On the day of the palace banquet, Xie Jingchu was worried that Ruan Jiu would be in danger if she entered the palace alone, so he insisted on accompanying her.
Seeing Xie Jingchu acting so shamelessly, Ruan Jiu couldn't help teasing him. "Could it be that you fell in love with the princess at first sight that day, and now you want to enter the palace to relieve your lovesickness?"
This made Xie Jingchu stamp his feet in anger. "What are you talking nonsense about! I don't even remember what she looks like."
Seeing Ruan Jiu laughing uncontrollably, Xie Jingchu realized that he had been tricked.
So he leaned over, raising his eyebrows and curving his lips. "A Jiu, if you keep talking nonsense, I don't mind shutting your mouth."
His tone was full of ambiguity.
After saying that, his gaze shifted to Ruan Jiu's pink and soft lips.
Ruan Jiu immediately covered her mouth and took a few steps back.
This man always said things that made her blush.
How shameless.
Then Ruan Jiu adjusted her breathing and looked at Xie Jingchu. "The harem is not a place where a man like you can easily enter."
It was indeed true.
Xie Jingchu could only pout and say helplessly, "Then you must be careful."
Ruan Jiu nodded seriously.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she didn't tell him the real purpose of entering the palace today. Otherwise, she might not even be able to leave the house.
-
After Ruan Jiu sent the jadeite smoked-sand dress to the princess's room, she didn't rush to leave the palace. Instead, she hid and prepared to quietly follow the princess.
Everything was ready, and all they needed was the east wind.
And this east wind was Gu Chengqi.
As expected, the queen held a palace banquet as requested by the customer.
Next, they just had to wait for them to drug the princess.
Thinking about what was about to happen, Ruan Jiu was both nervous and excited. She wished time would pass faster.
Finally, she saw a maid helping the drunk princess out of the palace banquet.
At this time, the princess seemed to be completely drunk and unconscious, and the personal maid who had gone to the Embroidery Pavilion with her that day was not by her side.
It seemed that they had already taken action against the princess.
Ruan Jiu immediately followed.
Then the maid directly helped the princess to a side hall.
This place was not only remote, but there was not even a single palace servant in sight. They must have been sent away by the queen.
As soon as the maid helped the princess into the room, Ruan Jiu followed in with a stick in her hand.
She saw the maid carefully placing the princess on the bed. Before the maid could catch her breath, Ruan Jiu's stick hit her on the head.
Immediately afterwards, the maid closed her eyes and fell to the ground.
Seeing the maid lying motionless, Ruan Jiu nervously reached out her finger to check the maid's breath.
Then she let out a long sigh of relief.
After all, this was the first time she had done such a thing. She was afraid that she might hit too hard and kill the person.
But now time was pressing. She had to take the princess to a safe place before Gu Chengqi came.
Moreover, she had an important thing to do later.
So Ruan Jiu helped the princess up.
Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps, the effect of the drug on the princess began to kick in. She kept wriggling her body, almost making Ruan Jiu lose her balance.
"Princess, be more obedient!" Ruan Jiu couldn't help complaining.
But after hearing the voice, the princess didn't calm down.
Instead, she rubbed against Ruan Jiu.
Ruan Jiu suddenly began to regret coming up with this idea.
If at this moment, Ruan Jiu only felt a little regretful.
Then in the next moment, this regret had become extremely intense.
"What are you doing?!"
Hearing the voice, Ruan Jiu was suddenly startled.
She held her breath, turned around, and met Xiao Wang's cold eyes, which made her shiver.
She must have forgotten to check the almanac before going out today. Otherwise, how could she be so unlucky to meet the crown prince.
Just as Xiao Wang saw clearly that the person Ruan Jiu was supporting was the princess, his eyes darkened again.
Immediately afterwards, he ordered someone to take the princess from Ruan Jiu's hands.
Ruan Jiu lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers. Her mind was constantly thinking about what kind of excuse she should come up with.
"Why are you here?" Xiao Wang coldly questioned.
He recognized Ruan Jiu at a glance, so this was not a place where Ruan Jiu should be.
"Your Highness, I entered the palace today to deliver clothes to the princess." Ruan Jiu calmly replied.
In fact, her heart was already in a turmoil.
This crown prince didn't seem like an easy person to deceive.
"Oh? Really?" Xiao Wang said as he walked towards Ruan Jiu.
From Xiao Wang's eyes, it could be seen that he didn't believe Ruan Jiu's words.
Ruan Jiu showed the most sincere look in her eyes in her life and nodded vigorously.
Suddenly, Xiao Wang's eyes fixed. A big hand instantly grabbed Ruan Jiu's neck.
A strong sense of oppression came over her, making it difficult for Ruan Jiu to breathe. Her little face turned bright red.
"Why does it seem to me that you're lying?"
Xiao Wang's sharp eyes, like an eagle's, stared directly at Ruan Jiu, trying to catch a flaw in her.
Ruan Jiu's delicate features were twisted together.
Sure enough, it wasn't that easy to deceive the crown prince.
However, the crown prince and the princess were both born to the late queen. Although their relationship wasn't very good, they were still siblings of the same mother.
If she told the crown prince the truth about the queen drugging the princess, maybe she could use the crown prince's hand to complete the next thing.
Rather than hiding and covering up in front of the crown prince, it was better to take a gamble.
Thinking of this, Ruan Jiu said hoarsely, "Your Highness, please let me go first. I'll tell you everything."
After hearing this, Xiao Wang immediately let go.
Ruan Jiu rubbed her neck and gasped for breath.
Then she said, "Actually, I accidentally overheard someone saying that they were going to drug the princess's wine to ruin her innocence. So I secretly followed the princess for fear that something might happen to her.
If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can send someone to guard that room and see if anyone will go in later."
After saying that, Ruan Jiu stretched out her hand and pointed to the room they had just come out of.
After hearing this, Xiao Wang squinted his eyes and turned to look at the princess.
Seeing the princess's cheeks flushed, she really did seem to have been drugged with that kind of medicine.
Instantly, a layer of killing intent was added to his cold eyes.
He clenched his fists and asked Ruan Jiu, "Then why didn't you tell the truth just now?"
It seemed that Xiao Wang suspected that Ruan Jiu was involved in this matter.
Ruan Jiu immediately put on an innocent look and replied, "I saw that the person was wearing gorgeous clothes. I guessed that he must be a noble in the palace. I'm just a commoner. Naturally, I'm worried that I might get into trouble. So I thought it was better to avoid getting involved. As long as the princess is safe, that's enough."
Ruan Jiu's words were flawless, leaving no room for Xiao Wang to find a flaw.
It seemed that this matter had nothing to do with Ruan Jiu.
"A noble in the palace?" Xiao Wang sneered. "I'd like to see which noble has the audacity to do such a thing!"
Then he ordered the guards beside him, "Send the princess to my palace."
Seeing the killing intent in Xiao Wang's eyes, Ruan Jiu was secretly happy. She was really right to take this gamble.
She was sure that the crown prince would not ignore this matter.
As for the following things, the crown prince would definitely handle them better than her.
Ruan Jiu thought that she could finally leave the palace with peace of mind. Unexpectedly, Xiao Wang's cold voice rang out again.
"You go with them. I'd better not find out that you're lying to me."