Lan Ying knew that Youmeng would object to this matter, and she felt very uncomfortable. "That kind of place? What is it?"

Youmeng coldly voiced, "That is the hell that eats people, the beginning of the abyss."

Lan Ying laughed self-deprecatingly, "You are too worried. Even if I am on the roster, I may not be able to be selected in the end. Among the many beauties, there are many nobler than me. I may not be able to become the crown princess."

"No matter whether you can become a princess or not, you must be prepared to share your husband with other women. The prince is not your prince alone. He is the future monarch and the bargaining chip for court officials to seize power. Most people want to send beauty to him." Youmeng coldly made her realize the reality, "Maybe they were only three wives and four concubines at first, but when he ascended the throne, he would have three palaces and six courtyards. The men's feelings could not withstand such exertion."

Lan Ying's eyes deepened when she looked at her, "Do you know the prince so well?"

"I don't need to know him." Youmeng retorted coldly, "I just need to see my father."

Lan Ying was stunned, and Youmeng turned her face calmly, looked at her and asked, "Isn't he the best role model for the prince?"

Lan Ying had nothing to say about this, walked towards the railing gloomyly, raised her head and looked into the distance.

Youmeng knew that she didn't like to listen to these words, but she didn't like to listen to them even more. "And my mother, she is the way you are about to go. Don't look at her honor as a concubine, how glorious she looks, you can't imagine how many scars she has behind this glory, and what kind of hardships she has experienced..."

When her mother lost her power and was imprisoned in the cold palace, she was not a man's life. Even though she made a comeback later, she was still walking on the tip of a knife, and every step was like walking on thin ice.

When talking about Concubine Saki, Lan Ying felt even more complicated and said in a deep voice, "Concubine is not an ordinary person. I fear and admire her."

"There are more women in the harem, so there will be more right and wrong. In order to compete for favor, for children, and for family, they will use any means to kill each other. No one can keep it alone. Each of them must have some blood in their hands." Endless pity came out of Youmeng's eyes, "Would you like to live that kind of life?"

"You think I will become the kind of woman you said?"

"The harem is like a battlefield, either eating people or being eaten. The strong are vicious, but if you become the weaker side, I can't bear to see you suffer." Youmeng walked to her side, holding her shoulder and said earnestly, "I think you have not experienced the bloody and cruelty of the palace struggle with your own eyes, and I am the best witness, because I grew up in such a life. You are my good sister. The more I cherish you, the less I can't let you fall into..."

Lan Ying turned around, put Youmeng's hand into her palm, lowered her eyebrows and smiled gently, "You are kind to me and care about my situation. I understand all this, but if you can really convince your mother to change your mind, you won't come here to persuade me, right?"

Youmeng was hit by her words, so she was speechless.

Lan Ying felt sad, "From the day she saw me, I have become a chess piece in her hand. Wherever she wants to put me, I can only put it."

Youmeng held her hand tightly, "You can't be at her mercy, don't you believe me?"

What is important now is not the mother's decision, but Lan Ying's own attitude. Youmeng can see too much and everything else is easy to say, but she is afraid that Lan Ying will be willing to choose the prince for the sake of love, which is that Youmeng is powerless.

"As long as you tell me that I don't want to, I will do my best to help you get rid of the list to be selected. I can persuade her to beg her, and I can even beg my father..."

Lan Ying closed her eyes and shook her head, "No, maybe this is my destiny."

Youmeng's heart was as shattered as a knife. He knew that she was false to accept her fate. She was using fate as a guise. She refused to admit to her that she was already happy with the prince. Youmeng almost wanted to expose her. If she didn't care too much about Lan Ying and wanted to protect her self-esteem, she would have made it clear.

"Lan Ying, just listen to me..." Youmeng couldn't help but increase his tone in a hurry, "You can marry anyone, just don't marry the prince!"

Lan Ying patted the back of her hand lightly, trying to stabilize her mood. "I know you are because Concubine Saki is hostile to the Queen, so you have a prejudice against the prince."

"No, not just that, he also..." Youmeng stopped in time, thinking that something could not be said. Telling it would only make the situation worse and make it more difficult for her and Lan Ying to get along with. "In short, the prince is not a good person. He looks hypocritical. In fact, his character is very bad. He has done many ridiculous things, but you just don't know!"

Lan Ying saw the struggle in her eyes and said calmly, "You said he has a bad character. Isn't the most ridiculous criticism about him? He is not the wrong with a princess in the royal family and his own sister?"

Youmeng was completely stunned.

"So Youmeng, are those rumors true?"

Lan Ying's eyes were like a heavy shackle. Youmeng couldn't hide, and her lips were almost biting and bleeding.

"I have never asked you about this in person, because I believe you won't do such a lustful thing. Tell me, is there any?"

Youmeng closed her eyes tightly, "No..."

It seems simple, but Youmeng feels bleeding in her heart. How much effort has it taken to force such a lie out of her teeth.

Lan Ying squeezed out a relieved smile, "Isn't that good? The most ridiculous rumor does not exist. I have had several contacts with the prince. I believe he is not such a person, you misunderstood him."

