At the Eldest Princess's Residence, the doors to the outer study were tightly shut.
The prince consort, Xue Yuanyu, sat in a carved rosewood armchair, his brows tightly knitted.
"Who could have known there were snakes inside the rockery?" Xue Yuanyu sighed. Even now, he regretted having his pleasure interrupted.
Su Haoyan hung his head, his eyes rimmed with red.
He stared at his toes, lips pressed together, without saying a word.
"If we're found out..." Dantai Wuyang was a little worried too.
With Emperor Deyuan's favor to rely on, the Eldest Princess behaved with domineering arrogance. She was especially possessive of her husband.
The maids at the Princess's Residence did not dare exchange even one extra word with the prince consort. All his personal attendants were male servants.
Once, a friend had dragged the prince consort out drinking with courtesans. A few days later, the woman who had kept him company was found drowned in a river.
Several major calamities had also befallen that friend's household.
From then on, everyone in the Capital City knew that the prince consort was not someone to approach lightly.
Sometimes, when his pent-up urges became unbearable, he could only vent them on his male servants. Over time, he actually began to find some pleasure in men.
He always did it in secret, and the Eldest Princess had never caught him.
If the Eldest Princess discovered what had happened today, even Dantai Wuyang would not escape unscathed, let alone Su Haoyan, a hostage prince whose status and position were awkward enough already.
"Who was that woman?" Dantai Wuyang asked. "What connection does she have to Prince Rui?"
"The Fifth Miss of the Jinyang Marquis's Residence. She came for today's Flower-Viewing Banquet," Xue Yuanyu replied. "According to the servants, she has no connection to Prince Rui. They merely ran into each other."
Dantai Wuyang gave a cold snort. "That makes things easy. Aren't they performing their talents later? Give the Fifth Miss a few extra compliments and show some interest. Better yet, arrange another chance encounter in private..."
Once the Eldest Princess heard about it, she would certainly take a dislike to the Fifth Miss and find every possible way to make things difficult for her. Then she would never believe anything the Fifth Miss said.
"What about the Fourth Prince?" Su Haoyan asked quietly.
"I'll sound him out." Dantai Wuyang rested a hand on his shoulder and reassured him gently. "Prince Rui isn't a gossip. He won't go spreading it around."
Su Haoyan raised his head with an innocent look. His long, thick lashes trembled slightly, making him appear rather pitiful. "I've heard Prince Rui and the Eldest Princess are very close..."
Dantai Wuyang frowned. "Xiaosi has experts around him as thick as clouds. Don't underestimate him just because he's paralyzed. He's deeply calculating and ruthless in his methods. Whatever you do, don't get any ideas about him."
Su Haoyan lowered his head and clutched his sleeve, a glint of viciousness flashing in his eyes.
"Then it's settled. Let's deal with that Fifth Miss first."
Dantai Mo braced both hands on the armrests of his wheelchair and stood up.
He managed to take a step with that support, but a sharp pain shot through his lower legs, and he fell back into the wheelchair.
After standing, Dantai Mo was dazed for a moment.
Before, he had only felt sensation in his toes. This time, he had actually stood up.
His fingertips tingled and ached, as though blocked nerves had been cleared and blood was flowing through places it had not reached in ages.
Dantai Mo lowered his brows and held his breath. Steady as he was, he could not suppress the waves surging through his heart at something like this.
After taking a deep breath, he tried to push himself upright again. This time, however, he failed.
His arms bore his entire weight, and he fell back into the wheelchair once more.
The feeling in his legs had vanished as quickly as it had come.
Even after sitting back down, Dantai Mo could not calm himself for a long time.
After a whole year, he had finally breathed the air up above again.
It felt so good to stand!
"Your Highness, I'll summon an Imperial Physician at once!" The court eunuch beside him grew excited too.
"No need." Even summoning every Imperial Physician in the Capital City would not measure up to a single Fifth Miss.
