Rong Rong stopped in her tracks; she was indeed very curious.

“Then tell me.”

Rong Rong half-turned her head, waiting for him to speak.

The Crown Prince, not in a hurry, patted the bed: “Come here.”

Did he take her for someone else?

Rong Rong’s face flushed with embarrassment and irritation.

She raised her foot to leave, but in her haste, she bumped into the doorframe with a loud “thud.”

“Ah—” Rong Rong’s nose was hurt by the impact.

The Crown Prince jumped up from the bed, quickly moved to her side, and saw Rong Rong covering her face.

He gently removed her hand and lifted her chin.

After hitting her nose, Rong Rong didn’t feel much pain, only that her nose was a bit warm.

Soon, she felt something sliding from her nose.

“Your nose is bleeding,” the Crown Prince said, both amused and exasperated.

He hurriedly grabbed a handkerchief to press against her nose.

Rong Rong felt embarrassed.

She considered herself not a foolish person but always ended up making a fool of herself in front of him.

“Does it hurt?”

She was holding back her anger and didn’t want to answer him.

Having bumped into the doorframe, Rong Rong’s nose was red, looking especially pitiful.

The Crown Prince felt a pang of tenderness and, unable to resist, kissed her cheek.

Rong Rong didn’t expect him to be in the mood for such things while she was in this state.

She struggled to walk away.

But the Crown Prince had come this far and would not let her slip away so easily.

He followed her out of the bedroom, wrapping his arm around her slim waist and dragging her into the small study.

“Stop making a fuss,” Rong Rong said, covering her nose.

“Don’t you want to hear about the old man?”

“Yes, but just talk about it without being so close to me,” Rong Rong said, sounding muffled.

Her back was against the door, with his hands on either side of her.

She didn’t like it, but he seemed to enjoy holding her like this every time.

“Do you want to lie down and talk?”

Lately, the Crown Prince had been resting on the small study’s couch.

“What exactly are you not saying?” Yuan Bao wasn’t in the room, so Rongrong couldn’t think of anything that would make him wary.

She couldn’t possibly bite her tongue and commit suicide, right?

“First, tell me what you argued with Xie Yuanchu about by the Pool,” the Crown Prince asked.

After the incident with Liang Muchen falling into the water, reflecting on the argument with Yuamchu had lost its intensity.

Rongrong was somewhat deflated, “It’s a trivial matter, not worth discussing.”

“If you don’t tell me, how will you know I’m not interested?” His tone was somewhat displeased.

Rongrong was very curious about the matter concerning Old An Guo Gong and Yuan Bao.

She thought for a moment and then recounted how she had saved money to redeem Zhen Zhen, which had angered Shi Yuan Chu.

The Crown Prince frowned, “You became Dongzhu just to redeem Zhen Zhen?”

After all the talking, he was still fixated on the matter of Dongzhu.

Rongrong was immediately irritated and retorted, “Yes, I became Dongzhu just to gather the one hundred taels needed to redeem Zhen Zhen. In your eyes, is Zhen Zhen worth less than a single pearl?”

Seeing her glaring at him, the Crown Prince instead smiled, “You’re being ungrateful. After all, it’s still my pearl. You were able to redeem your good sister thanks to me. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”

Ungrateful?

Rongrong knew she couldn’t argue with him and chose to remain silent.

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, “This matter is indeed difficult. Yuanchu is overwhelmed with many issues and might not be able to attend to your good sister.”

“I’ve said it before, to you all, it’s just a trivial matter.”

Rongrong sneered.

She and Zhen Zhen were both lowly maidservants in the eyes of the high and mighty Crown Prince and Young Master, merely pets to be toyed with when they were in a good mood.

“If it truly were a trivial matter, why would Yuanchu have lost his composure and argued with you in the East Palace?”

“That’s… that’s because there was no one else there.”

The Crown Prince smirked again, “I’ll remember this matter. Next time I meet Yuanchu, I’ll help you get an explanation.”

Rongrong immediately recalled what Yuanchu had said by the wooden path: Don’t think that just because someone is backing you up now, you can act recklessly.

She didn’t think she was acting recklessly, but… it seemed the Crown Prince was really going to back her up…

Her face turned red instantly, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

Earlier, when arguing with Yuan Chu, she felt Yuanchu was unreasonable and aggressive, and her own momentum couldn’t match his.

Now that he said he would “get an explanation,” Rongrong felt there was hope.

After all, Liu Zhen was much more unreasonable and overbearing than Yuanchu.

