Yuan and Chu Nanchen, it will be the glory of the family. If not, it will not be a loss. At least they have shown their faces, and it will be easier to marry a good husband in the future.

As soon as Empress Yuan finished speaking, a dozen palace maids came over, each holding a jar of bamboo sticks, each of which contained twenty sticks, and the top was empty, which meant that the numbers were hidden underneath.

Almost everyone on the field got a stick, and most of them were empty, with only a small number of sticks having numbers on them.

However, a quick look revealed a pattern: those with empty sticks were either young ladies from official families who were not qualified to compete for the position of Crown Princess, or young men from noble families who were too spoiled and had no talent. Of course, there were a few special ones, otherwise it would be too deliberate.

However, Empress Yuan's move still greatly protected the face of those spoiled men. After all, letting them perform was no different from making them embarrassed in public.

Seeing all of Empress Yuan's arrangements, Jiang Lingyi, who was sitting in the front seat, couldn't help but pursed her lips, because the bamboo stick in her hand had the number "three" written on it.

According to Jiang Lingyi's guess, the order of the bamboo sticks in her hand represents the importance that Empress Yuan attaches to them becoming the Crown Princesses, and Jiang Lingyi obviously does not want to attach such importance to them.

She has someone she likes, so she does not want to marry into the Eastern Palace. This is a secret buried in her heart.

As her thoughts drifted, the official lady with "One" written on the bamboo stick had walked in front of the crowd. She was the legitimate daughter of Gu Taifu, who was highly valued by Emperor Yonghe, and the younger sister of Gu Hong, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Her name was Gu Qingqing.

Gu Taifu was the emperor's teacher, and the Gu family had served Da Chu for many years, which was quite pleasing to Emperor Yonghe. It was well deserved to be put first.

And this also meant that Gu Qingqing was the most favored candidate for the Crown Princess by Empress Yuan.

Gu Qingqing first bowed to Empress Yuan, Chu Nanchen and everyone in turn, and then asked someone to bring a zither.

Gu Qingqing is a famous talented woman in Shengjing. She is proficient in all four arts, but the zither is the best of the four arts, so she chose to play the zither without hesitation.

It can be seen that Gu Qingqing is determined to win the position of Crown Princess.

Gu Qingqing's ten fingers moved slightly, and the sound of the zither flowed out, sometimes gentle and soft, sometimes majestic and magnificent, which shows her attainments in zither art.

She is the most talented woman in Shengjing, worthy of the name.

The sound of the zither stopped, and it took a long time for everyone to come back to their senses from the artistic conception described by Gu Qingqing. Empress Yuan's face was full of praise, "Miss Gu is worthy of being taught by Gu Taifu himself. This zither art really opened my eyes."

Feeling the kindness released by Empress Yuan, Gu Qingqing understood in her heart and bowed to Empress Yuan, "Your Majesty, you are too kind."

After that, she looked at Chu Nanchen with her peripheral vision. She thought she could see surprise and warmth in his eyes, but he looked absent-minded.

And the place you are looking at is exactly the location of Duke Jiang's Mansion.

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