"Alice? What brings you here?"

Mrs. Qiu panicked a little. She had been reading in the study, and by the time she wanted to stop Alice from coming in, it was too late. Alice pushed the door open and came in herself, carrying her pajamas.

Alice put her pajamas on the sofa and used a toothpick to pick up some strawberries from the fruit bowl and eat them.

"Mother, I want to sleep here with you tonight."

"Ahem! Ahem!" Madam Qiu coughed twice on purpose, glancing at the bedroom door out of the corner of her eye, and raised her voice slightly, "Alice, what brings you here?"

"Mom, I want to sleep with you and chat tonight, okay?" Alice pleaded. "I have so much to tell you."

"It's still early, isn't it? We haven't even had dinner yet." Mrs. Qiu didn't want to refuse her daughter directly, as that would only arouse Alice's suspicion.

"I'm not eating yet. I've been running around outside all day and I'm exhausted."

Alice hasn't slept well since last night. She's been waiting for news from the search team all day and hasn't been able to rest properly. Now she's incredibly tired.

Alice got up, grabbed her pajamas, and headed to the bedroom.

"Wait a minute!" Madam Qiu said anxiously, blocking the doorway.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, puzzled. Her mother used to be so happy when she wanted to sleep with her, but now she seemed really strange.

"Oh, I locked the door just now. Let me open it for you." In her haste, Madam Qiu took out the key, inserted it into the door lock, and turned it hard, making a series of "click-clack-click-clack" sounds.

The bedroom door wasn't locked at all, but Mrs. Qiu still managed to open it after turning the key several times.

Squeak—

The door opened, and Madam Qiu's heart pounded. When she saw that her bed sheets were perfectly smooth, even tidier than when she had gotten up that morning, she finally let out a soft sigh of relief.

Alice carried her pajamas to the wardrobe, and Mrs. Qiu's heart jumped into her throat again.

There aren't many places to hide in the room; the two-meter-tall wardrobe is one.

squeak--

The wardrobe door was opened, Alice took down the hanger, hung her pajamas inside the wardrobe, and closed the door.

Madam Qiu clutched her chest, her heart pounding.

This is so exciting! Even though I'm completely innocent and aboveboard, I still feel like I've cheated on someone.

"Mother, are you alright?" Alice asked with some concern.

"I'm fine."

"But your face is so red."

"Ah?" Madam Qiu touched her face with both hands, her face flushed red. "It's nothing, I might just have a bit of a cold, cough cough!"

"Why don't you go back to your room and sleep, Alice?" Madam Qiu suggested. "I'm afraid I'll give you the cold virus."

"I don't want to! Mother is sick, so I should take care of you even more."

It seems Alice is determined to sleep here tonight.

As Mrs. Qiu talked to her daughter, she glanced around the room from the corner of her eye, but she did not see the figure of her "future son-in-law".

In this situation, it's even more crucial to prevent Alice from discovering Zhang Fan in her room, otherwise things will become completely complicated.

Madam Qiu pretended to wander aimlessly around the room, occasionally checking the windows. The windows were all locked, and couldn't be locked from the outside, meaning Zhang Fan hadn't gone outside and was still inside.

"How about we go eat first and then come back to sleep? Mother is a little hungry." Madam Qiu wanted to get Alice out of the way so that Zhang Fan would have a chance to leave her room.

“I have already instructed the servants to bring dinner to the room.” Alice took Mrs. Qiu’s hand and sat her on the bed.

Madam Qiu was stiff all over. She was terrified that she would suddenly sit on someone. Fortunately, there was only a quilt under her buttocks and no one was there.

Could he be hiding under the bed?

Sitting on the bed, Madam Qiu became even more nervous, but she dared not bend down to check under the bed in front of her daughter.

"Mother, I want to tell you something." Alice leaned against Madam Qiu like a little girl, her feet swinging on the edge of the bed.

"So, where is that guy now?"

"Ah?" Madam Qiu froze, stammering, "But, maybe, they've hidden themselves away..."

"I think so too, Mother. Where do you think he might be hiding?"

"I...I don't know," Madam Qiu said, fidgeting and avoiding eye contact with her daughter. "You...you all go outside and look for her. She might be hiding somewhere outside."

