I was flattered after crossing

"Oh, this girl can be said to have turned a disaster into a blessing. It's pretty good for her to be able to enter the palace and become a little maid!" The neighbors were talking about it.

"Yes, you see, the princess is such a nice person. It will definitely be better to enter the palace than to find a job outside!" Another person nodded in agreement, his eyes revealing respect for the princess.

"Oh no, I forgot to buy eggs! I have to go east. I'll talk to you when I come back. Otherwise, my wife will keep scolding me!" A middle-aged man suddenly remembered something at home and left in a hurry.

"Hahahahaha, go quickly!" The others laughed and watched him leave.

The crowd had finally left, leaving only Seventeen and I. I patted his shoulder and whispered, "Seventeen, you guys have to be careful, this father might not be dead yet, be careful when you carry him, don't hide any sharp weapons."

Seventeen nodded to show that he understood.

Then, we turned around to help Shen Xiangning who was still kneeling on the ground. I said to her, "Miss Ning'er, let's go together. Do you want to watch your father's burial, or come back with me now?"

At this moment, Shen Xiangning seemed a little helpless and flustered. She looked up at me and then slowly shook her head.

Seventeen saw the white cloth move slightly, turned around and nodded to me.

"Seventeen, find a Feng Shui location to help Miss Ning'er bury her father!" I turned to Seventeen and said.

"Yes, Princess! Let's go to the back mountain and carry the people!" Seventeen led his men and rushed forward, and several people carried the straw mat.

In an instant, I noticed that Shen Xiangning's body suddenly fell down, as if she had lost her support, and she almost fell to the ground. At this moment, a clear and pleasant voice suddenly sounded.

"Princess~ Xiao Cui is late, please rest assured and leave this girl to the care of this maid~"

Xiao Cui was followed closely by several maids from Haitang Garden. They quickly stepped forward, helped Shen Xiangning up, and walked towards the direction of the palace.

I noticed that Shen Xiangning's face was full of reluctance. She kept looking back at the straw mat on the ground and the person lying on it, gently shook her head, and tears rolled down like pearls from a broken string. Then, like a lifeless puppet, she followed the maids' steps and moved forward woodenly.

At this moment, Seventeen came running over in a hurry: "Princess, we are ready to set off to the back mountain."

"Be careful and watch out if anyone is following you secretly. As for the man on the straw mat, spare his life for now and make a decision after interrogating the whole story. In my opinion, this man is most likely related to the prime minister. You can arrange all other matters. I have to hurry back to the mansion to keep an eye on the girl. You guys have worked hard this time." I said to Seventeen earnestly.

Seventeen's expression became firm, and he nodded vigorously: "Princess, please rest assured, I will take care of everything."

Ruiwangfu Begonia Garden

Lei Lei was sitting at the stone table in the yard, staring at the door. When she saw me walking into the yard, she immediately stood up and asked anxiously, "Why did you come back so soon? Hey, where's that little girl? Didn't you bring her back with you?" While she was talking, she kept looking behind me.

"She was brought, but not here. In my opinion, she was most likely sent by the Prime Minister to get information about you. Think about it, those guards on the road just now failed to catch you, will the Prime Minister use more ruthless means next time? For example, send a killer to sneak into the mansion and wait for an opportunity to kill you!" As I spoke, I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

"Oh my god! Don't scare me!" Lei Lei couldn't help but tremble all over, and her face turned pale.

"Think about it carefully. For the Prime Minister, leaving you here with us is simply a time bomb. Since he can't get you back, he might as well go all out and detonate the bomb directly. In this way, he will be clean and neat, but won't we also suffer? After all, the Prime Minister thinks that you look very similar to the emperor's white moonlight. If you meet with an accident not long after staying in our palace... the consequences will be unimaginable!" I stared at her, my tone becoming heavier.

"This old thief is so cruel!" Lei Lei clenched her fist in anger and hit the stone table hard.

"Don't worry. Seventeen and the others may be interrogating Shen Xiangning's so-called father right now. We'll know the general situation when he comes back. I have locked up the little girl and have someone guarding her." I comforted her.

