The midday sun was still warm and pleasant, neither too hot nor too cold—it should have been a comfortable day, but the situation at the Fourth Prince's residence was far from ideal. (*Sui*Meng*Xiao*Shuo.lā)
As lunchtime approached and the Fourth Prince was still nowhere to be seen, anxious figures filled the Fourth Prince's residence, and many were covered in sweat.
On the contrary, some people were gloating over this, as Li Shi of the Pear Courtyard had always been eyeing the Fujin (principal wife) and wanted to replace her.
The person in charge of managing the Fourth Prince's residence was his wife. Thinking of how much the Fourth Prince and others liked the Fourth Prince, Madam Li suddenly felt that her opportunity had come. "Hehe, the Fourth Prince is missing. When the Prince returns, let's see how Madam will explain it to him."
Since some people have been eyeing the Fujin (wife of the emperor), others are naturally eyeing Jiaming (the daughter of the emperor).
In other courtyards, various gloating or feignedly kind words were being murmured.
"Haha, Guarjia clan, let's see what you have to compete with me now that your son has met with misfortune and you've lost your lineage."
"Oh dear, the Fourth Prince was such a good boy, how could he..."
...
Of course, there were also people who genuinely didn't want anything to happen to the Fourth Prince, such as his wife.
"Well, did you find it?" the princess asked quickly.
Granny Liu shook her head. "No."
"Then let the servants continue the search," the Princess Consort said, her brows furrowed and her tone extremely stern. "We must find the Fourth Prince unharmed as soon as possible, otherwise... Humph!" The Princess Consort knew very well that the Fourth Prince's disappearance had given the women in the inner quarters an opportunity to deal with her and Lady Guarjia.
Now that the Fourth Prince is only missing, there's still a chance he could be found. Therefore, they must seize this opportunity to create a fait accompli and ensure that something truly happens to him. In that case, she needs to find the Fourth Prince, Hongxuan, as soon as possible; she can't let anything really happen to him.
"Yes." Granny Liu accepted the order and was about to leave when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
The princess looked at her in confusion. Granny Liu glanced at the princess carefully, lowered her eyes slightly, and then whispered a suggestion: "Princess, why not take this opportunity to get the Fourth Prince to sleep with you through the hands of those women in the backyard? Even if the prince comes back by then, it will be too late, and the person who did it will have nothing to do with you!"
Furthermore, even if His Majesty discovered your inaction, and even if His Majesty values the Fourth Prince as much as He values the First Prince, out of consideration for the First Prince, His Majesty will at most hold you responsible for inadequate supervision. Compared to the Fourth Prince's passing, this punishment is acceptable.
The Fujin listened to what the nanny said, and even though she disagreed, she did not interrupt her. Only after the nanny finished speaking did she explain why she was determined to protect the Fourth Prince.
“Granny, you underestimate the women in the inner courtyard, especially Li Shi and Hesheli Shi, oh, and Song Shi. You want to use them, but they also want to use me, and even frame me. When the time comes, I'm afraid that I won't just be a bystander when it comes to the Fourth Prince’s matter.”
Moreover, even if the master finds out that I was just a bystander and there's nothing more to it, he will still be very wary of me. What will happen to Honghui then? It's possible that the master will hate me because of my own shortcomings.
The Fujin quickly went through this concern in her mind, and then continued, "You still underestimate me. Remember, I am the one you cannot underestimate or ignore."
At this moment, Liu Mama saw deep fear on the face of the Fujin. Although she did not understand why the Fujin was so afraid of the master, she always listened to the Fujin, so she nodded to show her obedience.
But then a thought struck her, and she changed the subject, saying, "Then, Madam, that man's right-hand woman," she pointed in the direction of Peach Courtyard, "why not take this opportunity to kill them directly and cut off that man's arm?"
"Keeping them around is naturally useful," the Princess Consort said coldly, her eyes lowered as she touched the finger guard on the little finger of her left hand with her right hand. "In case the Fourth Prince really disappears, they can bear witness to the Emperor's anger and also serve as a testament that I have searched for the Fourth Prince with all my might since he went missing."
Otherwise, if I deal with them, when the master returns, he'll suspect that I deliberately lost the Fourth Prince, and then I'll get rid of everyone around him so that there's no way to prove anything.
After hearing this, Granny Liu felt extremely guilty, realizing that she had almost given the Princess Consort another bad idea.
However, "the Princess Consort's idea was still the most appropriate." Thinking this, she felt a surge of joy.
As night fell, the men sent back by the Fourth Prince finally returned to the Fourth Prince's residence after a swift journey.
When the Princess Consort and the others learned that the Fourth Prince was safe and sound and was currently with the Fourth Prince, and that he had secretly followed them there, they were all shocked.
This kid is incredibly mischievous and clever!
Then, the expressions of those who learned of this news changed in various ways.
The Princess Consort initially breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a pang of regret for missing the opportunity to deal with the Guarjia clan's capable person immediately. A flash of anger then crossed her eyes—outrageous! She had gone to so much trouble to find him!
Li and the others showed expressions of regret to varying degrees—alas, why wasn't the Fourth Prince really missing!
Apart from the people from Taoyuan, only Honghui from the front courtyard and Gao Wuyong, among others, showed relaxed and joyful smiles.
On one side, everyone's thoughts were in turmoil, while on the other side, Jiaming's thoughts were also drifting.
After experiencing it firsthand that night, she realized that the master was indeed angry because Hongxuan had sneaked in with her.
After being tormented all night, she still had to be carried onto the carriage by her master the next day.
When she woke up in the carriage, she was met with Red Peach's sly smile, and she felt inexplicably embarrassed.
Her guilty gaze drifted around, and Hearts, understanding her intention, shifted her gaze away.
Hehe, it's better to stop when you've gone too far, otherwise it might make the master angry.
"Phew!" Jiaming breathed a sigh of relief. The slight redness at the tips of her ears began to subside and stopped spreading.
"Mother."
"Hmm?" Jiaming met Xiao Hongxuan's clear, bright black eyes.
"Bug bites, red and purple?" Xiao Hongxuan's watery eyes showed heartache.
Jiaming: "Where?"
"Neck," the little guy said, reaching out his chubby little hand to touch Jiaming's neck. "Does it hurt?"
Jiaming looked down, and oh my god, it was a hickey!
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Hongtao's shy expression, and then her son's innocent eyes. Suddenly, she blushed bright red and mumbled, "It doesn't hurt."
That wasn't the end of it; at this awkward moment, something even more awkward was about to happen.
Outside the carriage, "Hehe, Fourth Brother!" Good heavens, it was the Third Prince's voice.
"Haha, Fourth Brother!" This hearty voice came from the Tenth Prince.
"Hehe, Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother." The implication was clear: I didn't expect you to be like this, Fourth Brother. The sarcasm was clearly coming from the Ninth Prince, who was at odds with the master.
"Cough cough," that cough that reminded us to stop, must be from the Eighth Prince.
Oh my god, they heard our conversation! How embarrassing! Jiaming blushed, her face and neck turning red with embarrassment.
As the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance outside the carriage, Jiaming, recovering from her embarrassment and anger, glared angrily at Xiao Hongxuan: It's all the fault of the father and son, especially Xuan'er, who has tricked his mother again.
Xiao Hongxuan blinked his eyes, then tilted his head, looking adorably confused and bewildered.
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