By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Pei Rujing and her companion also finished their lunch and set off from the Marquis's residence, where they met the Princess's entourage at the city gate.

Princess Changning did not recognize the carriage of the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence, but she recognized the carriage of the Zuo residence.

Pei Rujing was stunned when she saw the carriage from the Princess's residence and the imperial guards following behind.

Princess Changning was overjoyed: "Aunt, it's my cousins."

Seeing her excitedly about to run off the carriage, the princess quickly stopped her, saying, "This is the city gate. There are too many people outside. Let's wait until we're out of the city."

Princess Changning nodded: "I will listen to my aunt."

With imperial guards present, the city gate officer immediately arranged for the people to make way, clearing a path for the princess and her entourage's carriage to pass.

Pei Rujing and Zuo Mingxuan benefited from Princess Changning's favor and left the city together.

As soon as the carriage stopped in an open space, Princess Changning couldn't wait to jump down and get into Pei Rujing's carriage.

The eldest princess watched as she safely boarded the carriage before lowering the curtain.

Princess Changning hugged Pei Rujing tightly and wouldn't let go: "Cousin, it's been so long since you came to the palace to play with me."

To be precise, ever since rumors about Pei Rujing and Wen Zongji started flying, Pei Rujing has stayed in the Princess Changning's residence without ever leaving the house, let alone going to the palace to see Princess Changning.

Completely ignored, Zuo Mingxuan murmured, "Has the princess forgotten that you have a cousin?"

Princess Changning remained close to Pei Rujing, saying, "Cousin Xuan, don't be jealous. You are also Changning's favorite cousin."

Pei Rujing pressed her finger to Princess Changning's forehead, pushing her away from her: "Why are you here? And riding in my mother's carriage?"

Princess Changning pouted, clearly unhappy that she couldn't be close to Pei Rujing: "Cousin and Cousin Xuan are going to the Plum Garden for hot springs, how could they forget Changning?"

"How was I supposed to know my aunt would let you leave the palace?"

Pei Rujing and Zuo Mingxuan exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat guilty.

They didn't even think of Princess Changning.

Princess Changning recalled her difficult journey out of the palace and said proudly, "I asked my father for help, and he agreed, so naturally my mother agreed as well."

"Then why is my mother here too?"

"Because my aunt was there, my father felt at ease letting me leave the palace."

Pei Rujing suddenly realized.

"By the way, how is Consort An? Did my aunt stand up for me?"

Princess Changning blinked: "I don't know."

Pei Rujing glared at her: "What do you know?"

Princess Changning whispered, "I was only thinking about visiting my cousin, I didn't have any time to care about Consort An! But I noticed she looked very unwell when she left Fengyi Palace."

Pei Rujing smiled: "That's good."

Princess Changning asked, "Did Consort An offend my cousin?"

Pei Rujing shook her head: "It was An Si who provoked me."

"Then I'll stand up for my cousin when I see An Si another day."

Pei Rujing asked curiously, "How will you stand up for me?"

Princess Changning laughed like a little mouse stealing oil: "I put laxatives in her tea, so she had diarrhea all day."

Pei Rujing's face immediately darkened.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Zuo Mingxuan laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

Pei Rujing took a deep breath: "Forget about that idea!"

Princess Changning asked in confusion, "Why? Wasn't that how my cousin dealt with the teacher back then? He never dared to punish her by making her copy articles again. It worked very well."

Zuo Mingxuan laughed even harder: "Princess, do you know that because of this, the county princess was confined to her quarters for a month and even made to apologize to the teacher? The teacher did not punish the county princess by making her copy articles again, because she was so angry that she was unwilling to teach her anymore."

"Huh?" Princess Changning frowned. "I have to apologize? I don't want to apologize to An Si, it's too embarrassing."

"Hahaha—" Zuo Mingxuan burst into even louder laughter: "No wonder the princess likes the county princess so much, you two are really exactly alike."

When Pei Rujing gave the teacher laxatives, it was out of revenge for the teacher always making her copy articles. Even though she was exposed and confined by the princess, she didn't care.

The only exception was when the eldest princess asked her to apologize to the teacher, but she refused, feeling that apologizing would damage her reputation.

However, in the end, the princess forced Pei Rujing to apologize, which made her very unhappy for several days.

Mentioning her past embarrassing moments made Pei Rujing's face darken even more. She gritted her teeth and glared at Zuo Mingxuan: "If you laugh again, I'll throw you off!"

Zuo Mingxuan covered her mouth, but her eyes remained smiling, clearly not so easy to control.

Pei Rujing looked at Princess Changning and warned, "My affairs are none of your business."

Princess Changning nodded: "Cousin, I'm very well-behaved."

puff-

Zuo Mingxuan almost couldn't hold back again and covered her mouth tightly.

Fortunately, they arrived at Plum Garden soon. Pei Rujing was the first to get off the carriage and walked to the Princess's side, complaining, "Mother, why did you bring Changning with you?"

The eldest princess smiled and said, "She's getting bored staying in the palace all the time, it's good to let her out and have some fun."

What else could Pei Rujing say?

I had no choice but to go into the Plum Garden with them.

Plum Garden was bestowed upon Pei Rujing by Emperor Shun'an as part of her dowry, and the people here today were all reassigned by the Eldest Princess.

The manager of Meiyuan was notified yesterday that Pei Rujing would be coming to Meiyuan today, and he waited at the gate early in the morning.

After waiting for several hours, he was surprised to find not only Pei Rujing, but also the Eldest Princess and Princess Changning. His heart trembled, and he quickly knelt down to pay his respects: "This humble servant greets the Eldest Princess, Princess Changning, and the County Princess."

The eldest princess waved her hand: "No need for formalities! Has the hot spring been arranged?"

The steward said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, I received word that the County Princess and Miss Zuo will be coming, so I only had two hot spring rooms prepared... I will have two more prepared immediately."

Princess Changning interrupted, "My cousin and I share a room."

As she spoke, she took Pei Rujing's arm again.

Zuo Mingxuan also said, "I'll stay in the same room as you guys. It's no fun soaking in the hot spring alone."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Then you three little girls can have one room, and I'll have one room myself. There's no need to reorganize."

Pei Rujing complained, "Didn't anyone ask for my opinion?"

Princess Changning looked at Pei Rujing with a pitiful expression: "Does my cousin dislike me?"

"yes!"

Pei Rujing nodded.

Princess Changning turned to look at the eldest princess, her eyes brimming with tears.

The eldest princess, her heart softening, said, "Jing'er, Changning is your sister. How can you treat her like this?"

Pei Rujing took a deep breath; she knew that nothing good could come of meeting Changning, this clingy person.

"Let's soak together!"

Princess Changning's tears instantly dried.

Zuo Mingxuan watched in amazement, feeling quite satisfied.

In the entire capital, the only one who could make Pei Rujing suffer was that little devil, Princess Changning.

She enjoys watching the two of them interact.

The joy of watching the drama unfold is boundless.

After all, it's always fun to watch the drama unfold!