"I'll go over after the prince comes back. You don't need to show up yet. I'm worried that she'll go all out. By the way, I just asked Xiao Cui to go to the kitchen and get you some crystal dragon and phoenix cake. Eating some sweets will make you happier."

"Okay, hey, why did you create so much trouble? I'm sorry to cause trouble for you and the prince." She said helplessly.

"Hey, how can you say that? If it were me, wouldn't you care too?" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry about these. We have the prince here, and above him, the emperor! If it really doesn't work, you can sacrifice yourself and enter the palace to be a queen. Whisper in the emperor's ear and ask him to quickly get rid of this annoying prime minister. How great that would be!" As I said that, I slammed the table and shouted excitedly: "Huh? Isn't this a good idea!" I looked at her and we laughed at the same time!

Not long after, Xiao Cui returned to Haitangyuan with a plate of exquisite and crystal clear dragon and phoenix cake, and gently placed it on the table in front of us.

Then, she turned to look at me and said, "Princess, when I came back just now, I happened to meet the prince. The prince asked you to go to the study to see him later."

Hearing this, I nodded to show that I understood, and then stood up to leave. Before leaving, I turned to Lei Lei and comforted her, "Don't think too much, try these snacks, the taste is really amazing! In the entire imperial city, only the prince can make such delicious pastries."

Lei Lei smiled slightly and responded, "Haha, okay, then I'll have to taste it carefully and see if I can figure out how it's made!" As she spoke, her eyes fell on the plate of dessert, her eyes full of anticipation and curiosity.

Then, I reminded Xiao Cui again: "If I don't come back for dinner tonight, you don't have to wait for me. You can make your own arrangements and ask them to prepare more delicious food. After all, Miss Ling'er didn't have lunch." After finishing the instructions, I walked towards Xiao Zhengxuan's study.

Xiao Zhengxuan's Study

As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I caught a glimpse of Xiao Zhengxuan sitting leisurely at the round table sipping tea.

After taking a glance at the table full of delicious food and neatly arranged bowls and chopsticks, I walked over without hesitation and sat down.

The chopsticks in his hand quickly picked up a piece of tempting braised pork and put it into his mouth impatiently: "Oh my, I'm so hungry! How did you know I haven't eaten yet?"

"On the way back from the court, the servants kept telling me all the interesting things that happened to you today! I guess you must have been busy for most of the day, Princess, so how could you have the leisure time to enjoy a meal? Hahaha!" He teased with a joking look on his face.

"I didn't check the almanac before going out today, so everything was mixed up at once. Early in the morning, I went to the store to do some work, but unexpectedly I ran into your childhood sweetheart who had sent someone to our store to cause trouble. It was really a narrow road for enemies, and I finally dealt with her. I thought I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but on the way back, I ran into that unlucky prime minister blocking the way. I thought all these experiences were fantastic enough, but when I was about to reach the doorstep of my home, I actually ran into two actors who sold themselves to bury their father. This day was really laughable." I complained to him about my helplessness today while eating.

I looked at Xiao Zhengxuan beside me. He didn't seem to have eaten either, so I asked, "Your Majesty, why aren't you eating? Didn't you just come out of court?"

He replied, "I went to my mother's palace to have lunch after the court was over this morning."

Hearing this, I asked, "Oh, did the Queen have anything special to say today? What does she think about Leilei's matter?" While eating, I tried to understand the Queen's thoughts.

"In fact, mother doesn't mind taking new concubines into the harem. After all, which dynasty in history had a harem that was not full of intrigue and deception? You can stop this today, but can you stop that tomorrow? However, mother is so concerned about Miss Leilei because she looks very similar to the unforgettable woman in father's heart...um...it can be predicted that if Miss Leilei enters the palace, she will definitely be favored. But in this case, I am afraid that those concubines who have been a little more obedient in recent years will become restless again, causing waves again, and causing mother to fall into endless troubles..." After Xiao Zhengxuan finished speaking, he looked at me helplessly and smiled slightly.

