She couldn't help it, and shook her head in a hurry: "No, no, I, I'm just…"
"You're saying there's nothing!" Zhao Jingran grabbed Su Mo'er, who was trying to leave again, and looked at the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, just look at her, she's terrified."
The Crown Prince, hearing this, moved his lips slightly, but said nothing, maintaining a calm expression and staring deeply at Su Mo'er.
His silence made Su Mo'er uneasy, so she quickly shook off Zhao Jingran's hand, awkwardly curtsied, and said, "Your Highness, thank you for coming to my aid today. I shall definitely express my gratitude to Your Highness when the opportunity arises."
After saying this, she smiled and then stepped lightly towards the Crown Prince.
When she reached him, Su Mo'er curtsied gently and called out, "Your Highness."
Zhao Jinghuan looked deeply into her eyes, nodded, and seeing no sign of anger, Su Mo'er felt relieved. She then stood by the Crown Prince.
"Wait," unexpectedly, Zhao Jinghuan suddenly called out to her.
Feeling a sudden tightness in her heart, Su Mo'er forced a smile and looked at him, "Your Highness, is there anything else I can do?"
Unexpectedly, Zhao Jinghuan just stared at the cloak she was wearing, then after a pause, he asked, "Whose is this?"
Su Mo'er looked at him puzzled, and subconsciously said, "This is His Highness King An's…"
Before she could finish her sentence, she widened her eyes as the Crown Prince walked up to her, took the cloak off her, and threw it back to Zhao Jingran, while saying to Prince An, "Brother, the night is getting colder. Even if you want to take care of the lady, you should also take care of yourself."
Zhao Jingran caught the cloak thrown back to him. It still carried a faint warmth, and when he held it, he felt a slight heat, involuntarily recalling the touch of Su Mo'er earlier. An inexplicable feeling arose within him.
However, he just smirked, and scanned the two of them, "Why would my brother make such a statement? If I can protect this beauty for a while, and it affects me in some way, that's fine. But here, the lady is experiencing sudden cold. I think she's quite delicate, so don't let her catch a cold."
He wasn't blind, nor was he foolish. He naturally observed the subtle tension between the two.
This discovery surprised him greatly. His elder brother, who had always avoided relationships with women, had finally developed feelings? However, amidst this, he also encountered some inexplicable emotions himself. He hadn't grasped the situation and deliberately made those remarks, wanting to see his elder brother's reaction.
As expected, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Jinghuan remained calm and said, "You don't have to bother about this."
As he spoke, he had already removed his own cloak, and gracefully draped it over Su Mo'er, looking at her and calmly instructing her, "Put this on, don't catch a cold."
Su Mo'er was taken aback for a moment, then blushed with embarrassment as she realized what the Crown Prince did. It made her already enchanting face even more alluring.
Even though she knew that the Crown Prince's gesture was due to Prince An's words, she still felt content.
She held the cloak tightly, slightly shyly lowered her head, revealing her delicate and fair neck, and thanked him in a soft and alluring voice, "Thank you for your kind intentions, Your Highness. I will take good care of myself."
These simple words she spoke seemed to carry a thousand layers of meaning, stirring ripples in the hearts of those who heard them.
Zhao Jinghuan felt a little uneasy, and turned his head away from Su Mo'er, only to see Zhao Jingran's deep and intense gaze fixed on her, causing the slight pleasure in his heart to vanish and be replaced by a hint of annoyance.
Without any expression, he instructed Su Mo'er, "You may leave."
Upon hearing this, Su Mo'er subconsciously glanced at the two of them and didn't dare to delay, so she quickly retreated.
After she left, the Crown Prince turned to Zhao Jingran, "I don't care what your purpose was in coming here this time, but I hope that an incident like today's won't happen again. This is a critical juncture, and any misstep will be disastrous. I hope you will be cautious in your decisions."
Zhao Jingran withdrew his gaze from Su Mo'er, and smiled faintly as he fanned himself in front of him, "Brother, rest assured, now that we have met, I will naturally consult with you on certain matters."
The underlying meaning was, some matters did not need to be discussed.
Zhao Jinghuan knew his third brother's temperament well and couldn't help but feel a headache, shaking his head, "The day is already late, and it's been tiring for you to travel, so you should rest early today. Come find me tomorrow when you have the time, and we can talk in more detail then."
