Chapter 415 Even if the Crown Prince is drunk, he couldn't possibly be this drunk.
Zhu Zhenzhen continued, "Granny, I'm afraid His Highness still dislikes me. He hasn't come to see me even once in all this time. I know he doesn't truly like me, but during that period I felt he did."
"My lady, there's no need to be sad. You need an opportunity to conceive a child with the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is of noble status..." She wanted to advise her not to presume to hope for the Crown Prince's favor. The lady had fallen for the Crown Prince, which was why she was so distressed.
Granny Liu added, "The Crown Prince has so many women. No matter how much he dotes on the Crown Princess, he will still have to have imperial offspring with other women. Your Highness, please don't do anything foolish again."
"Yes, the woman he loves is the Crown Princess. If he could spare even a little bit of his affection for me, I would be content." Tears welled up in her eyes. Those days when she spent every day with the Crown Prince were the happiest time of her life. Not for the Zhu family, but for herself, it was enough for her to stay by the Crown Prince's side.
"Granny, I know what to do... If things are exposed, we still need to think of a way to get out unscathed." The Crown Prince is not easily fooled.
At this moment, Zhu Zhenzhen suddenly had an idea. She wanted to use Zhao Yuntong's hand, so that even if it failed, Zhao Yuntong would take the blame.
After hearing her plan, Granny Liu was happy for her; the young lady had finally shown some cleverness.
Actually, when the eldest young lady secretly gave the second young lady this medicine, Liu Mama felt it was inappropriate. The young lady had just been punished by the Crown Prince and the Empress, and now she was trying to seduce the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is not easy to fool.
They kept the packet of medicine, waiting for the day it would be of great use.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yuntong was diligently practicing her zither skills in her room when the palace maid serving her suddenly became very attentive. "My lady, I've found out that His Highness the Crown Prince will be going to... He will definitely pass by the Plum Garden tonight." In fact, the palace maid had already been bribed by Granny Liu.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuntong felt that an opportunity had arrived. In fact, the Zhao family had already fallen, and she thought she would grow old and die in the palace without any further chances. Now that the Crown Princess was pregnant, the Crown Prince's attention would definitely be on the concubines.
So, Zhao Yuntong dressed up and went to the vicinity of the plum garden with her pipa. Last time at the Crown Prince's birthday banquet, she saw a woman in a white dress help Madam Jiang out of a predicament. The Crown Prince stared at the woman in a daze. She thought that the Crown Prince might like the ladies to wear white dresses, so she also wore a plain white dress tonight.
Xie Shang had drunk some wine that evening, and as he passed by the plum garden, he heard melodious music coming from the garden.
Wuxin overheard this and thought to herself: Who is this fool who is trying to seduce the Crown Prince? Now that the Crown Princess is pregnant, it's really hard to guard against!
"Your Highness..."
Xie Shang raised his hand to signal him to be quiet. He seemed to see a white figure behind the artificial hill, and he followed the color.
Zhao Yuntong was holding a pipa and playing it with great concentration, seemingly unaware that someone was approaching.
Until the palace maid serving her bowed to Xie Shang, saying, "This servant greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."
At this moment, Zhao Yuntong seemed to be startled and suddenly stopped what she was doing. At the same time, the string on the zither broke because of her tension, and her fingertips were even cut and bleeding.
Her beautiful face was full of anxiety. She looked at Xie Shang with deep affection, then quickly lowered her head shyly and bowed respectfully, "This concubine greets Your Highness."
A concubine? Another young mistress of the Eastern Palace? In the pitch black, even with the faint light from the lantern, he couldn't see her face clearly. He only knew that she was wearing a white dress, which made him pause for a moment.
Xie Shang had no impression of the concubines in the Eastern Palace, except for the few he had favored. On the day of their birthday banquet, they all rushed to him dressed in their finest attire, but he felt dizzy and couldn't remember any of them.
Zhao Yuntong lowered her head slightly, thinking to herself: Why won't His Highness let her get up? Today she made two plans. If she can't attract the Crown Prince with her beauty, then she will use some external means.
She had been in the palace for two years and still hadn't had a chance. She didn't want to wait any longer. She heard from the palace maids that many of the concubines in the harem had never even seen the emperor. In the end, they either went mad or died, tormented to death by the loneliness of the deep palace.
She didn't want to end up like that; at least she wanted to give birth to an imperial heir like her aunt, obtain a title, and have her child made a king in the future...
With this thought in mind, she became even bolder, "This concubine greets Your Highness."
Xie Shang suddenly stepped forward and lifted her cheek. Zhao Yuntong was extremely nervous, but she smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness." She smelled a strong scent of alcohol. His Highness had been drinking tonight, so wouldn't that make things more likely?
"Open your mouth," Xie Shang commanded coldly.
Zhao Yuntong was stunned, but still opened her mouth slightly. She didn't dare to make any big movements, afraid that it would look bad.
Xie Shang then said, "Show your teeth."
Zhao Yuntong was completely flustered, but the Crown Prince in front of her had icy eyes that seemed to want to devour her, so she had no choice but to show her teeth.
Seeing her full set of teeth, Xie Shang murmured, "No."
Zhao Yuntong seemed to hear it, but then didn't quite catch it. "What don't you mean?"
He threw her face away, his eyes filled with disgust.
The next moment, Xie Shang suddenly felt dizzy and was about to fall. Zhao Yuntong quickly stood up and supported him, saying gently, "Your Highness."
Wu Xin wanted to call the guards over, but he also wanted to see if the Crown Prince was truly drunk or faking it, and whether his feelings for the Crown Princess were genuine or feigned.
So, Wuxin suddenly retreated to the side. He couldn't stop the young mistress of the Eastern Palace from using these tricks too obviously, otherwise the Crown Prince would become suspicious. Last time, it was he who had caused Consort Zhu to be punished.
At the same time, Zhu Zhenzhen, along with Meixiang and Granny Liu, quietly left the courtyard. She was also dressed in a plain white dress.
She whispered, "Did you really find out? The Crown Princess was wearing a white dress when she left the palace that day."
"When I pleaded with His Highness, I saw it with my own eyes. Before dawn, the Crown Prince personally escorted the Crown Princess back to the palace. The Crown Princess was dressed as an unmarried girl, and she looked ethereal."
However, when Zhu Zhenzhen saw that Zhao Yuntong was also wearing a white dress and Xie Shang was holding her in his arms, Liu Mama exclaimed, "This servant did not let the palace maids reveal this information to her! It turns out that Zhao Yuntong is also monitoring the Crown Prince and Crown Princess everywhere."
Zhu Zhenzhen clenched her fingers. Seeing Zhao Yuntong supporting the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince seemingly embracing her, she felt a mix of jealousy and remorse. She shouldn't have let Zhao Yuntong seduce the Crown Prince.
"My lady, don't panic. Just wait for Miss Zhao to drug the Crown Prince, then you can take your men to expose her..."
Zhao Yuntong helped Xie Shang back to Chengguang Hall. Xie Shang sat down on the soft chair next to her and said softly, "Your Highness."
Xie Shang didn't say a word, and Zhao Yuntong went to take off his clothes. She didn't expect to succeed so easily.
Zhao Yuntong suddenly said to Wuxin, "This young mistress will be serving Your Highness tonight. Please have someone fetch water, Eunuch Wuxin. Your Highness must be tired. This young mistress will wash Your Highness's feet."
Wuxin called out to Xie Shang twice, "Your Highness."
He called out twice but received no response. He said, "The Crown Prince did drink a lot of wine today and is drunk." But it's impossible for him to be this drunk.
He had no choice but to have someone prepare water and give them some space to be alone.
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