l, which had become the most important gathering for noblewomen in Chu, had its unique appeal. When Princess Zhaoyang ordered her attendants to bring out the prizes prepared for the winners of the Flo...The Ruling Consort of Prosperous Times 22: Little Bao's Deceitful Scheme (5)

Before they knew it, the day before Mo Suicloud's grand wedding was approaching. Envoys from various countries had already arrived to congratulate him. Apart from Lei Tengfeng and Mo Xiaobao, no other ruling authorities personally attended. Ever since their last secret meeting, Mo Xiaobao behaved unusually quietly, not even reacting when he learned of the covert alliance agreement signed between Lei Tengfong and Mo Suicloud.

However, despite Mo Xiaobao's obedient behavior, Mo Suicloud's wedding was destined to turn into a laughingstock due to his impulsive decision to invite this ill-fated figure.

The day before the grand wedding, shocking news reached the palace. The future empress of Nanzhu and Mo Suicloud’s fiancée had run away with someone!

Hearing this, Mo Suicloud instantly snapped a wolf hair brush in his hand.

"Explain," he coldly ordered.

The dispatched guards returned within two hours. "Your Majesty... We have interrogated the servant girl from the Qian family’s residence. She claims that Miss Qian met a young man自稱是廣陵富商的庶子，姓火的少年。兩人一見如故…這些天來錢小姐的心情一直都不太好。今天早上丫頭端水進去的時候就發現，錢小姐不見了。”

"A youth by the surname Hu" Mo Suicloud frowned. "What does he look like Is he from Guangling"

The guard, looking miserable, reported: "Your Majesty, it's likely a false name. There are no wealthy families named Hu in Guangling." Although Guangling was now under the control of the Dingwang Manor, its proximity to Nanzhu made them familiar with the region. Moreover, the surname Hu is extremely rare; if there were such a family, they would have known about it. "According to the servant girl, Miss Qian met a handsome young man wearing white clothes, appearing around thirteen or fourteen years old. He looked very charming and kind-hearted."

"A false name" Mo Suicloud frowned. If the bride had run away with someone due to personal feelings, it would have been one thing. But if someone deliberately lured her away at this critical moment... Regardless, that woman named Qian deserved death!

"Send people immediately to find them! I want to see either the person alive or their corpse!" Mo Suicloud sternly commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the guard trembled and hurriedly took his orders to leave. Regardless of whether Miss Qian was alive or dead now and why she fled her marriage, even if they found her, it would likely be too late.

"Your Majesty, Prince Ding requests an audience," a eunuch outside reported.

Mosuiyun's face darkened; he most did not want to see Mo Xiaobao right now. He said irritably, "I don't wish to see him!"

"Ah, Suiyun Brother, why are you being so cold and heartless when someone personally comes to console you" Outside the door, Mo Xiaobao's lazy yet slightly mocking voice rang out, making people involuntarily grind their teeth in frustration. Before Mosuiyun could say anything, Mo Xiaobao had already entered with a wide smile on his face. Seeing this, Mosuiyun inexplicably recalled Mo Xiaobao’s frequent catchphrase: "I feel complete when I see you suffering." This rogue definitely came here to mock him!

"What do you want" Mosuiyun said irritably.

Mo Xiaobao blinked innocently and said, "I heard that Suiyun Brother's empress... ah, is missing. Don't tell me I didn’t come specifically to console you Here, I still have a few people in Nanjing City who can help. Shall we send them to look for her What if it affects tomorrow’s wedding"

"No need!" Mosuiyun gritted his teeth; this fellow definitely came here just to mock him! He actually thought he was urgently searching for that woman because of the upcoming wedding! Did he fall so far that he had no choice but to marry a woman who ran away with someone else

"We’ve been acquaintances, so please don’t be too formal," Mo Xiaobao said kindly.

Mosuiyun gritted his teeth and replied, "Thank you for your good intentions."

Mo Xiaobao nodded with a broad smile, saying, "It’s just a small favor."

Mosuiyun barely held back the impulse to kick this person out and beat him up. He said solemnly, "I have important matters to attend to; if Prince Ding has nothing else, please leave first." Mo Xiaobao raised his eyebrows and asked, "Important matters Oh... does finding the empress’s whereabouts count as an important matter"

"She is no longer my empress!" Mosuiyun roared.

Moxiaobao was momentarily stunned by the shout, then blinked and said rather pitifully, "Is that so There’s nothing else to discuss. Your Majesty shall take his leave first."

"Stop!" Momo Su Yun roared, "Where is that slut"

Moxiaobao stroked his chin with a smile and replied, "Well… before I entered the palace, I saw her leaving through the northern gate of the city, following a man. It should be heading towards Yunlan River."

