The princess regretted it.

The beaded curtain at the doorway lifted with a crisp clang. Jin An turned to see a charming maid in a pink and purple palace maid's outfit, walking in with light, slightly hurried steps. Her skirt swayed as she moved, like the fluttering wings of a butterfly. She bowed, a look of unconcealed joy on her face, and whispered, "Your Highness, the Third Prince has come to visit you. I have invited him to the main hall." Her tone was thick with excitement and anticipation.

Jin An stared intently at the maidservant before him, a complex wave of emotions welling up within him. This was one of her four personal handmaidens, named Lanzhu. She was articulate and adept at reading people's expressions, always able to amuse Jin An with clever words. She was deeply favored by him.

In her previous life, her favoritism had caused the other three first-class personal maids and the other servants in the courtyard to be wary of Lan Zhu. They knew that to offend Lan Zhu would be to offend their own master. Therefore, in their daily lives, they would try their best to avoid conflict with Lan Zhu, even actively trying to curry her favor. Lan Zhu, fully aware of this, leveraged her position and power to establish her prestige within the courtyard. Precisely because of her favoritism, Lan Zhu rose to become the leader of the four first-class personal maids.

However, in his previous life, Jin'an's trust in Lan Zhu, even treating her as his confidant, only fueled her ambition. Later, she was heartbroken by the reality that Lan Zhu became a member of the Third Emperor's harem, being named Lanpin. All of this was personally arranged by Jin'an, under Lan Zhu's deliberate guidance.

Looking back now, Jin An couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. It turned out that even back then, there were already signs of this. Lan Zhu's actions and attitude might have hinted at her true inner thoughts, but Jin An hadn't noticed at the time. She had always trusted those close to her, never considering anyone betraying her. Now, Lan Zhu had brought the Third Prince into her palace without his permission, her intentions were clear as day, yet his past self hadn't noticed. Truly...

Seeing that the princess was silent and just staring at her steadily, with her eyes lacking the usual tenderness and affection, Lan Zhu looked at Princess Jin An with some confusion in her heart and called out crisply, "Your Highness?"

Princess Jinan's eyes moved slightly when she heard Lanzhu's call, but she didn't respond. Her eyes were still fixed on Lanzhu, with a complex and indescribable emotion.

Lan Zhu felt uneasy. She didn't know why Princess Jin'an was looking at her like that. She tried to read something from her expression, but she couldn't see anything. She couldn't help but feel uneasy.

After a moment's silence, Princess Jin'an finally spoke, "It's all right. Go and serve the Mingqian Longjing tea to my third brother." Her voice was calm and gentle. "I'll be there shortly."

Lan Zhu felt uneasy, but she could only retreat. Jin An watched Lan Zhu leave and made a secret decision: No rush, I'll make arrangements for you later.

In the main hall of Feiyu Hall, the Third Prince, Changsun Wuwang, was dressed in a white brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns in gold thread, highlighting his noble status. A jade belt inlaid with sapphires cinched his waist, accentuating his slender figure. A white jade crown, its pearl tassels swaying gently, rested on his head. He sat leisurely, toying with a jade cup in his hands.

Seeing Jin'an coming in, he immediately put down the jade cup in his hand and hurried to greet him. A worried and nervous expression appeared on his face. He stood up and said, "Jin'an, I heard that you were in danger yesterday. Is it serious? I wanted to come to see you last night, but the imperial physician said you were frightened and needed to rest. Are you feeling better now?"

Princess Jin'an bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your concern, Third Brother. I'm fine now."

"It's all my fault, Third Brother. If I hadn't mentioned that the prayers in Hanyun Temple were effective, you wouldn't have gone to Hanyun Temple, and you wouldn't have met those damn bandits. Fortunately, there's the Prince of Jinwuhou. Otherwise, if anything happened to you, Jin'an, Third Brother would be held responsible." Changsun Wuwang's face was full of guilt, and he continued with a look of regret, his tone full of self-blame.

Changsun Jinan didn't say anything, but just looked at him silently. His face was calm as water, but his heart was turbulent.

Yes, if her good brother had not accidentally mentioned to her how mysterious the prayers in Hanyun Temple were, she would not have suddenly wanted to pray for her father.

These words seemed like self-blame, but in reality, they were just a way of testing her for suspicion, while also taking the opportunity to help Wu Changfeng gain some favor. With such a natural performance, it was no wonder he had been deceived in his previous life.

Seeing Jin'an's silence, Changsun Wuwang paused. Could it be that Jin'an had noticed something? Jin'an's trust in him had always been his greatest strength. He wondered if Jin'an's sister's suspicions would also shake her trust in him. The thought of this filled him with panic. The web he had carefully woven over the years couldn't afford to show any flaws at this moment.

Zhang Sun Wuwang's eyes flickered as he leaned closer to Jin An and said, "Jin An, are you angry with Third Brother?"

Jin An calmed himself down and frowned slightly, "Third brother, don't blame yourself. You can't be blamed for this. I just don't know who recommended Hanyun Temple to you? And where did these bandits come from? How dare they be so bold as to attack me."

Changsun Wuwang's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "This...this Hanyun Temple is something I accidentally heard about while Third Brother was out. Why do you ask? Do you think of anyone suspicious? Is there anything unusual before the attack yesterday? Don't worry, I will send someone to investigate this matter immediately. I will definitely apprehend those bandits and avenge you."

After a pause, Changsun Wuwang asked with concern, "Jin'an, you don't think this has anything to do with me, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Jin An smiled his usual smile and said coquettishly, "Of course not. Third Brother loves me the most, how could he possibly harm me? I'm just worried someone might frame you, Third Brother. You've always been gentle, generous, open-minded, and sociable. I'm afraid someone with ulterior motives might take advantage of the opportunity to get close to you. But I trust Third Brother, so Jin An will have to trouble you."

Zhangsun Wuwang looked at Jin'an's smiling face, but he couldn't see anything in Jin'an's eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, Jin'an. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly."

"Thank you, third brother," Jin An said with a smile.

Zhang Sun Wuwang smiled dotingly, "Why thank me? I'm your third brother after all. I hope you don't blame me."

"By the way, Jin'an, Concubine Zhang will be hosting a flower viewing banquet in the palace tomorrow. Do you want to go?"

Jin An's heart skipped a beat. Tomorrow's flower-viewing banquet... She remembered that there had been such a banquet in her previous life, but unfortunately, she had been frightened and in a bad mood, so she didn't attend. Later, she learned that this banquet was specially organized by Concubine Zhang to select a daughter-in-law, and after the banquet, rumors spread that Concubine Zhang would be made queen.

"Third brother, of course I have to go to the imperial concubine's flower viewing banquet." Jin An said with a smile without changing his expression.

A gleam of brilliance flashed in Changsun Wuwang's eyes, but he quickly returned to normal. "Well, it's good to go and have some fun. I heard that there are some talented young ladies here. Maybe they can help your second brother to pick them out!"

Jin An pretended to be confused: "Help Second Brother to judge? What does that mean?"

Changsun Wuwang pretended to smile mysteriously and said, "You'll know tomorrow! Have a good rest!"

After sending Changsun Wuwang away, Jin An snorted and laughed. Playing hard to get! This Third Brother was just trying to use her as a pawn to sabotage tomorrow's banquet. But then again, Concubine Zhang wasn't a pushover either, and she was one of those she wanted to deal with. A flower viewing banquet? Concubine Zhang! Are you ready? ...