If he went to demand an explanation, Yuanchu would have to release Zhen Zhen.

Having someone backing her up indeed felt good.

“Well, for such trivial matters, Your Highness doesn’t need to…” Rongrong wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

After all, she couldn’t handle Yuanchu on her own.

The Crown Prince noticed her awkwardness and felt a sudden pang of melancholy.

Such a trivial matter.

She must have felt that she was always insignificant and trivial in his heart, a person who was never considered a priority.

But that wasn’t the case.

Not now, and not in the past either.

“Your Highness, you don’t have to pressure the Young Master to have Zhen Zhen redeemed. I’ll ask Zhen Zhen’s opinion when I see her another day. Although I think redemption is a good idea, she might not actually think so.”

Zhen Zhen has feelings for Xie Yuanchu, so perhaps with a few kind words from him, she might change her mind.

“Alright, we’ll leave it at that for now. Let me talk about the situation with the An Guo Gong’s residence.”

Rong Rong immediately became attentive.

“The old man was a military general in his youth. He once led troops to fight against the Liao country, forcing the Liao Emperor to cede territory and offer his daughter to the old man.

After the victory, the old man returned to the capital with his wife.

Unfortunately, the climate and food in the capital were vastly different from those in Liao country, and his wife’s health deteriorated.

Her condition worsened after she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, and she passed away when the daughter was five years old.”

“Liao? So… you mean Yuannao…” Rong Rong had never seen Liao people, but they were likely similar to Hu people—tall and strong, with deep-set eyes, long eyelashes, and hooked noses.

The Crown Prince looked at Rong Rong and nodded, “The daughter they had was my mother.”

“So, Yuan Bao looks like your grandmother?” Rong Rong’s eyes widened.

“It’s indeed quite extraordinary. It’s said that my mother resembled my grandmother in stature, but her features were like the old man’s. I took after my mother in height but inherited my father’s features. Yuan Bao unexpectedly inherited his great-grandmother’s appearance.”

The Empress and the Crown Prince were indeed unusually tall; the Empress was only slightly shorter than the Emperor, and the Crown Prince was a head taller than ordinary men, likely due to his grandmother’s genes.

It truly is a twist of fate.

When Rongrong first met Yuanbao after her rebirth, she didn’t recognize him because of his Hu appearance.

“…Seeing Yuan Bao looking like this, my mother believed it was Heaven’s blessing for her loss of her mother in childhood, and she has always been very fond of Yuan Bao.

As for the old man, he hasn’t had any contact with us for years, and I hadn’t considered letting Yuan Bao meet him. I’m not surprised by his reaction today.” The Empress had once told him that although the old man and his grandmother had only lived together for five or six years, their feelings were very deep.

It’s truly astonishing.

Rong Rong found it hard to believe.

Being favored by both the Empress and the old Duke An was indeed a blessing for Yuan Bao, but it nearly made her miss him.

The ways of the world are truly unpredictable.

“What’s wrong?” The Crown Prince noticed her silence and asked gently.

Rong Rong turned her face away, “It’s nothing. I’m just… happy for Yuan Bao to have so many people who care for him.”

Since she was holding a handkerchief to her nose, her voice sounded nasal, almost as if she was crying.

“Happy yet crying?” the Crown Prince asked.

“I…” Rongrong was momentarily at a loss for words and tried to defend herself, “I bumped my nose earlier, it hurts a lot.”

“Hmm,” the Crown Prince looked at her with deep eyes and, after a moment, said, “Let me see.”

Without waiting for her to react, he gently removed the handkerchief.

She was in a very sorry state at the moment, tears on her cheeks, and blood on her nose and lips.

Although Rongrong couldn’t see her own appearance, she knew it and instinctively raised her hand to cover her face, “Don’t look.”

The Crown Prince curled his lips into a smile and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

Normally, he would suddenly attack with a domineering and arrogant manner, which made Rongrong deeply uncomfortable.

But today, he was very gentle, very gentle.

He wasn’t in a hurry to conquer; both his hands were steady, resting against the doorframe, and only his soft lips touched hers.

Feeling his gentle embrace, Rongrong gradually lowered her guard and tilted her face slightly.

Sensing her change, the Crown Prince placed one hand around her waist.

“Gu Gu, Gu Gu.” Yuan Bao’s voice came from outside, with a confused and sleepy tone, as if just waking up.

Rongrong suddenly jolted awake from the tender moment, anxiously pushing him away.

“Yuan Bao, is here.”