One of the maids was bolder. She knew that if she could sleep with His Royal Highness, she would live a wealthy life ever after.

  So she took the initiative to approach Lu Chen who was tipsy. “Your Royal Highness, the Duchess ordered us to serve you well. Please show me mercy and let me serve you!”


  While speaking, the woman’s eyes were very seductive.

  When Lu Chen heard her words, he called his secret guard and said, “Throw the two of them out, and don’t allow any women to come in.”


  The secret guard nodded.

  Qiao Jinniang, who came in with the Duke Rong Mansion’ guards, saw this scene and chuckled.

  “Your Royal Highness, the Crown Princess has sent a maid over to ask you to return.”


  Lu Chen smiled. So she still had him in her heart. “Let her in.”


  After Qiao Jinniang entered, she knelt on the ground and said, “Greetings, Your Royal Highness.”


  After Lu Chen heard her voice, he hurriedly closed the door and pulled her up from the ground. “Why are you here? How did you get out of the East Palace?”


  Qiao Jinniang took off her veil and said, “I took the secret tunnel.”


  Qiao Jinniang smelled the smell of alcohol on Lu Chen and complained, “Why did you drink yourself into this? Just because I was mad at you?”


  Lu Chen hugged Qiao Jinniang and said, “I don’t know how to keep you from being angry, and I’m afraid that you won’t let me enter your palace when I go back. If that happens, wouldn’t I become a joke in the East Palace?”


  Qiao Jinniang: “…”


  Lu Chen leaned on Qiao Jinniang’s shoulder. “You came out to look for me in person, which shows that you have me in your heart. Don’t be angry, okay?

  “Tomorrow I will ask my mother to find Zhou Sisi a husband so that she can’t bother you anymore.”


  “She’s not Li Lingling or Fourth Miss Qin. We have no say on who she will marry.” Qiao Jinniang said, “Okay, I’m not angry anymore. I made your favorite fish balls for you, but unfortunately you missed them.”


  Drunk, Lu Chen stretched his arms around Qiao Jinniang’s waist and said, “My favorite food is not fish balls, but white rabbits…”


  Qiao Jinniang said, “Don’t mess around. This is in Duke Rong Mansion.”


  Lu Chen chuckled and said, “This is the courtyard prepared for me by the Duke Rong Mansion, no one will come to disturb us.”
……

  In Duchess Rong’s courtyard, she looked at the two useless maids in front of her and said coldly, “Okay, I see. You can leave now.”


  Her mammy whispered to her, “Madam, His Royal Highness only loves the Crown Princess. Why did you have to send these two maids to him?”


  “Alas, I did this for Lianran. Her illness is getting worse. I should have taken better care of her that day!”


  “Madam, you don’t have to blame yourself. What happened back then wasn’t your fault.”


  Princess Rong recalled when Lu Pianran was eight years old, she was playing with a group of children at a banquet in the East Palace.

  At that time, Lu Chen had just turned ten years old and officially moved into the East Palace.

  On that day, the Empress Dowager plotted to murder Lu Chen, but her plan was overheard by Lu Pianran when she was discussing the plan with her confidant.

  Although Lu Pianran was young, she understood what the Empress Dowager was trying to do, but it was too late to tell Lu Chen about it.

  Seeing the Crown Prince’s robe on the side, she came up with an idea to put on Lu Chen’s robe and pretended to be Lu Chen.

  Lu Chen was two years older than Lu Pianran, but their heights were about the same back then.

  Lu Chen’s robe fit Lu Pianran well, and it was night, so everyone took Lu Pianran as Lu Chen.

  Taken as Lu Chen, Lu Pianran was pushed into the river by an eunuch.

  Zhou Sisi, who was six year old at that time, happened to witness this scene.

  The murderer was afraid that Zhou Sisi would reveal his identity, so he knocked Zhou Sisi unconscious and pushed her into the river as well.

  He wanted to silence her forever!

  Duchess Rong was the first to discover that her daughter fell into the water with Zhou Sisi.

