"I was really going to go down and save you, but my cousin got there before me, really." Second Prince Li Jingchen silently added in his heart, 'I just hesitated for a moment.'

Zhou Qiongyue saw through it but didn't say anything. She pretended to be confused and asked, "Really?"

"It's true, truer than gold." The second prince Li Jingchen assured repeatedly.

Zhou Qiongyue looked at the Second Prince for a moment. When he was about to say something to explain, she calmly looked away. "I'll just trust you this once! You have a conscience."

Zhou Qiongyue felt that it was pointless to pursue the question of whether or not she wanted to be rescued. After all, they and the Empress's faction naturally shared a common interest. Furthermore, in terms of status, he was a prince, while she was merely the daughter of a minister, relying on her mother's fame.

Hearing that his cousin believed him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to lie down next to his cousin and chat with her.

As for boys and girls aged seven and under not sitting at the same table, there were servants all around them and they were in the yard, so what could happen?

Zhou Qiongyue saw the Second Prince Li Jingchen lying on the recliner, then she turned around and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" The Second Prince saw his cousin looking at him with strange eyes, but he didn't feel offended. He could see that his cousin's eyes were very different from before, without the previous admiration. He thought it was good.

"I was thinking, why did my cousin come to visit me when I was sick, but he came empty-handed?" Zhou Qiongyue felt that she should ask for some compensation, because it was her cousin who did not save her.

The Second Prince, Li Jingchen, was silent for a moment, then he pulled out a land deed from his sleeve, tossed it to Zhou Qiongyue, and jokingly said, "Why didn't you call yourself a servant when you asked for something?"

Zhou Qiongyue immediately took the deed and saw that it was actually for a hot spring villa near Yuan'an. She immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, second cousin!"

Second Prince Li Jingchen was relieved to see that his cousin really liked it. He thought it would be all right if he could coax her. However, he still casually asked, "Looking at you being so obsessed with money, why didn't I realize you liked these vulgar things so much before?"

"I used to think that my second cousin treated me like his cousin, so he definitely wouldn't dare to be presumptuous. Now that my status has been upgraded, hasn't my second cousin said he treats me like his own sister? Why should I be so polite to my own brother? The point is that I don't have a sister-in-law yet. Once my second cousin gets a royal sister-in-law, I won't be like this anymore."

Zhou Qiongyue, possessing her previous memories, was quite calm. She had always been very flattering towards her cousin, eager to give her second cousin a share of any goodies she had. She hadn't had time to reveal anything else, so it was easy for her to explain.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a way to please the prince cousin.

When the second prince Li Jingchen heard what his cousin said, he cooperated and thought about his previous behavior, which was similar to looking at something glowing. He was speechless for a moment. It turned out that he had made a mistake.

"So that's what you thought? Then why didn't you object when they joked about us being childhood sweethearts?"

Zhou Qiongyue thought about the Second Prince's words and took a deep breath. Could she refute the Emperor and the Empress? Fortunately, the original owner cared about the Second Prince and didn't do anything stupid.

But the Second Prince himself did not refute it, and he had the nerve to ask her. If it weren't for... Never mind, he is a prince. Zhou Qiongyue could only take the route of lying down, "What is their status? What is my status? I am not in a hurry to get married."

"You...you are right!" The second prince finally had to admit that Zhou Qiongyue really had no way to explain this matter.

"You have someone you like now, so you can explain it yourself! If you want me to explain it, that's not impossible!" Zhou Qiongyue said and made a gesture of counting money.

The second prince Li Jingchen didn't understand at first and looked at Zhou Qiongyue in confusion.

"Benefits! How can you ask someone to do something for you without giving them any benefits?" Zhou Qiongyue was helpless. She wondered if the Second Prince's intelligence could really make him the winner. Surely there wouldn't be any unexpected changes as described in the novel?

After the Second Prince Li Jingchen understood, he rolled his eyes at his cousin for the first time and comfortably ate the snacks beside Zhou Qiongyue. "No more. The hot spring villa that my father just gave me is now in my cousin's hands."

"Then second cousin, please explain it yourself!" Zhou Qiongyue spread her hands indifferently. She felt that she didn't care at the moment.

Moreover, she recalled the emperor's hints over the past few years, and the emperor probably didn't want her to marry her cousin. Their Zhou family had already produced one queen, and the emperor would never allow the Zhou family to produce another.

If two consecutive empresses were from the Zhou family, the emperor would also worry that his in-laws were too powerful. By then, would the world belong to the Li family or the Zhou family?

So Zhou Qiongyue thought that as long as she found a suitable opportunity and told the emperor that she regarded the second prince as her own brother, the emperor would be happy to grant her a marriage or something.

The second prince thought for a moment, then pulled out a jade pendant from his sleeve. Judging from the style, it was clearly a women's piece. The second prince, Li Jingchen, pinched the jade pendant again and again, and finally put it in his cousin's hand.

"Yes, benefits."

The Second Prince felt that his own explanation was unconvincing. It would be disastrous if Miss Xie misunderstood that he and his cousin had something going on, so he decided to spend some money and ask his cousin to explain as well!

Zhou Qiongyue picked up the jade pendant in her hand and examined it carefully. Seeing that it was indeed a rare and exquisite piece, she smiled and said, "Second cousin, did you get this jade pendant legitimately? I don't want to use someone else's things. It would be bad if there was any dispute later."

Zhou Qiongyue said this to block the escape route for this cousin of the Second Prince. The jade pendant on his body was obviously not prepared for him, otherwise he would have given it to Zhuangzi when he gave it to him just now.

If it's not for me, then it's for the heroine! Zhou Qiongyue thought about the heroine in the book, but couldn't figure out what the heroine's current situation was. But just because she asked the Second Prince to come and explain things to her, she was not a good person.

If the heroine finds out and wants to go back, I won't give it to her, so she has to block the road in advance.

When the Second Prince heard his cousin's straightforward words, he replied without blushing or beating his heart, "This is what I prepared to make you happy, cousin. I just gave it to you in advance. Don't worry, cousin."

The Second Prince was also thankful that he hadn't yet told Miss Xie which jade pendant he would give her. He would find one for her when the time came.

Zhou Qiongyue weighed the jade pendant in her hand and happily promised, "Next time the emperor brings it up, I'll clarify it. Is that okay, cousin?"

Zhou Qiongyue showed that she was easy to talk to after receiving benefits, and she did it vividly.

"Very good, very good!" The second prince Li Jingchen was very satisfied with his cousin's promise. As long as his father had spoken, no one could match them up.