Just as Luo Sheng was complacent about her perfect plan, the courtyard door creaked open, and two voices came from outside.

“This is Your Highness’s courtyard.”

Luo Sheng: “…”

Luo Sheng threw caution to the wind, ducking into the bushes. The tall trees concealed her figure.

Xiao Chuhuai’s footsteps paused slightly as he entered, glancing at the dense foliage in the courtyard before interrupting the man behind him without expression, “This King doesn’t like idle chatter.”

“Yes, yes,” the man bowed deeply, “My son has been a junior official in the Ministry of War for three years, diligently performing his duties.

It was a momentary lapse that led him to make a mistake in the weapons accounts, resulting in his demotion.

Currently, the border conflicts between Dayao and our country are frequent, and it’s a time when we need talented people. Perhaps you could forgive him this once…”

Xiao Chuhuai’s voice was indifferent, “Minister Deng, you’ve disturbed this King’s rest, just to plead for your insignificant son?”

“No, no, not just that,” Deng Lou broke out in a cold sweat, pretending to be calm as he took out a brocade box from his bosom and pushed it in front of Xiao Chuhuai.

Deng Lou lowered his voice, “This string of Buddhist beads was obtained from Changming Temple. It’s not worth much, but it’s a token of my respect.”

Changming Temple was where Xiao Chuhuai’s mother resided.

Deng Lou added, “Empress Dowager Chen heard that it was for Your Highness and specially entrusted it to me.”

Xiao Chuhuai didn’t even look at it, his tone becoming even colder, “Minister Deng is thoughtful.”

“It’s nothing,” Deng Lou thought Xiao Chuhuai had softened, so he tentatively probed, “The border situation is tense now, His Majesty’s health is poor, and the Crown Prince is preoccupied with his Crown Princess, unaware of our concerns about his neglect of state affairs.

Fortunately, Your Highness is here, and I naturally need to be more careful. To be frank… Your Highness being just a prince is a waste of talent.”

“I have no other intentions, it’s just that the Crown Prince doesn’t listen to my advice. If Your Highness is interested, I can help you keep an eye on some matters in the court, wouldn’t you agree?”

Even though Luo Sheng was a bit slow, she didn’t understand much of the previous conversation, but she understood this part.

This is… hinting at the Fifth Prince replacing the Crown Prince?!

Luo Sheng covered her lips, taking a moment to recover.

But, if the Fifth Prince rebels and replaces the Crown Prince, what will happen to her sister?

Those storybooks all say that in the struggle for imperial power, brothers kill each other, fathers are murdered, and their wives and daughters are implicated…

This can’t be, the Fifth Prince should be a conscientious person, he certainly won’t be easily manipulated by villains.

Luo Sheng covered her lips in fear and subconsciously moved closer to the window to eavesdrop.

Without paying attention, she suddenly kicked a flowerpot by the wall, and the flowerpot hitting the wall made an untimely clatter!

Since they were doing something wrong, Deng Lou jumped up, “Who’s there?!”

At this time, on the other side of the wall, Luo Sheng’s slender brows furrowed, panicked for a moment, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on her palms.

She lowered her head, preparing to come forward and admit her mistake.

Suddenly, a calm and indifferent voice came from inside the room, “It’s just the rabbit in the courtyard, Minister Deng, if your intentions are pure, why are you so nervous?”

Luo Sheng stopped, her eyes brightening slightly.

The atmosphere in the room eased as well.

Deng Lou looked slightly embarrassed, quickly laughing to cover his nervousness, “I didn’t know Your Highness also enjoys raising rabbits?”

“My imperial sister-in-law’s, I don’t know how it ran over here,” Xiao Chuhuai’s voice was extremely light, “This King doesn’t like raising them, they’re delicate and troublesome.”

Deng Lou guessed wrong, bowing his head and smiling apologetically, “I overstepped my bounds.”

Xiao Chuhuai lifted his eyelids, his voice carrying an oppressive aura, “Is this the only way you overstepped your bounds?”

Deng Lou’s heart skipped a beat.

He understood that Xiao Chuhuai was referring to his previous words, but he pretended to be confused, “I’m outspoken, if I offended Your Highness, please forgive me.”

Xiao Chuhuai didn’t pay attention to Deng Lou and his pretense, his voice was very light, “Your son’s matter occurred at the critical juncture of the border turmoil, This King could directly dismiss him from office. I advise Minister Deng not to push your luck.”

Deng Lou’s face was very ugly, his body bowing lower and lower.

“Also, Minister Deng, don’t reach too far, be careful to set yourself on fire and dig your own grave.”

“Your Highness is right,” Deng Lou’s voice lowered, “Then, then I’ll take my leave.”

“Get out with your Buddhist beads.”

“Yes, yes.”

Deng Lou left in disgrace.

Xiao Chuhuai pondered for a moment in the room, his dark eyes half-closed as he lightly tapped the table, and then got up and walked out of the courtyard.

As he walked, he instructed, “Find out who Deng Lou has been associating with recently. How dare a lowly minister like him test this King?”

“Your Highness means someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes?”

