Phoenix: Rules Of The Harem
Chapter 4: The Flow of the Lute in Spring

"About those rumors .... have you heard of it, first brother?" Shao Ming Fei looked at Shao Mu Lan who was sitting in front of him, they were at Mu Lan's residence which was in the inner palace area not far from Grand Empress's residence, the Sun Palace.

Shao Mu Rong who was also there listened, he glanced at Mu Lan for a bit then took his teacup and sipped it gracefully. Mu Rong looked uninterested, but he was actually observing in silence. They made a small visit with Mu Lan who was busy reading the parchment scrolls and her two younger siblings with some light snacks in front of them.

Mu Lan placed the scrolls of parchment she read onto the table. "Sure, I'm sure everyone knows it."

"If that were true, the fourth sister would have made a huge profit. Truly an incredible fortune, fourth sister is so blessed." Mu Rong smiled faintly, his face very calm, unaffected by the thing that happened.

"She was a fool, but compared to us who were the daughters of concubines, she was the legitimate daughter of the Grand Empress. Brother, isn't this worrying enough?" Ming Fei did not understand, his two brothers looked calm, it was strange.

Mu Lan smiled, her third sister turned out to be very easy. He's too naive to follow a power struggle. "My sister, Empress Wei will not let her favored son suffer. Even if Empress Wei gave her son to the fourth sister, she would provide great support to the fourth sister who was certainly useless."

Mu Lan looked at Ming Fei gently, she continued her remark, "Maybe it's too late, I can't take Wei Yun Rui. But, I still have a chance for it, fourth prince Wei Tian Zhi, I am quite sure to get it. Not only fourth sister, but I will have great support from Empress Wei."

Mu Rong gave a small grin, his gaze mysterious and indecipherable. "Beware brother, it's probably not something you can deal with."

"What do you mean?" Mu Lan furrowed her brows, trying to understand Mu Rong's words.

Mu Rong stared at the many parchment scrolls piling up on Mu Lan's table, at a glance his gaze cooled. "You'll understand later."

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Ling Mei played her Guqin with a gentle rhythm, the young girl smiled as she closed her eyes. Ling Mei enjoyed it so much, as her flickering fingers touched Guqin's strings and plucked them slowly. It felt pleasant, so calm like a stream of water in a shallow river. Ling Mei looked at the peach tree whose flowers had now fully bloomed, her partially decomposed black hair fluttering from the gusts of wind that hit her body. For a long time, peace like this he did not feel, pretending to be an idiot was a troublesome thing. Ling Mei's eyebrows shot up, her eyes flashed faintly when she saw someone standing not far from where she was playing Guqin.

There, the fourth prince of the Wei Kingdom, Wei Tian Zhi looked at Ling Mei with a stunned look. So real, yet beautiful as a painting. Like a view of the Goddess from Heaven, Tian Zhi was surprised to see the beauty that emanated from a girl who was not far from him. Just then his face was heating up with a red hue adorning both cheeks to his ears, Tian Zhi had no idea what had happened to him. It was like there were many butterflies flying in his stomach and his heart suddenly beat very fast. His blood rippled, Tian Zhi chose to lower his head.

At a glance, Ling Mei's gaze cooled. Really troublesome! The girl didn't think anyone would see her. Ling Mei blinked her eyes, pretending to be unaware of the existence of the gentle-faced young man. Uh! Tian Zhi then realized it, she was the Fourth Princess of Shao Empire that was filled with rumors. Tian Zhi walked over, intending to greet the little flower princess Shao.

"Greetings to the Fourth Star of Shao Empire, may Your Majesty always be filled with happiness."

Ling Mei looked up with narrowed eyes and full of curious twists, "S-who?"

"I am Wei Tian Zhi, Fourth Prince of Wei Kingdom, Your Majesty." Tian Zhi smiled full of gentleness, a strand of hair as white as his snow fell covering half of his jade-smooth face.

Ling Mei nodded with her mouth slightly open, then she smiled widely. "Whoah! You're glowing! Like .... like the moon, it's beautiful! Did you come to play? My other brothers are on business, mom and dad are too. Do you want to play with me?"

