Gambling appointment 21

  The bright yellow prince's robe was embroidered with exquisite four-clawed dragon patterns in five-colored silk threads, looking very luxurious. Prince Yunxuan walked over with a warm smile on his face, like a gentle breeze. He had just passed the age of weakness, but having been crowned as the crown prince for a long time, he had an extra layer of maturity and confidence on his face compared to other princes.

  He bowed with reverence, but in his heart, he was somewhat disappointed.

  The crown prince was born to the former empress, so he was enfeoffed as soon as he was born. Unfortunately, the former empress passed away shortly after giving birth to him, and the current crown prince was raised by the current empress. As for himself? His mother was just a small palace maid, who died soon after giving birth to him. He was raised under the name of De Fei, nominally as Cloud Wing's younger brother, but in reality he was a pawn used by De Fei to pave the way for her own son. In his previous life, he was resentful and angry, so he made careful plans step by step. This time around, he is still following this path, gradually gaining Cloud Wing's trust, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but in his heart, he no longer has the suppressed anger and resentment of his past life.

  Maybe it's because I've been in that position before, so now I'm a bit more open-minded about everything.

  Yun Ke felt that in this life, he was like a cold-eyed bystander. Although he would still follow the old path and climb back to the throne to become the master of the world, he lacked a bit of grandeur and had more melancholy and blandness. He was just diligently playing his role, everything that had happened was already under his control, this life was a bit boring, but he couldn't help but continue like this, the struggle for the crown prince, if he didn't win, it would be a dead end.

  He exchanged pleasantries with Yun Yi and then said faintly, "My brother and the fifth imperial brother were just talking about a little girl, it's not worth entering the crown prince's ears." He didn't want to mention Gu Yuqie's name in front of others, in his previous life he watched her burn to death in front of him, this life, she was also just repeating the same path as before, just like him.

  For a woman who would eventually become his concubine, he naturally didn't want others to pay too much attention to her. However, Gu Yuqie from the previous life was also as dazzling as the stars surrounding the moon, and Yun Ke couldn't deny that. What's different from the previous life is that this life's Gu Yuqie seemed to have gained fame even earlier than in the previous life.

  He had not yet been crowned king, nor had he married, and lived in the palace, where he had already heard of Gu Yuqie's great name, saying how clever she was, able to discuss literature with Chen Hanlin, a great scholar of the time, and that she was well-versed in etiquette, even the imperial tutors praised her without exception.

  "Oh?" The prince suddenly became interested, "Could it be that our Seventh Imperial Brother has also started to feel the pangs of first love? Tell me, who is the daughter of which family that you have set your eyes on? If she's suitable, I'll mention it to the Empress Dowager and arrange for her to be betrothed to you."

  "Your Highness, don't joke about this." Yun Ke's eyelids flickered slightly as he bowed his head, "If the Empress Dowager were to hear about it, it wouldn't be good. It would be an affront to someone else's daughter."

  "Where is the suddenness." A gentle voice came, and several people in front of the door looked over together. In the depths of the plum forest, a dignified woman with elegant clothes was walking slowly, surrounded by palace maids and eunuchs. She was about 40 years old, but well-maintained, so she looked only 30 years old. Her face was like peach blossoms, her eyebrows were high and arched, and on her head, a golden nine-feathered pearl hairpin shone brightly, exuding an air of nobility and majesty with a hint of imperial dignity.

  "We have met the imperial aunt." The three people bowed in unison, and the crown prince took the initiative to walk over and hold the hand of the noble woman, who was the hostess of this place, Princess Pinghu.

  "No need for courtesy. It's not like we're in the palace." Princess Pinghu had a life of her own, with multiple marriages but no children to show for it. So when she looked at her three nephews, who were as elegant as jade trees, she couldn't help but feel affectionate towards them. As she grew older, she became increasingly afraid of living alone in the princess's mansion, so she often hosted gatherings and invited all the princes and princesses from the palace to liven things up. She was kind and approachable, and the imperial children all liked this aunt who didn't put on airs and always considered their well-being.

  "Now the Japanese palace has called so many noble ladies, and also called you few, isn't it to let you take a look first, if there's a good one, pick it out." Princess Pinghu said in a low voice, and after finishing, she winked at her three nephews. "Don't let others get ahead of you."

  The crown prince and Yun Yi both burst out laughing, while Yun Ke also slightly curled up the corner of his lips.

  "Xiao Qi, were you born without the ability to smile?" Princess Pinghu patted Yun Ke's shoulder and said somewhat discontentedly, "Isn't this a painstaking effort by the Empress Dowager?"

  "The Empress Dowager considers everything for her nephews, and they are naturally delighted." Yun Ke said with a bow.

  "You child, wherever you go, it's always so serious. I really don't know how your mother taught you." Princess Pinghu said with a smile, "Take a look at your fifth brother, wherever he goes, he has a smiling face and is very likable."

  "It's not my nephew." Yun Ke said with his head down. In the previous life, he was always like this, everywhere was a foil to Yun Yi, Empress De would not allow him to surpass Yun Yi, his smile was much more handsome than Yun Yi's, but he couldn't smile, he could only follow behind Yun Yi like a shadow. It's better to say that he is Yun Yi's follower rather than Yun Yi's younger brother. Even his marriage had to make way for Yun Yi and pave the way for him. In his previous life, he was indeed unwilling, but in this life, he just smiled faintly in his heart, because Yun Yi was already a dead man in his eyes, what's the point of competing with a dead man?

  Princess Pinghu's intention was good, but with so many noble ladies in the warm pavilion, only a few truly had the qualifications to marry into the imperial family. Where would he be able to choose? They were all leftovers chosen by others.

