“……” Jingle stammered and became speechless once again.

Before she left the princess's mansion, she had a big quarrel with Prince Consort Lu over her mother's gold hairpin. At that time, her chief maid was also driven out of the house by Prince Consort. Later, after she "accidentally" hit her head, she felt extremely upset and ran out of the princess's mansion in a hurry, running aimlessly for several streets. At that time, she ran so fast that the maid probably couldn't keep up with her.

There was no need for Jingle to say anything more. Chu Qianchen said to Jiang Yuan, "Go to the princess's mansion in person and bring the eldest princess's maid over."

So Jiang Yuan asked someone to prepare a second carriage and went out first.

Two carriages left Prince Chen's Mansion one after another. One went to Princess Jingle's Mansion, and the other took Chu Qianchen and Jingle to the house on the neighboring street where Chu Qianchen came as a dowry.

This house was chosen by Shen herself. It has an excellent location. It is not only close to Prince Chen's Mansion, but also not far from Marquis Yongding's Mansion. It is right between the two mansions, and the surrounding area is very lively. Although the house has only three rooms, it has all the facilities and is quiet in a bustling place.

The house has been empty since it was bought, but there are maids and old women who clean and maintain it regularly. The house is very clean and quiet, like a small world isolated from the mundane world.

As soon as Jingle entered the door, she felt much more relaxed than before in Prince Chen's Mansion, and looked around with interest.

Chu Qianchen looked at her quietly, pursed his lips, two shallow dimples appeared on his cheeks, and a faint smile like a spring breeze appeared on his lips.

Jingle smiled shyly, with a bit of satisfaction and a bit of flattered joy, and sighed from the bottom of her heart: "Thank you, Sister-in-law Jiuhuang, you are so kind!"

Her eyes, which were originally like a pool of stagnant water, rippled slightly and became lively again.

Chu Qianchen took a step closer to her, raised his hand and touched the top of her head again, and blinked his right eye quickly: "You are also very good."

She squinted her eyes and smiled meaningfully.

“???” Jingle looked at Chu Qianchen in confusion.

Chu Qianchen didn't intend to keep it a secret, so he gave a hint: "That day at Wanqing Restaurant, Yuan Zhitong fell down the stairs."

The commotion that day was so loud that even Chu Qianchen, who was in the private room, heard it.

She didn't specifically ask anyone to find out what happened, but Jiang Yuan was there. After Jiang Yuan found out what happened, he reported it to Chu Qianchen on the carriage back to the palace.

Even though Jiang Yuan didn't see with her own eyes the little gestures Jingle made towards Yuan Zhitong, from their positions on the stairs and some subtle changes in Jingle's expression at the moment, Jiang Yuan could guess about 70% of it, and told Chu Qianchen all her guesses.

Chu Qianchen also agreed with Jiang Yuan's guess.

Even though Chu Qianchen's words were vague, Jingle was the person involved and understood it as soon as she heard it.

She was shocked at first, then frightened, and then afraid. She looked at Chu Qianchen timidly, afraid that she would think she was too bad and vicious.

At that time, Yuan Zhitong spoke in a sarcastic tone. Although she didn't say a bad word about Chu Qianchen openly, her words were full of hidden thorns, which made Jingle feel uncomfortable no matter how she listened to them, and she kicked him subconsciously.

Looking back on it later, even she herself felt that she was really brave, as she was obviously not drinking at the time.

However, she never regretted it.

Jingle's expression changed several times in a short period of time. She didn't know how to hide herself, and even Amber could see it clearly.

Chu Qianchen smiled and repeated, "You are also very good."

Jingle's eyes widened instantly, and she finally understood what Chu Qianchen meant.

The Ninth Emperor's wife recognized her and praised her, right? !

Thinking of this, Jingle finally felt relieved. A smile bloomed on her face again, bright and charming. She was completely different from the way she looked when she appeared at the gate of Prince Chen's Mansion today.

A thought that she had never dared to think about before emerged in Jingle's mind: If... if she went to beat up the prince consort, would the Ninth Emperor's wife be happy?

Even she herself was frightened by her own thought. Her eyelashes fluttered lightly twice, but she didn't ask in the end.

Her attention was quickly focused on the house, and she followed Chu Qianchen and walked around the house.

This was also Chu Qianchen's first time here, so the person who led the way was a maid who guarded the house. The maid was chosen by Shen. She was honest but a little dull, so she seemed very nervous when facing Chu Qianchen and Jingle.

Afraid of saying something wrong, the old woman didn't dare to say a word. She just introduced the house in a dry way, including the back house, the screen wall, the second door, the east and west wing rooms, the main house, the ear room, the back room, etc.

It only takes two cups of tea to walk around this small house with three courtyards. It is not even as big as the main courtyard of the princess's mansion, but Jingle thinks everything is good. Even the small clump of green bamboo planted in the inner courtyard and the palm-sized pond are very pleasing to her.

"It's nice here." Jingle sighed.

"As long as you like it." Chu Qianchen smiled and pulled Jingle to sit down in the main room.

Jingle is now like a frightened rabbit, wishing she could dig a rabbit hole and hide herself in it, as if she could only feel safe in a confined, ignored space.

This small house is perfect for her.

Jingle's fever had just subsided and her body was still weak. After walking around, she felt a little tired. After sitting down, a look of fatigue appeared between her brows.

Chu Qianchen was just about to persuade her to rest first when a maid came to report that people from the princess's mansion had arrived.

There were three people coming, two of whom Chu Qianchen had seen before. One was Jingle's personal maid, one was her wet nurse, and the other, a nurse in her fifties wearing a rust-colored jacket, looked unfamiliar, with slightly sunken cheekbones and a slightly arrogant expression.

