Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

Shi Lanxin walked in with a swagger, raised one foot, and slowly stepped on Tao Yao's face.

Tao Yao only heard her loud voice above her head, and felt her head buzzing.

"Shi, Tao, Yao, you bastard, didn't you hear me asking you a question? How dare you ignore me!"

Shi Lanxin had recently been learning to dance and was very proud of her leg skills. At this moment, her toes were like a nimble spinning top, spinning quickly on Tao Yao's forehead.

"You dare to steal the broth from the kitchen? What? Shoe ash isn't enough for you?"

Shi Lanxin used more strength and stomped hard on Tao Yao's face.

Suddenly, a huge black footprint appeared on Tao Yao's face. But her eyes were so bright and shocking that even her face was covered with dust and dirt, she couldn't hide it.

Shi Lanxin was originally very satisfied with her masterpiece, but was startled by Tao Yao's scorching gaze and yelled in dissatisfaction: "Bastard, aren't you full yet?"

Tao Yao silently recalled how Shi Lanxin had treated her over the years. If she resisted at this time, she would only end up in a worse situation, so she had to remain silent.

Shi Lanxin just liked to see Tao Yao's forced obedience, and she immediately became excited. She ordered the maid behind her, "Huai Qiu, go catch some cockroaches. My dear sister wants to eat them, so of course I have to pamper her."

The maid named Huai Qiu looked troubled. "Miss, someone in the mansion just treated insects a few days ago. I'm afraid it will be hard to find someone..."

Shi Lanxin was impatient and suddenly flew into a rage: "Just go find it when I told you to! Why are you being so long-winded? No matter what method you use, just find it for me!"

After a while, the maid named Huaiqiu returned, holding a pitch-black clay pot. Shi Lanxin leaned over to examine the pot, and her face immediately wrinkled. She pinched her nose and ran to the side, wanting to vomit.

"Hurry, hurry, let her eat." Shi Lanxin covered her mouth and nose, pointed at Tao Yao, and signaled Huai Qiu to take the pottery jar over.

As soon as Shi Lanxin finished speaking, two more servants appeared behind her and tied Tao Yao's arms tightly, making her unable to move. Huai Qiu walked forward with a gloomy face and shoved the mouth of the pottery jar in front of Tao Yao.

Tao Yao instantly saw the horrifying scene inside the pottery jar, and a sour feeling suddenly surged in her throat. She began to retch uncontrollably - it turned out that the blazes they were talking about were actually cockroaches.

"Let her eat! Let her eat! Eat every last one!" Shi Lanxin directed from the side.

Tao Yao instinctively turned her head away, but the two servants twisted her head back with brute force, forcing her to look directly at the densely packed living creatures crawling around in the jar.

Tao Yao thought: If I really ate these cockroaches, I would probably be turned into a living human poison today.

Huai Ling was helpless and could only kneel on the ground and cry hoarsely: "Miss, please be kind and spare the second young lady..."

Seeing that Tao Yao refused to comply, Shi Lanxin strode forward, thrust the pottery jar towards Tao Yao's mouth, and shouted, "I'm giving you food, why are you so picky?"

A gentleman can be bullied but not humiliated - Tao Yao could no longer tolerate such bullying, and bit the back of the hands of the two servants on his left and right, and scared the servants who came up to help so much that they rolled to the side.

At this time, Tao Yao raised her chin proudly, showing her face which still had a gray-black shoe print on it, and glared at Shi Lanxin viciously.

In the past, Shi Taoyao never dared to treat anyone with such a fierce look, especially towards Shi Lanxin, the legitimate daughter of a wealthy family who was a thousand times more noble than her.

Shi Lanxin was furious: "Shi Taoyao, I think you've gone stupid from not eating for a few days. You don't know your place anymore! You really need a lesson."

Before crossing into this body, Tao Yao had never suffered such humiliation. If it were the original owner, she might have endured it again and again, but now, Tao Yao decided to teach this bastard young lady a lesson.

Tao Yao curled the corner of her mouth and threw the clay jar covered with cockroaches out of Huaiqiu's hand when he was not paying attention.

The pottery jar flew into the air, drew a long arc, and landed at Shi Lanxin's feet without any deviation.

The pottery jar rolled around Shi Lanxin's exquisite new embroidered shoes, and the cockroaches in the jar poured out. Shi Lanxin was so frightened that her face turned pale and blue. She stood there helpless and yelled anxiously, looking very funny.

Seeing their master in trouble, all the servants rushed over and busied themselves chasing away the bugs for Shi Lanxin. Tao Yao stood up leisurely and slowly wiped the dust off her face.

Shi Lanxin was furious and helpless: "Shi Taoyao, how dare you bully me!"

Tao Yao pretended to be aggrieved: "Miss, I didn't mean it..."

"I want to tell daddy!"

"Oh no, please, don't tell Daddy!"

Tao Yao's sly expression betrayed her true nature as a spectator. Shi Lan, enraged, burst into tears. Her voice was so resounding that it startled several crows from the trees outside the window.

At the same time, it really alarmed her father Shi Yiqian.

The door was slammed open with a bang, and Shi Yiqian's tall figure appeared in front of the curtain. There seemed to be someone else with him, but that person was standing behind the curtain, his figure half-real and half-illusory in the dim moonlight, and it was difficult to see clearly inside the house.

Shi Lanxin didn't care about her manners or etiquette. She rushed towards her father with tears and snot, yelling, "Dad! My daughter has been bullied! You have to stand up for her!"

