The Survival Rules of an Unfavored Daughter

  The Daiwang Mansion is the highest-ranking noble family in Shanxi, and this year's reunion dinner has almost all the prominent figures from Datong. Among them, Jing Wang Li Xiong from Beijing also attended by invitation, but men and women were separated and did not gather in the same room. All male guests were entertained by Prince Daiwang and his son in the front hall. After lunch, the ladies in the backyard excused themselves one after another, citing reasons such as having an elderly mother or young children at home who needed care.

  The princess dowager of Dai didn't understand why these women, who usually loved to curry favor during peaceful times, were all fired up today. But today she was indeed not feeling well, and earlier had also offended General Town, the Marquis of a national defense. And General Town, Fang Zhiyi, was on good terms with Li Xiong, the King of Jing in the capital, who currently controlled the military affairs of Shanxi Province and had under him Grand Eunuch Wang Zhi and others such as Zhang You, the Vice Director of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although the princess dowager didn't understand politics, she also knew that although the emperor had confined the old king, he still harbored suspicions against the Daiwangfu and would try every means to find fault with them. Li Xiong and the Prince of Dai were uncle and nephew, but as relatives of the imperial family, their relationship was weak. Moreover, in recent months, none of Li Xiong's actions had been for the benefit of the Daiwangfu. And Grand Eunuch Wang Zhi and Vice Director Zhang You, although ostensibly here to supervise the military affairs of Shanxi Province, who didn't know that they were actually the emperor's spies? Now the Daiwangfu looked prosperous, but in reality it was like thin ice, and if one wasn't careful, one would fall into an abyss. And earlier her daughter had shown disdain and neglect towards General Town's sister, she didn't dare think about it anymore. Hopefully she was worrying too much, and hopefully the news she had heard was true - how could Fang Zhiyi, a legitimate descendant of a noble family, be so close to a younger sister who was born out of wedlock?

  But anyway, the king's concubine still had to swallow her pride. When Ruoyi was about to leave, she personally pulled Ruoyi's hand and apologized profusely: "My son has wronged you earlier, please don't take it to heart. My daughter is young and impulsive, doesn't understand things, if there's anything that offended you, please forgive her." As she spoke, she took a sandalwood box from the maid's hand and personally handed it to Ruoyi: "This is a small token of my apology, consider it a gift to calm your nerves, I hope you'll accept it with a smile."

  As soon as Ru Xing took over the sandalwood box, Lu smelled a faint scent of sandalwood and was shocked in his heart. These royal families were really extravagant, even the boxes used to store things were so valuable. No wonder the emperor would be jealous and take action to reduce their power. It's really these dragon sons and phoenix grandchildren who don't work hard, only eating and drinking, and love to cause trouble, relying on the imperial family's backing, and are also particularly good at having children and raising them. If this continues, the national treasury of the Great Qing Dynasty will be emptied.

  However, the belly was still a bit uneasy, and she couldn't help but feel guilty as she looked at the old face of the substitute queen that even high-quality rouge couldn't cover up. "I'm afraid I've ruined your daughter's marriage to the Governor of Guangdong's family. Now it should be me who apologizes?" As she thought about this, she saw the gray-green color on Mrs. Hong's handkerchief and immediately changed color. Then, she helped arrange the bowls and chopsticks for her, and even deliberately exchanged seats with other noblewomen to sit across from her, asking her polite but insincere questions. This person was none other than the future mother-in-law of the princess of the Daiwangfu, the wife of the Governor-General who controlled Guangdong.

  Rouying hugged the heavy box, went out of the gate, got on the carriage, and was still thinking in her heart, hey, suffering a little hardship can make such a big fortune. But also thought about whether this counted as bribery or not.

  Just as I was lost in thought, a familiar arrogant voice suddenly came from outside, "Halt."

  Li Xiang rode on a tall and majestic horse, wearing a black sable cloak with a white ermine hat adorned with a sparkling gemstone, which complemented his piercing eyes under the brim of the hat, exuding an aura of majesty.

