Chapter 22: Three Quarters at Noon

The next day, the sun was high in the sky, and the two were still asleep. That is when a guard knocked on the door and said, "Third Prince, Miss Violet has had a conflict with someone in the side hall."

Lu Rongshi responded absentmindedly, sat up, and gradually regained consciousness. Seeing the person lying next to him, his face suddenly turned red, and he recalled the scenes of last night. Alcohol is really harmful!

While thinking this in her mind, she tried to move her hands as lightly as possible. She tiptoed to put on her clothes and was about to step over Jiang Li'an to get out of bed, but Jiang Li'an grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

Lu Rongshi lost her balance and fell on Jiang Li'an's chest. Jiang Li'an squinted at her and whispered, "Why, you want to play the scumbag? You're so ruthless?"

Lu Rongshi's face, which had finally calmed down, turned red again. She knew Jiang Li'an was teasing her and said lightly, "Why are you using such foul language? I just need something. Let me go."

Jiang Li'an started to act like a rogue. How could she give up the softness in her arms so easily? No matter what Lu Rongshi said, she just wouldn't let go and kept wrapping her arms around Lu Rongshi's waist tightly. Lu Rongshi had no choice but to sigh softly and said, "Jiang Li'an, are you going to let go or not?" His tone was extremely dangerous.

Jiang Li'an didn't react for a moment, and still said: "No, you are mine, why should I let go."

Lu Rongshi's face turned red to his ears. Although the sweet words were pleasant to the ears, he couldn't keep his feelings.

Lu Rongshi activated her skills, and a stream of energy rapidly spread outward from her center. It flew straight to the door, making it crackle.

Jiang Li'an was stunned for a moment, and Lu Rongshi took the opportunity to turn over and get off the bed. If Lu Rongshi had not intentionally changed the angle, Jiang Li'an would have flown out.

Lu Rongshi got out of bed and walked to the door. Looking at Jiang Li'an who was still in a daze on the bed, he couldn't bear it and said, "This time, I will let you know who is the master of this house!" After that, he opened the door and went out.

Jiang Li'an took a long time to come back to his senses, thinking about the "this home" in Lu Rongshi's words, looking at the empty arms, he couldn't help but recall the lovemaking last night.

It was strange. She wasn't drunk last night, so how could her blackouts be worse than Lu Rongshi's? She really couldn't remember what happened after she saw Lu Rongshi being pinned down by her.

But at this moment, she saw the white jade pendant on her chest. She picked it up and observed it carefully. Sure enough, there was a very small scratch on the back with the word "Qi" engraved on it.

She felt helpless, as it was indeed her master who did it.

On the other side, Lu Rongshi felt a little uncomfortable in her lower body after she went out. She saw her eldest sister outside the door, arms folded across her chest, looking at her with amusement, and said, "Why is our Third Prince sleeping until noon?"

Lu Rongshi's eyes wandered as he made up an excuse: "I stayed up too late catching up with an old friend yesterday, which led to me sleeping in this morning."

Xue Xi didn't really care about that. She just continued, "Your witch lady is in conflict with someone else. Will you intervene or not?"

The side hall is usually used to accommodate foreign guests. Recently, only the white-robed witch lives here.

At this time, outside the main gate of the side hall, there was a group of palace maids and guards who were watching the fun.

"You really don't want to go back with me?" the white-robed witch said with a stern face.

“No! I don’t want to see Mommy again!” On the other side, Violet’s eyes were red, but she refused to give in.

If you didn’t know, you would think that the woman in white was bullying Violet.

The woman in white robe glanced around and then looked at the person in front of her, with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

But she still didn't let him off the hook, saying, "If that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

As he spoke, he used his hands to form a magic circle, his figure gradually became blurred, and he was about to take action.

Violet was shocked. She hadn't expected her sister to go so far. She also activated a defensive formation.

But at this moment, a figure flashed by, and Lu Rongshi flashed between the two of them. The white-robed witch stopped her attack, and Violet also put away the magic circle.