“Pulling strings is a minor matter.” Xiao Chuhuai only said half of his sentence.

Chen Jian understood, “Your Highness suspects the Second Prince?”

The Second Prince, King Qi, has been making frequent small moves recently, seemingly dissatisfied with the Crown Prince’s position.

But it’s known throughout the palace that the reason why the Crown Prince’s position is so stable is mainly because of Xiao Chuhuai.

If Xiao Chuhuai is not interested in imperial power, then his attitude towards who is the Crown Prince is crucial.

Now that someone is testing him, it’s to test whether he has ambitions for imperial power, and secondly, to test his attitude towards the Crown Prince.

It’s hard not to think of King Qi.

“Go investigate.”

“Yes.”

Chen Jian had walked halfway when he suddenly remembered something, glanced at the dense bushes in the courtyard, and whispered, “Your Highness, should I bring her out?”

“Who?” Xiao Chuhuai only remembered after Chen Jian’s gaze, “Oh.”

The little rabbit from the Crown Princess’s family.

“Let her hide,” Xiao Chuhuai’s face showed no emotion, “Don’t scare her, my imperial brother and sister-in-law will come looking for me again.”

Luo Sheng squatted in the bushes, and just as her legs were about to go numb, she saw them leave.

Luo Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, carefully lifting her skirt and walking out, looking for the rabbit, “There’s a rabbit here.”

She didn’t see it.

Thanks to the rabbit raised by her sister.

It also helped her solve a big problem.

Next time, she will definitely bring it some carrots.

Luo Sheng was relieved, patted the dust off her skirt, and returned to the flower garden to deliver the things.

She didn’t know how long she had been stuck here, whether her sister and the others were still in the garden.

Luo Sheng thought, and quickened her pace. She passed through a peach blossom forest and heard a commotion in the flower garden from afar, a group of people gathered by the lake.

Something seemed to have happened.

Luo Sheng approached and saw Han Shuang and her sister anxiously standing by the lake, the servants of the East Palace going into the water one after another, and a very familiar piece of embroidered cloud pattern floated on the surface of the water.

Her mother! Her mother had fallen into the water!

Luo Sheng hurriedly rushed forward, Tao Shi had already been rescued by the servants and sent to the Crown Princess’s Shuiyun Palace nearby.

The Crown Prince had arranged everything in the hall and went to settle the visiting guests, leaving only the two sisters waiting outside.

Luo Sheng sat for a while, still unable to sit still, and looked towards the inner room, but couldn’t see anything.

Seeing this, Luo Xi beckoned her, “Sheng Sheng, come and sit.”

Luo Sheng looked at the gentle, elegant beauty sitting on the throne, obediently went forward to take her sister’s hand, and sat beside the beauty.

Compared to her, Luo Xi was much calmer, gently comforting her sister, “Don’t worry, mother just lost her way and fell down. Fortunately, there were many people around, and she was rescued in time. She only choked on some water and was a little scared.”

Luo Xi sighed, “Mother’s eye disease is getting worse and worse.”

Luo Sheng lowered her eyes, she knew that Tao Shi’s eye disease was caused by secretly reading storybooks when she was young, and it had become increasingly severe in recent years.

Everyone said that her mother was noble and aloof, and didn’t like to interact with people, and that she had the demeanor of a mistress. In fact, only they knew that her mother couldn’t see five zhang away, if you greeted her, she probably wouldn’t see you.

“Can it still be cured?”

Luo Xi held her hand and smiled helplessly, “Let mother rest more. Sister can’t take care of her now, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble Sheng Sheng to take care of her more.”

“Sister, don’t worry.” Luo Sheng responded, remembering the gift she brought, quickly took it out, “By the way, I heard that sister is having a hard time with her pregnancy, so I went to Changming Temple to get a jasper bracelet for sister to help with her pregnancy.”

“The Jingchen nun said that jasper is the best for pregnancy and health.”

Luo Xi looked at the jasper bracelet in Luo Sheng’s white palm, smiling and taking it, “Then sister will thank my aunt on behalf of the little grandson.”

Luo Sheng curved her eyes, her beautiful peach blossom eyes curving into crescent moons.

Luo Xi looked at her for a while, the little girl’s delicate fingers nestled obediently in her palm, soft enough to melt one’s heart.

This sister was picked up five years ago, and her origins were difficult to explain.

Five years ago, when her father was demoted and took his family to the south of the Yangtze River, they encountered bandits along the way.

She was lost and abducted by human traffickers, and was sent to a brothel where she met this little girl, who shared a room with her.

Later, Luo Xi was forced to receive guests, and was about to commit suicide when this little girl was frightened and cried, “Don’t die, don’t die, I have a way, I’ll help you escape, okay?”

The little girl grew up in a brothel, she was a courtesan carefully cultivated by the brothel, waiting to be sold to a wealthy family when she came of age.

She had been fed secret medicine since childhood and was taught by professionals. At only twelve years old, she was fragrant, graceful, and proficient in calligraphy, painting, music, and chess.

But the secret medicine damaged her body, she was obviously much slower than girls of the same age, delicate yet innocent, with a natural lethality.