I started as a concubine, and I made the crown prince cry with my delicious food.

Xie Zhao's jinx has always been very accurate.

The next day, all sorts of "honey traps" began to be used.

In the morning, Xiao Jingshi had just gotten up and was preparing to go to the main hall of the prefectural government to handle official business when he was told that the daughter of the prefectural magistrate had "bumped into" him in the back garden.

The woman, dressed in white, was sitting in the pavilion, holding a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument), playing a piece called "High Mountains and Flowing Water." The music was melodious and the artistic conception was lofty; it was indeed a rare and excellent piece of music.

When she saw Xiao Jing, she immediately stopped playing the zither, stood up and bowed. Her large, watery eyes looked at him shyly and said softly, "I heard that Your Highness loves the zither, so I dared to play it and disturb Your Highness's peace. Please forgive me."

Xiao Jingshi looked at her expressionlessly and said only one sentence: "The backyard is my residence. No unauthorized persons are allowed to enter."

After saying that, he left without looking back, leaving the woman standing there, holding her zither, her face turning pale and then red.

At noon, on his way back from the river embankment construction site, he passed by a villa and "coincidentally" ran into the daughter of the Jiangzhou Salt Commissioner.

The young lady was admiring the flowers in the courtyard with her maid. Unlike the one from this morning, she was not reserved. When she saw Xiao Jingshi, she came straight up to him, carrying a plate of exquisite pastries.

"Your Highness, may you be blessed. My daughter made some lotus seed cakes by hand; I've heard they're excellent for calming the mind and reducing internal heat. Your Highness works tirelessly day and night for the country; you must be exhausted. Perhaps... you could try a piece?"

She laughed radiantly, her alluring eyes constantly flashing at Xiao Jingshi.

Xiao Jingshi didn't even lift his eyelids, simply walking past her and coldly saying, "I don't like sweets."

The young lady's smile froze instantly. Looking at Xiao Jingshi's icy back, she stomped her feet in anger.

In the afternoon, Xiao Jingshi was in his study discussing the details of the river embankment blueprints with Lu Chengyuan when another commotion broke out outside.

Changting entered with a troubled expression and reported, "Your Highness, Zhang, the richest man in Jiangzhou, has arrived with his daughter. He said... he said that he heard Your Highness is fond of calligraphy, so he specially brought an authentic work by the great master Wang Xizhi of the previous dynasty to ask Your Highness to appreciate it."

"I won't see you." Xiao Jingshi didn't even look up, continuing to stare at the blueprints.

"But...they've already reached the gate of the courtyard and they're refusing to leave."

Xiao Jingshi's pen made a heavy stroke on the drawing paper, leaving a dark ink dot.

He raised his head, his eyes filled with barely suppressed rage.

Seeing this, Lu Chengyuan quickly said, "Your Highness, please calm down. These people are just trying to curry favor with the powerful. There's no need to get angry with them. I'll go out and deal with them."

After Lu Chengyuan left, the study became quiet.

Xiao Jingshi irritably threw down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his aching brow.

Xie Zhao poked his head in from outside, grinning, and said, "Your Highness, how are you feeling today? Do you feel like an emperor choosing his concubines? From plump to slender, talented and beautiful, the choice is yours!"

"Get out." Xiao Jingshi's voice was as cold as ice.

Xie Zhao shrank back, but didn't leave. Instead, he came over and poured him a cup of tea.

"Don't be angry," he comforted her. "You are now seen as a living Buddha by the people of Jiangnan, and as the Crown Prince, you are second only to the Emperor. It's normal that everyone wants to marry their daughters to you. Just treat it as a show."

"Watching a show?" Xiao Jingshi sneered. "I'm so busy right now, I don't have time to play along with their act!"

His mind was now filled with the budget for the river embankment, the resettlement of disaster victims, and the allocation of food supplies. These women, like a swarm of buzzing flies, were swarming around his ears, driving him crazy.

He couldn't help but think of Ye An'an again.

That woman would never cause him this kind of trouble.

Although she also loved getting into trouble and causing chaos, all her antics were imbued with a vibrant and uplifting vitality. She would research unwanted pig offal to make money; she would go to great lengths to make instant noodles so he could have a bowl of hot soup noodles; she could even write a disease prevention manual that saved thousands of lives.

She and these women who only know how to play the piano, paint, and fight over men are from completely different worlds.

Compared to her astonishing wisdom and creativity, these so-called talented women and rich heiresses seem so... pale and uninteresting.

"Your Highness, what are you thinking about? You seem so lost in thought?" Xie Zhao couldn't help but ask when he saw that Xie Zhao hadn't spoken for a while.

Xiao Jingshi snapped out of his reverie, glanced at him, and said irritably, "I'm thinking about when I can go back to the capital."

He wanted to go back.

He misses the capital.

To be more precise, he misses that woman.

"It'll be soon," Xie Zhao comforted her. "Once the river embankment project is on track, we'll be able to return to the capital. Then, you'll be able to see the Consort."

Xiao Jingshi ignored him.

However, things were not as simple as Xie Zhao had made them out to be.

The harassment from these women not only did not stop, but intensified.

Finally, at a welcome banquet held a few days later to celebrate the successful start of the river embankment project, the conflict completely erupted.

This banquet was organized entirely by the newly appointed Prefect Qian. Almost all the officials, gentry, and celebrities from Jiangnan were present.

Halfway through the banquet, amidst the singing and dancing...

Prefect Qian, holding a wine cup, approached Xiao Jingshi with a fawning expression. Behind him followed a young woman dressed in flamboyant attire. That woman was his only daughter.

"Your Highness," Prefect Qian's eyes narrowed into slits with a smile, "I toast Your Highness! If it weren't for Your Highness's heroic efforts in turning the tide, the people of Jiangnan would have long been plunged into misery. Your Highness's achievements will be remembered for generations to come!"

Xiao Jingshi picked up his teacup expressionlessly, and clinked it against his wine cup.

After finishing his drink in one gulp, Prefect Qian pointed to his daughter behind him and continued, "Your Highness, this is my daughter, Qianqian. She...she has admired Your Highness since childhood, and upon hearing that Your Highness was here, she insisted on coming to see you. Qianqian, why don't you greet His Highness the Crown Prince?"

The woman named Qianqian immediately stepped forward, gave Xiao Jingshi a deep curtsy, and said in a sweet voice, "Qianqian greets Your Highness."

As she spoke, she raised her head, her eyes fixed on Xiao Jingshi, her admiration and ambition undisguised.

Prefect Qian looked at his daughter, nodded in satisfaction, and then said something that shocked everyone present.

"Your Highness, my daughter is not very talented, but she has a basic understanding of literature and is good at understanding people. I humbly request that she stay by your side to serve you with your writing and calligraphy, and to serve you tea and water, in any small way she may be of service..."

This couldn't be clearer.

He's trying to force his daughter onto the Crown Prince in front of everyone!

All eyes in the room instantly focused on Xiao Jingshi.

The smile on Xie Zhao's face vanished.

Lu Chengyuan's brows furrowed tightly.

Xiao Jingshi's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air. He slowly raised his head and looked at the self-righteous father and daughter. In his cold eyes, a storm was brewing.