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

“I… but I…” Even though Yuan Jiu had a bunch of concubines in his backyard, and even though Fu Luan had kissed him in prison last time;

But he was still so embarrassed by Fu Luan's proactive and bold actions that his face turned red to the roots of his ears.

After all, this time it was in the lobby where someone could come at any moment...

He had long since let go of his resentment towards Fu Luan and had returned to being the same Xiao Jiu who was constantly thinking about "A Luan".

"You don't know what to do next, do you? Don't worry, you did very well this time..."

“Among these little trinkets, there’s exactly what I need.” Fu Luan touched each item in the box one by one.

Although they are called "little trinkets," everything in the box is actually a treasure worthy of being called a "national gift."

"Meow..." Yuan Jiu was about to say something when she heard a cat meow;

Looking down, I saw it was Nuannuan.

"You missed me, didn't you?" He picked Nuannuan up and kissed her nose.

Nuannuan's fur has become even shinier, clearly indicating that she has been well cared for by Fuluan.

"Next, I want you to find a mother..." Fu Luan saw that he was in a very good mood while holding Nuan Nuan, so she chose this time to say this.

"What?!" As expected, Yuan Jiu frowned, seemingly even more upset than when he had vented his anger on Fu Luan earlier.

He took a breath, calmed himself, and said, "Ah Luan, I have my own mother..."

"I know you are the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Chang'an's family, and a noble lady cherished by the entire Fu family;

"Both your father's and mother's families cherish you like a treasure. But I, my mother, am merely a palace maid who brews wine..."

"If you look down on my dishonorable background, you can..."

Fu Luan held his hand, and the warmth of her palm warmed his heart. "If I disliked your background, why did I go through all the trouble to save you in the first place?"

"But Xiao Jiu, even with the ancestral precepts of the Great Wei, I cannot guarantee that I will marry you, let alone support you to become the crown prince!"

“Just because you recognize a new mother doesn’t mean you have to abandon your own mother, does it?”

"On the contrary, the first thing you need to do is to make the Emperor feel your respect and longing for Consort Su..."

"Su Meiren" was Xiao Jiu's birth mother, the woman who was favored by the emperor for one night when she was a female slave in the Si Yun Si (a government office for brewing wine) and became a concubine.

"Why...why can't you marry me even though there are ancestral precepts of the Great Wei?" Yuan Jiu asked, puzzled.

Now it was Fu Luan's turn to frown and sigh.

"Alas! The ancestral precepts of the Great Wei Dynasty were also set by people; anything set by people will have loopholes."

"Putting everything else aside, what if I die? For example..."

"If His Majesty intends for the newly born nineteenth prince to inherit the throne, and the nineteenth prince or his birth mother—Consort Mei—"

“I don’t want him to marry me, the eldest daughter of the Fu family, who is more than ten years older than him and old enough to be his mother…”

"What do you think the Emperor will do?" Fu Luan asked with a smile.

She spoke casually, as if she were just talking about trivial things like the color of clothes and the temperature of tea.

Based on Yuan Jiu's understanding of the Emperor, I'm afraid...

"Will Father... kill you?" Yuan Jiu asked tentatively.

His lips, still trembling slightly from the kiss of the beauty, already held the answer in his heart.

“That’s right, and we will not hesitate…” Fu Luan sighed, “So we need to make multiple preparations, otherwise…”

"It's hard to say whether the same mistakes will be repeated... The horse racing event is just to give you your freedom."

"But from a legal standpoint, you are still the mastermind and the real culprit in that matter!"

"Xiao Jiu, if you had a strong mother to rely on, the situation would be very different!"

Yuan Jiu sighed softly, "My mother was not particularly outstanding among the many concubines during her lifetime."

"Of course I miss my mother; but will my father really treat me differently because I miss my mother?"

"This is similar to recognizing a new mother, and also..."

Fu Luan took his hand and said frankly, "Xiao Jiu, I can get you out of prison."

"It will also allow you to rise step by step from a prince to a county prince, and then to a prince of the first rank."

"Isn't this enough to make you believe me? Or is it..."

Fu Luan leaned close to Yuan Jiu's ear again and whispered:

"Xiao Jiu only wants to spend the night with me, and has no intention of growing old with me?"

Yuan Jiu's face flushed red again. He shook his head quickly and sighed again:

"Of course I believe you, but... sometimes I wonder, how much can I really trust you?"

“Ah Luan, after I was released from prison, you never came to see me once. Instead, you went to the residences of Seventh Brother and even Sixth Brother.”

"What am I supposed to think? Seventh Brother is elegant, skilled in both literature and martial arts, and handsome; I am ashamed to admit my inferiority."

"He has no wives or concubines in his household, not even a maidservant, so he is naturally much better off than me, a man with more than a dozen concubines."

"But what about Sixth Brother? You've already divorced him, and you clearly know all about what he did! He clearly harmed you!"

Yuan Jiu became more and more agitated as he spoke, and even Nuan Nuan could sense his emotions, so she threw herself into Fu Luan's arms in fear.

"Don't be afraid, sweetie..." Fu Luan stroked Nuan Nuan, unsure whether she was comforting the cat or the person.

Fu Luan smiled and said, "I have my own plans. Since Your Highness has sent this box of 'little trinkets';

"You should know at least a little about my plans, shouldn't you?"

Yuan Jiu nodded reluctantly and said in a low voice, "I can guess a little..."

"My mother came from the Imperial Kitchen, so some of the female officials would tell me things."

"Should I tell them to keep their mouths shut?"

Yuan Jiu raised her head, her eyes regaining their starlight.

Fu Luan tiptoed and patted his head, just as she had patted Nuan Nuan's head earlier.

She laughed and said, "On the contrary, I would like to trouble Your Highness to bring the female officials and speak frankly about the matter of 'the Lady of Yuan County having the Shanggong Bureau privately manufacture the national gift, the Flying Horse Trampling a Swallow'!"

"As for the reason..."

Yuan Jiu hurriedly said, "I know A-Luan has her own plans, which are not convenient to discuss."

“I will do whatever you ask me to do. My mother is skilled at brewing osmanthus wine, and it was because of osmanthus wine that she gained favor.”

"I will use osmanthus wine to remind Father Emperor of Mother Consort..."

Fu Luan exclaimed in surprise, "Where would you find osmanthus blossoms at this time of year? If you use aged ones..."

Yuan Jiu laughed and said, "A-Luan has her own plans, and I have mine."

He leaned down and gave Fu Luan a light kiss on the forehead;

A thousand words of apology were left unsaid; the knot in their hearts was thus untied.

Yuan Jiu gave Nuan Nuan some instructions, such as "You must protect your mother and make sure she is not bullied by others."

Fu Luan was both amused and annoyed, but thinking of the suffering he had endured, she couldn't bear to be harsh with him.

"'Sealing the Wolf and Dwelling in the Mountain' 'Inscribing the Stone on Yanran Mountain'... I never thought the County Magistrate was some unattainable beauty;

"So this is all you need to give as gifts..." A young man glanced at the contents of the box and sneered as Fu Luan returned from seeing Yuan Jiu off with the box of "trinkets".

This young man was the one who spoke up for Fu Zhengzheng at the family banquet.

"Xue Yan, what exactly are you trying to say?" Fu Luan asked, frowning.