I made my fortune by livestreaming in ancient times.

"Xinyue, you've been waiting for so long. Have you missed me?" Xiao Jingchi asked in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of ambiguity.

Qi Xinyue blushed slightly and lowered her head to say softly, "Your Highness is asking a question you already know the answer to. Xinyue misses Your Highness every day and only hopes to spend more time with you."

Xiao Jingchi chuckled softly, reaching out to stroke her cheek, his fingertips gently caressing it: "Did you see what happened just now? What if someone had discovered us?"

Qi Xinyue raised her head, a resolute glint in her eyes: "Xinyue's heart belongs only to Your Highness. The marriage with Prince Xuan is merely an arrangement by my family. As long as Your Highness is willing, Xinyue is willing to give up everything, only wishing to be with Your Highness."

A complex look flashed in Xiao Jingchi's eyes, then he smiled and said, "Xin Yue, I understand your feelings. But now is not the time. I need you to do something for me."

Qi Xinyue nodded without hesitation: "Your Highness, please give your orders, and I will do my best."

Xiao Jingchi leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Qi Jun has been highly regarded in court recently, and I need him to help me investigate some secret matters. Could you pass on my message to him?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Xinyue hesitated for a moment, but quickly nodded in agreement: "Your Highness, rest assured, Xinyue will definitely do it."

The Crown Prince smiled with satisfaction and gently kissed her lips: "Xin Yue, you are indeed the person I trust the most."

Qi Xinyue's cheeks flushed even more, but her heart was filled with sweetness. She threw herself into his arms and said coquettishly, "Xinyue belongs entirely to Your Highness."

"Xin Yue!" Xiao Jingchi called out softly, yanked off her belt, and tumbled onto the long couch with both of them in his arms.

In the palace beside the back garden, Zhu Luo knelt before the zither table, her fingertips gently plucking the strings. Today she wore an elegant moon-white dress, with only a white jade hairpin in her hair, making her stand out from the other bejeweled ladies around her.

"Sister, you must do your best," Shen Nianjiao whispered beside her. "Don't forget Father's instructions."

Her father's instruction was to make Zhu Luo stand out from Shen Nianjiao, and she was deliberately reminding Zhu Luo to pay attention.

Zhu Luo smiled faintly, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall. Guo Caiwei was chatting and laughing with several young ladies-in-waiting, but her eyes kept glancing in their direction.

They've just directly clashed, and things will definitely not go smoothly for them in the future.

Chen Jingxian, the younger sister of the former Crown Princess, sat quietly in the corner, holding a book in her hand, her expression indifferent.

"The first round is a competition of musical skills," the female official's voice rang out.

Zhu Luo looked at the guqin in front of her, her fingertips gently tracing the strings. This guqin was specially prepared for her by the Shen family; its body was entirely black, but the strings were made of rare silver wire.

The mirror flashed, like a scanning machine used for security checks, and scanned the guqin, concluding that the instrument had been tampered with.

It remains unknown who did it.

Shen Nianjiao was the first to appear, her light purple dress making her skin look even whiter than snow.

She played "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate," the melody melodious and plaintive. Zhu Luo noticed that the Empress's gaze occasionally drifted to Shen Nianjiao, her eyes filled with admiration.

When it was Zhu Luo's turn, she deliberately plucked a few wrong notes. After all, the zither was broken anyway, and although the sound was clear and melodious, it lacked charm. She could sense the Empress frowning slightly, but then quickly regaining her gentle demeanor.

Chen Jingxian, however, remained focused on listening, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

"Sister, what's wrong..." Shen Nianjiao hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

Zhu Luo shook his head: "It's been a long time since I practiced, I've gotten rusty."

When Guo Caiwei took the stage, she was confident, but halfway through her performance, a string suddenly broke.

She cried in desperation, but a competition is a competition, and she couldn't blame the palace for having a problem with the zither. She could only accept her bad luck.

After the first round of competition, Shen Nianjiao came out on top, Chen Jingxian came in second, and Zhu Luo barely made it into the middle.

The second match was a chess contest. Zhu Luo played black against Shen Nianjiao. She deliberately made mistakes in the opening, allowing Shen Nianjiao to gain the upper hand. However, at crucial moments, she always managed to turn the tide with ingenious strategies.

"Sister's chess skills..." Shen Nianjiao placed a piece, her eyes filled with inquiry.

Zhu Luo chuckled, "It's just good luck."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Guo Caiwei playing chess with Chen Jingxian, holding a white piece in her hand, her knuckles white. Suddenly, Guo Caiwei's piece fell onto the chessboard, disrupting the game.

"You!" Chen Jingxian stood up abruptly. "Miss Guo, what do you mean by this?"

Guo Caiwei's expression changed slightly: "I...I didn't mean to..."

"Enough!" The Empress slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "Guo Caiwei, do you know what the punishment is for behaving improperly before the Emperor?"

Guo Caiwei knelt down and begged for mercy, but Zhu Luo noticed that her gaze kept drifting towards the outside of the hall. It turned out that Crown Prince Xiao Jingchi was coming this way.

She wasn't targeting Chen Jingxian, but rather trying to attract the Crown Prince's attention.

The chess competition ended with Zhu Luo narrowly defeating Shen Nianjiao, while Chen Jingxian remained firmly in second place.

During the break between matches, Shen Nianjiao angrily questioned Zhu Luo: "Didn't you say you didn't want to enter the palace? Why did you have to beat me when you had such a good opportunity?"

Zhu Luo sneered and flicked her sleeve: "I already yielded, but who knew your skill level was so poor? Even with a cheat code, you can't beat me. If I had given in again, the Empress would have seen through my disguise, and I would have been the one punished. As for you, you should learn more and stop blaming others for every little thing you do."

At this moment, Xiao Jingchi sat down next to the Empress, and the mother and son were chatting and laughing.

The moment Zhu Luo turned around after speaking, her eyes met Xiao Jingchi's.

Her smile froze instantly, and she lowered her head, pretending not to see him.

The reason he was called away that day was because of the Xuanming Sword.

While she was at the sword workshop, she was inspired by the mechanism of an old sword in the palace. She then took out the Xuanming Sword from the mirror's collection and found that it indeed had a mechanism inside.

That wasn't all. What shocked her even more was that a secret letter was hidden inside the mechanism, which revealed that Prince Li, Xiao Mingyan, and Zhang Zhao, the leader of the northern rebel army, were plotting a rebellion.

That makes everything clear now.

No wonder Xiao Mingyan deliberately rewarded the mirror after learning that it had the ability to swallow objects, so that the mirror could swallow the Xuanming Sword and spread rumors that the sword had disappeared during the bandit suppression.

Furthermore, since the sword was a gift from the Crown Prince, and Xiao Mingyan was framed multiple times during his journey, and after returning to the capital, he was impeached for treason, this matter must be inextricably linked to the Crown Prince Xiao Jingchi.

If she wants to save Xiao Mingyan, she has to start with this sword.

She destroyed the letter and then deliberately threw it away in a place where Xiao Jingchi could easily find it.

The letter only contained Xiao Mingyan's homesickness and blessings for the prosperity of the Great Liang Kingdom, so Xiao Mingyan's return home was a natural progression.

Crown Prince Xiao Jingchi failed, but he will surely think of other ways.

Zhu Luo didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore; in any case, she wouldn't get first place in today's competition.