The concubine, a former cannon fodder, becomes pregnant, and the childless prince spoils her rotten.

Lin Zhizhi wanted to applaud; this family was full of bad intentions, truly a case of the wicked needing the wicked to be dealt with.

Lin Shangya wasn't unconscious at all. Hearing her second aunt's fierce words, she didn't dare to open her eyes.

She could feel the mocking whispers of her neighbors, and only then did she vaguely realize that she was no longer in the Prince's mansion.

These are people who have struggled in the streets and alleys; what kind of people haven't they seen?

Her little tricks might fool some pampered young ladies who haven't yet grown up, or like Lin Zhizhi before, who is still naive and believes whatever others say.

She's too green to fool these people.

Lin Zhizhi watched a good show, and her previously terrified heart calmed down. She pondered how to escape back to the capital.

Fortunately, her mother already knew that she had been taken away and would definitely try to find someone to rescue her.

Just then, the coachman escaped back to the palace. He was unaware that, being a man, he was unlikely to be a target of the bandits, which is why he was released.

He simply explained the events clearly, and the princess had already deduced that it was close to the truth, concealing the disdain in her eyes.

She had always looked down on Feng Yao's way of doing things, and now she was colluding with Liu Gu, daring to do something like conspiring with bandits.

"The appearance of bandits near the capital is no small matter. If someone harbors malicious intentions..." The princess's expression was cold, and her eyes contained a warning.

The coachman had never seen the princess so serious before, and he trembled slightly, bewildered.

The princess suspected that someone was using the bandits' notoriety to raise a private army, but if that were the case, how could they be colluding with Feng Yao?

Was Feng Yao's father involved? And will this matter implicate the Prince's Mansion?

"The concubines and maids in the Prince's mansion have all been captured. If word gets out, it will damage their reputation. We need to think this through carefully," the Princess warned. "You must not go out and say anything. Be careful, or the Prince will be furious when he returns and take your head."

"Yes," the driver replied repeatedly, clearly not wanting to be implicated.

Unable to understand the princess's intentions, he could only retreat, bewildered.

Xi Ying, standing to the side, beamed with delight. "Your Highness, you might as well just ignore them and let them both die. That would save you a lot of trouble. It would also prevent them from fighting with you all day long, which is quite annoying."

The princess's eyelids twitched, but she didn't reply. Even Yueqi couldn't bear to listen anymore.

She has been recuperating from her injuries and has rarely been able to attend to the princess.

Fortunately, the princess was kind and never criticized her, so she dared not be negligent anymore and came with Xiying to pick up some light work to do.

She never expected to receive such good news. Even without the princess's explicit mention, she knew that the concubine would definitely be involved.

Even if left unattended, the concubine will surely find a way to return.

Even she herself thought Xi Ying was incredibly stupid, that she could say such outrageous things.

He immediately rebuked, "The coachman informed the Princess, but she did nothing. It would be fine if the concubine and Lin Zhizhi really didn't return, but what if they were rescued and the Prince made a scene when he came back?"

"This..." happy Ying looked bewildered, then a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes, "Then let them never come back."

Although happy Ying thought Lin Zhizhi was a good person, that didn't stop her from thinking about the princess. She spoke these words without any guilt.

The princess said, "Don't say such things again. People will really think you're up to something. Don't you understand the saying 'trouble comes from the mouth'?"

"I will heed Your Highness's instructions," happy Ying said, bowing. "Then what should we do about this matter?"

Although they were delighted to learn that the concubine and Lin Zhizhi had been kidnapped by bandits, they couldn't just do nothing. Did they really have to obediently go and rescue them?

Yueqi's eyes darted around. "Since we're determined to save her no matter what, why not make a big scene? The bigger the better, let everyone know Lin Zhizhi is pregnant, and then..."

The princess's expression softened; she realized that her choice to protect Yueqi was the right one.

She shook her head at that moment, "This is something we can't do ourselves; someone else will do it for us."

Whatever you do, you must not leave any evidence that anyone can use against you.

If you can't be as meticulous as happy Ying and Yue Qi, then don't do anything at all.

"Does the Princess mean that the concubines might have similar thoughts?"

Only when Yueqi and Xiying joined forces could their thoughts barely align with those of the concubine.

The princess was not afraid of Liu Gu, who had ulterior motives. His intentions were clearly impure, and he would never sincerely offer advice to the concubine before he had gained any benefits.

Moreover, since he was a staff member abandoned by the prince, he must have had great shortcomings in terms of character and other aspects.

Using someone like that as a concubine truly reflects Feng Yao's style of doing things.

The princess never revealed what she was going to do, as if she had simply listened to the opinions of her two maids.

She was initially worried that the straightforward happy Ying might develop ulterior motives because Lin Zhizhi had helped her.

Now it seems that Xi Ying has had more thoughts since learning that Lin Zhizhi is pregnant.

Presumably, she thought that Lin Zhizhi was healthy and could also conceive the prince's child like Lin Zhizhi. She only made a few casual remarks, but once again regarded Lin Zhizhi as a rival.

Such a person is easy to control, and the princess was extremely satisfied.

Just as the princess was discussing what to do, Lin Zhizhi asked with a blank expression, "Since this aunt has been kind to my aunt, why would my aunt want to harm her? Knowing I'm a slave in the royal household, if she really took me to be registered as a slave, her whole family would be arrested. Oh, I see, my aunt is just like she was in the royal household, trying to run away with the money, isn't she?"

She looked innocent, as if she had just realized something, and seemed to have no bad intentions.

Despite all her precautions, Cheng Huilan couldn't stop Lin Zhizhi's annoying mouth. Only now did she realize that Erniu had removed the cloth from her mouth at some point.

He asked, somewhat stunned and incredulous, "You two know each other?"

"Of course, Lin Shangya's father is my uncle, and also my father's brother. We're relatives." Lin Zhizhi said with a smile, seemingly not annoyed by their previous actions. "Hurry up and untie my hands too. Look, they're all bruised."

Erniu looked and realized it was true; he hadn't tied them up in the first place. He then thought about Lin Shangya and Cheng Huilan's behavior earlier.

He was simple-minded, but not stupid. At this moment, he had some doubts in his mind, so he quickly helped to pull the strip of cloth apart.

Seeing how swollen Lin Zhizhi's wrist was, along with all the injuries on her body and her swollen face, they assumed that Cheng Huilan was behind it all.

He even helped bully a weak woman, and immediately felt guilty, saying, "I didn't want to do this."

Lin Shangya's second aunt realized she had been tricked and immediately let out a shrill scream, "Fine! I kindly took you in, and not only do you covet my money, but you also want to send us to jail!"