After finishing dinner, Qi Xiao leaned on the couch in the warm chamber, lost in thought.

Bairen, afraid that he was still dwelling on what had happened earlier, deliberately tried to change the subject, "Your Highness... I heard that when Roujia has her hair pinning ceremony, her maternal family also needs to hold a banquet and send out invitations, is that true?"

"What?" Qi Xiao turned his head to look at Bairen, "What invitations?"

Bairen smiled, "I mean, when Roujia has her hair pinning ceremony, does our manor also need to send out invitations? Or is it only the He family that will handle it?"

Qi Xiao nodded, "Your side needs to do it too. You don't have this custom in the south?"

Bairen shook his head, "In Lingnan, there's no such thing as a hair pinning ceremony. Even the matching of the eight characters is done differently. Instead of doing it like this, the daughter's eight characters are sent to the man's family and placed on the ancestral tablet in their ancestral hall for three days. If nothing untoward happens in the man's household during that time and all is well, it means the daughter's fate is compatible with their family and there will be no conflicts, then the marriage can proceed."

Qi Xiao laughed, "That's certainly convenient. But what if someone in the man's family wants to interfere and deliberately stirs up trouble to ruin a good match?"

Bairen shook his head and smiled, "The troublemaker needs to be careful themselves. The little aunt I mentioned to you earlier had encountered something like this before. When she was an infant, she was betrothed to the current head of the Zhang family. Later when they grew up, the Zhang family came to propose marriage and requested my little aunt's birth eight characters.

"But it so happened that my uncle-in-law had an extremely vicious stepmother who didn't want him to marry a princess. She took some drugs herself and caused a ruckus during the days the eight characters were being matched."

Qi Xiao chuckled, "And then what happened?"

"Then the head of the Zhang family at the time, my uncle-in-law's father, directly sent that wife back to her hometown to avoid misfortune," Bairen said with a sly smile.

"The Zhang family head had always wanted to marry into our residence, how could he be willing to lose this good match because of that woman's antics? If she said my little aunt was incompatible with her, then sending her away so they would never meet again naturally solved the incompatibility. The old head of the Zhang family passed away a few years ago.

"That woman couldn't survive in her hometown, so my little aunt and uncle-in-law brought her back. She had suffered a lot in those years. After returning, she was very well-behaved and never dared to mention my little aunt being incompatible with her again."

Qi Xiao's heart stirred. He had truly never heard of such a custom in Lingnan before. The Zhang family head, in order for his son to marry a princess, even sent away his own wife... Although she was a wife, she was still the official wife. Being able to send away his own wife showed this was not anything particularly unusual in Lingnan.

Qi Xiao looked at Bairen, thinking that if he followed this precedent and planned it out carefully, perhaps in the future he could bring Bairen's mother over here as well...

Roujia was already under his wing. Bairen's only concern in Lingnan was none other than the Queen of Lingnan. If the Queen could also be brought over, then no matter if it was Bairen or himself, if they wanted to make a move on Lingnan, they would have no more qualms.

But this was easier said than done. There would definitely be quite a few difficulties in actually carrying it out. The first obstacle would be the King of Lingnan who would not agree. Putting aside how much appeal that future marriage could hold for him, just having the entire main bloodline enter the capital violated a major taboo.

Bairen was his hostage in the imperial city, and how was the Queen not Bairen's hostage in Lingnan? Once this trump card was lost, who knew what Bairen might do. The King of Lingnan had been at ease letting Bairen come to the imperial city because he had no one to rely on.

But Bairen was not the same as before. Not only did he always have a certain tacit understanding with the Emperor, he also had this relationship with Qi Xiao and had formed a marriage alliance with the He family. His footing was stable now. If he managed to convince people in the imperial city to find some pretext and borrow a few tens of thousands of soldiers to fight his way back to Lingnan and seize the King of Lingnan's position, it was not impossible.

At least Qi Xiao himself had thought that if he ascended the throne before Bairen in the future, the first thing he would do was dispatch troops to put pressure on the border and force the King of Lingnan to pass the throne to Bairen.

