"Men and women should not touch each other?" Lanqin silently repeated these words in her heart, knowing that this was the biggest taboo between men and women in this era.
Lanqin looked ahead and vaguely saw Liang Jiugong walking towards her in a gray robe.
He also saw Lanqin, and naturally he also saw the Fourth Master behind Lanqin.
"County Magistrate, I'm late!" Just as Liang Jiugong walked up to Lanqin, the Sixteenth Princess and Indar also came out of the cave and happened to hear what Liang Jiugong and Lanqin were saying.
“Father-in-law, I have said everything that needed to be asked and said. You may return now. Lanqin will accompany you to see Father Emperor,” Lanqin said. She needed to report to Emperor Kangxi immediately about what Indar had mentioned.
"Eunuch Liang, what's going on here?" Fourth Master asked, seeing their conversation.
Liang Jiugong glanced at the Fourth Prince and the Sixteenth Princess a few times, and roughly understood what was going on. He said, "The county magistrate is here on the Emperor's orders to convey a few words to Prince Indal. I can't say anything more about the others."
The Sixteenth Princess was surprised that Lanqin had actually come to deliver a message to Emperor Kangxi. The Fourth Prince was also astonished as he looked at Lanqin's back: She came to see Indal because the Emperor had sent her.
After Lanqin left with Liang Jiugong, the Fourth Prince, the Sixteenth Princess, and Indar stood there blankly, watching their figures disappear from their sight.
"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Indar cupped his hands in greeting to the Fourth Prince and the Sixteenth Princess before preparing to depart.
"Wait! The prince is holding my concubine in his arms, and I haven't explained things to him yet!" The Fourth Prince's anger flared up instantly. Although Lanqin came on Kangxi's orders, he had indeed seen him holding Lanqin in his arms as soon as he entered the cave.
“I’ve already explained,” said Yingdaer, “it was a piece of rock that fell on the county magistrate’s head. I was caught off guard and was only trying to prevent him from being hit by the rock. I never thought about things like the proper separation of men and women. Does Your Highness really care about this instead of the county magistrate’s safety?” Yingdaer was Tibetan, and they didn’t have such strong traditional views on the separation of men and women. Seeing how concerned the Fourth Prince was about this, Yingdaer felt a little annoyed for Lanqin, so his tone became a bit harsher.
The Fourth Prince stared coldly at Indal, as if his eyes could shoot out a thousand swords, all aimed at Prince Indal. Even the Sixteenth Princess, standing to the side, could feel the chill emanating from the Fourth Prince. She had been completely ignored by the two men.
"I will save my concubine myself. I don't need you to save her!" The Fourth Prince coldly uttered these words and then turned to leave.
"I hope the Fourth Prince can protect your concubine. I feel that the Prince doesn't seem to trust her." Indar already liked Lanqin, and the Fourth Prince's words just now stirred up his competitive spirit.
The Fourth Prince slowly turned around, stared at Indal, and growled, "My family affairs are none of your business! If you continue to spout nonsense, I won't be so polite!"
Indal, not to be outdone, stared at the Fourth Prince and said, "Since Your Highness is so confident, I'll be watching!"
Fourth Master flicked his sleeves, turned around, and left.
Princess Sixteen saw that the Fourth Prince and Lanqin had left, leaving only herself and Prince Indal.
She turned to Indal and said, "Why would a prince, a nobleman of his stature, be interested in a woman who is already married? Besides, you don't know my fourth brother's temper; he's a famously cold-faced king. Offending him like this won't do you any good."
"Thank you for the reminder, Princess. But how did you know I was here? The Fourth Prince was brought here by you, wasn't he?" Indar turned to stare at Sixteen.
The sixteenth princess felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and stammered, "I'm just afraid that you might do something wrong, and it wouldn't be good if the Empress Dowager found out."
“Princess, there’s no need to use the Empress Dowager to pressure me. I am not a member of this palace. Even if the Empress Dowager is of the highest rank, she has no right to interfere in my marriage. I already have someone I love, so please save your worries. Farewell!” Indar glared at Sixteen Dao, then immediately turned to leave.
"You! Indal, what's so great about you? You're nothing but Tibetan toast, I might not even look at you!" Sixteen was so angry that her face turned green after being rejected by Indal to her face.
"That's perfect. I wish the princess all the best in marrying a king who will provide her with a magnificent dowry and a luxurious feast." Indal then turned and left.
Sixteen's face was so cold it was almost dripping with water. She had brought the Fourth Prince along, intending to make him dislike Lanqin, but she hadn't expected that it was actually Kangxi who had sent her. Now, she was completely despised by Prince Indal; she had brought this upon herself and deserved to die!
"Princess!" Chunying had no choice but to call out to remind the sixteenth princess when she saw her standing there motionless.
"You wretched servant!" The Sixteenth Princess turned around and slapped Chunying across the face. "How did you gather information? She was sent by Father Emperor, and you didn't even know that, yet you sent me, the princess, here. What are you up to?"
"Princess, please calm down. This servant... this servant did not know she was sent by the Emperor," Chunying said immediately.
"I don't know, I don't know! How did you find out this information? I gave you that gold bracelet, and you found out this kind of information for me?" Sixteen was so angry that she wanted to hit him again.
"Princess, please forgive me! Princess, please forgive me!" Chunying was filled with regret. She shouldn't have mentioned Chuncao to the princess. She had gotten herself into this mess for no reason, and instead of getting any benefit, she was repeatedly beaten by the princess.
"All you know is to apologize! Go back and kneel before this princess!" Sixteen flung her sleeves and turned to leave angrily. Chunying covered her face and immediately followed.
Meanwhile, Lanqin followed Liang Jiugong all the way to the Qianqing Palace. She remained silent the entire way, seemingly different from her usual self. Liang Jiugong, being a shrewd man, knew exactly what was going on without asking.
“The county magistrate, the Fourth Prince has always been a very arrogant person. The reason he is so angry is because he cares about the county magistrate,” Liang Jiugong said.
Lanqin knew that Liang Jiugong's advice was not easy to come by, and said, "Thank you for your comforting words, Father-in-law. I understand."
Liang Jiugong knew that Lanqin was intelligent and that a word of advice would suffice, so he said no more.
The two returned to the Qianqing Palace in silence, for Emperor Kangxi was still waiting for her report. Upon seeing the words "Qianqing Palace," Lanqin felt a heavy weight in her heart.
Are all emperors suspicious? After the Fourth Prince became emperor, did he become even more suspicious? He said he could completely trust me, but that's simply impossible!
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