"Shush! Second Imperial Sister-in-law, please don't mock me any further."
Xian Wang quickly stopped Leng Ruo Li from continuing.
"Haha…"
Leng Ruo Li smiled brilliantly, her eyes curving.
This Xian Wang was the most comical among the Emperor's princes, the youngest, and the most playful and immature.
The last time he got drunk with Old Man Lu at the Cold Prince's manor, they were playing finger-guessing games and calling each other brothers. When Jun Mo Han found out, he had people carry Xian Wang directly to the palace and hand him over to Consort Shu for a good lecture.
Later, Leng Ruo Li heard that after Xian Wang was sent back to the palace, Consort Shu locked him up, forbidding him from leaving the palace. It had been almost two months.
She wondered how he had managed to sneak out of the palace tonight.
"Your Highness Xian Wang, how did you sneak out tonight?"
Leng Ruo Li asked him deliberately.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, I didn't sneak out tonight. Fifth Brother brought me out of the main palace gate in broad daylight," Xian Wang said proudly, tilting his head back.
As he spoke, Prince An beside him coughed lightly and said, "Second Imperial Sister-in-law, after I had lunch with you and the others today and returned to Prince An's manor, the Emperor summoned me into the palace shortly after. Unexpectedly, this brat pestered me when I was leaving the palace. He insisted I take him out. Later, I had to plead with Consort Shu for a long time before she agreed to let me take him out to play for one night… I took a great risk bringing him out tonight."
Prince An openly revealed Xian Wang's secret.
Xian Wang's face immediately darkened upon hearing this.
"Fifth Brother, please stop digging up my past. It's embarrassing," Xian Wang said with a pout, clearly displeased.
"Alright, I won't say any more," Prince An decided to shut his mouth.
Among his brothers, he liked Prince Ji and Prince Xian the most because they had no ulterior motives, and he could relax when he was with them.
As for his other brothers, the eldest, Prince Shou, was often sickly and disliked interacting with people. The second, Prince Leng, had a cold demeanor, making him unreadable and unapproachable. The third, Prince Ning, was low-key, deeply cunning, and ambitious. The fourth had already passed away and would not be mentioned.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, Fifth Brother and I just rented a small boat. Why don't you join us on the boat for some fun?" Xian Wang suddenly remembered this.
"Oh, Xian Wang, we'll pass. You two brothers continue playing. Xing'er, Ye Ying, and I will just stroll along the riverbank and then head back to the Cold Prince's manor."
Leng Ruo Li firmly refused Xian Wang.
"Oh dear, Second Imperial Sister-in-law, you have no idea how boring it is to be with Fifth Brother. He just stood at the bow of the boat staring at the river, and when I asked him anything, he'd only reply with one word, 'Mm~'."
Prince An, standing beside them, immediately got dark lines on his forehead after hearing Xian Wang's words.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, I finally managed to sneak out of the palace tonight. Please come and play with me on the boat for a while," Xian Wang pleaded pitifully.
"Uh…"
"Alright then! We'll go up and play for a bit."
Leng Ruo Li felt that since Xian Wang had put it that way, it would be impolite to refuse further.
Thus, Prince An, Xian Wang, and Leng Ruo Li used their Qing Gong to fly onto the small boat. Ye Ying, carrying Xing'er, also flew onto Prince An and Xian Wang's small boat.
Actually, after Leng Ruo Li flew onto Prince An's boat, she discovered that the small boat they rented was not small at all. It had two rooms. The upper level was for resting, and the lower level was for listening to operas and enjoying food and drinks.
However, on Prince An and Xian Wang's small boat, besides two guards and two servants, there was no one else. The boat felt very desolate, which explained why Xian Wang said he was bored with Prince An.
In such a quiet environment, anyone would feel bored.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, what do you think? Isn't this small boat we rented beautiful?" Xian Wang said proudly.
Hearing this, Leng Ruo Li nodded and said, "Mm-hmm, the design of the boat is indeed very nice."
"But, Fifth Brother and I were on this boat, and we didn't know what to do. It was incredibly boring. I originally wanted to call Sixth Brother to join us, but he made another mistake today. He's currently being punished by the Emperor to copy books. Alas, poor him! Poor him!"
Xian Wang felt great sympathy for Prince Ji's predicament.
As a result, Xian Wang's words left Leng Ruo Li utterly bewildered.
"Your Highness Prince An, when Prince Ji was dining with us at noon, he seemed perfectly fine. Why was he suddenly punished by the Emperor?"
Leng Ruo Li asked him curiously.
"This afternoon, Sixth Brother and I were summoned to the palace and both asked two questions by Father. Sixth Brother couldn't answer them, so Father punished him by making him kneel and copy books. He'll probably have to spend the night in the Palace of Heavenly Purity and can't return to Prince Ji's manor," Prince An explained with a smile.
Leng Ruo Li: "..."
She was somewhat curious about what questions the Emperor had asked them, but she couldn't ask directly, so she had to keep her curiosity to herself.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, I heard from Imperial Grandmother that you have many fun things on hand. Why don't you take out something fun for us to play with?"
At this moment, Xian Wang's words pulled Leng Ruo Li back to reality.
In fact, this was the true purpose behind Xian Wang tricking Leng Ruo Li onto the boat to play. He was fixated on the good things Leng Ruo Li possessed.
Leng Ruo Li: "..."
"Then what do you want to play with?"
"There's poker, various chess sets… and Mahjong, but Mahjong is too large, so I can't carry it with me, meaning we can't play it now."
Hearing this, both Xian Wang and Prince An were stunned.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, how do you have so many fun things on hand? And I've only heard of two of these fun things: poker, which Imperial Grandmother loves to play the most, and Go. However, I don't want to play either of these," Xian Wang said with a troubled expression.
"Then shall I teach you how to play Chinese Checkers?"
Saying this, Leng Ruo Li took out a Chinese Checkers board from her sleeve.
As soon as she took out her Chinese Checkers, it aroused everyone's curiosity.
The colorful little beads were very attractive.
"Second Imperial Sister-in-law, how do you play with these little beads? We've never seen them before."
As soon as Leng Ruo Li took them out, Xian Wang eagerly questioned her.
"This is what I just mentioned, Chinese Checkers. It's an educational toy game," Leng Ruo Li briefly introduced it to everyone.
"But we don't know how to play!"
Although Xian Wang said this, he was already itching to play as he looked at the board Leng Ruo Li had taken out.
"I'll teach you how to play now," Leng Ruo Li quickly said.
Afterward, Leng Ruo Li instructed the servants on the boat to prepare tea and fruits and place them on the table. Counting six people – Leng Ruo Li, Prince An, Xian Wang, Ye Ying, Xing'er, and one of Prince An's guards – which was enough for one game of Chinese Checkers. Those remaining who wished to play could take turns.