flstandardbreds Chapter 134 A Little Vanity
Chapter 134 A Little Vanity
After the Crown Prince put on his outer robe, Lu Yangyang quickly went around to the back of the wheelchair and pushed him towards the study. "Your Highness, is Eunuch Cao not here?"
"I just sent him out to run some errands."
"Oh, Your Highness, have you been very busy these past few days?" Lu Yangyang couldn't help but ask.
She hasn't seen him for several days.
"There is something I need to take care of. Um, I haven't congratulated you yet on passing the Taiming Academy exam."
"How did Your Highness know I passed?" Lu Yangyang asked in surprise. "But I did get first place in archery. Those people were not convinced and wanted to cause me trouble, but I beat them up."
"I had Eunuch Cao inquire about your grades today, and you're first in math as well," the Crown Prince praised. "Very impressive. If anyone bullies you, don't hold back."
Lu Yangyang was a little smug: "Of course, I was quite confident. It's just that the female teacher didn't look too good. I later found out that she saw me sleeping in the exam room and thought I had brought a name card to cheat on my score."
“Since the introduction of mathematics as a subject, the major academies have not paid much attention to it. Later, Taiming Academy separated this subject for teaching because mathematics has a wide range of applications, but most students still did not take it seriously. Over time, fewer people took the exam for this subject,” the Crown Prince patiently replied.
“I also think it’s very useful.” Lu Yangyang agreed wholeheartedly. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to keep track of the accounts and would definitely get ripped off.”
"Yes."
Lu Yangyang pushed the Crown Prince into the study. He saw a box on the desk and asked Lu Yangyang to push him over. He picked up the box and handed it to Lu Yangyang, saying, "This is a gift to congratulate you on passing the academy exam. Open it and see if you like it."
"A gift? For me?" Lu Yangyang happily accepted it. A gift, how could she not like it?
She loves receiving gifts.
Lu Yangyang quickly opened the box, and inside was still a mask.
This one is silver and was made using a very complex process, carved into the shape of a butterfly. Half of the mask looks like a butterfly wing in full bloom, light and beautiful.
Lu Yangyang was so shocked that her breath caught in her throat for a moment.
She had indeed come to the capital and only then had she seen such a wonderful thing. How could there be such exquisite craftsmanship in this world!
"This, this is really a gift for me?" Lu Yangyang was a little incredulous.
"Of course it's a gift for you," the crown prince said with a smile.
Lu Yangyang couldn't wait to take off the mask on her face and put on the butterfly mask. After changing, she didn't see a mirror, so she hurriedly asked the Crown Prince, "How is it, Your Highness? Does it look good?"
When the Crown Prince saw the scar on her face as she removed her mask, his eyes darkened for a moment, but seeing her happy expression, he still smiled and said, "Beautiful."
Lu Yangyang's lips curled up happily as she looked around, "Why isn't there a mirror!"
The prince pointed outside: "It's in the room."
"Your Highness, wait for me a moment, I'll be right back." Lu Yangyang was preoccupied with what the mask would look like on her, and she rushed out, completely unaware that she had slipped into the Crown Prince's room.
She leaned closer to the mirror, looked at herself, and was momentarily stunned.
I can hardly believe that the person in the mirror is her.
When she was a child, she didn't have a mirror and knew that the scars on her face were unsightly, so she didn't like to look in the mirror. Later, for convenience, she made a mask for herself using thin tree bark to cover the scars on her face, but the mask was not good-looking either. She was also dark-skinned and thin, and every time she looked in the mirror, she felt a little sad.
Therefore, she has only looked in the mirror a handful of times.
Even after arriving at the Duke's mansion, she didn't have the habit of looking in the mirror. It was only after His Highness the Crown Prince gave her a mask that she suddenly realized that she actually looked quite good wearing it. She had no idea that she could look like this.
Now, after some time has passed, although she is still thin, her skin has become much fairer, her cheeks have become a little fuller, and she has even grown a little taller.
So even though she looks in the mirror often, she doesn't realize how much she has changed.
It's a bit magical.
Lu Yangyang hadn't forgotten her business. After admiring herself in the mirror, she hurriedly ran back to her study and closed the door behind her.
"Your Highness, I have something very important to ask you today."
Lu Yangyang thought for a moment. She couldn't tell the Crown Prince about the dream she had, which made her certain that her elder brother would die next year. But she could work backward. If Xue Wanning got on the Third Prince's good side, would her elder brother be in danger?
She shared her thoughts with the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, if we don't stop my elder brother from marrying Xue Wanning, will he be in danger?"
The Crown Prince was somewhat surprised after hearing what she said. He hadn't expected that Lu Yangyang could think of so much about such a simple matter; it was truly beyond his expectations.
Even he didn't know that Xue Wanning had actually gone to see the third brother.
In the past few days, his father had tested him several times before deciding to hand over the Muzhou case to the third prince, and he readily agreed.
He knew, of course, that the person involved was Xue Wanning's uncle, Xie Zhengnian. He originally planned to explain the matter and investigate Xie Zhengnian's responsibility in the case. If he had not embezzled, and was only held accountable for dereliction of duty, it would not be too difficult to spare his life and exile him instead.
However, this was also out of respect for Sheng Junyao. He knew Sheng Junyao's character; even if Sheng Junyao came to him for Xue Wanning's sake, he wouldn't ask him to intervene. At most, he would ask Sheng Junyao to handle the matter impartially and not impose a harsher punishment. Because there was no room for maneuver in this matter to begin with. If Xie Zhengnian was involved in corruption, he would never let him off lightly.
However, if Xue Wanning were to plead with the third brother for this, the nature of the matter would be completely different.
Xue Wanning wanted to drag Sheng Junyao down with her and get him to side with the third brother, but she knew Sheng Junyao too well. She couldn't possibly take sides, especially since he had once been Sheng Junyao's study companion, a relationship that couldn't be severed.
Sheng Junyao will not side with the third son, so if the third son wants the military power of the Sheng State Duke's mansion, what will he do?
Firstly, there was the marriage alliance. It is said that he had a very close relationship with Sheng Yunzhu, the third daughter of the Duke of Sheng's family.
Secondly, once Sheng Junyao is removed, the rest of the Sheng family are no threat.
The Crown Prince looked at Lu Yangyang, "You guessed right, but whether Xue Wanning marries Ayao or not won't affect the outcome of your guess. Because the one who truly wants to get rid of Ayao is the Third Prince, not Xue Wanning. Xue Wanning wants the Third Prince's help, and her bargaining chip is the military power of the Duke of Sheng's mansion, which is currently in Ayao's hands. If Ayao doesn't compromise, the best solution is to find someone else who can compromise. In that case, Xue Wanning will lose her bargaining chip, and at that point, she will consider whether or not to take this step."
Lu Yangyang's eyes widened. "So, Your Highness, are you saying that if Xue Wanning knew the outcome, she might not want to marry into the family?"