Chapter 48: The Crown Prince of Pingxi

  The peerless county lord's wife rarely spoke a fair word: "Mother, it's not a big deal, Miss Xu Liu has already let it go, you can spare her!" Everyone listened and finally understood that the one who wanted to punish the maid was not Miss Xu Liu, but Princess Ping Xi. As expected, Miss Xu Liu could even forgive her stepmother's scheme, how could she have trouble with this innocent maid?

  Princess Pingxi glared at her daughter, who was speaking on someone's behalf! She quickly put on a smile and said: "Since Miss Xu is not bothered, Ping'er, don't you thank Miss Xu?" The maid hastily thanked Xu Mingjin. Princess Pingxi continued: "This dress has already been soiled, Wubian is only two years older than Miss Xu, she still has several old dresses that haven't been worn out, why don't we let Ping'er take Miss Xu to the back courtyard to change into one of Wubian's old dresses? Is Miss Xu disdainful of Wubian's old clothes? Don't worry, I have had a few new sets made for Wubian, Miss Xu can choose one as an apology gift from the Pingxi Wangfu."

  Xu Mingjin hastily said: "Thank you, Princess Wang, for your kind intentions. However, I only brought two sets of clothes with me today, and let this maid carry them for me, take a look."

  Princess Pingxi looked at the maid pointed out by Xu Mingjin and indeed saw that she was carrying a small package on her back, which seemed to contain clothes. Princess Pingxi smiled and said, "Miss Xu has great foresight." Then she ordered Ping'er to take Xu Mingjin to change clothes in the inner courtyard. Xu Mingjin bid farewell to Princess Jinglin and followed Ping'er to the inner courtyard with Yu Zhu and Qiu Yun. However, they were stopped by Princess Pingxi, who said, "You only need to change your clothes, no need to bring so many people. You can just go with Ping'er. These two maids must be hungry too, let them go eat something quickly."

  Just as Qiu Yun was about to say she wasn't hungry, Xu Mingjin stopped her with a glance. She didn't understand, but Xu Mingjin had already turned to Princess Pingxi and said, "It's still the princess who takes care of the lower-ranking people, I've learned from you." After speaking, he took the package from Yu Zhu's hand and sent the two of them off to eat, then followed behind Ping'er as they left.

  Xu Mingjin had actually seen through Ping Xi Wangfei's intentions of deliberately getting rid of Yu Zhu and Qiu Yun. Which household slave would run off to eat on their own when their master needed them? But Xu Mingjin knew that this time, she had refused, and Ping Xi Wangfei would still have another move waiting for her. Rather than falling into her trap, she wanted to see what tricks Ping Xi Wangfei had up her sleeve. Was it going to be leading her into the men's quarters to tarnish her reputation? Or was it going to be igniting aphrodisiac incense in her changing room and then bringing a man in to lock them inside? Or perhaps there was a duplicate of herself in the back courtyard of Ping Xi Wangfu, and once she went in, someone else would come out, and she would never be able to leave? Or maybe it was just going to be making her accidentally stumble upon someone's illicit affair and then silencing her by killing her? In any case, these were all the tricks that could be expected. Xu Mingjin clenched the medicinal pill that Yu Zhu had secretly handed her into her palm. This pill could counteract aphrodisiac incense, anesthetics, and mild poisoning. Later on, as soon as she sensed something was off, she would quickly swallow the pill and instantly regain her clarity.

  Ping'er carried Xu Mingjin's bundle and walked ahead, frequently turning her head back, but she saw that Xu Mingjin was still following her at a steady pace without any intention of falling behind. She flashed a flattering smile at Xu Mingjin before continuing to walk forward. As Xu Mingjin looked around, she found that it wasn't getting more desolate as she had imagined, but instead, the tall buildings around them were becoming more numerous. She couldn't help but feel suspicious - where exactly were they going?

  At the half-past fragrance moment, Ping'er finally stopped and in front of her was a magnificent courtyard, comparable to an imperial palace. Xu Mingjin had never seen an imperial palace, but she had seen the Forbidden City on TV! In her previous life, she was busy with work every day, where did she have time to travel? Now it's good, no need to spend money, no need to buy tickets, no need to line up, and you can appreciate the scenery that is more valuable than buying tickets and lining up. She should be happy, but why has her heart become uneasy? She already regretted not bringing Yuzhu over for the sake of face.

  But Ping'er urged her to hurry in, because Xu Mingjin had been standing still at the door for a while. Ping'er had already walked in and turned back to find Xu Mingjin hadn't followed, so she quickly ran out and found Xu Mingjin standing dazedly at the door. Ping'er let out a sigh of relief, thinking Xu Mingjin was tired and that's why he was standing there. Ping'er blamed herself for walking too fast and not supporting Xu Mingjin. With a guilty heart, Ping'er went forward to support Xu Mingjin as they slowly walked into the courtyard together.

  Ping'er directly took Xu Mingjin to the bedroom in the East Warm Pavilion, indicating that Xu Mingjin would change clothes here, then she closed the door and left.

  Xu Mingjin was stunned for a moment, then opened the small package and took out a set of water-bleached hundred-flower skirt. He slowly undressed, actually it was August, very hot, the moisture on his clothes had long since evaporated, but left behind a big patch of tea stains, which looked really bad. After changing into new clothes, Xu Mingjin thought for a moment, then bundled up the stained clothes and put them back in the package, heading outwards.

  To be honest, Xu Mingjin was relieved at this time. Fortunately, there were no naked men or aphrodisiacs in the room. Just as she finished celebrating, Xu Mingjin discovered that a handsome face had appeared in front of her, scaring her so much that she took a big step back and almost fainted. Then, Xu Mingjin found that her waist was being held by someone, it must be Ping'er. Xu Mingjin let out a sigh of relief, wanting to stand up, but found that she couldn't get up, there were a pair of hands firmly controlling her body, she couldn't move at all.

