The Eleventh Prince smiled slightly. He was a handsome man and once he smiled like this, he looked even more gentle and tender. If Ji Feng were compared to the sun, then the Eleventh Prince could be compared to a stove in winter.
"Princess Jinghua is really clever. Indeed, I came here for a reason. I heard that the Hua's Mansion was attacked by an evil beast last night. is this true?"
Hua Qiyue paused for a moment. She spread the news on purpose because she wanted the Emperor to know that someone was aiming to harm to the Hua's Mansion, so that the Changlong Emperor would be more alert.
After all, a country had to depend on Qi Artists. If they all died, this country would be on the verge of extinction.
"Yes, it is. Perhaps, Your Highness may know about the inside story, right?"
Hua Qiyue said calmly and poured tea for Huangfu Shenglin.
Although Huangfu Shenglin just took Tianci out incidentally, if he didn't mean well, Tianci would have been killed by him.
It had been said that the Eleventh Prince, whose real mother was Consort Mei, was smart, righteous and popular, but nobody knew the reason why he couldn't be enthroned to be First Prince.
"Was the evil beast a strange black bird with two heads?"
Huangfu Shenglin asked in a low voice.
Hua Qiyue nodded. The black bird came here last night had two heads, but the bird retracted its smaller head, so, generally, few people could see it.
"The bird is a Double-headed Bird. It's an evil beast at the fifth stage and is owned by Shui Qianruo's subordinates," Eleventh Prince said calmly, "My subordinates told me about this. It's said that the Poisoner College, which was established by Shui Qianruo, lost an evil beast at the third stage for no reason."
An evil beast at the third stage! Hearing this, Hua Qiyue looked cold. If she had been absent, many people would have been killed. Although Tianci could protect himself by using the strange light ball, Youshui and others were ordinary people who had nothing to protect themselves.
But Shui Qianruo should've known about Hua Qiyue's level and the evil beast at the third stage couldn't hurt her. What he actually wanted was Tianci, or he wanted to probe the light ball in Tianci's body?
"It turned out to be her subordinate," Hua Qiyue said in a cold voice, yet having a calm expression.
Huangfu Shenglin of course knew who "she" was and paused, finally saying, "I came here because I want you to cooperate with me to deal with that person."
Hua Qiyue was surprised and said, "You want the position?"
The position was actually the position of First Prince.
Huangfu Shenglin shook his head with a glum and cold look in his eyes, saying, "For the royal family, the Liu's is a hidden problem. The members of the Liu's form cliques in secret and crazily educate Qi Artists because they want to destroy my father's career."
Hua Qiyue was inwardly surprised. She had never thought that Huangfu Shenglin would be honest with her. Generally, such royal privacy shouldn't be disclosed to others.
It seemed that Huangfu Shenglin was very determined.
"Besides… my sister, Princess Huiya, who fell into the Queen's trap, married humble Shui Qianruo who looked like a mummy! Nowadays, Princess Huiya has become a puppet in their hands, and she goes to my mother's palace everyday and makes trouble. However, she obeys Shui Qianruo and the Queen without question…"
Huangfu Shenglin said angrily. Hua Qiyue remembered that when she saw Princess Huiya last night, she felt that the princess seemed to have changed, not even knowing who she was.
So, the Queen must have lured Princess Huiya to marry Shui Qianruo in order to ingratiate herself with this great poisoner.
"Princess Jinghua, the Huangfu family will reward you handsomely as long as you can help us extinguish those traitors and evil gangs!"
Huangfu Shenglin said seriously, "Besides, the Queen has planned to kill you. The Liu's have great power and the Queen has many trump cards. So, if you cooperate with me, we'll definitely have a fifty percent chance of winning!"
The Queen's trumps?
Hua Qiyue paused; she knew that one of the Queen's trumps was the great poisoner Shui Qianruo who was relatively difficult to deal with. Last time, if it weren't for Yun Shimo's help, she would have probably been killed by Chongxiao.
A man, no matter how powerful he was, must have weaknesses.
"You don't need to answer me immediately. I'll give you seven days to think about it. No matter what answer I'll get, I'm still willing to be friends with you."
What Huangfu Shenglin said sounded very sincere and his facial expression was really honest.
"The Eleventh Prince is very righteous. I'll respond His Highness in seven days," Hua Qiyue said and poured tea into the empty teacup again.
Huangfu Shenglin smiled slightly and nodded. At the same time, a doorman came and reported that the First Prince had paid a visit and asked Hua Qiyue to welcome him.
Hua Qiyue paused. While Huangfu Shenglin smiled slightly and said, "Don't panic. The First Prince loves comparing himself with others and messing things up, but he won't hurt you. So, I'll leave now."
When Hua Qiyue ushered him to the door, First Prince Huangfu Changyu happened to get off his luxurious carriage and was protected by six or seven senior Qi Artists.
When Huangfu Shenglin got off the carriage calmly, Huangfu Changyu looked at him with a cold look.
"It's my honor to meet Your Highness."
Huangfu Shenglin said politely to the First Prince, but unexpectedly, the First Prince strode to greet Hua Qiyue as if he didn't see Huangfu Shenglin, saying, "Princess Jinghua, long time no see. I must praise your beauty!"
Huangfu Shenglin bowed down slightly, which was the deserved etiquette when meeting with the First Prince. However, the First Prince didn't respond, which annoyed the two Qi Artists standing beside Huangfu Shenglin, and they really wanted to rip off the First Prince's hypocritical face.
Huangfu Shenglin waved his hands and implied that they should calm down.
At the same time, Old Madame Hua, Hua Liting and others also came to greet the First Prince. The First Prince's visit made everyone in Hua's Mansion excited.
