She accidentally flirted with the villain and was fiercely criticized as the regent for forcibly mar

Xiao Che's gaze sharpened like a blade: "This is not your concern. Just remember to serve me obediently after entering the Prince's residence! I have no interest in your infighting, nor do I care who is right or wrong. Your lives and fortunes are all in the hands of the principal wife!"

Princess!

In the Regent's Palace, there is absolute power!

Consort Li gleaned the most crucial information from his words.

Therefore, she had to find a way to be promoted to the position of empress!

Otherwise, if the principal wife enters the household and they don't get along, life will definitely not be easy!

"I have spoken too much, Your Highness, please forgive me."

The Regent didn't even lift his eyelids: "Go wait in the side hall."

A blush crept onto Consort Li's fair and delicate face, as white as a snow lotus, and her voice was so sweet it seemed to drip honey: "Yes, Your Highness, I await your arrival."

The Regent gave a faint "hmm".

Consort Li didn't mind his coldness at all. After all, the Regent had always been like this. She was the one who had served the Regent the most times among all the concubines and the only one who could stay overnight. With her fertile constitution, she would definitely be able to give birth to the Prince's eldest son.

The woman surnamed An who got pregnant before her wasn't destined to be the mother of the Regent's eldest son!

With children to solidify her position, given her looks, family background, and methods, how could she not be promoted to the position of principal wife, becoming the most important woman in his heart and sharing the world with him?

As for that Jiang family member who suddenly left the capital and disappeared, she has plenty of ways to make sure she never has the chance to return to the capital in her lifetime!

"This concubine will take her leave now."

Her long eyelashes trembled with anticipation and adoration. She glanced again at the handsome, helpless man under the bright lights, recalling the previous times she had served him in bed. Her body felt weak and tingly. She took a deep breath, moved gracefully, and left the study.

The guards entered.

They quickly and carefully cleaned everything that Consort Li had touched, and then repeatedly fumigated it with incense.

Only after there was no trace of Consort Li's presence remained did they quickly withdraw.

The guards had just left.

Zhang Huaju's personal maid rushed over, kneeling outside the study and sobbing as she pleaded, "Your Highness! My Lady Consort ate the pastries sent by Consort Xu last night, and she's been suffering from severe stomach pain ever since. She's been thinking of you constantly, so please come and take a look!"

An Liangyuan, another daughter from the family of a high-ranking official.

He has several lives on his hands.

After entering the mansion, he only lingered on Madam An's face for a few more moments and asked an unimportant question, which successfully provoked the other women to attack her.

She is now pregnant.

Killing her or causing her miscarriage would be a grave crime, harming the royal bloodline and implicating her family!

As for where the child came from, that's not important. What matters most is whether the goal was to cause her to miscarry, and the evidence will tell!

He waved his hand.

A man with the exact same figure and face as him emerged from the shadows.

After bowing to him, he blew out the candle, left the study, and headed leisurely toward Zhanghua Residence.

Consort Li had just finished tidying up in the side hall and lay down on the bed when she heard a commotion. Her charming face darkened: "It's Consort An again!"

Ever since Lady An was diagnosed with pregnancy, the prince has repeatedly snatched away from her, which is simply hateful!

If this continues, when will she ever be able to conceive?

He quickly got up, dressed, and went out.

Let's see how exciting the An family and the Xu family's drama will be tonight!

The twelve guards at the gate bowed and stopped her from leaving: "Consort Li, it's late, please don't wander around Luohua Palace!"

Consort Li knew that the rules of Luohua Palace were strict, and it was an honor for her to stay overnight: "Consort An is not feeling well, I'll go and see her."

Twelve Winds said very respectfully, "His Highness said, please go to sleep first, he will be back soon!"

Consort Li was secretly delighted.

The prince must have discovered that Lady An had been using her pregnancy to curry favor, and this is his way of making amends to her!

"Alright, I'll wait for Your Highness in the side hall."

The Luohua Palace fell silent.

All that could be heard was the howling of the cold wind.

After an unknown amount of time, Consort Li grew extremely tired and was just about to fall asleep when a weight suddenly appeared on her body.

Open your eyes wide.

The light was dim under the heavy brocade curtains, but the man's eyes were clear and handsome, and she could smell the unique, refreshing fragrance of the Regent. She called out "Your Highness" softly and offered her soft lips to him, and they went to bed together!

