Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

Spring dreams leave no trace.

After Xiao Lie left, the room was in a mess. Lin Wan'er, wrapped in a thin blanket, huddled in a corner. Her fair skin was covered with ambiguous marks. When the maid Chunxue came in and saw this scene, her eyes immediately turned red.

Her voice trembled, "Miss, how could the young master treat you like this..."

Lin Wan'er laughed and cried at the same time, her eyes filled with bitter hatred.

"That bastard Xiao Lie dared to humiliate me like this, I'll definitely teach him a lesson..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chunxue quickly covered her mouth.

Chunxue's eyebrows trembled as she pleaded softly.

"This is the Duke's mansion. Who knows which one of them might be the young master's spy? Miss, you should say less to avoid causing trouble."

She picked up the brown herbal medicine and brought it to Lin Wan'er's lips. The sour, bitter, and astringent smell hit her nostrils, making her feel nauseous.

Lin Wan'er covered her nose and hurriedly dodged away.

"What is this?"

"It's... a contraceptive soup. The Crown Prince specifically instructed you to drink it. He said you can refuse to drink it, but if it really harms the child, you'll have to deal with it yourself."

Is this a sign that they're not going to get involved?

Lin Wan'er's eyes immediately reddened, and a surge of bitterness welled up in her heart, cutting her with a dull, stabbing pain.

She suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for Xiao Lie, the one who used to follow her around with such unwavering devotion.

"Waaah..."

The woman hugged her knees and began to sob softly.

Chunxue's heart tightened, feeling both heartache and pity.

"Miss, why don't we go and beg the Third Prince and the Master? They must have a way."

The maid's clear eyes were bright and hopeful. Lin Wan'er, however, tightened her grip and silently turned her head away, avoiding her gaze.

"It's not that easy..."

If it had happened at the very beginning, when the Third Prince forcibly seized the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and took her away, there might have been room for maneuver. But now, she has already lost her virginity and is increasingly valued by His Majesty. If she were to desert in the face of danger, she might implicate the Lin family.

Seeing her hesitation, the maid suddenly had a flash of inspiration and guessed the answer.

"This marriage was personally arranged by His Majesty. You must be worried that if you oppose this marriage, the entire Lin family will be disliked by His Majesty."

"Then why don't we go and beg the Third Prince?" The maid rolled her eyes, deliberately leaned closer, and whispered, "I heard that these days, Princess Kang has been repeatedly reprimanded by Consort Xian and disliked by the Third Prince. Now she has been stripped of her power as head of the household and is under house arrest."

"The Third Prince has always been gentle and kind, so when has he ever been so ruthless? It must be because he still has feelings for Miss, and every time he sees the Princess who has taken Miss's place, he gets angry. Over time, this has fermented to this point."

Chunxue whispered, "Miss, the master has always been loyal and obedient, and he is unwilling to disobey the emperor's orders in the slightest. If you want to leave the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, you can only rely on the Third Prince."

Chunxue's words seemed to drill into Lin Wan'er's heart, reaching straight to her core. Lin Wan'er couldn't help but waver and have delusional thoughts.

What if... what if it really works?

Chunxue worked swiftly, laying out paper and grinding ink on the jade table, silently waiting for Lin Wan'er.

Finally, in the silence, Lin Wan'er got out of bed, put on her clothes, picked up her pen and pondered for a long time before finally writing a few words on the paper.

……

With the evidence destroyed, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, who had come to search the premises at the last minute, found nothing.

They searched the entire Duke Zhenguo's mansion but couldn't find a single piece of evidence. Instead, they blushed with embarrassment at Xiao Lie's playful teasing.

"What are you all looking for with such a large entourage?"

The group of people looked at each other, not daring to say a word, and could only turn away and leave.

As for Lin Wan'er, she had long been under strict guard, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to send a message even if she wanted to.

However, two days later, the emperor invited all his officials to enjoy the autumn scenery in the imperial garden under the pretext of appreciating the autumn colors.

Xiao Lie paced back and forth, stroking his chin, utterly puzzled.

"Has this emperor lost his mind?"

Or is this targeting him?

However, since the imperial edict had been issued, most officials in the court were required to bring their relatives to the ceremony.

Xiao Lie entered Lin Wan'er's room and looked at her with a sinister gaze, unsure whether the emperor had resorted to this drastic measure because he couldn't contact her.

Lin Wan'er felt weak in the knees under his gaze, stammered, and barely straightened up before speaking.

What are you doing here?

Xiao Lie stared at her intently for a while, his expression blank, only telling her to be careful with her words and actions later.

"Be a good Crown Princess and I won't make things difficult for you, but if you dare to cause trouble at the banquet, don't blame me for being impolite."

Lin Wan'er shuddered, turned her head away, and let out a soft groan. Her face remained calm, but her hand, which was combing her hair, inadvertently pulled out a few strands.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Lie didn't say anything more. Having learned from her previous experience, he figured she had suffered a lot and would think twice before doing anything in the future.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lie felt slightly relieved.

At the banquet, all the officials paid their respects, and the emperor made some perfunctory remarks before waving his sleeve and ordering the banquet to begin.

During the meal, countless eyes fell on Xiao Lie, but he pretended not to notice, wearing a smile, and even had the leisure to personally feed Lin Wan'er a few bites of pastry as a sign of favor.

Lin Wan'er's face froze, but when she sensed the man's hand tightening slightly, she could only manage a forced smile and open her mouth.

"Good girl..."

Hearing Xiao Lie's admiring whisper, Lin Wan'er blushed and glared at him angrily for a while. But to others, this scene appeared as one of perfect harmony and deep affection.

"Your Highness..."

The palace servants served the dishes, but they noticed that the King of Kang had a sinister look in his eyes and crushed the wine cup in his hand.

The maidservant gasped in surprise, but Shen Qinglan merely glanced at her and looked away, offering a reminder.

"Your Highness, we are still at a palace banquet. Is your behavior such that you feel the rumors you're spreading aren't intense enough?"

"What do you know? Wan'er and I grew up together. If I didn't know about Xiao Lie and... Wan'er would have entered the Prince's mansion long ago!"

If it wasn't Xiao Lie, then who was it? Her?

The last trace of a smile in Shen Qinglan's eyes vanished completely. Since Prince Kang insisted on this, why should she care anymore?

Jiang Heng was unaware that their actions had attracted many speculative glances, but even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared.

He winked at one of the officials, who looked around, seemed to understand, and immediately stood up to make a suggestion.

"Your Majesty, with all the officials gathered here today, it would be rather boring to just look at everyone. How about we play a few rounds of pitch-pot, and then award the winners, so that everyone can have a good time?"

Pitch-pot was a very popular game. The emperor glanced down and noticed that the people's eyes were clearly filled with anticipation. He immediately nodded and granted their request.

Coincidentally, he also wanted to see if some people were really that incompetent.

Soon, the singing and dancing ended, and the bronze pot was brought out by the palace servants.

And the official, as expected, spoke again.

"Your Majesty, Commander Xiao's swordsmanship is superb; he can shoot down two eagles with a single arrow even from a hundred meters away. His Highness the Crown Prince was carefully trained by Commander Xiao's side when he was young, so his archery skills must be extraordinary. Why don't we let him take the lead?"