The bright moon rose into the sky, the exquisite floor lamp was lit by the maid, the corridor lights in the courtyard also lit up, and the flowers, plants and trees were faintly visible.
Song Jiaren discovered that there was an extra woman at the dinner table tonight. It was Zhihua, the maid who had served His Highness before. She was wearing a light blue long dress, with delicate eyebrows and features, and her hair was tied in a double bun. She was elegant and gentle, and her eyes were tender as she looked at His Highness the Crown Prince.
Song Jiaren asked doubtfully, "Who is this?"
The city lord's wife took her daughter's hand and said with a smile, "This is my naughty daughter, named Zhihua."
"Zhihua? Isn't that the maid who has always been serving His Highness?" Song Jiaren asked in confusion.
Luo Zhen quickly introduced the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, this is indeed my daughter. However, she is a mischievous girl. She has heard about the Crown Prince's deeds and admires his elegance. So, that day, she hid it from me and my wife, disguised herself as a maid, and served His Highness closely."
After saying this, he didn't dare sit down. He looked at his wife and daughter who were standing beside him. Feeling uneasy, he looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was sitting on the chair.
He has black, straight hair, slanted, handsome sword-like eyebrows, and a clear outline. He is lonely and domineering. His cold eyes are like an eagle in the dark, and in his solitude he is unruly and looks down on the world.
Luo Zhen was unsure whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was angry, so he could only bow and kowtow. He felt a little unhappy in his heart. His beloved daughter had never even shown filial piety to him, and now she had taken the initiative to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but was looked down upon. He was furious.
Song Jiaren sat beside the Crown Prince in a quiet room. She saw Zhihua standing beside her with her head down, her hands tightly grasping the hem of her clothes, her fingertips turning white. It seemed that her prejudice against her had deepened.
It was all the hatred that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince brought upon her.
Just hate her if you want to. After all, she is pretty, fair-skinned, and smart. But why is she so vindictive?
She drank her tea slowly, without asking for mercy for them, and just watched the show from the side.
Gu Zhen frowned slightly and said to Song Jiaren, "Don't drink tea. You can't drink it these days."
After saying that, he took the teacup in her hand aside, and brought a bowl of hot soup not far away to her, asking her to drink it slowly.
Luo Zhen was a little bit unbelievable and couldn't help but cough lightly.
Gu Zhen looked at the family he had left standing there and said softly, "Why are you standing there? Sit down."
Luo Zhen quickly pulled his wife and daughter to sit down and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could catch his breath, he heard his beloved daughter stand up again with a jade pendant in her hand. Even a rough man like him could see that the jade pendant was of great value. He was furious and heartbroken. Instead of giving it to her own father, she gave it to an outsider. His heart was in pain.
Zhihua bowed gracefully, then said softly, "Your Highness, I have long admired your grace. Hearing my father's praise of you, I became curious, so I secretly disguised myself as a maid and followed you without telling my parents. I know I was wrong. Please accept this jade pendant and forgive me."
Gu Zhen didn't even look at the jade pendant handed to him. He just sipped the tea carefully and looked down at the cup.
Song Jiaren didn't know how to appreciate jade in ancient times, but she saw that the jade pendant was emerald green, crystal clear, and polished smoothly, so it must be worth a lot of money. She looked at the jade pendant with even more affection.
As the crown prince, Gu Zhen had seen many fine things in the palace since he was young, so he was naturally not interested in a jade pendant. However, the eyes of the woman sitting next to him were shining, and she looked like she did every time she ate meat, drooling with desire.
He thought about it carefully. If someone else made this expression, it would definitely be unsightly. But when she changed to a greedy look, it seemed cute. It has been said since ancient times that one should not judge a person by his appearance. He really couldn't do it. Pretty is pretty, and any expression is pleasing to the eye.
"Let her accept it for me." Gu Zhen looked at Song Jiaren in disbelief, with a questioning look as if she didn't believe what he said.
"Hurry up and continue." Gu Zhen urged.