Once again Tian Zhi's blood rippled, a red hue regrouped swiftly around his cheeks to his ears. How adorable! How could an imperial princess be as adorable as this?

"Sure, if Your Majesty permits. I dare not refuse."

In her heart Ling Mei understood, so this kind of thing was what Empress Wei meant. Approaching naturally and pretending without any particular intent. This is the second time this has happened, whether by chance or not. What an amazing plan! One of Wei's young masters would probably be her future concubine. Haaa. This is not going to be good. Things like this, actually Ling Mei did not need it. Since the eldest wanted to play, then this princess would gladly serve him. Still with a childish smile, Ling Mei pulled Tian Zhi's hand and took him sitting beside her.

It really is the blood of the Wei descendants! Not much different from his brother, this Fourth Prince of Wei had a beautiful face and was also alluring. With the beauty of a moonlight bath, clear blue eyes like water, and soft snow-white hair was also cold. The young man looked calm and holy, so simple yet still shining. Ling Mei grinned thinly with glittering eyes, this innocent young man would be used for the sake of power. Even if Tian Zhi became his concubine, Ling Mei could not be sure that she would give him love, there would probably only be a chill for him.

"You! How old are you?" in an innocent tone Ling Mei asked Tian Zhi.

Tian Zhi turned his gaze to Ling Mei, looking at her with great pleasure. "I'm 17 years old, Your Grace."

"Then ... Tian Tian Gege! Can I call you that?"

"According to His Majesty's wishes, in this case it is an honor for me."

"Alright, alright. Tian Tian Gege, can you play this thing? Me, I'm so pissed! The empress' mother said Aunt Wei liked my game, and then she asked me to practice more. But Gege, I find it hard for some things. This really sucks!" Ling Mei looked at her Guqin displeased, she grumbled like a child with pursed lips.

"Of course." Tian Zhi nodded, a look of understanding visible on his glowing face. "If Your Majesty wants it, I will do it for you."

Speaking of beauty, Tian Zhi thought of painting Ling Mei in silk cloth and framing her beautifully. It seemed, Tian Zhi quite understood that he had fallen in love. The young man understood, the arrival of his mother, Empress Wei to the Shao Empire was not an ordinary visit. Her older brother, Wei Yun Rui and she had entered the marriage age. It was not impossible for Empress Wei to intend for the two of them to be escorts for the princesses of the Shao Empire. But, her heart had fallen for the pure little flower princess, even though Shao Ling Mei had entered the marriage age of a girl in general.

With the mental retardation, reputation and rumors she had, even if she was an imperial princess, was it possible to obtain a worthy escort?

....................

"Gui Lan, do you know where fourth sister is?" Shao Qiao Feng, the Fifth Prince of Shao Empire looked at his male servant with furrowed brows.

"According to Your Majesty's question, based on the information I heard, the Fourth Princess is in the garden area of her pavilion."

Qiao Feng nodded his head, the young man with an aura as bright as the sun was smiling happily. He misses his twin brother and intends to visit him. It had been a little while from the last time Qiao Feng had seen Ling Mei's face, plus the arrival of the Wei Royal family made her fourth brother even more busy. Ah, Qiao Feng had heard that rumor. There were many possibilities that Wei Yun Rui, the Second Prince of Wei Kingdom would become his brother-in-law in the future. Qiao Feng's gaze darkened, when he thought about it, he really disliked it.

"I'm going to visit Ling Mei Jiejie, you come with me!" Qiao Feng snorted softly, he wanted to meet Ling Mei with a good feeling.

(Jiejie or Jie: call for older sister).

Gui Lan lowered her head for a while, then replied. "Okay, Your Majesty."

