Yin Chen splashed a few times in the water, then looked up and saw the three people on the lake bank watching him nonchalantly, which immediately enraged him.
“Did you three throw me into the lake?” Yin Chen asked as he swam towards them.
The three people on the lake bank burst into laughter at Yin Chen’s disheveled state.
“Brother Yin Chen, don’t blame us. We were just following the Prince’s orders,” Ye Ying said with a smile.
It was then that Yin Chen remembered he had fallen for the woman’s ploy. After he climbed ashore, he was filled with remorse and kept slapping the back of his head.
“Oh no, this is bad. I fell for that woman’s trick,” Yin Chen said regretfully.
“Heh heh, I didn’t expect even you, big brother Yin Chen, to fall for a beauty trap today?” Ye Ying teased.
Hearing this, Yin Chen’s face instantly turned awkward. He was usually the most cautious and meticulous subordinate of the Cold Prince, yet he had made such a basic mistake.
“The Prince wants you to report to his study after you’ve cleaned up!” Ye Ying said, patting Yin Chen’s shoulder.
Yin Chen nodded vigorously and immediately ran back to his room to change into a clean set of clothes before going to see the Prince.
This was because their Prince had a洁癖 (jié pǐ - germophobia). If his clothes were too dirty or sloppy, the Prince wouldn’t allow him to step foot into his study.
A moment later—
In Jun Mohan’s study, Yin Chen, dressed in a neat and clean black, fitted, narrow-sleeved martial arts outfit, knelt before Jun Mohan.
“Your Highness, this subordinate admits his mistake!” Yin Chen confessed earnestly.
“Where did you go wrong?” Jun Mohan’s thin lips parted, and he slowly asked.
“I was wrong to be careless,” Yin Chen truthfully replied.
“This time, I will punish you by sending you back to the organization for three days of grueling training.”
Jun Mohan’s expression was cold, his gaze steady, and his tone as frigid as ice and frost on a winter lake.
If his guards and hidden guards all made such basic mistakes as Yin Chen tonight, the Cold Prince’s estate would likely have been destroyed long ago.
“Yes, this subordinate obeys!” Yin Chen respectfully accepted the punishment.
“You may withdraw,” Jun Mohan said indifferently.
Following that, Yin Chen left the study.
—
The next day, early morning
Leng Ruo Li had just finished her training in the courtyard and returned to her room to wash up when she saw Ling’er rushing in from outside.
“Princess Consort, His Highness wants you to go to the pavilion in the royal garden,” Ling’er said breathlessly.
Upon hearing this, Leng Ruo Li frowned.
“What happened again?” Leng Ruo Li asked, full of suspicion.
Ling’er shook her head and said, “This servant is not entirely sure of the situation, but the new concubines in the Cold Prince’s estate were also summoned there by His Highness the day before yesterday.”
As she spoke, Leng Ruo Li’s frown deepened.
What was Jun Mohan up to this early in the morning?
Seeing Leng Ruo Li’s furrowed brow, Ling’er immediately comforted her, “Princess Consort, don’t be afraid. Sister Xing’er has already gone ahead to scout the situation.”
Hearing this, Leng Ruo Li smiled, “You two little girls are truly adorable!”
With that, she gently patted Ling’er’s head.
Instantly, Ling’er retorted, “Princess Consort, don’t you remember, you are only one year older than me?”
Leng Ruo Li: “…”
That’s right, her current body was only sixteen years old. She had forgotten.
She hadn’t even adjusted from her previous life’s age yet.
“Yes, yes, Ling’er is right!”
Leng Ruo Li said dismissively, what else could she do? She, who was almost thirty in her previous life, had suddenly transmigrated as a sixteen-year-old girl.
After that, Leng Ruo Li and Ling’er chatted and laughed as they quickly arrived at the pavilion in the royal garden.
A group of elaborately dressed women stood by the pavilion, while Jun Mohan stood several meters away, his face dark.
“Princess Consort, over here!”
As Leng Ruo Li and Ling’er entered the pavilion, her little maid Xing’er called out to her impatiently.
Leng Ruo Li waved to Xing’er and walked towards her.
As Leng Ruo Li passed by the group of women, she glanced at them seriously. Xing’er quietly told her that apart from the two women who were expelled from the Cold Prince’s estate by Ye Ying, all eight women residing in the Cold Prince’s estate were present. Seven of them stood properly, while one woman, dressed very scantily, knelt on the ground.
“What the heck! Jun Mohan, what’s going on this morning?”
Leng Ruo Li looked at these women, completely bewildered. Did Jun Mohan sleep with all these women? And now he was going to discuss with her, Leng Ruo Li, about granting them titles?
Just as Leng Ruo Li was lost in thought—
Jun Mohan called out to her.
“Li’er, you tell me how I should handle these women?”
“Your Highness, if there are any of these women you fancy, then by all means, grant them titles as you see fit. There’s no need to seek my consent,” Leng Ruo Li said with a very calm expression.
Hearing this, Jun Mohan’s face was immediately covered in dark lines. What was this woman thinking?
“Looking at them makes me sick.”
His face instantly turned like a winter morning with falling snow, as if dripping water had turned to ice, exuding chilling aura.
“Uh…”
Seeing Jun Mohan’s expression, Leng Ruo Li knew he was angry again.
“Um, Your Highness, if you like any of these girls, keep her. If you don’t like any of them, then send them back to the palace the way they came,” Leng Ruo Li suggested.
“Apart from you, I don’t like any other woman,” Jun Mohan declared his feelings possessively.
“Uh… well, since Your Highness doesn’t like them, I’ll just have them all sent away,” Leng Ruo Li said helplessly.
She muttered to herself, “He is the master of this Cold Prince’s estate. Everything is decided by him. Since he doesn’t like these women, he should just order them to be driven away. Why bother asking her? This man is truly exasperating.”
However, what Leng Ruo Li didn’t expect was that this was Jun Mohan’s way of testing how much she cared about him.
But as soon as Leng Ruo Li finished speaking, all the women pleaded with Jun Mohan and Leng Ruo Li.
“Your Highness, Princess Consort, please don’t send us away from the Cold Prince’s estate. If you do, we will have nowhere to go,” the seven standing women said pitifully.
“It’s not that we won’t let you stay, but you must give us a reason not to send you away. For example, what skills do you possess?” Leng Ruo Li said indifferently.
“Princess Consort, just say you don’t want to take us in! We are all daughters of noble families, served by maids all our lives. How could we do any manual labor?” one of the seven women, who was somewhat attractive, said haughtily.