"Oh, that's right! It's hard for the Queen to manage such a huge harem.

But your Highness can rest assured, Lei Lei has no intention of entering the palace. I just hope that your father can get rid of his obsession with Bai Yueguang as soon as possible! "I moved closer to him and said in a low voice.

Xiao Zhengxuan narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at me with a half-smile, and said slowly: "I heard that the princess righteously rejected the people from the Prime Minister's Mansion on the street today. It can be said that she is very imposing!"

Upon hearing this, I immediately became alert, quickly swallowed the food in my mouth, picked up the teacup in front of him, raised my head and drank it all, then said excitedly: "Today I finally understand what it means to be an accomplice to a tiger!"

Seeing Xiao Zhengxuan's face turn ugly, as if he was constipated, I knew something was wrong and quickly changed my words, "No, no, no, it should be said that it is like adding wings to a tiger! Haha, they are all related to tigers. I was confused for a moment..."

"No matter what, I feel honored to be the princess's tiger, right?!" He poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and muttered to myself, why is he speaking so sarcastic...

"Of course. Since I came here, it is all thanks to the care and support of Your Majesty that I can live a peaceful life now. Having a strong and reliable support like you, I will wake up with a smile in my sleep~" After saying that, I picked up a crispy and delicious little fish and devoured it with great concentration.

"By the way, Your Highness, I have brought the girl back. She will be detained in the woodshed for the time being. We will interrogate her thoroughly after Seventeen comes back." I explained the situation to the prince while concentrating on eating.

"Well, well done. But don't eat too fast, be careful not to choke. No one is competing with you..." The prince looked at me gently and said.

Before he finished speaking, Seventeen hurried to the door and bowed respectfully: "My Lord, Princess, I am back."

I turned my head to look at Xiao Zhengxuan, and said jokingly, "Aren't these people here to steal the food?"

"Haha, come on, Seventeen, you haven't had lunch yet, right? Come in and eat together!" I warmly called Seventeen to come into the house quickly.

"I dare not!" Seventeen lowered his head quickly, appearing a little restrained.

Seeing this, I immediately turned my head and gave Xiao Zhengxuan a pleading look.

Xiao Zhengxuan understood and said, "It's okay. We are all family. There is no need to be so restrained. Since the princess invites you to dine together, don't be polite. Just be comfortable like you are in the army."

"Yes, yes, come and sit down!" With the prince's permission, Seventeen quickly took his seat. After he sat down, I asked the servants to bring a new set of bowls and chopsticks.

I hurriedly asked Seventeen: "How is it? Is he still alive? He is just acting with us!"

Seventeen looked at me with admiration and said, "It was just as the princess expected. When we carried him away, he was still pretending to be dead. It was not until we were about to seal the coffin that he knelt down and begged for mercy!"

I was surprised and said, "You actually bought him a coffin. I thought you buried him directly in the back mountain!" I looked at Seventeen in confusion.

"..." Seventeen thought to himself: Is the princess such a cruel person?

"Um... did I say something wrong? And then what? And then what?" I grabbed a handful of preserved fruits and put them on the table, eating the melon seriously.

"After the man knelt down, he kept kowtowed to us and said that he had no choice but to take this job!" Seventeen said while eating.

"Let me guess, the mastermind behind this is the Prime Minister!" I held the preserved fruit and looked at Seventeen with confidence.

I saw that Seventeen's mouth was full of food and he couldn't answer, but he kept nodding and raised his chopsticks to me: "Hmm!"

I shook my body lightly, turned my head coquettishly, and used my eyes to convey a smug look to Xiao Zhengxuan that said, "Look how great I am."

"Okay, okay, the princess is really quick-witted and smart!" Xiao Zhengxuan looked at me lovingly and said softly.

After Shiqi swallowed the food in his mouth, Xiao Zhengxuan couldn't wait to ask: "Go on."

"And before we even started, he told us everything..." There was a hint of regret on Seventeen's face.