Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 223 This servant will definitely cooperate with Your Highness's inspection.

Just as Wang Qingci was about to step out of the study, Lu Chen suddenly spoke up: "By the way, I suddenly thought of something."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci paused, stopped, and turned to look at Lu Chen. "Is there anything else, Your Highness?"

Lu Chen did not answer immediately. He simply waved his hand, and the study door closed directly.

Wang Qingci was slightly taken aback.

In her opinion, Lu Chen had matured and would no longer do those kinds of things to her in the study. Lu Chen's sudden closing of the door confused her, and she didn't know what he was going to do.

Lu Chen then said, "Lord Wang, I've noticed that you seem to have some issues with me lately."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci was stunned once again.

Opinion?

What opinions could she possibly have?

What opinions could she possibly have?

Wang Qingci immediately replied, "Your Highness, what do you mean by that? How could I possibly have a problem with you?"

Lu Chen laughed and said, "No objections? If you had no objections to me, why would you secretly meet with people from the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci was momentarily stunned.

She did meet with people from the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce in private. The Qianhai Chamber of Commerce wanted to win her over, but she refused. In her opinion, this was a minor matter, so she has not yet reported it to Lu Chen.

I didn't expect that Lu Chen already knew about this.

This is troublesome.

If he had reported to Lu Chen in advance, Lu Chen might not have thought much of it. But if Lu Chen found out on his own and discovered that he had private connections with people from the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce, Lu Chen might really misunderstand him.

Wang Qingci quickly explained, "Your Highness, my private meetings with the president of the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce were always for business purposes. I have never done anything to betray the Northern Prince's Mansion or you."

Wang Qingci felt a little flustered. She was already afraid that Lu Chen would abandon her, and now that Lu Chen had brought this up, did that mean that Lu Chen was planning to completely abandon her, his female slave?

Just as Wang Qingci was thinking this, Lu Chen said, "Talk business? I don't believe it at all. According to the report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you left Tingyu Tower quietly at dusk without anyone else with you. Would you be this cautious when talking business?"

"Master Wang, it seems you're not telling the truth."

Wang Qingci's face turned pale. She quickly said, "Your Highness, the reason I did this was to mislead the president of the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce. That president wants to win me over. I originally planned to pretend to be won over by him first, and then extract some information. It's not that I want to hide it from Your Highness, but mainly that I haven't obtained any valuable information yet."

"And this happened just yesterday, I..."

Before Wang Qingci could say anything, Lu Chen said indifferently, "Enough. I don't want to hear any explanations. It seems that Lord Wang has become arrogant. It's one thing to meet men in private, but to do it secretly by yourself shows that you completely disregard me."

"If I don't teach you a lesson, you probably won't learn your lesson. Come here to me."

As he spoke, Lu Chen raised his palm, and the next moment, a suction force instantly pulled Wang Qingci's body into Lu Chen's arms.

Lu Chen put his arm around Wang Qingci's waist and pressed her directly onto the table. Wang Qingci turned her head to explain something when she heard a tearing sound, and then her red lips were sealed with a kiss.

"Mmm..."

In that instant, Wang Qingci was overwhelmed with a complex mix of emotions: fear, confusion, shame, surprise, excitement, and worry...

In this state, Wang Qingci's entire body became incredibly hot, giving Lu Chen a completely different feeling.

……

Lin Wanyun was patrolling past the study early in the morning when she heard some noises coming from inside.

"Speak! Are you trying to betray me by meeting with another man alone?"

"Waaah, I...I...I'll never dare to do it again..."

"Never again? That means you really did have that thought from the beginning, right? Whew...you've got some nerve!"

"Oh dear, I... I absolutely have no such thoughts. I belong to the Prince in life and in death..."

"I don't believe you. I'll kill you today."

"Your Highness...please spare me, I know I was wrong..."

……

Hearing the conversation coming from the study, Lin Wanyun was taken aback.

What is Lu Chen doing in the study so early in the morning?

Judging from the voice, it must be that woman surnamed Wang who has returned.

Thinking of that woman surnamed Wang, Lin Wanyun frowned.

For a while, Lu Chen went to Chen Wanrong's courtyard every evening to listen to her play the zither, but then he suddenly stopped going.