Zhao Jingran had no objections and agreed willingly.
The final outcome of the day's events marked a satisfactory conclusion for Su Mo'er, but she was unaware that for Zhao Jinghuan, this was only the beginning.
After returning to the dancers' quarters, everyone couldn't help but look at Su Mo'er with different eyes.
Not only had she received such treatment from the Crown Prince tonight, but she had also been so lucky as to be saved by Prince An. What made Su Mo'er so fortunate? Why did all the good things happen to her?
Moreover, with the downfall of the Li siblings, there was no one left in the entire dancers' quarters who could compare with Su Mo'er. This not only provoked jealousy but also increased their wariness towards her.
Having resolved the situation with Li Feifei and Li Yanzé, Su Mo'er was in a great mood, especially with the Crown Prince's cloak draped over her. She didn't care about the thoughts of the other dancers.
With the only mountain pressing down on her removed and the only competitor in the mansion gone, she could now concentrate on becoming the Crown Prince's woman as quickly as possible. That would be a great accomplishment!
Li Linger was still feeling very startled, "No wonder Li Feifei said such unpleasant things today. It turns out they had such despicable intentions! It's truly malicious!"
She then blamed Su Mo'er, "Sister Su, it's true that you knew they were up to no good, why were you so careless? Fortunately, you are favored by Prince An, or else…"
Her voice trailed off, but Su Mo'er understood the deeper meaning behind her words.
She reassured Li Linger with a smile, "It's okay, nothing happened in the end. Don't worry too much about people like Li Feifei."
Li Linger nodded vigorously, "Sister Su, you're right!"
The two of them chatted for a while until the old housekeeper suddenly came in and said to everyone, "That's enough for today, get ready to return to the mansion."
The other dancers were taken aback and exclaimed, "Go back now? But the Crown Prince just arrived!"
The housekeeper immediately shot a glance at them and scolded, "Nonsense! There were such incidents just now, and you still have the heart to think about these things? Let me tell you, it's the Crown Prince's order to return to the mansion!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned. Then, they all realized that it must have been Su Mo'er's actions that led to this result. But now, the instigators, Liu Feifei and Liu Yanzhe, were no longer present. They dared not blame the crown prince and were full of resentment, with nowhere to direct it but towards Su Mo'er.
Su Mo'er could instantly feel the increasingly intense gaze of those looking at her, as if they wished they could kill her.
However, no matter how dissatisfied they were, Su Mo'er was not threatened by them, so she didn't care at all.
She had already anticipated this outcome and accepted it calmly. After all, for her, she could be considered the biggest winner tonight.
Since the crown prince had spoken, the others had no desire to continue their revelries and began to return to the Ministry.
As Su Mo'er was about to board the carriage, Li Gonggong suddenly rushed over with a smile, inviting her on behalf of the crown prince. Su Mo'er was a little dazed, but amidst Li Ling'er's green envy and the more complicated feelings of others, she followed Li Gonggong to the crown prince's carriage.
The crown prince's carriage looked no different from the outside, but inside, it exuded a royal aura, revealing understated luxury and power everywhere.
Once inside, Su Mo'er dared only to glance briefly before bowing and speaking softly, "The humble one pays her respects to Your Highness."
Zhao Jinghuan watched her with a myriad of expressions, then gestured towards a soft seat at the side, saying, "Sit."
His calm voice, without a trace of disturbance, left no room for resistance.
Su Mo'er couldn't be rude, so she smiled and thanked him before taking her seat next to him.
Zhao Jinghuan didn't say anything further. Su Mo'er watched as he fiddled with the cabinet beside him, unable to see what he was doing.
After a while, Su Mo'er couldn't help but feel a bit hesitant. Had the crown prince suddenly summoned her because he had noticed something, or was he angry about today's events?
Although she had been quite calm before, thinking like this made her increasingly uneasy and apprehensive.
After enduring for a while, she couldn't hold back any longer and asked in a soft voice, "Your Highness, may I ask why you've summoned me? Is there something important?"
Zhao Jinghuan turned around only after hearing this, his deep, dark eyes staring at her for a long time before calmly saying, "Lift your skirt."
Su Mo'er was shocked and involuntarily let out a sound.