For civilians, the First Prince's visit to their home would be a great honor. But this happened in the Hua's Mansion just because Hua Qiyue was a member of the Hua's family.
Hua Mengshi and others stood aside deferentially, lowering their eyes to show their reverence to the First Prince.
"It's our honor to greet Your Highness!"
Everyone said at the same time, which attracted the nearby neighbors to see what happened. All the people looked at Hua Qiyue with a jealous look.
The First Prince hadn't married officially. If Hua Qiyue or any lady in the Hua's Mansion became the First Prince's wife, the Hua's family status would be promoted.
Excepting the First Prince, Prince Nan, the Eleventh Prince, the medicine saint and other noble people were all friends with Hua Qiyue.
Of course, those ordinary people or the families which had a similar position to the Hua's family were jealous of what happened in the Hua's Mansion.
Hua Qiyue also bowed down and greeted, saying, "It's my honor to meet Your Highness."
"Be casual, be casual!" Huangfu Changyu smiled and said. He leisurely entered the Hua's Mansion and everyone paid attention to him.
Huangfu Shenglin straightened and looked at the crowd going far away, shaking his head slightly.
While Huangfu Changyu threw that attitude in Huangfu Shenglin's face, he didn't realize that his behavior wasn't gentlemanly in the public eye.
Perhaps, Huangfu Changyu didn't care about what others thought of him at all. He was definitely the First Prince, so, he wouldn't be replaced no matter how strong others were.
Because he had Queen Liu and the Liu's to rely on; that was why others couldn't make any moves on him.
"Master… shall we teach him a lesson in secret?" After Huangfu Shenglin got on his luxurious carriage, his Qi Artist asked him in a low voice.
"Not necessary. If a man is narrow-minded, will he succeed?" Huangfu Shenglin said calmly. He had already gotten used to it, when he was faced with humiliation and neglect.
Since Huangfu Changyu was enthroned to be the First Prince, Huangfu Shenglin, who had been the candidate First Prince, was suddenly mocked and humiliated by many people. Everything he had experienced wouldn't beat him; on the contrary, it would only encourage him to be strong and mature.
At least, he was stronger than Huangfu Changyu in mentality.
The two Qi Artists looked at each other and shut up reluctantly. Actually, it was no big deal for Huangfu Shenglin.
——————
In the main hall of the Hua's Mansion.
The Old Madame secretly appointed Hua Qiyue to serve tea to Huangfu Changyu. Hua Qiyue had no choice but to do so. Of course, she could refuse to obey Old Madame over and over again, but she really didn't want Old Madame to be worried about her.
"Your Highness, please enjoy your tea," Hua Qiyue said calmly after pouring the tea for the First Prince.
Huangfu Changyu looked at Hua Qiyue up and down.
Every time when he saw her, he would be fascinated by her beauty. Now, he thought that she was as pretty as the moon and was of unrivalled beauty. Besides, her black and watery eyes were very attractive.
Although Hua Mengshi was very beautiful, her beauty was feminine. While Hua Qiyue's was of confidence and of modesty, noble and dignified.
On the whole, Hua Qiyue was the kind of girl who would look more beautiful than the last time you saw her, while Hua Mengshi would be more ordinary. Perhaps, it had something to do with temperament.
"Since Your Highness seldom comes to our mansion, would Your Highness please enjoy lunch with us? We'll prepare it meticulously," Old Madame said with a smile. There were three ladies in the Hua's Mansion who were still unmarried. So, the Old Madame would be very happy if any of them would marry the First Prince.
"It's not necessary. I came here to visit Princess Jinghua," the First Prince smiled and said. He then continued, "Princess Jinghua, you've beaten the Childe of the Liu's and became famous nationwide. Such a talented girl like you should be known by everyone. Therefore, I came here to invite you to participate in the Flower Fair by the Wangyue River three days later. This fair is held by the royal family aiming at sharing happiness with civilians."
The Flower Fair?
Hua Qiyue paused. Was this fair held for the first time this year? She had never heard of this fair before.
"The Flower Fair? Is it a simple Flower Fair?" Hua Qiyue asked.
Hua Mengshi suddenly felt disappointed. She didn't expected that the First Prince would come to invite Hua Qiyue himself. It seemed that Hua Qiyue gained much attention from the royal family.
As for the First Prince, he seemed to like Hua Qiyue very much. His look obviously showed his affection toward Hua Qiyue.
"Of course not. There will be many activities such as boat racing, dancing, singing and so on. Princess Jinghua, you can apply for these activities if you're interested. I believe that what would attract you the most is the fact that the Four Great Families will also take part in the Flower Fair."
The First Prince took a sip of tea. Hua Qiyue gracefully stood beside the First Prince and her figure attracted everyone's eyes.
"The activity held by the Four Great Families is a Qi Art Contest. Each family will appoint two representatives and whoever beats all Qi Artists will be rewarded with a Magic Core by the Emperor. More importantly, if the Four Great Families produces a winner, others will have a chance to challenge the winner if they dissent from the result. All kinds of skills of Qi Art will be shown at the Flower Fair. So, Princess Jinghua, you can't miss participating in the Flower Fair, can you?"
The First Prince said gently; he liked Hua Qiyue more and more every time he looked at her.
Although he looked at her very gently, she still kept modest and calm. No wonder she was the most suitable lady for becoming the First Prince's wife!
More importantly, Hua Qiyue was a gifted Qi Artist!
"I won't miss it. It's my pleasure to be invited. Thanks for Your Highness' invitation. I'll participate in this fair three days later," Hua Qiyue said calmly.