The two embraced tightly, and both Yin Yue and Man Yue, who were reaching out their hands at the same time, were knocked aside by the rushing prince.

The scene was eerily silent for a moment.

The guards who were negotiating with the coachman who had hit their car reacted quickly, but only managed to rush to the side of the car.

Gan Qiongying hugged Li Hua's neck, and her first thought was—can a cripple's legs be so agile?

Even her guards couldn't snatch Li Hua away.

“Princess…” Yinyue wanted to ask her if she was alright, but Manyue covered her mouth.

However, Yin Yue's hesitation made Li Hua realize what he was doing. He immediately released Gan Qiongying and changed her position from hanging on him to placing her feet on the ground.

Then he let go and pushed her.

I pushed it, but it wouldn't budge.

The second push still didn't make it move.

Gan Qiongying held onto his neck tightly, forcing him to bend over slightly.

No matter what method we use, we can't let Li Hua leave.

Li Hua is really important, not only because Gan Qiongying is determined to get the 200,000 taels of silver notes every month, but also because Gan Qiongying needs to use him.

If he is truly a member of Zhongli, then keeping him under our watchful eyes is the best course of action.

If he were truly coerced by Zhongli's power, then he should be kept by his side even more. After all, his status as Princess Duanrong's consort would, at least until the climax of the plot arrives and Zhongli truly overthrows the Nanzhao Kingdom, protect Li Hua, who might be just like her, a pitiful person caught in a bind.

"Husband, I couldn't control myself just now." Gan Qiongying tearfully admitted that she had been lustful. After all, if she said it wasn't intentional, it would sound more like an excuse, which would definitely backfire.

"I will definitely restrain myself in the future." Gan Qiongying was very ashamed. After all, not every girl can admit to being lustful in broad daylight and in front of everyone, and not be able to control herself.

She wrapped her arms around Li Hua's neck, buried her face in his shoulder, and spoke in a muffled voice, as if she were being coquettish.

"Husband, don't go." She decided to be coquettish and whispered in Li Hua's ear, "From now on, I'll ask you, and if you don't want to, I won't do anything, okay?"

She's shameless.

How much is a face worth?

Is it worth 200,000 taels of silver per month?

As the saying goes, shamelessness makes one invincible.

Gan Qiongying's move was like a nuclear explosion, because Li Hua's hand, which was raised to push her shoulder, froze in mid-air after hearing his words, as if it had been frozen into a fossil by Medusa in mythology.

Li Hua is the type of person who responds better to gentle persuasion than force. When Gan Qiongying softens her tone, he foolishly agrees to move to the princess's residence.

Now that Gan Qiongying has pulled this stunt on him, he is so flustered that he doesn't know what to do and can only remain "fossilized".

In his entire life, no one had ever been so close to him, kissed him, hugged him, or acted so affectionately towards him.

Not only him, but even the maids and servants serving Gan Qiongying were shocked.

After all, they had never seen Princess Duanrong show such girlish behavior before.

She was a powerful figure, a domineering and arrogant princess who had everything at her fingertips.

However, things developed just as Gan Qiongying had predicted. Her persona might suddenly transform into that of a gentle and kind princess, leading people to suspect that she was possessed by a ghost.

But this wasn't the first time she'd acted like she was going to die for a man. This time, she changed her target and, while her coquettishness was surprising, it wasn't unreasonable.

After all, she was a notorious dissolute princess of Nanzhao, with hundreds of male concubines in her harem, and a well-known laughingstock of Nanzhao, famous for licking the boots of Zhongli Zhengzhen, the hostage from Jinchuan.

In short, with her 999 pure gold love-struck mind, it's no wonder she'd do anything for a man.

Therefore, her maids were only briefly shocked before exchanging glances and understanding each other perfectly.

Seeing that the situation had been brought under control, Gan Qiongying felt bitter but also thought that this method could be used more often in the future, as it would have many benefits.

She loosened her grip on Li Hua slightly, looked up at his face, and said, "Don't be angry anymore, let's go back to the manor?"

Li Hua was pulled forward a step by her, her mind seemingly frozen, unable to think of what to do next. She fell back into her seat and was then pulled by Gan Qiongying like a puppet towards the carriage.

Before the two could even get into the car, a cry came from not far away, drawing their attention.

"Please, Your Honor, spare my life! Spare my life! I didn't mean to cause the accident. Even if you gave me eight lives, I wouldn't dare to bump into your carriage!"

The old man's wrinkled face was contorted as he was grabbed by the back of his collar, making it difficult for him to breathe.

He was the owner of the oxcart that had just collided with Gan Qiongying's carriage. Because of the commotion on Gan Qiongying's side, the guards rushed over and didn't pay attention to him. He actually tried to secretly lead the oxcart away.

At this moment, he was caught by Gan Qiongying's guards.

"The bustling city is densely populated with vendors and crowds, making it an unsuitable route for transporting firewood. You're illegally transporting firewood in the city center; are you just wasting your time as a guard in the Imperial City Guard?"

"Come with me to the Imperial City Guard to report this. Today you bumped into the princess's carriage. Fortunately, the carriage was sturdy and did not overturn. If you continue to take shortcuts like this in the future, what if you bump into pedestrians and cause injury or death?"

"My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me! I'll never do it again, I really won't!" The old man cried, tears streaming down his face.

"It's because my grandson fell seriously ill, and we had no money for treatment. Coincidentally, Huixianglou needed firewood, so the old man took the risk, thinking he could deliver it and earn money for the medicine... Please spare my life..."

"My poor grandson is still waiting for his medicine at home. He has no parents and I am the only old man left to take care of him. Please, sir, show some leniency!"

