The days in the deep palace were exquisite and cold, but Cheng Shaoshang was so busy every day that he really exhausted his thoughts on the birthday banquet, and finally formulated a menu that Emperor Wen approved very much. But Empress Xuan’s birthday banquet should not be so ostentatious, which violated Wendi’s original intention of promoting thrift, Cheng Shaoshang hurriedly stopped it, and suggested that Empress Xuan should discuss with Emperor Wen in the name of his wife, with a gentle tone and a look of worship.
After hearing this, Empress Xuan’s face turned red. After all, she was reserved and cautious since she was a child, and grew up dignified and gentle. The fifth princess suddenly came to Changqiu Palace, saying that she was choreographing a new dance and was going to appear on the birthday banquet.
Empress Xuan’s smile faded, and when asked about occupying land for personal gain, the fifth princess disagreed, and even felt that the queen mother was partial to Ling Budo and Cheng Shaoshang, and targeted herself everywhere. Empress Xuan changed her face when she heard the words, scolding her for being unruly, and immediately asked Cheng Shaoshang to place the Fifth Princess and others in the Yue Concubine Palace, not wanting to see them dangling in front of her eyes.
However, when passing through the back garden, Zuo Niangzi directly pushed Cheng Shaoshang into the pond under the suggestion of the Fifth Princess. The accompanying girl watched Cheng Shaoshang struggling in the water, but instead of helping her, she kept throwing stones at her. Luo Jitong reminded the fifth princess not to go too far, so as not to cause people’s lives, but the fifth princess didn’t care at all, thinking that Cheng Shaoshang was just a cheap life.
Cheng Shaoshang wanted to go upstream, but the girl threw a snake into the river again. Although Cheng Shaoshang desperately fled forward, he still couldn’t escape the result of being bitten. Fortunately, it was not a poisonous snake, and no human life was caused. Cheng Shaoshang climbed to the shore exhausted. The fifth prince came out of the bushes, and the fifth princess gave a warning and led everyone away.
Today’s encounter made Cheng Shaoshang uncomfortable. In this war of disparity in strength, there was no smoke of gunpowder, but it was murderous step by step, and the grievances suffered were difficult to vent. Ling Budo suddenly appeared, patronizing and pouring out his thoughts, but he didn’t notice Cheng Shaoshang’s strangeness, until Cheng Shaoshang turned his back and sobbed softly, that he realized it.
Ling Buyu nervously stepped forward to ask, the smile on his face was no longer there, Cheng Shaoshang hugged Ling Buyu tightly and wept, and gradually calmed down in the end, lying that he missed his family. But Ling Budo didn’t believe it. After calming Cheng Shaoshang’s emotions, he took the initiative to teach her to identify acupuncture points, and at Cheng Shaoshang’s request, he taught her some self-protection techniques.
After a few rounds, Ling Budo threw Cheng Shaoshang onto the bed, stared straight at the other party, and continued to ask what happened. Cheng Shaoshang was full of confusion, and he couldn’t think of a response for a while. After a long time, he spoke slowly, hoping that Ling Budo would promise him one thing.
After such a hurry for several days, it finally ushered in the birthday of Empress Xuan. The palace maids and eunuchs swept the colors everywhere. The princes and princesses routinely prepared birthday gifts, but in front of Cheng Shaoshang and Ling Budo, they were instantly eclipsed. The high mountains and flowing waters designed by Cheng Shaoshang were quite creative, and Ling Budo took the initiative to play, which surprised the empress.
The third prince presented a map of iron ore, and the prince found a pair of jade unicorns from the Western Regions. Just as Emperor Wen praised his intentions, he did not expect the princess to get carried away and suddenly mentioned the high price of jade unicorns, which made the atmosphere of the scene into an embarrassment. Cheng Shaoshang immediately came out to relieve the siege, and the crown prince was very grateful for this, but when he took the crown prince back to his seat, he suddenly saw his sweetheart, Qu Lingjun, who was sitting across from him, who was already married at this moment.
Because the prince was staring at Qu Lingjun frequently, the princess felt a lot of grief in her heart. On the other hand, Cheng Shaoshang and Ling Budo got along sweetly and shared a glass of wine, which made the Empress deeply gratified. The fifth princess was embarrassed during the dance performance. Cheng Shaoshang stood up again and presented the poems written by Xuanhou together with Ling Budo.
When Empress Xuan saw her father’s calligraphy, her eyes instantly turned red, and Emperor Wen praised the two of them for preparing gifts with their hearts. Cheng Shaoshang noticed that Ling Budo’s fingers were injured, thinking that he had entrusted him to play on the stage, feeling guilty and moved, he placed a kiss on his face in public, this scene made everyone in the hall stunned, Yuan Shen His face was extremely bad, and so was Luo Jitong.
Cheng Shaoshang shyly left the hall, quickly bypassed the crowded place, and went straight to Jingxin Lake in the back garden to breathe. The fifth princess had a plan in mind, so she asked the maid to deliberately lead the fifth prince to him. Sure enough, the fifth prince was very drunk and wanted to flirt with Cheng Shaoshang, but he was dragged into the lake by the other party.
Seeing this scene, Luo Jitong’s maid also had a bad plan. Cheng Shaoshang deliberately taught the fifth prince a lesson, and then chatted with him. In fact, Cheng Shaoshang knew that the fifth prince looked stupid and lustful, but in fact he was familiar with strange stories, but it was difficult for others to understand, which was very similar to himself. Based on similar experiences, Cheng Shaoshang and the Fifth Prince had a lot of love for each other, and soon became friends.
On the other side, Luo Jitong came to Ling Budo with wine, saying that he would soon marry the Western Regions, but Ling Budo was still cold and alienated. Before Luo Jitong could speak again, the goddess rushed into the hall in a panic, and threatened Cheng Shaoshang to meet the fifth prince in Jingxin Lake, causing an uproar.