Speaking of this, Youmeng couldn't persuade her anymore. She opened her eyes and looked at Lan Ying with a chill, "You will regret it."

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

At night, the ethereal music workshop was full of guests as usual, and spiritual practitioners performed on the stage in the center of the lobby. The graceful singing voice and the piano sound were intoxicating.

On the terrace seat in a elegant hall upstairs, Su Zhi accompanied Youmeng to enjoy the new song. He turned around from time to time to look at Youmeng, and saw that her eyes were empty and her eyebrows were depressed and sad.

Youmeng suddenly came back to her senses and looked downstairs in confusion, "Hey? Why doesn't Sister Ling Xiu sing?"

"It's been finished." Su Zhi said quietly.

"Are you finished singing?" Youmeng was surprised and embarrassed, and lowered her head and was at a loss.

Su Zhi held his hand to her back, and his strength was gentle and ambiguous. "Princess, what do you think of this song?"

She put it in his arms and raised her eyes charmingly, "What Su Lang did, of course, sounds nice."

“It sounds so nice?”

"real."

Su Zhi's thin lips bent slightly, "Then what did the spiritual practitioners sing just now?"

Youmeng suddenly showed her timidity, "This..."

Su Zhi bowed his head and slowly approached, "Princess, you are obviously absent-minded."

She smiled far-fetchedly, and held her palm on his chest and coaxed, "I'm sorry, Su Lang, I'll be sensible when I leave."

He didn't blame her, he just hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.

Walking down the steps of the Lefang, the two were going to go to the place where the carriage was parked at the intersection. Su Zhi asked, "Why is the princess who is unpretentious today and has any worries?"

Youmeng didn't want to say it very much, and smiled and excused, "It doesn't matter if you encounter some troubles, it's fine, it's good in a few days."

Su Zhi raised his hand and put it on her shoulder to make her closer to herself. "Don't be frowning, I'll accompany you to the night market to relax."

"Um."

After saying that, Youmeng turned his direction with him and walked towards the market full of lights.

At this time, a young woman with rich makeup in the crowd stopped and looked very surprised. She was Lu, the second wife of Zong Zheng Yan Zhaoxiang. Seeing the scene where the two of them had just turned around, she couldn't help but talk to herself, "That young girl... isn't it the little princess?"

A woman was next to Lu, who was her wet nurse, and said to her in a low voice, "Madam, I'm afraid you've read it wrong? Why did the little princess appear in this place of romance?"

Lu's eyes were sharp and straight, "It's not wrong. I went to the palace to attend the palace banquet several times. I've seen her several times at Concubine Saki, and I was very impressed."

The wet nurse dared not refute again, "What the lady said is, it may be the little princess."

Zong Zheng was one of the nine ministers and was in charge of many affairs of the royal family and relatives and nobles. Therefore, Yan Zhaoxiang had mostly interacted with these nobles, and his wife followed him to see a lot of worldly affairs. Most of the concubines in the harem, wives of Shangguan family in various prefectures, noble women and socialites.

Lu turned his gaze to Su Zhi's back, "Hey? No, isn't the little princess engaged to the prince of the Southern Kingdom? Then how could there be such a close man beside her?"

The wet nurse guessed, "Madam, maybe that's the prince?"

"Impossible. I have seen the prince of the Southern Kingdom, and it doesn't look like this."

The wet nurse was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so she looked at her with great care. "This...this is strange..."

Lu couldn't help laughing out loud, "It's really a little princess. Before I could pass the door, I just greened the southern country! Oh, this is really..." She smiled so hard that she had to let the wet nurse support her. "It's a good thing that Prince Mu's mansion values ​​this daughter-in-law so much, and she thought she had picked up the treasure. I didn't expect that she was such an unfaithful person!"

She wanted to see what expression would be like after Prince Mu's mansion knew about this, and she would be a tongue-in-law who was not interested in the big deal.

Seeing that she was laughing too loudly, and people were coming and going around, she was afraid that she would offend Concubine Saki, so she panicked and wanted to cover her mouth, "Madam, they are all royal nobles, and the royal family can't afford to offend them. I can't talk about such things. I think we'd better go back home and don't worry about them."

Then Lu restrained himself, made a gesture to tidy up his clothes, and proudly said, "Let's go, I handed a greeting letter yesterday, and I will have to go to visit a certain master in the palace tomorrow."

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

The next day, when he arrived at Jingfu Palace, Lu sat in the warm hall and chatted with Concubine Min for a while. Thinking of what happened last night, he had a secret fun while drinking tea.

Concubine Min was just being beaten by Concubine Saki and his daughter a while ago. She was in a bad mood. Seeing Lu smiling in an unknown way, she suddenly felt a little disgusted with Lu. The corner of her mouth curled up with a cold look, "What's the matter that makes you happy?"

"A big strange thing!" Lu was very proud and said with a smile, "It turns out that the little princess has another lover in addition to her future son-in-law."
Chapter completed!