Shao Qiao Feng walked in with full elegance, he was a handsome young man with an aura as bright as the sun filled with sparkles. He had a handsome, yet sweet face simultaneously. With her long golden hair and shining brightly, also a pair of golden eyes were charming and attracted anyone to take a closer look. Shao Qiao Feng was so smoldering and rich at the same time. In one more year the young man would enter the marriageable age, after all Empress Shao had ascertained a future wife for him. In a private and closed conversation, Empress Shao had given Qiao Feng absolute orders to marry someone.

Rumors about who would be Shao Qiao Feng's future wife were spread all over the empire. No one knew the name and likeness of the bride-to-be, only that everyone knew that secretly the fifth prince of the empire had been prepared for a future wedding. Qiao Feng entered the area of the Moon Pavilion with a pleased look on his face, he felt good. The young man felt impatient to meet his brother, his beautiful and innocent Ling Mei Jiejie. Qiao Feng smiled, he saw Ling Mei's silhouette inside the gazebo in the middle of the beautiful lotus pond.

Qiao Feng's gaze cooled, seeing Ling Mei sitting side by side with a man while playing Guqin. It looked like a painting and was full of romance, but Qiao Feng did not like it!

"Gui Lan, who is he?" the summoned one gasped, feeling surprised by his master's question.

"In reply to His Majesty, he is the Fourth Prince of Wei Kingdom, Wei Tian Zhi, 17 years old and unmarried. Following Empress Wei as a guest of the Shao Empire and will be here for some time to come."

"En, I get it." Qiao Feng grinned faintly, how daring! This would probably be a new rumor in the future and it was not a good thing for Ling Mei.

Back, Qiao Feng walked over to where Ling Mei and Tian Zhi were playing Guqin. Her soft yellow hanfu that was dirty hit the ground was left just like that.

"Jie-A, Qiao Feng came to visit."

Ling Mei and Tian Zhi turned their heads towards Qiao Feng, quickly the two got up from where they were sitting and immediately got closer to where Qiao Feng was standing.

"Feng! Feng! You're coming!" ling Mei's eyes twinkled looking at her twin brother. The fourth star of the empire smiled happily, Qiao Feng's arrival made him slightly loose from Tian Zhi.

Beside Ling Mei, Tian Zhi smiled politely. The Prince of Wei lowered his head, greeting the person in front of him. "Tian Zhi saluted the Fifth Prince of Shao Empire."

As well as Qiao Feng, following the rules, he lowered his head and greeted Tian Zhi. "Qiao Feng saluted the Fourth Prince of Wei Kingdom."

After which Qiao Feng looked back at Ling Mei, "Qiao Feng missed Jiejie so much, therefore Qiao Feng came to visit. This little brother did not know if in the fourth brother pavilion there was a guest, please for fourth brother to forgive Qiao Feng's impoliteness."

Ling Mei refrained from expelling the two from her pavilion, pretending to be stupid made her unable to do anything she wanted. This was an unpleasant thing, even Qiao Feng's slight arrival helped him remain troublesome. With a wide smile that she was trying to show Ling Mei shaking her head, one hand she pointed to the top of Qiao Feng's head and patted him gently and spoke cheerfully. "It's okay, Feng'er is not wrong."

Again, why do many people like to visit his pavilion for unimportant matters. Ling Mei felt that it was a nagging distraction, she became a fool for now. Making it can not do much widely, the secret should not be revealed for now. Not before he built his power and business empire. Tian Zhi who understood enough not to disturb the togetherness of brother and sister chose to return first.

"Peach flowers bloom beautifully, it would be great for my painting object. Your Majesty, I will return to the Orchid Pavilion to paint. Tian Zhi thanked him for the time he had given." Tian Zhi bowed slightly with his head bowed, he paid his respects to the Imperial Star.

With her acting like a fool, Ling Mei answered him with a childish tone that Ming Fei would probably ridicule if the young lady found out about it. "Good, fine. Tian Zhi must be careful, next time we can play again!"

One problem had been solved, but Ling Mei could not think that this was over. In front of him had now stood his twin brother Qiao Feng who might also intend to play with him. Secretly Ling Mei sighed tiredly, there really was no lasting calm! He wished Wu Jin who was in front of him with a few jugs of wine in his hand.