This was merely a means to boost clothing sales, and quite a clever one at that.

If someone read the storybook to this point, naturally they would want to know what happened next, which meant they would have to make clothes again…

For wealthy households, making a set of clothes was a trivial matter, but for the women and young ladies in the inner quarters who had nothing to do, they relied on such storybooks to pass the time.

After thinking for a moment, she said to Chun Zhi, “Put this storybook away carefully.”

The next time she met with Xiao Rongyan, she would have him take a good look at this story. It was truly quite twisted.

“Yes!” Chun Zhi looked at her young mistress’s half-smiling expression, feeling sad in her heart. She carefully put the storybook away, not knowing whether she should hate this Ninth Prince of Yan, considering he had led troops to relieve the siege of Jiangzi City.

But what kind of person was their First Miss? How could Chun Zhi not know? First Miss had deep feelings for the deceased young master; otherwise, she wouldn’t have married him when he was gravely ill.

If this Ninth Prince hadn’t said something to First Miss or expressed something to her, even if he were a lifesaver, First Miss would never have stayed by that Ninth Prince of Yan’s side, disregarding everything else.

What was to be done? Their young master had just passed away not long ago, and First Miss was still pregnant. It was all the fault of that damned Ninth Prince of Yan. He was already betrothed to that Miss Meng, so why did he have to take advantage of First Miss’s vulnerability when the master had just died and she was heartbroken, seducing their First Miss!

“Miss, our people haven’t returned. They’re still outside the city, but had the gate guards deliver a letter, saying… it seems that the lady who came to our shop today has quite an impressive background. Our people followed her out of Feng County, and when they saw her reach Tianmen Pass, our people didn’t dare follow further. But from a distance, they saw… at such an important pass as Tianmen Pass, whatever the servants around that lady said, the gates opened!” The maidservant beside Consort Meng Zhao hurriedly handed her mistress the letter whose text had been processed and revealed, “That’s Tianmen Pass! They opened it for that lady! Miss… what kind of status do you think that lady must have?”

Consort Meng Zhao, her long hair draped over her shoulders, took the letter and read it carefully, lowering her eyes to recall the scene when she met Bai Qingyan today, then thinking of the man beside Bai Qingyan, who was missing a finger.

Her palm suddenly tightened. A eunuch!

That’s right. Although that man tried his best to conceal it, his posture looked like the standard palace eunuch etiquette.

Then… that lady with extraordinary bearing, otherworldly beautiful appearance, and pregnant with child, should be the Emperor of Da Zhou?!

Consort Meng Zhao raised her head. Speak of the devil.

Originally, she had calculated that the Emperor of Da Zhou would surely rush back to the Capital City before Da Zhou’s imperial examinations. After settling in Feng County, she had planned to find an opportunity to slip away from Cui Fengnian’s people, go to Tianmen Pass to intercept Bai Qingyan, then go find Murong Yan. She hadn’t expected Bai Qingyan to travel light and come to Feng County.

More than a month ago, she had deceived Cui Fengnian… saying the Empress Dowager would soon issue an imperial marriage decree. She didn’t want to marry the Ninth Prince, and her mother also didn’t want her to marry such a cold-blooded and heartless man, so she wanted to bring her mother’s secret guards to escape the marriage, and asked Cui Fengnian to help arrange an escape route.

Unexpectedly, Cui Fengnian was so devoted to her, not only using his trade routes to protect her journey to Feng County, but also arranging a shop for her here, saying it could at least guarantee she would have endless silver.

If Cui Fengnian weren’t a merchant, Consort Meng Zhao actually wouldn’t be unable to consider him.

It was just a pity that a merchant’s status was still too lowly, and she had long decided to conquer the Ninth Prince. Her heart could no longer accommodate anyone else.

The Empress Dowager had said that the reason the Ninth Prince could even defy his always-respected elder brother and refuse to accept the marriage contract with her was because of this Emperor of Da Zhou, because this Emperor of Da Zhou… was so beautiful as to be unforgettable at first sight.

At that time, Consort Meng Zhao, who had always been proud of her appearance and talents, was quite indignant. She was Yan’s first beauty, even more beautiful than that so-called first beauty of Jin, Lady Liu Ruofu of Nandu. How beautiful could that Emperor of Da Zhou be?

But the Empress Dowager said the Emperor of Da Zhou was three or four times more beautiful than her, saying this Emperor of Da Zhou should be the most beautiful person she had seen in her lifetime, aside from Empress Ji and the late emperor. Yet it was a different kind of beauty from Empress Ji and the late emperor. The Emperor of Da Zhou’s beauty, just as King Yan of Western Liang had once described, combined beauty and strength in one person.

Although Consort Meng Zhao also disliked having her marriage decided by the Empress Dowager like this, she also disliked that the Ninth Prince had refused her without even meeting her.

She did like the Ninth Prince very much. Although everyone said the Ninth Prince was ruthless, never leaving any room when dealing with people and matters, Consort Meng Zhao felt such a man had great masculinity and masculine vigor. He was more noble than those hypocrites full of benevolence and righteousness. She felt that if she could win such a man’s devotion, this man would definitely only treat her well and pamper her alone in this lifetime, and would never marry several concubines like her father.

So she didn’t want to give up the Ninth Prince.

Since she couldn’t give up, she could only escape first. If she were truly lucky enough to meet the Emperor of Da Zhou and make the Emperor of Da Zhou retreat in the face of difficulty, then go find the Ninth Prince, just based on her determination, the Ninth Prince would look at her differently.

“That lady is no ordinary household’s madam at all, she’s clearly… the Emperor of Da Zhou!” Consort Meng Zhao said.

Consort Meng Zhao’s personal maidservant’s eyes widened in shock. She naturally knew Consort Meng Zhao’s plan – if she could meet the Emperor of Da Zhou, that would be best, but if not, she would go directly to find the Ninth Prince.

The maidservant hurriedly said, “Miss, this Emperor of Da Zhou has entered Tianmen Pass and will be returning next. Will Miss go to meet her? Since this Emperor of Da Zhou is in disguise, it should be much easier to meet her than Miss had previously expected. Miss… do you plan to go see this Emperor of Da Zhou tomorrow, or wait a couple of days to slip away from Cui Fengnian’s people and go directly to find the Ninth Prince?”

“Even if we wanted to leave now, both Feng County’s city gates and Tianmen Pass are already closed. I’m not the Emperor of Da Zhou – the city gates won’t open for me.” Consort Meng Zhao looked up at her maidservant. “However, we can start preparing. Tomorrow morning… as soon as the city gates open, we leave! Tonight, you take the secret guards Mother gave me and act carefully.”

“Yes!” After the maidservant responded, she suddenly thought of Cui Fengnian and whispered to Consort Meng Zhao: “But, Miss, Young Master Cui has arranged so much for you, including this shop. If we just leave like this, won’t Young Master Cui be worried?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave a letter saying I don’t want to implicate him.” Consort Meng Zhao stared at the slightly flickering candlelight and murmured, “I truly don’t want to implicate him. He… is sincere toward me, I know!”