The Empress was left alone in the room. She never expected that the matter would be exposed, especially since no one usually went there. Thinking of this, the Empress ordered people to investigate the cause of the matter and find out what exactly happened.

Meanwhile, Su Lixia was having a lively chat with someone.

Taking advantage of the free time, Yuan Ruo hurriedly rode to Su Lixia's place.

Su Lixia was actually still sleeping in, but Xiao Lian thought it was a good thing. Knowing that he had come to see the princess, she didn't tell him that the princess was still asleep and quickly went up to wake Su Lixia up.

Second day of consistently waking up early!

“Let me tell you, there are plenty of easy and fun games like this where I live, you don’t have to be fixated on this one.”

It turned out that the two were chatting when Yuan Ruo suggested playing Gomoku with her.

Hearing Su Lixia say this, she couldn't help but feel a little aggrieved: "Yuan Ruo hasn't even learned this yet. If the princess teaches me something else, then there will be even more things that Yuan Ruo won't know."

Su Lixia's lips twitched. Men fall for this kind of coquettishness, and women fall for it too—not because they like it, but because they can't stand it…

So he quickly had Xiaolian bring the chessboard.

"Have you had breakfast this early in the morning?" Su Lixia suddenly asked.

"No, I got up early this morning to see the prince off at the manor, and then came straight here. I haven't eaten anything yet."

Su Lixia clicked her tongue twice: "I'm very touched that you've come to visit me, but how can you not eat? How can you have enough motivation to challenge me if you're not full?"

“That’s true,” Yuan Ruo agreed.

So Su Lixia turned to Xiao Lian and asked, "Is our breakfast ready?"

"It should be ready soon, why don't we start eating first?"

Su Lixia looked at Yuan Ruo and asked, "What do you think?"

"Let's hear what the princess says."

"Okay, let's eat first, and then we'll play."

So the three of them sat around a small round table and ate breakfast.

"Logically speaking, your lord should need you to accompany him at all times, so why didn't you go?"

Yuan Ruo sighed softly: "Some major events have happened in the palace recently, so the prince and young master are handling them together. I'm only good for riding horses, so I didn't come along. I just found a reliable brother to pick up and drop off the prince."

Su Lixia nodded. It seemed the plot was going smoothly, and everything that was supposed to happen had happened.

"Speaking of which, it's been a while since I've seen your young lady. How has she been lately?"

"That's not good at all. I heard that Madam Zhang invited her to the garden party yesterday."

"A garden party?" Su Lixia asked, puzzled. The name sounded familiar.

"Yes, it's just like the garden party that Her Majesty the Empress held back then, only not as grand."

Su Lixia raised an eyebrow, but suddenly remembered that she had seen this scene of a garden party in the novel. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it, so she didn't ask any further.

Yuan Ruo suddenly complained, "I don't know what kind of tricks she used, but the prince brought her back to his mansion and made everyone call her Miss. She was able to go to the garden party, probably because people were doing it for the prince's sake."

Su Lixia smiled awkwardly and said, "Just complaining to me about the female lead. Be careful you don't end up like me."

"Oh, there's no need to think like that. Your prince must have his own ideas. We just need to offer our blessings."

"It seems the princess really doesn't like my prince anymore, she's even saying such polite things."

Su Lixia raised her hand in a gesture to stop: "Hey? I've never liked your prince, I don't know how it got spread like this. Didn't I check all the rumors back then? How could I possibly have a crush on one person?"