Chapter 181

"Hahaha, this girl is quite impressive! She has surprised Us again after the winter hunt! She deserves a reward!" said the Emperor.

Everyone in the hall lifted their heads and looked at her in astonishment, disbelief and shock, including Prince Li Yang of Shu.

Gu Ying could feel Prince Li's heated gaze falling on the top of her head.

At this moment, Li Yang secretly swore to himself that he must obtain this woman no matter what.

Gu Ying tilted her head and smiled, "Does the Empress believe my words now?"

The Empress exclaimed, "Who taught you how to write?"

Gu Ying turned her head, her bright starry eyes looking at the Eldest Prince sitting in his seat. She smiled radiantly and said, "My husband taught me."

Zhao Changdu's mouth curved up slightly. His beautiful phoenix eyes were as dark as ink, and when he looked at Gu Ying, his eyes were full of deep affection. "Replying to the Empress Mother, it was I who taught my wife. She is extremely talented and picked up reading and writing after just one lesson. I did not waste two nights of effort on her."

This provided a reasonable explanation for why Gu Ying suddenly knew how to read and write.

Seeing the usually cold Eldest Prince smile so rarely, everyone was shocked and suspicious again.

People all said that the Eldest Prince favored Huo Qiyun. But now it seemed that he clearly doted on the Eldest Princess. What was going on?

Could it be that the Eldest Prince did not actually like Lady Huo at all?

Everyone's gazes in the hall wandered between Huo Qiyun and Gu Ying.

Zhao Changdu got up and went over to grasp Gu Ying's hand, putting his arm around her slender waist as they sat back down.

He did this not for any other reason, only wanting everyone to know that he only had one woman.

When a normally cold and heartless man favored his wife to this extent, it made people's hearts stir.

Many unmarried young ladies in the hall saw the Eldest Prince pull Gu Ying back to their seats, feeling both shy and angry, their hearts shattering.

Huo Qiyan sat upright in her own seat, her small face cold as she disdainfully glanced at Gu Ying.

Just wait and see, her mother had already discussed with her uncle and aunt that after the palace banquet, she would directly move into the Duke's residence.

By then, she would see her cousin every day, so what did Gu Ying amount to? Thinking of this, Huo Qiyan could not help smiling smugly.

She would snatch her cousin back sooner or later.

...

After presenting the gifts, everyone could wander and play freely.

The men would stay in the hall to feast and discuss politics, while the ladies could go sightseeing in the Imperial Gardens.

There would also be a banquet and fireworks tonight, so the afternoon was practically free time.

The Emperor had summoned the Eldest Prince to the Hall of Diligent Governance to discuss important matters, which Gu Ying guessed was about the disbanding of the Qilin Army. The earthquake that happened after the snow disaster would occur in half a month.

The matter of the Qilin Army was quite important after all. The emperor's heart was hard to fathom, and court politics were unpredictable and deceitful.

On the surface, the Emperor favored Duke Guo's residence, but he was actually very wary of their military power. The Eldest Prince's initiative to disband the Qilin Army maintained the imperial family's trust in Duke Guo's residence and the old Duke for a long period of time after this.

As for the snow disaster and earthquake, she would have to come up with a foolproof explanation before warning the Eldest Prince... Otherwise, not just the Eldest Prince, even others would find it bizarre for a young lady like her to reveal heavenly secrets.

Before leaving, the Eldest Prince told her to enjoy herself fully and that he would come looking for her after he finished his business.

Gu Ying sat idle and noticed that most of the ladies had dispersed from the inner palace. Princess Yueyan, who had been sitting beside the Empress, left first, followed by Prince Duan and Ning Si who were also gone.

She lowered her eyes in deep thought. In her past life, Princess Yueyan had almost caused a huge embarrassment for the sake of the Eldest Prince. Afterwards, the inner palace had kept the incident very tightly under wraps without letting any rumors spread.

Jiang Yin had also attended the palace banquet that day...

Wait a minute!

She suddenly recalled an extremely important matter!

Not long after marrying Jiang Yin in her past life, instead of attending the palace banquet, she had gone to a run-down residence that the Jiang family had just purchased. They were preparing to turn it into a Jiang family retreat, which Jiang Ling'er would live in after getting married.

She had busied herself with rouge there for an afternoon and felt tired, so she took a nap on the couch in the retreat.

After night fell, she was suddenly pushed awake by a force.

She opened her eyes blankly and looked around, only to find Yin Lan knocked out on the ground not far away. Meanwhile, a panting stranger was going mad in front of her!

He broke through her defenses and struck down her guard...

Somehow, her clothes had been rolled up to her waist.

Realizing what was happening, she began whimpering and struggling in fright.

But that man had a strong physique, his arms bulging with veins. With one large hand, he grabbed both her hands. His dark phoenix eyes locked her in place tightly like a net. He was truly too strong.

She could not break free no matter how she struggled, steadily losing ground until all her defenses crumbled.

Later, her whole body ached softly as she curled up trembling in the man's embrace. In the hazy moonlight, she finally saw the stranger's unparalleled handsome visage.

As her memories returned, the once unfamiliar face in them gradually became clear.

She could never have imagined that this person turned out to be the Eldest Prince of Duke Guo's residence, Zhao Changdu, who had just returned to Bianjing not long ago...

Thinking back to this point, Gu Ying's emotions surged and she momentarily did not know whether to feel angry or amused. So this coincidental timing was actually right here!

In order to get the Eldest Prince, Princess Yueyan had slipped him drugs during the palace banquet.

The drug took effect on the Eldest Prince... But instead of touching Princess Yueyan, he left the palace. Then by an incredible coincidence, he entered her retreat... And took her as the antidote...

The more Gu Ying thought about it, the more she found it bitterly funny.

So it turned out that this was the truth!

Heaven had arranged everything long ago... Her fate with the Eldest Prince was perhaps destined after all.

That was why she had accidentally recognized the wrong person when she first transmigrated in this life. Then due to a twist of fate, she married into Duke Guo's household and became his wife.

She sat quietly by herself for a while as various emotions roiled in her heart.

Seeing her mistress smiling one moment and distressed the next, Yin Lan curiously asked, "Mistress, what's the matter?"

Gu Ying lowered her eyes to glance at the wine cup on the table. "It's nothing. I was just wondering whether the Eldest Prince drank anything at this banquet."

"I saw that he didn't. The Eldest Prince is a cautious man who rarely eats food casually outside."

What Yin Lan said was right.

Gu Ying also felt relieved. She had deliberately reminded the Eldest Prince recently to be wary of Princess Yueyan.

Fortunately, she had trained the Eldest Prince's appetite to be increasingly picky lately. He was not very willing to touch other people's food.

It would not be so easy for Princess Yueyan to slip something to the Eldest Prince right under everyone's noses.

Since the Emperor had summoned the Eldest Prince to the Hall of Diligent Governance where ordinary people could not enter, this crisis should be considered resolved.

"Is my mistress worried about the Eldest Prince?" Yin Lan teased with a smile. All those flirtatious young ladies in the palace could hardly peel their eyes from the Eldest Prince. Was her mistress finally feeling threatened?

This was excellent news!

Gu Ying was taken aback, her face growing hot. "Of course not... I just feel that one can't be too careful in the palace unlike outside. Better safe than sorry."

She was doing all this not for any other reason... Only because the Eldest Prince was upright and proper, and could not stand others sullying him.