"What happened today must remain secret." Dantai Mo's cool gaze swept lightly over those around him. All his attendants lowered their heads and answered, "Yes."
"Go and see what the Fifth Miss is doing." Dantai Mo looked toward the Flower Hall.
"Also, send the Fifth Miss five hundred taels of gold."
One hundred taels were payment for the medicine. The extra four hundred could count as lamp oil money.
In the Flower Hall, the Flower-Viewing Banquet officially began after the Eldest Princess appeared.
The Flower-Viewing Banquet was held at the Waterside Pavilion.
It was midsummer. Ripples spread across the emerald-green lake in the breeze, and a stretch of red covered walkway connected to the Lakeside Pavilion.
The noble young ladies would perform in the Lakeside Pavilion.
Jian Ruonan, Min, and Xilu sat beneath a temporary canopy erected beside the lake.
"Fifth Miss, please draw a lot." A young maid held out the lots for Jian Ruonan to choose from.
Exquisite flowers were painted on the bamboo lots. After drawing, the noble young ladies would perform in the order in which their flowers bloomed throughout the four seasons.
Jian Ruonan drew a pear blossom lot. Pear blossoms bloomed in spring, so her talent performance would come quite early.
After the system spilled the gossip, she checked her things. Sure enough, her scissors and red paper were missing.
The Eldest Princess and the distinguished guests had already taken their assigned seats. It really was not convenient to go out searching.
Min was so anxious that sweat covered her forehead. "How could they disappear? Shall we have someone look again?"
Jian Ruonan pressed her pink lips together, lowered her long lashes, and bowed her head to fiddle with her fingernails, looking like a startled fawn.
Seeing her like this made Min's heart clench.
Ruonan was being targeted at her very first grand banquet. She must have been so frightened.
Min pulled her into her arms and soothed her gently.
[Seriously? All I'm doing is cutting a window decoration, and someone's jealous?]
[Only mediocrities escape envy.]
[What can I do? I'm a genius! A genius!]
Min: "..."
She had worried for nothing.
Jian Ruonan said, "Mother, I'll go look. I know where they are."
Her scissors and red paper had been thrown into the weeds beside the lake. How could the maids possibly find them?
Holding up her skirts, Jian Ruonan reached the patch of weeds beside the lake. Just as she was about to crawl in, she saw a handsomely dressed, good-looking man walking toward her.
He wore a moon-white brocade robe and a gold crown. Tall and slender, he had a faint smile on his face, and his gaze was as gentle as warm spring sunshine. Even his voice was exceptionally refined. "Miss, might you need my help?"
For a moment, Jian Ruonan stared, transfixed.
[Wh-who is this elegant, cultured man? He seems so well-mannered and polite!]
[His looks are pretty much on par with that emotionally unstable conquest target of mine!]
Seeing Jian Ruonan lingering alone beside the lake, Dantai Mo had someone push his wheelchair over. As soon as he drew near, he heard her lavishly praising his Third Brother in her thoughts.
Dantai Mo's eyes darkened.
[Ding-] [The conquest target has been detected in low spirits. Points -5!]
The Fourth Prince acted up every so often, and Jian Ruonan was almost immune by now. She continued swooning over the handsome stranger before her.
The system said, [This is the original story's male lead, Third Prince Dantai Huai.]
Splash- The system's words were like a basin of ice water poured over Jian Ruonan's head.
Jian Ruonan's expression instantly turned cold, and her tone switched from raging waves to still waters in a single second.
[Oh, so it's him.]
[Looking closely, he's not even remotely on par with that emotionally unstable conquest target of mine!]
[Those eyebrows have been groomed, haven't they? He's wearing a thin layer of powder, and he's even put on lip rouge. Could he be any more effeminate?]
[He's looking at me with such a lecherous grin. Is he trying to hit on me?]
[Back off, back off, back off!]
[Ding-] [The conquest target has been detected in high spirits. Points +5!]
Jian Ruonan: "..."
[The Fourth Prince is acting up again!]
Before you continue