  "Halt, I have something to say to you." Li Xiu pulled the reins, his fine horse standing sideways in front of the carriage, forcing the coachman to stop and bow his head in respect. "Your Highness, my young mistress is not allowed to see any outsider men easily. If Your Highness has anything to say to me, I'll convey it."

  Li Xiao hummed softly and shook his whip, saying proudly: "I'll just say two words to your family's young lady and then I'll leave."

  Linglong's heart skipped a beat as she sat in the carriage, her face filled with worry as she gazed at Ruqing, "Miss, this man has indeed come to stir up trouble."

  She quietly sat on the cushion covered with Xiangtan velvet, slightly lifted a corner of the curtain and replied in a soft voice: "Your Highness, I have paid my respects. May I ask what instructions you have?"

  Li Xiang urged his horse forward, approaching Ruoqing's window. He saw that Ruoqing had only slightly lifted the curtain, revealing half of her face. Her complexion was solemn and she looked down, asking in a low voice: "Does the young lady still like the gift I sent earlier?"

  As if suddenly enlightened, Li Xiu also gave her a gift? How did she not know? With suspicious eyes looking at Li Xiu, she found him waiting for her answer with an expectant expression. Some thoughts flashed in her mind, but her mouth said: "I like it, Wang Ye is thoughtful. Ruo Qing hasn't even thanked Wang Ye personally yet."

  Li Xian was now suspicious, and had intended to bend down and examine the carriage carefully, but before he could do so, the curtain was suddenly let down, and a muffled voice came from inside: "Your Highness, please be careful."

  Li Xuli straightened his horse and his face and heart were burning with anger.

  The curtain of the car window opened again, revealing a pair of big eyes like autumn water, "Your Majesty, is there anything else to ask?"

  "...Li Xiao suddenly had a moment of stunned, close-range scrutiny, he suddenly realized that this little girl's eyes were really good-looking, like the sparkling lake water under the blue sky and white clouds, like the clear spring in the deep mountains, and even more like the treasure falling from the sky to the mortal world, emitting a tempting starlight, with a playful look, and also with a hint of mischief."

  Ruyue smiled lightly and blinked her big eyes, "Since everything is fine now, I'll take my leave first."

  "Wait." Li Xiao called out to her again. Just as Qing Yu had lifted the curtain, she suddenly couldn't find a reason to stop her.

  "Is there anything else, Your Highness?"

  Li Xiao stared at her for a moment, then suddenly asked: "The other day, the General's mansion sent someone to deliver gifts to me, were they all prepared by you?"

  Yurong smiled shyly, "Yes, Prince Wang and my brother are close friends. My brother is a straightforward person, he doesn't understand these trivial matters of preparing gifts, so I've prepared the gift for Prince Wang on his behalf. Does Prince Wang like it?"

  Li Xiao's face turned dark, and he coldly asked, "Who told you to send me the medicinal wine, and those... herbs?"

  With a lovely big eyes, an innocent face, "Qing has read medical books, using Lycium barbarum, Cornus officinalis, Morinda officinalis, Lysichiton americanus, Cordyceps sinensis, Euryale ferox, Cuscuta chinensis..."

  "That's enough." Li Xiao saw that she had actually recited it, and hastily stopped her, his face even darker, gloomily staring at her, "You're a young lady, how can you bear to give these as gifts?"

  She looked at Li Xiong with a sincere expression, "How is it that the king doesn't like them? In order to prepare gifts for the king, Ru Qing even specially consulted with the doctor from the pharmacy..." It was as if Ru Qing only now discovered that Li Xiong's face didn't look right, his complexion was about to smoke, and he swallowed hard, saying in a small voice: "Uh, is it that the king thinks the bullwhip and tiger bones are too small? This can't be blamed on Ru Qing, because she searched all of Datong's pharmacies for these, they're the biggest ones..."

  "That's... that's enough!" Li Xiang was so angry he couldn't speak, almost falling off his horse. But he took a deep breath and looked over from this angle, not missing the fleeting sly smile on her lips. Suddenly enlightened, he realized he had been played by this cunning little girl with a silver tongue.