If it was the other way around, going by his previous idea of bringing the Queen to the capital to truly help Bairen fight his way back and allow Bairen to smoothly succeed the throne before him to become the next King of Lingnan, that would undoubtedly also be a huge help for his own future endeavors.

"Your Highness... Your Highness?" Seeing Qi Xiao not say anything for a long time, Bairen couldn't help nudging him and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?"

Qi Xiao smiled, "It's nothing, it's the first time I've heard of such a custom, so I was a bit surprised. Do you know which families to send invitations to? Tell me and I'll check if you missed any."

This was just a whim that Qi Xiao had on the spur of the moment, he had not meticulously planned it out yet. If the plan could not be carried out or failed in the future, it would only make Bairen more upset. Before he had absolute confidence, Qi Xiao did not intend to reveal a single word to Bairen.

Bairen had not the slightest suspicion. He carefully thought it over and slowly told Qi Xiao, who listened with a smile, occasionally making a few suggestions.

In the Lingnan Prince's Manor, Kangtai dismissed everyone and asked in a hushed, anxious voice, "What happened? Wasn't it just because the Empress invited us to the palace? How did you end up arguing with Bairen?"

Bairen usually had a reserved temperament and was not easily angered. Wenyu had been certain of this, which was why he dared to probe step by step. He never expected Bairen to suddenly lash out at him today.

Although it wasn't in front of others, how could this be kept hidden? Wenyu felt embarrassed and said impatiently, "You're one to talk... I was just trying to fight for your dignity, letting him vent at me like that. Actually... I don't want you to enter the palace either. Empress Feng is out of favor with the Emperor now, there's no benefit in being close to her. I just couldn't stand Bairen's attitude and deliberately said a few words. Who knew he would react like he ate a firecracker? The moment he got angry, he scolded me relentlessly. Hmph... His backbone has indeed stiffened..."

Kangtai's heart stirred and he hesitated, "It's just a trip to the palace... There can't be as much to it as you two think, right? Didn't you also say it's just to broaden our horizons by entering the palace? What's the big deal?"

Wenyu waved his hand, "You don't understand. It's true we should form some good connections, but forget about Empress Feng. Ever since the Second Prince offended that ill-omened star Bairen last year, Empress Feng's faction has suffered continuous misfortune and still hasn't been able to turn things around. There's really no need for us to eagerly fawn over them, it would be a waste of effort.

"Bairen and I have been having these little spats every day for a long time. I'll just take the blame for a few days and consider the matter dropped. You should still treat Roujia the same as always. She will be part of the He family in the future, we can't offend her too deeply."

Kangtai pouted, "After fighting all these years, will she really forget everything just because I'm nice to her for a day or two?"

Wenyu was frustrated with Kangtai's stubbornness: "She naturally won't forget, but at least in the eyes of others we should appear harmonious. That's enough. Besides, Roujia is different from Bairen, easier to fool. Just do as I say..."

Kangtai's heart was still eager to enter the palace, but Wenyu refused to allow it no matter what. As it was already late, Wenyu had no energy to argue with Kangtai anymore.

After saying "You are not allowed to go means you are not allowed to go", Wenyu left. Kangtai was so angry that her face turned pale. She lay on the couch for a long time but couldn't fall asleep.

Unlike Wenyu, Kangtai had always been an opinionated person since childhood. Whatever she wanted, she would definitely get it by any means necessary.

No matter how much Kangtai disparaged Roujia's marriage, she knew in her heart that Roujia's future was set. After staying in the capital for these days, Kangtai's perspective had gradually broadened.

She was born and raised in Lingnan, where her father was a local ruler. She had always thought she had seen the best things in the world, until she came to the capital. Only then did Kangtai understand the immensity of the world.

Kangtai was no longer young. It was almost a joke to compare her mother's status to the nobility in the capital. In the past few days, she had seen and heard that just by marrying a sixth-rank Hanlin scholar, Roujia had suddenly become so respected.

Kangtai had heard that several aristocratic families in Lingnan had hinted at wanting to propose marriage. Kangtai had felt quite pleased with herself, but now thinking about it, with the crown prince and princess as matchmakers and the emperor bestowing the marriage, all the prominent families in the capital came to offer congratulations.