The vortex created by the formation ruffled Lu Rongshi's hair. Lu Rongshi said with dignity, "I don't think it's appropriate for you two to fight in the palace of Daqi."

Neither of them said anything. Lu Rongshi continued, "Since there's a conflict, why don't you let me make a ruling? While I may not be impartial, I will certainly be fair and just."

Jiang Li'an looked at the pretty figure from afar, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise, and he almost declared loudly that she was his wife.

In the afternoon, the three of them came to the side hall, and the white-robed witch explained everything to Lu Rongshi and apologized deeply for concealing her purpose.

It turns out that this person's name is Weihong, and she is Violet's biological sister.

Violet ran away from home in a fit of anger. Her two mothers were extremely anxious, but they had to work and had no time to spare, so they had to let her go out to look for Violet. But now, they have found her, but they can't bring her back.

Violet complained, “You still have the nerve to say I’m angry? Look, I ran away from home and they didn’t even come to look for me! I don’t think they ever treated me like their daughter!”

Wei Hong narrowed her eyes and said, “Violet, you’ve become quite capable. When you ran away from home before, you just wandered around the empire, but now you’ve run off to the Central Plains?!”

Violet sat upright with her head bowed, looking very much like herself as a child when her mothers lectured her about doing something wrong.

Lu Rongshi was at a loss for a moment.

Violet said, “If they don’t come to me again, I will sever my mother-daughter relationship with them!”

“Violet!” Wei Hong shouted, her peach-shaped eyes brimming with anger. “How can you say that? Do you know how much mothers have sacrificed for you?”

Violet was stunned by Weihong's words and stopped talking.

Wei Hong was clearly furious, her chest heaving. She took two sips of herbal tea to calm herself before continuing, "When you were one year old, the Queen passed away. Various nobles rose up in arms to usurp power. Before her death, the Queen had already chosen her mother as the next Queen. Because you were still young at the time, she was afraid you would be swept into the vortex of power. So, she gave up the fight for the throne and let someone who wasn't worthy take the throne!"

Violet was shocked. She had never heard her mother talk about this before, but now it seemed like a dream, yet it felt so real. She also understood why her mother and mommy always quarreled and always talked about "that usurper."

Two mothers paid an enormous price in exchange for her carefree childhood, but she was sulking here, and she actually enjoyed such childish behavior.

The relationship between the two gradually became strained. Lu Rongshi cleared his throat and smoothed things over. "Ahem, now that everything's been made clear, you two should have made your own decisions. On one side is my capable assistant, and on the other is the Witch Empire's 'envoy.' I'm caught in the middle, so it's difficult for me to take sides. Since you've both spoken openly, it's up to Miss Violet to make the decision."

Wei Hong calmed down, turned to Lu Rongshi, bowed, and said, "I already know that it was Your Highness who saved my sister's life and took care of her for so long. I would like to express my deepest gratitude."

Lu Rongshi waved his hand and said, "We each take what we need. No need to thank me."

Even though Lu Rongshi said this, Weihong still wanted to do something to repay her.

And at that moment, they really needed a capable assistant. After Lu Rongshi saw that he couldn't refuse several times, he agreed and placed her opposite Violet's bedroom.

It would have been fine if she hadn't been resettled. Once she was resettled, Violet's secret lover was exposed, and Weihong and Violet had another conflict.

It has to be said that Violet was very persistent about the issue of a lifelong partner, and in the end she did not compromise at all, which deeply moved Luo Zhen.

Weihong was very angry. Finally, Lu Rongshi had no choice but to move her to the bedroom on the other side of the palace.

The investigation into the conspiracy had been put on hold for a while due to Jiang Li'an's injury, but it should have been picked up again now.

Lu Rongshi looked at the relationship map in his hand and couldn't figure out which noble was so bold as to sow discord within the royal family.

Jiang Li'an sat aside, looking at the frowning Lu Rong, and suddenly felt a little distressed.

