Chapter 144
Chapter 144: The Princess Consort Is Entranced by Prince Yong
At the entrance of the restaurant stood an enormous lantern, almost two meters tall.
It had two tiers.
The upper tier could turn. It was decorated with paintings of beauties. The pictures on the glass shade were bright and colorful, like fair ladies dancing lightly, breathtaking to look at. The lower tier showed landscapes, flowers, and birds.
“Is this the King of Lanterns?” Luo Ning asked Lin Zhao.
“Looks like it is,” Lin Zhao said.
Besides the King of Lanterns, no lantern paraded on the street would be this huge.
On the Lantern Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and New Year’s Eve, the city of Shengjing always held lantern displays.
And only one King of Lanterns was made each year.
This one was probably the King of Lanterns from the Lantern Festival.
“This is my first time seeing it.” Luo Ning stayed where she was, admiring the paintings of beauties on the King of Lanterns.
When she was a ghost, she always rushed to join the festival crowds, because she had never seen any of this while alive.
When she was young, Madam Bai would not let her go out, saying there were too many people, shoulder to shoulder, and that kidnappers used the chance to steal girls.
Later, when she grew older, she went to the Southern Region to recover from illness.
This year’s Lantern Festival, she had still been at odds with Madam Bai and not free to go out.
This was the first time she was viewing the King of Lanterns as a living person.
Luo Ning could not bear to look away.
As she watched, Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan got down from the carriage behind her and looked up as well. They had never seen it either. Even though Lin Zhao was older than them, she had not often joined the lively festivals in Shengjing.
The four of them stood under the corridor by the door, commenting non-stop.
“Princess Consort, you should go up to a private room upstairs to look. From the window, high above, you can see it more clearly,” someone behind them said with a smile.
Luo Ning looked back and saw Cui Zheng Qing.
“You came to see the lanterns too?”
“How could I miss such a lively night?” Cui Zheng Qing said with a smile.
Luo Ning saw that he was again dressed very grandly today, in bright colors. He was still that handsome young man in fine clothes, full of grace. She smiled and said: “The flower you wear today is pretty.”
Today, instead of being different and pinning a hibiscus in his hair, Cui Zheng Qing had properly pinned a camellia.
It was a bright red camellia, with layer upon layer of petals, its bearing enough to rival a peony. His hair was thick and black, and with a flower like this stuck in it, it did not look strange at all. It only made him look even more like a charming young master.
“Does the Princess Consort like it?” Cui Zheng Qing took the flower down. “If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”
Suddenly, the back of his hand stung.
The camellia slipped from his fingers, and Lin Zhao, quick-handed, caught it.
Everyone turned. Prince Yong, Xiao Huai Feng, had appeared behind them at some point and was looking at them with cool eyes.
Then he spoke to Cui Zheng Qing: “I told you to wait for the guests. What are you doing chattering out here?”
Cui Zheng Qing held his burning hand. It hurt so much it felt like the bone there had swollen.
“I just said a few words to your Princess Consort,” Cui Zheng Qing said. “Why are you picking on me again?”
He really had not been on guard.
He and Xiao Huai Feng had trained in martial arts together under the same master. The two of them were evenly matched in martial skills, except that he was not as good as Xiao Huai Feng in hidden weapons technique.
He could not beat him, but dodging should not have been a problem.
“Go upstairs,” Xiao Huai Feng said, turning his gaze to Luo Ning.
Only then did Luo Ning notice that today he was wearing a vermilion long robe with a gold belt. Golden cloud patterns were still embroidered along the hem and cuffs.
He was tall and straight, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Any clothes on him looked grand and proper. His bearing was firm, his expression stern. Even dressed like an elegant young master, he had not a trace of playboy air.
On Cui Zheng Qing, the outfit made him a graceful young master. On Xiao Huai Feng, it looked like he was going to perform a ritual sacrifice.
Luo Ning wanted to laugh, but forced herself to hold it back and quietly shifted her gaze away.
Xiao Huai Feng glanced at her.
Lin Zhao, still holding the camellia, handed it back to Cui Zheng Qing: “Young Master, do you still want it?”
Cui Zheng Qing’s charming eyes were full of meaning as he smiled and said: “You can have it.”
Lin Zhao accepted it openly: “Then thank you, Young Master.”
The maidservants and Lin Zhao stayed downstairs, where there was a table of food and wine for them. Luo Ning followed Xiao Huai Feng upstairs.
“What were you secretly laughing at just now?” Xiao Huai Feng asked.
Cui Zheng Qing was walking behind the two of them. When he heard this, he answered for Luo Ning: “She was laughing at you. In that vermilion robe, you look like you’re wearing sacrificial robes.”
