Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

For a long time afterwards, the relationship between Li Xi and Gu Shiyi was extremely close and inseparable. Li Xi spent almost all his time in Gu Shiyi's boudoir and ignored the other concubines.

Not long after, the news spread as fast as wings and reached the Prince of Chu's Palace.

On this day, Liu Ruyan came to deliver the account book as usual. However, unlike before, this time she also brought a piece of news from the Prince of Nanyang's Mansion.

When Dugu Jingyao saw this news, she couldn't help but shake her head and sighed, "It's true! As the saying goes, if you're not from the same family, you won't marry."

At this moment, Li Chu walked in. After hearing what Dugu Jingyao said, he asked casually, "Ayao, who are you talking about?"

Dugu Jingyao looked at Li Chu with a smile and replied softly, "Donglang, you're back? I was just talking about Li Xi and Gu Shiyi."

Upon hearing this, Li Chu showed a hint of doubt on his face and asked, "What happened to them?"

Seeing this, Dugu Jingyao quickly stood up, poured a glass of water for Li Chu, and then explained: "I just got the news that Li Xi and Gu Shiyi are getting along very well recently, and he doesn't even go to other concubines anymore."

Li Chu suddenly realized why Dugu Jingyao said that. However, he was still a little curious. Why did the relationship between these two people suddenly become so good? Was it just because Gu Shiyi gave birth to the eldest son of the Li family?

Dugu Jingyao saw Li Chu's confusion, so she handed the note to Li Chu, which roughly read: Since the full moon banquet, Li Xi has basically only gone to Gu Shiyi's room. Even Li Xi's favorite concubine only went there once or twice occasionally, and Gu Shiyi's dowry maid could not even see Li Xi.

Dugu Jingyao asked, "Donglang, what do you think?"

Li Chu thought for a moment and said, "Since they are so close, then we should find a way to drive a wedge between them. I'm curious how much of their relationship is exploitative and how much is genuine."

Dugu Jingyao also meant this, so she said, "In that case, I will write back to our informant and ask her to use a strategy of sowing discord."

Li Chu looked at Dugu Jingyao and nodded, "Well, Yao, it's up to you."

After saying that, Dugu Jingyao picked up her pen and wrote a letter, asking Shi Jian to return it to Liu Ruyan along with the account book.

Liu Ruyan was also very quick to receive the letter and immediately handed it to the informant. After receiving the information, the informant came to a private room in the beauty shop.

After Liu Ruyan poured her some water, she handed her the letter and said, "This is a letter from the master. Please read it here, young lady. Burn it after reading."

The woman took the letter and read it. After she understood it thoroughly, she said to Liu Ruyan, "Okay, Boss Liu, I understand what you mean. Please tell me that I will implement the plan as soon as possible." After that, she took a sip of tea and stood up to leave.

Liu Ruyan burned the letter completely before leaving the room and continuing to go to the lobby to greet and see off guests.

In fact, the informant was none other than Tinglan, who was brought back to the palace by Li Xi. After returning to the palace, she asked the only maid who served her to go and find out Li Xi's whereabouts.

Knowing that Li Xi usually returned home at 3:30 pm, Tinglan made preparations early. Seeing that the time was almost up, Tinglan went to the road that Li Xi had to take to get to the backyard and wandered around.

It was winter at the time and the plum blossoms were in full bloom. Tinglan deliberately wore clothes that blended with the scenery and stood under the plum tree. Her maid Xiu'er saw Li Xi from afar and came to report.

Tinglan pretended to pray and said, "I, the faithful daughter Tinglan, pray that God will bless your Highness, let your Highness be healthy, and fulfill your wish as soon as possible."

Li Xi, who was passing by, was originally discussing something with his close confidants. He was attracted by Tinglan's voice and felt a warm feeling in his heart after listening to Tinglan's prayer.

When Li Xi approached, he found that Tinglan was wearing a little thin, so he quickly walked over, took off his cloak and put it on Tinglan and said, "Why are you wearing so little?"

