The Crown Princess stood in the corridor outside the room. When Yujin suddenly pushed the door open, she was momentarily stunned.
Yujin gave a slight nod to the Crown Princess, “Second Brother is inside.”
With that, he strode away.
The Crown Princess hesitated briefly before stepping inside.
The Crown Prince was still in the position twisting his head to stare at the doorway, his expression both shocked and angry. Since he hadn’t pulled up his trousers yet, exposing his backside, it was an unbearable sight for the Crown Princess.
“Why are you here?” Although they were husband and wife, the Crown Prince was still a man who cared about his dignity. He certainly didn’t want the Crown Princess to see him in such an unseemly state.
The Crown Princess quickly composed her expression and walked to the Crown Prince’s side, saying, “I’ve come to take care of Your Highness.”
With Prince Yan in the room earlier, it had been inconvenient, so she had to wait outside. However, as his wife, she couldn’t simply stand by and do nothing.
“Did you see Seventh Brother?” the Crown Prince asked.
“Prince Yan just walked out.”
The Crown Prince’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. He gritted his teeth and said, “That Seventh Brother is outrageous!”
The Crown Princess pursed her lips. Thinking that they had come to the prince’s mansion today to celebrate the child’s full month, it wouldn’t be good to cause a scene. So she advised, “Your Highness, please calm down. Although the dog belongs to Prince Yan, he wasn’t present when it bit you. It’s not right to blame Prince Yan for this—”
The Crown Princess’s mind flashed back to the image of the large dog’s agile pounce towards the Crown Prince, and she inexplicably felt an increased fondness for Erniu.
“What do you know!” the Crown Prince roared, his face turning iron-blue with anger.
The Crown Princess silently looked at the Crown Prince.
“Do you know what that scoundrel Seventh Brother just did?”
The Crown Princess instinctively glanced at the Crown Prince’s noble posterior.
The Crown Prince nearly died of anger: “Where are you looking!”
What was this woman thinking? Did she assume Seventh Brother had bitten him like Erniu did?
Yujin, who had walked far away, suddenly sneezed. Irritated, he wiped his nose with a handkerchief.
He hadn’t expected that bastard Crown Prince to set his sights on Erniu.
Inside the room, the Crown Prince’s anger continued to rise: “Seventh Brother threatened me!”
“What did Prince Yan threaten Your Highness with?” The Crown Princess wasn’t surprised that Prince Yan would threaten the Crown Prince.
This brother-in-law of hers was different from others… Ordinary people wouldn’t have been able to save young Master Chun with such miraculous methods.
“He said I’m not allowed to covet his things. I just wanted his dog, not his wife. Can you believe what nonsense he’s spouting!” The Crown Prince’s eyes were full of fury as he ranted, “I am the Crown Prince. What’s wrong with asking him for a dog?”
When he ascends to that position in the future, everything under heaven will be his. How could there be someone so obtuse?
The Crown Princess felt utterly embarrassed. She took a deep breath and said, “You are the Crown Prince. If you like dogs, you can raise several as you please. Why fixate on someone else’s dog—”
“What do you understand!” The Crown Prince became even more enraged, shouting at the Crown Princess.
No matter how many dogs he raised, could they compare to Erniu?
The Crown Princess frowned and said coldly, “Regardless, for the Crown Prince to act this way is beneath your dignity—”
“Enough, the medicine has dried. I want to get up,” the Crown Prince was tired of listening to his nagging wife and struggled to his feet.
The attendant hurried over, carefully helping the Crown Prince pull up his trousers.
The Crown Prince took a few tentative steps, finding that the burning pain in his buttocks had subsided. He said to the Crown Princess with a stern face, “Let’s go. We can’t stay cooped up here after coming out of the palace. I want to see what Seventh Brother’s daughter looks like.”
Meanwhile, Yujin returned to the banquet area. People gathered around him, asking, “How is the Crown Prince?”