“But we’ve searched everywhere outside, and we can’t find him.” Alice frowned, somewhat worried. “Mother, do you think he might really have drowned in the sea?”

"No way, weren't they saying they didn't find his body in the sea?"

“That’s true.” Alice nodded, taking her mother’s hand. “Mother, do you think I did something wrong? But I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just wanted to scare him a little, since he treated me like that before!”

“You’re just a bit willful,” Mrs. Qiu said, holding her daughter’s hand. “You have a good heart, but you often use the wrong way of expressing yourself, which is why others are afraid to be your friend.”

"Well, I'll try to talk to him nicely from now on," Alice said, then added, a little angrily. "But he can't treat me like that! He threw me off the ring, scared me to death, and now he wants me to clean up after him? Why should I?! I don't want to!"

“You may not know this,” Madam Qiu said, affectionately patting her daughter’s head, “In ordinary families outside, it’s the wives who do the housework.”

"Is that so? Aren't all the housework done by the servants?" Alice said, her face suddenly turning red. "Who would want to be his wife! I'm not marrying him!"

"I will stay by my mother's side for the rest of my life and never be separated from her!"

"Silly child." Madam Qiu smiled and pinched her daughter's cheek. "What girl doesn't get married? If you don't get married, your mother will kick you out."

"I won't marry him!" Alice pouted, then suddenly remembered something and whispered, "Mother, do I really have to marry that Reinhardt for my 20th birthday?"

Lady Qiu paused for a moment, then asked, "You must have met Prince Reinhard, right? What do you think of him?"

“What prince? I think he’s just a grumpy old man!” Alice said with a look of disgust. “If my father hadn’t insisted on taking me to some New Year’s ball, I wouldn’t have gone to see him.”

“And…” Alice whispered, “I heard that Reinhardt has wives, and more than one!”

"Yes." Madam Qiu nodded.

Not only did he have a wife, but Reinhard also had countless mistresses outside the marriage.

But for these men, these things seem to be harmless, and they might even be proud of them in private.

"If, I mean if..." Mrs. Qiu suddenly asked, "if your future husband has some kind of ambiguous relationship with a woman in her thirties..."

"but!"

“But the two of you are absolutely innocent, and your husband has absolutely not done anything to betray you!” Mrs. Qiu said somewhat guiltily. “Then will you forgive your husband?”

"Yes," Alice nodded.

"Oh." Mrs. Qiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I will strip that old woman naked and hang her in a crowded square and beat her to death!” Alice continued.

"..." Madam Qiu was sweating profusely.

“If you don’t like that prince, leave the matter to me,” Madam Qiu quickly changed the subject.

"But Father..." Alice didn't pay attention to her mother's inexplicable words; her focus was still on herself.

"You are my daughter, and I will handle this for you."

"Thank you, Mother, hee hee!" Alice gave Madam Qiu a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to take a bath first, and then I'll go to sleep."

Mrs. Qiu watched with a smile as her mischievous daughter skipped away, taking off her clothes as she went, scattering them all over the room.

Next to the bedroom is a separate bathroom, and the "small swimming pool" that Zhang Fan mentioned is actually a giant bathtub.

Madam Qiu's smile froze on her face, and she immediately bent down to lift the sheet and look under the bed...

No!

Mrs. Qiu stood up and ran into the bathroom as if her bottom was on fire.

The scene inside the bathroom was immediately apparent: Alice was completely naked and was walking down into the "mini swimming pool."

The swimming pool was filled with milk, so white that it was impossible to see through it, and a layer of rose petals floated on the surface, making it impossible to see what was underneath.

Mrs. Qiu's gaze swept back and forth across the water's surface, and she soon spotted a spot on the other side of the pool where bubbles were constantly rising!

To make matters worse, Alice, completely naked, is heading there!

Mrs. Qiu's mind went blank. If the two met under these circumstances, the situation would be impossible to clear up, and Alice might even sever her mother-daughter relationship with her.

Alice absolutely must not find out that Zhang Fan is here!

In her haste, Madam Qiu didn't have time to think; she took off her clothes and jumped into the pool...