Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 212 The Crown Prince Waits for a Rabbit to Fall into His Trap
After Pei Dongzhou and Qingfeng met up, Pei Dongzhou asked Qingfeng if he had noticed anything unusual. Qingfeng answered truthfully, "No! I only met a girl I didn't recognize. She was wearing a floral jacket. At first, I thought she was an old woman, which made me laugh."

Pei Dongzhou instantly recalled the village girl he had seen. She walked very slowly and seemed very old. Was she actually a young woman?

"Was that girl's foot injured?" Pei Dongzhou asked.

"This... I didn't notice. Your Highness, you don't find that girl suspicious, do you? You've misunderstood. That girl couldn't possibly be Miss Cousin. She's a very unfamiliar girl with an ordinary appearance. If Miss Cousin were standing in front of me, I would definitely recognize her." Qingfeng practically patted his chest to assure him.

"That's not necessarily true. My cousin is different from other girls; she has many ways to deceive everyone." Pei Dongzhou disagreed.

He had personally witnessed how clever his cousin was.

"In any case, that village girl couldn't possibly be my cousin, I can guarantee that!" Qingfeng said with certainty.

Pei Dongzhou looked at the empty street corner and remained silent.

He thought that if his cousin was really in the capital, he would eventually have a chance to find her. His only fear was that she might have gone too far, making it impossible for him to find her in person.

He had finally made up his mind. Apart from his official duties, he would spend all his free time in the capital searching for her. No matter how well she hid herself, he could find her if she was in the capital.

Coincidentally, Shen Shuyi had also thought of this problem.

From now on, she must never go out during the time when Prince Pei is off duty.

She even considered asking Sun Wang for help to create a duty roster for Prince Pei, so that she would never go out during Pei Dongzhou's days off.

However, she felt that doing more might lead to more mistakes, and if Pei Dongzhou found out that someone was inquiring about his work schedule, wouldn't he become suspicious?

So the best way is to stay home, but staying cooped up in the Neon Pavilion all day can be suffocating.

The most pitiful one is A-Jian, who stays cooped up in her room all day and still laughs happily, not feeling at all that this is inhumane. She even said that she didn't go out much when she was in Fusangyuan, so it's no big deal.

She suddenly realized that the capital city was not as safe as she had imagined, and the safest way was to leave this place.

Soon, the Lantern Festival arrived.

Shen Shuyi struggled with the decision all day, but when she saw the bustling streets in the evening, she couldn't resist any longer and decided to take A-Jian out for a stroll.

Afraid of causing trouble for her young mistress, A-Jian stammered, "This servant won't go out..."

"You have to go! You go with Sun Wang. I'll help you with your makeup later, and you can pretend to be Brother Sun's servant. Just don't walk with me." Shen Shuyi didn't give A-Jian a chance to refuse.

She knew that A-Jian didn't not want to go out, but was afraid of being a burden to her.

Normally it would be fine, but today is the Lantern Festival, and A-Jian is a girl who likes to watch the excitement. There's a lantern market today, and it would be such a pity not to go out and see the fun.
A-Jian subconsciously looked at Sun Wang, who chuckled and said, "You should listen to your daughter."

A-Jian bit her lower lip lightly: "This servant is worried about causing trouble for you, Miss, and doesn't want to go out."

"This is an order, you have no choice but to obey!" Shen Shuyi adopted the demeanor of a master.

Now, A-Jian finally had no reason to refuse.

That evening, Sun Wang and A Jian went out through the back door first, while Shen Shuyi stayed behind to cover their retreat.

A-Jian suppressed the urge to turn back and look at her daughter, and accompanied Sun Wang to the lantern market.

When they arrived at the lantern market, it was already packed with people. There were huge crowds of people, and everywhere they looked were beautiful girls and young men.

Before Shen Shuyi even stepped into the market, she suddenly hesitated and stopped.

That said, would Pei Dongzhou have guessed that she would come out to watch the excitement and wait for her to come to him? If she were Pei Dongzhou, suspecting that she was in the capital and knowing that she loved to watch the excitement, would she have come out and made a scene on such a lively day as the Lantern Festival?
Suddenly she felt unwell.

She changed her mind immediately, stopped a child, and asked her to pass on a message to Sun Wang that she wanted to go back.

The child, having received a candied hawthorn, was happy to help Shen Shuyi relay messages.

Sun Wang and A Jian both heard the child's message. They turned around and saw Shen Shuyi standing there, giving them a look.

A-Jian didn't want to watch the commotion either, so she whispered to Sun Wang, "If you're going back, then I'll go back too."

Sun Wang had only come out with them, and since Shen Shuyi suddenly didn't want to visit the lantern market, he naturally wasn't very interested either.

In fact, Shen Shuyi was right.

Pei Dongzhou had indeed deployed a considerable number of people at the lantern market, simply because he knew Shen Shuyi's personality well. His cousin usually loved watching excitement, and today was the Lantern Festival, the last lively festival of the first month of the lunar calendar.

Given my cousin's love of watching a spectacle, she'll most likely come out to take a look.

He'll be right to wait for the rabbit to run into his trap.

Just in case, he sent people to keep watch throughout the streets and alleys of the capital.

He lamented that he was too busy to keep an eye on everything, so he could only set up a tight net in the busiest lantern market.

Time passed slowly, and as the crowd dispersed, Pei Dongzhou finally realized a fact: his cousin wouldn't be showing up tonight.

It's also possible that his cousin isn't even in the capital, so no matter how many people he hires to keep watch, he won't be able to wait for her.

Just as Pei Dongzhou was feeling melancholy, Qingzhu suddenly came over and said to him, "I saw a servant who looked like Ajian earlier, but I'm not sure if I was seeing things. Because I didn't see him clearly, I was initially unsure whether to say anything."

Thinking back, he realized that the young master had gone to great lengths to find his cousin, and even if there was only a slight chance, he should still report it to the young master.

"When and where did you see it?" Pei Dongzhou's spirits lifted.

"When the lantern market first opened, it was located two streets away from the main market. I'll take you there, young master." Qingzhu regretted not saying it sooner.

Pei Dongzhou quickly followed Qingzhu to their destination, which was two streets away from the Lantern Market.

If the servant Qingzhu saw was indeed Ajian, it means that her cousin might have been present at the time.

"Does that servant, who looks like A-Jian, have anyone with him?" Pei Dongzhou pressed.

“There was a man, but he wasn’t Miss Cousin. He was indeed a man, but he was unfamiliar; I had never seen him before,” Qingzhu reported truthfully.

"Do you still remember what that person looked like? Can you draw him?" Pei Dongzhou looked at Qingzhu expectantly.

Qingzhu wanted to say it would be a bit difficult, but when he met the young master's expectant gaze, he suddenly felt that he could definitely draw the portrait of that man.

After returning to the Marquis's residence, Qingzhu drew a portrait of the man. After Pei Dongzhou looked at it, he shook his head and sighed, "Never mind, you describe it, and I'll draw it."

Using a portrait painted by Qingzhu to find someone is impossible; the painting is simply too poor.

Based on Qingzhu's description, Pei Dongzhou spent an hour finally drawing the man's portrait.

(End of this chapter)