“What, royal sister was hit by a rock?” The Yuliu prince slammed his wine cup on the table and hastily stood up: “Take this prince to see her!”

Going to check on his sister after an incident was perfectly natural and justified. Prince Wei had no grounds to stop him and could only stand up as well, saying consolingly: “Prince, don’t worry. Your sister will surely be fine.”

The Yuliu prince looked as if he couldn’t be bothered to listen to Prince Wei’s comfort. With a dark expression, he strode forward with large steps.

Prince Wei quickened his pace to follow.

Quite a few people who witnessed this scene thought to themselves that Prince Wei was fortunate he had slimmed down—otherwise he couldn’t have moved at all.

“Princess Yuliu’s injury is a serious matter. Should we… also go take a look?” someone suggested.

This proposal immediately gained support, and a whole crowd surged toward that direction.

“Compiler Yang, aren’t you going to look? I heard the banquet over there was Princess Yi’an’s responsibility,” someone asked curiously, seeing Yang Zhe hadn’t moved.

With such a major incident occurring at a banquet Princess Yi’an was responsible for, as Princess Yi’an’s betrothed, Yang Zhe should naturally go see.

“Of course I’m going.” Yang Zhe’s tone showed little fluctuation as he stepped into the tide of people.

When the Yuliu prince arrived, the imperial physician had only just gotten there and was directing palace servants to carry Princess Lingque into a building.

“Royal sister!” The Yuliu prince shouted and rushed to Princess Yuliu’s side.

Princess Lingque was still unconscious at this moment, her eyes tightly closed and her face covered in fresh blood—an extremely horrifying sight.

The Yuliu prince hadn’t expected it to be this severe. His voice became even more shrill: “Royal sister, royal sister, wake up! What on earth happened?”

Could it be that the Great Zhou noble ladies, jealous of his sister’s beauty, had harmed her to disfigure her?

The imperial physician beside him reminded quietly: “The princess suffered a head injury and needs immediate treatment. Even if you shout, she won’t wake up.”

Just then, Princess Lingque suddenly opened her eyes.

Imperial physician: “…”

The Yuliu prince’s expression brightened: “Royal sister, you’re awake!”

Quite a few people breathed a sigh of relief hearing Princess Lingque had awakened, especially Princess Yi’an. For her, the severity of Princess Lingque’s injuries directly related to the magnitude of her responsibility.

Looking at the anxious Yuliu prince, Princess Lingque rolled her eyes around, then closed them and passed out again.

“Royal sister, royal sister!” In his urgency, the Yuliu prince shook Princess Lingque’s arm, but this time no amount of calling produced any response.

He glared furiously at the imperial physician: “What’s going on here?”

The imperial physician braced himself: “Those who suffer head injuries may occasionally regain consciousness for a moment. Now she’s passed out again.”

“You just said calling wouldn’t wake her!”

Prince Wei restrained the somewhat irrational Yuliu prince: “Let’s first have the imperial physician treat Princess Lingque. Saving her is most important.”

The Yuliu prince released his grip and gradually calmed down.

Watching Princess Lingque being carried away, people couldn’t help their wild imaginings: Princess Lingque’s sudden awakening just now followed by losing consciousness again—it rather resembled a final moment of lucidity before death.

Princess Yi’an clearly couldn’t help thinking this as well. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked helplessly toward Prince Wei: “Fourth Brother—”

Prince Wei secretly felt a headache coming on, but outwardly had to display a concerned expression: “Yi’an, how was Princess Lingque injured?”

This question immediately made everyone prick up their ears, and the Yuliu prince stared intently at Princess Yi’an.

Under countless gazes, Princess Yi’an’s face turned pale.

She wasn’t afraid of these people before her, but rather feared that if something happened to Princess Lingque, she wouldn’t be able to answer to the Empress Dowager and His Majesty.

