Traveling through ancient times: starting with live streaming

Chapter 317 Thief's Eyes

It was already past noon when Zhou Chang left the palace.

Although it was a fake marriage, all the rules and procedures were followed and it was more tiring than a real marriage.

The last time I went to the palace, I got drunk at the New Year's Eve banquet, which led to a regret that I didn't take what I should have taken, and I couldn't bring the goods I should have brought.

This time when I entered the palace, I also held on to the principle of "a thief never leaves empty-handed" and was considering how to sneak something out of the palace.

As a result, he was temporarily entangled by the twelfth prince and was able to escape only after playing with him for a while.

The group returned to Prince Yi's Mansion, but the work was not over yet. Aunt Jing requested that they go to the main courtyard of the rear palace to burn incense at the tablet of Prince Yi's biological mother, Concubine Lan, to comfort her soul in heaven.

Zhou Chang followed the instructions and walked towards Prince Yi's Mansion with Yuan Qi. He then felt someone gently pulling him from behind.

Looking back, it turned out to be a skinny monkey.

The skinny monkey winked at her.

Zhou Chang also understood and instructed Aunt Jing: "Aunt Jing, you accompany Yuan first... Princess go in, the prince will be there later."

"Your Highness, please do not miss the time, and do not go past noon." Aunt Jing glanced at the sun in the sky.

"Got it." Zhou Chang waved his hand to dismiss him.

Yuan Qi hadn't said a word since he came back from the palace. He turned around and followed Aunt Jing into the palace.

As soon as the group left, Zhou Chang asked, "Monkey, do you feel that there is something wrong with entering the palace today?"

"Well..." The skinny monkey had something to say.

"I mean, ever since I paid my respects to His Majesty and went to the harem, I didn't meet anyone along the way." Zhou Chang still habitually called Yuan Qi "Miss Yuan."

"Your Highness, you have to change your address," the thin monkey reminded me even though he was impatient. "But I was just about to tell you something."

Zhou Chang was still thinking about his own things: "Did you hear anyone talking?"

When Prince Yi and Princess Yi joined hands to pay their respects to Emperor Lin to express their gratitude, Zhou Chang made a special effort to observe the expression of Emperor Lin.

Emperor Lin looked normal, without any sign of abnormality.

Afterwards, he went to the harem and met with the concubines of high rank in the Jianing Palace of Concubine Yi, Gu.

All the concubines had a smiling face and there was nothing unusual about them.

Afterwards, she was dragged out by the twelfth prince Feng Suo to play, leaving Yuan Qi to chat with the concubines.

Zhou Chang had thought that what happened at yesterday's wedding would surely spread. Although the palace maids did not dare to talk to Prince Yi and Princess Yi openly, it seemed that the palace maids simply avoided them and took a detour.

The thin monkey shook his head: "Your Majesty, even if someone said something, it would not be in front of this servant, but something happened in the Imperial Garden, and Your Majesty probably doesn't know."

"What's the matter?" Zhou Chang wondered. She had been playing with Feng Suo in the Imperial Garden. Nothing happened except that Feng Suo was later urged by the nanny beside Concubine Qin to go to the Lecture Hall.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember that you asked me to urge the princess to be brought out of Jianing Palace?" the skinny monkey asked.

"What's wrong? Did someone say something in front of Miss Yuan... no, in front of the princess?" Zhou Chang's heart was lifted again.

Everything was fine originally, but ever since she waited for Yuan Qi in the Imperial Garden, she had intended to take Yuan Qi for a brief tour of the Imperial Garden, but she felt that something seemed to be wrong with Yuan Qi.

At that time, I thought it was because I didn’t get enough rest last night and was in a bad mood, so I didn’t take it too seriously.

The thin monkey said, "Your Highness, I didn't have a chance to speak along the way. At that time, my servant and Aunt Jing were just about to go into the Imperial Garden with the Princess to look for Your Highness, but we didn't expect to run into Her Royal Highness the Eleventh Princess."

"The Eleventh Princess? What happened to the Eleventh Princess?" Zhou Chang didn't understand.

The thin monkey lowered his voice and said, "It's obvious that the eleventh princess came here to stop the princess. Although she praised the princess's good looks, she also mocked her background and even mentioned the top scholar in the literature at the end."

"What does she want?" Zhou Chang frowned.

The skinny monkey was also conscientious and asked questions: "So, I went to ask around while I was out of the palace to prepare the carriage."

Zhou Chang was anxious: "Hurry up and tell me."

The thin monkey also quickened his speech speed: "The thing is, your highness may not know that Wen Zhuangyuan was already famous in Jindu before he won the title of the first prize, and his reputation as 'flawless young master' had spread to the harem. It is said that the Eleventh Princess fell in love with him. When Wen Zhuangyuan won the title of the first prize, on the day when he was paraded through the streets, he even stunned men and women in the streets and alleys of the imperial city. Therefore, Concubine Xu Shu also valued Wen Zhuangyuan very much, and specially asked her sister, the wife of Lord Chu, the Minister of the Dali Temple, to arrange a secret meeting with Wen Zhuangyuan, hoping to recruit him as a consort for the Eleventh Princess."

"This..., Wen Fei should refuse." Although Zhou Chang was sure, he still felt uncomfortable.

Wen Fei belongs to Yuan Qi. If she can change to Yuan Qi's identity in the future, she will also be hers.

Although she blamed Wen Qingyan for being late in proposing marriage, she also had responsibility.

Now that I think about it, it is normal for those beautiful girls to be attracted to a "flawless gentleman" like Wen Qingyan, just like bees to nectar.

"That's true." Skinny Monkey also gave an affirmative answer.

Zhou Chang nodded in relief: "Ah, Wen Qingyan will definitely be in great demand. I'm sure after the number one scholar is paraded through the streets, many officials in the court will want to have him as their son-in-law."

"That's right, but if we really snatch it, who can snatch it from the princess?" The skinny monkey pouted, "But..."

"But what?" Zhou Chang's heart was lifted again.

The thin monkey said, "Although the top scholar refused, I heard that the eleventh princess did not give up and even fell in love with him."

"She is very prone to lovesickness." Zhou Chang couldn't help but complain.

Before it was Xiao Lan, and now it’s Wen Qingyan.

The thin monkey continued, "I heard that the top scholar rejected Concubine Xu Shu, and the Eleventh Princess fell ill, so Concubine Xu Shu also softened her heart and planned to ask Madam Chu to help lobby again. However, because of the prince's wedding yesterday, Concubine Xu Shu decided to give up completely, and the Eleventh Princess had a big quarrel with Concubine Xu Shu."

"This..." Zhou Chang was relieved, but he couldn't comment. "So the eleventh princess took her anger out on Miss Yuan?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, I just want to let His Majesty know about this." The skinny monkey shrugged.

"I understand. I'll go in first. You go and park the carriage in the main courtyard." Zhou Chang was speechless.

It would be best if you knew about this matter and just pretend that you didn't know it.

"Yes." The skinny monkey then drove the carriage west again.

Everything in the main courtyard of the rear hall was arranged according to the layout of Huilan Garden in the original imperial palace. The gate was usually locked, and only Aunt Jing and Uncle Qiu came in from time to time to clean.

There are three houses in a row in the courtyard, with the main hall in the middle, and the living room and bedroom on both sides. They are all arranged in the same way as before with the same furniture.

The courtyard is paved with bluestone slabs, with two crabapple trees on the left and right, and flowers and plants planted around them.

The moment the main hall door was pushed open, Zhou Chang's mind was immediately flooded with memories and emotions of Prince Yi.