From what Wenyu said, Roujia would become even more respected in the future. As long as He Zichen worked hard, he could even earn Roujia the title of a first-rank lady in the future.

Kangtai bit her delicate cherry lips. If she were in Lingnan, at most she could only marry the son of an aristocratic family, which was no different from a country squire compared to the great clans in the capital! Whether it was to one-up Roujia or to secure a good future for herself, Kangtai no longer wanted to return to Lingnan. She couldn't help but think of that invitation again...

Roujia had merely gained the favor of the Princess and was able to find such a good marriage. If she herself could win the Empress's affection... If the Empress bestowed a marriage for her and helped arrange everything like Princess Dunsu did for Roujia, then future success and prosperity would naturally follow...

Kangtai's cheeks flushed red. After tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, she finally secretly summoned the old maid who accompanied her. The two whispered in the bedroom until late into the night.

The next day, in the warm chamber of the Crown Prince's residence, Qi Xiao sat on the kang reading documents while Bairen sat cross-legged inside, leaning over a small kang table cracking walnuts one by one. The walnut cracker in Qi Xiao's residence was a small golden Qilin. The Qilin's mouth opened wide, just enough to hold a walnut. Press the Qilin's head and with a crisp crack, the walnut shell would split into pieces.

Bairen loved this sound. It just so happened that Qi Xiao wanted to eat walnuts, so he readily took on the task and stayed by Qi Xiao's side cracking walnuts for an entire morning.

Bairen was meticulous. After cracking the walnuts, he would carefully peel them, placing the whole walnut meat on a small plate for Qi Xiao. The finer pieces he would pick up and eat himself. Qi Xiao read documents while eating the walnut meat personally peeled by Bairen, feeling very content.

After the two had been busy together for a morning, they both felt quite fulfilled. Qi Xiao had the approved documents bundled and sent out. Leaning back against the soft pillow, he smiled lazily, "You've served as my proofreading attendant for a morning. What reward does the young master want?"

Bairen weighed the small Qilin in his hand and laughed, "I'm not lacking anything else. Why doesn't the Crown Prince bestow this to me?"

"There are plenty of these little trinkets in the storehouse. They're all yours." Qi Xiao pulled Bairen to his side and chuckled softly, "Material things are too vulgar. Come... I'll reward you with something no one else has..."

Qi Xiao smiled and kissed him, carefully tasting Bairen's soft, moist lips. He lightly licked the seam of his lips. Before long, Bairen obediently opened his mouth, allowing Qi Xiao to invade and conquer.

Qi Xiao had always been a greedy person. Now that Bairen no longer resisted his kisses, he began to want more... At some point, Qi Xiao's hand slid under Bairen's loose robe. Touching who knows where, Bairen suddenly jerked his slender waist violently as if pricked by a needle.

Qi Xiao coaxed him soothingly in a low voice while using his leg to skillfully press down on the back of Bairen's knees, pinning him tightly under his body. His hands became even more unrestrained, sliding down Bairen's taut waist, gently caressing Bairen's firm, delicate skin. Bairen could bear it less and less, and couldn't help but beg for mercy, "Crown Prince... don't... I feel uncomfortable..."

"You won't feel uncomfortable in a moment." Qi Xiao casually placated him, doting, "Be good... let me take care of you..."

Bairen trembled all over. He was terribly frightened, his eyes instantly misting with tears. Seeing this, Qi Xiao's heart ached. He said softly, "Don't be afraid... It doesn't hurt, right? Does it hurt?"

Bairen honestly shook his head. It really didn't hurt, but being pressed under Qi Xiao like this still made him so nervous that he couldn't help shaking. Qi Xiao laughed softly. Just as he was about to remove Bairen's underpants, Jiang Deqing suddenly entered the warm chamber.

He said in a low voice, "Crown Prince, the spy came to report that this morning, the second son of the Lingnan Prince's manor went out to visit Prince Shun. It may or may not be a coincidence, but less than half an hour later, Princess Kangtai's sedan also left... heading for the palace."