“After drinking, I accompanied Princess Lingque on a casual stroll. Before we knew it, we had walked to this rock mountain, so I was introducing Princess Lingque to the origin of the rock mountain’s stones. Who could have imagined a rock would fall from the artificial mountain and strike her head right on target.”

Those who had arrived late exchanged glances upon hearing this.

This was purely an accident—Princess Lingque was truly unlucky.

Quite a few noble ladies silently lowered their eyes, concealing the emotions within: somehow, they felt a bit pleased…

Knowing it was an accident, Prince Wei relaxed somewhat.

He had thought some noble lady had cracked Princess Lingque’s head open—that would have been even more troublesome.

“Prince, this prince will stay here with you to wait for Princess Lingque to awaken. The others should disperse first—what do you think?” Prince Wei warmly sought the Yuliu prince’s opinion.

The Yuliu prince nodded.

What to do next would naturally depend on royal sister’s condition. For now, they could only wait.

Prince Wei looked toward Princess Yi’an: “Yi’an, arrange for the noble ladies first. With too many people creating chaos, it might affect Princess Lingque’s treatment.”

Princess Yi’an nodded. Her gaze inadvertently met Yang Zhe’s.

In that instant, she suddenly felt like crying.

She, a precious daughter of imperial blood whom everyone respected, had inexplicably gotten caught up in this unlucky affair.

Yang Zhe nodded slightly, his tone gentle: “Princess need not worry too much. I believe Princess Lingque will have heaven’s protection as a good person.”

“Mm.” Princess Yi’an responded with a nasal sound. Looking at the gentle and refined young man, her heart inexplicably settled considerably.

This interaction between the two fell into others’ eyes, drawing considerable envy. The men envied Yang Zhe for being able to marry a precious imperial daughter; the women envied Princess Yi’an for marrying the exceptionally talented and handsome top scholar.

Princess Yi’an’s emotions stabilized as she walked toward the ladies: “Today’s hospitality was inadequate. Another day I’ll invite everyone for drinks again.”

“Princess, set your mind at ease. Princess Lingque will surely be fine.” The ladies offered comfort one after another, reluctantly taking their leave.

They still wanted to see what would become of Princess Yuliu with her blood-covered face—what a pity.

Kou Wan stood without moving and timidly called out “Elder sister.”

Princess Yi’an’s fury shot straight to her head. Barely suppressing it due to the circumstances, she said coolly: “You should go back first.”

Sensing the coldness in Princess Yi’an’s tone, Kou Wan opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything else: “Then I’ll go back.”

With her head slightly lowered, she followed the others walking out. After walking more than ten feet, she couldn’t help looking back, only to see Princess Yi’an had long since begun conversing with Prince Wei, not glancing this way even once.

On the road back in the same carriage, Qi Qiong’s eyes were worshipful: “A’Hao, because of your words, Second Miss Kou avoided injury, and the rock struck Princess Lingque instead. You truly helped us Great Zhou noble ladies vent our frustration.”

At the banquet, Princess Lingque’s behavior was such that anyone with any spirit couldn’t stand it.

Lin Hao smiled: “Those words can’t be said carelessly.”

“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t say anything.”

Having made this guarantee, the young princess went to find her elder brother as soon as she returned to the prince’s manor.

Indeed, A’Hao only said not to speak carelessly—telling Big Brother didn’t count as speaking carelessly.

“Why did little sister return so early?” Seeing it was Qi Qiong, Qi Shuo had a good idea.

It seemed the incident of Weiwei Marquis Manor’s second miss getting injured had still occurred.

“Princess Lingque was injured by a rock.”

Qi Shuo paused: “Who?”

“That Princess Yuliu.” Qi Qiong looked completely relaxed.

This unexpected turn of events left Qi Shuo somewhat confused: “The injured one is Princess Yuliu? Then you all—”

“We’re perfectly fine, of course.” Qi Qiong’s eyes blazed, eager to share the secret with her brother. “Big Brother, do you know? A’Hao can read faces!”

Qi Shuo: ?