As of today, Lu Chen has not visited Chen Wanrong's courtyard to listen to her play the zither for almost two months. Chen Wanrong had already prepared the Gu worms, but Lu Chen suddenly stopped coming, which made them miss the opportunity to plant the love Gu on Lu Chen again.

It wouldn't be impossible to directly use a Gu on Lu Chen, since both of them are in the inner courtyard. To use a Gu on Lu Chen, they only need to get close to him.

However, the love potion is special; it doesn't work on Lu Chen simply by being placed in it. Lu Chen must also like Chen Wanrong for it to work.

If Lu Chen doesn't like Chen Wanrong, the love potion won't have any effect.

The reason they hesitated to use the love potion on Lu Chen for several more months was because Lu Chen suddenly stopped going to listen to the zither, which made Chen Wanrong unsure whether Lu Chen had truly fallen in love with her.

If Lu Chen had truly fallen in love with her, he wouldn't have suddenly stopped coming to listen to her play the piano for over two months.

The reason Lin Wanyun frowned after hearing Wang Qingci's voice was mainly because she felt that Wang Qingci had diverted Lu Chen's attention.

Lu Chen's original way of relaxing was listening to Chen Wanrong play the piano, but recently his way of relaxing has become doing *that* with a woman in the room. Lin Wanyun has heard the sounds coming from Wang Qingci's room several times.

Lin Wanyun could also see that Lu Chen doted on Wang Qingci, this so-called female slave. Basically, whenever the two of them were together, they would stay together for a long time.

Lin Wanyun thought to herself, this can't go on. This guy surnamed Wang is really too annoying. He always takes up Lu Chen's time. Now Lu Chen doesn't even go to the Palace Master's courtyard to listen to the Palace Master play the zither anymore. I have to think of a way to get Lu Chen's attention back to the Palace Master.

……

After an unknown amount of time, the sounds in the study gradually subsided. Lu Chen sat in a chair, while Wang Qingci straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Lu Chen then said with a smile, "Lord Wang, now you know what the consequences will be for betraying me, right?"

Hearing Lu Chen's words, Wang Qingci chuckled and then said in a coquettish tone, "Your Highness is so naughty, always bullying me. I really thought Your Highness was angry with me."

By this point, Wang Qingci had basically figured it out: Lu Chen had never suspected her or thought she had betrayed him. Lu Chen was just using an excuse to make her panic and then criticize her.

She had thought Lu Chen had changed and become more serious and mature when she was about to leave the study.

It seems that this young prince hasn't changed at all; he just probably didn't have time to groom himself before.

Thinking of this, for some reason, a faint smile involuntarily appeared on Wang Qingci's lips.

It's good that nothing has changed!

She just wanted this young prince to stay this wicked forever, to keep teasing her like this.

Wang Qingci continued, "Your Highness, how did you know I met alone with the president of the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce? Don't you trust me? Did you send the Imperial Guards to follow me?"

Lu Chen said, "No, it's just that the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce has been too active in Yancheng recently. I'm afraid that the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce might do something that would be detrimental to Yancheng, so I've been keeping an eye on them with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, especially their chairman, Qian Dahai."

"Unexpectedly, the Imperial Guards who were watching Qian Dahai discovered that you were meeting with him alone yesterday."

Wang Qingci said, "So that's how it is. I thought Your Highness no longer trusted me."

Lu Chen breathed into Wang Qingci's ear and said in a deep voice, "Baby, your body and soul have long been marked by me, how could I not trust you?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci felt a sudden shiver run down her spine, goosebumps rising on her skin. She then changed the subject, saying, "Recently, Qian Dahai has sent me many gifts. He's trying his best to win me over. I've also noticed that he seems very interested in the affairs of the Northern Prince's Mansion and has been trying to find out about it."

"Yesterday he praised you in front of me, saying that you are a wise king and very friendly to merchants. He said he wanted to move the entire Qian family to the Northern Kingdom and stay there forever."

"I don't know if he was testing my relationship with the Northern Prince's Mansion by saying that, but I haven't received any useful information, so I didn't plan to report it for the time being. I didn't expect that the Prince already knew about my meeting with him alone."

At this point, Wang Qingci's tone clearly carried a hint of resentment.

