Her watery eyes looked at Rong Ning, making Rong Ning too embarrassed to continue.

That's enough! That's enough!

She was just a young girl carefully raised in seclusion by the Xie family, unaware of the hardships of the world; there was no point in telling her these things.

Rong Ning coughed lightly and swallowed the rest of her words.

Then came endless silence, gazing silently at the beautiful lights of countless homes.

It was a little awkward.

After a long while, Rong Ning finally spoke and asked, "Xi Zhu, have you ever left Nanyang City?"

"Never..."

"I'll take you out of town for some fun tomorrow."

Xie Xizhu's eyes lit up instantly.

But it only lasted for a moment before it went dark again. "Your Highness doesn't need to put so much effort into me. I'm just a young lady in the Prime Minister's residence. I don't know anything and I can't do anything for Your Highness."

Wow, you've been thinking about quite a lot.

Rong Ning shook her head helplessly and replied, "I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm telling you all that just so you can leave yourself some options. You can decide for yourself. I'm taking you out of the city to have fun just to make you happier."

So you don't need to worry about anything, just tell me if you want to leave the city or not.

Xie Xizhu bit her lip, nodded naturally, then quickly shook her head, "I will not leave the city. Your Highness is of noble birth. If anything happens to you while you are taking me out of the city, I will be held responsible even if I die a thousand deaths."

That's what you're saying...

Given the current situation, no one dares to touch her.

However, if she didn't want to go, then so be it. Rong Ning wasn't really bored, so she just let her be...

Rong Ning and Xie Xizhu played until curfew before going home.

After a day of playing, Xie Xizhu was tired but also felt much more relaxed. She went back to her courtyard, tidied up, and went to sleep.

She didn't keep many people in her courtyard, but they were all carefully selected by Aying. They took meticulous care of Xie Xizhu and kept an eye on her, so Rong Ning felt at ease and didn't ask too many questions.

When Aying came in to say that Xie Xizhu had already gone to sleep, Rong Ning was leaning against the couch, reading a book.

The night is cooler than the daytime, which makes people less restless, and it's the only time when you can concentrate on reading.

Aying walked over and took the book from her hands. "Your Highness...why don't you take a break? Miss Mo'er won't arrive for quite some time. You've been shopping with Miss Xie all day. Aren't you tired?"

"This is nothing!" Rong Ning wasn't annoyed, and leaned back in a more comfortable position. "Have you found out who's been watching us all day?"

"We followed the clues and traced them all down; they were all people from the Prime Minister's residence..."

"No one else?"

"No one else has been found to be involved so far!"

"Oh well……"

If you don't have it, you don't have it...

Rong Ning didn't pay much attention.

Today I spent half a day taking Xie Xizhu around, and those people followed us for half a day.

They followed her from the moment she left the princess's residence, which means they had been squatting outside the princess's residence the whole time.

Rong Ning knew that since she had left the Prime Minister's residence and taken the young lady with her, many people must be watching her. She thought that a new force was getting restless, but it turned out that there was none.

“However…” A-Ying suddenly spoke up again, “Although those people are all from the Prime Minister’s residence, they are not the Prime Minister’s people, but rather his confidants from various factions.”

Um?

Rong Ning became interested. "This sounds kind of interesting!"

Aying nodded, "They seem very curious about your relationship with Miss Xie, and your attitude towards her."

Given the current situation, the people from the Prime Minister's residence knew that Rong Ning's forceful departure of Xie Xizhu in public was bound to be a bad thing. However, Rong Ning unexpectedly took people on a tour of Nanyang City.

This is something that has never happened before.

After all, it had been said before that none of the young ladies in Nanyang City could speak to Rong Ning, so Xie Xizhu's behavior today was unique.

Rong Ning's eyes darted around, and an idea suddenly popped into her mind. She leaned towards A Ying and whispered, "Tomorrow, spread the word throughout Nanyang City that Xie Xizhu and I hit it off immediately. I like her so much that I'm willing to spend a fortune for her and enjoy the night in Nanyang City."

There are people in Nanyang who suspect I like girls, right? They'll definitely love to hear and spread this rumor…

Aying's eyelids twitched as she listened. "Your Highness, you really don't care about your reputation at all!"

"Why bother with these unimportant things..."

"And what about Miss Xie's reputation?"