Once across Yunlan River, it wouldn’t fall under Momo Su Yun’s jurisdiction, and with vast space in the north, hiding someone would be easy.

Momo Su Yun turned black with rage but quickly realized something as he stared suspiciously at Moxiaobao. "How do you know her"

"Ah… well…" Moxiaobao hesitated and looked at Momo Su Yun, somewhat embarrassed. "That is to say, this King happens to know the Empress’s … lover."

"Momo Yuchi! You shall die for me!" Finally unable to contain his anger any longer, Momo Su Yun drew out a ceremonial sword from the wall and swung it at Moxiaobao. The latter blinked excitedly before casually side-stepping the clearly inept attack. However, Momo Su Yun wouldn’t let up, holding onto the sword and chasing after Moxiaobao with wild slashes. Moxiaobao didn’t retaliate; he merely moved around with a smile to evade attacks from his cousin. The two of them fought their way out of the study until they reached the imperial garden. Upon hearing the commotion, the guards rushed over but seeing that it was their own emperor attacking and the one being attacked casually walking about in great leisure made them realize how strenuous the watching was compared to fighting; thus, they felt embarrassed to interfere.

"Brother Su Yun, let’s talk properly," Moxiaobao said with a smile.

"What’s there to talk!" In his anger, he had forgotten about using “I” for the emperor and directly swore at him. He must kill this evil Momo Yuchi to eliminate a menace for all.

"Brother Su Yun, it’s pointless to be angry. It wasn’t me who seduced that person anyway…"

Everyone was shocked and revealed expressions of “so that’s why” before wishing they had stuffed cotton in their ears once comprehension hit them.

"You dare say you didn’t instruct him" Momo Su Yun sneered.

Moxiaobao thoughtfully pondered and said, "I really didn’t instruct anyone…" He merely suggested at the beginning, threatened in the middle, and framed someone at the end.

"I don't believe you. Go to hell!" Momo Su Yun sneered. Moxiaobao helplessly flicked his hand and leaped onto the roof of a building opposite him. He sighed mournfully, "In this day and age, being good is really not worth it."

Momo Su Yun gave him an extremely cold smile and glanced back at the guards watching the spectacle, barking sternly, "Are you all dead! Shoot him down for me!"

The guards naturally did not dare to disobey his command. They quickly drew their bows and released arrows like rain towards someone sitting on a roof basking in the sun. Seeing the shower of arrows flying towards him, Moxiaobao leaped into the air, leaving behind a black arc, and quickly escaped far away. In the distance, one could hear Moxiaobao’s wails, "Momo Su Yun, you are such an envious little man! You deserve to be abandoned by everyone!" The echoes lingered in the air for quite some time. According to guards with relatively decent inner strength, they estimated that all the people in the Imperial Palace must have heard Prince Ding's earth-shattering roar, but whether or not the citizens of Nanjing City had heard it was unknown.

Momo Su Yun glared at where Moxiaobao disappeared from under the eaves of a palace. His expression turned alternately green and purple as he witnessed his guards’ fearful faces. After a long while, one could hear him grinding his teeth and saying in a low voice, "Moo Youchen, I will definitely kill you!"

After infuriating Momo Su Yun to near death, Moxiaobao immediately felt refreshed tenfold all over. As expected... if something interesting isn’t done every day, life would lose its joy. Moxiaobao strolled leisurely through the Imperial Palace. Although this was the palace of Nanchu and not Prince Ding’s garden, most of the guards in the palace had already come to recognize this young prince who could infuriate people without any repercussions, so no one dared stop him. Besides, with his skills honed from battling within Qilin and being tormented by Momo Xiuyao for over a decade, there really was no one capable of stopping him.

"Prince Ding," Moxiaobao was lying on the edge of a flower bed in the Imperial Garden, staring blankly at a vibrant peony. During this season, for this type of peony to bloom so beautifully in such a southern region was quite surprising. Moreover, Licheng was located in the northwest where there were fewer flowers compared to the south. Moxiaobao thought that the luxurious and dignified purple peony right before his eyes perfectly matched his taste and style. He hesitated over whether he should steal it and move it back to Prince Ding’s garden in Licheng.

Glancing back at Princess Linan walking towards him from another end of the garden, Moxiaobao turned around indifferently and continued staring blankly at the peony, drooling silently.

"What are you looking at, Prince Ding" Princess Linan felt a vein on her forehead throb as she realized that this man found a flower more beautiful than her. As a stunning beauty, she wondered why she was not considered as attractive to him as the peony.

Moo Youchen said coolly, "I’m looking at flowers. Hmm… Southern China has such good climate for growing flowers. Look at how vibrant these flowers are! They truly deserve their title of ‘king of flowers’. So elegant and splendid, they’re really bewitching."