“The Crown Prince? Well—” Yujin smiled slightly, “He’s not seriously injured.”
Prince Lu scratched his head: “Seventh Brother, I didn’t know your Erniu would bite people at random.”
Such a robust large dog with such a big mouth—if it bit hard, couldn’t it even break a person’s leg?
Prince Lu wasn’t the only one thinking this.
Yujin looked at everyone, his tone meaningful: “Fifth Brother is mistaken. Erniu never bites people at random.”
Prince Lu chuckled.
“The Crown Prince is coming,” someone called out.
Everyone immediately turned their heads to see the Crown Prince and Crown Princess approaching from a distance.
Prince Lu sighed in disappointment.
Seventh Brother’s Erniu wasn’t random enough. Why didn’t it bite harder?
The Crown Prince soon arrived.
Yujin, not wanting to cause a scene at his daughter’s full-month celebration, asked, “Second Brother, are you feeling better?”
The Crown Prince nodded reluctantly. The bit of goodwill he had developed towards Yujin during their trip to Qianhe County had completely dissipated after their conversation in the room.
Prince Qi observed coldly from the side, his mood immediately improving.
He hoped the relationship between the Crown Prince and Seventh Brother would worsen. That would be beneficial to him.
Prince Lu spoke with a smile, “Second Brother, you must be more careful. We’re past the age of teasing cats and dogs. Tsk tsk, how could you still get bitten by a dog…”
The Crown Prince glanced at Prince Lu and asked irritably, “Fifth Brother, are you looking for a fight again?”
He still remembered Fifth Brother’s grudge. To kick him when he was down, there would come a day of reckoning in the future.
Prince Lu moved his lips, swallowing his retort.
Seventh Brother’s daughter was granted the title of Princess as soon as she was born, while he had been demoted to Prince of a Commandery. When his daughter gets married in the future, she’ll only be able to receive the title of County Princess. By then, he’ll surely be resented by his children.
Forget it, he’d better endure it.
Prince Lu felt bitter about his compromise.
Erniu was better off, able to bite whoever it wanted without having to take responsibility… Perhaps he should also raise a dog like Erniu?
The attendant standing beside the Crown Prince suddenly said nervously, “Your Highness, that dog is coming again!”
“Where?” The Crown Prince immediately lost interest in exchanging pleasantries with the others and looked around.
Someone laughed, “The Princess Consort of Yan is bringing the little Princess over.”
The Crown Prince looked closely and indeed saw a group of people surrounding a woman walking this way, with a large dog following at her side.
The woman at the center wore a white jacket with a water-red collar and a big red pomegranate skirt, looking graceful and peerless in her beauty.
The Crown Prince stared, a thought crossing his mind: Why did Seventh Brother’s wife seem even more beautiful now?
The Crown Prince wasn’t the only one having this thought.
A top-tier beauty could attract people’s gazes with the slightest movement. The love for beauty is universal.
Heaven seemed to favor such beauties even more. The Princess Consort of Yan, who had just completed her postpartum confinement, showed no signs of being overweight. Compared to her slender figure as a young girl, she now had a few more curves in just the right places. Adding any more would make her plump, taking any away would make her too thin. It was just perfect.
Prince Qi thought: Seventh Brother has all the good fortune. Heaven is truly unfair!
Prince Shu thought: If he had given all the plum blossoms to Lady Jiang like Seventh Brother did, what would the result have been?
Prince Xiang thought that his fate was truly bitter. He didn’t ask for a wife like the Princess Consort of Yan, but at least she shouldn’t be like Cui Mingyue!
Prince Lu: No matter how beautiful other men’s wives were, he had no designs on them. It was pointless to even think about it.
As for the Crown Prince, he stared fixedly at Jiang Si, who was smiling radiantly at Yujin, with only one thought: The Imperial Consort Yang, whom he had risked his life to sleep with, wasn’t as beautiful as the Princess Consort of Yan…