Lu Chen slapped Wang Qingci's buttocks and said, "What, is Master Wang dissatisfied with my punishment just now? Do you want to be punished by me again?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci tightly embraced Lu Chen's neck with her jade-like arms, then slightly swayed her waist and said, "How could this servant dare to be dissatisfied with Your Highness? Thunder and rain, all are Your Highness's grace."

Lu Chen chuckled and said, "You know that's good. If you dare to go and meet another man alone again, I'll make sure you regret it when you get back."

Wang Qingci pouted and said, "Your Highness is so domineering. I'll just have to be more careful in the future."

Lu Chen said, "You little vixen, if I don't discipline you often, I don't know how many times you'll cheat on me. From today onwards, you must return to the palace every five days so I can personally check on your health."

Wang Qingci said sweetly, "This servant understands, this servant will definitely cooperate with Your Highness's inspection."

Although she sounded somewhat reluctant, Wang Qingci was actually very happy inside. The young prince was still the same young prince, still the little man who was very possessive of her. He hadn't changed at all.

Lu Chen said, "By the way, keep an eye on the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce. They've suddenly become so active lately; they must have some purpose in doing so."

After Wu Junwan signed a business cooperation contract with Tingyu Tower as the eldest daughter of the Qian family, the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce has been doing business honestly in Yancheng and has rarely been as active as it has been recently. In the past few months, they have hardly taken the initiative to inquire about any information from the Northern Kingdom.

However, in the past two months, the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce has suddenly become very concerned about the actions of the Northern Prince's Mansion, and has even taken steps to try to win over Wang Qingci. This makes Lu Chen suspect that the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce is trying to create trouble in the Northern Kingdom.

Lu Chen strongly suspected that the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce wanted to investigate the production processes of the Prince's Mansion, such as coal manufacturing methods and liquor brewing techniques.

However, this doesn't make much sense. If the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce really wanted to find out the secrets of the Northern Prince's Mansion, it wouldn't be useful to win over Tingyulou. On the surface, Tingyulou has no connection with the Northern Prince's Mansion, unless the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce already knows that Tingyulou is the Northern Prince's Mansion's intelligence agency.

Just as Lu Chen was speculating about what the Qianhai Chamber of Commerce was planning, a maid's shy voice came from outside the door, "Your Highness... General Mu and the others have arrived."

Upon hearing the maid's voice, Lu Chen realized that today was the day the army was being equipped with firearms.

Lu Chen immediately said, "Let them go to the council hall first. I will come shortly."

The maid at the door said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Lu Chen then patted Wang Qingci's bottom and said, "Alright, get up. Now that I've fed you, I should get back to business."

Hearing this, Wang Qingci slowly stood up and glanced at Lu Chen with a deep look. What did he mean by "feeding her"? It was clearly him who had done something bad to her.

After the two parted, they quickly tidied their clothes. Once Wang Qingci was finished, she said, "Then I'll be leaving now."

Lu Chen hummed in agreement. The next moment, Wang Qingci turned to leave. Just as Wang Qingci turned around, Lu Chen said, "Don't overthink things in the future. You are my woman. I hate it when others touch my things. Even if I lock you up in the palace, I will never abandon you. I don't like being cuckolded."

Wang Qingci was stunned when she heard Lu Chen's words.

Although she didn't know what it meant to have green grass growing on one's head, she knew that Lu Chen had already figured out what she was thinking. No wonder Lu Chen was so fierce to her just now.

Wang Qingci's face flushed as she thought about what had just happened. She hadn't expected that Lu Chen had seen through her little scheme.

This little man is really something else; I have absolutely no privacy in front of him.

At this moment, Wang Qingci's heart was pounding. She suddenly realized that this man cared about her even more than she had imagined. In an instant, Wang Qingci's love for Lu Chen deepened once again.

If the system hadn't set the maximum favorability rating at 100, Lu Chen's system interface would probably be showing Wang Qingci's favorability rating skyrocketing.

She had no other ambitions in life; she just wanted to stay by this little man's side and do things for him.

Wang Qingci then said, "I understand."

After saying this, Wang Qingci left the study immediately.

After Wang Qingci left, Lu Chen went back to take a shower and change his clothes before heading to the Council Hall.

(End of this chapter)