In recent days, he first took care of his own injuries, then dealt with the matter of the two witches, and now he has to investigate the conspiracy again. Lu Rongshi seems like a clockwork machine that never stops for a moment.

In addition, whether he had a good rest the next day or not, even though he was a martial artist, his body might not be able to handle it.

She came forward, sat on the table, stretched out her hands, and gently stroked her brows, smoothing out her frown bit by bit. She said softly, "Rongshi, you must be exhausted these days."

Lu Rongshi raised his head and looked at Jiang Li'an's unruly figure standing in the light, and he relaxed for a rare moment.

"Li'an, these are my family affairs, and you shouldn't be involved in them." Lu Rongshi gently held her hands and murmured.

Jiang Li'an turned over, came to her side, hugged her from behind, and whispered: "We have performed the Zhougong ceremony and have long been considered a family. Your business is my business. There is no question of whether I will get involved or not."

Lu Rongshi smelled a peaceful atmosphere and completely relaxed. He snuggled in her arms and said, "Li'an, what do you think? After I bring the thieves who murdered my mother to justice, how about we escape?" She raised her head and looked into Jiang Li'an's deep black eyes. "I'm really tired of the intrigues in this palace."

Jiang Li'an naturally wouldn't refuse, and said lovingly, "Of course I'll do as you say."

After a moment of tenderness, footsteps were heard outside the door. Since it was an office, it was not appropriate to be too presumptuous. Jiang Li'an returned to his seat, picked up a piece of osmanthus cake, and glanced towards the main door.

The person who came was Wei Hong. She said straight to the point: "Your Highness, we found a clue!"

In the past few days, in order to repay Lu Rongshi for taking in Violet, Weihong tried every means to help Lu Rongshi investigate the conspiracy. Finally, she found a clue by using the Wind-Listening Curse.

"It must be the He family. I used the Wind-Listening Spell to hear that the He family is plotting the next thing. Even if they are not the mastermind, they will be an accomplice!" Wei Hong said.

Lu Rongshi was in a dilemma. Speaking of the He family, one had to start from the retired emperor. At that time, the prime minister Zhu Huan received help from the He family and gave the He family a golden medal of immunity from death. His grandmother, Shirley, also gave the He family a lot of benefits, which led to the current aristocratic He family.

Speaking of which, this Zhu Huan seems to be Jiang Li'an's ancestor's mother?

This is not a easy task.

Seeing that Weihong seemed to be hesitant to speak, Lu Rongshi said, "Miss Weihong, please feel free to speak. As for whether the news is true or not, I will judge it myself."

Wei Hong heaved a sigh of relief when she heard her say that. "It's not a conspiracy, it's just that I read a fortune for His Highness last night and found out..."

Because of his own previous fatal accident, Jiang Li'an had already believed in her divination. Before she could finish, he asked anxiously, "What did you find?"

Wei Hong sighed and said, "Alas, Your Highness's Ziwei Qi is too weak, and it is not the fate of an emperor. Although things are in the hands of man, if Your Highness really wants to fight, I am afraid it will only be a lose-lose situation."

At the same time, in the backyard of the He family, a man with only one arm was half-kneeling on the ground, holding a heavy head and crying.

"Why! Why! I worked so hard to do this and that for you, and I did all kinds of bad things against my conscience! But you turned around and killed my wife and daughter! You have such cruel hearts! I won't let you go even if I become a ghost!" After saying that, he looked at his daughter's head in his arms and whispered, "Daughter, daddy is here to accompany you." He decisively drew his sword and committed suicide without even a moment's hesitation.

The man in fancy clothes beside him sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Graceful burial!"

A group of men said, “Yes!”

This person is none other than the current head of the He family, named He Ling. Although he is the head of the family, he is not in control of his own destiny. The ambitions of the family's side branches are gradually expanding, and they in turn control the main line. Now the He family is in a precarious situation.

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It's finally vacation time, I will update quickly later.