Shi Yiqian asked helplessly, "You're fine now, what's wrong with you?"

Shi Lanxin pointed at the swarm of cockroaches on the ground and cried with a look of grievance: "I heard Taoyao hadn't eaten for several days, so I thought of bringing some food to visit my sister. I never thought she would set up such a dirty ambush to harm me."

After saying that, Shi Lanxin pinched the hem of her skirt, which was still stained with the remains of a cockroach, and cried even more aggrievedly: "Daddy, I know my sister can't stand me, the older sister who came later, but I really want to be friends with my sister."

After hearing her accusation, Shi Yiqian's face showed anger: "How dare you! Tao Yao, why did you do this?"

The man before her had a face imbued with dignity, a physique sturdy from years of training, and a complexion like red earth. The skin uncovered by clothing was covered with scars of varying depths, the marks of years of battle. Just looking at these things, Tao Yao felt that Shi Yiqian was a good official who served his country and his people, or at least a good man.

Throughout history, many military generals who claim to be heroes have had this problem: they care about the interests of their country and family, but do not understand family affairs and affection.

Tao Yao knew that she was of low status and her adoptive father was partial, so she simply followed Shi Lanxin's words and made up a lie: "Sister, you really misunderstood me. I didn't want to scare you. It's just that no one comes to visit my little house on weekdays, so I just live a casual life and don't pay too much attention to some small insects. If you want to come next time, please let me know in advance so that I can clean the house, burn incense, dress and bathe, and then come to greet you."

"We just had an insect plague treatment a few days ago. How come your place is still in such a bad state? Well, clean it up quickly and don't let the house be overrun by insects again."

Shi Yiqian has always turned a blind eye to the disputes between the two sisters. As long as Shi Lanxin doesn't make a fuss, everything can be settled.

Shi Lanxin smiled awkwardly and winked at Tao Yao, with the words "See how you clean it up" almost written on her face. She ran to the back triumphantly and ordered the servants not to come forward to help.

Years later, Tao Yao still remembers this day. She was as destitute and lowly as a worm in the mud, while Chu Huanjun was as noble and elegant as a god. Her encounter with him was like a gust of east wind in the depths of winter: warm but out of place.

The door curtain was pulled aside by a pair of wide aqua-blue sleeves, and like the moonlight on the water being accidentally provoked, it suddenly broke into many pieces with a bang. Those pieces were like stars and crumbs, falling into this dirty and embarrassing little house.

There was a breeze, a gentle and sweet breeze. The man with the aqua-blue sleeves stood before her. It was the first time Tao Yao had seen such a handsome man.

It was very cold, but he was only wearing a thin spring shirt, and his black hair was not tied up, letting it cascade down like clouds and waterfalls to his waist. The wind lifted his light sleeves and fluttered them in the night like a crane flapping its wings.

Just standing there, he was as beautiful as a painting.

"How dare you! His Highness Prince Yi is right in front of you, and you still don't salute?"

Shi Lanxin's loud shouts broke the silence in the air. Tao Yao came to her senses and realized that the man called "His Royal Highness Prince Yi" was looking at her.

Prince Chu Huanjun, the emperor's only son, greatly favored by the throne, has yet to be granted the title of Crown Prince. In recent years, Chu Huanjun has frequently traveled between the imperial court and the frontier, earning honors in the military while busying himself with government and public life. Shi Yiqian and Chu Huanjun have a close relationship, as Chu Huanjun once studied archery with Shi Yiqian in his youth, forming a relationship of both mentor and friend.

This was Chu Huanjun's first visit to the Shi Mansion and also his first time meeting Shi Yiqian's adopted daughter.

In the blink of an eye, a huge cockroach flapped its wings and flew into the air. Tao Yao was quick-witted and immediately grabbed an oil lamp on the table. He accurately aimed the candlelight at the insect's body, burning it to ashes.

Watching the charred insect carcasses fall to the ground, Tao Yao heaved a sigh of relief. Then, she rolled up her sleeves and poured all the oil from the lamp onto the cockroach-swarming ground. With a whoosh, flames erupted.

Everyone was shocked. Shi Lanxin screamed again: "Shi Taoyao! What are you doing! Are you crazy?"

Tao Yao used a palm-leaf fan to put out the flames while explaining to everyone, "These cockroaches are very resilient. If we want to exterminate them, ordinary methods won't work. Only by burning them with a fierce fire can we completely kill them."

As she finished her words, the flames on the ground were extinguished. Everyone looked over and saw that the cockroaches that had been jumping around on the ground had all been wiped out, leaving only charred shells.

"Second Miss! Be careful!" Huai Ling suddenly shouted.

It turned out that a small flame had jumped onto the hem of Taoyao's skirt. Taoyao was concentrating on killing insects and didn't notice that the flame was about to burn her legs, and a large area of ​​her skirt was burnt black.

Tao Yao hurried to extinguish the flames on her body, but suddenly felt a gust of wind behind her, and a light blue sleeve floated in front of her eyes, briefly blocking her sight.

When the sleeve left, she saw an exquisitely carved folding fan pressed against the spot where the flame had just burned, extinguishing the fire for her.

There was wind again, a sweet, rich wind. It was the pure, natural scent of pine, yet also the cool, clear mountain spring. Tao Yao had worked at a perfume company for five years and had smelled countless cool woody scents, but none as good as this one.

Chu Huanjun slowly put away his folding fan and smiled innocently, "This kind of thing should be left to us men. How can we let a girl get her hands dirty?"