The maidservant on duty outside the tent was fast asleep.

The guards in the courtyard were dutiful and responsible, seemingly oblivious to the sounds coming from inside.

The deeper the night, the colder it grows.

A black bird with dense plumage landed on the roof, chirped a few times, took a few steps as if looking for someone, and then fluttered its wings and landed on Shi An's wrist.

Nine Mirrors could discern who controlled all the black sparrows, and upon seeing that they were under the control of Eight Joys, he was shocked.

We agreed that unless it's an emergency, there's no need to write. Judging by his speed, he should have just met up with the county magistrate. Why did he send a letter?

Let's skim through it first.

The very first sentence froze the tension on his face, which then crumbled little by little, leaving only the toothache.

Okay~

The chill emanating from the prince dissipated by half after reading this note!

He put the little black sparrow aside and hurriedly knocked on the door.

Inside the dormitory.

The candles were relit.

The light and shadow cast the regent's dignified figure onto the window screen of his bedroom.

He was only wearing a nightgown, sitting in the spot where Jiang Ruining often nestled, looking at the folds. The teacup beside him was also the purple Jianzhan that she loved to use. The tea was honey tea brewed with a secret recipe of dried fruit. The steam on the tea surface swayed gently, as if it might disappear at any moment.

She slightly raised her phoenix eyes, glanced at it, picked up the teacup, and drank it all.

Shi An immediately stepped forward and replaced the tea with hot tea, about half a cup.

The tea must be drunk before it cools completely, for he fears the prince will drink too much water and have to get up to urinate endlessly throughout the night.

Moreover, the prince used to never drink this kind of sweet tea, but after the county princess came, her habits completely changed!

He didn't say he wanted to, but his words were filled with the feeling of "thinking about it to the point of madness."

"It has been confirmed that Consort An has miscarried. It was caused by the pastries sent by Consort Xu. Your Highness wants to investigate the evidence and find out that Consort Xu committed the crime. You want the Xu family to know that you value them."

"Then who should be the sinner?"

Xiao Che waved the booklet in his hand towards the window.

The character 十安 is a compound ideograph.

This is going to make Consort Li a scapegoat!

However, the person who did the deed was actually instructed by Consort Li, so it's not entirely unfair to accuse her.

"Understood, Your Highness. It's getting late, time to retire..."

Just as they were about to advise their master to make arrangements, Jiu Jing's urgent knocking came in.

"Your Highness, Baxi has sent a message!"

Xiao Che's indifferent gaze shifted, a dangerous glint appearing within it: "Bring it in!"

Jiu Jing pushed open the door and went in.

His face was expressionless, but a suppressed excitement of watching a good show lingered in his eyes.

Shi An noticed that the corner of his eye twitched.

At the beginning of the year, the guards were all very composed.

A county princess barged in, and one after another her temperament went completely astray!

It's just a matter of degree.

Xiao Che took the two overlapping slips of paper, read the first chapter quickly, and was stunned as the flame in his eyes was overwhelmed by the wave of sweet words. Then he let out a long sigh.

Then came anger.

Knowing full well that he wouldn't dare to get any news from her, she deliberately had Baxi deliver a message to scare him!

"That thing is awful, absolutely awful!"

"Next time we meet, I'll show you what I'm made of!"

However, the fact that she could still tease him like this shows that she had the situation under control.

She is safe.

But the contents of the next note made him frown.

What do you mean by "you'll die if you don't go"?

Who is threatening her?

"Investigate! Find out exactly what everyone who has interacted with the county magistrate said or did to her!"

……

Daning Prefecture.

Jiang Ruining woke up early in the morning to find a reply.

Just one sentence, yet it seems like a thousand words: I miss you, I hope you take good care of yourself, I long for your return, written by Xiao Lang.

I watched it over and over again.

She cherished it dearly, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside her clothes, keeping it close to her body.

"When I read books before, I never got the sweetness in the main characters doing this, but today I actually did it myself! Tsk, I've become a cloying person too~"

After washing up and having a meal, I went out.

What came into view was a vast expanse of white, icy snow.

It snowed heavily for three days.

The average thickness of the snow had reached the knees and showed no signs of stopping.

The perceived temperature outside is probably around minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius.

The scalding hot tea served out lost its heat in no time; if spilled, it instantly froze into ice.