Princess Changning was lying on the soft couch, with her face completely exposed to Huo Ling's sight. Standing at the door, Huo Ling immediately recognized her.
Different from the usual noble and refined feeling of the Princess of Deyang, the yet-to-be of-age Princess Changning gave off a "sweet" feeling. Although her face was still young, one could glimpse her future beauty. What's more, her perfectly symmetrical dimples that appeared when she smiled were especially sweet.
However, at this moment, the side-lying Changning had a slight frown on her brow, and her unsteady breathing made one want to smooth out her frown. Most of the twelve pieces of Xian skirt embroidered with light pink peach blossoms had fallen to the ground, with a beautiful jade phoenix hairpin fallen from her hair.
Huo Ling was somewhat surprised to see his niece upon pushing open the door. He was familiar with the environment of the Duke Dingguo's mansion, but there were places - such as the inner courtyard where only female family members resided - that he had rarely ventured into since the age of seven.
When he left the banquet hall to change clothes, he randomly picked a servant and leisurely chose a path. Unexpectedly, doing so led him to mistakenly enter the realm of female family members.
With so many coincidences mixed together, was it accidental or inevitable?
- He had entered the wrong courtyard.
Yes, that's it.
As Huo Ling pushed open the door and saw his niece lying on the soft couch, he suddenly reached out and stopped the servant who had wanted to sneak away, coldly questioning, "Is this how you lead the way?"
"Can you even lead the way properly? I suspect you're not from the Duke Dingguo's mansion." He flatly refused to admit that it was his own fault for getting lost. Swiftly and habitually pushing the blame onto others, Huo Ling was prepared to be held accountable when the servant he had brought was unable to escape, but to his surprise, the other party blamed him for taking the wrong route.
Seeing his niece lying on the couch, and Huo Ling's adamant insistence on not admitting that he could get lost in the Duke Dingguo's mansion, the servant couldn't help feeling at a loss for words.
It was not the complex feeling of not knowing what to say due to betraying the master, but rather being at a loss for words as Huo Ling questioned him. He didn't know how to articulate the excuses he had prepared.
The servant's hesitant performance made Huo Ling frowned, "Do you mean to suggest that it's my fault for taking the wrong route?" As the Crown Prince, he couldn't have possibly taken the wrong route.
Seeing the Princess Changning, Xiao Anzi was momentarily stunned. When he finally realized who was lying on the soft couch, Huo Ling had already begun to press the servant to admit his mistake.
For some reason, everything had turned into this. Xiao Anzi couldn't help but wipe his face and suddenly have a realization of how his godfather felt every time he faced the Crown Prince. It was as if he had nothing to say.
- Your Highness, is it the time to consider all this?
Xiao Anzi, who was more perceptive than Huo Ling, realized in a split second that this was a plot, but to his surprise, his master not only failed to respond, but also dwelled on trivial matters.
Seeing Huo Ling, who seemed ready to reason with the servant, Xiao Anzi had to quickly demonstrate his presence and remind Huo Ling, "Your Highness, actually, we..."
Before Xiao Anzi could finish, at the moment when the servant was about to smile, Huo Ling, who had held him in place, suddenly let go, and the servant who had been talking with him fell lifeless to the ground.
"Eh?" Seeing a life disappear before his eyes, Huo Ling couldn't help but pause, "I just wanted him to take responsibility for me. Why did he scare himself to death? When did the rules of the Duke Dingguo's mansion become so terrifying?"
Hearing Huo Ling's words, Xiao Anzi looked helpless, "Your Highness, you still haven't realized?"
"Hmm?" Huo Ling turned to look at him, "A nameless servant, and I can't even discipline him?"
"Your Highness..." His godfather... really, oh dear.
In desperation, Xiao Anzi quickly tugged at Huo Ling's sleeve, pointing at the flushed Princess Changning lying on the soft couch, "She's your niece, Princess Changning, but didn't you notice that her complexion is not right? See the closed windows and the burning incense burner on the golden table by the window? What do you think will happen when you enter the room? Don't you think there's something wrong?"
Huo Ling blinked and then blinked again, "I see."
Turning his head to look at Princess Changning lying on the soft couch, he finally realized that her cheeks were abnormally flushed, "I felt a headache and some heat as I stood here. I thought it was because I ate something wrong, but it turns out I smelled something wrong... just standing at the door gave me a sense that something wasn't right. I didn't expect someone to plan things so elaborately against me."
Growing up and thriving in the palace, Huo Ling was well aware of these plots and tricks, but in the past, he never even had the qualification to let others put in so much effort to scheme against him. When others were plotting against Empress Yi, he was often just an afterthought, and sometimes, even forgot about him halfway through. Therefore, when directly faced with... huh, the "beauty trap," Huo Ling really didn't respond immediately.
