The crown prince remained silent for a long time, still finding it unbelievable.
Didn't Li Ye know that marrying this woman would be tantamount to ending his path to the throne?
Apart from the founding empress, most empresses in every dynasty came from prestigious families. Prestige represented nobility, power, and popular support. What an empress needed was the recognition of the people. There has never been a commoner who became an empress.
Could this be Li Ye's strategy of feigning retreat to advance?
The Crown Prince was baffled!
And just like that, half a month passed, and the Ghost Festival was fast approaching.
Linghu Lan went to bed early that night.
As midnight approached, she could clearly feel the entire palace becoming increasingly gloomy.
The Ghost Festival is here.
The gates of hell open wide, and a hundred ghosts roam the night.
This day is a rare day when ghosts can linger in the mortal world. On this day, many people burn paper money to commemorate their relatives in the underworld.
However, this was not allowed in the palace; palace maids were not permitted to burn paper money in the palace at will, as that was a major taboo.
The atmosphere in the palace that day was extremely oppressive.
Linghu Lan woke up, and Qiu Xiang was already waiting for her.
A black light flashed from the Soul-Splitting Mirror that Linghu Lan had placed on the bedside table, and Qin Ya spun around and gracefully emerged from it.
Upon seeing Linghu Lan, Yingying bowed gracefully and said with a smile, "This humble woman greets you, young lady. Congratulations on soon becoming the Ninth Prince's consort. Oh? The Ninth Prince isn't here?"
Linghu Lan smiled. "The palace rules are strict; he has already left the palace."
Qin Ya chuckled softly, "Someone as unconventional as you, young lady, I don't believe you would be willing to prevent the Ninth Prince from witnessing this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of soul division."
Linghu Lan smiled but did not answer her.
Before long, Qiu Xiang heard three short and three long knocks on the door. She immediately opened the door and saw Qi Wuhe and Li Ye already at the door. The two of them quickly slipped inside.
Qi Wuhe said to Linghu Lan, "Greetings, young lady. I have successfully completed my mission and brought the Ninth Prince safely."
He sighed inwardly, feeling incredibly bold to have led the Ninth Prince into the Forbidden City. Even with the talisman given by Miss Lan Yue, there were still risks involved. How could he have become so reckless after entering the capital?
Linghu Lan nodded and thanked her with a smile.
Li Ye happily took her hand and laughed, "You don't know, a guard almost discovered us just now. Luckily, Abbot Qi led me to hide in the bushes. What a close call! Although it's not a big deal if we were discovered, Father Emperor will at most say I'm being silly and useless. However, I'm afraid others will have wild ideas, which won't be good for your and Mother's reputation. It's truly fortunate that we weren't discovered."
Linghu Lan nodded and smiled, "Yes! You're very lucky, and it's all thanks to Abbot Qi."
Qin Ya bowed to Li Ye and said with a smile, "Congratulations to the Ninth Prince on winning the heart of his beauty."
Li Ye was delighted and asked, "Now that the Ghost Festival has arrived, I'm afraid this soul-splitting technique can't be used in this room. If we go outside, this is the imperial palace, with many eyes and ears. It wouldn't be good if we were discovered. Is there any way to avoid being seen by others?"
"That's easy, we can just use some magic to make it look like Linghu Lan is still lying in bed." So, Qin Ya casually cast some spells and placed a small paper figure on Linghu Lan's bed. If someone came in and saw it at a glance, they would think that Linghu Lan was still lying in bed.
She then touched the center of everyone's forehead with her finger and said with a smile, "Let's go out now; I doubt anyone can see us now."
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