"You danced quite well. What's your name?" The eldest prince stared at the woman's waist.
"This humble woman is Du Qingruo."
"What?" The eldest prince looked surprised. "Say it again."
This reaction convinced Qiao Lian'er that Du Qinglan and the First Prince were definitely involved.
She took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in her chest. The Qiao family cherished Du Qinglan, yet she was actually bait used by the First Prince to scheme against them.
"As expected, Du Qinglan is the Crown Prince's person, and her motives are not pure." Pei Shijiu, who was in Qiao Lian'er's space, also saw the Crown Prince's reaction clearly.
Before Qiao Lian'er set off, Pei Shijiu asked her if there was any way for him to go with her, and she came up with this idea.
"Yes, it's such a pity that the Qiao family's good intentions were wasted. Every one of us in the family likes her so much," Qiao Lian'er replied telepathically.
Du Qingruo seemed trembling as she repeated, "My name is Du Qingruo."
The eldest prince kept a close eye on her. He was already suspicious, and Du Qinglan was on a mission at the moment, and everything was going smoothly, but then Du Qingruo appeared. Although there was a great deal of chance in meeting her here, it still made him wary.
"Then do you know Du Qinglan?"
Du Qingruo's eyes lit up. She knelt down two steps toward the Crown Prince and said urgently, "Your Highness recognizes Du Qinglan. I beg you to tell me where she is. I have been looking for her."
"Who is she to you?"
"She is my half-sister. She didn't know I existed because I was born to my father's mistress. So she kept it a secret. But later, my father committed a crime and our family business was confiscated. I found him during his exile. At that time, my father and his wife had been tortured to the point of being barely alive. My father told me that my sister had been saved because a benefactor had helped her. If she really couldn't survive, she came to find her sister."
The eldest prince then looked at Du Qingruo's waist. Although Du Qinglan was much more beautiful, Du Qingruo's waist was truly like that of a descendant, and even more slender.
Moreover, only he knew about the confiscation of the Du family's property a few years ago, and he only managed to rescue Du Qinglan by chance. The Du family was inconspicuous, a small family that was implicated and wronged, and would not attract much attention. Furthermore, so much time had passed that the relevant files and documents were gathering dust in the Ministry of Revenue.
Even if Qiao Lian'er were to be extra careful, she wouldn't be able to find this out.
Therefore, after some speculation, the eldest prince believed Du Qingruo.
He went over, leaned down, put his arm around Du Qingruo's waist, and lifted her up.
Upon touching that texture, the eldest prince felt a surge of emotion; it was truly as light as a feather, as if a willow branch had brushed past his palm.
It seems that his visit to the theater today was truly a matter of fate.
"Follow me, and if you satisfy me, I will tell you where your sister is."
Du Qingruo bit her lip: "But I want to see my sister as soon as possible. I have no relatives and I miss her very much."
The eldest prince's lips curled into a smirk, his expression suddenly turning sinister: "Your sister is doing something very important for me. Until it's done, even I can't see her, otherwise, people will notice something amiss."
Seemingly realizing he had said too much, the eldest prince's face turned cold and stern: "In short, if you follow me, I will not let you suffer any losses."
He revealed some sensitive information, so without letting Du Qingruo pack her things, he took her away directly and ordered the servants to guard her and not allow her to leave the palace.
Once inside the manor, Du Qingruo quickly adapted. In order to see her "sister," she tried her best to please the eldest prince. This made the eldest prince even more convinced that she was truly willing to set aside her dignity for Du Qinglan's sake.
However, he still sent someone to investigate Du Qingruo's background.
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