Just as Li Tiao was about to discuss the issue of Xi Shi and Dong Shi with the Fourth Prince, she was caught off guard by the Fourth Prince's blunt question, and she lost her composure.

"I still want it." Li Tiao unconsciously blushed slightly, and quickly looked away from the Fourth Prince after speaking, but she couldn't help but confirm his thoughts: "Your Highness, what do you think..."

"I don't think so."

The cold, hard voice surprised Li Tiao but also made her more aware of her situation, almost forgetting that the Fourth Prince was "suspected of being impotent"!

She thought her attitude had hurt the Fourth Prince's pride, so she quickly explained, "Your Highness, what I meant was..."

"Li Tiao, you're getting bolder and bolder. Not only are you thinking of running away yourself, but you also want to take my child with you?! Why should I allow you to do that!"

"No, no, Your Majesty, you've misunderstood. What I meant was to bribe the imperial physician to fake a pregnancy, so that the Emperor might not think about killing me for the time being. Then, once this matter has passed, I'll find a way to miscarry..."

In fact, Li Tiao's idea was that as long as she didn't die, she should wait for an opportunity to leave quietly.

But she wasn't stupid, so naturally she couldn't admit to the Fourth Prince that she still wanted to run away, or that her desire to run away had become even stronger.

"Heh, as my princess, you don't even want to have my child. Why should I help you bribe the imperial physician? Of course, if you have a way to bribe the imperial physician yourself, I won't stop you."

Li Tiao's lips twitched involuntarily. Did this person have to be so hypocritical?

One minute she doesn't want to have children, the next she complains that she doesn't want to have children for him. It must be the worst luck of my life to have met such a difficult person.

When it comes to her own life, Li Tiao will not back down easily.

"Master, today we were dealing with the Qing Palace matter. You said my brain is just for show. Yes, I am not smart. You may not see other things, but there is one thing I do know."

That means someone must have been instigating Chunxi to go to the Emperor and expose the servant girl's true identity. Otherwise, how could Huanxi, a maid who was part of the dowry, have been so bold as to go directly to the Emperor to tell him about this?

What's more, she had previously told the servant that the scholar who ran away with the eldest daughter of the Li family was her own brother.

Who could make her so righteous as to betray her own family?

Not many people knew that this servant was an imposter, except for the master, the Eighth Prince, and Consort De. If the Eighth Prince had instigated Chunxi, he would have been exposed when the Emperor summoned him to the Qianqing Palace.

So it is quite obvious that it was Consort De who instigated Chunxi. She may have wanted to kill Chunxi, but her desire for the servant's death is also very clear.

Oh, and they even brought up the crown prince...

In this situation, what can a servant do if she doesn't think of a way to earn a living?

"Sir, you're always finding fault!"

Li Tiao's words, which began with passionate fervor, ended with a tone of deep resentment and pitifulness, filled with grievance.

The Fourth Prince's temple throbbed, and his tone softened a bit: "You are the kind of person who can foresee that I have great fortune. I haven't killed you, so it won't be so easy for others to kill you either."

"But what if the person who wants to kill me is the Emperor himself?"

"Isn't Father Emperor not yet harboring murderous intent?" the Fourth Prince retorted, but dared not look at Li Tiao.

"But……"

The Fourth Prince paused for a moment, then looked at Li Tiao: "You believe in me."

Suddenly, Li Tiao remembered how she used to solemnly tell the Fourth Prince, "Your Highness, please believe me." Of course, sometimes Li Tiao meant it sincerely, and sometimes she was just being perfunctory.

However, upon hearing the Fourth Prince say this, Li Tiao inexplicably began to believe him.

After a long pause, Li Tiao said, "Then you must keep your word, sir."

"nature."

Having said all that, Li Tiao felt that all her options were blocked and she could only temporarily trust the Fourth Prince.

After Li Tiao left the Fourth Prince's study, the Fourth Prince leaned back in his chair, trying to calm himself down.

"Don't try to guess the Emperor's thoughts," Li Tiao now understood the meaning of this sentence more deeply.

After that perilous incident at the Qianqing Palace, there was once again no further news.

Although there's a saying that no news is good news, Li Tiao didn't dare to comfort herself with that, after all, she was facing an emperor in a feudal society.

Substitute marriage is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor, yet Kangxi just kept quiet about it?

Did they really believe Li Tiao's words of defense in the Qianqing Palace that day?

It wasn't that Li Tiao was being overly pessimistic; rather, she could easily find many flaws in her own reasoning. Yet, Emperor Kangxi, who is known as one of the greatest emperors in history, was so easily fooled.

If things were that simple, Li Tiao wouldn't have tried so hard to run away in the first place. Who wouldn't want to give up a life of luxury and being waited on hand and foot instead of choosing to live a life of running for their life?

Li Tiao felt as if a knife was held to her throat, and she didn't know when it would strike.

Just as Li Tiao was anxiously wondering when the knife to her neck would fall, Consort De sent another message, saying she wanted to see Li Tiao.

It happened to be a time when the Fourth Prince was not in the palace.

Hongye quickly sent someone out of the palace to deliver a message to the Fourth Prince, and then went to Yonghe Palace with Li Tiao.

At the entrance of Yonghe Palace, Li Tiao unexpectedly ran into Chunxi, who looked extremely embarrassed.

Just as the two were about to step into the vermilion gate of Yonghe Palace, Li Tiao quickly dodged, creating distance between herself and Chunxi, allowing Chunxi to go first.

"Master, what's wrong?"

After Chunxi went inside, Hongye asked Li Tiao in a low voice.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!