  Yun Ke slightly turned her face and looked at the Crown Prince and Yun Yi.

  In the previous life, one of them married the daughter of the Town National Public as the Crown Prince's consort. The public's daughter was from a noble family with a deep background, which benefited the Crown Prince greatly. Yun Yi married Zhang Wan'er, who should have been his wife, as his main wife. He then married the second daughter of the Minister of War, Mu Rong's family, as his main wife. Unfortunately, this Princess Mu Rong had a short life and died during childbirth, leaving behind a son before passing away.

  After waiting for a long time, the widowed Zhang Wan'er was brought into the palace and made Empress Hui because she had remarried. There were strong objections from the court as they opposed her becoming empress due to her past marriage. He thought that since he already had someone by his side, he could wait another ten years until the position of empress had been vacant for a long time and those old guys would have lost interest in it, then he could make Zhang Wan'er empress. However, as time went on, more stories emerged surrounding the empty position. At first, he was extremely annoyed, but as time passed, he found some use in the vacancy of the position to eliminate many people with ulterior motives.

  After Gu Yuqie's death, other forces in the court had been cleaned up by him, but he lost interest in making Zhang Wan'er the empress.

  Every time Zhang Wan'er and he coquettishly said they wanted to be the empress, Gu Yuqiu's figure would appear before his eyes.

  Damn Gu Yuqie!

  Yun Ke suddenly realized that his thoughts had been led astray by that woman, and he felt a chill in his heart. His hand, hidden under the embroidered robe, clenched into a tight fist, tearing apart his lingering thoughts of Gu Yuqie.

  "By the way, whose daughter were you talking about just now?" Princess Pinghu asked curiously. "Also tell Auntie and listen?"

  "Auntie is laughing at us. We brothers discussing other people's daughters behind their backs is already impolite." Yun Yi said with a bow of his hand.

  Yun Ke sneered inwardly, hypocrite, now you know it's impolite to talk about people behind their backs, what about just now?

  Yun Yi said, it's not just Princess Pinghu, but also the interest of Crown Prince Yun Xuan was piqued. "Fifth Imperial Brother, don't be coy anymore. Just say who it is." The crown prince smiled and spoke up.

  "What's the big deal about hiding and covering it up?" Princess Pinghu nudged her nephew with her elbow, laughing, "Originally, Auntie saved it for you to find a daughter-in-law, nothing disrespectful."

  "The niece and Seventh Brother were talking about the eldest daughter of the Dingyuan Marquis's family. I heard she was a talented woman, just now we heard her recite a poem, although the words didn't have any luxurious place, but won in the distant atmosphere, not disappointing what Chen Hanlin said. Seeing her movements light and agile, should also be learned martial arts, Seventh Brother said that even if she learned it would only be fancy punches and kicks. The nephew then argued with Seventh Brother for a while." Yun Yi smiled and recounted what had just happened.

  The princess of Pinghu's eyes lit up, "If it's really as you said, then the daughter of Dingyuan Hou's family must be both literary and martial. What does she look like?"

  "She is still young, but a genuine beauty. " Yun Yi smiled and said, "Is that not too sudden for Miss?"

  "Ridiculous!" Princess Pinghu exclaimed with interest, "I'd like to meet this young lady from the Hou Mansion properly. I've heard some things about her too. She's said to be from Jiangnan, a place known for producing beautiful women. Speaking of which, the winter hunt is just around the corner. I'll invite her along and we can test her skills then. Why don't we make it interesting? I'll be the banker and bet on whether she's truly skilled in both literature and martial arts?"

  He was already annoyed that Yun Yi had mentioned Gu Yuqie, and now Pinghu Princess was using her as a bargaining chip, which made him even more displeased. However, he still had to maintain his composure in front of Yun Yi and couldn't afford to lose face in front of Pinghu Princess, so he could only slightly lower his eyelids and suppress the growing discontent in his heart.

  "This feeling is good." The prince clapped and laughed, "But if Father Emperor finds out, won't he blame us?"

  "We didn't say anything. How did the emperor know?" Princess Pinghu was excited and unstoppable! She had always been bored with her life, and now that she had finally found something interesting, she wasn't about to give it up easily. As the emperor's older sister, she had been spoiled since childhood and had also helped the emperor in the past, so whatever she said went.

  The prince, although worried, saw his aunt's excitement and followed suit, "Although the Marquis of Dingyuan is from a military background, he has been on the border for many years. The young lady of this manor house is said to have recently entered the capital, where did she have the opportunity to learn martial arts? I bet she won't be able to fight." After finishing speaking, he took off the beautiful jade pendant hanging from his waist and handed it to Princess Pinghu, "If I lose, aunt will take this jade pendant and give it to the winner."

  "Alright." Yun Yi didn't want to show weakness, so he touched his waist and felt the jade pendant hanging there wasn't as good as the one the Crown Prince had. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he said impulsively, "I have a mansion in the suburbs of the capital, I'll use that as collateral instead."

  "A house for a prince, and a beautiful jade for you. Don't you feel any heartache?" Princess Pinghu was now truly delighted. "I'll say it first, no matter win or lose, I want 30%." After finishing her sentence, she glanced at Yun Ke with her beautiful eyes, "What is Xiao Qi betting on?"

  "Auntie is laughing, Auntie isn't unaware that I'm very poor." He said calmly, "The two imperial brothers can gamble if they want. I'll just watch from the side."

  "You're so useless!" Princess Pinghu slapped Yun Ke with a loud slap, "The bet was made by me, you can say whatever you want to justify it."

  Yun Ke's discontent grew even more intense in her heart, but on her face she remained calm and composed, "Then let's bet on the martial arts competition."