  When Duchess Rong saw her daughter wearing the bright yellow python robe that only the Crown Prince could wear, she was almost scared out of her wits!

  She hurriedly exchanged the clothes of her daughter with Zhou Sisi’s and then called for help.

  She was very scared because in history, many princesses had rebelled.

  Lu Pianran was a princess. If it was known by others that she wore the Crown Prince’s python robe, the Duke Rong Mansion might be in danger.

  And when Lu Pianran woke up and told her what had happened, she was afraid of attracting the retaliation of the Empress Dowager.

  Duke Rong was not born by the Empress Dowager.

  Duchess Rong didn’t want her daughter to be involved in the fight for the throne.

  So she told Lu Pianran to keep this matter a secret and gave Zhou Sisi all the credit for saving the Crown Prince.

  Because of that accident, Lu Pianran became sick and became a famous medicine jar in Chang’an.

  And Zhou Sisi had constant high fever and became retarded ever since.

  Zhou Sisi became retarded, so no one knew the truth except Duchess Rong and her confidants. Even the Zhou family thought it was Zhou Sisi who saved the Crown Prince.

  Duchess Rong was happy to see it. She didn’t want her daughter to owe the Crown Prince a life-saving grace at all.

  She was afraid that people would know that Lu Pianran had worn the Crown Prince’s python robe.

  But now Lu Pianran’s health was getting worse and worse.

  Her health was deteriorating day by day.

  Although His Majesty and the Crown Prince promised to help them find Tianshan Snow Lotus, they would definitely not sacrifice the soldiers’ lives and the people’s peaceful lives to send troops to Xiliang to seize the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

  Therefore, Duchess Rong had no choice but to come up with this idea. If Lu Chen fell in love with the women she sent to him, he might send troops to Xiliang to seize the Tianshan Snow Lotus for her.

  Unfortunately, her plan failed…
……

  in the Duke Wu Mansion.

  Early in the morning, Mrs. Zhou heard the news from the Duke Rong Mansion.

  “Madam, it is absolutely true that His Royal Highness slept a maid from the East Palace in the Duke Rong Mansion.”


  Mrs. Zhou chuckled. Sure enough, how could Lu Chen only have one woman? He was the Crown Prince after all!

  Mrs. Zhou said to her confidant, “Find a few people to spread the news that Sisi put on the Crown Prince’s python robe to save the Crown Prince’s life when she was a kid. Remember to do it in secret.”


  Her Sisi jumped into the lake without hesitation just to fish up the doll she made for Lu Chen. How could she let her daughter be disappointed?

  Qiao Jinniang was too domineering. Zhou Sisi didn’t want to snatch Lu Chen’s favor from Qiao Jinniang. She was just a kid and just wanted to stay with her beloved imperial cousin, but Qiao Jinniang just didn’t let her.

  Then she could only use this means to force the royal family to repay her daughter’s life-saving grace.

  After all, Sisi became retarded from saving the Crown Prince!……

  The sun shone straight in from the skylight. When Qiao Jinniang woke up, there was still a strong aroma of wine on her lips, and she was shocked when she got up.

  She hurriedly pushed Lu Chen lying next to her. “Get up, it’s already daytime. Gosh, how can I go back to the East Palace?”


  She sneaked out at night, and it would be difficult for her to return to the East Palace now. At least she couldn’t use the secret tunnel in the Qiao Mansion now.

  Lu Chen smiled and said, “What are you panicking about? Leave this to me.”


  Qiao Jinniang said, “How can I not panic? You came out of the East Palace openly but I sneaked out.”


  Lu Chen said, “Let’s go back with my carriage. They won’t check my carriage.”


  Qiao Jinniang thought this was the only way.

  “Xi’er will cry if he can’t find me when he wakes up. Let’s go back soon!”


  Lu Chen looked at the sun. It was time to go back indeed, so he had the guards drive his carriage into the yard so that no one would find out Qiao Jinniang was here.