Chapter 1461: Her Highness the Princess (7)

Lu Qing did nothing more than compose poems praising Tang Guo’s beauty, but because of Tang Guo’s previous attitude, he had no confidence that he could truly attract her attention. Thus, even when he wrote verses extolling a woman’s beauty, he never explicitly stated who the woman was.

What made him even cleverer was that one or two lines might seem to praise Tang Guo, while the next one or two lines could just as easily be interpreted as praising the Second Princess, Tang Xi.

Though Lu Qing himself said nothing, everyone in the imperial capital who was interested in him became obsessed with guessing the identity of the beauty described in his poems. Some believed he was praising Tang Guo, some thought it was Tang Xi, while others guessed it was some noble young lady from an official’s household.

“Your Highness, this servant believes Scholar Lu’s poems are praising you. Just look at how beautifully he writes.”

Juanzhu secretly observed Tang Guo’s expression. Seeing Tang Guo merely glance at the paper with obvious disinterest, she was momentarily speechless. More and more, she found herself unable to understand the princess’s thoughts.

“Your Highness, do you truly not think Scholar Lu is good?”

Tang Guo slightly raised her eyebrows. “Juanzhu, you have served by my side since childhood. Since when has choosing a prince consort become something you can influence? Whether I fancy Scholar Lu or not, when did that become your place to decide?”

“If you truly have feelings for Scholar Lu, I already told you before that I could personally grant you to him.”

Juanzhu was so frightened that she immediately collapsed to the floor. Her face turned deathly pale and her body trembled uncontrollably.

She had only thought that after serving the Princess for so many years, she was entitled to offer a few suggestions. As for Scholar Lu, she genuinely believed him to be excellent. Such a talented and handsome man—she simply could not understand why the Princess looked down on him.

Now that the Princess had become angry, she no longer dared mention the matter. Yet she also felt somewhat wronged. She truly meant well. Even throughout the entire imperial capital, men as outstanding as Scholar Lu were rare.

If Her Highness delayed making a decision, such a fine man would surely catch the eye of another woman. She had heard that the Second Princess also had her eye on Scholar Lu, which was why she had been so anxious.

“Your Highness, please forgive me. This servant will never dare again.”

“Get up. From this day onward, whoever dares mention Scholar Lu even once may get out of the palace.”

Those words proved highly effective. Not only Juanzhu, but everyone in Tang Guo’s palace knelt down together and promised never to mention Scholar Lu again.

Meanwhile, in the imperial capital, Lu Qing was still tirelessly trying to attract Tang Guo’s attention.

For scholars like him, the ways to catch a princess’s eye within the palace were no more than poetry, calligraphy, and paintings. Once they earned fame in the capital, the news would naturally make its way into the palace.

He could spend some silver to gather information from within the palace. Matters known to everyone were easy enough; palace servants did not mind sharing them.

However, someone like Tang Guo had already sealed off all information from her palace and even forbade anyone around her from discussing Scholar Lu. Not only outsiders, but even people inside the palace might not know what was happening there.

Naturally, Lu Qing had no idea that Tang Guo had personally blocked all information related to him.

No matter how hard he tried to display his talents, none of it reached her ears.

About half a month later, seeing no results, Lu Qing became deeply discouraged.

Fortunately, news still came from Tang Xi’s side. Yet inwardly, he remained extremely unwilling. From the very beginning, his target had been the Eldest Princess. Who in Northern Xia didn’t know that the Eldest Princess was the Emperor’s most favored child? She was born of the Empress herself and possessed the noblest status.

Several more days passed, and then Lu Qing heard a piece of news that filled him with delight.