Chapter 102

“Prince Xi, are you alright?”

Qiao Diyi’s concerned voice rang out, his whole body soaked through, clothes clinging to him, revealing his sturdy muscles.

“Second Brother Qiao, was it you who saved me from the lake?”

Prince Xi’s voice gained some strength, feeling the discomfort in his body slowly dissipating.

“Of course, my second brother dove straight in, and with a flick of my wrist, he pulled you out.”

Prince Xi suddenly turned to look at Qiao Jiaojiao.

It wasn’t his imagination after all!

“Why is the silly girl looking at me like that? If you’re feeling better, hurry and get up, let’s make a scene back at the Funing Palace!”

“The Empress and the Crown Prince must be frantic not finding anyone at the moment, they must be going crazy, right?”

“My second brother also needs to change his clothes, otherwise everyone will know that our Qiao family is involved—”

As the last bit of discomfort disappeared from his body, Prince Xi abruptly stopped hearing Qiao Jiaojiao’s voice.

He waited for a while but didn’t hear Qiao Jiaojiao’s voice again, feeling a pang of panic.

He sat up suddenly, grabbing Qiao Jiaojiao’s shoulders tightly.

Qiao Jiaojiao widened her eyes slightly.

“What’s wrong with the silly girl? She scared me!”

Listening carefully, there really was no sound.

Why wasn’t Little Sister Qiao speaking again?

“Little Sister Qiao?” Prince Xi cautiously called out.

Qiao Jiaojiao looked puzzled, mumbling a few words in response.

Prince Xi was puzzled, not understanding what had happened.

Qiao Diyi interpreted Prince Xi’s strange behavior as having just experienced a life-threatening situation and not yet recovered.

But as Little Sister just said, Prince Xi should return to the Funing Palace; otherwise, things would get chaotic.

“Your Highness Xi, let me take you back first.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Jiaojiao hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, yes, seize the opportunity, catch them off guard, quickly go back, catch the Second Prince and Consort Yao off guard!”

Prince Xi looked at Qiao Jiaojiao solemnly, realizing he might never hear her voice again. Feeling a bit lost, he nodded.

“Please have Second Brother Qiao take me back, but you don’t have to accompany me. Today’s matters are of great importance, and I don’t want to involve the Qiao family, which wouldn’t be good for you, Second Brother Qiao.”

Saying these words showed that Prince Xi had completely calmed down.

Qiao Diyi nodded, mirroring what Little Sister had just said.

With his left arm around Qiao Jiaojiao and his right around Prince Xi, Qiao Diyi effortlessly stood up, quickly heading towards the Funing Palace.

As Qiao Jiaojiao glanced back over Qiao Diyi’s shoulder, she thought to herself:

“Just now, the Second Prince chased after Meng Guxue. I wonder what happened to them.”

“The male lead wouldn’t kill the female lead to silence her, I wonder how he’ll deceive her.”

“As for Meng Guxue, hmm, she’d better have some brains, or she’ll be manipulated by the Second Prince in no time!”

Prince Xi also turned his head.

He stared at the now completely calm Yuhua Lake, his brows furrowed, his calm and indifferent demeanor not at all like that of a five-year-old child who had just passed through the gates of death.

This lesson was too profound, enough for him to remember for a lifetime.

“Never again…”

Prince Xi murmured faintly, his voice too soft for Qiao Diyi to hear clearly.

“Your Highness Xi, what did you say?”

Prince Xi slowly withdrew his gaze, shaking his head.

“It’s nothing, Second Brother Qiao. Thank you for saving my life. I will always remember your grace.”

At this moment, Qiao Jiaojiao’s mind completely relaxed, and she finally eased up.

She gazed steadily at Qiao Diyi, her mouth breaking into a joyful smile.

“My Second Brother is truly amazing! It seems I’ve underestimated him in the past!”

“From tracking down Meng Guxue to successfully saving her, Second Brother has been strategizing and advancing step by step, which is really impressive!”