Song Jiaren was still a little confused. She was just coveting it just now, and it fell into her hands so quickly?
The cool, clear jade pendant, carved with lotus flowers and two playful fish, seemed to be leaping in her hand. She quickly expressed her gratitude, "Thank you, Your Highness. You are such a kind person."
Gu Zhen raised an eyebrow. In her words just now, she omitted the care and consideration she often talked about in the past. It seemed that after being together for a long time, she didn't try as hard to please him as before. But he didn't seem angry, and even a little happy. She could only sigh inwardly, thinking that he had spoiled her so much.
Zhihua asked in surprise, "Your Highness, what do you mean? This is a gift from Huaer to you."
Gu Zhen nodded and said, "Since you gave it to me, it belongs to me. I accept your apology. You can sit down now."
Zhihua wanted to say something but was stopped by her mother. She could only sit back angrily and remain silent.
Luo Zhen's face was full of excitement. He truly had no idea what these mother and daughter were up to. They'd repeatedly challenged the Crown Prince's temper. It was his fault for usually only telling them good things, leading them to believe the Crown Prince was a good-tempered man. His bloody and ruthless side, in fact, was the true Crown Prince.
I remember that when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led his troops to war for the first time, he encountered an ambush. He only led 300 soldiers to break out of the siege, killed the enemy leader, and returned to the palace with the head in his hand. He was still frightened and fainted in front of the minister who sent people to ambush him halfway.
Afterwards, whenever His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led an expedition, he never suffered a defeat. Many assassinations were unsuccessful. Ministers or soldiers from other countries who secretly tried to trip him up would be tortured if caught. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would watch these people being executed with his own eyes, and he would still remain calm while eating snacks and drinking tea.
"Your Highness, I was reckless today."
Gu Zhen didn't care about Luo Zhen's wife and daughter out of consideration for Luo Zhen's behavior ten years ago, but he was also somewhat disappointed with this man. Luobian City was so well built, but he spoiled his women and children like this. Now he has lost a lot of his outspokenness and cheerfulness as he was in his youth, and instead was constrained by the identity of the city lord and became an ordinary timid person.
As his thoughts turned to each other, he put down the teacup in his hand and stood up. "Today's meal is really boring. I'm going back to my room." After saying that, he stood up first, and Song Jiaren followed closely behind him, leaving the three people at the table looking at each other in bewilderment.
Luo Zhen's face was gloomy. He waved his hands to dismiss the servants and shouted angrily, "Zhihua, you have been playful for many years. Your father has neglected to discipline you. Now you have offended His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and almost brought disaster upon yourself. Go back to your room and reflect on your mistakes!"
When the City Lord's wife heard that her daughter was going to be punished, she immediately refused to do it. She slammed the table and glared at Luo Zhen, "Luo Zhen, as a father, you can't help, so why are you blaming your daughter? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't say anything, so why is it a disaster? Don't think that just because you have been the City Lord for a few days, you can no longer take us mother and daughter seriously. You can get to where you are today because I have endured hardships with you. My daughter just admires His Highness, so she tried every way to get close to him. What's wrong with that!"
Luo Zhen was speechless. Over the years, he was the first to admit his mistakes in every quarrel. His aura was not as strong as his wife's, and all his salary was handed over to his wife. He felt helpless and didn't know how to explain it to the mother and daughter. He sighed deeply, feeling a blockage in his chest. He just hoped that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not blame him and that he would take responsibility for everything.
Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren went back to their room to rest and called Shitou to discuss their departure. A maid knocked on the door and said, "Your Highness, our master asked you to go to the backyard to discuss something."
Shitou opened the door and saw the maid standing at the door with her head lowered. She was indeed the maid serving the city lord and his wife.
Gu Zhen put down the teacup in his hand and stood up. "Let's go and take a look together. By the way, let's talk about leaving."
Several people followed the maid through the corridor. When they reached the small pavilion, the maid said, "Your Highness, the city lord wants to discuss matters with you alone. These people..."