Unaware of the anger of being schemed against, Huo Ling was actually a bit pleasantly surprised at this moment. It turns out that he has also reached the level where people put in so much effort to plot against him.
Using his niece to plot against him, and if he really entered this room, the effect of the incense might cause something to happen. If someone found out, especially someone who couldn't be silenced, then the Crown Prince Huo would truly have come to the end of his road.
Some things shouldn't be thought about carelessly, as they might come true. Just as Huo Ling was thinking about it, noisy footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard.
The sound got louder, but there was still some distance from where Huo Ling was.
Xiao Anzi also heard the sound and, thinking about how Huo Ling had wasted a lot of time arguing with the servant, realized everything earlier than Huo Ling did. He panicked and gathered the courage to stand in front of Huo Ling, "Your Highness, please leave quickly, and I will hold off those people who will come."
Even the use of "your" and "you" was distinguished by Xiao Anzi in his panic, but he had moved himself and pitied himself for his sacrifice, but he couldn't pity Huo Ling.
After rolling his eyes at the sky, Huo Ling, full of impatience, said, "What good are you! What's the difference between following me and causing my exposure? If I'm not here, at least it leaves less speculation?" After coming to his senses, Huo Ling regained his wits. He pushed Xiao Anzi out of his way and asked, "What should I do?"
"Scale the wall? Not to mention that it doesn't befit the image of me, the Crown Prince, to be doing something like scaling walls," said Huo Ling, who had climbed over numerous walls in his younger days. He viewed himself as a noble and refined Crown Prince, and wouldn't do anything to degrade himself. "Can you guarantee that I won't encounter the people who are coming when I climb over, or encounter another 'beauty'?"
"Like my third sister-in-law, the Princess of Deyang?"
The Princess of Deyang had removed the small temple she had set up in the princess's mansion after leaving the palace last time and no longer behaved as if she was deep in mourning. This time, she also came to the sixtieth birthday celebration of the Duke Dingguo's lady, bringing her daughter, Princess Changning, who would turn of age next year.
Huo Ling dared to think and dared to say. He thought it through and raised valid points. Considering that even the Princess Changning had been schemed against, it wasn't unlikely that the Princess of Deyang would be considered as a backup plan. Next door, there might really be a Princess of Deyang lying there.
Startled by Huo Ling's words, Xiao Anzi couldn't say anything at all, "Your... Your Highness... what should we do?"
"What should we do? We'll do as we have to," said Huo Ling, completely composed. He turned his neck from side to side and then raised his voice, "Whoever is following me, come down here and handle this."
"Your Highness, who are you talking to?"
Huo Ling didn't answer Xiao Anzi's question because the next moment he got the answer. Three men in black appeared in front of them from somewhere, and it was the Qingyu Guards, whose existence many people did not know about.
After the three men saluted Huo Ling, one of them lifted up the Princess of Changning County who was lying on the soft couch. He even checked the jade hairpin that fell on the ground without breaking. Another man lifted up the servant who was bleeding from seven orifices on the ground, and also discreetly dealt with the bloodstains left behind. The remaining person directly put the gilded copper incense burner into a cloth bag and replaced it with a censer brought from somewhere else.
After finishing everything, the three men saluted Huo Ling again and then disappeared in front of them. Xiao Anzi thought it all happened so fast that she almost thought it was an illusion.
"Your Highness, what... who are they?" This was the first time Xiao Anzi had seen such a mysterious existence even more mysterious than the Imperial Guards, and she was a bit incoherent. Huo Ling patted Xiao Anzi's head and said, "This is something you shouldn't know." He sighed as he looked at Xiao Anzi's cleverness at inappropriate times, "You're still not as useful as your foster father. If it weren't for the fact that Anda laughs uncontrollably every time he sees me, I'd really consider asking the Emperor to switch him with you. You are far behind compared to your foster father."
"So the servant is the foster son." Xiao Anzi muttered and accidentally spoke the truth, "If the servant could be as capable as the foster father, the servant wouldn't have to come and serve Your Highness."
Huo Ling felt that Xiao Anzi was belittling him, but he didn't have any evidence.
Huo Ling crossed his arms and tried to seriously lecture Xiao Anzi, who couldn't even speak properly after relaxing, but the voices from the courtyard and the several figures he had already seen made him temporarily set aside his thoughts.
"Go to the side," Huo Ling waved to let Xiao Anzi step aside.
"Yes."
Xiao Anzi bowed, quietly stepped aside and minimized her presence.
Huo Ling stood at the door with his arms crossed, watching as his wife, the Crown Princess Qin and the Crown Princess Consort Liu Yue, and the other women gradually entered his sight.