“So it turns out that our Qiao family’s cleverness is evenly distributed!”

Qiao Diyi: “…”

Little Sister, you really think too highly of Second Brother.

Second Brother may do the legwork, but the real strategist is you!

But he couldn’t say this. Faced with Prince Xi’s gratitude, he could only smile and say, “Your Highness Xi, it’s the least I could do. You don’t have to be so polite.”

Qiao Jiaojiao smiled, her eyes forming crescent moons.

“That’s great, Meng Guxue has survived the ordeal!”

“From today onwards, every day for Meng Guxue will be new and unknown! She’s lucky and blessed!”

Qiao Diyi, hearing this, relaxed visibly.

That’s great, too, a huge burden lifted from their family’s shoulders. Now he felt lighter, even with the May breeze blowing, he didn’t feel cold, but rather refreshingly cool!

Prince Xi, nestled in Qiao Diyi’s arms, suddenly grasped Qiao Jiaojiao’s hand tightly.

Qiao Jiaojiao looked at Prince Xi with some confusion, but he sweetly smiled at her.

He knew, for sure, that it was Little Sister’s voice just now, that she had used some talisman to save him!

Little Sister saved him once again!

Little Sister was truly a little fairy sent from heaven, he liked Little Sister the most!

He would always treat Little Sister well, better than Mr. and Mrs. Qiao and his two brothers!

Qiao Diyi’s steps quickened, and soon, the side hall was in sight.

Apparently, the Empress and the Crown Prince had already discovered Prince Xi’s disappearance and were sending people to search the west.

Prince Xi, seeing this, patted Qiao Diyi’s shoulder.

“Brother Qiao, stop here. I’ll go the rest of the way on my own. You should hide quickly and change your clothes. I can handle what comes next.”

Qiao Diyi saw the palace attendants not far away and nodded secretly, releasing Prince Xi.

“Alright, Your Highness Xi, be careful!”

Prince Xi nodded gently, then hurried off, shouting, “Quick, someone come, Consort Yu Zhao wants to kill me!”

When Prince Xi appeared, the attendants were overjoyed.

But when they saw Prince Xi in such a disheveled state and heard his shout, they were almost fainting from shock.

Could it be… they didn’t mishear, did they!?

Qiao Diyi couldn’t help but look puzzled. Why didn’t Prince Xi mention the Second Prince?

But Qiao Jiaojiao nodded secretly.

“Meng Guxue is indeed clever!”

Qiao Diyi: ?

“Just now, the Second Prince cleaned himself up completely. Now, suddenly accusing him of collusion with Consort Yu Zhao might backfire. After all, such accusations involve the royal dignity. If they can’t firmly pin it on him, it will turn back on Prince Xi for spreading rumors.”

“It’s better to first pull out Consort Yu Zhao. When Emperor Yong interrogates her, it will surely involve the Second Prince. Then, slowly unravel it, let Emperor Yong himself suspect the Second Prince. This kind of blow would be more effective!”

“Now it depends… on how much weight Princess Yuliu and the Second Prince carry in Emperor Yong’s heart.”

“If the Emperor can tolerate the Second Prince even touching his woman, then forget it, our Qiao family should focus on how to kill the Emperor. Otherwise, the Second Prince will never fall!”

“If the ruler wants the minister dead, the minister has the right to revolt, hmm, it makes sense.”

Qiao Diyi was dizzy from these thoughts, but seeing Prince Xi leaving under the escort of the attendants, he found a shortcut and headed to another side hall prepared for courtiers to change clothes.

Mrs. Qiao had long known that Prince Xi would drown at the palace banquet and was worried that Qiao Zhongguo or the two sons would have to jump in to save him. She specially prepared two identical sets of clothes for each of them.

One set to wear and one spare, so that when they changed, no one could detect any flaws.

After Qiao Diyi changed his clothes and reappeared at the door of the Funing Palace, the courtiers and family members were gradually leaving.