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

The newly changed handkerchiefs were once again stained with the bone-corroding powder. Fu Luan used even more force than before to rub Yuan Lu's bad legs, wishing she could rub off a layer of skin.

"No, it doesn't hurt...it doesn't hurt at all." Yuan Lu gritted his teeth and endured it.

Fu Ling teased from the side, "Your Highness can still speak after applying this 'Bone-Healing Powder,' that's truly impressive! You're a real man indeed..."

"You know, so many people fainted from the pain! Your Highness's composure is probably comparable to Guan Yu, who underwent 'scraping the bone to remove poison'!"

Yuan Lu felt proud when he heard Fu Ling compare him to Guan Yu.

Fortunately, he still knew how to write the words "shame" and humbly said, "Sister Doctor, you flatter me..."

"What merit or ability do I, Xiao Wang, have to compare myself to Lord Guan?"

Perhaps it was to better highlight that he was different from ordinary people;

Or perhaps to remind Fu Luan of their past "affection," Yuan Lu even started chatting casually.

He began by recounting the day he met Fu Luan, and then went on to describe the days when the two were deeply in love and inseparable in the Eastern Palace—

Of course, he deliberately avoided mentioning the fraudulent schemes, his affair with his wife's sister, and using his wife's family's money to frequent brothels;

There were also those despicable things he did with Fu Zhengzheng, plotting to ruin her family's property and even kill her.

Fu Luan rolled her eyes, snorted a few times through her nose, and remained noncommittal.

She only became alert when Yuan Lu mumbled about forming an alliance with the Xianbei and preparing gifts in a while.

"What 'alliance'?" she asked with great interest, her grip on her hands showing no sign of weakening.

"Oh dear, wife, you're supposed to be from the Great Wei, how come you don't even know about something this important?"

"A while ago, the Xianbei helped us defend against foreign enemies on the grasslands."

"Those Xianbei are said to be descendants of the Xiongnu, incredibly brave, and have helped us several times!"

"My father intends to form an alliance with the Xianbei. Just you wait and see."

"Even if the Western Regions come up with something amazing this time, Father Emperor won't treat them well!"

"Hey, let's continue talking about the Xianbei! In short, when the Xianbei envoys come to Wei, your husband will take care of everything, from forming an alliance to preparing gifts for the Xianbei!"

"How about it? Aren't I amazing?" Seeing that Fu Luan was interested, Yuan Lu temporarily forgot his pain and rambled on and on.

Fu Luan sneered, "I thought it was something important, but it turns out to be this? But this has nothing to do with Your Highness..."

"What does it have to do with anything? Is this something to brag about?"

Yuan Lu said smugly, "I was in charge of this alliance. My wife, tell me, isn't it related to me?"

The hands covered by gloves stopped upon hearing this.

"Oh? In that case, Your Highness is truly 'capable.' Despite being involved in witchcraft, you not only managed to escape unscathed but also received the title of 'Prince of Youbeiping';

"To be able to get such a prestigious job..." Fu Luan sneered.

Yuan Lu lay on the bed, unable to see Fu Luan's face, and took it as a genuine compliment.

"That witchcraft incident was framed by that vile woman Fu Zhengzheng!"

“Your ‘good sister’ pretended to come to the Eastern Palace to see you, but actually took advantage of your illness… oh dear!”

"By taking her back, you've made me a thorn in your side. Be careful, as time goes by, she might still try to harm you!"

"My father felt sorry for me being slandered by villains, so he specially assigned this task to me!"

"If things go well, it's not impossible to restore my original name and return to the Eastern Palace..."

"Oh dear!" Yuan Lu was fine until he mentioned Fu Zhengzheng, and Fu Luan tightened her grip even more.

Yuan Lu realized he had misspoke and quickly tried to make amends, saying, "Of course, returning to the Eastern Palace requires my wife's approval..."

“If your aunt wants to torment him, she won’t do it today.”

"If this continues, it will become too obvious..." Fu Ling whispered a reminder in his ear, indicating that it was best to stop there.

Fu Luan then took off his clothes, and Fu Ling wrapped Yuan Lu in a suede cloth to replace the linen.

It was the height of summer, and the imperial physician had originally used hemp cloth to bandage Yuanlu, also taking into account breathability;

Now, the two of them have replaced it with suede, which looks "noble and respectable," but the suede tightly wraps around the wound, leaving no room for ventilation...

Its drawbacks are not yet apparent.

The beginning is always the hardest. In short, Fu Luan's revenge plan has finally taken its most crucial first step today.

She left with Fu Ling without saying goodbye.

"Wife, you must visit me at the palace more often!"

"Wife, don't go, hey..." Yuan Lu called from behind, but Fu Luan ignored him.

"Hua Luo, are you having too much of a chat? You didn't even know your master was here?" Fu Luan deliberately scolded Yuan Lu's attendants who were waiting outside.

As soon as she came out, she saw Hua Luo chatting happily with the servant who had been scolded by Yuan Lu.

"My aunt has arrived, I must go now..." Hua Luo hurriedly said goodbye to the attendant and returned to Fu Luan's side.

"You brat, what kind of job do you have? You have no manners at all, I'll sell you off sooner or later!" Fu Luan shouted as she walked away;

He even hit her a few times, but Hua Luo didn't talk back or fight back.

Even Yuan Lu's servants, who had been driven out, shook their heads and clicked their tongues in amazement, saying, "This 'Number One Beauty of Great Wei' probably has the most temper in Great Wei as well!"

"I wonder what kind of life our prince lived before. No wonder he wanted to find a sister-in-law!"

Only after they had turned the corner and were far away from the palace did Fu Luan ask in a low voice, "Did it hurt? What did he say?"

Hua Luo smiled and said, "I was chosen from the lowest-ranking maids, so I can endure this little bit of pain."

"That attendant is called Ge Tai. As our Third Young Master said, the person he was talking to near the horse farm today was Li Sizhen."

"For some reason, the Prince of Youbeiping messed up the preparation of gifts for the Xianbei envoys, which was to be delivered in half a month."

"I've been in a bad mood these past few days, and I'm taking it out on my subordinates!"

"So Ge Tai consulted with Li Sizhen to see if they could find a way to make up for it..."

Fu Luan sneered, "What an incompetent fool! He can even mess up such a simple task!"

"Alliance is a matter that must be handled with utmost care. How does Yuanlu plan to make amends?"

Hua Luo replied, "It's nothing more than filling in the gaps with similar antiques and treasures."

“Ge Tai said that the Xianbei people are descendants of the Xiongnu and do not understand the treasures of the Han people, so they would not be able to see the flaws.”

Fu Luan and her servant chatted all the way back to Zhaoyang Palace; little did they know that things were not peaceful there either—

Yarkand knelt in the center of the hall, next to a man who was bound hand and foot and had a piece of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

Fu Luan looked closely and saw that it was the Western Region man who had bumped into her during the horse race.

If you look at him more closely, you can see that he has injuries on his face and his clothes are torn.

Apart from one whip mark left by Fu Luan, the rest of the marks don't look like they could have been made during a horse race; it's clear the person had been whipped.

"What is this...?" Fu Luan asked her third brother in a low voice.

"His Majesty is going to reward the second and third place winners! This year is really strange, usually only the champion is rewarded."

"But now the Emperor says, 'The champion is formidable, but the second and third are also very formidable...'"