Tinglan pretended to have just noticed Li Xi. She stood up in surprise and greeted Li Xi: "I greet Your Highness. I am fine, Your Highness, don't worry."

Li Xi reached out and took Tinglan's hand. He found that Tinglan's hand was icy cold, so he complained: "Look at your hands, they are so cold, and you still say it's okay?"

Tinglan bit her lip in grievance and lowered her head, saying, "I know I was wrong. Next time I will wrap myself up like a dumpling before going out."

Li Xi was amused by her words and said, "Hahaha, you really know how to joke. Let's go, I'll take you back." Then he said to his confidant, "Go tell the princess that I'll be there for breakfast tomorrow morning."

The confidant obeyed the order and went forward, and Li Xi hugged Tinglan and returned to Yalan Garden together.

On the way, Tinglan asked, "Your Highness is taking me away like this. Will the princess be angry?"

Li Xi said nonchalantly, "How can the princess be a princess if she doesn't even have this much tolerance?" Li Xi even teased Tinglan deliberately, "If Lan'er is afraid that the princess will be angry, why don't you go back by yourself and let me go find the princess?"

Tinglan naturally knew that Li Xi was teasing her, so she hugged Li Xi and said, "I am not a princess, I wish I could monopolize His Highness!"

Li Xi was very pleased to hear this. He said, "Okay, okay, then I will accompany Lan'er today."

Tinglan then said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Highness!" The two of them chatted and laughed all the way back to Yalan Garden.

On the other side of Yuhe Hall, Gu Shiyi was furious when she heard that Li Xi had gone to Yalan Garden. Her nails were almost digging into her flesh, but she still looked calm and said, "Okay, I understand."

After the guard left Yuhe Hall, Gu Shiyi lost her temper, smashing many plates and bowls and cursing, "Tinglan, that bitch! I will make her pay for it!"

Xiaoyan, who rushed over after hearing the news, was inevitably ridiculed by Gu Shiyi, but she could only endure it and even said some compliments. She only left after Gu Shiyi's anger had mostly subsided.

In Yalan Garden, Li Xi personally helped Tinglan warm her hands. Tinglan said jealously, "I haven't seen His Highness since the Crown Prince's full moon banquet. I haven't even had the chance to congratulate His Highness on his promotion!"

At this point, Li Xi became a little angry. He said, "It's not like he was conferred the title of prince. What's there to congratulate?"

Tinglan said, "I thought His Majesty intended to make you a prince, so he promoted you!"

Li Xi felt that the person in front of him was a little interesting, so he asked, "Oh? What do you mean, Lan'er?"

Tinglan was a little apprehensive. She quickly knelt down and said, "I have spoken out of turn. I dare not speculate on the emperor's intentions."

Li Xi helped her up and said, "It's okay, it's just the two of us. I want to hear Lan'er's thoughts."

Tinglan, following Li Xi's force, stood up and sat down. "I believe that the reason His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was granted the title of Prince after the birth of his eldest son was because he already had well-known achievements. Your Highness, however, has only recently entered the court and your position is not high, lacking the opportunity to make achievements. But things are different now. His Majesty has promoted you, giving you more opportunities to make achievements. Now that you have an eldest son, your title of Prince is naturally just around the corner."

Li Xi looked at the person in front of him in surprise. He didn't expect that Tinglan, who was born as a maid, could think so much. It seemed that she was really thinking about him.

Seeing that Li Xi remained silent for a long time, Tinglan thought she had said something wrong, so she knelt down again and said, "I shouldn't have casually speculated on the emperor's intentions. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Li Xi felt that he had unearthed a treasure, so how could he bear to see Tinglan kneel down at every turn? So he said, "Lan'er, get up quickly. I didn't expect you to think of this. I really underestimated you!" After that, he helped her up and scratched Tinglan's nose.

Tinglan finally felt relieved and said, "Your Highness scared me. I thought I would be punished for saying something wrong!"

Li Xi pulled Tinglan to sit on his lap and said, "You are the apple of my eye. How could I bear to punish you?"

