Chapter Thirty-Seven: Showing Weakness

  Daiyu turned around and saw the familiar cold figure, "I don't know what instructions the Fourth Prince has?" Daiyu looked calmly at Yongzheng.

  "It's an honor I don't deserve." Yinzan walked over to Daiyu's side, with Yinxiang following closely behind.

  "That is..."

  "Today's weather is not bad, Princess, would you like to go out and have some fun?" Yongzheng asked with a hint of embarrassment on his face. He didn't know how he came up with those words, but now that they had just finished lunch, it was indeed suitable for going out. Daiyu looked at Yongzheng in surprise, he wasn't the cold-faced king, cold-hearted and detached, so why would he say something like this? Yongxiang's mouth dropped open in shock as he stared at Yongzheng, his normally cold-faced fourth brother had actually said something like that, proactively inviting the princess out, was he running a fever or something? Or was he still asleep and dreaming? Thinking this, Yongxiang pinched himself, "Ouch." He couldn't help but cry out, only then confirming that his second thought was wrong.

  "Is the thirteenth brother uncomfortable?" Xiang's shout interrupted the awkwardness between Daiyu and Yinzan, and Daiyu turned to Xiang.

  "There's no 'no'." Xiangxiang said with a wave of his hand. He thought to himself that his fourth brother had finally managed to say something like this, and if he messed it up, his fourth brother would definitely not forgive him.

  "The weather is nice today, let's go for a walk." Just as Yongzheng was about to give up hope, Daiyu agreed to her request.

  "Where is this going?" Another familiar voice appeared.

  "See the Crown Prince." Yongzheng's face turned cold, and he bowed to Yongji. When did the Crown Prince arrive? He was still in the house when I left with my thirteenth brother, how did he catch up so quickly?

  "Daiyu greets the Crown Prince." Daiyu slightly bowed her head to Yunre, which was enough to fulfill the etiquette. After all, Kangxi had already exempted her from the kneeling ceremony, and she didn't even need to pay respects when seeing Kangxi, let alone a small and potentially deposed Crown Prince. Wait, which year was the Crown Prince deposed? Daiyu furrowed her brow, wishing she had read more history so that she wouldn't be like now, only knowing the general idea.

  Seeing Daiyu furrow her brow, Yongzheng felt somewhat displeased. How did this little girl dare to be so forward and show her dislike for him without any disguise? Daiyu noticed Yongzheng's gaze and knew that she had unintentionally offended him. After thinking for a moment, although not very willing, she smiled faintly and said, "Your Highness, why don't we go boating on the lake? I was a bit distracted just now, sorry about that."

  A faintly smiling face made Yifen feel good, and indeed she was still afraid of her own, or rather she wanted to cling to herself, calling herself different from others, and even giving herself a smile. "Good, good, good." Yifen said three goods in a row, and the unpleasantness in his heart just now passed away. However, he didn't notice the faint contempt that flashed across Daiyu's eyes.

  Yongzheng heard Daiyu's change in attitude towards Yongqi, and he was not pleased. However, he noticed the change in Daiyu's eyes and calmed down. She had become more intelligent and knew how to show weakness, or rather she had started to become less sharp-tongued, which made her more suitable for survival in the imperial family. Yet, somehow it felt like something was missing.

  Baoyu gazed at Daiyu, and their eyes met. The strange feeling in his heart grew stronger. Daiyu turned her head away, not looking at him. Why did his gaze make her heartbeat accelerate? What a strange feeling.

  "Let's go, together." Yi Xie made up his mind and the six of them headed out to tour the lake.

  Daiyu was followed by Xueyan and Zijuan, whose expression was somewhat stiff. Zijuan disliked having any contact with these young masters, but now there was no way out. Daiyu had just warned herself with her eyes, making herself tremble with fear. It seemed that the young lady had already guessed something and was waiting for her to confess. But she... Zijuan hesitated, only following behind.

  Yongzheng was talking to Daiyu with great enthusiasm about past events, and Daiyu made an effort to maintain a smiling face while listening, occasionally interjecting a few words that greatly satisfied Yongzheng's vanity. Yongqi and Yongxiang didn't say much, but the atmosphere remained pleasant. Of course, sometimes pleasure can't be sustained for long.

  For example, there were always some people who came to the door and said "Greetings to all masters." A boat approached the one where Yongzheng and others were on, it was still an old acquaintance Ye Zong.

  "Miss Ye is still everywhere." Yixin said with a playful tone, but his words were extremely unfriendly, causing Ye Yan's face to change greatly.

  Lin Daiyu was originally delighted to be chatting with Baoyu, and being interrupted like this made her unhappy. Her face darkened a bit, and she didn't even glance at Ye Xiangli. "Yuer, let's go over there."

  "Alright, Prince, please."

  Yinxiang's disregard made Ye Nian's face even worse, she looked pitifully at Yinxiang, wanting to gain some sympathy, but forgot that Yinxiang was the cold-faced king and wouldn't look at him.

  "Boatman, let's go." Yongzheng gave the order with a cold face and headed in the direction of Yongji.

  Ye Yan stood on her own boat, not knowing what to do. She looked at the water in the lake, gritted her teeth, and pretended to accidentally fall into the water. Her maid saw this and immediately shouted loudly, "Come quickly! Come quickly! My young lady has fallen into the water!"

  Ye Yan had some water skills, otherwise she wouldn't dare to jump into the water by herself, or else it would be a loss of life. She thought these princes wouldn't be so ruthless, but she lost the bet.

  "The crown prince, it's too noisy here, can we change to another place?" Daiyu furrowed her brow, this Ye Yan was really everywhere, like a fly that was annoyingly bothersome. She had already exhausted herself by putting on a smiling face to welcome Yongzheng, and she truly didn't have the mood to watch her clumsy performance again.

  "Good." Yintang saw the change in Daiyu's face and was even more displeased with Ye Qian. By now, Ye Qian had already offended Kangxi and his imperial sons, so how could he possibly have a good future?

  Miss Ye would naturally have many people coming to her rescue, the river water was still a bit cold, she didn't dare stay in it for too long. She looked disappointedly at the distant boat, and her eyes quickly turned venomous, she must have a place to stand out.

  After boating on the lake, the group returned to Lin's residence, where Kangxi and Lin Ruhai were waiting for them.

  "Has Jadeite returned?" Kangxi looked at Daiyu, his eyes flashing. Lin Ruhai always felt that Daiyu was somewhat different, but he couldn't quite put it into words.

  "Daiyu greets the Emperor." Daiyu made a curtsy, which surprised Kangxi for a moment. The smile on his face didn't change much, but he was slightly taken aback, "You little girl suddenly paying respects, I'm really not quite used to it."

  "Daiyu is being stubborn, I hope the Emperor will forgive me." Daiyu said this despite her stomach churning with anxiety. Kangxi already knew too much, and she had to show weakness in order to protect herself, otherwise it might implicate the entire Lin family.

  "You didn't think that this jade-like girl had such a gentle side, come, come and let me take a look." Kangxi beckoned to Daiyu with his hand, actually thinking in his heart that this Daiyu was quite quick to change. Daiyu walked over. "Imperial Father, Daiyu still has something to request."

  "I said, originally there was something to ask me, speak." Kangxi smiled and looked at Daiyu, he probably knew what she wanted to ask for now, it seemed that she still quite liked the little girl from the Liu family.