Qingyan looked at the Crown Princess's clenched fists, as if she was suppressing something.

"Your Highness, after the New Year, let the Crown Prince take her in. Her rank will be Gege (a lower-ranking concubine)." Seeing the Crown Princess's unpleasant expression, Kangxi could only sigh.

Qingyan was bewildered. What had happened at Changchun Garden yesterday? She looked at Yin, hoping he could clear things up for her.

"It is said that the Crown Prince was drinking at Changchun Garden yesterday when he happened to run into his half-sister, who was paying her respects to the Crown Princess. After drinking, ... he caused irreparable damage." Yin lowered his voice and spoke a few words to Qingyan while Kangxi was not paying attention.

Upon hearing this, Qingyan was not only astonished, but also realized that the Crown Prince had actually been framed. Although the Crown Princess had been enduring it all along, Qingyan could sense that he was quite pleased.

The group was talking to Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong, making Kangxi laugh heartily, while the children had long since disappeared.

"It's the New Year, so I won't keep you any longer. Go to the corridor and guess the riddles. The children have all gone over there!" The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction as she saw that her wives were all calm and composed, and arranged for her grandsons to take their wives to be alone for a while.

Yin accompanied Qingyan into the corridor. Qingyan looked at the riddles under the lanterns and a smile bloomed on her lips.

"Fourth Prince, is the Crown Prince unaware that he has been tricked?" Qingyan believed that the Crown Prince must know, otherwise, if he could so easily give in, would the princes be drunk, and would the servants around them be drunk as well?

"You guessed right. The Crown Prince must have made arrangements with the Guarjia clan. That woman was a candidate for the imperial concubine selection, but after returning from the selection, she didn't get married immediately. Instead, she's been waiting." Yin didn't have a good impression of these people; they were single-mindedly focused on climbing the social ladder.

Qingyan was taken aback. Shi Bingwen shouldn't be the type to curry favor with the powerful. Could it be that he still managed to make some kind of promise?