Tinglan pretended to be shy and lowered her head, but then she seemed to remember something and said to Li Xi, "Your Highness, I have an idea. I wonder if I should tell you or not?"

Li Xi asked curiously, "Oh? What are your thoughts? Tell me."

Ting Lan said, "I believe that if Your Highness wants to move up the ladder, besides making great achievements, since Your Highness the Prince of Chu is, after all, the eldest son of His Majesty, this status gives you an advantage. However, if Your Highness is granted the title of Prince, you can surpass the Prince of Chu in another way."

Li Xi asked, "Oh? What aspect?"

Tinglan said somewhat embarrassedly, "I know that the royal family values ​​having many children. Although His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu already has three children, and Li Liangdi is pregnant, they only have one son. If Your Highness can have a few more sons besides the eldest, wouldn't that give you an advantage over His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu?"

Hearing this, Li Xi smiled and said, "I was wondering why Lan'er was suddenly shy. So that's what you were talking about? But you do have a point. Although Li Chu has many children, he currently only has one son, just like me. If I can establish merit and have more sons, I'll definitely have a greater chance of competing with him."

At this point, Tinglan sighed softly. Li Xi asked in confusion, "Lan'er said it very well, why are you sighing?"

Tinglan said, "But His Highness rarely comes to Lan'er and Sister Song's place now, and the princess has just come out of confinement. It's impossible for her to get pregnant again so soon, so Lan'er sighed."

Li Xi smiled and said, "Lan'er, you're jealous. You want me to come visit you more often, right?"

Tinglan pretended to be shy and said, "Of course I want to see Your Highness more often."

After saying this, her tone became heavy again, "But even if Your Highness comes to my place often, I cannot help Your Highness share the burden of having children."

Li Xi was puzzled when he heard this and thought: Could it be that Tinglan is infertile? So he asked, "Don't worry, if we try hard, we will have our own child."

Tinglan asked, "Your Highness, haven't you noticed why Sister Song hasn't gotten pregnant after serving you for so long?"

At this point, Li Xi remembered that when Gu Shiyi was pregnant, he often favored Song Yan, but she still had no children. Could it be that Song Yan was also unable to have children? He even wondered if there was something wrong with him. But that wasn't right. He and Gu Shiyi had gotten pregnant at once.

Li Xi asked, "Could it be that she is not feeling well?"

Tinglan shook her head and said, "I don't know whether Sister Song is in good health, but I know that my body will not affect my fertility. In fact, every time I sleep with the princess, she will reward me with a bowl of contraceptive soup."

Hearing this, Li Xi frowned and whispered, "No wonder you two have slept with each other quite a few times, but you're still not pregnant. Gu Shiyi is really jealous!"

Tinglan whispered, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. Did I say too much?"

Li Xi looked at the pitiful person before him, reached out and touched her face. He said, "You're right. Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll have someone quietly replace your contraceptive soup with a pregnancy-maintaining medicine. That way, we'll have our own child." He then embraced Tinglan. However, Li Xi had already made a note of Gu Shiyi. Later, he would ask Song Yan if she had also arranged for her to drink the contraceptive soup.

Tinglan, however, smiled in his arms. This at least made Li Xi think that Gu Shiyi's disregard for the overall situation and her plan to hinder Li Xi's advancement was a good thing. She said softly, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Xi said: "Don't worry, not only will this medicine be replaced, I will also work hard!"

Upon hearing this, Tinglan pretended to punch Li Xi twice and said, "Your Highness, you are so mean!"

These two hits were like cat scratches, making Li Xi feel itchy. He couldn't control himself and started to act crazy.

By the evening, Li Xi naturally worked hard as he said, and Tinglan actively cooperated. In the end, she could not hold on any longer and let Li Xi do whatever he wanted.

The next morning, although the "contraceptive soup" was brought by Gu Shiyi's people, it had long been replaced with pregnancy medicine by Li Xi's people. She drank it without saying a word.