Song Xibai, who had been tightly gripping the crown prince's robes with both hands, suddenly loosened her grip and a smile appeared on her face.
"If the King of Wu heard this, he would probably be so happy he wouldn't know which way was up."
The Crown Prince also laughed out loud and reached out to pinch Song Xibai's nose.
"Naughty".
"Your Highness has been getting close to the Prince of Wu lately. Won't that make the Emperor wary? Isn't the Prince of Wu afraid?" Song Xibai leaned back into his arms.
“If he was afraid of displeasing the Emperor, he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to come closer before the New Year.” The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. “My second brother has some tricks up his sleeve, but not many. I can see right through him. He used to be unconvinced, but what can he do when I’m older and better than him in every way? He can’t be unconvinced.”
These words were spoken with great self-satisfaction and arrogance, which made Song Xibai cover her mouth and laugh.
"Yes, Your Highness is the most majestic and domineering. How can the King of Wu compare to you?"
"Yes! That's why he kept having children after getting married, determined to surpass me in terms of children. As a result, he took many concubines and had a lot of children. His harem was in a mess, and I don't think his life was going to be easy."
The Crown Prince frowned as he thought about the messy affairs at the Prince of Wu's residence.
The King of Wu was similar in temperament to Consort Shu; both were straightforward and lacked deep cunning. Previously, the King of Wu felt inferior to the Crown Prince in every way, harboring resentment and repeatedly causing trouble for him. However, later, realizing he had surpassed the Crown Prince in terms of offspring, he lost the desire to compare, and the two brothers actually got along much better than before.
Song Xibai almost collapsed in her chair laughing as she listened to the Crown Prince's analysis.
"I met Princess Wu before, and I think she is a smart woman. Logically speaking, with her abilities, she shouldn't be unable to control those people in the inner quarters, right?"
"Who knows what really happened between them? Let's not talk about them anymore. You should rest for a while; you still have a lot of people to deal with when you get back!"
The Crown Prince took his cloak and draped it over Song Xibai, gently patting her back.
The carriage traveled along the quiet streets, turning from the side streets to the main streets, and soon stopped in front of Donghua Gate.
The Crown Prince alighted from the carriage and reached out to help Song Xibai.
Song Xibai tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes at him.
"Your Highness, don't forget we still have to act!"
After saying that, she jumped out of the carriage, leaving the Crown Prince stunned.
"you……"
Before the Crown Prince could even begin to speak, Song Xibai's expression shifted to one of hidden anger and displeasure.
At this moment, Wei Hong and Ding Xiang jumped out of the car behind and ran over.
Song Xibai, holding Wei Hong's arm, raised her head high and gave it an exaggerated flick.
"Let's go."
Then, without even glancing at the crown prince, she walked into the palace maids' quarters on her own.
The Crown Prince shook his head and chuckled, glancing at Eunuch Feng and the others who were looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Hurry up and follow!"
The group returned to the East Palace in two separate groups.
Back in the east hall, Fuliu and Juqing, who had been on tenterhooks all day, breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to serve.
Song Xibai changed his clothes, told Wei Hong to return the matching tokens, and then turned to ask Fu Liu and the other two.
"What happened today? Apart from that person?"
"Your Highness, you know about this too?" Fu Liu asked indignantly. "I don't know where His Highness brought this back from, but he immediately moved into the West Wing! The Crown Princess sent four maids over, and even the Emperor personally intervened, sending two matrons. This is outrageous! There should at least be some order of precedence!"
Once Juqing calmed down a bit, she started talking about other things.
"I've inquired about this. This Rou Rou is said to be a dancer from Prince Hui's mansion. I don't know how she ended up clinging to Your Highness."
Fu Liu quickly added.
"The child in her belly, who knows whose bastard it is..."
"Swaying Willow!"
Song Xibai shouted a warning.
Fu Liu immediately stopped talking. Realizing what she had said, her face turned pale and she knelt down with a thud.
"I've been lenient with you all the time, but some rules can't be broken. Go out and find Granny Fangqi to receive your punishment."
Song Xibai's words, though seemingly casual, carried an undeniable air of authority.
Fu Liu covered her mouth and nodded.
"This servant knows she was wrong, this servant will go and accept the punishment right away."
Juqing remained expressionless as she watched Fuliu stumble away, and continued speaking.
"Your Highness, I noticed that the Crown Princess is also not in a calm mood. I saw a palace maid throw away two broken teacups."
Song Xibai was already sitting on the soft couch, looking at the eagerly courting Juqing, and tapped the table.
"Did I order you to investigate the situation in the Queen's Palace?"
Juqing was taken aback, then shook her head.
"What are your responsibilities?" Song Xibai asked again.
Juqing seemed to understand, and her face turned pale, but she still replied, "I'll watch the house for my master and register the jewelry and fabrics."
After saying that, she knelt down.
“This servant has overstepped her bounds and begs for punishment from her master.”
"Go to Granny Fangqi and receive your punishment! If you do it again, you will be demoted to a second-class palace maid."
Juqing, her face contorted with defeat, also left.
After giving the two palace maids a few words of reprimand, Song Xibai leaned back on the soft pillow and closed her eyes.
Just then, Dingxiang walked in.
"Why do Fuliu and Juqing both look a little unwell?"
She came over to take Song Xibai's pulse, and the two agreed to take each pulse once in the morning and once in the evening, as it was always better to be careful.
Song Xibai stretched out her wrist, shook her head, and sighed.
"Life was easy before, but now we're facing a lot more trouble. We need to keep them on their toes first, lest they make an unforgivable mistake that I won't be able to save."
Dingxiang shrugged, placed her fingers on her wrist, and withdrew them after a moment.
"It's fine, no problem. I'll come over tomorrow morning. By the way, I found that my room has been ransacked. Who do you think it could be?"
Song Xibai suddenly opened her eyes wide.
"It's only been a day, and some people are already getting restless?"
Dingxiang nodded: "I followed your instructions and tied a strand of hair to the cabinet door and drawer opening. I just checked, and they've all broken off."
Is anything missing?
"I kept all the important things close to my body, nothing was missing, and I didn't touch the clothes or fabrics either, but I lost a few of the prescriptions that I had written out of order."
Dingxiang doesn't usually prescribe medicine, mainly because her handwriting is bad; writing one prescription takes several sheets of paper.
Song Xibai's eyes lit up.
"So you're using me to probe my situation? Oh dear, finally someone smart has appeared in our Eastern Palace!"
"How can you be sure it's someone from the Crown Prince's Palace? Maybe it's that Imperial Concubine!" Dingxiang asked, puzzled.
"Consort Shu is busy with her face right now and doesn't have time. Besides, only people from the Eastern Palace know my situation and think that I'm being neglected by the Crown Prince and about to fall out of favor, so they dare to show their faces at this time."
Song Xibai said confidently.
"Who could it be?"
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