V2C48

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Translator: Anne

Editor: Miqich

Proofreader: Ani and Sal

“Congratulations miss.”

The female official’s voice sounded and Lang Linling had been revelling in a joyful haze after solving the last riddle when the words ‘Prince Rui has been ambushed’ burst through the garden like a sudden clap of thunder. Her whole body trembled and the paper she had been holding fell to the ground.

The paper read: “Candles and dragon phoenix patterns decorate the chamber at night.” The title of the riddle was also a type of flower.

Under the smiles of both the empress and Prince Xian, she had bashfully written down the three characters, “Silk Tree Flower.”

She glanced at the paper on the floor, bunched her silk skirt into her hands and turned to leave.

The Empress whispered in a scolding tone, “Ling’er, where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to see him!”

Lang Linling bit her lip as she tried to identify the source of the sound. The startling noise originated from the other side of Cang Zhuo Garden—from the main entrance of the Prince’s residence; the opposite direction of the Cang Zhuo Pavilion, where the Emperor was situated.

Prince Xian looked at her and said in a sunken voice, “Little Sister, with your intelligence, how could it not occur to you that this might be another one of my father’s, the Emperor’s, schemes? Of all the competitors, you are the closest to Cang Zhuo Pavilion. If you retreat now, it will be tantamount to admitting defeat.”

Lang Linling closed her eyes and smiled, “Brother Xian, I did think about it, but, if this were one of the Emperor’s schemes, Prince Rui would have already been ambushed before entering the mansion. Western Xia had been forced to sign a peace treaty because of him, and thus, they must hate him deeply. It’s likely that they might have sent someone to harm him.”

The Empress glanced at Prince Xian and said, “Such a detestable coincidence like this makes it difficult to distinguish the truth from a farce!”

The empress frowned and Lang Linling whispered, “Auntie, brother, this time Linling chose to take part in the Concubine Selection Competition. Apart from knowing that Prince Rui can help brother Xian achieve great things in the future, it’s because Linling has fallen in love with him. Even if Prince Rui’s injury is somehow related to the Emperor’s schemes, this could mean that he’s taken these measures to assess who truly has Prince Rui in their heart. This could be the second round’s actual undetermined examination.”

The empress and Prince Xian looked at each other, a look of shock in their gazes.

There were several important government officials from multiple dynasties that had been in the Lang family, and they had an enormous amount of power. The family’s social standing was conspicuous and prominent. The daughter of the Lang family’s patriarch was the Empress. She had given birth to the Emperor’s eldest son, Prince Xian, which granted them even more power. However, strangely enough, young miss Lang Linling, the grandchild of the Lang family’s patriarch, was not as famous as Wang Yuzhi and Qin Qiuyu, who were from high standing families in Zhaoge. This was all due to the young miss’ dislike of contending for beauty and her rarely showing her face in public. In reality, she had an extremely beautiful appearance and was very resourceful when it came to scholarly knowledge. Though Patriarch Lang; the Empress’ father, still loved his eldest granddaughter and cherished her more than a treasure. He even forbade anyone in the family from disobeying her.

Prince Rui had mediocre qualifications, and for many years, Prince Xian was very disdainful towards his eighth younger brother as he thought he was unworthy. The brothers slowly became estranged; their bond falling apart. They were not as close as Prince Rui was with the Crown Prince. However, with Prince Rui’s western expedition, the Emperor decided to host a Concubine Selection Competition for him. The Empress and Prince Xian understood that the once crippled Prince would one day be useful, so they intended to rope him over to their side.

This time, the Emperor had issued an imperial decree for Lang Linling to participate in the competition, so the Empress and Prince Xian had both been happy and worried. They were happy because, if Lang Linling was chosen as Prince Rui’s concubine, the relationship between Prince Xian and Prince Rui would improve. However, they were worried because ever since she was young, Lang Linling had only ever shown disdain for Prince Rui. They thought she would purposefully try to lose the competition. They couldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to.

On one hand, although Lang Linling was young, she was resourceful and sharp-witted, making the Empress favour her niece. Even Prince Xian, who was rather indifferent to his cousins from the Lang family, liked Lang Linling. On the other hand, she was dearly loved by her grandfather and had her grandfather’s protection. Although she had been told many times not to disgrace her family and seize the ranking of a Princess, they were still worried she wouldn’t do her best. However, they never expected Lang Linling to use her skills to actually compete with the other candidates during the first round, nor did they expect her to actually love Prince Rui.