If not for her remaining sanity, Princess Linan would have seized the man lying beside the flower bed and shaken him vigorously while shouting: Are you really okay! To be infatuated with a flower yet disregard such a beautiful woman. How could someone so abnormal even exist

"If the Prince Ding enjoys it, my imperial brother can give him this Wei Zi flower." Princess Linan gritted her teeth, wishing she could destroy that Wei Zi flower that was trembling slightly in the wind.

"Is that okay" Mo Xiaobao hesitated and said, "Prince Mu Suicun is so stingy; he definitely won't agree."

Princess Linan immediately recalled the shocking shout she had just heard. Her beautiful lips twitched involuntarily. Considering her imperial brother's current mood... He would absolutely want to destroy that certain person. Giving him such a precious Wei Zi flower Perhaps even a weed from the imperial garden wouldn't be given to Prince Ding.

Mo Xiaobao casually bit his finger and said, "But it doesn’t matter… I can take it back first. When Prince Mu Suicun calms down, I’ll tell him..."

The corners of Princess Linan's mouth twitched as she coughed lightly and coldly said, "Prince, there is something I need to ask you for. Can you spare me a moment" The words "moment" seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

Mo Xiaobao blinked his eyes and finally nodded. He stood up reluctantly and looked back at the flowers before saying, "Alright, what does Princess Linan have to say"

The two walked over to a pavilion nearby and even then, Princess Linan still felt that Mu Xiao Wang's gaze lingered more on the garden than her. Every action and expression of Little Prince Mu conveyed a fact to Princess Linan—Your Highness is not interested in you! What was even more infuriating was that he wasn't deliberately putting it on; this meaning naturally flowed from him. At least, with Princess Linan's discerning eye, no pretense could be detected.

Princess Linan clenched her teeth inwardly. Although Prince Ding was unmatched in looks, power, and ability, if she had a choice, she would never want to marry such a man. If the previous generation's Prince Ding was the epitome of a good husband, then this one was definitely synonymous with being an ass; any woman marrying him was undoubtedly cursed for eight lifetimes.

However, what Princess Linan knew even better was that if she didn't marry him, her only other option would be to wed some of the wastrels from noble families in Nanjing whom her imperial brother needed to curry favor with. Since Chu's southward migration, those sons of officials had become more dissolute by the day; if there were any outstanding men before, they all fled to Li City over these years. Princess Linan didn't want to simply marry an ordinary wastrel and spend her entire life in obscurity within a large mansion.

"What does Princess Linan have to say" After waiting for a moment with no response from the princess, Mo Xiaobao raised his eyebrows and asked.

Princess Linan clenched her teeth and asked solemnly, "I want to know what is wrong with me that Prince doesn't wish to marry me."

"Not good" Mo Xiaobao raised an eyebrow as he sized up Princess Ling'an and then said with a smile, "Well... perhaps it's because Princess Ling'an is too old."

Princess Ling'an gritted her teeth. "I'm only fifteen!"

Moriao nodded. "Yes, but I said that twenty-five was the right age for marriage. By then you'll be twenty-five, won't you"

Aren’t you going to be thirty when I’m sixteen Princess Ling’an nearly shouted this out, but she realized there wasn’t much point in arguing about it. Men and women were just so unfair on this issue. A man could establish himself at thirty, while a woman of the same age would already be past her prime. She couldn't help feeling envious of Concubine Dingwang. The concubine had met the right person when she was the right age.

Suppressing her thoughts, Princess Ling'an said, "The王爺應該知道我皇兄有意與定王府聯姻。臨安可以承諾，隻要王爺同意…以後臨安絕對不會乾涉王爺的任何事情。無論…將來王爺想要娶什麼樣的女子，臨安…絕無異議。"

Moriao propped his chin on his hand and scrutinized Princess Ling'an carefully, shaking his head with a disappointed look. "If that's the case, why should I marry Princess Ling'an What's the difference from keeping a useless person around Moreover, what if I have someone I like in the future Wouldn't she be wronged"

So you're absolutely sure that you won’t like me! Princess Ling’an seethed inwardly. Even though she had no affection for this despicable man who was like a brat, it still hurt her pride to be so casually disregarded. Mo Xiaobao grinned at the princess and said, "I know why Your Highness wants to marry me, but actually, there are better options."

Princess Ling'an was taken aback. "Better options" What could she have besides that

"The Empress of Great Chu How about her"

"Mo Yuchen, come out here right now!" Just as Princess Ling’an was about to speak, a voice came from the entrance of the imperial garden. Mo Su Yun, dressed in dragon robes and wielding a sword with murderous intent, charged over.

———been so wrinkled and ugly His aunt had said that he was a chubby little baby when he was born, but... looking at his well-behaved sleeping sister and brother, they were actually not so ugly after all....