The Eldest Daughter Reborn: She Provoked the Obsessive Crown Prince and Couldn't Escape

Yuan Jiu sneered, "Even if he's just an adopted son of your Fu family, isn't it disgusting enough that he likes his own brother?"

"If liking your brother can be considered 'disgusting'... Ninth Brother, I like you too. Do you also find your own sister 'disgusting'?"

Yuan Jiu turned around and saw Yuan Rui standing behind him, tears streaming down her face...

“Xiao Rui, you…” Yuan Jiu was at a loss for words.

In that brief moment, he remembered many things...

I don’t know when it started, but Yuan Rui really started to become very clingy to him, and was closer to him than his other siblings. If you didn’t know, you would think they were siblings from the same mother!

When many of his siblings looked down on him or even isolated him because of his mother's background as a female official, only Yuan Rui reached out to him...

At that time, he had not yet been adopted by Empress Zhaoshen, nor was he the crown prince; he was merely a prince without any title...

He had initially assumed that Yuan Rui's birth mother wasn't of high status, which was why she was close to him. So that's the reason...?

"Princess, why are you here? Has something happened in the palace?" Fu Luan ignored Xiao Jiu and quickly pulled Yuan Rui down to sit, personally wiping away her tears.

Yuan Rui shook her head, glanced at Yuan Jiu, then lowered her head and said, "The news of that Hu woman's pregnancy has reached the palace, so..."

Originally, Fu Luan had saved her from the troubles of a political marriage, and she had decided to cultivate her character and change her previous spoiled and arrogant ways.

Therefore, when Yuan Jiu took Anagui as a concubine, she endured it again and again, until she herself thought she had let it go.

But once she heard that her beloved brother and the woman she hated most had a child, how could she possibly hold back?

She immediately caused a scene in her palace, smashing many things! Only when all the palace servants knelt down did she stop.

After much thought, she concluded that perhaps only Fu Luan could truly understand her feelings...

Yuan Jiu wanted to say a few words of comfort to his sister, but he didn't know where to begin. Telling her to stop admiring him seemed inappropriate...

He could only sigh, "You should go back to the palace quickly! Your situation is different from A-Luan's situation with her elder brother!"

Yuan Rui sneered, "What's the difference? My feelings for you are based on affection but restrained by propriety. Doesn't A-Luan feel the same way about her elder brother?"

"Yes, yes... Brother Fu didn't have a child with another woman behind A-Luan's back!"

Yuan Jiu knew his younger sister's temperament all too well. He sighed again, "Xiao Rui, you go back first... I have something to say to A Luan alone."

"As for your feelings..."

Yuan Rui spat and said, "I know you find this sentiment disgusting! Don't worry, I won't disgust you anymore!"

"I know you don't even want Ah Luan anymore, the one who was so dedicated to saving you from this misery! Now all you care about is that barbarian woman and the bastard in her belly... Ah!"

Perhaps it was because his sister had exposed his secret in front of Ah Luan, or perhaps it was the word "bastard" that stung him...

In short, this was the first time in Yuan Jiu's life that he had slapped his younger sister!

Yuan Rui made a move to hit back, but Fu Luan quickly separated the two. Yuan Rui continued to shout and curse.

"Yuan Jiu, do you know how much suffering A Luan endured in order to win the horse racing competition and get you out of prison?"

"She endured all my ridicule and knelt for as long as I told her to, all in order to get the token."

"This is the Crown Princess whom everyone has adored since childhood and who was personally chosen by the Great Wei! She just saved you, and you turn around and start flirting with that barbarian woman. You are shameless!"

"You listened to the instigation of a villain and suspected that she had an affair with the Marquis of Yongning. Why don't you find out what 'good deeds' your barbarian wife has done in the Western Regions!"

"You find us disgusting, that's fine, I'll never like someone who's interested in a barbarian woman anyway!"

Despite Fu Luan's attempts to persuade her to stay, Yuan Rui stormed off! Fu Luan sent several maids and instructed them to "make sure you see Princess Chun'an enter the palace with your own eyes" before she felt at ease.

She turned back to the pavilion, only to find Yuan Jiu still standing there. She couldn't help but mock him, "What, Your Highness Prince Yan, you didn't get enough of beating your own sister, so you want to beat me too?"

Although Yuan Jiu's slap landed on Yuan Rui's face, it was enough to make Fu Luan see clearly how much Ana Gui meant to him.

This was the first time she had ever seen Yuan Jiu hit someone, and it was all because of Anagui!

"Ah Luan, I... I don't know why I did that just now..." Yuan Jiu lowered her head, looking at her hands.

Fu Luan said disappointedly, "You were worried that I would hurt your concubine and the child in her womb, but in fact, I never intended to hurt them!"

"But you! You hit your sister who has always loved you! Is it that in your eyes now, only your concubine and her child are human beings who cannot be harmed in the slightest?

"So, everyone else can be abused at will, is that it?"

"No, no, A-Luan!" Yuan Jiu hugged Fu Luan tightly. "I will petition the Emperor to demote Ana Gui to a mere concubine..."

Fu Luan frowned and forcefully pushed Yuan Jiu away, saying sternly, "This is a family matter of your Prince Yan's mansion, and has nothing to do with me!"

Yuan Jiu gazed at the floral decoration between Fu Luan's eyebrows.

He first saw that vermilion floral hairpin in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, when he was preparing to commit suicide and the shards of porcelain had already cut his wrist...

Yuan Rui's scolding woke him up! Yes...

It was Ah Luan who saved him! It was Ah Luan who took him away from that cage! It was Ah Luan who restored his innocence and freedom!

But what did he do?

Yuan Jiu, at a loss, said, "No! Father Emperor said that after he bestowed this marriage upon you and me, we cannot divorce or annul the engagement this time;

"Besides... you promised me you'd come back to the Eastern Palace with me! I'm still just the Prince of Yan, have you gone back on your word?"

He knew that Fu Luan would keep his promise.

Like a drowning man grasping at a straw, he didn't mind that Fu Luan thought he was only with him for the position of crown prince.

As long as Fu Luan is still willing to marry him, there's plenty of time in the future, and he's confident he can win her back!

Fu Luan laughed desperately, "Yes... I promised you that I would definitely help you regain the position of Crown Prince!"

"Our Fu family's Crown Princess would all do the same..."

Fu Luan suddenly remembered what Yuan Lu had said, "You two think you're in love, but actually... it's nothing at all!"

Yuan Jiu heard the self-mockery in her words and could only sigh, "Then what do I have to do for you to forgive me?"

"Forgiveness"? Fu Luan then wondered how she could have forgiven Yuan Lu and Zheng Zheng in her previous life.

If it were the past self who was dominated by that one-sided so-called "love," would she forgive Xiao Jiu?

Fu Luan said miserably, "You did nothing wrong... why do you need my 'forgiveness'?"

Xiao Jiu said urgently, "I know you're just saying that out of anger, you..."

“Talking in anger? I have no reason to be angry! We are not married, and... we have no physical intimacy;”

“And Anagui is your lawfully wedded concubine, a marriage personally arranged by your father… It’s perfectly normal for the two of you to share a room! Isn’t it?” Fu Luan interrupted him with a smile, but Xiao Jiu clearly saw tears in her eyes…