  Xu Mingjin was greatly shocked and struggled to break free from the person's control behind him, but found himself spinning around, and then he was face to face with the person behind him.

  "How is it you? How did you end up here?" Xu Mingjin shouted. The person in front of him was actually the same demonic man he had met a few months ago in the peach blossom forest behind Baiyun Temple. After not seeing him for several months, he had become even more demonic.

  Xuanyuan Qiyue raised an eyebrow: "So you remember me? Miss Xu Liu? Could it be that since the day we met, you've been unable to forget this young master?"

  Xu Mingjin didn't notice the ambiguity in his words, she only noticed two words: Crown Prince.

  That day, Xuan Yuan Kai appeared in the White Cloud Temple, and Princess Ping Xi was also in the White Cloud Temple. At that time, Xu Ming Jin had some doubts about whether his identity was related to the Ping Xi Wang Fu. Now, meeting him again in the Ping Xi Wang Fu, he still claimed to be the Crown Prince, it seems that he must be the Crown Prince of Ping Xi Wang.

  Xu Mingjin was about to bow to him, but then thought it would be better to ask again. What if she made a mistake? Wouldn't that be a joke? She said: "Your Highness? Are you the Crown Prince of Ping Xi?"

  Xuanyuan Qishan said, "Is that so? Miss Xu Liu didn't know who I was until now? However, I also just learned Miss Xu Liu's name today. We're even."

  Xu Mingjin glanced at Xuan Yuan Xizhi who was still holding her two arms, and he embarrassingly let go of her.

  "If nothing else, I'll go first." Xu Mingjin said lightly.

  "What's the hurry? I've finally met you, and we haven't even had a chance to talk. You're leaving already? This is really disappointing!" Xuan Yuan Qi Yu said urgently.

  "It turned out that Ping'er was your person, she deliberately spilled my tea water and also deliberately brought me here. Where is she?" Xu Ming suddenly realized, he looked around, indeed, Ping'er was nowhere to be seen.

  "You all know that Ping'er is mine, and you should also know that you can't find her now." Xuan Yuan Qi's expression seemed to be smiling but not quite. However, in his heart, he was surprised, unexpectedly Xu Ming Jin was so clever and even knew this.

  "What's wrong with you?" Xu Mingjin said impatiently.

  "Could it be that the young master has been waiting for you here on purpose, and you're not even happy about it?" Xuan Yuan Qi was puzzled, wondering what Xu Ming Jin was thinking. If it were any other girl, they would have already thrown themselves into his arms by now. But this Miss Xu had run away from him at their first meeting, and now she wanted to escape again. It was indeed strange. But he liked it. She was special enough. The women who threw themselves at him were annoying, but the more Xu Ming Jin tried to escape, the more interested he became in her.

  Xu Mingjin indeed wanted to escape, but she was powerless, unable to fight back or reason with them. Just as she was at a loss for what to do, a savior appeared.

  Princess Jinglin stood in the corridor, looking at the two people facing each other in front of her. At this time, the two were arguing fiercely and no one noticed her.

  She said softly: "Jin'er, what are you doing here? Come over quickly."

  Xu Mingjin was overjoyed, tears of joy almost streaming down her face. She had never been so happy to see Princess Jinglin appear. Not even when the princess had spoken up for her outside the palace gates had she felt this way. With a joyful heart, Xu Mingjin dodged around Xuan Yuan Qiyue and rushed towards Princess Jinglin, but was caught by the back of her collar. Her face turned red and her neck thickened as she struggled to breathe.

  Princess Jinglin stepped forward and said to Xuan Yuan Qi: "Let her go, did you hear that?!"

  Xuanyuan smiled slightly and said, "I just won't let go, what can you do?"

  Princess Jinglin's face turned cold, and she suddenly flashed out her hand like lightning. Xu Mingjin didn't even see what happened before he was safely on the ground. Xuan Yuan Xizhi probably hadn't expected Princess Jinglin to snatch Xu Mingjin from his hands, and he stood there in a daze.

  Princess Jinglin didn't even glance at him, and holding onto Xu Mingjin, she walked out. By the time they returned to the banquet area, it had already dispersed, and many of the madams and young ladies had left. Yuzhu and Qiuyun were anxiously waiting for Xu Mingjin there, and upon seeing her return safely with Princess Jinglin, they both let out a sigh of relief. They hastily went forward to pay their respects to Princess Jinglin, then followed behind Xu Mingjin.

  Princess Jinglin took Xu Mingjin to bid farewell to Queen Pingle, and then they left the palace together.

  The entrance of the Pingxi Royal Mansion was empty at this time, not a single carriage was left. Xu Mingjin did not expect that Madam Xu hated her to the point where she didn't even care about saving face. Princess Jinglin said: "I'll send you back!"

  Xu Mingjin hastily declined: "How dare I trouble Your Highness to send me back, it's nothing, let's just consider it a post-dinner stroll."

  Princess Jinglin insisted: "It's better for me to send you back."

  Xu Mingjin had no choice but to get on Jinglin Princess's carriage, Yuzhu and Qiuyun also came up together, sitting beside Xu Mingjin.

  As the carriage moved slowly, Princess Jinglin said: "Since I promised to teach you guqin, I'll come find you tomorrow."

  Xu Ming thought, anyway he didn't have anything else to do, so he happily agreed.

  Xu Mingjin remembered Fan Weichen saying today that he would find a way to see her, but she didn't know when he would show up.

  The result was that they waited until she and Princess Jinglin arrived at the gate of the Shangshu Mansion, but Fan Yicheng still did not appear.