Song Jiaren just didn't want to go over and listen to their discussion of serious matters. It would definitely be boring and she wouldn't understand. It would be better to sit in this small pavilion and look at the night view. "Your Highness, go ahead. I'll wait for you here. If it's late, I'll go back to sleep first."
Shitou wanted to go with them, but Lord Luo said that they were discussing important matters, so he decided not to go. "Your Highness, I will take care of the girl here and escort her back to the house later."
Seeing that none of them were willing to go, Gu Zhen had no choice but to follow the maid. The maid sent him to the door and when she saw him open it, she left with a happy look on her face, smiling secretly as she lowered her head.
Gu Zhen had a strange feeling in his heart, always feeling that something was not right. Shouldn't he be asked to go to the study to discuss serious matters? This room didn't look like a study at all.
Shitou was standing outside the small pavilion, waiting. Seeing His Highness coming back, he asked, "Your Highness, are you done with the talk?" So quickly?
Gu Zhen said, "Go over here, turn right, and walk through a patch of flowers. There's a main house. Please ask Lord Luo to come over to discuss matters. I'll wait for you here."
After saying that, he sat down next to Song Jiaren and looked at the stone, silently urging him to come over.
Shitou's head was full of questions, but since His Highness had given the order, he could only obey and go.
According to His Highness's description, they found the room. Shitou pushed the door open and went in. Inside and outside the room, there were curtains made of gorgeous silk in bright colors, embroidered with patterns of mandarin ducks cuddling together. The furnishings were also much more luxurious than those in ordinary rooms. Whether it was the tables, chairs or hanging ornaments, they all looked like a young woman's boudoir.
And it is full of spring feelings, ambiguous and hazy.
Shitou looked around, his eyes becoming more and more confused. Lord Luo asked His Highness to come to this room, so why was he not here?
I became more and more puzzled, and a sense of foreboding lingered in my heart.
A soft sound came from inside the room. He pushed open the bead curtain, walked through the gauze curtain and entered the inner room. The inner room was more gorgeous than the outer room, with soft pink curtains everywhere. There was a couch against the wall, covered with a red quilt embroidered with bright lotus flowers with two blooming flowers. There was a pair of mandarin duck pillows on the couch, and a charming half-covered beauty painting hung on the wall. In short, this room gave people a very charming and seductive feeling.
There was a book on the bedside table with a blank cover. Shi Tou flipped through it curiously and immediately his eyes widened and his face turned red. In the book, a naked man and woman were lying on the couch making love.
"Bang" he threw the book away as if it were a hot stone. Who is so dissolute as to put a pornographic picture so blatantly on the bedside?
Suddenly, a woman with half-wet hair walked out from behind the curtain in the inner room. She was wearing a thin gauze dress, her face was ruddy, and she looked dizzy as if drunk. Her steps were unsteady. Shi Tou could see that this was the daughter of the city lord, Miss Zhihua.
She swayed left and right and rushed towards Shitou who was standing in the inner room in neat clothes. "Your Highness, save Huaer, Huaer is so hot~"
Zhihua's vision was blurry. After drinking the spiked wine, she couldn't distinguish the person in front of her. She had no idea that the person who came was not the Crown Prince she had been thinking about, but his guards.
Zhihua's breathing was disordered, and her eyes were as bright as spring water as she stared at the man in front of her. The vague meaning made her hallucinate. She looked at the "handsome and cold Crown Prince", her red lips slightly parted, panting, her face full of unbearable lust, and she stretched out her jade hand to hold his clothes.
Shi Tou was stunned at first, but when he came to his senses, the woman grabbed his clothes. His face turned pale and he screamed, then he hurried out of the inner room and ran out of this room that looked like it wanted to eat people.
Zhihua fell to the ground and sat there gasping for breath in discomfort. She wanted to strip off all her clothes and stick them to something cold. She was about to burn.
Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren were waiting in the small hall below the corridor. They saw Shitou running over in a hurry, shouting, "Your Highness, help me!"
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