Bai Chuxiao hadn't expected him to do this so suddenly. She slapped his hand away, blushing, and said, "What are you doing? It's getting late, let's go for a walk."

Without even looking at him, she left. Chu Tianze watched her retreating figure, a broad smile on his face, shook his head, and followed her out. After walking for a while, they saw the Crown Prince and Bai Chuwan chatting in a pavilion not far away.

Upon seeing them, the Crown Prince called out, "Seventh Brother, Miss Bai, please come and sit down with us."

Chu Tianze said indifferently, "His Highness the Crown Prince hasn't left yet."

The Crown Prince chuckled, "Since you've come to see Madam Xie, we should naturally wait until Chief Physician Zhang has finished his examination and given his results."

Bai Chuxiao remarked with amusement, "His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed considerate of his subjects, showing such concern for the family affairs of court officials."

The Crown Prince twirled the jade thumb ring on his hand, "You're mistaken. From now on, we're family. As Wan'er's mother, I should naturally show her more care."

Bai Chuwan was delighted to hear this and looked at the Crown Prince with deep affection, saying, "Crown Prince Brother is so kind."

The Crown Prince gazed at her affectionately, took her hand, and said, "Wan'er, this is what I should do."

Bai Chuxiao felt a surge of nausea, thinking to herself, "What did you do? Just a few words, and you're trying to seduce a young girl." However, Bai Chuwan seemed to be enjoying the show, so Bai Chuxiao simply watched.

A short while later, Bai Linan arrived with Chief Physician Zhang. The Crown Prince asked, "Physician Zhang, how is Madam Xie?"

Zhang Yuandao shook his head, "Your Highness, Madam Xie is merely experiencing excessive worry and is somewhat disoriented. She is physically fine and simply needs rest."

These past two days, Bai Chuxiao hadn't given Xie any medicine; she'd simply sent people to dress up as ghosts and scare her every night, which had already frightened her quite a bit. She was indeed severely frightened, so Zhang Yuandao naturally couldn't tell anything was wrong.

The Crown Prince sighed softly, "That's strange. How could things have turned out this way out of nowhere?"

Bai Chuwan bit her lip. The Crown Prince, unaware of the situation, had always wanted to get closer to Bai Chuxiao and the Prince of Yan. It wasn't easy to bring this up with the Crown Prince, and Bai Linan certainly wouldn't reveal a word about it.

Bai Chuxiao smiled gently, "Yes, why is Aunt Xie acting like this all of a sudden? Did she do something wrong and get scared? I heard that Aunt Xie has been saying that there are ghosts these past few days."

Chu Tianze immediately chimed in, "Oh? Is that so? That's strange."

Bai Chuwan quickly spoke up, "Elder sister, it's just the servants in the manor gossiping. There's nothing wrong with it. Mother is just overworked lately and is tired."

Bai Linan also secretly harbored suspicions. Could it be that his eldest daughter was indeed behind this? However, he couldn't question her at the moment, so he also scolded Bai Chuxiao, "Chuxiao, don't talk nonsense. How can you criticize the mistress of the house in front of the two princes? What kind of behavior is that?"

Chu Tianze said coldly, "Why is the Left Prime Minister so agitated? It's only because His Highness the Crown Prince is concerned that Xiaoxiao came out to clarify things. Besides, Xiaoxiao is the legitimate eldest daughter of the household, with a noble status. Why can't she speak ill of Madam Xie?"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince was somewhat displeased. After all, he had already decided to marry Wan'er as his Crown Princess, yet the Seventh Prince implied that Wan'er and her mother were inferior to Bai Chuxiao in status. Furthermore, Bai Chuxiao clearly knew about his relationship with Wan'er, yet still addressed him as "Aunt Xie" in front of her—wasn't this a sign that she didn't respect him, the Crown Prince?

He then said in a deep voice, "Seventh Brother, what do you mean by this? Although Madam Xie is Bai Xiang's second wife, she is still the proper lady of the house, and Wan'er is also a legitimate daughter. Miss Bai should address her as 'Madam' with respect. How can you be so disrespectful? What kind of behavior is this?"

Hearing the Crown Prince speak up for them, Bai Chuwan felt a sense of security again, and quickly said in a pitiful tone, "Wan'er always respects eldest sister, but why do you always speak ill of me and mother?"

Bai Chuxiao chuckled, "Your Highness, why are you meddling in women's affairs when you're supposed to be meddling in everything? How I act is a matter for my own household, and it's none of Your Highness's business."

Hearing her disrespectful tone, Bai Linan roared, "You unfilial daughter, shut up! You mustn't be disrespectful to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhang Yuandao, on the other hand, kept his head down and remained silent. These were people he couldn't afford to offend, so he naturally wanted to minimize his presence.

Chu Tianze's eyes were filled with coldness. "Seeing how my elder brother and the Left Prime Minister are colluding, could it be that Father Emperor also bestowed a marriage upon my elder brother and Miss Bai without my knowledge? Perhaps I should go to the palace today to ask Father Emperor for clarification."

A flicker of panic crossed the Crown Prince's face as he snapped, "Seventh Brother, Father never said that! How dare you speak such nonsense?"

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, Zhang Yuandao quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, it's getting late. The Imperial Hospital has many matters to attend to, so I'd like to take my leave now."

The Crown Prince nodded; he didn't want to continue arguing with his seventh brother. "I also have many things to attend to. Headmaster Zhang, please come with me."

Bai Linan quickly said, "This old minister will escort Your Highness and the Chief of the Imperial Clan," then looked at Chu Tianze and asked, "Does Your Highness, the Prince of Yan, wish to...?"

Chu Tianze smiled knowingly. "It seems the Left Prime Minister doesn't welcome me. Why didn't you even ask if I wanted to come along?"

The crown prince snorted coldly, "Whatever," and started walking out.

Bai Linan and Zhang Yuandao quickly followed, while Bai Chuxiao smiled at Chu Tianze, "It's getting late, you should go back too."

Chu Tianze smiled and nodded. After they all left...

Bai Chuwan suddenly spoke up, "Elder sister, how could you be so disrespectful to His Highness the Crown Prince? Aren't you afraid of the Empress's wrath?"

Bai Chuxiao stared at her and smiled, "Second sister, I seem to remember telling you not to upset me. Have you forgotten so quickly? You're not the Crown Princess yet. Don't end up with nothing."

Bai Chuwan was furious. "You... then was it you who caused my mother to fall ill from fright recently? Eldest sister, we're still family, why are you being so aggressive?"

Bai Chuxiao chuckled, "Then we'll have to ask your mother what good deeds she's done in the past."

Bai Linan returned after seeing the person off, glaring at Bai Chuxiao and angrily said, "You rebellious daughter, kneel down! Now that you've grown wings, do you think you can disregard the Crown Prince and your father just because you have the Prince of Yan?"

Bai Chuxiao didn't care at all and said with amusement, "Is Father regretting now that he didn't strangle me when I was a child?"

Bai Linan flashed a look of panic, "What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever think that way? You're becoming more and more unruly these days. Your reckless words will only bring trouble to the Bai family sooner or later."

Bai Chuxiao chuckled, "Father, there's no need to be nervous. I was just saying it casually. Father is always one to change his tune depending on the wind. Even if I get into trouble, I'm sure it won't involve you, will it?"

Bai Linan's expression darkened slightly, but his tone softened, "What do you mean by this? I'm your father, we're all family, and naturally, I want the best for you."

Seeing his boredom, Bai Chuxiao said indifferently, "If Father has nothing else, I'll head back now." Without waiting for him to say anything more, she turned and left without looking back.