The three of them saluted Jingle and Chu Qianchen first, and then the unfamiliar old lady said in a disapproving tone: "Your Highness, how could you run out like this alone?! What if you encounter any danger?!"

"Alas, although the Prince Consort made a mistake for a moment, it was also an unintentional mistake. Your Highness left without a trace, but the Prince Consort and I, the servants, were worried sick."

The old lady sighed and talked for a long time, and it was unclear whether she was more worried or more scolding.

Jiang Yuan had just come back from picking someone up, and whispered in Chu Qianchen's ear that this nanny's surname was Huang, and she was the head nanny of Princess Jingle's mansion. Like the head palace maid and the wet nurse, she was an old lady brought out from the palace. She had also served Jingle's mother in the past, and for this reason Jingle respected her very much.

A hint of a smile appeared on Chu Qianchen's face.

Nanny Huang didn't notice Chu Qianchen's expression was not right at all. She focused all her attention on Jingle and kept talking non-stop: "Your Highness, please stop being so petty. Come back with me and have a good talk with the Prince Consort. There is no overnight grudge between this couple. This woman should..."

“Pah.”

The sound of the teacup being placed on the tea table interrupted what Nanny Huang was saying.

Nanny Huang frowned and looked in the direction of Chu Qianchen. She felt that the Princess Chen was really rude and did not have the demeanor of a princess.

Chu Qianchen didn't care what this disrespectful nanny thought, and said coldly: "Get out."

"You're so long-winded and noisy!"

As soon as she said that, Jiang Yuan immediately called in two servants and approached Huang Madam. Jiang Yuan held out his hand to Huang Madam expressionlessly, "Please come in."

Although Nanny Huang put on airs in front of Jingle, she didn't dare to act presumptuously in front of Chu Qianchen. No matter what she thought in her heart, her face was respectful, and she said with a polite smile: "Princess, this servant..."

Chu Qianchen didn't bother to listen to what Nanny Huang wanted to say.

She didn't need to give any more instructions, as two servants grabbed the man on the left and right and started dragging him out of the house.

Nanny Huang was always respected in the princess's mansion. The princess always gave her some respect, so she became a little overwhelmed. She never expected that she would fall into this situation. Her face looked extremely ugly at the moment.

She opened her mouth again, but Jiang Yuan looked at her coldly again. She was so scared that she trembled and dared not speak.

Nanny Huang could only look at Jingle pleadingly, wanting Jingle to help her intercede. However, Jingle didn't even look at her, but just looked at Chu Qianchen with shining eyes.

Madam Huang: “…”

Nanny Huang could only look at Jingle's wet nurse and the head palace maid, but the two of them had already lowered their heads and didn't even dare to look at Nanny Huang.

So, Nanny Huang was dragged out by the two old women and disappeared in a short while.

The main room became quiet again.

Chu Qianchen seemed nonchalant, but he was actually paying attention to the expressions and behaviors of the wet nurse and the head palace maid. He could see that the wet nurse Huang was a confused person, while these two, like Jingle, were gentle in nature.

That's right, otherwise they wouldn't have allowed Jingle, a princess, to be bullied like this.

Jingle was slow to react until this moment. She coughed twice and looked at Chu Qianchen expectantly with inquiring eyes: "Sister-in-law Jiuhuang, should we keep these two?"

Wet nurse: “…”

The senior maid: “…”

They both had no doubt that if Princess Chen said "no", they princesses would not say a word, not because they did not dare, but because they were sincerely convinced.

Chu Qianchen took another sip of tea leisurely. Just a brief silence made the wet nurse and the head palace maid feel nervous.

Then Chu Qianchen said lightly: "Then keep it." She acted as if she would obey Jingle in everything.

Jingle seemed to have received great recognition, and her face looked more radiant.

While the wet nurse and the head palace maid breathed a sigh of relief, they looked at each other secretly, feeling that something was wrong here.

The two were confused and didn't know what happened during the time when the princess was missing. Could it be that Princess Chen met their princess on the way out and brought her here to settle down? ! The wet nurse sorted out her thoughts and soon calmed down a little.

No matter what happened, she could at least see that Princess Chen had no ill will towards the eldest princess. The eldest princess changed her clothes, the wound on her forehead was treated properly, and she was in much better spirits.

Thinking about the princess's kind reminder to Princess Chen at the Xiyuan Palace, the wet nurse suddenly felt that not everyone was as ungrateful as the prince consort, and that the princess had a good relationship with Princess Chen.

As she was thinking, she heard Chu Qianchen instruct Jiang Yuan, "Go to the palace again and get two maids and two guards. It would be best if they have families with them. Temporarily place them in the back room."

The row of rooms in the front is more than enough to accommodate the families of two guards.

The wet nurse was cheered up again and felt that Chu Qianchen's arrangement could not be more appropriate.

By the time Jiang Yuan had settled the maids and guards, another hour had passed and night had quietly fallen.

Winter nights are always exceptionally cold and quiet, with everything silent.

Chu Qianchen was going back to Prince Chen's Mansion. Jingle was reluctant to let him go, so she personally sent him to the gate and watched him get on the carriage.

Jingle stood there motionless until the carriage drove out of the gate of the house, and soon the gate was closed.

Jingle then slowly turned around and walked towards the inner courtyard with a faint smile on her lips.

Big red lanterns are hung in the courtyard. On this winter night, the orange-red light seems to add a bit of visual warmth to the surroundings.

As she walked, the curve of her lips deepened.

This is the residence of the Ninth Emperor's wife. It is very nice here, unlike the princess's mansion where she felt suffocated.

The Ninth Emperor’s wife is so nice.

Jingle walked briskly and her body was as straight as a bamboo, just like a green bamboo that was bent by the snow and suddenly became straight after shaking off the heavy snow.

(End of this chapter)