The old man wept bitterly, moving the onlookers to tears and sparking much discussion. However, the guards of the princess's residence remained unmoved and insisted on taking him to the Imperial City Guard.

The leader was Chen Wa, Gan Qiongying's chief bodyguard. He was always cold-hearted and had sharp eyes. A few days ago, Gan Qiongying suddenly ordered someone to bring the prince consort to the princess's residence. It was Chen Wa who brought the prince consort back to the princess's residence like a prisoner.

The old man was crying and pleading, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly, and he looked like he was about to faint.

Li Hua snapped out of her daze of being coaxed by Gan Qiongying, looked at Chen Wa's face, and remembered being coerced a few days ago. She also thought about Princess Duanrong and what kind of person she really was.

He turned to look at her, but seeing that she was just a bystander and had no intention of stopping him, he instantly felt a chill in his heart and teeth.

Rumors circulated that Princess Duanrong was arrogant and wicked, but he forgot her true nature because of a few coquettish words from her.

When Li Hua saw the pitiful old man, her blood ran cold, as if she were seeing herself being humiliated and beaten in the princess's mansion.

He stood still.

"Hmm?" Gan Qiongying turned her head to look at him.

"The princess is truly magnificent." Li Hua looked at her, her eyes filled with disappointment, and said, "Does the princess intend for this old man to pay with his life today?"

"Ah?" Gan Qiongying felt utterly wronged.

Seeing her unsympathetic expression, Li Hua smiled self-deprecatingly, laughing at how he actually found her gentle. He raised his hand to shake off Gan Qiongying's hand that was gripping his sleeve and prepared to get into the carriage.

Ignoring the injury to his tongue, he angrily spat out a few words: "Sanjiu, let's go back!"

How could Gan Qiongying let him go back in a huff like that? She immediately stepped forward to pull him away, but he was tall and raised his arm to stop her from pulling him. His gaze towards her grew increasingly cold.

All those days of fooling him were for nothing, and now we're back to square one!

She then looked at the old man who was on the verge of death.

No matter how you look at it, Princess Duanrong was abusing her imperial power to bully commoners.

However, in the month since Gan Qiongying transmigrated, although she knew how arrogant and unruly the people around her were, she never interfered with how her subordinates handled things. It wasn't just that she wanted to fit the persona, but that she found these people to be just vicious on the outside.

She had more than 4,000 people in her princess's residence, and she had not met them all. However, after wandering around several times, she found that the entire residence was strictly hierarchical and orderly.

Even the servants don't fight each other without reason, which is naturally because the manager is clear-headed and skillful.

The head of the inner courtyard was Manyue, and the guard outside the mansion was Chen Wa. Both of them were conscientious and hard to find fault with.

For the sake of her own life, Gan Qiongying has come to understand the people around her thoroughly these days. They only appear fierce when they are united against a common enemy, and they would never make a move without a reason.

In a mansion with four thousand people, there are countless things to do. After being punished for a full moon, he dared not recover before coming to work. Chen Wa would not even take advantage of his position as the head of the guards to avoid night duty. How could they have the mood or the time to bully the weak and oppress the people?

Therefore, it is impossible for Gan Qiongying to only look at one side of the story, only pity the old and weak, and blindly beat and scold the loyal dog beside her.

Moreover, judging from Chen Wa's words, the old man did indeed break the rules, and he had just rushed out of the narrow alley. If he really only wanted to raise money for his grandson's medical treatment, even if he broke the rules, she could make an exception and have her people deliver the money to him personally. Once he arrived at the Imperial City Bureau, she could explain the situation and let it go.

Why is he acting so desperately?

However, with the current situation, more and more people are gathering around, pointing and whispering. If she were to actually hand the old man over to the Imperial City Guard for investigation, Princess Duanrong's act of abusing her imperial power to oppress commoners would likely add another stain to her infamous reputation.

Gan Qiongying didn't care much; her past meant she could never clear her name. She was content just taking care of her own life.

However, she also guessed that Li Hua's strong reaction was because he had put himself in her shoes and thought about what had happened to him.

She transmigrated to this world three months into her marriage. Li Hua had already been persecuted by Princess Duanrong several times. Now that she was Duanrong, she had no choice but to take the blame.

She turned around and immediately chased after Li Hua, grabbing him, but he shook her off. So she hugged him from behind!

"Oh, my husband, don't be in such a hurry!"

Gan Qiongying said, "It's no big deal. If you can't bear to do it, then you go and handle it."

Gan Qiongying grabbed his arm and shook it, looking at him and saying, "Do whatever you want with this, isn't that enough?"

She turned to Manyue and said, "Go and call Chen Wa back. Let the Prince Consort handle this matter."

Gan Qiongying said to Li Hua, "You need to resolve this quickly. You can't talk too much with your tongue, or it will tear again, and the medicine will be painful and bitter."

She took Li Hua's hand, her voice gentle, and squeezed his fingers, "I'll wait for you in the carriage."

She said she really handed everything over to Li Hua, had her people withdraw, and was helped into the carriage, watching Li Hua handle things through the carriage window.

In the past, even if the person involved in the car accident were a commoner, or even one of the princes of the court, there would be no reason for the princess to yield.

Such a concession was humiliating in Princess Duanrong's life.

Li Hua was caught off guard by this attitude; she would react this way and even leave the matter to him to handle.

He moved his lips, looking bewildered, as he watched her get into the carriage, push open the window, smile at him, and wave to urge him to hurry up.

Under her smiling, even indulgent and doting gaze, Li Hua felt an overwhelming heat surge in his chest, his ears turning almost to bursting red.