Luo Ning almost burst out laughing.
She had thought her idea was strangely sharp. She had not expected someone to think the same, which made it even funnier to her.
But she still did not dare laugh.
In the end she managed not to make a sound, but her face was full of smiles.
Xiao Huai Feng’s gaze slid over to her. When he caught her unhidden smile, his dark eyes grew even colder.
His sleeve shifted slightly.
Cui Zheng Qing drew in a sharp breath: “Xiao Huai Feng, only little thieves launch two sneak attacks in a row…”
His knee took a hit. He almost lost his balance and dropped to his knees in front of Xiao Huai Feng. Before he could finish speaking, his other knee took a hit too.
The pain made both of his knees throb.
On the stairs, he had nowhere to dodge.
That scoundrel Xiao Huai Feng was using the candied fruits from the private room as hidden weapons to hit him.
Cui Zheng Qing wanted to keep complaining, but he was afraid for his little life, so he held it in.
Who knew how many more candied fruits Xiao Huai Feng still had in his hand?
Luo Ning also did not dare to laugh anymore.
Inside the private room, only Prince Chen was sitting, holding a cup of light wine and slowly drinking it.
Luo Ning greeted him with a proper bow.
“A’Lan didn’t come?” she asked.
Cui Zheng Qing said: “Third Brother and I came out to drink and enjoy the lanterns. We happened to run into Huai Feng. Since we met, it was livelier to drink together. We didn’t call A’Lan.”
Prince Chen was gentle and scholarly. His smile was warmer than the spring breeze as he said: “Sister-in-law, please don’t mind.”
Luo Ning felt something was off.
She remembered how last time Xiao Huai Feng had specially asked her about smuggled salt. Looking now at these two and their so-called “chance meeting,” she could not shake the feeling that she might have caused trouble without knowing it.
Just like in the Imperial Palace, Luo Ning kept all seven emotions off her face. She buried her feelings deep in her heart and did not even allow herself to think about them much, for fear that someone might see a clue.
“I don’t mind. It’s indeed lively with more people,” Luo Ning said with a smile. “This is my first time seeing the King of Lanterns with my own eyes.”
This King of Lanterns was not even the most stunning one.
The King of Lanterns from the year Xiao Huai Feng ascended the throne was truly exquisite beyond compare.
Thinking of this, Luo Ning looked at Xiao Huai Feng again, thinking that this man had a great future ahead of him. Standing behind him, she would one day be able to gain wealth and glory, maybe even bring fortune to her family. Her gaze softened.
She should not have laughed at him.
Nobles wearing vermilion robes were very common, and he was only in his early twenties.
“Princess Consort, you can take your time looking. In the next few decades, you might get sick of seeing them,” Cui Zheng Qing said.
“…” Luo Ning had no words.
Xiao Huai Feng gave Cui Zheng Qing a glance and picked up a piece of candied fruit, rolling it between his fingers.
Cui Zheng Qing straightened and sat properly, not daring to tease anymore.
The four of them drank wine and enjoyed the lanterns.
Twice, Luo Ning stood up and went to the window to carefully study the King of Lanterns, praising it over and over. She said the beauties painted on it were drawn with great detail. Some had soft, tender eyes, some were flirtatious and charming. Each one was different.
“Huai Feng paints figures of court ladies quite well. If the Princess Consort likes them, you can ask him to paint one for you,” Cui Zheng Qing said.
Luo Ning was a little surprised: “The Prince can paint?”
She had only thought Cui Zheng Qing was teasing.
But Xiao Huai Feng nodded: “I learned when I was studying. It’s just casual drawing, nothing special.”
“Huai Feng learns everything fast. In both civil and military arts, he stands out in everything. We ordinary people can’t compare,” Prince Chen said with a smile.
Cui Zheng Qing nodded.
He truly accepted it in his heart.
Since he was little, Xiao Huai Feng had wanted to be first in everything and the very best at anything he learned. As long as he studied something, he had to surpass others.
Even in the year when he was shorter than Cui Zheng Qing, he secretly ate extra meals and trained more, forcing himself to grow taller.
A person like that could endure seven years in a bitterly cold place. That was something ordinary people could not match. Cui Zheng Qing knew he could not suffer that kind of hardship. He did not dare to compete with him anymore.
“I’ll take a look when I have time,” Xiao Huai Feng said. His tone was casual, his expression cold, but he did not seem displeased.
Luo Ning did not expect him to really paint for her. She just smiled and said: “If the Prince truly gives one to me, I’ll hang it up and pass it down to my children and grandchildren.”